Kyla's Adventures

Video Blogs: The Doctor's of Love

2012-01-03T06:02:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!! I am so excited for 2012. It is going to be a tough year. This is the year I will finish my course work for my PhD program, study for and take my qualifying exam, write and propose my dissertation topic and if all goes well i will begin the mystifying and slightly scary process. Oh yeah, and I need a topic! I've been so immersed in coursework and my job that I've barely had time to think!

I had a wonderful Christmas break, the Welch-Ferrels came to visit from Texas and New York and we spent our time playing games, going to movies, drinking, eating, watching football (go packers!!!), and eating delicious homemade Lefse (not homemade by us, but homemade nonetheless!)

Jessica and I worked on our video blog, the Dr.'s of Love. Check out this link to our webpage:

http://www.youtube.com/user/DrsOFDating?feature=watch

There are two new videos up!

Video #2: The birth of Steve, the male perspective
Video#3: How to meet a man, the do's and don'ts of dating

Enjoy!

Dr's of Love

2011-12-09T04:33:00.000-08:00

My friend and graduate student colleague, Jessica, and I have started a youtube channel called Dr.'s of Love. The premise: we both are getting our PhD's, have been in the dating world for >10 years, are smart, beautiful, but still have no f*&%ing clue what we are doing. We decided to share our insights with the world (mostly everything we do wrong) with others who are in the same boat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6xss9SfX5Q&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

We started this around the same time that we heard that the Oprah Network was doing casting in Carrboro for a show called Lovetown USA (a dating documentary). We sent them our video and a link to our secret dating blog and I got a phone call from an LA area code within 5 minutes! The casting people and their producers were on the phone, said they loved us and want us on the show (IF Carrboro is picked as the small town, others are still in the running). We are meeting with them on Tuesday for interviews,. I don't know if this will turn into anything, but it is a crazy and exciting idea. I'll keep you updated on what happens!

Enjoy the video. There will be more to come.

Oh, finals are today, this was a great distraction.

Cutter has enough with the family portrait

2011-11-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

This sucks
I don't have time for this
I'm getting out of here

Family portrait!!

2011-11-27T18:29:00.001-08:00

Treated like a King

2011-10-31T11:06:00.000-07:00

Looks like Blade is living it up in style at the Shack! He has his own place at the table, his own chair, and his own silverware.
Just hanging with the guys.
And enjoys only the finest vintage

Hunt report: Day 6

2011-10-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

This is the Shack!

This is Blade in front of the Shack:
This is the worn out pup:
This is my dad's friend Ernie hanging out with the Blade (check out that cool futon..)

Hunt report: Day 2

2011-10-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

After a long, hard day of running around in the woods "hunting", Blade curled up by the woodstove, the only source of heat in the hunting shack.
Notice I did not put quotations around shack. I have been to this shack before and can tell you that it is really a shack.

It is one room with 2 bunkbeds (sleeps 4), a kitchen area, living area with futon (courtesy of me moving away from Madison and not wanting to take that terrible and uncomfortable $99 futon with me), and a dining room table (which is basically a giant tree trunk).

There is no running water and no electricity. There is an outhouse outback. My dad and his friends (who are all doctors and architects) built a really cool shower house that heats water in a turkey fryer. They also set up 'running water' in the kitchen by filling a gigantic 20 gallon jug of water and hanging it from the rafters in the ceiling. From this jug protrudes a plastic pipe that runs from the ceiling down the wall and into the sink. The water comes from a natural spring outside, and really is the best water I've ever tasted.

They built made a cool skylight.

Now what everyone cares about: Dad's Blade update!!!

Blade is really tired today. He flushed a bird this morning without realizing it, wasn't fazed by gunfire, ran away for a little while but I kept track of him with the gps (it is attached to his collar because he likes to run away), and he ended up coming back. He seems to swim through ponds rather than running around them, and certainly isn't afraid of water.

Hunt report: Day 1

2011-10-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

My sweet little puppy is off hunting with my dad in the middle of nowhere, Wisconsin for the next two weeks. I don't know how I'll survive without him (my dog not my dad), but getting photo updates doesn't hurt.

Dad's Blade updates that I make him send me:

"He had nothing to do with grouse although did chew on downed birds. Now very very tired dog."

"Blade stayed close by and occasionally barked to keep wolves, bears, and cougars away. Appears he has been successful so far."

This last one is probably sarcasm. Blade likes to fall down in submission immediately whenever ANY dog approaches him, so who knows what would happen if he came into contact with a wolf.

Best. Gift. Ever.

2011-10-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my mom and I went to Orlando Florida to explore The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios! It was fantastic! I am a huge fan of Harry Potter and they did an incredible job of recreating Hogwarts (the Wizarding school Harry goes to), Hogsmeade (the Wizarding town ) and all the shops.

To get to the attraction you first walk through Dr. Seuss Land which is cool but pretty hokey. But when you first walk through the gate of Hogsmeade, the whole atmosphere changes. There is fantastic music and the whole world of Harry Potter comes alive.
The first thing you see is the Hogwart's Express at the Station. It was RAINING ALL DAY so we got soaked, but that didn't stop me from donning my brand new Griffyndor scarf, poncho, and umbrella!
To get out of the rain we went to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. I had a turkey leg and butterbeer!

In the movie, butterbeer is an alcoholic beverage that the students seem to be able to drink despite being underage. At Harry Potter world it is basically liquid caramel combined of with 11 other sources of sugar. It is tasty but way too intense to finish a whole mug!The castle was my favorite part. It looked so realistic! Once inside you walk through long corridors and enter rooms full of talking and moving paintings, the defense against the dark arts classroom, Duumbledore's office, the main hall with thousands of floating candles.
50 points to Gryiffendor!

