"Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime"

Coming to you live from my new laptop...I cannot even describe my excitement over the cheese wantons and green curry chicken we are getting ready to eat for dinner...but back to my blog-post! I have been enjoying this Christmas break and have been eating lots of yummy food.

This year is the first Christmas in my life that I have not woken up to the anticipation of a giant Christmas breakfast and all my grandparents sitting in the living room ready to watch us open presents. My grandpa is bed-ridden now due to his advancing Alzheimer's, so instead of our normal Christmas morning tradition, we decided to travel around to both sets of grandparents' houses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It turned out to be a pretty good plan and we ended up opening presents three separate times, which helped to spread out Christmas a bit. There was no lack of food, either. We did plenty of baking (peanut butter blossoms, snickerdoodles, chocolate and peppermint-covered pretzels, and haystacks to name a few) and we are still enjoying our goodies. We also made gingerbread houses with our GBH crew and with my dad's parents.

The changes in Christmas traditions this year remind me that I am coming up on a year of many changes as I graduate from college and begin who knows what. Clinging to Jeremiah 29:11 for that one and just smiling and saying, "We'll see..." when I am asked the infamous question about what I am going to be doing after college.

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas of food, fun, and family and I am looking forward to the new year!

Now, to go eat dinner!

Thanksgiving: 2011

 setting the stage 

 keeping things clean

 breaking out the fine china

 deviling some eggs

 cooking up some grub

 Thanksgiving staples: sweet potato custard and dressing

and the pièce de résistance: smoked turkey

Trick or Treat!

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. It is my great pleasure to inform you that I have successfully found not one, but TWO food items this month that have long eluded me. I was so surprised I thought I being tricked. Instead, I got two awesome treats.

       The first was introduced to me a short time ago. It is a Halloween Edition York Peppermint Pattie, which is shaped like a pumpkin and has orange filling.

       One of these divine confections appeared one night in my room-mate's hand, and once she ate it, there were no more to be found. I searched the land, high and low, from Food Lion to Walgreen's and everywhere in between to no avail. Alas, on a trip to the Target in the thriving metropolis of Simpsonville, when the candies were a mere speck in the dark corners of my memory, there they were. There they were! In a mixed bag of Hershey chocolate, lining the aisle like it was no big deal! I could hardly believe my eyes! Needless to say, I scooped them up and have been enjoying them since.

       The second is a long lost food that I once enjoyed as a microwaveable treat. Even though it has been years since I last held the egg/bacon/gravy goodness of a Red Baron Biscuit-Style Scrambles Bacon Breakfast Pizza on my tongue, I remember their taste and aroma perfectly.
       All my cravings for these little frozen delights had gone unsatisfied for so long that I had given up hope...until...I found them. I FOUND THEM! On the same day as the peppermint patties! In the thriving metropolis of Simpsonville!

       This is how it went down: On a whim, my friend and I pulled into the Dollar Tree to pick up a few things. I nonchalantly pulled into a parking place facing the front of the store. I turned off the car, took the keys out of the ignition, and looked up as I was about to get out of the car. There, right smack dab in the middle of the window in front of me, was the most beautiful advertisement I have ever seen. It depicted a series of miniature Red Barron Pizzas, one of which was the Bacon Breakfast Scrambles. My mouth dropped open, I might have screamed, and I immediately started strategizing ways to buy and transport as many of these small wonders as possible. I ended up buying all 8 packs the store had in stock, and yes, they are just as good as I remember them being. Plus, they are in a cute, miniature form of themselves made especially for the Dollar Store!

       I was surprised at both of these discoveries and overjoyed with their timing, but I don't even want to know the nutritional facts of either of these products.... lol. Happy Halloween, everybody!

September Shenanigans

I ran across this awesome nerve signaling animation while procrastinating on a paper for my Physiological Psychology class. If you feel like nerding out and learning some stuff about neuronal communication, give it a try:

 http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/nerve_signaling/game/nerve_signaling.html#/plot1

Now, back to that paper on neurotoxins....

New Digs--Senior Year at PC!

Independence Day

the beloved AV crew

family and friends waving to me as I walked in the parade

everybody eating BBQ on the front porch

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things [Mountain Edition]

When you live in the mountains, everyone assumes you are mountainous. That is, you hike (unlike those "flat-landers"), you know how to evade bears, you buy/eat local, and that you don't have any trouble with losing power for extended periods of time. While these things may or may not be true about me, I am doing my best to blend in with the locals.

