Thursday, Dec. 29

Today was another great day for connecting with old friends. I saw a friend of mine who I went to both high school and college with, but we hadn't actually managed to see each other in over a year. He recently moved to Colorado and it was great fun to get to talk to him all about his new adventures. More than anything though (aside from reconnecting with a good friend) it makes me so excited for my own adventure next year when it comes to moving somewhere new, finding new places to explore, new people to meet and learning all about a whole new place! Yahoo!!

Wednesday, Dec. 28

Sometimes it really is the little things in life. As mentioned earlier, I love to swim and today found me back in the pool. Despite that I've been swimming for a lot of my life, I have never really perfected the art of switching sides when I come up to take a breath. I can handle four strokes in a row, but for some reason, rotating sides while breathing has been a challenge. While swimming today, I watched the person next to me and saw how flawlessly they were switching sides to breathe and just studied what they were doing that I wasn't. Turns out that if you want to switch sides that you breathe on, you have to do it every three strokes, not every four. (In hindsight, this seems obvious, but for whatever reason I never got that.) Once I figured that out I decided to just go for it and hope for the best. It worked great!! I'll admit, the first few strokes weren't pretty and there was definitely a lot of water up my nose, but after a lap or two, I was golden! I also don't get nearly as tired out or short of breath when I'm breathing every three, so I could do more laps in a row without taking a kicking break. Woo hoo!! :)

Tuesday, Dec. 27

Today Trina and I cooked dinner! I've been spending an awful lot of time on pinterest, looking at recipes in particular and I found one that sounded so delicious that I just had to try it out! It was Asparagus and Penne pasta and it turned out great!! I love being in the kitchen and while the kitchens in my halls at KU are fine, there's something about being home and being in a kitchen that is familiar to me and that I know well. Plus, having most of the ingredients provided for free by my parents doesn't hurt either, haha. Not only did the dish turn out GREAT (recipe at the bottom for those who are curious), but it's actually quite good for you! I used 100% whole wheat pasta and used 1/4 stick of butter, which is a 1/4 of what is called for, but the dish still tasted absolutely delicious! Not only did I get to be in the kitchen and cook away, but it was with Trina, which makes things even more fun! She's able to find humor in just about everything, so there was no shortage of laughing while we were working away! My parents loved the dish and appreciated the night off from the kitchen. I'm putting this in my recipe book with big plans to make again! Happy Cooking! Penne with roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter INGREDIENTS 1 pound asparagus 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar 1 pound penne 1/4 pound butter, cut into pieces (I used 1/4 of a stick) 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving Heat the oven to 400°. Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and discard them. Cut the spears into 1-inch pieces. Put the asparagus on a baking sheet and toss with the oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, put the vinegar in a small saucepan. Simmer until 3 tablespoons remain. Stir in the brown sugar and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove from the heat. Cook the penne in a large pot of boiling, salted water until just done, about 13 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the butter, vinegar, asparagus, Parmesan, and the remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt. Serve with additional Parmesan.

Monday, Dec. 26

Today I got to see one of my good friends from undergrad who currently lives in LaMoure, North Dakota. We lived together freshman year and for one semester of junior year (before we both went abroad) and with neither of us living in Minnesota, we hardly ever see each other. Seeing her yesterday was wonderful! I got to hear all about her teaching adventures and was so impressed with how well she has learned to handle teaching five (yep, five) grades all in one room. She is absolutely making the best of a less than great situation, but she loves it and has such a positive view on things!! She also is one of the most supportive people I know and talking about my future with her was made so much better by her encouragement! She asked so many good questions that made me feel awesome about choosing to go in to higher education and gave me a huge confidence booster for planning for the future! Yay!

Sunday, Dec. 25

Why was today great?! Because it's Christmas!! Much like with Saturday, today was filled with family and that is always something that makes me happy.

