death of a peony

delicious summertime

Well hello, little neglected blog!

It's been wonderful to be back in Illinois.

[despite the oppressive humidity]

I have so many memories of summers in this small town.

A few things I have been up to...

fun in the strawberry patch

shishkebabs!

mojitos in matching glasses

sistahs

Debussy

peonies

girl on the go

{photos from my last sunny Baltimore weekend.}

Oh, my goodness. I have no idea where the past week went!! So much for the days when the end of the semester meant instant freedom and carefree summer.  In grad school, it just means that you are done with the distractions of classes and can actually focus on your own work.  I have been busy busy busy tying up loose ends and prepping for the summer.  Aaaah!

Today was a big day because I finally defended my thesis proposal (aka my baby of this semester), and it was approved! Which is a very good thing, because it means I can officially go out and do my field work, and am not screwed. yet.  I am so glad I have the defense over with; basically the first official loophole you have to jump through in the quest for a masters degree. I have no idea how those crazy PhD people do the even more intense version. 

So anyway...I have one more day in the lab before the craziness that is going to be my summer officially begins!

I have said goodbye to the boy for the summer (waaa) and am ready to launch off and do this thing.

Crazy itinerary:

-Tomorrow= last day in the lab, clean, pack (uck), pick up obligatory PA gift of Yuengling, burn CDs for 12 hour drive

-Thursday= hit the road and drive home to the beloved cornfields, humidity, and devastating summer storms of IL yay!

-While at home....stock up on camping gear and finish organizing 100+ pages of field data sheets :/

-Memorial weekend= drive to the Quad Cities to help college roomie/best friend Christine move, catch up on life, and stomp on ye olde revered collegiate grounds !

-June 8= the day the camping urge I've had for the past 2 years is quenched for probably quite some time.

Fly to the west shore of Tahoe and spend the rest of the summer camping, playing in the Sierra Nevada, and oh yes, doing field work 50 hrs/week.  Which basically entails lots of wandering around and tree measuring.

I am so excited to go home and relax. I haven't seen my family since Christmas and I kind of miss them despite our common dysfunctionalities ;). I also can't wait to reunite with the high school and college friends. I honestly think I have more friends from high school (that I keep up with) than I do from college; I come from a small town and had a very close group! 

I am also excited to see California for the first time, do mindless outdoor labor (my brain has not shut off for the past 5 straight months and it is beyond the burn out point) and of course get tan!

Most of all, I am excited to have fun+work hard but also get the summer over with so I can be back with Ben, hopefully in the same town for the first time in 2 years !!!

Life is kind of spinning right now, but in a good way.

late spring disorientation

I ran away to Baltimore this weekend to try and decompress after the post-finals fallout!

I can't believe I didn't take a single picture all weekend.

But rest assured that that the trip was chock full of the typical sunshine, fun daytrips, ice cream, fancy cocktails, and kill-me run.

We went to DC for Ben's sister's new apartment housewarming party.

But first we had to make a stop at the National Zoo, after a relationship-testing navigational mishap in a hot traffic jam.

Can I just say that I have been living in a bubble all year? I know it has its own issues, but at least compared to B-more and the party town in the middle of nowhere, DC is soooooo nice. And his sister's apartment is adorable. 

But the street layout in that town is beyond confusing. 

Like usual, the weekend went way too fast and I'm not sure that I am completely relaxed and back to normal after the craziness of this semester.  Probably because I'm not actually finished; I am finishing up my thesis proposal [tonight!!] and am working full time in the lab all week for my research assistantship. Plus getting ready to leave for California where I'm spending the summer to do my field research.

It's weird to be on campus without all the hustle and bustle of the 40000 undergrads.

All the spring flowers have faded and the trees are in full glorious green, but it doesn't seem like summer yet.

Maybe because it's only 60 degrees out.  brrr.

p.s. I will definitely try marshmallow fluff in the fruit dip next time. And probably almond extract, although I hoard that little bottle like it is liquid gold ;)

i did it!

My first year of grad school is OVERRRRRR!!!

I am so. excited.

Tonight I've been cleaning up the wreckage of the past several days.

Laundry, kitchen, books and articles...

This is what it takes to write two research papers and a thesis proposal:

(note pencil to add scale to the stack of ARTICLES in the righthand corner! I READ THEM ALL!!!)

