Friday, October 9, 2009

NIECE

this post will be short, and lacking in information, but it is all i have to share at the moment. i have a niece! she was born today, about an hour and a half ago, and she is BIG. lindsay and baby are fine.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

25 things i want to do before i'm 25

ok, so i know i'm not even 24 yet, but my 24th birthday is too soon for me to get through 24 things. so i'm starting with age 25. anyway, here's my list:

  1. Finish knitting the scarf for my mom
  2. Sew a baby blanket for niece
  3. Finish painting the house
  4. Leave my job
  5. Start graduate school
  6. Get a dog (this one’s up to Granger)
  7. Go to a foreign country I haven’t been to yet
  8. Travel somewhere with friends
  9. Spend a weekend in NYC
  10. Spend a day in Harper’s Ferry
  11. Spend a day in Annapolis
  12. Visit a vineyard
  13. Spend a day photographing DC (black and white film)
  14. Go to DC sights I’ve never been to before
  15. Exercise at least 4 times per week
  16. Eat healthier
  17. Learn how to cook one new dish each month
  18. Learn how to shoot
  19. Learn how to make really good French bread
  20. Take a class on pottery making
  21. Type up and organize my poetry into a binder
  22. Make a meal for a large group of people (appetizer, main dish, and dessert)
  23. See a musical
  24. Start writing more (fiction)
  25. Go on a cruise

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

AK, USA

In late July I went to visit my brother and his lovely girlfriend in AK. I got there Wesdnesday afternoon (July 22), around 3pm or so, after a long day of flying (DC to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Anchorage). My flight was overrun with *ahem* old people who were going up to Alaska to go on boat cruises, guided bus tours, etc. It was fine, except when it came time to get off the plane. I don't think a collective group of people has ever moved slower in the history of moving slowly!

Anyway, after meeting my brother in the airport, he and I dropped my stuff off at their apartment and went on a walk. We walked just a short ways to this pretty trail that took us along a lake and ended in downtown Anchorage, right near Beth's office. We picked her up and walked back to their apartment along a shorter route. That evening, I was so tired that I don't even remember what we had for dinner. All I remember was knocking their kitchen timer off the oven when I tried to turn it off, and then doing it again seconds later when I was defending myself from (deserved) taunts... My life is so hard... After dinner some of Eric and Beth's friends came over, but I was so exhausted from traveling all day and the 4 hour time difference that I crashed soon after dinner.

Thursday was pretty relaxed day... Eric and I just hung out at their apartment for a little while and then in the afternoon we met Beth at her office and went out to lunch. For the rest of the afternoon Eric and I ran errands for the hiking/camping trip that we had planned for Friday through Sunday. That night's dinner I do remember - SPAGHETTI. Needless to say, it was awesome!

Friday morning we woke up, leisurely got all of our gear ready, had a big breakfast, and headed out on the quite scenic drive to the start of our hike. The trail is a little less than a 2 hour drive south of Anchorage, but it only took that long because we had to drive all the way around a large bay. As the crow flies, we couldn't have been more that 50 miles or so south of Anchorage.

The trail we hiked up was 9 miles to the cabin where we were staying. At the trailhead was a warning about a bear attack that had happened that very morning, so I was a little nervous at the start of the hike. But all three of us were wearing bear bells so as not to surprise any bears that might have been on or near the path. We also had bear spray in case we did run into any bears. I was still a little nervous, but the fact that I am writing this is a testament to the fact that we didn't actually happen across any bears. Although we probably did get closer to one than I care to think about...

Before the hike, I was imagining terrain that was going to be much rougher than how it actually was. I guess I've always imagined Alaskan wilderness as incredibly rugged, so I was expecting the worse. The hike we did was no easy feat, but it was certainly more manageable than the death-defying hike I thought was in store for me. The scenery around us as we hiked was GORGEOUS. There was this plant, fireweed, that was just in bloom as we were hiking. It's a plant that's about 5 feet tall with purple flowers that start blooming at the bottom of the plant and then, as the summer goes on, the buds on the top of the plant will bloom. According to Beth, it's a good way to measure Alaskan summers - when the fireweeds have purple blooms at the very top of them, summer is almost over! Anyway, the fireweed was everywhere, so all the mountains surrounding our hike had patches of bright purple! It was very beautiful.

We made it to the cabin after about 5 or 6 hours of hiking. It was a pretty nice cabin on a medium sized lake. My favorite part was that it came with a canoe! Eric and I traipsed about in the woods a little bit more (all the while talking loudly so we didn't surprise any bears) to gather firewood for our fire. Once we had a good enough amount, we all decided to go out in the canoe. The views from the lake were great too, and I ended up taking about a billion pictures of the same views. I couldn't help myself! After gallavanting out in the canoe we came back, made dinner, and sat by the fire a little bit. We were all a little tired, to say the least, from hiking 9 miles, so we went to bed pretty early. One downside of the cabin was that there were lots of windows without any curtains. Since the sun didn't completely set until around 11pm, it was a little hard to get to sleep in what was pretty much daylight. Or, I should say, it would have been hard had we not walked 9 miles that day. I think it too me all of about 30 seconds to fall asleep...

