Alyssa

Alissa's Birthday Party

2011-04-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

I have recently moved in with some girls from my ward who live much closer to everything I do. Last Sunday was Alissa's birthday and we decided to have a birthday party for her.

We decided on the cake after some inspiration from other friend's cakes. Sarah and I were running and she mentioned to me that she had wanted to make this cake and then about a week later my friend Emily (who is an amazing photographer) posted the same cake that Sarah and I had talked about on her facebook page. So I decided to steal the idea and make one for Alissa. In all honesty, famous bakeries are making this cake too so I'm pretty sure this is not the brain child of either Sarah or Emily. I promise that the cake looks way better than the pictures, but the knife wasn't so great and cutting the thing because I made it so stinking tall was a task. My friend Emily's cake picture looks much more beautiful plus she used fondant (which I hate) so it is a cleaner cut. Frosting this cake took one pound of butter and one pound of shortening (I wanted to keep the frosting as white as possible). It was "fun" to make or would have been except I only own one nine-inch cake pan. Which means I essentially had to bake 6 cakes...ugh. Other than that, I wouldn't mind making it again.

iMac and iPhotos

2011-03-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

I finally did it. I've been saving up my money for months and months and months so that I could finally buy a mac. My laptop has been dying a slow death and making loud dinosaur sounds (and moving at the speed of a dinosaur for months). Yes, I was wowed by its beautifully simple all-in-one style (I have a small room and the less computer I have taking up space in it the better), its incredible screen and its simple to use iphoto and imovie programs....among many many other things. And sure, I now feel like my meager graduate school savings has become almost non-existant but I don't have any regrets and so I guess it wasn't a bad thing. This week I have, of-course, been messing around with the photo booth program, where I take pictures of myself in the worst possible lighting and half the time after I have washed my face or worked out and then go to iphoto where in no time at all I make myself look super beautiful. No wonder when they show pictures of stars without makeup we all gasp in horror. Its amazing how much better you can look after your photo has been doctored up a bit. Below are some of my examples

Okay, I do have to admit that the original for this one isn't "too bad" because I had actually done my hair and makeup on this day so I don't look like i have huge bags under my eyes, but you have to admit that the touched up one is about a hundred times more appealing.

Dear mom, thanks for donating the genes that allow me to have bags under my eyes. Dear iPhoto, thanks for providing a tool that allows me to officially get rid of them forever. The first photo on this section is me before going to bed, so yes, I have in fact washed my face and I do not have any makeup on (which is kind of obvious).

Finally: My fun digital effects

When I was a kid I loved the A-HA music video "Take On Me" and so I was totally messing around with the effects and stuff in iPhoto and when I did this picture it made me feel like the lead love interest in the video. Although, just before posting this I actually googled the video and watched it on you tube. The drawings in the video are much more like sketch book drawings than my newly created version...its amazing how much our brains can enhance images. I'm still posting it anyway though. Maybe you can google the song "Take On Me" and pretend with me (my hair is better than the girls in the video...I'm so glad we are not in the 80's anymore).

Last but not least. When I was a kid I loved the "Archie" comic books and this photo reminds me of that. So, as a final thought, I would like to thank iPhoto for helping me to relive my youth and erase ten years off of my face.

A Sad, Sad Day

2011-01-16T16:51:00.000-08:00

Sometime between the hours of midnight and 11:00am Ducky was murdered in cold blood. No suspects as of yet but justice will be served. Please, no flowers. The family asks that all donations be made to the Save-our-Ducks-Made-of-Wood (SoD MoW) Foundation in the forms of $50's and $100's please (cash only). Please send the money to Alyssa who will spend-errr-dispose of the funds as she see's fit.

Gloves, gloves and more gloves!

2011-01-09T14:34:00.000-08:00

I don't buy many knitting books. The reason for this being is that I usually think the majority of the patterns are ugly and am thus paying $20 (or whatever) for one great pattern when billions of free patterns are available on the world wide web. Two years ago, however, Moroni and I were strolling through The Loft in the German Village (a really awesome book store) and I stumbled upon a book which I know I have mentioned before called "Knitting New Mittens and Gloves" by Robin Melanson. This book has by far the best patterns for gloves and mittens I have ever found and I love a majority of them. It also easy to adapt these patterns to different sizes and yarn types. I decided to make gloves for all my friends (well not all of them....because I just have to many:)) but a good number of my close friends here in Columbus. I wanted to do it on a budget also. I went to Jo-Ann fabric and bought 4 skeins of the Lion Brand Wool-Ease Worsted Weight yarn in four colors at buy one, get one 50% off (a total of about $12 for all of the yarn...yea) and began to knit, knit and knit some more.

1. Alternating Current (p20). I had to modify these gloves slightly because the pattern called for chunky yarn. So I used smaller needles and cast on more times...(if you have the book and want to do it with worsted weight instead and want to know my modification I will let you know if you leave a comment). The cute thing about these gloves is that you can knit other wrist bands in different colors and patterns.

2. Filigree (p60). No modification necessary!

3. Jack-in-the-Box (p85). This is a modification of the flip-top mittens. I find that the adult small size ends up being to large and the kids is too small so I modified the sizing to something in the middle of the two and then rather than create flip-top cuff I just bind off at the end to create fingerless gloves which are always nice to wear over other gloves here in order to keep your hands warm but making it so your fingers can still function!

4. These are pretty much of my own creation. I used the modified guidelines for the Jack-in-the-box flip-top mittens but with an entirely different pattern. (see #3)

5. Tapisserie (p124). These were probably my favorites. They also called for a finer yarn than worsted weight so i had to be very creative with the modifications because I ended up taking out 16 rows in the pattern. I also had to figure it out right in my head ahead of time because its not like I wanted to start over in my race to have these to people by Christmas!

6. Accomplice (p9). These were the first pair I started knitting over Thanksgiving while we were in New York. I wasn't actually sure if I liked the pattern or not, but I must say the picture in the book did not do them justice. They ended up being pretty cute and really easy!

Christmas and New Year's Fun

2011-01-02T19:21:00.001-08:00

A stroll through the park in Gahanna....
Moroni and I love the little city of Gahanna near his house because there are cute little shops and a great bakery and its small so relatively easy to walk through. During Christmas they have a huge tree (which I don't have a picture of because my battery died) and the boardwalk along the creek has Christmas lights up all over the place...here is us walking in the freezing cold through the park...

Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo...every year our friend Carly gets us cheap tickets to wildlights at the zoo and we usually go and brave the cold, this year it was so great because we went and it was in the 40's! I didn't even need gloves. Also, my brother-in-law Kevin's (Amy's husband) brother and his wife Brittany just moved to Grove City (south Columbus) so we invited them to come along...now I just need to get Amy and Kevin to move here!

The night before New Years it was decided that we would be having a New Year's party at Moroni's house...so we all made different food items. I made swedish meatballs with cranberry-orange relish (in place of lingonberry sauce) and had fun playing The Beatles rock band and lighting sparklers at midnight!

href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_eQMfAIFwmpQ/TSFBxHRoAuI/AAAAAAAAAgc/h7HqVVcQym0/s1600/IMG_0533.jpg">

A Christmas Story

2011-01-02T19:12:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me, knows I love the movie "A Christmas Story" and anyway who is my family shares my love of this movie. If you remember, last January we went to the Christmas Story House in Cleveland and while were there I purchased some cookie cutters in the shape of a leg lamp, a turkey, and of Ralphie in his bunny suit. This year I had a twelve nights of Christmas movie mania ( a different christmas movie each night for twelve nights hosted at a different location by a different person)...an event idea, I might add, that I stole from my friend Emily who did the same thing back in Washington like four years ago. The first night of-course was our kick-off night and of-course the movie was "A Christmas Story"...of-course. So I baked up some sugar cookies and this is what I ended up with. I must admit, the frosting looks atrocious (I ran out of time) and I wanted to be more fun with the leg lamps like iced in stalkings etc, but I do think the print-up of Ralphie's head is a nice touch. Yes, they were delicious (but isn't anything that has butter, sugar and four?).

Philadelphia

2011-01-02T18:52:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of December me and a post-doc from my lab along with our advisor attended the ASCB conference in Philadelphia...you would think these pictures would be of the conference...but that makes for boring pictures. These are of Li and I having some fun in the city. I love Philadelphia, however, I have been informed that I was definitely in the cleaner nicer part...whatever...the buildings were beautiful and I LOVE history, so its fun to go to a place rich in American History. It inspired me to go back and restudy the constitution and read my favorite book on George Washington (1776). Now I just need to find a good one on Benjamin Franklin...I will take suggestions!

Ugly Sweater Dance

2010-12-05T19:35:00.000-08:00

This year's ward Christmas party was an ugly sweater dance. Friday night Moroni and I headed over to the Goodwill to do a little sweater shopping and found these lovely gems, among other things. Notice that mine has a lovely Native American theme with head engulfing turtleneck. Moroni got lucky and found this lovely flesh toned beauty of a turtleneck which perfectly complemented his pasty white skin. We found the perfect accompaniment to this ensemble in the printed sweater vest.

Bike Trail Mania

2010-11-21T14:55:00.000-08:00

This picture is taken from a website about the Alum Creek Trails. http://parks.columbus.gov/Facility.aspx?id=27060

Moroni lives off of the worst street in the world to bike on or even walk on. We have attempted once and after that I swore I would never bike on it again. It is a narrow, two-lane road with multiple curves, no sidewalks and blind shoulders that people drive on at 45mph. I have cycled on many types of roads in my life but never one where I have seen my own life flash before my eyes. About 2-5 miles up and down the road from his house are trail heads. One is the start of the Alum creek north trail and the other is the start of the Alum Creek South trail. But there was absolutely nothing in between. So every time I wanted to run or just go on an easy bike ride, I would have to drive to either trail head. Then one beautiful day last Spring we noticed a sign that said "DO NOT ENTER, Alum Creek Trail Construction" and much to our delight it was the beginning of the connecting trail between the North and the South trail sections. Last Sunday we walked behind his neighborhood (about a block, its a small neighborhood) and much to my surprise there was a trail there. It wasn't paved but it was well groomed. So this week the adventures began. Sarah and I ran on it on Tuesday in order to see how far it goes, and it almost connects to the existing trail and today Moroni and I took a walk and a good portion is now paved. I am so excited I can't even say. It's going to be so nice to just head out the back door when I get home and go for a run or hop on my bike and ride right out of the house without driving to a trail head. Pretty soon the trail will be connected and will complete a 19 mile trail which also connects to other trails throughout Columbus. I'll never have to drive anywhere again! Yay!

2010-11-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

"Fate chooses your relations, you choose your friends." - Jacques Delille (1738 - 1813).

Something I've been thinking about for awhile is friends, and I have lots of them. I think part of that is the fact that I will talk to anyone, whether they want me to or not. Sometimes though, I get to feeling like I live the life of a friendship nomad perhaps because I have lived in multiple places over the last 10 years including, Idaho, Washington, Utah, Colorado and Ohio I have moved in and out of people's lives in a hurry, and sometimes I just start feeling guilty, like I have been a bad friend because I am so terrible at keeping in touch. There have been so many people I have cared about so much, and still do care about but its not like I'm actually picking up the phone and calling them on a weekly basis. I guess my point to all of this is that, I'm sorry, sorry I am that friend who is bad at calling and sorry I'm that friend who is good at moving away. To all my friends over the years I still think about you and thank you for being my friend at a time when I needed you in my life. For the rest of this blog entry, I am just going to write individually about my friends--your first name and something about you that reminds me of you. If you are reading this feel free to comment, it would be nice to hear from you! Also, apologizing now to anyone I leave off...I'm sorry in advance.

Andrea: Full-size Brad Pitt cutout poster coming with us for night on the town, prank calls from the Chinese restaurant.

Collin: You always made fun of me for my "Mormon" ways and yet always stood up to other people who tried to do the same...

Carrie: Camping at Baker Lake, jumping on your trampoline, our horrible 16th birthday party

Jen: Chocolate chip cookies and you taught me the ropes of thrift shopping (of which I'm still no good at)

Jason: "If I were a hot dog!" and Mariner's baseball

Danielle: Softball, camping, girl scout camp, New Kids on the Block....Sugar the cat

Amanda: Alfy's pizza after our games and all night out at Sherri's

Nisha: My first room mate ever! Hairspray and fun! You made the first year away from home really great. The grover voice. Always the entrepreneur.

Lael: Driving me to the MTC, Sunday dinners with your family, running races together, I still have the blanket you made and sent to me on my mission!

Dayeong: Good Korean times on and off the mission. You always kept me well fed and whenever I see snickerdoodles I think of you.

Emily: Laughing. I always laughed with you because you are hillarious. Also, I envy your artistic skills to this day all the things you do amaze me.

