We're grown-ups now

I spent most of this weekend at the lake house in Georgia. It was lovely and just what I needed. Bonus: I returned home with leftover blueberry pancakes, shortcakes, squash casserole, and pimento cheese... I've really been overeating today. And also, procrastinating.

Since it's warm and sunny I decided to start running on a nearby bike path instead of going to the gym. But I think I need new running shoes --- or maybe a running coach to correct my form. Because my left knee is killing me and my calf muscles are sorer than they should be. Dear body, let me be a runner!

If you're a xkcd fan, you've seen this comic already. It's one of my personal favorites:

And speaking of grown-ups, my sister's turning twenty tomorrow!  Holy cow... that's all I can say about that.

Vague plans & stuff

Howdy folks!

I'm having a productive night.  So far, I've cooked green chicken curry for dinner, emailed a professor, messaged a friend in NYC about staying with him when I fly up for an interview (!), and written a postcard to my friend Lauren who recently moved to Bulgaria with the Peace Corps. The remainder of the night will include a workout and some research and essay planning.

Operation UK update:

Since my first offer, I've gotten a second university offer and an interview in New York for a business internship program.  It's official --- I've got options!

When I went home last weekend, several people made comments like, "so you're moving to London, huh?"  This confused me because, at that point, I hadn't definitely decided to move to London. It's a big and complicated decision. But the bottom line is, I want and need to move to London. And already I have two, maybe three, ways to do it.

So, I would like to officially declare that I am officially moving to London in the fall! I don't have a visa yet, or a plane ticket, and goodness knows things could change. But screw being cautious --- if I can help it, when the leaves go orange, I'll be moving into a tiny flat and drying my clothes on radiators and buying my groceries at Sainsbury's (and being a teeny tiny 2ish mile walk from Dave --- what?  no jet lag?). I've already researched community gardens where I can grow organic tomatoes and cool choirs that maybe someday will let me sing with them.

Hip hip hooray :).

Fair words butter no parsnips

I like this little eighteenth century nugget of wisdom. Though I dislike parsnips.  Have you ever eaten parsnips?  Mashed, they look and feel like potatoes but they taste most certainly different.  It's like in Europe when you think you're about drink water but upon taking a sip you discover you're not drinking water at all, you're drinking something fizzy and bitter (also known as water with gas, or fizzy water).  That's what eating parsnips is like for me. I prefer potatoes.

This weekend I went home for a family funeral. It was a somber occasion but really good to see everyone. I returned to Auburn feeling much more purposeful and thankful.

Earlier this week a friend texted me at 2am telling me how grateful she was for her good friends and amazing life experiences. Another friend is writing down one thing he is grateful for every day this year. My thunderstorm post last week was an exercise in thankfulness, too. I know people heaps smarter and more important than me have already noticed this, but being appreciative --- thankful, grateful, whatever you want to call it --- seems to be one of the essential keys to daily happiness.  You might like to check out the blog thx thx thx.  The author writes a thank you note every day. Sometimes it's about serious things, sometimes it's about heart-patterned toilet paper in the office restroom. It might inspire you to enjoy little things on days when gratitude isn't flowing freely.

Another essential key to daily happiness:  sunshine.  I'm very freckled and shouldn't get too much, but boy do I love it. I have a long not-so-fun April to-do list and next to it, a "healthy living" list: being outside whenever it's warm and sunny is priority number one.  I've started eating lunch outside rather than in front of a computer.  Try it.

Didn't intend to write a self-helpish post --- was just happy about the butter and parsnips adage and wanted to share. Enjoy your week!

Thank you

Thank you for big loud thunderstorms when I can't focus and when I can't sleep. Thank you for the rain that's cleaning my dusty yellow car and (hopefully) keeping me indoors tomorrow with my books. And thank you for the practice of prayer. 


Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/silent-shot/500251940/lightbox/

Try new things: soy nuts

This afternoon I bought dried cranberries, raw almonds, and sunflower seeds to make my own trail mix and at the last minute I decided to try some soy nuts.  Turns out, they're tasty!  And super high in fiber. (Soy nuts also remind me of the Babysitter's Club character, Dawn, an all-natural food eating, soy nut loving Californian.)

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotoosvanrobin/4337037201/lightbox/

Since January, I've formed two new habits that I'm happy about: every night before bed I floss and read a Psalm. I may be neglecting my 365-photo project and spending too much time on Facebook, but now I floss and read biblical poetry every day!  

I made burritos tonight - already had two, about to go for a third. Mmmm, food.

Fairly makes your heart ache

It's spring fever. When you've got it, you want --- oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!

An overused but pertinent Mark Twain quote. What do I think I maybe want this spring?  Chocolate milkshakes all the time. And to be an organic farmer.  I just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Mineral in which she writes about her family's year of being pretty strict "locavores": going totally local by growing and raising food on their small Virginian farm and purchasing food only from local vendors. An entertaining, delicious, and inspiring read. I forgot how overambitious I tend to be... last night I dreamt of canning my own tomatoes and raising my own rare-breed turkeys.

Back from New Orleans (where it rained and poured, see above umbrella photo) and Orange Beach and two weeks of good times with Dave Masom and other good people, I'm preparing for a final two month push in school and in forming my next major life plan. A few days before spring break, I was accepted into a UK graduate school.  Woo!  It's not my first choice, but it's still a good option and an encouragement.

In other news, I got my first speeding ticket on our way back from the beach.  Oops. If I could afford speeding tickets, I would continue to speed, but I can't, so I'm driving slower now. One victory for the law enforcement system.

Take your allergy meds and enjoy the sunshine!

Oh dear

This blog is starving for attention!


Things are crazy right now, but I thought I would say a quick hello :)

Crazy things:


I'm now 23-years-old.  I like that 23 is a prime number and that I'm not in my mid-twenties quite yet.  There was a small gathering at the lakehouse in Georgia where: we enjoyed yummy pork chops, coconut rice, and Gigi's cupcakes, I saved our dog Lyra from drowning, and my parents gave me two things I really wanted:  a 1960s-style one-piece bathing suit and measuring utensils for metric-system baking recipes.  (I could be a mid-twentieth century housewife, apparently.)


After work last week, my friend introduced me to "the taco truck," which parks in a mechanic shop parking lot on Opelika Road.  A Mexican guy operates the truck, serving Latinos at various job sites during the day and whoever stops by the truck at night.  Amazing and legit tacos (for a buck fifty each).  I'm excited to go back next week when Dave's here visiting.


Speaking of which, Dave arrives on Thursday.  We're driving to Mobile, picking up my friend Erika from the airport, then spending the weekend in New Orleans.  Spring break is a week later, and we'll be down in Orange Beach. (I'll be baking and wearing my 1960s one-piece.)


Work and school aside, I'm finishing various applications for graduate schools, internships, and jobs, all centered around my epic and daunting goal of legally residing in the UK this fall.  I haven't talked much about Operation UK.  But it's fully underway.  If you care at all about my sanity, please say a prayer that something perfect works out.  Don't worry, I'm flexible when it comes to details.

In terms of summer plans, it looks like I'm headed back to Wyoming.  And I'm super excited.  I don't think I'll ever live in a more beautiful spot than at the foot of the Tetons.


That's all for now!  I'm sad I'm not updating more often, but I promise, I'm determined to keep this blog alive and, soon, to give it lots of love and care.

Good advice (from Rainer Marie Rilke) for a prime numbered wannabe 1960s baker who loves people, mountains, and London and who makes lots of too-big plans day after day:

You are so young, so much before all beginning, and I would like to beg you…as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers , which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.