From there you step on a ride that takes you flying with Harry and Ron in a Quidditch match, over the castle, away from an angry dragon, through the haunted forest, past the whomping willow, and through a whole host of demenotors trying to give you the kiss of death. It was SO well done and realistic.

Hagrid's House
So much candy at Honeydukes!

More to come!

I'm 27!!

2011-10-05T04:44:00.001-07:00

I'm aware that this is turning into a blog about my dog...but what can I say? My life is school, full time job, studying, improv, yoga (NOT hot yoga), friends/roommates, and my pup! Okay so maybe I do have more to talk about but for now....

I got flowers for my birthday from the other man in my life, but Blade thought they were for him....to eat. He likes dandelions.

Weekend pup!

2011-10-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

Baby Blade has already had a very exciting morning!

9am: He woke up
9:10 am: He looked out the window!
9:12am: He caught me taking creepy pictures of him!
9:15am: I gave him a new toy: the Kong Wubba
9:16:05am: Too much excitement so it is back to sleep

Meant to be....

2011-09-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

I was watching the Packers win their 3rd game on Sunday (3-0!) when my mom and I started talking about Aaron Rodgers (he is the quarterback for those of you who do not know or do not live in Wisconsin)

Isn't he so cute?

My mom asked if he had a girlfriend and after furious googling I could not find a credible source that said so one way or another. SO this leads me to assume he is single. One of the places I checked to see his relationship status was facebook (obviously). He did not have a his status posted (and seemed to have recently joined facebook within the past couple weeks....which is weird) but he did have his birthday information.

And guess what?

I HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY AS
AARON RODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is a year older, but that doesn't matter. Anyway, obviously my mom and I think I am meant to be with him (and I'm pretty sure my boyfriend wouldn't mind. In fact, I think he would encourage it..) so I have decided I will invite Aaron to my birthday party , maybe even suggest a joint birthday party? He would probably be into that....

the last drop

2011-09-18T14:50:00.001-07:00

Working at home in the morning

2011-09-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

The sleeping pup

2011-08-28T15:01:00.000-07:00

I didn't end up getting a new pup, I got my parent's one year old english setter, Blade! I love having him around my new house, and my roommates claim to like him too. We especially love him after I take him on a run or to the dogpark. We just got back from a run today and he immediatly started scratching up the carpet (see below), making himself a little 'nest'. He thinks he's a cat.

He also has a LOT of new toys and doesn't want anyone stealing them, I had to tell Jess, Nadia, and Julia (my three roommates) to stop borrowing them and get their own orange chewy bones.
After a week he has gotten used to being in a new place and around new people. He has learned to like project runway, food from the grill, and the packers (GO PACKERS!) And he really loves that orange chewy bone.
(He moves too much when he is awake so it is easier to take pictures when he is sleeping, I'll try to get more variety in the future)

Pup hunting

2011-07-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

No, not hunting puppies! Just looking at them. When I move to my new house in August I can finally have a dog! I can't have a brand new puppy because the landlord is worried about total destruction, which I understand, but when I went to look at older dogs with Lexie, I couldn't help but be drawn to the little ones!

We went to the same foster home where Ben found Maggie over a year ago. The woman who takes care of the dogs has a huge farm with 10 acres of land, complete with horses, dogs, cats, and grandkids. She says she never gives up on a dog and keeps them until they are adopted. I don't think she will have any trouble finding homes for these little munchkins:

Harry:

Pippi and Dumbledore! (I love the Harry Potter names of this litter, except Pippi?, the other dog who is not pictured was named Wizard)
Then I met the cutest 6 week old litter ever. I instantly fell in love with this little piglet:
The Piglet!
She was way too adorable and small. I eventually tore myself away but I'm sure she and her litter mates will find a good home soon.

The Dresser Dilemma...

2011-07-12T14:14:00.001-07:00

Seriously, this wasn't supposed to be this hard! I thought I was so awesome because I transformed my ugly brown dresser into a sleek white antique that could be sold on Ebay for tens of dollars (if I wanted).

I assumed painting would be the hardest part, but no, it is the HANDLES are driving me crazy!

This is the handle I picked out. It is silver, sleek, and came with the two screws you see in the middle that are in the bag. But they were WAY too long to work. The handle would just pull right out of the drawer and was no where near secure.

Today I stopped by Ace hardware and picked up the screws that are on the far right thinking they would work perfectly! My reasoning: they are longer than the original screws, on the left, which were too short for the new handles (I tried in vain) but shorter than the long screws, yay!

When I got home I realized they too were too short, but just maayyyyybeeee I tried them anyway. The first 3 handles actually were screwed in perfectly. I thought, yessssss, I am a master.

But when I got to the forth it didn't work anymore. The fact that I had bought 21 screws (one for good luck, obviously a gimmick to get me to spend another six cents) that were too short finally sunk in.

I have to go back to Ace Hardware and spend another $1.35. But not today. Today I will look at my mismatched dresser and think about what lessons I have learned.

(PS this is my second post of the day. So gramma, if you are reading this, scroll down to see the post below)

Louisville

2011-07-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I headed up to Louisville for the 4th of July and stayed with Ben and his family. Look at who greeted me!
and....Meadow! (look at the little 'unicorn' on top of her head)

On Saturday Ben and I went to Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, because I've always wanted to see it in action. There were 13 races going on that day so we made the most conservative, all odds in your favor bets: out of 7 horses we guessed who the top 4 winners would be, in no particular order. Easy right? Just eliminate the 3 weakest horses/riders?
NOPE! We lost EVERY SINGLE TIME. And it was always because we were off by just one horse. It was incredibly frustrating because I thought I would at least get beginners luck, but we still had fun and only bet ~$30 for the whole day.