James: Driving to everywhere and nowhere in the black Jetta...random adventures that were always fun. Cutting down a Christmas tree in the dark.

Shannon: "I want to share the gospel with you!"..long drives in the middle of nowhere in Colorado. The Phone Call...what a great movie!

Jake: Music, music, music...that's what I think of when I think of you, I am still listening to Sufjan Steven thanks to you.

Leaa: My most loyal friend in the entire world. You saved me during my last college years. Shared groceries and our crappy house that we loved anyway! Working at Bed Bath and Beyond together...helping me to get back into the real world when we got off our missions.

Tyler: Hiking, running, snowboarding and fun. You are always up for anything...including Nair and nail polish! Remember home movies and going out to the farm and hiking up the hill? What about Mail Box Peak? You almost killed me. Your parents are like my second parents, your mom wrote me every week of my mission and used to feed me dinner almost every night of the week.

Kristi: Commercial art, Boston Market and mashed potatoes and calculus. Spanish club and everything else. We always threw the greatest parties because we loved decorating so much.

Stacy: I still remember when you got your braces? and remember prom and how you let me highlight our hair the night before? The Beast and toilet paper. You and the Titanic song...I still hate it! Fun in the singles ward.

Diane: camping and sharing a tent for a month. You getting married on me when we were supposed to be room mates (don't worry I do not hold this against you)!!!

Tyler: Always a great friend to just sit and talk to. I still remembering sitting in my backyard for hours with our feet in the kiddie pool.

Jenna: Even though we have lived in a lot of the same places the only time we end up seeing each other is when we go back home! Remember the recovery period after the missions? Dinner at you parents and running into you at RICKS and BYU. Swimming in the ocean, not getting eaten by sharks.

Molly: Almost ten years younger then me, but a friend from the very start. gCHAT, gCHAT, gCHAT!

Diana: I know your entire life story...amazing what people talk about on the trail!

Aaron: Always a big truck around...and a broken down jeep. The friend who always paid for everyone at dinner and the hardest worker I have ever met!

Sarah: Running, hiking, backpacking and everything in between. Sleeping in a tent in my back yard and freaking out and coming inside! My sidekick in hobbies and all things crafty

Julie: Craiglist...the greatest way on earth to find a roomate. Two years of bliss and fun...adopting cats together and trying to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Trips to World Market.

Melissa: The Jetta that smelled like crayons. Playing hookie to put in laminate flooring. Sharing clothes and a bathroom. The Office. Dwight is still on my desk.

Carrie: Camping at the beach, riding the mopeds. Cycling (I'm pretty sure we never did this together, but we always talked about it).

Melanie: The greatest person I have ever met in my entire life. Hours of "therapy" sessions from my counselor in training. You were someone I could always just sit and talk to for hours.

Jesse: Anything adventurous and fun. Climbing over train cars to see Great Blue Herons nesting and then realizing they were only a short ways from the parking lot of the gas station. Backpacking.

Amy: Europe. I still have the perfect picture in my mind of me getting off the train in Germany and the doors closing and taking you along with it to its next stop an hour away! Eating good food!

Shlece: Working out on our lunch break. Commuting. Surviving the vivarium...

Carly: New York at Christmas and girl time. Long talks and hanging out. Crafts are fun when done right. The outlet mall and sharing my pain over watching a certain someone try on a certain leather jacket a billion times over multiple trips.

Katy: The only two people to show up for a relief society activity but we still had fun anyway on our 5 mile hike!

Tara: You could always make me laugh. You always know when everyone is in need. My support system when I needed it to get the job done!

Jon: Friend by default when you moved into town and your sister left town for a month. You could always make me laugh. I remember listening to MIA in your car for the first time. I didn't like her then, I still don't really like her now.

Wendy: Hey BFF. I realize that I am now number two but I feel at peace with that. I heart that you hate hearts. One of few people who truly understood me all the time. Movies on Lifetime and ABC family on Friday night. The farm and Hank.

Moroni: Wendy is okay that you are my number one now. I love you. You are my best friend. Thanks for liking me anyway, even though I'm the grossest girl you've ever met. Cycling in the cold, the heat and every other temperature. Going to multiple festivals just for fun. World Market, REI and climbing to the top of the hill just for me. Psych. Learning how to deal with hair and windows down in your car in the summer.

Fall: Week Three--Circleville Pumpkin Festival

2010-10-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

As I have already stated in the last few weeks, the fall is my absolute favorite time of year and this Saturday we attended one of the festivals I look forward to here in Ohio more than anything else--The Circleville Pumpkin Festival. Is it the name? Is it the quaint little town that it is held in? Is it the food? Is it the cool fall day, with crisp air and smell of decaying leaves? I believe the answer is--ALL OF THE ABOVE! One of the things we love about this festival is the food, my own personal rule is you can't eat it unless it has pumpkin in it. I think this is a pretty good rule, since it is the pumpkin festival after all. This year, I chose my personal favorite, pumpkin chili and a pumpkin buckeye (a delicious chocolate candy only found in Ohio--home of The Ohio State Buckeyes). The rest of the pictures are all the other pumpkin food items that can be tried at the festival!

Our friend Carly...

I have never had pumpkin walking taco..but I am now curious...

The weight of the pumpkin is written on it!

Notice that the sign says "World's Greatest Pumpkin Pie!" not "World's Largest Pumpkin Pie!" and I had to wait in line to get a picture of this thing! Ha Ha...
http://www.pumpkinnook.com/giants/pumpkinpierecord.htm

This is the link to the world's largest pumpkin pie...its only about 100 times larger (slight exaggeration)...so how they determined this was the world's greatest pumpkin pie I have no idea, but what I do know is that they make really tasty pumpkin donuts at this place and if that's any indication of how great the pumpkin pie is, then I bet it is pretty darn delicious.

Another specialty of all festivals are fried things...if you ever wondered how something tastes fried, just go to the fair or your local festival, someone is bound to be selling it. Here is our friend Dave trying a fried Twinkie, which pretty much did him under for the rest of the night! So gross.

SIX bras for $12! That is some kind of deal!

A huge block of shea butter...

I generally disagree with people dressing up their dogs, but in the spirit of all things pumpkin, I retract my former opinion. This dog was cute, and seemed to like its ridiculous outfit!

This girl looks like she should be on a horror flick...she is found in the bottom corner of the mural that was a few pictures back!

Finally: The last thing I learned this year is that if someone tells you "Come see the weirdest thing you will ever see right here! Only a dollar!" Do not believe them, and do not give them your dollar.

Have a great week!

Fall Camping

2010-10-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

This Friday we camped at Mohican State Park near Amish country with some friends. Since, I was in charge of planning this activity, I'm glad the food turned out great because 5/8 people were freezing all night! (I was not one of those people..all though I can empathize with them because I have been one of them before). We drove up Friday after we got out of work and then thanks to a hard to find, lengthy detour, we did not arrive at our campground until after dark! The next day we drove to Amish country, which was packed. It felt like Disney World in July or something. We decided to try Amish country again in the winter when its freezing and no one wants to be walking around, so there are no crowds to fight against or traffic. All in all, I had fun, I hope everyone else did too:)

These lovely ladies are my friends Diana (who backpacked with me last September) and Sam (fellow Oregonian from Nessa).

Here I am snuggling down for a cold night. I probably had the best sleeping bag out of everyone (thanks Dad and Megan, this Christmas present from four years ago still does the most amazing job ever!) and the trick to staying warm on a cold night is making sure your body is still warm when you get inside the sleeping bag and that you have dry clothing on (so if its a damp night even if you are warm in your clothes outside, you will be cold in your bag..always bring dry clothes to change into). Luckily, we were car camping, so Carly and I drove to the electrified campground a few miles away with the heat blasting and washed our faces and drove back...we were warm and dry in our bags!

Here is Moroni, Ryan and my friend Paul who I used to go to school with here in Ohio until he graduated (lucky!)in the morning after being miserable all night..I would say that they look pretty chipper (probably because I just served up bacon, french toast and hot cocoa)!

I took this picture through my sunglasses. The fall here is not going as well as I would like it too...the colors on the trees are quite disappointing! As I was driving, I kept thinking "all the leaves look so nice and red this morning" and then I took of my sunglasses...

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Smell Like Grover

2010-10-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

Oven Mitts and Illnesses

2010-10-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

So Monday this week a woman I work with, Li, came into the lab and said "don't come near me! I am ill"..needless to say, by Thursday I had the symptoms of her cold and have beeninside with it all weekend. It was probably the last nice weekend we will have here until next Spring too!

Last week I set my oven mitt down on a hot burner (not an "on" burner--in case moroni is reading this--a hot burner) and all of a sudden I smelled something not quite right and this is what I ended up with!

Monday night we were at the mall and I was sneakily looking at new oven mitts...but the cute ones, of course, were the expensive ones. As I was taking a close look at one of the mitts at Sur La Table (pronounced Sur La Tab--for Megan), which was priced at $9.95, I thought to myself "I could make this myself and for a lot less and I could pick out some really cute fabric", so on the way home I had Moroni stop at Jo Ann's, which is my new hang out and I found some affordable fabric. The red mitt was my protype...I had some troubles with the thumb, so I redrew the pattern and the next mitt was my final product. I think they turned out pretty cute and all in all cost me about $3.00 each...possibly less!

Fall is in the Air!

2010-10-03T19:01:00.001-07:00

My favorite season of all time (ALL TIME) is Fall. There is something about the cool air, changing colors, and falling leaves...I think about it all year long. I love pumpkin smells, pumpkin cookies and pumpkins. So I decided to start the fall off right with some pumpkin cupcakes (ok, actually they are devil's food cake) but I frosted them to look like pumpkins...

Country Road, Take Me Home

2010-09-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

Moroni and I just spent a week at my dad and stepmom's place in Washington and lucky for us my sister and Kevin and the kids also came up for the week. Sorry, I have no pictures of Reuben or Caroline because the night we saw them my camera battery was dead. All of these pictures were taken on my sweet new birthday present from Moroni! It is a Canon PowerShot SD780 IS...perfect for me because it takes no technical skills to use, and it has a rechargeable batter, and it fits in my pocket so I will actually carry it with me.

First Stop: Layover in Seattle where Lael and Tyler picked us up from the airport for some food and REI...ummmm the Spaghetti factory is not as good as I remember it as a kid:) I still love the sourdough though.

Day 2: Rocky Reach Dam

Day 3: Hiking to the top! We always hike to the top of the hill behind my dad's house. Its actually pretty difficult because there are no real trails and therefore no switchbacks! Susie and Tyler wanted to come along and Tyler made it all the way to the top by his self...Susie needed some help from her dad. On the way down I caught a shot of my dad on the tractor!

Day 3: Amyah, wee golf and the fire interpretation trail! After our hike in the morning, we all headed on over to Entiat for some Wee Golf action with the kiddos...its their favorite part about coming to grandma and grandpa's house! And then took a walk on the fire interpretation trail. It was pretty great weather on this day and the pictures turned out great. I especially like the one of my dad with the hills and the lone tree in the background.

Day 5: Kevin chops wood and Moroni drives us to to the Orondo Cider Works...Tyler is looking pretty cool sitting in the back of the truck with Moroni drinking his hot spiced cider! When we got back, we headed out to load up the wood Kevin chopped and then the kids got to ride home in the back of the truck! So fun!

Day 5: The Bamboo Shoot for dinner in Chelana. The kids love this place because they get to watch their food being made. I like the picture of grandma Megan holding Amyah in the air! It looks like she's singing to her!

Day 6: Amy, Kevin and the kids go home (really early). Time for some real fun! (just kidding). The hatchery down the road was getting ready to clean out one of their ponds so we were able to fish for free without a license and catch as many fish as we wanted to! With the help of a jig and some power bait we pulled in 25 trout in under an hour! We also visited Dudley the sheep and shopped in Leavenworth.

The Jr. Whopper

2010-09-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

I rarely eat hamburgers, especially fast food ones, mainly because I rarely eat fast food. However, a few weeks ago I was starving and I drove past a Burger King and the only thing that sounded good to me was a Jr. Whopper. I was not dissapointed! Oh my goodness! I wasn't sure if it was this specific Burger King or the time of day or the person making it or Burger King in general but it was the most delicious hamburger I had had in a really long time. So, since then I have had two more Jr. Whopper's (three more than I've had all year!) in the hopes that I can relive that one instant of tastebud heaven once again. Since then, they have been good, don't get me wrong, far better than the counterpart (the Wendy's Junior Bacon Cheeseburger)but I don't know if I'll ever be able to recreate that heavenly moment again!

Here is a picture of Moroni on Monday night at Burger King, trying out the Whopper Jr...well, I got the Whopper Jr. and he got the Double Whopper. Now, if only Burger King started selling baked potatoes! I would be in heaven....

