Starting Summer off Right!

Summer started with a Memorial Day visit from Geoff's family and mine.  It rained the whole weekend, but there was enough time to fit in a bit of sightseeing and lots of time for the families to get to know each other.

We also fed everyone lots of Tex-Mex before sending them home. The next weekend I headed to Lake Conroe with the girls to celebrate our 30th birthdays.

It was tight, but we got 5 women's worth of luggage into the car.  We shared a cabin on the lake and spent the nights in the hot tub and days playing Uno and catching up.

It's been almost three years since we have all been together.  On our last day, we kayaked in the morning then rented a pontoon boat to spend the afternoon floating around different parts of the lake.  It was a great, relaxing way to start the the summer and hopefully it will become an annual tradition.

Southern Sojourn

It's been a rough week in the news.  All I can do is focus on not taking my loved ones for granted.

It's weird to fly north to visit the South, but I did.  First to Kentucky to visit my college roommate Summer in Lexington. I had no idea what to expect when I arrived, but Lexington is a great town.  The first night out we parked across from the house where Thomas Hunt Morgan - famous fruit fly geneticist - was born.  It was meant to be.

Kentucky is known for bourbon and thoroughbred horses, so Summer and I set out to experience both.  We started with a tour of the Four Roses distillery.

All of the bourbon Four Roses makes comes from these four story vats.  The water in the bourbon comes from a local stream that also cools everything.

In the summertime, there isn't enough water and what is there doesn't stay cool, so they shut down.  The whole place smells like yeast and bourbon so we were ready for the samples at the end.  We couldn't stay for long, though, because it was time to see the horses!

The famous horse races generally involve two to four year olds and those that do well spend the rest of their lives being flown all over the world for breeding.  (Evidently thoroughbreds must be conceived the old-fashion way.)  When they are done breeding, the lucky ones end up at the Old Friends Farm outside of Lexington.

We went on a tour and I took about 200 photos of horses and learned all sorts of new fun facts.  For example, did you know that the reason the best horses come from Kentucky is the calcium carbonate in the water that makes their bones strong but light.  So they say anyway. Also, horses are identified by mouth tattoos.

The farm's owner is a former movie critic who took this on as his second career and keeps as his pet this miniature horse who likes to sit on the couch and watch horses race on TV.  His name is Little Silver Charm and you can be his friend on Facebook.

After two days with Summer, I drove through the Cumberland Mountains while listening to bluegrass on the radio and enjoying the gorgeous day. I soon arrived in Knoxville for the AAPA meeting and a chance to catch up with some of my favorite people!

February in Instagram

Koi in the pond at the Japanese Tea Garden

Two of my favorite women in the whole world!

After two failed attempts to get a sourdough starter going in the summer (it got moldy), I spent a week getting it going and making pumpernickel.  It was good.  Not worth six months of effort. 

Magnets made from clear Christmas ornaments and sea glass from Rhode Island and Long Island.

Gave a talk on skin color and health at AAAS meeting - I love Boston!

A few extra days with friends and their adorable kids in Boston.

I finally got my library card so that I can spend my commutes listening to audiobooks instead of just hating my fellow drivers.  

Knitting and watching Jayhawk basketball are two of my favorite pastimes.

Hooray for friends visiting!!!

I own way too many spices and I don't even know how to use the more exotic ones.  I put some kala jeera and star anise in this Lagman Uzbek with chickpeas in place of lamb.

Wishing you a (Retroactively) Merry Christmas!

I hope those of you celebrating had a wonderful Christmas.  We were in Kansas with my family.  These are our stockings on Christmas morning - the stockings were made by my Grandma and mom and the quilted fireplace screen was just made by my mom this year. En route, we stopped in Oklahoma to catch up with my aunt and cousins.  We dropped off some homemade gingerbread play dough (made from Sugarbelle's recipe) for my cousins' sons.  It smells exactly as good as you imagine and comes together in no time.

We made it to Kansas ahead of the snow and did all sorts of wonderful Christmas things like playing Trivial Pursuit, making Rice Krispie treat ornaments, and having dinner on the Plaza with my mom's sister's family before we were all stricken with the stomach flu.