Ben in our box seats:
This one didn't turn out well but as you can see, I am wearing a hat:
Maggie didn't even go but she was EXHAUSTED after the races:
She always complains that there isn't enough room for her to sleep:
That's because she thinks she is a human and those around her never tell her otherwise. She has the most cushy life of all the pups I know. Look at the 'M' on her chest!

Being picked up in style

2011-06-29T05:04:00.000-07:00

When I arrived at the Rhinelander airport on June 2nd for Mali's wedding weekend I awaited Mali to pick me up. I don't know what I was expecting. Since I was maid of honor I knew Mali would pull out all the stops so probably cross-country ski's, a motorcycle or boat (this was the northwoods after all)

What I got was SOOOO much better:

Sam (Mali's brother/her Best Man) and Mali arrived by Cessna. Sam's an awesome pilot, however, he saw my inherent skill immediately and let me drive!

Sam said "My hands weren't on the wheel while Kyla's were". Translation: "Kyla is flying the s%*t out of this plane!"
We flew directly over Minoqua where Mali's parents live (it is the island)
I decided to give back Sam the controls when it was time to land since of course I didn't want to show off too much.

Kyla paints a dresser

2011-06-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend something strange took over my mind and I decided I wanted to paint my dresser. It's a very old wooden dresser that my parents got at a thrift store in Madison 30 years ago. It is now mine and I got tired of the boring brown color.

So having no idea what I was doing I dumped out all the drawers onto my bedroom floor creating a 10 foot high pile, bought paint (oyster pearl), a brush, sandpaper, and voila!

I should have taken a 'before' picture, but it looks sooo much better now. Next up is searching for new handles for the drawers, I want something antique. I will also have to sort through that everest of clothes. I don't know how I fit so many in those drawers and I am afraid of what I might find.

Mali and Sean's wedding June 4, 2011: Bridesmaids

2011-06-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

Georgetown Graduation

2011-05-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I traveled up to Washington DC to watch Ben graduate with his masters in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown University. His Mom, Dad, Sister, and Maggie joined us and it turned out to be a great weekend.

I was a stalker with my camera's zoom and got some great creepy close-ups of Ben during the ceremony:

The graduate:
With his dad, mom, and sister:
Ben wearing his cool velvet turquoise master's hood. I had one of those too (I think it was silver) and they are so weird looking.
Ben and a very tired Maggie taking a break from shopping on M street. So many people stopped to take pictures of her. She handled it very well, she is a diva and loves attention, but it wore her out for days.
Me, Ben, and the very sleepy Maggo:

Next week we head to Louisville and from there to Northern Wisconsin for Mali's wedding where I will be the most fabulous maid of honor. I can't believe the wedding is in less than TWO WEEKS! And Mali, if you are reading this, that means only TWELVE DAYS TO GO! What the what!!??!!

PS: I expect my itinerary soon so I can commit it to memory and chose appropriate outfits for each event.

Done with our first year in PhD School!

2011-05-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

I did it! I completed my first year at UNC, grades are still pending but I'm 90% confident that I passed. This past semester was the most intense and rigorous of my entire schooling career. I think that is saying a lot as my educational history includes 4 years at St. Olaf and 2 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I think I learned more than ever before and I can actually apply what I'm learning directly to my work at NIEHS.

So now I get to enjoy a summer of ONLY having to work 9 to 5! How much better does that get? I can leave work at the end of the day and have evenings and weekends all to myself. This will mean lots of happy hours with other friends working in Research Triangle Park this summer (there are actually quite a few of us). It almost seems to good to be true.

This weekend I am going to my best friend Mali's bachelorette party in Chicago, which I have organized with lots of help from the other bridesmaid, Babs, and a few great friends living in Chicago now. I could not have planned everything without their help and I'm getting really excited for the weekend ahead. Hopefully everything goes smoothly but once I'm there I will be soooo ready to just enjoy the weekend.

The day after our last final my friend, Nadia, flew to South Africa where she will be spending the next couple of months working. She will be blogging about her experience so check out her blog at: http://impalas-in-my-backyard.blogspot.com/

Oh and I am getting a puppy! I have to wait until August when I move into my new house which has a huge backyard! I will keep you posted as soon as Pup Search 2011 begins.

Have a great day and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!!!

DC Cherry Blossoms 2011

2011-04-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

Ben and I went to check out the cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in DC this past weekend. We weren't sure if we would make it out because the weather went from sun, to hail, to heavy rain, to finally a beautiful day.

We first stopped by my favorite museum in DC, the Museum of National History, to see the restored flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner. The song was written by Francis Scott Key who witnessed the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812.

We also saw the First Ladies exhibit which displays many beautiful dresses first ladies have worn over the years (favorites included Helen Taft's and Jackie Kennedy's). We also saw the white, one shoulder Jason Wu dress and Jimmy Choos that Michelle Obama wore to the inaugural ball. It was pretty amazing up close.
After the museum, we walked around the Washington Monument and caught some of the Cherry Blossom Festival in action.

Then we went down towards the Tidal Basin where we could see the Jefferson Memorial in the distance.
The whole basin is lined with thousands of cherry blossoms which are only in bloom for a short time in the spring. 1000 Japanese cherry blossom trees were a gift from Japan in 1906, planted in March 1912.

Carolina Blue

2011-03-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

It's been sooo long since I've updated. The reason is school is in high gear (only 1.5 months until summer vacation) and it is kicking my butt.

