This is My Life Thursday: MacGyver Coffee

The two best things that happened to me today were giving my last lecture (possibly for a few years) and figuring out how to how to make coffee in my office with no real equipment:

Take a Shot Tuesday: A Pretty Campus

Got to campus a little early this morning and had a bagel before teaching while looking at this view:

It is a rather pretty campus isn't it?

Menu Monday: Back from ATL

So I'm back from Atlanta (good trip overall) and ready to settle back into my normal life, including cooking! I've been eating out two to three meals a day for the last two weeks and I'm ready for something . On the other hand, it is the last week of classes so I need quick and easy meals. So here's the rundown:

Monday: Dinner with the Rochettes (bartered for babysitting)
Tuesday: Spicy Black Bean Cakes with Over-Easy Eggs, Salsa, and Feta
Wednesday: Chicken Gyros and Greek Salad
Thursday: Grilled Eggplant in a Spicy Peanut Sauce w/ Jasmine Rice
Friday: Asparagus and Egg Pasta

Delightful, Delovely

The last three days at Morehouse and Spelman have been quite
productive and both schools were great to visit. But really, the best
part of this trip hands down has been spending time with Summer. It's
amazing how we can be apart for so long and fall into our same old
roommate patterns when we see each other. Tonight we packed a picnic
and sat under a tree in Marietta Square listening to a band playing
music from the 40s. Lots of Cole Porter and Ira Gershwin. It was a
lovely, relaxing end to the week.

Another Week, Another Trip

I got back from Albuquerque on Sunday at midnight. The trip was
really long and I was glad to get home. It was a productive trip,
though. I got my genotyping done and met some people who are in need
of post-docs so I might have that worked out soon. I also won two
awards for me presentation which was an honor. So a good trip
overall. I spent yesterday running around like a chicken with my head
cut off trying to prepare for today when I gave a lecture and then
immediately flew to Atlanta. It occurred to me how different the
fields of Pennsylvania look than those of northern Texas so I thought
I'd share a picture.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today, in honor of my 27th birthday, I've decided to share with you my list of 28 Things to Do before I'm 28!

1. Pass my Dissertation Defense
2. Find a Post-Doc Position
3. Make a Dress for Myself that I love and wear
4. Get back in my 18 year old Shape
5. Publish all the work I did in Graduate School
6. Learn to Crochet
7. Run a 10k race
8. Bake 2 loaves of Bread a Month
9. Learn to Can/Make Marmalade
10. Improve my Photography Skills
11. Take a Statistics Class to Improve my Stats Skills
12. Take Two Weekend Trips with Geoff
13. Volunteer monthly
14. Reorganize and purge books, craft supplies, and clothes
15. Repurpose clothes and Housewares from Thrift Stores
16. Learn to Draw
17. Learn About Wine (But Don't be a Snob)
18. Cook More Seafood


You'll notice that there are only 18 things on the list right now. This is in part because I ran out of ideas, and in part because I wanted some help thinking of more goals! So if anyone has recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

You'll notice that I included a variety of professional, creative, cooking, and fitness goals so I'm open to pretty much anything. On the 15th of every month, I'll be taking stock of my progress on my goals.

(Oh, and, yes, it has been pointed out to me that this is a dangerous precedent to set because the number of goals goes up each year!)

Same Work, Different Location

Right before I left town for two weeks was probably a bad time to start a new blogging schedule. Oh well, I will do my best to resume it when possible, but “Menu Mondays” won’t be happening until I’m back near a kitchen. But I do have some pictures to share! On Sunday morning I woke up bright and early (actually, I woke up dark and early) and Geoff dropped me off at the airport for the first of the three flights it took to get me to Albequerque. While at the Dallas airport I saw this floor:

Those of you used to flying over the Midwest and other agricultural areas will immediately recognize this as the pattern you see when you fly over irrigated fields. Like this:

This view instantly transports me to when I was little and we would fly out of Wichita with all the agricultural land out by the airport (now pretty much surrounded by urban sprawl). There is something about it that makes my heart race with the giddiness of a child going on a big adventure. Eventually the view of the plains gave way to the high desert of the Southwest which is weird to me every time I see it. Mountains to me growing up always meant Colorado and splashing around in cold streams so to see snow capped mountains and scrub brush in the same view is strange to me.

I spent yesterday at the University of New Mexico in the Anthropology department which is housed in a quintessentially Southwestern building:

How perfect is that? The central campus is mostly low buildings like this one with the exception of the med school part which looks more or less like every other med school I have ever seen (boring). I love how much this campus has a sense of place. You couldn’t swap Penn State or KU with UNM and have it look like it belongs. After I finished my work, I strolled around the campus in the warm sun (having wisely put on sunscreen in the morning) and then over to the student union to grab a quick snack and a drink where I found SONIC!!!!! I love Sonic and hate that the commercials air nationally but there aren’t any in PA. So I got a cherry limeade bigger than my head and an order of cheese tots (my favorite) with an added New Mexico twist – roasted green chiles. Can’t you taste it?

Okay, back to work, I have to present at a conference on Friday so I need to finish up my presentation. But keep an eye out for a very special birthday post coming on Thursday!

Work Recap Friday: Data Has Arrived!