But let's back up, the Christmas season started off way back in November when we attended the annual lighting of all of the trees on the campus of the University of the Incarnate Word.  Every tree on campus is outlined in multicolored lights that twinkle all season.  It's gorgeous.

When I was complaining of a lack of Christmas spirit, my friend Katy took me down to the Riverwalk where we sat outside and drank prickly pear margaritas.  Totally getting into the idea of a relatively warm Christmas!  The Riverwalk Christmas lights are fantastic, like a fairy land (and that's not just the tequila talking).

In the Christmas spirit, I began to plan a special treat for my mom.  She loves stollen, but my dad hates the fluorescent candied fruit that so often fills it.  Instead, I soaked dried apricots and cranberries in a combination of whiskey and cider for a week before taking the fruit to Kansas with us.  I baked up the stollen recipe from Bread Baker's Apprentice with a (too thick) layer of almond paste in the middle.  It was good fresh, but I liked it best toasted with butter and I found the more muted fruit to be festive (and less frightening).

Giving handmade gifts is one of my favorite aspects of Christmas and this year was no exception.  I was particularly busy at work these last few months so some got finished once I was already in Kansas, but they were no less welcome.  Here are few of my favorites:

For my mom, a pair of Cozy Toes socks knit from yarn she picked out while we were in Portland.  She knew they were coming but had no idea what they would look like.  (In fact, due to some facebook complaining about my lack of time, she thought they were coming unfinished.)

Mom also got a new cover for her sewing machine (which I made good use of in finishing up this and other presents) based on an applique from Ellison Lane Quilts.

For dad, I made a custom-etched casserole dish that no one will ever walk away with from a potluck. Etching glass is so easy and  can be done with etching cream that you can pick up at any craft store.  It elevates inexpensive glassware into a cherished gift and I think it would be a great way to personalize bakeware that might be on a wedding registry. I also made a casserole carrier to tote it around based on this Sew4Home pattern.  Somehow I neglected to take a picture of that part.

By far my favorite gift this year was this lovable guy.  He's based on Otto the Lovable Monster with some liberal modifications.  I made him for a very special two month old and wanted him to match the That's Not my Monster board book by Fiona Watt.  I love these touchy-feely books that all follow the same format ("That's no my monster, his ears are too scratchy") until the final page ("That's my monster, his ears are so fluffy.").  So I made his to match the final monster.  I think I did a pretty good job.  You may recognize this present idea from this dragon and the orangutan up in my header.  I'm sure it will come up again because there are about twenty more books I haven't made a knit version of yet!

The holidays - even, and maybe especially being sick - gave me time to slow down, appreciate being surrounded by people I love, and rejuvenate me for the excitement and business of 2013.  I hope you are looking forward to this new year too!

2978 + 13.1 miles

I did a lot of traveling last week - by plane and by foot!  The American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting was held last week in San Francisco.  I went to a few really interesting talks which sparked some new ideas to investigate in my own research.  I'm looking ahead to starting several projects in the new year that I am really excited about, which is a delightful place to be.  It's always fun to go to these huge meetings (>4000 talks and poster presentations) and get a feeling for what is going on the zeitgeist, even when it isn't really related to your own work.  For example, my friend Melissa gave a fantastic presentation on the evolution of the Y-chromsome which made it into the Huffington Post today.  I've been travelling so much the last month that I am looking forward to getting back to the office and really focusing on my research. These conferences always have that effect on me.

One of the best parts of any conferences is, of course, catching up with friends.  I roomed with my grad school friend Jen and got to see lots of friends from Pennsylvania and Kansas.  We also had a meet-up of anthropological geneticists which is a great way to find each other in the huge conference.  We met in a bar high over the city.  The art-deco windows and the view made me feel like we were in Bruce Wayne's loft apartment.  Seriously, check out this view.  You can see the lights on the bay bridge.

I flew back Saturday night in plenty of time to go to bed and toss and turn with nerves before getting up at 5am for the ROCK'N'ROLL HALF MARATHON!!! 25,000 of my closest friends and I ran all over downtown including through the Alamo Plaza which was packed with cheering supporters.  This was an amazing first half-marathon because I was never running alone and never out of sight of a fan (among my favorite moments, was the women around mile seven who yelled "you all smell fantastic!").  We ran through residential districts where neighborhoods were having cookouts, past assisted living facilities where older folks in wheel chairs clapped and waved as we passed, and by churches where entire congregations had gathered after services to cheer us on.