Some of my favorite things:
1. Carrying a backpack wherever I go and not getting weird looks.
2. Stocking that backpack with lots of neat stuff such as snacks, water, my camera, a flashlight, work supplies and even a first aid kit.
3. Walking down the mountain to work.
4. The creek outside my window.
5. Afternoon rain showers.
6. Learning about random things one can only learn about at conferences---e.g.- The decision making process for the 2013 hymnal and hymnody in general (Speaker: Mary Louis Bringle; Info: http://presbyterianhymnal.org/)

Not so favorite things:
1. Lugging a backpack around.
2. Working long hours.
3. Walking back up the mountain to get home from work.
4. Extreme temperature fluctuations.
5. Getting caught outside in thunderstorms and braving the wind, rain, and falling limbs to make it inside.
6. Sitting (or standing) through upwards of 4 lectures a day and dealing with sound/technical problems as I pretend to know what I am doing.

All in all, it's not so bad.

Lake Susan and The Left Bank 

 

Porch of the South Carolina Home 

Wildflowers 

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Psalm 90:1-2 (ESV)

Ride Sally, Ride

If you would like to, you may click on this link [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfuHgzu1Cjg] for some theme music as you read this post.

I have been pretty busy so far this summer. I painted the dining room, refinished a cabinet, turned 21, and kept the road hot as I moved to the mountains for the summer.

I feel like the past 30 days or so have been filled with lots of packing, driving, unpacking, repacking, and more driving.

I got a new camera for my birthday, so more pics will be in order.

As I adjust to living "on my own" and cooking some, I will be sure to document some of my adventures. I am also looking forward to hearing many speakers at the conference center this summer and meeting lots of new faces in the general store. I am blessed to have this job and on those long, difficult days, I will do my best to remind myself of this gift.

Here are a few pics I have taken recently (more to follow from the new camera, I promise)

21!

chocolate pudding and bottled cokes, what more could you ask for?

Never Say Never: 5 things I said I would NEVER do that have happened this semester

1. Participate in an organized debate. My Adolescent Psychology class had a series of group debates about hot topic issues, my group argued for comprehensive (as opposed to abstinence only) sexual education in schools.

2. Bleed a mouse--through it's eye. This one was for Immunology lab. It was a bit traumatizing, but we were assured the mouse didn't feel a thing. The fun part really came when we had to culture the cells from the spleen all week.

3. Have a personal meeting with the president of the college. I have gotten involved with the campus recycling group and we are trying to get the system organized. It is still a work in progress, but the initial meeting went well.

4. Bring home dirty laundry. Exam week got the best of me and I didn't have time to get to it. Sorry, mom.

5. Watch the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Live.

What can I say, I couldn't sleep.

As I write this, the coverage is streaming on my laptop. It is 4:00 AM here. History in the making, I suppose. People are wearing Burger King crowns as they line the streets of London. They have vacuumed the cobblestone streets. Dashing young men and elegant ladies in splendid looking hats are filling up the aisles of Westminster Abbey. The cameras zoom in on the doors of Buckingham Palace and the Goring Hotel. Rolls-Royce's, Bentley's, pomp and circumstance; all the hype, "What will her dress look like?," "Oh dear, the Prime Minister's wife isn't wearing a hat."

It is 10:15AM in London; the Prince has departed from Clarence House. The bells are ringing, the crowd is roaring.

The brothers enter the Abbey; it is a much different atmosphere than the one they left in 1997.

Minibuses start to leave the palace. Such a family affair. Is this the year of the commoners?

10:37AM- Here come the "lesser royals...they shine up nicely."
10:42AM- What color will the Queen's hat be?--Yellow, it is! No beige for her!

The bridesmaids are milling about, the high clergy are getting prepared. Trumpets sound.

Is there a tiara? Hair up or down? Ivory and lace. Arms covered, of course. Myrtle in the bouquet. Don't crumple the train.

10:56AM- The veil covers her trademark brown hair as it drapes her shoulders. She is glowing as she waves the royal wave.

11:03AM- The dress is revealed: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. A pause.
Prince William smiles as Kate starts down the aisle to meet her groom.
Her father's steps accompany her for the 4 minute walk. What a little girl's dream.

11:11AM- Dearly beloved...

Proclaimed husband and wife by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
A beautiful ceremony...I have butterflies in my stomach.

11:54AM-They are going to sign the registry as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Well, the sun has risen on the last day of my junior year at PC. I'll be headed home shortly.

Dead Week

There comes a time each semester when all the energy spent paying attention in class, all the getting up early to study, and all that going to bed late after talking with friends begins to take its toll. One's body starts to fight back. First comes the sneezing, then falling down stairs, having weird food cravings, drooling in public, people sleeping just about anywhere. You name it, it can happen..