But here is some good news! I got a brand new 2011 Honda CRV! And it is allll mine, no more depending on the rents for car insurance. But I love it, it's gorgeous! And yes, the color may resemble carolina blue....

UNC is doing well in the NCAA tournament, and so is Wisconsin so far! The tourney is always so much fun to experience in Chapel Hill (when UNC is doing well) so it makes March much more bearable. Now I have excuses to stop studying and go drink a beer (to watch the game in a bar of course, I can't afford to have all the game channels!).

Maggie is along for the ride:
Exams and other sorts of torture are over at the end of April. So I'm really looking forward to Mali's bachelorette party in Chicago the first weekend of MAY! I am the maid of honor so I think there is a bunch of stuff I'm supposed to do, but we'll figure it out. The wedding is in June so Ben and I are driving up to Louisville to visit his family and the Maggie, then we are flying to Northern Wisconsin for the wedding. I cannot think of a better way to spend my vacay!

Maggie and Meadow

2011-02-11T07:16:00.000-08:00

Ben's brother got a new puppy named Meadow. She is only 6-7 weeks old and loves hanging out with Maggie and 'sharing' toys. (Maggie doesn't like to share because she grew up an only puppy, I can relate). But they are both learning, and WAY too cute!

At least I TRIED

2011-02-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

I'm not really much of a cook or a baker, but this year I decided to try making something to bring to the Superbowl party instead of the usual (and very lazy) fallback of chips and dip.

This is no recipe/cooking blog but if you want to make Kyla's Special Greenbay Packer cookies for tonight's game:

1) Buy sugar cookie dough
2) Buy green and yellow frosting
2) Make the cookies with directions on the package
3) Let the cookies cool
4) Decorate the cookies despite your limited skill
5) Eat the cookies that you accidentally mixed the green and yellow frosting's together and they look really gross.
6) Impress everyone

Go Pack!

2011-02-03T07:11:00.001-08:00

Hot Yoga Hell

2011-02-01T05:56:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I got a Living Social email for a hot deal. Living Social, like Groupon, sends out daily emails with great deals in your area (restaurants, spas, stores, etc). This email was for 10 classes of hot yoga for $20. Usually yoga classes are at least $10 a class so I had give it a try. I've done regular yoga before but never hot yoga which is pretty much the same except in a room heated to 104 degrees.

But wait, it was NOT the same thing at all. It was 90 minutes of pure, unadulterated, unmitigated (there are not enough adjectives to describe it) HELL.

As soon as the class started the small room started to heat up from 65 to 104 degrees. Not only was the heat bad, but the humidity made it incredibly unpleasant to breathe.

I started sweating immediately as we began the 26 different Birkham poses. And I felt miserable. I knew I might die that night.

I made it through about 45 minutes before I realized that I felt light headed and dizzy and black spots started to cloud my vision. I sat down to take a break and after a few minutes stood up and rejoined the class. A few minutes later I felt like passing out again. At then end of an hour I couldn't even stand up without feeling like I would faint, actually sitting up was difficult at that point too.

The instructor kept telling us to breathe breathe breathe, but every time I took a breath all I got was the hot, humid air. Though I know breathing was the only thing that kept me conscious, I was delirious and beyond reason at that point and felt like the air was slowly smothering me.

For some reason the instructor opened the door for 10 seconds and it was absolute bliss to breathe cool air. It reminded me what I have to live for. But the relief was over in a second. She shut the door again and said "It isn't hot enough in here. I'll turn up the heat"

NOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

How I got through the next 30 minutes I do not know. By that time everyone was sitting on their mats doing the floor exercises. I couldn't even do those since sitting up had become too difficult, so I just lay on the floor trying to pretend it was a sauna and not Hades. There were about 2 other people who were having the same experience as me but the other 27 were happily bending and stretching. These people were not human.

I wanted to scream and run out of there but we were not allowed to leave. Yes, I was trapped in a hot yoga torture chamber. They said were weren't allowed to leave because temperature change is too drastic. But I think they are just malicious. I barely held it together until class was over. I felt dizzy, light headed, overheated and miserable. Why do people love this so much? Why do they subject themselves to this torture voluntarily? If I had a worst enemy I would give them the rest of my classes for free.

GO PACKERS!!!

2011-01-31T13:57:00.000-08:00

The Packers are in the Super Bowl this year! They will be playing the Steelers on Sunday Feb 6, so I hope everyone is watching and cheering them on!

Music City Bowl dizaster!

2011-01-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Eve eve, Ben and I drove from Louisville to Nashville to watch the Tarheels play University of Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. Neither of us had ever been to a bowl game, and I've never been to Nashville, so we were really excited. We dressed up in Carolina stuff and got ready to hit the road.
Maggie wanted to come so she dressed up too. We didn't have an extra ticket for her so had to say goodbye.
We made a quick stop at the hotel before the game and noticed you could order whatever kind of pillow you wanted. You just had to press the "you want it you got it button" on the phone!
There was no "you want it you got it button" on the phone.

We drove to downtown Nashville and tried to find a place to park, all the $20 parking spots were full. We were getting frustrated when we saw a curbside spot. It was amazing, we only had to pay for an hours worth of parking since the meters don't charge after 6pm! Parking=$1.50

So I spent the saved money on $10 beers
We arrived at LP Field and followed the Carolina fans to our little section of the stands.
The stadium was bleeding UT orange:
The game was a lot of fun, it helped that we were surrounded by other UNC fans. It was a good game and had us on the edge of our seats until the very end.
Actually I should say, until we THOUGHT it was the very end...