Funny Video

2010-09-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

This video is super cheesey and yet I find myself laughing as I watch it so I felt like it would be an injustice not to post it.

Recipes Recipes Recipes

2010-09-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

This week I realized that my Cooking Light magazines were becoming a huge pile (at least 18

and that I rarely looked at them.

So I decided that some cutting and organizing needed to happen. I went through each one and only cut out recipes I had tried and loved or knew I would try if I knew it existed. I glued them to paper and put them into paper protectors and then I categorized them in a cute binder which I added the bird to using felt and other items I had around the house.

What was so great about this is that it has inspired me to try a bunch of recipes. The first was this chicken curry, and it turned out delicious!

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1963997

Try it! You won't be disappointed! Moroni doesn't love curry but after his first bite he said, "This is good!"

This Week in the News

2010-09-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

I chose to put up this picture first because it was the beginning of my goals for the week. The six represents the 6th floor of the parking garage, where I park everyday to go to my lab. (Sometimes I park on 5 or 7 or 4 and if I'm really lucky and get in early enough its floor 1) TODAY, however I happened to get my usual spot on the 6th floor and made a concious decision that no matter what from here on out I needed to take the stairs everywhere I go in the hospital or the research institute. Needless to say, this day turned out to be a lot of stairs and the week turned out to be a week of a lot of stairs. I counted at least 20 flights of stairs the first day...and these ones are not the small ones, no sir, they are the double level kind (you go up one flight, they turn and you go up another flight of 13 steps). I wonder what I've gotten myself into!

We've actually been having some really great weather in Ohio. Last Friday it was in the 70's and it was not humid as opposed to the 90's and really humid (which would be the last 4 months this year). Moroni and I decided to go on a bike ride. This is a picture of the Hoover Dam (the one in Westerville, Ohio) which is about a mile away from where I live. It looks lovely but no one should swim in it.

Love my cycling glasses....

Last Saturday the singles ward had a boating activity on Alum Creel and while I was waiting to go out on the boat...this man walked by (look very closely in the background). From the back he looked nude, which was weird since we were by no means anywhere near a nude beach. We realized, however, that he was not nude just wearing your average nude colored thong bikini to the beach! It was hillarious especially since this is mid-west OHIO not the Mediterranean. Props to this guy for living the dream!

Last but not least...I just got home from backpacking with my friend Diana (more pictures to come next week). We backpacked for 2 1/4 days and for 19.3 miles at Zaleski State Forrest, in southern Ohio. The first night I crawled into my sleeping bag, felt around and exclaimed, "Socks! I found socks at the bottom of my bag!). I have not used this bag in over a year at least because its a 10 degree bag and I hardly or don't camp in the winter here. I have been looking for the socks everywhere. I must have taken these socks off in the night years ago and left them there when I put my bag away. On the bottom are a pair of my favorite smart wools and on the top were...story coming soon...a great pair of hand-knitted socks from Megan, which I loved. Stupidly when I got home today I threw a load of colors in the washer including all my backpacking clothing and socks too. I pulled them all out of the dryer and my hand-knitted socks had turned into baby booties! I was so sad! I washed my clothes on cold and everything! Sorry Megan, I promise I did not "shrink" your handmade goods on "purpose"....(just kidding, I really am sad!)

Week Four Wilton Beginner Cake Decorating Class

2010-08-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

Tonight was my last night of the beginner cake decorating class that I've been taking with Sarah and Carly. I must say that I liked tonight the best because we got to make our cake any way we wanted to. We are having a farewell lunch tomorrow for a girl I've worked with in the lab for the last two years so I decided to make a good bye cake and since my lab and my boss's wife's lab were going to be there I wanted it to be edible, which means I wanted the frosting to be good. So I cheated on the recipe that wilton has us use for the frosting we use for the class ( which tastes nasty) and I used straight up butter instead of shortening....sooooo delicious!

Dear Family and Friends

2010-08-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,
I have made a new years resolution to blog once a week. Crazy, I know, but here goes.
Tuesday.
We got some yummy tomatoes while biking with he marples and some jalapeños from our garden so I decided to make some salsa. The salsa was delicious but about an hour later my thumbs started to burn. This was quickly followed by the rest of my fingers, which proceeded to turn splotchy and red. I began, under the direction of Moroni to implement various home remedies including, but most likely not all: milk, rubbing alcohol, sour cream, hot and then cold water, lemon juice, the air conditioner in my car, and finally to sleep, ice packs. On top of which I mistook the cup of rubbing alcohol for a cup of water and took one big nasty swig! I woke up pain-free but made the mistake of taking a shower, which caused it to flare up all over again! This story ends later that day with pain-free fingers and a smile on my face...nothing really worked, just time. I learned to never cut up homegrown jalapeños without gloves!

Wednesday.
For the last three Wednesday nights I have been taking a cake decorating class with Sarah and Carly. I am posting the pictures of my lovely creations!

Newest hobby: I decided a few weeks ago, That I needed to learn to sew a pattern. My first attempt was a dress that was intended for me, but was way too small (lesson number one learned: always make patterns to your measurements not to the size you wear in the store!). It fits Sarah but I am still having trouble with the zipper. I decided to then sew a jumper for my niece, Susie, it turned out really cute, but unfortunately it is too large, so now my sister is trying to figure out how to take something in without ruining it!

Thursday. Relief society. Placemat bags.

After making this cute, simple bag with the relief society, I decided to try out my newfound sewing skills with some handbags. I think they turned out pretty cute.

The first one I found at the following website:
http://artsycraftybabe.typepad.com/tutorials/phoebe_bag.pdf

I found the pattern for the second one at the following website:
http://craftapple.wordpress.com/2006/02/21/the-lindie-bag-free-pattern/

The felt flower was not part of the pattern...I got the idea from Sarah who has been making Them in droves this last year. Hers are way cuter, I think felt flowers are a skill I still need to hone.

Finally, in my sewing craze, I discovered this awesome blog. This girl is making 365 new dresses out of 365 old dresses in 365 days for $365. It's ingenious and fun to read through. I don't love all the finished products, but you should see what she had to start with!
Enjoy! http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/

Until next week!

Moroni's First Baseball Game

2010-05-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

This Saturday we drove up to Cleveland for an Indians game with some of our friends. They were playing the Cincinnati Reds so it was a fun game. Moroni has never been to a baseball game before, specifically a professional baseball game. He was a good sport to humor me and drive the two hours up to Cleveland since he doesn't really enjoy sports at all. So we drove up to Cleveland, I was a little nervous it would be a horrible time since it had been pouring outside since the night before. Luckily, I prayed for good weather that morning and by the time we got up to Cleveland it was sunny and 75 degrees outside! We fed moroni baseball food to lull him into carnal apathy at the game and cheered for the Indians, since our friend Katie who came with us was an Indian's fan. Moroni lucked out because not only did we get a figure of the pink blobby mascot as we came into the stadium, but the game was actually exciting. The Indians were down by 4 for most of the game and played pretty terribly, but during the last inning they loaded up the bases and scored two runs and then loaded up the bases again and then lost, but even Moroni started yelling at the ump, so I knew he was having a good time. To top it off, at the end of the game they cleared out half of the stadium and had a real firework show with music and all that lasted for about a half an hour after the game ended. I've been to a ton of games and never gotten a firework show! This morning Moroni informed me that he didn't "love" baseball but he did "like" it. That was more than I could ask for! I'll have to get him to a Mariner's game some day! (They have better food at Safeco...mmmmm...lemonade, warm roasted peanuts and kettle corn!)

Shoes

2010-03-08T06:04:00.000-08:00

This morning as I was walking across the street to my lab I looked down and this is what I saw. Yep. I did in fact put on two different shoes this morning. A green one and a gray one. I mean most people wear different socks on occasion but its quite rare to wear mismatched shoes!

Chicken Enchildas

2010-03-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

Ok...so i am going to be honest. I have never actually made the american version of chicken enchiladas before (you know the kind that uses cream of chicken soup) but moroni requested them last night, or said "i sure wish we could have chicken enchiladas". So I found a recipe on allrecipes.com which was actually really good.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Enchiladas-V/Detail.asp

I subsituted low fat sour cream for the regular kind (because that is what we had), added an extra tsp of chili powder (kind of on accident...I wasn't paying attention..but it turned out to be the right choice), used two cups from a roasted chicken we had bought the day before, and salsa in the place of the green chilies (because we didn't have green chillies). I also used 4 10' tortillas and a slightly smaller pan (also because that's what we had) and reduced the cheddar to 1/2 cup. This literally took me about 10 minutes to prepare. So easy. I calculated the calories as if it were four servings and then determined the calories etc. You could also make it a little healthier by using whole wheat tortillas. Usually they have these awesome ones at sam's club that are like 6 grams of fiber per tortilla, but they didn't have them yesterday and so I got regular. I never post recipes but I thought this one was good and fast and easy. Those are the kind I need since I don't have much time at night, plus I think its something Moroni could make also.

Gardening

2010-03-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

So, its about that time to get out those green thumbs again. We are not allowed to dig into the ground of Moroni's yard, so I have designed my own raised garden bed to go on the side of driveway (which is in the back of the house). I'm pretty proud of it. Once I build it I'll take real pictures! I did it using a free program called googlesketchup. It is very user friendly and quite fun to use!

http://sketchup.google.com/

Updates

2010-03-07T15:09:00.000-08:00

I have been pretty busy these past few months and so has Moroni, so the following are some of the things that have been going on!

1. Candidacy Exam:

What is this exam you ask? Well, let me put it this way. You can not get a PhD without passing it. With that said, you do not get a PhD once you pass it either. Basically what it does mean is that when a student passes it, said student is considered to be a doctoral candidate. In my program the candidacy exam involves about a two and a half month long process which includes : a) writing a 20-page grant proposal on an original research hypothesis that is unrelated to the student's or the student's lab's actual research. This proposal of course includes, the hypothesis, background information, significance, experimental design and alternative approaches. This proposal is then b) turned into her graduate committee for evaluation where she is either passed (with no revisions, minor revisions or major revisions or failed) and then the student has 4-weeks to c) re-vise and prepare for an oral exam at the end where she d) defends her proposal and is asked any questions her committee feels like asking. Sound like fun? Well, it wasn't. But I had my final oral examination this last Thursday and passed. I am so glad I do not have to do it over.

2. New jobs and side projects

Moroni recently started a new job at Chase as a supervisor (currently supervising 0), with really great opportunities to move up and expand his opportunities. He also attended the MobileX conference where he was one of four people chosen to present an idea he had for a mobile application. His idea (which I think should have won) was a mobile meter that measures the energy usage in the home. This application for your phone, would allow you to set energy limits and you would have an alarm to alert you when you had exceeded this limit. Eventually you would also be able to control energy sources from your phone as well (e.g., appliances, thermostat, etc.)

3. Snow

Well, the snow is finally melting. But I think we literally had at least a foot of snow on the ground for the last two months. Now we can finally see grass but there are still piles of snow all over the place and lots of sand everywhere! Basically it was record snow fall for Columbus this year! And I hated every minute of it.

4. Half-marathons and biking

I have committed to run a half marathon. I thought I should blog about it so now I can not back out :) Just kidding. I don't think I will. It is in May, and Sarah and I are doing it together. I started running again this week for the first time, really, since summer! It was painfully horrible but no pain no gain I guess. While training to do a half marathon I am also going to be biking on the off days to be ready for the century ride coming up in May. This year I think I may do the Pelatonia as well, but am unsure since I have to raise $1500 dollars for that one (all proceeds go to cancer research). Shoot! Now that I am writing about this I may as well do a half iron man! (I think it is a one mile swim, a 13 mile run and a 55 mile bike ride...peace of cake!)

Valentine's Day and SNOW

2010-02-15T10:29:00.000-08:00

First of all, just wanted to post a picture of the pretty flowers Moroni gave me for Valentine's Day. Here is a link to his blog so that you can see the other nice things he did: demifool.wordpress.com

The other, more disappointing thing, is that fact that it just keeps on snowing here. I mean, really, I don't know how much longer I can handle wearing my ugly blue snow boots everywhere, but alas, that seems to be my eternal fate in Ohio this winter. So I would say that after the snow storms we had last week, we probably had a total of 13-15 inches on the ground. 13-15 inches which never melts because it has stayed perpetually at 24 degrees the entire time. Then I woke up this morning, completely taken by surprise to this: (see picture below)!!!! Oh yes...it is in fact snowing again...and will continue to snow through tomorrow. How exciting is that? If you ask me, not very. I used to love the snow as a kid...love it. Now its mostly the cold I hate. I have been a very religious weather news watcher lately but this weekend I slacked on it. I thought I was in the clear when the last time I looked it was just supposed to be cold all week and sunny. It seemed like something I could handle. I missed the news break on incoming Ohio storms. Nine more inches here we come! Who doesn't love having two feet of crusty snow in the yard? On second thought, maybe the reason I hate snow here is that you can't build anything with it. It is too dry. You can't go down anything on it, there are no hills. It seems completely useless. Yes, I think that is why I hate it.