I have come so far this year and have learned so much.

It's ridiculous. My brain is too full. I can't look at the world the same way anymore.

This year has gone fast, I guess, but it's definitely been long. I was so busy this semester in my own little scholarly bubble that I feel like I kind of missed out on spring! Where did this warm weather come from???

It's been a great school year, but definitely full of changes.

Moving all by yourself halfway across the country is hard!

Good changes though.

I don't know how I would have handled this transition without Ben. It has been indescribably wonderful to have him only three hours away, to be my boyfriend, best friend, and family all-in-one out east. And knowing that he is only a drive away to be there for me has saved my sanity. I can say this with certainty because last year I lost it.

I have grown up this year. A little bit :)

When I read my journal from last year, I can barely recognize myself. In a bad way. My senior year of college was successful on the outside, but emotionally and mentally shitty on the inside. 

I was dealing with a long distance relationship, internship + 2 on campus jobs, too many hard classes and activities and responsibilities, AND trying to figure out my life and apply for grad school. 

On graduation day all my friends were freaking out, but I felt the biggest sense of relief that I have ever experienced, like a huge black cloud I'd been enveloped in all year was being blown away, and I was finally free to move on with my life.

And moving on has been amazing.

So if you are still in college, struggling to grasp with the scary concept of graduation and the real world, know that life doesn't end after you put on that robe and walk across stage trying not to fall in your little heels. Yes, you will miss your best friends desperately and have beautiful bittersweet memories, but the world goes on and will offer you great opportunities if you are brave enough to take a chance. It is scary, and it is hard, but it is so worth it.

Life is just beginning.

amazing fruit dip

Have you ever had to write a research paper all in one day?

I hope not; I would never wish that on anyone!

BUT just in case you do...you should make gourmet snack plates to get through life as you sit at your computer for hours and watch the sunny day go by outside your window.

If you're sick of peanut butter and apples, this fruit dip is a fun alternative. 

I adapted the recipe off the fruit to-go trays I used to get at the cafeteria at college.

(If you went to Augustana, you will know what I'm talking about. Unless you are my boyfriend and never got a fruit tray. !!! I know. Blasphemy.)

Plus, if you use fat free cream cheese, your snack will be an optimally healthy and satisfying protein/carb ratio.

Which will make you feel better as you can't stop eating the dip out of the container with a spoon.

Amazing Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

-one container cream cheese (reduced fat or fat free...the kind in the tub is convenient because you can keep the dip in it)

-1/4 c. brown sugar for a big cream cheese tub, 2 T for a little tub.

Or heck, as much sugar as you want.

-1 t. vanilla

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until combined and smooth. Transfer back into the cream cheese container or a tupperware with lid. Eat with cinnamon fruit, bagels, oatmeal....or just with a spoon.

we can't burn our forests but we will burn our oceans

Okay here is my political rant for the day:

Picture from the New York Times 

Forest managers face so many hurdles and hassles to implement prescribed burning in forests (especially here in the east) that have been completely altered by fire suppression.

But we lose no time in burning our oceans.

Sometimes I hate living in our globalized, free trade, capitalist economy but I can't help being an oil-dependent consumer just like every other entitled member of the most developed nation in the world, watching helplessly as our addiction to black gold destroys the environment.

Oil FAIL

make way for ducklings

There is a gorgeous garden behind the Alumni building on campus (...because that is where all the $$ comes from...)

including a little duck pond.

And there are TWO families of little baby ducklings this spring!

They are beyond adorable and hilarious.

Little duck family

Crossing guard

Oh my gosh so cute.

I WANT ONE!

They dart around in a single group and when one straggler wanders off and then realizes he's left behind he'll run SO FAST to catch up.

I don't know what's going to happen to all these ducks when they grow up...I mean, 45 ducks is a lot. I'd use my biology degree to say that it would exceed carrying capacity.  I guess they'll fly away to an amazing pond in the forest and live happily ever after ??  Yes, of course.

In other news, I have two papers down and two to go! I've been pretty successful so far at sanity maintenance so hopefully I can keep the motivation going...

I can't wait until Wednesday when I will be "done". Ohhh my gosh it cannot come soon enough. 

Although I am still working in the lab and have to finish and defend my thesis proposal.

It's hard to believe I'm almost done with my first year of grad school !!

It has definitely been a crazy intense but happy year.