With only 30 seconds left it looked like there was no hope for the Tar Heels. It was 20 (UT) to 17 (Heels), the Heels had the ball but were on their 10 yard line. Ben, the sports guru, said he had seen this happen before to UNC and there was no way they could come back.

A side note: this was a very turbulent season for the Tar Heels. They started off in the fall with an amazing lineup but because of the agent scandal and ncaa investigation, they were down a lot of starting players.

We started walking back to downtown Nashville, crossing the bridge with a few other disappointed Carolina fans. There were a bunch of really annoying UT fans behind us yelling and celebrating UT's win. We were halfway across the bridge when we heard the stadium erupt in boos. We were really confused because the little UNC section couldn't make that much noise.

A guy we were with checked his phone and couldn't figure out what was going on. We continued walking and heard a small cheer (the Carolina section). We knew something big must be happening and we needed answers.

So Ben called his mom.

She said that the game was over and she had switched channels. When she switched back to double check she saw that there was 1 second left in the game and the Heels were on the 39 yard line about to punt the ball to tie the game.

We RAN as fast as we could toward downtown Nashville (we couldn't get back into the game once we left), we came across some policemen and Ben said "officers! Where is the nearest bar?", one of the officers pointed his finger down the street, "that way, son" he said. We ran into the closest thing that looked like a bar and sat down.

It took a few seconds before I realized that we were in a Hooters.

Anyway, we saw UNC make the field goal which tied the game and put them into overtime. And then double overtime. And THEY WON THE GAME! There was some controversy over the final calls that were made right before overtime (too many men on the field or something) but I don't understand that stuff.

We were left in total shock that 1) this had happened and 2) that we had actually left the craziest game ever early.

But we got over it, had some buffalo wings and called it a night.

2010-12-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

12 days of christmas "countdown"
11 minutes until I take a coffee break
10 days of vacation
9 days until New Years Eve
8 days until the Music City Bowl in Nashville, go Heels!!
7 airplanes to fly over break
6 o'clock a.m. flight to Texas tomorrow morning
5 + hours will be spent watching the Badgers in the Rose Bowl!
4 grad school classes PASSED [2 with honors :) ]
3 airports to pay a luggage fee
2 days until Christmas eve
1 WONDERFUL WINTER OF 2010

2010-12-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

Final exams are over! I survived my first semester of PhD school. I am DONE until January (except for my full time job).....

Yes, it's a real tree

2010-12-13T12:55:00.000-08:00

Jancie and I put our Christmas tree up a couple weeks ago. Though, it didn't look quite right until there were presents underneath.

We decorated all by ourselves, there were only a few light strand and outlet mishaps (nothing burned down) and it was a "learning experience" for me since I've never set up a Christmas tree before.
We had LOTS of roses left over from Liz's wedding!

Dexter: Season Gingerbread

2010-12-08T06:32:00.000-08:00

Last week Liz, Jancie, Emily and I got together to eat chicken and dumplings and make gingerbread houses. It was Liz's last weekend as a single girl, her wedding is this Saturday!
We set up our supplies (candy) and got to work.
My gingerbread creation was the "chalet", which looked more like a little tent-shack, so after I was satisfied with it's candycane theme I decided to spice it up a little.
Lately I've been obsessed with watching Dexter. Finals are coming up so it's the perfect way to distract myself and put off studying. For those of you who don't know, Dexter is a tv show on Showtime. The main character, Dexter, is a very likable serial killer who also works in forensics at the Miami Metro Police station as a blood spatter analyst. The twist is he only kills murderers who don't get caught by the police.

I created a crime scene in the little Gingerbread community. As you can see, the marshmallow snowman at the chalet has been shot! Check out the wound to the stomach and the red sprinkle blood spatter on his right side! It's time to call in Dexter!

Dexter checks out the chalet but can't find any evidence of who shot the snowman. The snow marshmallows on the hershey bar road might be covering up evidence.
Ah ha! The murder weapon was stashed between the two red frosting and sprinkles walkways! Someone hid it behind the sugarplum pine tree.
Dexter does his thing (watch the show for more details), finds the murderer, and makes sure that the gingerbread town is never again terrorized by the Tiny Marshmallow Snowman Killer (as nicknamed by the Gingerbread Times).
The end.

Little Scoundrel

2010-12-01T08:20:00.000-08:00

Little Blade's favorite perch, it makes him almost as tall as the other dogs:
Blade likes to pull on Ben's sweatshirt sleeve
He also likes to hang out under the coffee table and "play"

Baby Blade at the dog park! This is an easy way to make him very sleepy.
Little bug wants to cross the fence and play in the big dog area, but he is too little
Uh oh, he spotted me
He was a crowd favorite and made friends with pups his own size
Very sleepy on the car ride home:

China: the ultimate destination

2010-11-03T06:18:00.000-07:00

I was reading my usual list of blogs today when I came across something that is too great not to share. What if you wanted to know how to get from Japan to China? Well, you would probably Google Map it right? Okay, you probably would not do that but if you DID this is what you would get. See step #43.

Anyway, this started me thinking. I really wanted to go to China I would obviously start from the United States and not Japan. More specifically I would start from Chapel Hill, NC. So I googled directions from my house in Chapel Hill to China. Please see below

There you have it! Anyone interested in going with me? It will only take 38 days and 17 hours!!!

RALLY TO RESTORE SANITY AND/OR FEAR

2010-11-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a long and CRAAZZZY day! I woke up around 5:30 to catch our 7:30am flight which got into Baltimore around 8:30am. My mom and I went out to the bus line to catch the B-30 and joined a line of people also going to the rally. People were there from all over! Florida, Arizona, Detroit. And lots of them had signs and folding chairs that they brought with them on the plane.