But seriously, I got inundated with data this week - in a good way. Thanks to some people who really pulled through for me I got my dissertation genotypes back earlier than expected with the added bonus of some additional genotyping that I will be using for a collaboration with a former co-grad student. Thanks to someone who took a lot longer getting me some genotypes than promised, I also got some data this week for a project related to immune system function that I'm helping out on.

I brought all of this data with me to Albuquerque where I hope to get a lot of it analyzed over the next few days when I'm not at University of New Mexico doing some additional genotyping. I know I'm not going to get much of it done once all my friends get here for the conference on Thursday!

*(This joke goes out to my mom - showing her dork side with a joke that went right by both my dad and I who used to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation frequently.)

This is My Life Thursday: Pre-Birthday Wine Flights

Sorry, I got a bit behind in the very first week of my new posting schedule! On Thursday night I was lucky enough to have dinner and half-priced wine flights with some of my lovely friends. I'll be in Albuquerque next week for my actual birthday this week so I called this a pre-birthday celebration.

What We're Eating Wednesdays: Grandma's Cookies

I'm really excited about Wednesdays! Each week, my dad and I will take turns picking a recipe and we will both make it for dinner sometime that week. This sounds dull, I realize - but the key is that dad and I love to look at recipes but are both too ADD/narcissistic to follow them. So we probably won't end up with dinners that look too similar.

This week we didn't get our acts together so I don't have photos to post - but I do know what we have both been eating:


Grandma's Carrot Cookies with Orange Frosting! This might be dad and my favorite cookie and I got some in the mail over the weekend - yum!!!

So next week will be the first week for the project, I can't wait. If you are looking for something fun to read, this idea was inspired by our friends over at "Absence Makes the Heart Grow Hungry." A mom and two of her children pick an ingredient each week and see how each interprets it.

Take a Shot Tuesday: Hank in the Window

Tuesdays are now "Take a Shot Tuesdays" where I'll take a photo something and share it with you. A bit of a cop out? Yes. But I teach on Tuesdays, so this is what you get.

Today I left campus after teaching and came home to get some work done. I find even more ways to distract myself at work than at home, somehow. Anyway, Hank decided to join me:

Menu Monday: Warm Weather Grilling!

Mondays are Menu Mondays where I'll let you know what I'm cooking for the week. Those of you who have never watched the Food Network, feel free to skip Mondays.

It is finally, finally getting warm here in PA. Yesterday we spent our second evening of the season grilling with friends and I want to grill more!! So we'll be grilling at least some part of the meal every night of the week there aren't thunderstorms forecasted.

Monday: Grilled Salmon Salad Nicoise with Julia Child's Mustard Vinaigrette
Tuesday: Grilled Stuffed Poblanos and Salad
Wednesday: Chicken Gyros and Greek Salad
Thursday: Spicy Peanut Grilled Eggplant with Brown Jasmine Rice
Friday: Grilled Blackened Pacific Halibut with Remoulade on baguette and Salad
Saturday: Ham, Asparagus, and Gruyere Frittata

Something-New Sunday: Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! I spent my Easter writing lectures and watching the History Channel rampantly speculate about the life of Jesus. In honor of the holiday, here is an old picture of my brother hamming it up while searching for eggs:



So Sundays are going to be "Something-New" days which are a combination of two inspirations. The first is a magnet my mom bought me last year while we were at the Eleanor Roosevelt house last year with one of her quotes, "Do one thing every day that scares you." I don't think I can handle every day, but I do want to be pushing myself to get outside of my comfort zone. I've also been sort of bored with doing the same old thing all the time so I'm going to TRY and do something fun I have never done before or something I'm a little scared to do.

I have issues asking for help - actually more accurately, I have issues admitting that I can't do things myself.* This frequently results in me spending weeks or months trying to figure out on my own what someone else could easily explain to me. I happen to think that this is a good thing because I think you learn more by teaching yourself things, but sometimes I get in my own way. To that end, this week I'm learning to ask for help.

On Friday I met with a friend of mine to ask for his expertise to help me add to my dissertation and tomorrow I'm going to e-mail some friends who might be able to help me find a post-doc (including some of you who read my blog). I don't know why I'm afraid to ask for help - I know my friends are awesome, giving people!



*I wonder if this was manifest in my childhood? I do remember letting my parents tie my shoes for me. One would tie each shoe and I would bunch my feet up inside the shoe of which ever parent was out of my favor that day. So spoiled, it's a lucky thing Kevin came along so I had to learn to share.

Stash-Buster Saturday: Baby Sun Hat

Hi everybody! Things have been busy but I really want to be doing a better job of blogging so I have decided I needed to make a schedule. Each day of the week has a different theme to be revealed each day this week. Three of the days will be short sweet posts to keep in line with trying to finish my dissertation.

Saturdays are Stash-Buster Saturdays where I'll share a craft that I made as part of my effort to use up the entire closet of craft supplies that I don't want to move when our lease expires August 1.

Using some fabric scraps and leftover bias tape I made a reversible baby sun hat. Here it is being modeled by my stuffed monkey, Reno:




I'm sure the baby I made it for will look even cuter in it! (Although I'm not sure it will fit - I didn't read the directions carefully enough and it is meant for a younger baby!