On top of all of this were the bands playing throughout the race.  I won't pretend the miles flew by (around mile 11, I was cursing these two lovely people who talked me into this), but all of these distractions and the amazing support of the people on the course and all of you out there made it a fantastic experience overall.  I'm already thinking about doing another one in the spring.  A special thanks to everyone who donated to Spina Bifida Texas.  Our team raised $3,000 for their programs!

I've tallied up the raffle and winner of the hand-knit hat is Holly!  Thank you again to everyone who donated.

Coast-to-Coast and Back Again

October was a crazy-busy month of travelling!  First we headed to Pennsylvania for our dear friends' wedding which was just so perfectly them.  It was held in the small-town brewery where they got engaged with just a small group of family and friends.  We were so lucky to get to share their wedding day with them.  Look how happy they are, it makes my heart skip a beat.

We spent a few extra days in State College where we caught up with friends, closed down a bar after a funk show, and remembered the burning sensation of breathing in 20 degree weather.  During the day, I was able to meet up with some of my ongoing collaborators back in the anthropology department.  Geoff flew back to San Antonio with some equipment they are lending me for our newly funded research (YAY!) and got only a moderate amount of questioning from the skeptical TSA agents.

While Geoff was on his way back to balmy Texas, I flew to Stephenson, WA for a pair of conferences focusing on novel techniques in statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology.  The conferences were jam packed but educational and the surroundings - located on the Columbia River Gorge couldn't be beat.  I even ran into a friend from grad school that I didn't even know would be there.

Between prepping for my presentations at the conferences and all the travel, I was ready for a break.  My mom flew out and met me in Portland for a very relaxing three days.  The only real plans we had were to eat at some food carts and for me to get my first pedicure.  (I've sort of avoided them because I was afraid I would love them too much and want to get them all the time.  I was right!)

Because my family loves museums, we had to check out the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry where we happened upon a kids chemistry lab (they were doing flame tests!), the AAA's exhibit on race which features several anthropologists I know, and the very fun Grossology exhibit where we played a life-size game of Operation.

Of course, when in Portland, you must have Voodoo doughnuts and Stumptown coffee.  Being the loving women we are, we each flew home with a box of maple-bacon glazed doughnuts as carry-ons.

Our last night in town, we had drinks on the 30th floor of a large pink building (I think it was a bank?) and watched the sun set.  It was the perfect ending to a relaxing weekend with mom!

A Break from the Heat

The morning after we returned from Dallas, I boarded a flight to JFK to spend a week at Cold Spring Harbor Labs.  I was attending a course on the Genetics of Complex Human Diseases at the Banbury Center, a small conference center overlooking the Long Island Sound.

I learned so much this week from some really outstanding instructors and I've already put a lot of it to use since I've been back.  The days were long but the setting was incredibly peaceful.  Most nights we watched the sun set over the water and the cool mornings were perfect for runs.  My attempt to run along the beach, however, was met with swans and wobbly ankles.

Because we were the only people on campus, everyone at the conference had the chance to get to know each other in the evenings.  It was a bit like summer camp, complete with ping-pong and board games.  Here I am completing my first ever game of Monopoly (although I quit many in my youth).  It ran almost the entire length of the Olympics' closing ceremonies.

One night, we took a break and all went into Manhattan to see a few sights - Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Times Square.  I hadn't been to Manhattan since 2005 so it was fun to walk around, even if just for an hour.  Rockefeller Center always reminds me of the very first trip I took to NY with my mom when I was about six. 

As the sun set, we made our way to a rotating restaurant on the top floor of the Mariott.  The view was incredible as the city lit up.  From high above, you are removed from the noise and crowds.  There was something surreal about it.  I couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching a movie and Spiderman was going to swing by at any second.

My absolute favorite part of the trip, however, was getting to see friends on the way to the airport to fly home.  We visited the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.  Who knew that there was a bird sanctuary in Queens?  Only getting to see my little buddy, once a year means I'm constantly surprised at how much she has grown!  She's really turning into her own sweet, smart, little person and it was great to get to spend the afternoon with her (oh, and her parents).