1. The gifts I got this year were all simple, but exactly things I needed and appreciate. I got lots of new running gear and some very cute new "adult" outfits from my sister. She has much classier taste than me and is always a lifesaver when it comes to dressing professionally.
2. I got to see my whole extended family. My dad comes from a big, crazy, fun, family and while we see lots of each other during the summer, once winter hits, we're rarely all together. Christmas not only brings us together, but everyone is in such a good mood too! My young cousin Sam got a GIANT fish balloon thing that runs on a remote and "swims" through the air. He brought it over and my dad and his brothers all instantly turned into young boys and started playing with it.
3. Delicious food!! The menu on Christmas has never changed, but I still love it! Mashed potatoes, roast, fruit salad, spanakopita, and green salad. Each family brings one or two of the dishes and man oh man, my extended family can cook!!!
4. After the meal all of the cousins sat in front of the fire and caught up on how everyone was doing. We all lead fairly different lives, so hearing what's happening in each of their lives is always a treat.
5. Lastly, the book I got on Christmas Eve (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) is soooooo good!! I have incredible appreciation for books that I can't put down and just keep bringing me back, and this is definitely one of those books!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy Kwanzaa!

Saturday, Dec. 24

I am so lucky!! There were so many things that happened today that make me feel so truly lucky for having the life that I do.
My family has hosted Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember. While the different guests that we have varies year to year, overall we have a pretty set formula. Invite folks over, eat appetizers and chat, serve a very non-traditional meal, eat delicious dessert, go to midnight mass. There are a few people we count on seeing every year, but then we always keep our ears open for people who might need a place to go. Last night was no exception. We had two different sets of families over, one couple which I have known my whole life. The other family are neighbors who moved to the neighborhood about 5 years ago and we've gotten to know them fairly well.
In a mostly chronological order, a list of what made the day wonderful:
My sisters and I slept in, then sat on the couch drinking coffee and reading the paper, then ate a tasty lunch of eggs and toast.
The afternoon was filled with cleaning, but with everyone in such good moods, it didn't matter. There was lots of cooking to happen too, but everyone did a little bit, which made everything easier.
Our guests showed up 30 minutes early, but we all just laughed and everyone helped with parts to the meal.
The food was delicious! Cous-Cous with salmon and then Cous-Cous with chorizo. Plus, roasted cauliflower, green beans and zuchinni, a green salad, and a colorful salad (with pomegranate, clementines, cabbage and tomatoes), yum!
Conversation was wonderful! There was lots of questions about what I'll do and where I'll be after May (I have the same question too!) along with general catch up from all families. We cracked jokes, talked politics and poked fun.
Gifts!! The family I've known my whole life always brings us wonderful books. They both have great taste and always find just the right thing. I got Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Forde and have already started it and love it! The best part? Once I finish my book, I can pick from all of the books the rest of my family got too!
Midnight Mass has been tradition to attend also for as long as I remember. While going to mass at 10:00 at night is a little bit of a struggle, last night was definitely worth it. The music was wonderful (as always) and we got to see people that only come to church at Christmas, so we don't see them that often. The priest brought Muggles into the sermon (that's non-magic people for those of you lacking Harry Potter knowledge) and everyone was in such a happy mood!
The overall message from last night that I took away was all about peace. To be peace, to act peaceful, to be open to peace. While I'm pretty hit and miss about relating to the message of mass, last night definitely stuck with me. And while other people there might not have gotten the same message it's definitely what I got from it. At a time when there are lots of unknowns in my life about the future, it's nice to be reminded of how I want to act from day to day.
On a similar note, every year at mass one of the musicians sings Christmas in the Trenches, an all time favorite song of mine, based on a true story. It's a lovely song about finding similarities and being at peace, even if just for one night. To me, I think it sends an incredibly important message about how we should always think about how our actions are affecting the person on the other side. One of the last lines in particular resonates with me "on each end of the rifle we're the same." The line makes more sense when you hear the whole song, so please, have a listen. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9coPzDx6tA

Tomorrow is Christmas and I can't wait to get a whole other day with my immediate and extended family!!

Friday, Dec. 23

Friday found my mom and I making dessert for Christmas Eve dinner. We made Negresse en Chemise, a french dish that is deliciously chocolatey and takes a lot of patience. I love baking and started learning from my mom at a young age and while I do fine on my own, I love being able to bake with her. This recipe is fairly simple, but it involves melting lots of chocolate which you have to do at low heat. Once the chocolate is melted though, you just add strong coffee, rum, butter and whipping cream and fold it together. Holey moley, talk about delicious! We had a little bit of trouble getting everything to fit in the mold, but it's currently setting on the porch (yep, we use our porch as a fridge in MN) and we'll see how it turns out! Despite being 24 years old, turns out I still love baking with my mom just as much as when I was younger!