A Christmas Story

2010-01-27T10:10:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite movies of all time is "A Christmas Story" and it just so happens that the very house featured in the movie is right here in Ohio. Last Saturday, Moroni and our friends Carly and Mike and I took a drive up to Cleveland to visit the house.

Blog Under Construction

2010-01-27T10:08:00.000-08:00

Okay...you can probably tell, I'm attempting to make changes, but am not quite successful yet. I will get this figured out.

The Mold

2009-08-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

Oh my! I forgot about my bread mold project. Moroni moved it to the garage (I have no idea why). I will have to check it when I get home! This could be very very interesting.

Random Updates...

2009-08-09T16:12:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! As usual it's been awhile since the last update! Basically, I'm going to update you on the going ons that have taken place since I last blogged.

In order of appearance:

1. Nauvoo, Illinois. Moroni and I went to Nauvoo with our singles ward, which basically encompassed getting on a big bus at midnight and driving all night (in which we were all supposed to be able to sleep and be able to be refreshed and ready to go), spending all of Friday in Nauvoo and then going to the Nauvoo temple on Saturday morning, Carthage jail, where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred, and finally home. It was a really good trip, all though I was really really tired on Friday! Also, on the bus they decided to show the movie Charly, which is basically a sobfest you cry the entire way through. Moroni played games on his iPhone so that he would not get emotionally involved and then break down in the middle of the bus, I on the other hand, sobbed through the entire ending. It was pretty awesome.

2. Black Hand Gorge. A few Saturdays later Moroni and I did some hiking near where he grew up.

3. The doctor. I went to the doctor to get a referral for another doctor and found that after 3 months of intense weightlifting, I had gained 10 pounds ( on top of the 10 pounds I had already gained, which is why I started weightlifting in the first place!) and almost starting crying on the spot. My doctor suggest I meet with a dietician, and I've been going for about a month and a half (only twice so far), but she gave me some really great suggestions and knew exactly what I needed to do, and I have lost 10.3 pounds so far (phew!) and have enjoyed eating at the same time.

4. Fourth of July. Moroni told his Dad we would bring dessert for the 4th and so I made this fresh strawberry pie (idea from my sister) and I thought it turned out really nice looking and it also tasted yummy.

5. My bread-mold project. One thing I love about Moroni is that fact that he lets me do all things weird and gross, and even seems to enjoy them himself. About three weeks ago I took out some rolls from the freezer and forgot about them. When I remembered, they had already begun to mold over. Instead of throwing them away, like most people, I suggested we see how long it takes for them to mold away, if you will and completely decompose. I'm proud to say, our project is coming along splendidly!

6. Trip to Utah.

I flew to Utah for about five days to see my sister and Kevin and the kids. During this trip my sister threw me a bridal shower/ pool party, which turned out really great because I was able to see friends that I had not seen in a long time. It was great to see Nisha and Andrea who were my roomates my freshman year of college (about 11 years ago!) at Ricks, Jenna, Stacy and Tiffany who I've been friends with since junior high and high school, Emily and Jake who I knew from my singles ward in Kent, WA and of-course! Wendy, who just happened to be in town. We broke bridal shower rules and allowed everyone to bring their husbands and their kids, who swam in the pool. I had a really great time and it was just really great to see people I hadn't seen in so long. Oh! Emily, I didn't actually look at your blog until after the shower so the apron was, in fact a suprise! During the Utah trip my grandparents came from both sides and my aunt Bev and it was really fun to spend time with everyone and the kids who have gotten so big. Susie and Tyler are so cute and I'm so glad they finally know who I am. Moroni and I are now saying phrases like, "that food was bery, bery dewicious, and I wuved it bery much! so bery much!" (thanks to susie and her new found words!) I'm excite we were able to take Grace and my grandpa Al to the Mt. Ochre temple open house so they could see what would be going on in the temple when I get married.

7. Roasted chicken in the crockpot. Okay! So, awhile ago I had a whole chicken and I thought "I bet this would be yummy in the crock-pot"...I was so wrong...it turned into a mess of bones and skin and meat, was a gross gray color and was so dry we choked it down. I got a chicken at the store for about $3 and decided it was time to conquer the crockpot. Our crockpot you see, is pretty awesome. You can use the pot part on the stove, place it in the cooker on the counter or use it in the oven because it is stonewear. I decided to utilize all these elements this time and the chicken turned out really great...I also utilized the silicone vegetable steamer I have in order to keep the chicken out of it's juices and drippings so that it would really be roasted and not a boiled yucky mess. I think it turned out really well. We also made a chocolate brownie berry torte for dessert. Yum.

8. Finally, Hank, my dog with a small head (not a fat body!) died while I was at my sister's home. My dad waited until I got home to break the news to me. I adopted Hank in the summer of 2005 and he was a loyal, sweet, happy dog. He has been living at my dad's since I moved to Ohio, in what I like to coin as "doggy paradise". I mean how could a dog not enjoy the last years of his existence when he could run around outside all day in the summer, spend time lounging by the river, lazying away the day by the wood stove and then on top of it getting to sleep in-doors? All I'm saying is, is that if I were a dog, that would be the life for me. Needless to say about two months after going to my dad's he completely forgot his former life with me. I'm okay with that because I know he died a happy, happy dog! We think he was between 11 and 12...pretty good if I do say so myself (that's about 79 in doggie years!)

2009-06-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

I was looking through all of my photos and somehow I ended up with these poloroids...most likely taken by my dad. I really like this one of Nate, Amy, Tyler and I because we are wearing basically what we would run around in all summer...also, notice Tyler's blue fluffy bunny slippers. I thought that was pretty hillarious, mostly because I can imagine my aunt telling him not to wear them out of the house.

Canoeing--Take 2

2009-06-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

You may recall me posting pictures from an 11 mile canoe trip that Moroni and I took last September, with tons of garbage, log jams and other fun things. Yesterday Moroni planned another canoe trip on the same river, just 11 miles down stream (where we pulled out). At this point the river is a lot nice, a lot deeper and there are no log jams! We went with some friends from church, a friend, Tom, who was in town and my room mate Julie. Afterwards we went to Der Duthchman for some Ammish style dinner...

Moroni and Me

2009-06-06T08:07:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Moroni sent me this on his phone...I laugh a little because his picture makes me look like a cradle robber, but I swear mine was taken less than two years ago and he's been in the ward so long that his was probably taken right after he got home off his mission (like 10 years ago)! I just thought this was funny, in the singles wards they always make picture directories so it's easier to remember who everyone is. At BYU we "fondly" reffered to them as the ward menu...easy way to pick out potential datables (I'm actually not really kidding)...so I guess it was fate.....or something?

The Prodial Socks? Return...

2009-05-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, so, you know how every time you wash a load of laundry and you pull everything out of the dryer and start folding, there is somehow always a missing sock? And you start to kid yourself thinking it's most likely your fault? Like somehow you didn't manage to hit the hamper when throwing your socks in and that they somehow magically disappeared under a bed or behind a dresser? Well, I'm here to tell you this! The dryer is actually eating your socks! It's true. Lately I've been noticing socks going missing...why? Because they were mainly my favorites or my more expensive socks...smartwool, biking socks (all go for over $10 a pair), colored ones...you name it, I began to notice a pattern of good socks gone rogue, if you know what I mean. Even Moroni noticed...two months ago he bought a pack of biking socks that came in three pairs, as of Saturday morning, when heading out to ride, he had only one bike sock remaining. Monday evening, I was pulling my sheets out of the dryer when I noticed an opening, a small one between the drum and the body of the dryer, and so I did what any wise person would do, I attempted to stuff my hand down it...thinking..."aha! I bet there's socks down there!"...I could really only fit my fingers inside, but I did show it to Moroni, who, while simmering over the fact while sitting at work on Tuesday, came home and pushed the dryer forward and opened up the back....this is what he found....

That's right! SOCKS! GLOVES! HAIR BANDS! An entire village of socks had been eaten by the big bad dryer. Basically now, Moroni is the hero of his whole serfdom...I mean just think how many more little guys could have been taken in our predators mad sock eating frenzy...Dad and Megan think weasels are bad and scary....look what this monster did to our socks!

All right, I'll stop there, I'm just warning you, we all have dryers, and now that I have shown you what they are capable of you also know you have been warned....dryers do eat socks and yours could be next.

Blogging

2009-03-29T08:54:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! Forever I had my blog through my yahoo account but have recently changed it to my gmail account. I would love for everyone to reinvite me to their blogs because I cannot access them anymore unless I sign out and resign in with the yahoo account!

my email is alyssacharrier@gmail.com

Thanks!

Some Thing Nice and Old Presents Finished

2009-03-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

Now that school's out I seem to have more time on my hands...well sort of. Last June I told my sister I'd knit her an item of her choice for her birthday, and she chose a "lacy" scarf, and I chose this ridiculous pattern. It only took me about three months to get about 10 inches into it, and that was in October. It has stayed the same size ever since then, with a few futile attempts to "finish" it here and there. After promising it to her by Christmas, and then postponing it until her next birthday (this June), I finally realized I may never finish it (suprise, suprise) and so instead was inspired to make her a replacement item. I saw a girl with a knitted bag she got from Urban Outfitters or something like that, and I thought it looked really cool. She let me take a close look so that I could see how it was done, and I thought, I could do that, nothing there is too hard. And what you have is what I have pictured below. I think it looks cooler in real life. In fact, I'm kind of sad I'm getting ready to ship it off to my sister because I think its so cool looking I kind of want to show it off:0) Oh! And Moroni definately wanted me to mention that he chose the button himself. I do think he did a pretty good job.

Also, I thought I would tell a nice story about Moroni. He has a computer which he built last year, but for some reason never was able to get the speakers to work, so has always used a pair of headphones. The other day I thought to myself "if his headphones work, his speakers should work, because there's nothing wrong with his sound card". Thus the story begins. I got to his house after working yesterday and before he got home, when he came home he found me rummaging through the box of computer stuff, and I told him I was going to plug the speakers in. He humored me, and let me attempt it, even though I'm pretty sure he had attempted it a billion times already. He left the room and went to fix dinner, and the next thing you know I had his shell off his computer and had pulled he sound card out and had put it back in. By the time he came back, the sound card wasn't working either, and I was frantically trying to fix things...but potentially screwing them up worse. If I were him, I would have killed me, but instead he very calmly told me it was okay and he loved me more than the computer (even though I know how much he loves his computer). Then we went and ate dinner, while I felt terrible the entire time. He ended up fixing the sound card, and my starting the whole project encouraged him to open up the subwoofer (which sounded rattlely) and find a random piece floating inside, which he removed, plugged everything in, and promptly the base was blasting and he had sound! So two good things came of this! I realized I would have to do something pretty terrible for Moroni to actually get really angry with me and his computer now has sound. How's that for a hard days work?

Some Fun Things

2009-03-15T19:45:00.001-07:00

I've been knitting a lot lately in my free time. A few months ago, I picked up this knitting book at the Loft, which is this great bookstore nearby, and I've been working on these cute mittens that are in it. I'm pretty proud of them. I had to learn how to do a ton of new things in order to finish. Thank goodness for you tube and videos!

A Funny Thing

2009-03-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Why is it, that when you most need something you can not find it anywhere? And when you don't need it anymore because you have replaced it, you find it? I have not been able to find my camera since Thanksgiving. My sister out of the kindness of her heart sent me her old camera, which I recieved from the mail man yesterday. What turns up today? My camera....NO JOKE! And it was in the place I swear I have looked like three times already!

Kitties

2009-03-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

Last December, my roomate Jule and I, adopted some cats. Edward and (you fill in the blank--we still can not come up with a good name for her). If anyone has any good kitty names we are all ears. I am adding a few pictures and a video for you because we think they are great. If you think Miranda (or whatever her name is) is looking at you cros-eyed, that's probably the case--she has some vision problems.

What's Going On

2009-03-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I still need to report the fact that I have not been able to find my camera anywhere. So...I still have no pictures to post:( I even endeavored to clean out the spare bedroom at Moroni's house, which was basically the dumping ground of everything he has not unpacked since he moved here (9 months ago) and everything (all crafts included) that I have brought over to do in my free time. Basically it was a mess. But alas, even with a newly cleaned room the camera is no where to be found. If anyone has a spare camera lying around somewhere, unused and duty, I would definitely be happy to take it off of your hands. Anyway, as promised...what's going on.

1. Only a week and a half more of classes for winter quarter....yeah. Then I have until the end of March to work, work and work some more. I've actually been feeling a little worn out this weekend, so even having no classes will be kind of nice.