The next day the three of us went out fishing. Eric and Beth didn't catch anything, but I ended up catching a fish. I think the fish can tell that, even though I'm fishing, I don't actually want to catch anything so they all inevitably bite my line. I always feel really bad when I catch something, so I wasn't too happy that I caught one. Especially since I got this one through the eye. I felt so bad!!! Later on that afternoon I caught another one, and two fish was two fish too many, so after that one I quit fishing entirely. The rest of the day we just tooled around, hung out, chatted, ate lunch and dinner, etc. It was great just having a day to relax and enjoy ourselves! The next day we hiked back down the 9 miles to Beth's car. I think we made it out in about 3 - 4 hours (going downhill helps a lot!).

The next day was my last day in Anchorage before a red eye back to DC. It was another relaxing day just hanging out with my brother while Beth, sadly, had to work. All in all, it was a great trip, and I can now mark Alaska off my list of places that I have to visit. Can't wait to go back (maybe for Christmas????)!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

poor

why does everything have to cost money? and so much money, at that... i seriously wish my parents would just tell me where the money tree is. i could seriously use a visit with that thing right now...

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

the last few months of my life have been crazy

i haven't had the chance to write here lately... but hopefully that will all change as i will actually be in dc for a few weeks without going on some other adventure. i had fun on every single trip, but i am glad i'm staying home for a while.

let's see, first there was a trip to the OBX which i mentioned below, then there was Mexico, then there was South Carolina, then there was the OBX again, then the next weekend Caroline and I hosted a party at our place, and then i just got back from a visit with eric in anchorage. phew!!! i need a vacation from my vacations!

i'll update more thoroughly later...

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

OBX

how is it that one place can make me so happy?

it probably stems from the fact that my family would take a week-long vacation to the outer banks nearly every summer for most of my childhood. i have great memories from those vacations: whole days at the beach, bobbing and diving through waves, playing "bong" with my brother (was that what we called it, eric?), digging holes, catching critters, demolishing my brother in a fishing competition off the pier (they were practically jumping out of the water to bite my hook), being "rescued" by gus (also known as gus-swimming-furiously-towards-you-with-his-nails-fully-extended-and-eventually-you-get-out-of-the-water-just-to-avoid-being-scratched-anymore), chair surfing, sunset walks, big spaghetti dinners on the deck overlooking the ocean, rich breaking my dad's whole arm, reading books while sprawling on a towel in the sun, and just in general loving every minute of it...

well, this past weekend i went to the outer banks with granger. we left shortly after 11pm on fiday night (when granger got out of work) and drove down. we got there around 3:30 or so, and after snarfing some pb&js we passed out. then, after only 2 HOURS OF SLEEPING, i was awakened by my lovely boyfriend who was up and ready to get the day started. ummm... what?!?!?! i couldn't even wrap my mind around how impossible it was that he was already up for good, although i managed to fanagle another hour of sleep before i joined granger in a state of, albeit grudging, awakeness. sigh...

we got the grocery shopping out of the way that morning and managed to be on the beach by about 9:30, however, so the early morning rise did have its benefits. we brough some mike's hard lemonade and some chips and dip down to the water and stayed well into the afternoon. the only downside of the day was me getting sunburned. but otherwise, granger and i had a great time in the water, tossing a frisbee, and just generally goofing around. granger had a pretty spectacularly graceless moment with the frisbee that caused the lifeguard who was driving by on her ATV to stop and compliment him. she later asked for a repeat performance. he and i both did eventually have some pretty great catches though; i think my favorite of his was when he launched off the ground like a goalkeeper would to barely catch the frisbee between his fingers. my best catch was from behind my back. yeah, i know, i'm awesome!

unfortunately sunday dawned cloudy and windy, so we didn't spend too much time on the beach. we tooled around the house we were staying in and made a smorgasbord for dinner, cleaned and packed up, and drove back to DC. all in all, it was a great trip, and the only reason that i wasn't super sad about leaving was because granger reminded me that, in a week, we'd be lounging on the shores of mexico making one of the toughest decisions of our lives: do i want a margarita or a pina colada? i think i'm going to choose both...