When two B-30 buses drove right passed us without stopping we knew the only way to make it downtown was to take a cab. The cab took us to the closest metro stop but the metro was overflowing and a HUGE line of people snaked out of the metro stop and wrapped around the parking lot. We said forget this and took the cab the rest of the way into town. It was sooo worth it.

The mall was packed all the way from the stage in front of the capital building back to the Washington monument, more people filled the streets and sidewalks on the sides of the mall. The picture doesn't do the crowd justice, but it was AWESOME. People climbed up in the trees and on top of the port-o-potties to get better views (and it looked like the roofs started to cave in). We just used the bathrooms inside the museums.

Taking a break on the lawn
National Gallery of Art
Reasonable sign
Mom on the steps.
We could not hear or see a thing going on on the stage so we just walked around and hung out on the grass. It was a gorgeous day so it was nice to be outside. Luckily we taped the rally on DVR and watched it when we got home!

We left the rally a little before it ended to make sure we would get to the airport. This time we got on the metro which was already crammed with people and then the B-30 bus to the airport. We arrived with plenty of time to spare and got home around 10pm, totally exhausted, but sooooooooo happy to see boys! They were happy to see us too even though they look a little shell shocked in these pictures.

Rally to Restore Sanity

2010-10-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

My mom and I are planning to attend Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity on Saturday October 30th in Washington DC. We even got T-Shirts. I can't wait!

Great News!!!

2010-10-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

My best friend, Mali, just graduated from nursing school!!!! Now she is Nurse Mali! Congratulations girl, I am SO proud of you!! I love you :)

Guest Blogger

2010-09-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

Today Little Blade wanted to blog!
So I gave him some coffee so he wouldn't fall asleep while blogging:
And showed him how to use the keyboard.
So now I am just going to let him take it from here.
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New Puppy!

2010-09-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we picked up my parents' new puppy, Blade! We drove about an hour outside of Chapel Hill to where all the puppies were and visited with Blade(far right) and his brothers and sisters. They are about 7 1/2 weeks old.
His brothers
Mom with the new pupAt first weren't exactly sure which one he was because the owners weren't there yet and there were identical white pups in both kennels (right now he is pure white but will start to get brown spots in a few months). However, when I went to check out his twin on the other side of the fence it seemed like he knew he was ours.
"I'm the one! take me home!!"In the car on the way home Blade played in his pink towel.

And then he got to meet his new family! They still aren't too sure if he is a real dog or not but hopefully they will become friends soon...

So far his favorite things to do are sleep and eat. And sometimes he does both at the same time:
He loves to play but has a hard time staying awake more than 20 minutes at a time.

More to come!

Still breathing

2010-09-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

I've been in school for 2 weeks now and am loving my classes so far (one doesn't start until after labor day so I'm only in two right now). I'm taking Intro to Epidemiology and a SAS class (statistical analysis software), Epi probability and logic starts next Tuesday. I'm still working on juggling work (the jobby job) with my new schedule but I'm getting into a groove that I think will stick. I'm really happy to be a grad student at UNC and soooo happy the buses are free because I take them twice a day.

This labor day weekend I am flying up to Chicago to see Dave Rand and Sarah Varick tie the knot! I'm so excited to see them and all my old camp and Olaf friends. The following Friday (a mere 4 days after coming back to Chapel Hill from Chi-town) I will be going to Minneapolis to fellow Ole's Ashley and Sean's wedding! This means an even bigger Olaf reunion. This is a lot crammed into this first week of September but I can't wait!

Back to School!

2010-08-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

I start orientation tomorrow at UNC School of Public Health for phd school (epidemiology)! I'm so nervous to be going back to school after such a wonderful year of working during the day and having my evenings and weekends to myself. Now I'll be working full time and in school full time.

One day at a time....

Breakfast

2010-08-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

I made a green smoothie like Jancie! This is my new very healthy breakfast.

I throw in:
1-2 bananas
handfull of frozen or fresh strawberries
handfull of frozen (or fresh if you can get it) peaches/raspberries/mango/pineapple
and then 2 handfuls of baby spinach
1/2-1 cup of water or milk if needed

BLEND on LIQUIFY!!!!

It was good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE!

2010-08-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

August is Maggie's birthday month. Since we obviously don't know which day is her actual birthday, we celebrated with her when we visited her (and Ben's family) in Kentucky. Look at how much she loves her new Nylabone circle thing!!!

Ok I think we might have pushed it on her too much, she kind of lost interest in it and played with other toys, but it is still fun to put it on her nose.

Starbucks Man

2010-08-12T12:57:00.001-07:00

I cannot hold back anymore. I was going to let my frustrations with the Starbucks man go, but after today I JUST CAN'T!!!!

I usually stop into the Starbucks near my office sometime around lunch with my own mug. I ask for a refill if I'd already had a Starbucks coffee that morning and I usually ask for the dark roast. EVERYONE but the evil Starbucks man knows what this means. Take my cup from my hand, fill it with coffee (ask if I want room for cream), hand it back and charge me $.54.

Every SINGLE time I go in and ask for a refill from the evil Starbucks man he puts me through my own personal hell on earth Starbucks experience.

First it's the size question: oh is this a tall refill, a grande refill, or a venti refill?

I don't know! It's a refill of my mug and it always costs me $.54! So I tell him that. Then he says "Ok...and what is the discount for having your own mug."

I don't know! But since the charge ALWAYS comes to $.54 I assume that the discount is included.

This alone wouldn't be that bad but then he always proceeds to talk me through each thing he is doing when he rings me up. First it takes him at least 20 seconds to find the button to press to charge me for a refill, and his finger drifts over every single button before he decides.