2. I started a knitting group and had my first meeting last Tuesday. I bought this awesome book on knitting gloves and have one of a pair finished of these adorable kids mittens with flip top. When I do get a camera I think I will start posting picture because I've finally learned how to make some cool stuff. We also just had a service auction at church to raise money to donate to the Ronald McDonald House and I auctioned off a knitted item of their choice. It went for $30, so I was pretty proud of that.

3. Moroni and I splurged and went on a real date on Friday night. A girl in our ward is getting her master's in performing art for percussion at OSU, and was performing in a show called "Drums Downtown" in Columbus, so we went to that and Moroni took me out to dinner at a yummy Greek restaurant before that. It was really nice.

4. I have really been trying to get diligent about working out again Since I've been in school again, I've been lucky if its three times a week. My new year's resolution for the year was to workout five days a week and I'm happy to report that I have kept that goal to this point.

5. On a sad note I just finished my taxes for the year and was surprised to find that I owe the government, the "MAN" if you will, $614! All though I was a little bummed about it, I feel blessed that even with my small amount of income, I managed to come up with the money ahead of time to pay it in full.

Anyway, I guess that's it for now. I hope this isn't too boring, I will keep looking for my camera...next time will be less writing and more pictures, I hope:)

This is a Test Run!

2009-02-20T12:46:00.001-08:00

Hello family and friends! There are two reasons why I haven't been blogging as much as normal (which, I will admit is not as often as most people do anyway):

I can not seem to find my camera anywhere, so I haven't taken pictures since Thanksgiving.
I really hate the formatting that is involved when using blogspot…everything about it drives me nuts!

I still haven't found my camera, but come to find out you can format your blog in Microsoft Word 2007 and then publish it that way. I am sitting in my lab right now waiting for an incubation and thought I would test it out (in my very own handwriting font…thank you very much Amy!)

Some other updated info:

For those of you wondering (and I've had a few questions), Moroni and I are not married yet, so don't worry I didn't not send you an invite on purpose…I haven't sent any yet. YOU WILL get one when I doJ

School is going well. I like my 2^nd year so much better than my first year for a couple of reasons. I am part of a great lab where I can focus on my research only. I've had two papers published that I've done work on this last year (one is in the process of being published) I am by no means even close to being a major contributor, but it's still kind of fun to see my data!

(http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121484206/HTMLSTART. This is the link to the paper that was published in the second lab I rotated in, and almost joined, but didn't due to funding). Also, my data is turning out great, and I'm finally at the point where I generally only have to do an assay once or twice when I haven't done it before…when I first started, it seemed like I repeated everything about 100 times), so I've become much more efficient. The other reason is that I don't have to go to class as much (only one class a quarter) and I really like that! I hate class and have a really hard time staying awake during them.

I am officially sick of winter! We got lucky and had a few warm days, now we are back down to the 20's ugh. I am for sure looking for post docs/etc in warmer climes (maybe even in places where winter does not exist), unfortunately that is years away!

I am also posting this cute picture of my niece and nephew (even thought the same one is on my sister's blog) to see if I am able to post pictures as well.

A Good Thing

2008-10-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

Right before I left for Toronto I filled up on gas...and this was the price. I almost fell over! Needless to say it was a good day, especially for a poor and mostly broke grad student. May all your gasoline dreams come true as well!

Biking Recaps

2008-10-12T13:53:00.000-07:00

This picture is from the first ride of the year (with this group). I think it was sometime in March.

The above pictures are from our rides to the Ashville museum, in Ashville, Ohio...I've attempted to go their three or four times, with only one real success (the other times they were closed for renovation or because it was too late in the day)

These are the guys from Dean's neighborhood that we ride with most offten...in order of appearance (me, Frank, Jim and Dave). They are all in their sixties, but ride all the time so they are in really great shape.

The trip above was when I did the century ride (100 miles). Four of us went on this trip: Devon (he's 13, me, Dean and Jim)

On this trip we found a fox (alread dead) on the side of the road and Dean has been wanting to get a pelt for his grandsons so Moroni and Dean rode back (on motorcycles this time) and got the fox where we had hid it on the side of the road and then I showed them how to skin it...

The above picture are of our bike ride to the Tarlton Cross Mound (Indian mounds)

As I've been promising...here are some biking recaps over the past year (kind of)...we finally got copies of the pictures from Dean. As I really don't think I look all that great in bike shorts, I'm uploading only the ones that are flattering to me...or at least the most flattering:)

There are Still Honest People Out THere

2008-10-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

About a week an a half ago in the parking lot at OSU, another car backed out of his spot into my car. Right away he admitted it was his fault and that he would rather pay for it than turn it in to his insurance since the damage was minimal. He also told me he was on his way to the airport and would be out of the country until the next Saturday. So I took his phone number, email and address and agreed to contact him when I had some estimates. Now, I know everyone who's reading this already have a ton of "you should haves" in their head. Yes, I know, I should have called the police, and I should have gotten his insurance information right there. But all I can say is that he seemed honest. I got the estimates on Thursday afternoon and emailed them to him Friday. He contacted me on Saturday after returning and let me know he'd been willing to pay for whichever one I wanted. To end my little story. I now have the cash sitting in my bank account because he handed me the money today and I will be able to get my pretty little Subaru fixed (some dents and scratching). So I am happy to report that it is possible to find people who are honest out there...and that you shouldn't always do what I did, but sometimes it feels good to know that you can trust that someone will keep their word, without having to be accountable to someone else, like the the police or their insurance company first.

Engagement Picture

2008-10-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

Okay...afer everyone put up their own versions of Moroni's and my "engagement" picture, I am posting the real deal. The one taken right after he asked the question...I am also posting the one I was taking as he was getting ready to ask the question.

6 Quirks About Myself

2008-10-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by my sister... left me with very little options of family to tag...grrrrr.

1. I hate a dirty kitchen sink...especially when there is water left around the edges that gets all stagnant and gross. The thought of washing dishes in it makes me want to throw up. Maybe after reading this Moroni will finally understand why I follow him around with a kitchen towel after he's done in the kitchen. To go a long with that...I dirty toilets...all though I do not wash my dishes in one, I've had too many times where I've almost thrown up and had to hold my head over a dirty, stinky, disgusting toilet.

2. I'm super anal about how my towels are folded. I think this one goes back to working at bed, bath and beyond, where I was forced to fold the entire towel area every time I worked. And in my conquest to getting it to look absolutely perfect, I was brainwashed into thinking that that was the only way it could be done.

3. I hate wearing socks over my ankles..unless it is about 3 degrees outside...all summer I go barefoot, even if I'm wearing tennis shoes.

4. I fly all the time on airplanes, but each time I do, I get a little more scared to fly, I guess because crashing seems so final...I mean for the most part you don't live through those.

5. I like to be the best at everything I do...Wendy will read this an laugh..she says I'm competetive. I just don't like to lose.

6. Because of an incident when I was about 12, I still to this day can not eat that hors de'vours that has cream cheese, shrimp and coctail sauce...any of those combined together makes me want to gag. Speaking of hors de'vours...when I was a kid I thought that was pronounced exactly as it looked (whores-di-voors) and wondered why they used that word instead of oar-dirves.

I tag Sarah (spelled with an H!), Dad, Moroni (he'll have to write it on my blog), Andrea Porter, and Lauriel

Painting the Roses Red

2008-09-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here is my second video in my week of video fun:) It also reminds me of my sister. I still have my queen of hearts costume from the 4th grade and better yet I can still fit into it! Maybe I'll take a picture of myself in that as well:)

In the Bag

2008-09-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

I love you tube. It think it's pretty much the greatest thing on the internet. The other night Moroni and I ate Chicken Catciatore(I think that's how it's spelled:)) and it made me think of the cartoon that Amy and I and Karla and Jeffrey and Stephanie would watch when we were kids. In fact we did not just watch it we also made our own props and would act it out as well and everyone wanted to be the bear or the ranger. So I got on you tube to look it up and sure enough it was there. I'm mainly posting this for my sisters benefit, but I think I will post a few more of the videos I found through out the next week or so.

Hocking River

2008-09-06T10:11:00.001-07:00

On Monday, I had some time off from the lab (well actually, I went in really early...but since it was a hospital holiday I technically could take the day off) so Moroni and I planned out this spectacular canoeing trip! As you will see by the pictures. Unfortunately we got a little overzealous and picked the wrong section of the river! Needless to say we spent the first 6 miles of our 11 mile canoe trip lugging a canoe over tree jams, dry ground and a lot of tires! It took us 7 hours to make it 11 miles down stream where you can see the area is clean and pristine. We've definatley learned our lesson: which is to be more obervant...when we were parking our pick up vehicle down stream we say a canoe/kayak outfitter putting a group of people in where we were going to be coming out. That was our first clue. Next time we will definately follow the example of the experts! I must say thought, that even though the day got to be really long, hot and definately dirty...I think we both had a good time or at least a memorable one...we were still singing the Gilligan's Island theme song by the end if that says anything. Hope you enjoy the pictures of the beautiful scenery. They are in order of the trip!

The Visit

2008-06-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
So this week (my first week of vacation...yes!) my Grandpa Al and Grace are here for a visit. I figured I would start posting while I actually had time to do it instead of four weeks later. They arrived last night and Moroni's dad and his wife Amy and her daughter Noelle came down for dinner. Also, my room mate Julie joined us. She's not in the pictures unfortunately because she was taking them. I was pretty excited about dinner for two reasons...I got to use herbs from my herb garden (which I had not done yet) and I actually got the briquettes on the bbq to be the right temperature and was able to cook the meat all the way through. I was also glad that the temperature dropped yesterday to a reasonable 80 degrees with low humidity so that I could keep the house cool with enough fans. It's no fun to sweat over your dinner.

My Dad: in response to Amy's blog

2008-06-17T04:59:00.001-07:00

I decided to add a blog about my dad in response to my sisters blog.
1. I also remember my dad getting injured...however, 9 times out of 10 he was alone with me. We seemed to be a bad combination in that respect...or he thought he needed to show of his amazing skills. Either way, I knew now matter what stupid things I did I would never get in trouble because my dad had probably done it already! That's what happens when you put two people who can make compulsive decisions together! Thanks for the good times dad:
1. Broken wrists at snoqulamie
2. Broken wrists on the first day of ski trip in Canada
3. Puncturing some type of main artery on a bike ride on the Lake Youngs Trail
4. Almost driving my car over the edge of the road going up to Crystal Mountain and then locking the keys in the car
5. Multiple trips to the emergency room
6. Softball injuries
7. Boating injuries

The list could go on...but without those I would be missing a lot of significant memories in my life!

I'm Alive

2008-06-08T11:51:00.001-07:00

For all of you who thought that I may have perhaps met my ultimate demise sometime at the beginning of last month, when I last posted a blog, the rumors are all untrue! That's just a joke...no one thinks I'm dead, but some may be wondering what I've been up to, or at least I'd like to flatter myself into thinking so anyway!

Here is a brief update of some stuff I've been up to.

1. SCHOOL...that's right school, but I took my last final for the school year last Tuesday, and am not too sad about not attending classes for the entire summer. It was a tough quarter, partially due to the fact that the weather was good, and I would have rather been outside on the weekends, and partially due to the fact that I was burned out on Biochemistry...only two more classes of Biochemistry to go! I will not be starting up with actual classes again until next year, but that's not a problem it will be a much lighter load.

2. JOINING A LAB. For those of you who don't know how this graduate program works, basically the first year of school you we are in the market for a lab to join. We have a list of 160 scientists who we then have to search through and determine whether or not we'd be interested in the research that they do. And then find three to do rotations in (that actually have the money to take a grad student on for the remainder of their graduate career). This may sound relatively simple...but I can assure you is not and was in fact probably one of the most stressful parts of this last quarter for me. The news is is that I did join a lab. I will be in a lab that focuses primarily on Liver and Pancreatic fibrosis.

3. Other activities: I will now post some pictures of some of the stuff I have been doing this past month and a half...

Moroni will probably kill me for posting this picture because we look terrible, but we've been biking some...in this particular ride we got caught in a rain storm.
Moroni bought a house and closed in the beginning of may...but was a little dismayed to find that new homes do not come equipped with blinds (poor guy). The toughest challence was the door. It is metal, number one, and we didn't really want to drill into it in order to put up blinds. Instead I created blinds out and sewed magnets inside. When you want to cover the window it can be pulled down. I was pretty proud of my domestic skills on this one, and Moroni also liked it (probably because I did not make it out of floral material...I'd say green is a pretty manly color).