Thursday, Dec. 22

Today found me at the YWCA where my dad is a member and where he conveniently has a few guest passes left for the year. I've been out of running for a little while and yesterday was as good of a time as any to get back into it. I set my treadmill, hopped on, and off I went! I only went for 20 minutes, but it was definitely a good 20 minutes! There was a man on my left who was doing about 8 miles an hour and boy did I feel slow compared to him! Although there was a woman on my right who was doing about two miles an hour, so I was speed demon compared to her. (In her defense, I think she was about 80 years old. I can only hope to still be walking at that age, haha.) While I only went for 20 minutes, I felt good the whole time! My legs definitely knew what to do and my brain kicked in pretty soon after I got going. While it certainly wasn't my fastest time ever, I was happy the whole time and was still faster than in August, so I'm pleased! After running I hopped into the pool and felt nothing but happiness. I shared a lane with my dad who is all sorts of a good swimmer. At my fastest, I just keep up with him! He was great though because he gave me some much needed pointers to improve my stroke AND commented on how I was swimming strong for having taken such a long break. Talk about proud! All told, I was running or swimming for an hour and boy did my body feel good at the end of it! I'm thinking swimming is going to have to be a much bigger part of my life next semester.

On another important note, tomorrow is baking day with my mom! Something tells me my post just might have something to do with that! :)

Wednesday, Dec. 21

Wednesday was another day where I had all sorts of different things that made the day great.

1. I started off the day with my mom, dad, and kind neighbor at Goodwill/Easter Seals in Saint Paul. We spent two hours filling a 20 foot truck full of medical equipment to send down to Matagalpa, Nicaragua. A few years ago my dad became involved with a non-profit organization Familias Especiales/the Wisconsin-Nicaragua Wheelchair Project (http://www.wnwp.org/aboutwnwp.php) and he is now responsible for getting donations from MN, to WI, to then to Nicaragua. He found the organization when he was traveling in Nicaragua a few years ago and has since become super involved. Through the generosity of Goodwill/Easter Seals about every four months they have a donation ready to go of wheelchairs, walkers, standers, canes and various other equipment. My dad (and whoever else is willing to help) then loads up a big ol' truck and he drives it down to Madison, WI where it's organized in a warehouse and then in a few weeks will make the trek to Nicaragua. Overall, it's a super long process, but pretty much every step of the way is done by volunteers, which means it's harder to stick with a tight timeline. My dad started helping sometime around my junior year of college, so I'm usually not around when it comes time to send off the truck, but yesterday morning I was! With four of us helping, things went pretty quick and it was so neat to see the truck packed to the brim with all the equipment!

2. I got to enjoy a lazy afternoon! With my parents driving to Madison with the truck of medical equipment and my sister at work, I had the house and the car to myself. I made a trip to the public library, drove to Dunn Brothers (yes, I did go twice in three days) and sat and enjoyed a Chai Latte, started and finished Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg (a quick and good read) and ran into an old high school friend. Bliss.

3. Trina and I had our own family dinner, complete with a full on meal cooked by me! Pasta with pesto, carrots and clementines. Simple, but it covered all the food groups! (Or at least most of them I think...) After dinner we went to a neighborhood solstice celebration, where we got to see people I haven't seen since summer and everyone shared one wish for humanity for the coming year. Lots and lots of positive things were said, plus there was Le Bouche de Noel, which is essentially chocolate cake, with chocolate ganache in the layers with chocolate frosting on the outside. You can never go wrong with all of that!