Then it is the monologue: "okay I better take your card, now I am going to run it, I just ran it, I am tearing off the receipt you will need to sign, will you please sign this reciept? Ohps! I gave you the wrong one to sign! Will you sign this one instead? Oh, I better give you your card back now, haha."

This is an almost verbatim transaction. Luckily he is only in there about once a week.

Try and order a low-fat caramel latte with no whipped cream like the guy ahead of me today? You've got no chance in hell of getting out of there in under 10 minutes.

Man: I would like a low-fat caramel latte
Starbucks Man (SM): would you like whipped cream?
Man: No thank you
SM: would you like the caramel drizzle we usually put on the whipped cream when someone does want whipped cream?
Man: Hmmmm, okay
SM: Okay, now let me see (looking for 'caramel drizzle' button on cash register) I don't think we can do that.....would you like low-fat whipped cream so we can put the drizzle on?
Man: no I didn't want whipped cream
SM: Oh ok, I guess you will have to go without the drizzle unless you would like me to call my manager up and ask
Man: THATS OKAY I DONT CARE!
SM: Oh and what size do you want? We have the tall which is 12 ounces, the grande which is 16 ounces and the venti which is 20 ounces?
Man: the Grande
SM: Ok, are you sure?
Man: Yes

Then SM goes through the whole hellish payment process with the card, the receipt, the signing of the receipt...etc.

I'm going to start recording my every encounter with him so keep your eyes open.

Kate and Anna take on Kentucky and Germany

2010-08-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

NEW BLOG ALERT! Click here: Gym Shorted Chums

Check out two of my favorite buddies/sistas from St. Olaf (Kate and Anna) on their quest to train together while living in two different countries (Dresden, Germany and Kentucky, USA) for their first half-marathon ever!

I love you Kate and Anna!

If the above link doesn't work use the one below:
http://www.gymshortedchums.blogspot.com/

Summer Vacay: Three Lakes, Wisconsin

2010-08-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

We left North Carolina early Saturday morning to make the most of the first part of our vacation: Northern Wisconsin. After renting a car at the Central Wisconsin Airport we drove directly to Nueskes to pick up huge packages of bacon, sausage, cheese, and beer. After a quick stop for dinner at my grandparents house we drove on up to Three Lakes.

After a restful night's sleep I was up early excited to get the boat in the water. I really wanted to teach Ben to water-ski! But he did not seem to share my excitement....
After rousing him out of bed I strapped him in to a tiny life-jacket:
And got the boat ready:

He was nervous so I showed him how easy it it (obviously not disclosing the fact that I hadlearned when I was 7.)
It was now Ben's turn so into the water he went.
"I'm readyyyyy"
Front view of the cottage from the lakeBen actually did get up after a few tries and even skied for a good 8 seconds but I have no evidence because I was so excited I forgot to take a picture.

Anyway, we decided enough was enough so we pulled out the bright yellow tube which turned out to be wayyyyy more fun:

And with that we were done for the day!

Back from Vacation

2010-08-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

Before I dive into the stories of Three Lakes, Madison, and Louisville, I had to show these pictures Ben took of Maggie and I napping on each other (her head is on my legs and my head is on her side) on a four hour drive from Ohio to Louisville.

Beach Weekend!

2010-07-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

Due to the insane heat and humidity we are experiencing in North Carolina this summer I have avoided being outside in the sun too much. I am totally missing the cool and dry summers of northern Wisconsin (even Madison was pretty nice), but at least my skin is thanking me for not being subjected to too much sun abuse.

However, this weekend we are braving the heat and heading down to Ocean Isle Beach. My family used to go there every summer when I was little so it will be fun to see it again many, many, (many) years later!

Rafting the Yellowstone River

2010-07-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

Day 3: On the morning of our third day I awoke to a massive thunder and lighting storm. We were now back in Montana at the Chico Hot Springs Resort which is just north of Yellowstone National Park. Normally on vacation I would just roll over and go back to sleep if it was raining like this, but that morning we had plans to go whitewater rafting. We weren't about to let a little thunder and lighting get in the way, I mean those rafts are made out of rubber! What could possibly go wrong?

However, I was a bit worried about what the "rules" would be and if our trip would actually happen. When I worked at camp we had to wait at least thirty minutes after the last thunder/lighting before we could go on the water. Well, Montana ain't camp and there were no rules, so we suited up in wet suits, splash jackets, helmets, and paddles and hit the river!

Lauren and I are the two people in the back on the left (me) and right (Lauren) . Between us is the rafting guide in-training and behind us the experienced guide. My mom is in the front middle and my aunt in the middle middle.

The rapids weren't too crazy because the water levels were high, but everyone still ended up getting splashed, especially my mom who was in the very front. The rain went away and the sun came out so Lauren and I jumped in the river near the end of the run. Sue thought we were insane (it was absolutely freezing water) but the wetsuits kept us warm.

Afterwards Lauren and I headed straight to the Day Spa to enjoy our well earned massages. ;)

Wolves

2010-07-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

Our second day in Yellowstone was also the day of the England vs. Germany World Cup game. My mom and I really wanted to watch but of course there are absolutely NO TV's in the park. None in the hotels, none in the restaurants, none in the bars. This, of course, is part of why Yellowstone is so amazing. However, in this instance we were forced to leave the park and go to West Yellowstone, WY in search of civilization and television.

We carefully planned our day around making it to West Yellowstone on time. We woke up early and got out of our AC-free luxury cabin:

Then we drove all the way to Old Faithful to make sure it still lived up to it's name (give or take 10 minutes)

And then we hurried on our way.

