taking a break

Yeah. I'm going to be absent for the next month while I lose my sanity, play with fire and finish up my THESIS!
Le Blog is going to have to take a backseat to the greater things in life.

I'll be back when I am calm, happy, and stress-free.

(and when it is springtime, my faaaavorite season!)

february thaw

 [roasted veggie, barley, and tahini sauce bowl]

[canopy photos to analyze]

So, I have apparently been sucked into the black abyss of thesis data analyzing and job hunting.

I haven't seen much of Ben lately so I have been eating super healthy veggie girl type food out of bowls all the time.

And things he doesn't like, such as coconut.

I mean, who doesn't like coconut curry ?????

Anyways, we are FINALLY getting some spring-ish above freezing weather here, which only reminds me how many weeks and months of below-freezing weather and snow and ice we have made it through.

My driveway is no longer a four inch sheet of ice, but is now a muddy mess.

I applied to a job in San Diego county.

Things that are ok about winter:

-drinking hot tea and coffee

-Christmas

-being able to leave groceries in your car

-and leaving surplus pots of soup in the outside stairwell

-soup

-oatmeal

-snuggling in fluffy beds with electric blankets

Things that are crappy about winter:

-icy roads that make your boyfriend total his car

-heating bills

-being cold

-chapped hands and lips

-not seeing the sun for weeks

-having to scrape ice off your car every morning

-dark nights

-no farmer's market veggies

Roasted Veggies and Barley Tahini Bowl
Ingredients:
-roastable veggies including but not limited to: sweet potatoes, onions, parsnips, carrots, garlic
-barley (as much as you want)
-couple tablespoons tahini (sesame paste, good to have to make hummus with, and dressings)
-lemon juice
-olive oil
-salt, pepper, random spices
-spinach
-feta

Chop vegetables, coat in olive oil, salt, and spices (allspice is really good on root veggies and squash), and roast in a 400-425 degree oven for about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
Add chopped garlic to the last 10 minutes or so.
In the meantime, cook barley and mix together tahini, lemon juice, water, salt, more spices, maybe another clove of garlic, either with a fork or whisk or in a blender or food processor until you think it is a good dressing consistency.
When the veggies are done, dump together everything and mix in some spinach and feta.


p.s. my presentation went really well! I'm actually excited about how my thesis is turning out, even if it seems endless, and I am not as scared about the future anymore. if I can't find a job, it's not my fault, it's the economy.

random week

[my bulletin board!]

Wow this week went SUPER FAST!

I hope you've survived the blizzard! I am so sick of seeing everyone's snow statuses and photo albums on facebook. Yes, the Midwest got 2 feet of snow. You don't need to spend 20 photos documenting your car and shoveling adventures and cluttering my newsfeed with it.  [Family pics excepted ;) ] 
Maybe I'm just bitter that all we got in PA was a few inches of freezing sleet and rain that has turned our snow base into a frozen block of slush...

Tonight I have a headache, am on the way to eating cereal for dinner, and still have lots of work to do.

On the bright side,

Obama came to my school today! I didn't get to see him but it's cool to know he was only two buildings away from me. The funniest thing is that I have a bumper sticker that says "Renewable Energy is Sexy" that I got from an energy convention like 4 years ago (environmental studies nerd!), and he basically quoted it  ("Now, improving building efficiency may not sound too sexy until you realize that our homes and businesses consume 40 percent of the energy we use..”). Okay maybe that's not funny at all, but the president was quoted saying sexy in a speech. Trying to relate to college students much?

I am very glad and thankful that we have a president who is dedicated to education, youth, and green energy.

I know lots of people don't agree with him, but honestly the Republicans could not be doing anything better.

On another note, every Friday afternoon my department has a colloquium series called Coffee Hour.
We take it verrrry seriously and first year slaves grad students are required to make h'ordeuvres and posters. (And are graded for it. And sent threatening emails when the food isn't up to par. NOT even joking)
Well, tomorrow we are doing a mini TED talk style presentation with the physical geography grad students, including moi! I am excited to share my research, especially since I finally have an idea of what I'm actually supposed to be doing. Hopefully I can make it coherent in my allotted 4 minutes...
It is even going to be webcast, so if you are bored at 4 pm ET tomorrow, feel free to watch from this link :)

Stay warm!