At PC, we call it dead week--and that's not because there's nothing going on, it's because we aren't quite sure we will make it out alive.

Next week, we will have exams. We are all stressed out. We are all complaining. We are all frustrated. There is simply too much work to be done.

There are these little moments in between everything, however, that make it all ok.

It never fails that you run into an old friend from weeks gone by and spend 10 minutes talking on the side-walk, just catching up on life. You spend a lot of time studying in random places and discover the secrets hidden within the walls (or rooftops) of campus. You linger at meals just a little bit longer--swapping stories, solving the problems of the world. Then, there are the outfits. No matter what you are wearing--and chances are it is something you wouldn't be caught dead in at any other time in your life--there is always somebody wearing something even more ridiculous. I am a fan of the whole "slip some clothes on over your pajamas and run to the library" thing.

We wonder out-loud why we choose to put ourselves through this; we mourn loss of sleep.

There are moments when we sit down for tests and our minds go blank. There are lots of typo's in our papers, lots of late night visits to Sonic, and plenty of caffeine buzzes going around.

This is my shout out to all the college kids wrapping up the semester. You will get through it! Just keep putting one foot in front of the other--and try not to fall down any stairs.

Here is a picture of my desk from this weekend, (I think I wrote a total of 27 pages):

Arts and crafts for Immunology students (see the resemblance):

IgG made of Easter eggs

IgG

The Luck of the Irish

Call it bad luck.

Call it work. Call it school.

Call it whatever you want.

Just don't call me lazy. 

(counterintuitive to my last  post, I know)

This is what I have been up to:

Psychopharmacology- Models of Depression

Psychopharmacology- Cortical hypoarousal in ADHD

Psychopharmacology- GABA cell surface recceptor

Immunology- T cell activation pathway

Immunology- IgG

Immunology- Complement activation

Immunology- Western Blot/Electrophoresis of Bovine Serum Albumin

February.

-from the Latin, februum, meaning "purification."

It is also the hardest month to pronounce.

There are a lot of interesting holidays in February: Groundhog's Day, Valentine's Day, Black History Month, National-Bird Feeding Month (that one's for Dad), Chinese New Year, etc. Birthdays: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Susan B. Anthony, Ronald Reagan...

Going back the purification concept....

I have noticed that I am really lazy sometimes. (Part of that comes with the territory of being a college student: wanting stay up late/sleep in, yawning in class, procrastinating on homework, etc.)

I came to this conclusion as I sat on my futon one night last week. I needed to look up a professor's office hours, and instead of leaning up, unzipping my book-bag, and finding my notebook, I went to the school website, found my class on the Blackboard site, and downloaded the syllabus. This may not seem lazy, but it is. In fact, it may seem smart and efficient, but it isn't.

You see, I downloaded the syllabus and read the office hours, closed it, and then promptly moved on to the next tab on my browser and forgot all about the office hours. Then, I had to lean up, unzip my book-bag, find my notebook, and look them up again.

I had reason to remember them after that.

What does all of this have to do with purification, you ask?

It is a small, simple reminder to live purposefully; with intention; to avoid distraction and busyness as much as possible; to live in the moment, appreciating and celebrating people and times that bring us together.

It is a variation of stopping to smell the roses; to soak up the sunshine on a pretty day, and to marvel as the rain-drops slip down the window panes or the snow dusts the ground.

It is a reminder to love, and love deeply; to love with the love of our Creator, and to relish in His joy along the way.

Happy February, my friends!

2/5/11

That's what snow days are for...

1. Be lazy. Sleep in. Stay in your PJ's (I caught myself alternating between jeans over long johns and flannel pajama bottoms over long johns).

2. Get back in touch with your TV. It is so often neglected when exams and tests roll around, give it some face time.

3. Throw a snowball or two.

4. Take some pretty snow pictures:

5. Enjoy a SLAM packed GDH from 4:30-6:00 PM (for pics, see the GDH post a few posts down), complete with a wonderful meal of Mexican rice, cauliflower casserole, meatballs, and stuffed shells.

6. Sit around and eat junk food. For real, my pack of Oreo's can attest to this. Calories don't count on snow days.

7. Enjoy the time off, especially since classes haven't really picked back up yet. It is nice having nothing to do sometimes.

8. Read.

9. Clean your room. Yeah, I said "your" for a reason. My room can get over it. I have better things to do.

10. Bond with random people.

That's what snow days are for...