4. I learned how to fix a door! Last night as Trina and I tried to head out, I went to open the door and the doorknob came off in my hand! I tried for an hour to fix the doorknob, to loosen the door latch, to take door off it's hinges, all to no avail! (Thank goodness for back doors!) When my dad got home, he and I worked away at it and eventually loosened the latch enough to open the door. Then he showed my how to unscrew the latch fixture from the door and all of the sudden, bam, there was the whole fixture! I unscrewed it and found where something had come loose, put it all back together, put it back in the door and it works!! While I had quite a bit of guidance from my dad, I still did it mostly on my own. Talk about empowering! :)

Tuesday, Dec. 20

Tuesday night found me at a reunion of sorts with all sorts of people I used to work with. Sophomore year of high school I started working at a local restaurant and I stayed there through my junior year of college. Most of the people that I worked with have also left, but we try to do a decent job of getting together every so often. There's a core group of four of us that see each other probably twice a year, but there are many others who don't usually make it. In October, one of the servers who I know quite well got engaged and gave us a great reason to get together last night and do some celebrating. It was so wonderful to see so many of my old co-workers in one place. Most of them couldn't believe that I was 24 and getting a masters degree. I couldn't believe how many of them had gotten married, or had kids, or had kids who were going to college next year! I babysat for some of those kids!!! I know that years go by and kids grow up, but because I hadn't seen them all in so long, everyone was just frozen at the same age when I last saw them, which I guess is how it was for them when it came to thinking of me. Seeing everyone again, catching up, and having everyone in such a happy mood (especially when celebrating an engagement) filled me up with all sorts of warm fuzzies, making for one excellent night!

Monday, Dec.19

Yesterday was my first official day of winter break! I guess Sunday kind of was too, except it was the weekend, so everyone had it off, meaning it didn't seem like much of a vacation. :) While any day of a break from school is good, yesterday was great because I spent almost the whole day with Trina (my twin sister) who had the day off from work. We spent the morning sleeping in, then sitting on the couch, reading (for fun!) and drinking tea. We spent the afternoon doing last minute Christmas gift shopping, but we were pretty low key about the whole thing. We ended the day with coffee and a croissant (yum!) at Dunn Brothers Coffee on Grand Ave., one of my all time favorite coffee shops. It was a relaxing yet productive day, full of laughing and good conversation. I don't think winter break starts much better than that.:)

Sunday, Dec. 18

Tonight we put up our now traditional Christmas branch. A few years ago my mom got sick of the mess of having a Christmas tree and she decided that having a branch could be just as pretty. Now, most of you are probably picturing a very sad Charlie Brown Christmas tree, I promise, it's not as sad as that. We always find a pretty sizeable branch, with lots of smaller branches coming off of it so that we hang ornaments. Half the fun of having this branch, is the hunt to to find it. Today we adventured off to walk along the river and hunted away. Minnesota has been oddly lacking snow, so traipsing through the woods was a little easier, but it's still not easy feat to pick through leaves and dead trees in an attempt to find some sort of just-the-right-size, pretty, yet dead, fallen branch. After an hour long walk along the river, we were finally successful, but it also means we had to walk all the way back home with this branch. There was nothing normal about the situation! We got a LOT of very odd stares as we walked along. I guess it's not everyday that you see people carrying a gigantic branch with them. After dinner we actually decorated tree, blue lights this year, with a minimal amount of ornaments. I've got to say, overall, I'm very pleased with it. What makes me most happy though, it all of the laughter and fun that was had while both finding the tree and putting it up. Man oh man, my family is great.

Saturday, Dec 17

Why was today great?

BECAUSE I AM FINALLY HOME IN THE GREAT STATE OF MINNESOTA!!!!

My friend Kelsey and I took off right after both of my halls were closed and we powered through the 7 hour drive. We had WONDERFUL conversations and proceeded to become happier and happier as every mileage sign put us a little closer to Saint Paul. I got to my house around 8:00 pm and there was a delicious meal waiting for me, including my mom's homemade whole wheat bread, YUM! And of course, there was dessert. Chocolate ice cream with chocolate cookies. My older sister had come over too, which meant my whole family was here. Everyone was happy and giggly and I truly felt like the holiday season had started. To make the day even better, I had a package waiting for me from my friend Clara, who is living in South Korea. Not only did I get a great backpack, I got a lovely and encouraging card from here. What a wonderful addition to an already great day! I couldn't have asked for a better homecoming!!