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

this one's for my dad

i recently got admonished by my dad for not updating this blog enough. apparantly he was sick of reading about my economics class over and over again. its true... i have been post-less since ~ GASP ~ april! to all my avid readers, all three of you, i sincerely apologize.

a few things have happened since the last time i wrote anything here that are actually worthy of mention. the first, and biggest, is that i moved out from my lovely parents' house and into an apartment with my friend caroline, who i lived with for pretty much all four years at northwestern. that, while super fun and exciting, has left me pretty gosh-darn broke. so no starbucks for a while... sigh...

another noteworthy event was the brief visit by my uncle and grandma. they came for a weekend, and they got to meet granger (and granger got to meet them), which was awesome. less awesome was the fact that my lovely boyfriend did not come to my rescue when my uncle, in his usual dreaded style, attacked my neck with kisses. it makes me want to cover my neck just thinking about it!

my dad also turned 61 last week and we were all treated to a surprise birthday visit from lindsay and jack, who recently turned 3. it was great to see both of them, especially because i also got to meet my future niece (who is due in october).

otherwise, life continues on in fairly regular fashion... i am starting to think seriously about starting to apply to some grad schools. so far, my list contains AU, GW, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, GMU, Montgomery Institute of International Studies (which may lose out merely because of the length of its name - i already went to one long-named school!), and the University for Peace in Costa Rica. Tufts in boston is another consideration. i'll update you on how all this goes, though...

my family (and granger *fingers crossed*) and i are going to mexico in a week and a half. i probably don't have to mention that I AM REALLY FRIGGIN EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!! if you know me, you probably already knew that. this weekend granger and i are going to the outer banks in north carolina for a few days. and a few weeks after mexico i am headed out to anchorage to visit eric and beth! phew! busy busy!

Thursday, April 30, 2009

economics

oh economics... why must you be so difficult? the moment i think i begin to understand you, you turn around and make it so that i have no idea what's going on again. your confusing antics make me not want to study you! i don't understand... why do you taunt me so? but most importantly, why, oh why, are you so necessary for me to learn?

Monday, April 27, 2009

a lesson in brigit

life is complicated. understanding different situations, not to mention other people, is a daily challenge. to add to the mess, understanding ourselves can be just as challenging. even though we are privy to our inner-most thoughts and desires, we oftentimes have trouble understanding it all. and lord help us if we have to explain how we feel or why we feel the way we do! but sometimes something happens that turns on a light bulb inside your head, and suddenly you have a clearer picture of yourself, of how you are, of why you act the way you do. it doesn't have to be momentous, but odds are that it's at least useful.

i had a moment like that recently...

last week was somewhat rough for me. i don't want to go into detail about what happened, but i do want to point out something i learned about myself while dealing with it: apart from the absolute essentials - think shelter and food - having good friends (and a close family) is the most important thing in my life.

i know this doesn't seem like a break-through (duh! obviously people are important to me!), but in the context that i realized this, it was. as i mentioned before, i had a bad week last week. i talked with granger about it, but otherwise, i didn't feel the need to go to any of my friends to talk about what was going on. when i noticed how i felt, i thought about it, and i realized that i don't need to talk to people about how i'm feeling or what i'm thinking in order to feel better; the mere fact that i know i could talk to them if i needed to is all i need. if it makes any sense, just knowing that people are there for me is more important than them actually having to be there for me.

i've had to rely on people a few times in the past, and when i did, every single person came through for me when i needed them. i know that if i needed them for anything again, they would come through for me just as they did before. knowing this is all i need.

Friday, April 17, 2009

spring, occasionally

i woke up at 8:12 am today. technically speaking, i am supposed to be at work at 8:30 am; clearly, there was no way that i was going to be able to make it in by then, so i decided not to rush to get ready. if i was going to be late, i might as well embrace it. so i got up, got ready, put my things together, and leisurely headed out.

as i stepped outside, i was greeted by a beautiful, sunny morning. despite the fact that it's mid april, dangerously close to late april in fact, one can hardly argue that we have experienced much of that beloved dc spring weather yet. until today. this morning, the birds were so giddy that it was almost annoying to listen to them chirping away. violets are just starting to poke through the grass in front lawns, and you could smell spring in the air. why did i have to go to work? it seemed so unfair!

i've walked the same route nearly every day for much of my life. when i was little, my walk was to janney, then to deal, then wilson. after a four year hiatus in chicago, i am back, but now i walk to the metro to go to work instead of to school. i have a lot of memories of walking that walk, generally hurrying because i was late for something, only occasionally being able to take the time to appreciate my surroundings.

it turns out that i was only 20 minutes late to work, but, since my work hours are flexible, this was not a problem at all. so i got to sleep in a little bit, i got to avoid the usual rush-to-work chaos, and i got to appreciate one of the few truly beautiful days we've had in dc this year. not too bad for a friday morning.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

leave the roses

i chose this as the title of my blog because, earlier today, i read a quote that i very much liked. it goes, 'if the bees have tasted the taste of your lips, they would have left the roses and came back to you.'

i couldn't tell you why that struck me, i guess, as un-poetic as it is to say, it just did. it's simple and sweet, and i imagine that the person who wrote or said it was very fond of the person about whom they spoke. since i, too, am very fond of all those who will read my blog, i thought it fitting.

anyway, welcome to my new blog. i hope you enjoy it...