Hiking and Metro parks....I'm learning Ohio style wilderness adventures everyday. It's not the Cascades or Utah...but it does have it's own gems. Around Columbus and beyond they have what are called "metro parks", which I would assume, as an outsider, to be merely another park with a swing set and slide. But this is not the case. You can actually hike in these places! And they are not just cement trails either...I mean it's a little more urban but it's still outdoors, so I'll take what I can get. The park I'm posting below is called Clear Creek Metro Park Here is great picture that Moroni actually posed for. This is Moroni and our friend Tom and an old barn we found.

The Olenatangy Indian Caverns
This Saturday we went to these caves...which were pretty cool...or at least cool in the sense that they felt really good--54 degrees, as opposed to the 94 degrees it was outside with 75% humidity. They weren't bad, just I'm glad that we had a two-for-one coupon. They did tell us, which we didn't see, that there was a lake below us and cave fish...now that would have been worth the full price. Moroni kind of reminded me of a grandpa in this picture Here is some more fun we found at the caves. I want everyone to know I actually picked the snake up first, but Moroni was the one who tamed it. They also had a small petting zoo...very small...four animals...here is Moroni getting up close and personal with another.......................... donkey
So adios for now. I will hopefully be keeping up on the blog a little better this summer, since I will for sure have more time on my hands. And hopefully will have some good adventures to share over the next few weeks. My grandpa Al may be coming out in the middle of June for a week and then Moroni and I will be heading for Washington the last week in June.

TOSRV

2008-05-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

The Tour of the Scioto River Valley--Scioto...for all of you not from Ohio (believe me I had to learn this also, and am still a little confused as to why it is this way) is prounounced Sigh-oh-ta (rhymes with Toyota--kind of) is a river that runs through Columbus. And the TOSRV is a 200 mile bike tour that runs from Columbus-to Portsmouth and back--and is done in two days, kind of like the STP. I did not do this ride, well, I did not pay to do this ride, but I did do my first century ride (100 miles) last Saturday. What we did was leave south-east of Columbus near Lancaster and rode for ten miles where we met up with riders from the TOSRV and followed the route for the next 40 miles. We then turned around and followed it back home. Riding "in" the TOSRV was really fun and I think I might actually do it next year. The funny, or terrible part of this ride, is that I did not train at all for it, and if I had, it probably would have been more enjoyable after mile 70. But I just didn't have the time...so instead I just did it. And the last 30 miles were pretty hard, and the last ten miles were exhausting. The nice part? When I got home I could pretty much eat whatever I wanted for the rest of the day and I didn't have to worry about gaining weight...why? Because according to the calorie calculators I looked up when I got home, I had burned 5,818 calories during the ride. I didn't take pictures, but Dean took a bunch of all of us, and when I get them, I will post them.

Mall Musical

2008-04-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

Nisha had this posted on her blog, but not everyone knows Nisha, and so they probably wouldn't be checking out her blog. She got it from someone else, but I also think it's really funny and thought you might like to check it out.

Peeps-Around-the-World

2008-03-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

Tonight for FHE we created people using Peeps. We got the idea from a newspaper article. I'm pretty proud of the one's I made so I decided to post them all for everyone to see.

Backpacking in North Carolina

2008-03-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

So, once again you all haven't heard from me in awhile. These past two weeks have been finals and a blizzard. Last week was spring break, so I took the opportunity to head down to North Carolina with some friends to do some backpacking in the Smokey Mountains. It definately turned into an adventure. I guess we should have gone on our premonitions from day one (Sunday night) when the campground we were supposed to stay at for the night was closed. Day two (Monday) involved starting out on the wrong trail for three miles, and then once we found the right trail head at around 4pm...we then had a problem actually finding the real trail. Finally at almost 6 we started hiking and ended up making it about 2 1/2 miles before it started to get dark. It also involved a lot of stopping to reorient ourselves and look for the trail. Day 3 involved Adam going to look for his gun (which he has somehow lost in all our trail craziness the day before. If you are wondering why he had a gun it is because we were in bear country) and then us heading out at about 3 in the afternoon. We ended up crossing the river, following the trail as best as we could, about 8 times. We finally got to a trail crossing and were able to determine exactly where we were in the dense forest and realized that we had about 7 miles to go to get back to the car. We were able to hike about 1 more mile that night. Day 4 involved us heading out at 9 am. We then hiked about a mile and crossed the river about 12 times. Each time it got progressively deeper (starting at about ankle depth and ending at about thight depth). It also started to pour down rain. We finally made it to the end of the trail at about 12:30. (There was a road at this point), but we still had to turn on to the trail to take us back to our car and up the mountain. We had about 4 miles left. By now it had been raining for about 3 hours and we were all soaked. We started up the trail and about 3/4 of a mile up the trail dissapeared...it was nowhere to be found. We had two choices...to go back the way we came (which took us about two days) or to go back to the trail head and figure out where the road went and hope it took us back to our cars. We chose the latter. At the trail head we determined the cars were about 12 miles down the road. Two of the guys we were with, Adam and Preston, changed into dry clothes, grabbed food and water, a map, and cell phones and started running toward the car. In the mean time I set up a tent and the rest of us changed into dry clothes and hung out for four hours until the guys drove up to rescue us. No one died...no one got hypothermia and the moral to this story is....always call the forest service ahead of time to determine if trails are still good (apparently ours weren't...Preston and Adam were informed of this by the forest ranger who rescued them about 6 miles down the road). It was a good adventure though.

The Fun Operon

2008-03-11T20:41:00.000-07:00

I'm truly becoming a molecular biology nerd. I just finished my last two finals for the quarter. One of my classes was a biochem class where we discussed different operons all quarter. Tonight a bunch of people from my class went out to dinner and we decided that PhD was a super repressor of the fun operon. If you don't understand science you probably won't get it...but we thought it was hillarious. This is just an example of my sudden decline into science geekery. Also thought you might find this comic amusing...

A Sunday of Firsts

2008-02-03T19:48:00.001-08:00

I title this blog entry, the Sunday of Firsts for a few reasons. I finally decided I needed to bite the bullet and buy some furniture, since I don't really own any anymore. I've been thinking about it for awhile, but finally found the table I wanted this weekend. Lucky for me, World Market was having a great furniture sale and I was able to get this great table for a really great deal. Here are the reason's for the title:
1. This is my first real dining room table of my very own (not like the one Wendy and I bought together for $30 at the thrift store and then painted together also).
2. This is the first real meal that we've eaten on it.
3. Julie doesn't know how to cook, so today I taught her how to make brownies from scratch (not from a box mix) for dessert. Basically this meant, I handed her a recipe and she followed thi instructions. This was her first baking experience and quite honestly the picture does not do these brownies justice...they were really good. So, these are the first homemade brownies that Julie has ever made and I guess also the first time anyone has ever tried her homemade brownies!

Also, I might add, I was pretty lucky with this table because it was a self assembly job and yesterday I managed to put together one chair, which I then used to sit at while I studied at the old table. However, Moroni is really the one who deserves all the praise because he put together the three other chairs, the table and the bench...I will NEVER complain about that! Thank you Moroni!

Dan in Real Life

2008-02-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

I know I've probably told all my friends and family that they needed to see this movie, but I'm going to say it again. Go to see "Dan in Real Life". You will not regret it. I actually don't think it's in the theater anymore and it's not out on DVD until March (I think), but if there is anyway possible GO AND SEE IT. We just saw it last night at the dollar theater, and I still laughed and cried...Also, on a side note, but still related to the movie, the sound track is also great. It's entirely done by Sondre Lercher....so anyway, I promise you will love this movie. I think it's the best movie I've seen in a really long time. Go see it (I think I've said it enough now):) I am not getting back to studying.

Also, this is another side note. But for all of you who don't like Steve Carrell in his role on the office as Michael, which I do, but if you don't it's okay, his character in this movie is nothing like his character in The Office, and Dane Cook is hillarious, but he's a real character. This isn't a dumb movie like the one's made from Saturday Night Live spinoffs.

Amish Country

2008-01-27T14:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Moroni and I drove to Amish country (Holmes County, Ohio) where they have an abundance of cheese, bread, chocolate and home cooked foods. I felt like I had eaten Thanksgiving dinner afterwards and was ready for bed by seven. I didn't get too many good pictures, the weather was kind of yucky and I kept forgetting to take pitures at the stops because I was mostly eating. We first stopped at Heini's Cheese factory where they have the best spread of samples I have ever seen. Basically they have a sample of every cheese there (there have to be at least 50...at least). The samples are small of course but imagine eating 50+ samples of cheese. It was like eating about 5 pounds of cheese by the end. Then we went to the bakery and sampled all the breads and desserts (same scenario as before) and then the chocolate shop...you get the point. Here are some the pictures...
I tried to get one of a horse and buggy but couldn't because we were driving to fast, it was cold outside and I felt self concious taking a picture of someone else who absolutely knew I was trying to take a picture of them. I also added the basket building which we stopped at on the way back. It is the corporate office for Longaberger, a basket making company. It is a big basket...if you can't tell by my terrible picture:)

Flu Shots and Strep Throat

2008-01-19T15:18:00.000-08:00

This year I had a nasal mist in stead of a shot. It's kind of a new thing they have. You can either get the mist or the shot. I chose the mist. The next day I woke up with a horrible sore throat and lovely white globs all over my tonsils. My first premonition was that maybe I had strep throat, but I instead decided that what I had was from the flu nasal mist stuff and that it would go away in a few days. This was last Friday. I woke up this Thursday (almost a week later), and my sore throat had not gotten better but infinately worse. Now, not only did my throat hurt but my right ear as well. I made my first trip over to the Student Health Center. Which actually turned out to be very quick and efficient, and was diagnosed with Strep Throat! The doctor told me, and this is advice for all, that next year I should just go with the shot. It seems that everyone has problems after the nasal stuff. Unfortunately, the antibiotics didn't really kick in until about 24 hours later, so, that night I suffered in pain, alone (because I was contagious) and couldn't even open my mouth to talk, my tonsils were so swollen. At the health center they prescribed me Amoxycillin...I should have asked for liquid, even if it is disgusting, because honestly! Do they really expect a person who can't even open their mouth to swollow pills that large? Oh, well, 24 hours later the antibiotics finally kicked in, I could talk again (a very important part of my day) and felt a billion times better. This is a thanks to the doctors who treated me and to myself for not being resistant to Amoxycillin. I'm glad to not have strep throat anymore.

Hocking Hills--Hiking Ohio Style

2008-01-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

As you all know I'm terrible at posting on my blog. I'm sorry, it's just that my life is not exciting at all. Plus, since I've been back from Washington I haven't had tons of time to sit down and post pictures. However, yesterday Moroni and I drove down to Hocking Hills because I had never been there and it was pretty cool. Definately Ohio style hiking...paths and cement stairs and stuff like that, but still lots to see and cool caves to crawl into. I posted some of the pictures below. The barefeet are from when we crossed the stream to get to a cave on the other side. Yes, if you are wondering, the water was pretty cold.

Finals and Snow

2007-12-06T19:06:00.001-08:00

Tuesday night I stayed over at Sarah's house because John was out of town, and when I walked out the door I was suprised to find that it had in fact snowed! Just like I hoped. Instead of going to my Molecular Genetics class dreading the final to come, I instead stopped all along the way to enjoy the snow and take some pictures. I was the first person in a class of 100+ grad students to finish the exam. Some of you may be thinking "wow, what an accomplishment", I kind of got worried afterwards wondering if maybe there was somethign I missed that everyone else got and that's why they were still working on it...oh well, what can I do now? You'll probably also notice my huge stack of paper...I took two classes this quarter, that's all the paper I wasted...I think it was probably a redwood at one time. How sad.

Smart Wool Socks

2007-12-03T19:28:00.000-08:00

OKAY..OKAY..this is the last thing and then I'm really going to study. This is actually for Amy, so everyone else can just disregard the following blog. Amy...all I want for Christmas is Smart Wool socks...to keep my feet warm. The problem is that they can be costly...however, they are also amazing. Here are some links to some deals I found....
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/d/232_Womens-Casual-Socks.html

These are just examples...I'm really not picky, just as long as they are smart wool. You really only have to get me one pair...since I know they are expensive.

Wishing for Snow and Summing Up the Desire to Study for My Last Exam...

2007-12-03T19:13:00.000-08:00

All day long I've been teased with the notion of snow, without the actual result. It's a little different than when I was a kid though, whether it snows or not I still have to go take my final on Wednesday morning. However, I thought at least the early morning walk (my final is at 7:30) would be more enjoyable if I have to use snowshoes...it would be more of an adventure and then maybe I'd want to study really hard for it. Alas...it's cold enough to snow, it smells like snow, I'm freezing like I'm sitting naked in the snow, but there is no real physical evidence of it.

The picture above, is from last year's first snow in Washington....even Seattle go snow before us this year...I thought it was supposed to snow in the midwest! Now, I guess what I really need to do is crack open my notes and get out my notecards and stop staring out the window (or the computer). It's proteomics time....