Friday, Dec. 17

Today was the last day of finals at KU and many of my residents had finals all the way through to today. As I sat in my office and powered through lots of paperwork and the complication that is moving residents in, out, and around, many of my residents stopped by my office after finishing their exams. While closing time is always stressful, talking with residents and seeing how excited the first year students in particular were to be finished, just about makes it all worth it. I had two residents in particular this semester who had a harder time with academics and they both came to me on Friday, proudly showing me their latest assignments and explaining to me how this meant they would get an A in the class. Seeing how happy they were to have had a successful semester not only powered me through everything, but definitely made the day great! :)

Thursday, Dec. 15

As most people who know me are aware, a few months ago I began a new adventure in life when I decided to take up running. I've tried running a few times on and off over the past few years, but have always struggled to make it beyond a week or two. This time though, my friend Heather was training for a marathon, so she was very into running and a huge motivator for me. Throughout the summer I ran with my sister, but then I was just running for 30 minutes and not really paying attention to my distance. When I moved back to KU Heather got me fired up and started teaching me tips and tricks. Her motivation and my determination found me running my very first organized race in the beginning of October. A 5K fundraiser in Lawrence. It was tons of fun and the whole race and atmosphere made me proud to be a runner. I've continued on with my running (although an injury in mid October slowed me down for awhile, booo) and yesterday received a wonderful gift to encourage me some more. Two good friends of mine got me a gift certificate to Lululemon (http://shop.lululemon.com/home.jsp) which is an amazing running and yoga store in Kansas City. We adventured out to Kansas City and to Lululemon where I was immediately overwhelmed by all of the running gear they have. Legggings, pants, shorts, tank tops, t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, hats, gloves, socks, sports bras, so much good stuff!! After hours (ok, maybe only 45 minutes) of debating I got an awesome bright red sports bra and with the money left on the gift card I'm going to get light-weight, yet warm, gloves designed for winter running (they were currently out of stock, bummer). I realized while driving back to Lawrence just how lucky I am to have such good friends, who know me well enough to find a way to go that extra step to support me. I'm really pretty lucky. :)

Wednesday, Dec. 14

Today was great for so many reasons!!

1. I have always loved swimming. Pool, lake, ocean, it doesn't matter, I just feel at home and happy in the water. The pool here at KU has funny hours, so I hadn't yet been able to swim there, but tonight, I finally got to!! I felt amazing to be back in the pool and using muscles that have been sleeping for quite some time. My friend Heather came along as well and she hasn't done as much swimming, so the night was made even better by seeing how much she enjoyed it!

2. I had a good chat with a previous supervisor of mine all about the future and job hunting. It's no secret that I'm concerned about finding a job after May, but tonight's conversation was great because it reminded me of why I love working with students and in housing and why I really am lucky.

3. I've been having some water leaking issues in my office and most days part of the plaster from the ceiling can be found on the floor. I've called the maintenance folks many times, but for the past few months, nothing has changed. Earlier this week two very nice carpenters came to my office, scraped off the old plaster and put in new. I came into my office today and it was spotless! They had swept and mopped the floor and cleaned my desk, table, couch and chairs which had all been covered or dusted with plaster over the past few weeks. They also taped down all my electrical cords, so my likelihood of wiping out has decreased significantly. They went way above and beyond and boy do I appreciate it! (Now my bedroom ceiling and wall, that's a whole different story!)

3 great things to make me smile! :)

Celebrating the little (and big) things

I'm a firm believer in always trying to find positives, no matter the situation, circumstance, or attitude of others. This past semester of graduate school was definitely a challenge and some days I lost sight of finding positives. Now that I have survived the semester, I made a promise to myself that for next semester, I would do a better job of ending everyday with thinking of one thing that made the day great. I tried this last year, where every night I wrote on my mirror why the day was great and each morning I would see it and be reminded of reasons to be extra happy. By keeping a blog I'm hoping to do a better job of holding myself accountable for this as well as spreading some joy while I'm at it. :) I plan on finding something everyday that gave me a reason to smile, no matter how big or small the reason is!
I can't promise that I'll updated everyday, but I'll certainly do my best. Enjoy! :)