Thanksgiving

2007-12-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the photos from visting Granpa Al in New York. Most are from our "urban hike" we took through Alley Pond Park. And the tree you see is the oldes Tulip Tree in Queens.

2007-11-27T15:40:00.000-08:00

Apparently, I was not sharing enough about my highly exciting life in Ohio...like my really great place....This is it...it's lovely isn't it? Julie and I are pretty much counting the days until our lease is up. It's okay though...I do live in a nice neighborhood, which is pictured below. So, for everyone's viewing pleasure you get to see a little of the inside of my house (my bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen with three cupboards...that really isn't a joke). Also, pictured below is my life saving space heater. The heat never makes it to my room, so this heater is the most important thing in my life. Before I had it, I almost broke out my 10 degree down mummy bag and long johns. Now my room stays a cosy 68 degrees.

Every morning I walk to the lab. This is the place I would like to live. And I've also added some pictures of my favorite part of the neighborhood.

Last but not least, The Ohio State University Medical Center. I don't actually work in this building (just on the otherside of it). However, my lab is part of the Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is part of the Medical Center. If you want to see more you are going to actually have to come and visit me. Have a great day!

2007-11-14T18:26:00.000-08:00

Hello family and friends...I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything onto my blog. It's really because I haven't been taking any pictures. Last weekend was the first weekend I've taken pictures at all since I've been out here. So, Last weekend was my first retreat/conference. It was at Mohican State Park, which is about an hour and a half north of Columbus by Mansfield. Monday was Veteran's Day and so I assumed I would have the day off while my lab went on this retreat since I'm only a rotating student right now (I'm being paid by my department and not by the lab),
but the PI of my lab thought I should come too. So I got to go on an "all expense paid" trip if you will, to the Mohican Start Park Lodge and Resort. I got my own very nice room and free meals (which anyone knows is a plus). Monday on the way home we stoped at some more places.
I wanted to add the "Mt. Jeez" pictures because I thought they were hillarious. I mean...this is not a mountain. It is not even a large hill. Still, you do get a nice view of the valley and as far as "mountains" go in Ohio, this is pretty high.

Cycling--Ohio Style

2007-10-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

The second counselor in my bishopric, Dean Marple goes biking every Saturday with some other bike friends. If his wife is free, she also goes. Last Saturday I went with them. It was the first time I've ever ridden with anyone on the road. It was great! We talked the entire time. It was more social than work, and before I knew it we had biked 30 miles. Also, I must say, biking around Ohio is great. There are a lot of country roads and it's relatively flat (all though in Lexington there are quite a few hills). Nothing like biking up Benson after work for 1 1/2 miles.

The good news: Biking is great. I didn't fall and hurt myself (that should make my dad feel better).

The bad news: My helmet has decided to start breaking. I've decided cycling is a really expensive sport.

On that note, I have started the "Keep Alyssa On Her Bike" Fund. This should cover medical bills, maintenance and bike equipmetn and upgrades. I will accept personal checks (if they are greater than $100), cash or money orders. Thanks for the support.

Alum Creek

2007-09-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you don't have a lot of friends in Columbus, OH? What I've been doing is biking. This week I've gone on two really long rides up on the bike trails that head north and seem to just keep going. This was on my road bike. However, I'd been hearing talk that there was a place to take a mountain bike, so after a morning of intensive reading, I headed up north to Alum Creek. There I found a 6 mile trail complete with logs, rocks, bridges and a "lake". It was pretty fun. However, towards the end I had a little run in with some branches and ended up flipping over the handle bars. I didn't really get hurt or anything but I did get covered in dirt since it hasn't rained since I arrived three weeks ago (and possibly for three weeks before that).

5 Things...

2007-09-22T20:34:00.001-07:00

Amy tagged me to do this. I really don't have anyone to "tag" after wards, so I'm already sorry that I'm stopping this chain with myself. Here goes:

5 Things I was doing 10 yrs ago:

1. Starting my senior year of high school.
2. Probably buying toilet paper to t.p someones house (that was a normal
Saturday night activity)

3. Watching my favorite band Super Deluxe perform somewhere in Seattle with my friends Laura and Amanda.
4. Staying up until five in the morning writing a paper for my UW English class because I put it off until the last minute.
5. Hanging out at my best friend Kristi's house or Josh's house (Kristi's boyfriend).

5 Things on my to-do list today:

1. Read up on Polymerase Chain Reactions, Cell Cultures, Cloning and the Cre/Lox system.
2. Vaccuum my carpet and sweep my floor.
3. Get my road bike tuned up.
4. Wash my face and brush my teeth (my least favorite part of the day).
5. Call my Granpa Al (I think that is actually going to have to wait until tomorrow)

5 songs I lyrics to:

(Pretty much every song on my I-Pod)
1. Reason's Why--Nickel Creek
2. Sunshine--Matt Costa

3. Beautiful--G. Love and Tristan Prettyman

4. Landed (and most others)--Ben Folds

5. All Guster songs

5 things I would do if I had a million dollars:

1. travel all over the world

2. invest
3. buy a bunch of outdoors equipment and hike the Appalachian Trail for three months
4. buy a house
5. go on a shopping spree/ and give my old clothes to charity :)

5 things I will never wear again: (I'm really glad Amy said her prom dress, because if I were her I would definately never wear that again either)

1. Leggings--I just don't have the right shape for it.

2. Keds--the white ones that used to be popular in the late 80's early 90's

3. Overalls--either shorts or full lengths--either way they are just about as unflattering as you can get.
4. A grungy flannel shirt and Stussy shirt that is five sizes too large/ with baggy jeans and skater shoes ( I really don't know why I ever thought I looked great in those)
5. A perm....no one should have perms...but especially when your hairs as straight as mine (they turn into half perms)

5 of my favorite toys
1. my iPod
2. my bikes
3. my snow shoes
4. my hair straightener
5. my food processor

Moving to Ohio

2007-08-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

We (Grandpa Al and I) have begun the big trek to the East. I've decided to add onto this day by day just in case someone (my family mainly) checks to see if I have added anything. I know, I know...it's been awhile.

Day 1: After spending all weekend at the farm (and not taking any pictures) granpa and I got up and headed out the door at an early hour. Did I say early? I meant early for grandpa. We left at 10:00 am. Unfortunately we forgot to calculate in the time difference. We ended up having to add an extra hour to hour trip and didn't arrive in Butte, Montana until 7:30pm. This was a straight drive all the way through. We covered three states (all though of course not the entire states), Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Day 2: We were headed out by 8:50 this morning. A vast improvement from the 10:00 am the night before. Today we also stopped at the Battle of Little Bighorn, Custer's Last Stance, or however else you want to think of it. As you are probably aware, the battle wasn't actually taking place anymore (that happened a long time ago). I also talked grandpa into making a little detour to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Turns out, Devil's Tower is the very 1st National Monument. I'm pretty glad I made him stop. I would some day like to actually come back and hike around it. Not just look for a bathroom nearby. I decided today that I think I would like to live in Montana. We arrived in Sundance, WY at 6:30. It is here that the Sundance kid stayed in jail for a period of time and also the town where he
eventually took his name from.

Day 3: Grandpa Al's birthday. He swears he's 50 (I'm not sure if I buy it since my dad is over 50 now...seems fishy). Today we stopped at Mt Rushmore first. Not as big as I thought when I was a kid. But still pretty impressive considering that each face is about 60 feet long. Then afterwards grandpa fell asleep. I decided to take a little side tour through the badlands. I didn't have the heart to tell him that the "butts" where actually called buttes. We are now in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I took a splash down the water slide at our hotel water park and then sat in the hot tub. It was nice.

My trip blog was interupted because I haven't had access to the internet in days. I'll continue from where I left off.

Days 4 and 5: Thursday evening we arrived Nauvoo. We got to watch all the cute senior missionary couples do their little musical "rondevouz in old navuoo" ( I think that's how it is spelled). We also lucked out because we pretty much came after tourist season. The town was empty. When we woke up on Friday grandpa decided he wanted to stay for an extra day. I was pretty happy about that because that meant I could do a lot of the things that I wanted to do there anyway. We watched the new movie about Joseph Smith in the morning and walked around the temple. Then we took a carriage ride all around Nauvoo. In the afternoon we drove to Carthage and were able to go into the Carthage Jail and actually be in the place where Joseph and Hyrum smith were both martyrd. Grandpa and I both didn't feel like we should take pictures there. I also took some time that evening to just walk around. It was really amazing to actually be in the places where the early Saints were and where they struggled so much as they were persecuted and forced out of Illinois before treking to the Utah valley.

Day 6: We finally arrived. Once again I was back to sleeping on an air mattress. We ate dinner at a zum something or other ( A German restaurant in the German Village). It was very good...I had Snitzel with Spatzle (not the dog)...yum. Then I dropped grandpa off at the hotel and we said our goodbyes. It was really nice to be able to spend this week with grandpa Al. Maybe we should do it again....

Summer Vacation

2007-08-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

I would like to entitle this blog "Summer Vacation" in commemoration of my first real summer vacation since high school. I will never underestimate the greatness of summer vacation again. Wednesday, August 1st, was my last day of work, and immediately that night, I drove down to Depoe Bay, Oregon (by Lincoln City) and spent the next two days with the Merrills. Saturday I drove up to my grandparents in Castle Rock, WA, and my aunts (Bev and Margaret) and my cousins (Jesse, Nate and wife Bethany) came up as well as my uncle Dallas. Sunday Grandma Dena and I took some flowers to mom's grave in Kelso and then Monday morning I went with Bev and Grandma to Water aerobics...if you want to know how to pick up old guys...well, this is the place. Senior citizens flirting all over the place. Monday afternoon I drove down to Newberg and went out to dinner with Tim and Margaret. We met Tyler and Didi and Emmalee and went out to dinner at Typhoon. The excitment of the night...besides getting to ride MAX...the police action two houses down....I'm still curious abou that. Tuesday Margaret and I walked around the Tualtin Wildlife Refuge and got pedicures. I arrived back home Wednesday and began packing. I've still been sleeping in though.

I Got "Tagged"

2007-07-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

So my sister tagged me, and she was tagged by her sister-in-law...know, lucky you, you get to hear 7 facts about me. And then I guess I'm supposed to tag another person...unfortunately I think everyone I know on here has been tagged almost. I probably won't be able to come up with 7 people....is there some type of good luck thing that's supposed to happen to me? You know, like in the email ones....some rich king will fall madly in love with me? I will be handed a million dollars walking down the street?

Anyway, here are 7 facts about me:

1. I think that my dad and I are a lot alike...he may beg to differ. Usually I'm pretty laid back about everything, but I do like things to be done right. If I'm going to do something, I only want to do it once and I want it to be done well.

2. I'm very competetive. Everyone tells me this. I like to win or at least not do bad. This is why I can usually hang on in any sport, even if I don't play that often. For example: ping pong this last weekend. I think I've played ping pong a total of 5 times in my entire life, but if I had played long enought I could've given people a run for their money.

3. I love to bird watch. I can't always tell you what the bird is exactly, but a lot of times I can. I can usually figure out what type of bird (or what family they are from) and go from there. I think it's a great way to be outside all year round.

4. I love to be outside. I am in my element in the great outdoors. My dream would be to have my own show like "Man vs. Wild" but I'm not skilled enough for that. My friends always tell me that if they had to pick someone to be stuck in the wild with it would be me because they know we would survive.

5. I love to help people. Maybe this is kind of selfish, but I figure if I'm willing to help people when they are in need, then when I'm in need of something there will be someone there to help me. So far this philosophy has not been a bad one. It seems like whenever I've been stuck in a situation I couldn't handly myself there was always someone their to help me out.

6. I love Korean food, and almost any other asian food as well. I was introduced to Korean food by Sister Ko...my Korean companion, while I was on my mission. For 6 weeks we ate Korean food morning, noon and night....yum. I even love Kim Chee. My latest and greatest discovery is the Great Wall Mall. I have been doing my grocery shopping there and concocting (probably completely un asian) meals out of the great things I can find there.

7. I laugh a lot. Pretty much everything makes me laugh...probably even things that should make me laugh at all. It is a curse and a blessing.

Now I tag: dad, Melanie and Liz...that's all I have left.

The Simpsons

2007-07-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

As we all know, the Simpsons' Movies is coming out really soon (bringing back memories of Santa's Little Helper on the Christmas episode when I was growing up). I've taken the opportunity to create my own simpson's character. You can too just go to http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/ and enter the site then click on "create your own Simpson's Avatar". It's pretty fun. Mine is below.

Sea Fair Pow Wow

2007-07-22T21:35:00.001-07:00

This Saturday I talked Jon and Tyler into "getting some culture" and we made our way up to Discovery Park in Ballard for the Sea Fair Pow Wow. This pow wow is a big event becuase it involves the coming together of all the Indidan Nations in the Great Northwest. It reminded me of tutoring the American Indian kids in the Provo School District when I was at BYU. We had a good time. We ate some yummy fry bread and watched the dancing.

The Wedding....Finally

2007-07-17T22:57:00.001-07:00

I have told Tim for a long time that he is the best uncle I never had. He and my aunt Margaret got married on July 7. Lucky me, I got to stay with the newly weds the night of their wedding too. It's a good thing they are old. I'm pretty sure my aunt put on her flannel pajama bottoms and a t-shirt and hopped into bed. Here are a few pictures of the wedding. Now Tim really is my uncle...and the only legal one I have. (All though, I still consider Jimmy and Dallas my uncles, even though neither are married to my aunts anymore). Here's to uncles everywhere. It was also nice to see some other family as well, like my grandparents, Bill and Diane (my grandpa's brother and his wife), Bert and Laura (my grandpa's sister and her husband), John and Marie (my grandma's brother and his wife), my cousins and now their wives and kids, and other family friends, like Carol and her mother. It's interesting how no matter how long you go without seeing eachother, they still know you and love you because you are family. I'm greatful for my aunt Margaret who has always been there for me, but especially since my mom passed away. She always calls me to make sure I'm doing okay and keeps me posted on all the gossip in the family, since I don't get to see them as often as I should you. I'm also grateful to Tim for thinking of me as a niece even when I wasn't really. Going so far away from my family is probably the hardest part about moving to Ohio.

Fourth of July

2007-07-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, my main memories of the Fourth included going to my granparents house (my mom's parents) and being with all my cousins. I think we all counted the hours till dark when we could light off fireworks. It seemed like an eternity. Come to find out, as I get older, fireworks aren't all that exciting anymore. No wonder my parents weren't as eager as I was to start lighting them off or to battle the big crowds to go see he huge displays. It's always nice to have a day off (which I didn't, but I did get off early) and to have nice weather (which is hit or miss in Washington...we've had pretty rainy fourths here as well). This year we had 85 degree weather...just perfect and so I went to Lake Meridian with some friends and then went to a BBQ at my friend Geran's house.

With my friends, Sara and Carrie at the BBQ...watching fireworks.

Jon's happy because he beat me at this game...he didn't realize that I let him. I just wanted him to feel good about himself. Everyone needs a self esteem boost now and again right?

Kevin and Tyler also had a great day.

Mariner's Baseball

2007-07-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Yeah Mariner's! What a great season...I know there are skeptics, but my love for the Mariner's is in my blood. I have gone quite a few times this year and here are some pictures.

My friend Bryan and I. The mariner's were playing the Red Sox, and I could have sworn we were in Boston...we were completely surrounded by Red Sox fans. It's a good thing we won (it's a good thing we took the entire series). The only time I dislike the Red Sox is when we are playing against them. If they are doing something useful, like beating the Yankess, then they are a great team.

Tyler, Wendy and I at a really good game, in the nose bleeds of course because it's all we can afford (especially when we are given the tickets for free)

Tyler showing off his really cool boots. This really has nothing to do with baseball, I just thought it was funny...it's ridiculous what we can talk him into doing.

Ocean Shores

2007-06-17T20:58:00.001-07:00

Me, Carrie and Kate looking for wild things in the dunes.

Our one match fire...don't worry it got bigger!

This weekend I planned to go camping at Ocean Shores Friday night. I woke up Friday morning and it was pouring down rain. I really hoped that the bad weather had already passed by the beach, looked up the weather on accuweather, and it showed sunshine! Yeahhhhhh. So my friend Carrie and I drove out there and had great weather all afternoon. Later on that night some more friends met us out there and we had a great time. I have to say Carrie and I ARE the queens of fire making...one match and no paper. When the guys got there they decided to build another fire at their site...it was horrible, it never got warm, they tried to smother it with leaves, and basically we all got smoked out the rest of the night. Carrie and I just had to laugh, we could have used our perfectly good fire, but that's not manly I guess.

Statistics: My Love/Hate Relationship

2007-06-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

So it's been awhile since I've added anything. Mainly because I have had no time. A year ago, when I was planning on applying for vet school, I enrolled in a Statistics 221 Online Course through BYU. After deciding not to go to school, I kept puting it of, thinking "Oh, no big deal, I have a year", and then at the beginning of May it dawned on me that I no longer had a year to finish this course! Not only that, if I didn't finish I would not be reimbursed by my company. So I got down to business and have been working diligently to finish before my June 11th (yes, I know it's this coming Monday) deadline. My plan was to take my last midterm on Tuesday (yesterday) and take the final on Saturday. That apparently, was not to be. The midterms still haven't arrived at the testing center. Today I had to call BYU and have them resend the tests for $50...the fee to reprint and express them to the testing center and back...so that I can order the final test by Monday! I have learned my lesson...I am never taking an online course again! It's too bad it's been so terrible too because I actually really like Statistics.

Hank the Wonder Dog

2007-05-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

Just one of my many names for my unique and lovable dog, Hank. I'm writing this because I miss him. He has found a permanent home at my dad and Megan's farm because I will be moving in August. I know he's happy there, but sometimes I can't help but feel sad that he's not here. Here are some things I miss about Hank:

1. The staring contests: he always wins too.

2. The most exciting part of his day was when I came home, or when I grabbed the leash (which meant he was going running).

3. He was (I think not so much anymore now that he's been at fat camp) lovably portly, but never fat.

4. He is smarter than most humans, and definitely most dogs. He's not even dumb enough to play catch...that's a mere dog game.

5. He's always sad when I leave.

Susan Lynda Charrier

2007-05-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

Also known as my mom. So I put this up once before, but was not totally satisfied, but after hearing others comments I feel like I should re post it.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Some of the things (some favorites, some not :)) I remember...add your comments and pictures if you have them (or send me pictures and I will post them...I'm not sure how it works).

1. She loved popcorn. I think she ate it almost every night. She could eat an entire bucket at the movie theater.
2. Along the same lines, she loved Cheetos. One time we all drove to Leavenworth and mom managed to eat an entire bag of Cheetos (not a single serving size either) and felt so sick she could hardly eat lunch at the restaurant we went to.
3. She really loved Suzie Bogus (I think that's how it's spelled) and I think we listened to her tape a billion times.
4. She taught us to work for what we want because she always did.
5. Really good at guilt trips. She never told me she didn't want me to do something because she thought it would be unwise, instead she somehow made me feel so guilty even thinking about it I never did it. (Take note: this happened regularly)
6. She loved all of us a lot, even her crazy sisters (I'm talking about you Margaret!)
7. She was pretty corny...if anyone has any jokes etc to add that would be great. I still remember a time we were at the hot springs and she had her behind (for lack of better words) next to the window on the bed on the camper and said something about a full-moon being out, referring to herself (I think you can see what I mean).
8. Really loved the "Star Trek" series (serieses?) yuck
9. My spiritual strength. She knew what life was about and she always had the answers. Believe it or not I got my first lesson about death from my mom. I was probably in the 5th grade and I was reading "Anne of Green Gables" and Matthew died, and I started crying uncontrollably. It was my mom who talked me through it.
10. She was pretty much the best mom who ever lived.
11. She taught me that I always needed to forgive others, no matter how mad they made me or how much they hurt me. She could tell you something good about anyone.

The Best Day of My Life

2007-05-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about attempting to ride my bike to work since I started working there (1 1/2 years ago). I do take the bus everyday, but imagine a day where you don't have to drive or battle traffic at all. Well that day is a dream no longer! Today I attempted to bike to work for the first time in commemoration of it being 75 degrees outside and because it is National Bike to Work Week. My goal was to ride to the transit center, take the bus and then bike from the bus to Amgen (about 4 miles). It was great! I biked all along Elliot Bay, the flowers were blooming and a Killdeer (a type of bird) even flew with me. After work, I started biking home, and due to the incredible weather, I had an even better time. When I got to where I should turn to catch my bus I just kept riding. I ended up riding on Airport Way, to Interurban Blvd, onto the Green River Trail and down Grady Way...which pretty much got me home. I think I will do it again tomorrow.

Nickel Creek May 10, 2007

2007-05-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Tyler and I went to, probably the best concert of my life. I'm attempting to post a video of Chris Thile and Jon Brion (not from Nickel Creek) performing a portion of "Freebird" bluegrass style. You'll notice that they are pretty amazing (for lack of a better word).

Mt. Si

2007-05-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

On Saturday (Cinco de Mayo) we hiked to the top of Mt. Si. It's not one of my favorite hikes because it is so crowded all the time. Every two steps you have to move over so someone can pass you coming the other way. Ten of us went, Five of us made it to the top. Then we ran to the bottom(about 4 miles). Which I decided today was really stupid because my quads are so stiff I can hardly bend my legs! I guess that kind of stuff happens as you get old!

72-Hour Kit

2007-05-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

So, for a long time now, I've known I should put together a 72-hour kit. I mean who knows what type of natural disaster is waiting to happen, what with all these earthquakes and tsunami's running around. So here it is! I've finally done it. And let me tell you what, they cost money. However, I bit the bullet and decided to do it before I go to grad school and become a very poor college student again. All I'm saying is, is that whoever is stuck with me in an emergency situation will be one lucky dog. (Not pictured, extra clothing, garbage bags and my really cool wind-up flashlight)

Biking Can Be Dangerous

2007-05-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the best picture I could take of the big bruise on my leg. Saturday I got out my road bike, polished it up, cleaned and greased up the chains and was all ready to ride, when I remembered I needed to pump up the tires. Much to my dismay the back tire was flat, and not patchable. I removed it from the bike and fixed it up with my last tube. I decided to try something new and rode from my house down to the Cedar River Trail. Today, however, was an entirely different story, with some good parts and some bad. To start, as you'll recall I used my last tube on Saturday, so riding with a prayer in my heart and great faith that there was no way I could blow two tires in less than a week, I set off towards the Cedar River Trail once again. Two miles into it my back tire was already on it's way to being flat. I stopped and took it off, and in the process a fellow (and much more experienced might I add) rider saw me in my moment of despair, offered me one of his tubes if I needed it, and began to help me fix my tire. It ended up being a faulty valve, so I took him up on his offer for the tube and let him replace the tube and pump my tire (I think it made him feel fatherly). I set off on my way again, on a ride as smooth as butter. Thoroughly enjoying myself by this time, and passing mile 5 of the ride, I came to an intersection. I mistook where the trail went off the curb and slammed on my brakes, forgetting in the meantime to also unclip my foot from the pedal, I fell. In less thana second the entire left side of my body smacked against the cement still connected to my bike. I guess I'm pretty lucky that all I have are bruises because going the speed I was I probably could have broken something as well (The prayer in my heart WAS good for something!). The moral of this story is always find ways to help others in need because you never know when you might need the help in return AND pray before you ride!

Hanging Out With Annie

2007-04-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

This last week I got to "hang-out" with Annie. That's what we called it since she's 14 and really too old for a babysitter. It was a lot of fun. We went to see the play "Anne of Green Gables" (an interesting version and poor Gilbert was such a dork), we saw the movie "Meet the Robinsons" (weird but I actually liked it) and played with the kittens. The kitten story is an amusing one. Annie picked up a stray cat about a month ago on her way home from school(Muggins or Chloe as she is now fondly called). About two weeks ago she had kittens. Looks like Muggins/Chloe is here to stay. Anyone want a kitten?

Mt. Washington--and a Whole Bunch of Snow

2007-04-25T23:10:00.000-07:00

Mt. Washington: A peak found off of I-90 before hitting the summit of Snoqualmie Pass.

I've gone on this hike twice before only to come down defeated. Once at night with a group who didn't want to go far and once in the middle of winter where we had to turn around before it got dark. It peaks at about 4800 feet above sea level. However, you start at about 1200 feet. All in all that is a 3600 foot elevation gain. There are two routes on this trail...the regular route and the alt. (we decided that meant altitude because you gained a lot of altitude in a short distance) route. To save time we chose the alt. route. My friend Travis said it made hime feel like he was "climbing Everest". Not quite accurate since Everest peaks out at about 28,028 feet, but we still had a good time nonetheless. We completed this hike (supposedly 11 miles--but probably less because we took the alt. route) in about 5 hours, summiting in about 2 1/2 hours (also not too bad since my hiking book suggests you give yourself 8 hours).

My So Called Boring Life

2007-04-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

After what seems like at least a year of being bugged by my sister to start a blog...and as other family members have subcome to the pressure, my white flad has gone up and I have decided that I might as well start one too. I would like to remind all who read this that I still don't like blogging or letting everyone see my pictures posted on the internet. I am only doing this for the greater good of my family in order to keep them posted on what I consider to be a pretty boring life.