I was so sure the game started at 2pm.

Turns out it was at 9am.

Disappointed we went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center instead where we saw rehabilitating grizzly bears and gray wolves. Wolves are almost impossible to see just driving around the park because there are only ~100 of them and they like to stay out of sight. So watching them up close was amazing.....Well, actually they just lay around sleeping the whole time and looked like large dogs. BUT then this one salvaged our day because he got up, walked around, gave us a yawn, and went back to bed. So that was neat.

Sometimes Maggie just doesn't get it.....

2010-07-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

Day 2 in Yellowstone: Buffalo Stampede

2010-07-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

On our way from Old Faithful to West Yellowstone we hit a bison traffic jam! These bison were just strolling casually down the two-lane road like they had all the time in the world and weren't backing cars up for miles. We were lucky enough to be near the front of the "stampede" and got these great pictures as they came towards us, passed us, and continued on their way.

A few of them walked right up to the driver's seat window and the passenger seat window. These animals are very strong (they weigh up to 2,000 pounds) and can easily toss a person up into the air. Luckily they don't know how to open car doors.
Here they come......
Getting closer....
Mommy buffalo and baby buffalo!
A few of them decided to go back onto the grass
(Hours Later)* Oh no! They are getting closer! *exaggeration
Eeeeeeee Bison close enough to touch!
Somehow I resisted the temptation to touch the lovely molting fur
Look at the babies while they are still adorable
And away they go, we survived the slowest stampede on earth.

Day 1 in Yellowstone: BEARS!

2010-07-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Thursday night I arrived back in North Carolina after spending 6 amazing days in Montana, Wyoming, and Yellowstone National Park.

We flew into Bozeman on Saturday and drove straight down to the Park. My mom spent all her college summers working in the park so it is always fun going back with her and hearing her crazy stories. We went through the Roosevelt bridge/the north entrance around 5:30pm and I hoped to see a Bison or two, but NEVER in my wildest dreams did I expect to see what we saw:

A BEAR, a very rare sight in the Park:
I've been to Yellowstone a dozen times in my life, I spent a month backpacking through the Beartooth mountains in Montana when I was 16 and a month hiking through the Wind River Range in Wyoming when I was 22 (both locations know to be Grizzly bear country) and yet I have NEVER EVER, not even from far away, seen a bear.

So I was even more shocked when I saw a SECOND black bear on the side of the road:
By the time we saw TWO MORE black bears right next to the road I was starting to get annoyed at all the other cars slowing down to take pictures. I mean come on, it was just two black bears! Take a quick picture and move on!

(the one on the right is hidden a little bit by the brush):
Then we saw it, an animal I have always longed to see but was my greatest fear when I was in the back country, a GRIZZLY:

And that was our first day.

Coming soon: Day 2 in Yellowstone: Buffalo stampede

MONTANA

2010-06-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

Off to Montana tomorrow! It is my first real vacation of the summer, can't wait!

No one is better at not beating America than England.

2010-06-15T06:51:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to the local Irish pub with some friends to watch the U.S.A. play England in the World Cup. The pub was packed to capacity but somehow me managed to score a table and enough seats for everyone. Liz's fiance, Juan, had to throw some winks at a few older women in order to get the last seat.

I was really excited because I've never really payed attention to the World Cup before, but it seems that everyone is so into it this year that it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement. At least two of my coworkers are from England so they were talking about the game, and the World Cup in general, non-stop weeks prior to the start.

Amongst the fans there were those who were subtle about their affiliation (red, white, and blue shirts):

And those who were not so subtle (Yanks to victory in South Africa):

The table next to ours was filled with older ladies each with a mini American flag in hand. I thought to myself, "cool, those old ladies are really into soccer!". However, when England scored the first goal they all started cheering loudly AND frantically waving their American flags. I, along with the rest of the bar, was slightly confused. It turns out that they didn't know which team was which and thought the Americans had scored. I think they figured it out after that.

Plenty of TVs lined the walls
I watched this one:
Kempton, Liz, and, and Juan:

Yay soccer! (and $2 beers!)
When Robert Greene made his infamous screw-up and the American's scored, the whole bar erupted into cheers. At work on Monday I could hear the English accented rants coming from down the hall. I was surprised he came in at all, but I guess a tie is better than a loss.

As Jon Stewart once said (last night) "No one is better at not beating America than England"

If you want to watch the clip from last night's Daily Show and hear some expert commentary, watch the following:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

World Cup 2010: Into Africa - US Ties England

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

Maggie as a puppy

2010-06-08T07:49:00.000-07:00

I just found this picture online and I think it is what Maggie looked like as a puppy! I know it is weird that I am obsessed with a dog that isn't even mine, but it is my blog, my rules.

Three Lakes, Wisconsin: BEST TOWN IN AMERICA!?!?!

2010-06-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

Could it really be true?

Of course I love Three Lakes, Wisconsin and would certainly name it as one of my favorite places in the entire world. Ever since I was a baby my family would spend a week or two each summer in my grandparent's cottage on Big Stone Lake. I would look forward to swimming in the lake, learning how to waterski (with the ski's tied together at age 7 so I could stay up), making my parents tow me behind the boat for hours, paddling the puppy in the kayak, going underneath the raft and my dad scaring me into thinking giant spiders lurked under there, sitting on the end of the dock soaking up the sun, going into town and eating sweet corn at the Fireman's picnic, driving the hour from the camp where I worked as a counselor to spend my 24 hours off sometimes bringing a whole crew of friends, sometimes going alone to enjoy a few rare hours of solitude, recovering from mono, recovering from strep throat...the good times are endless.

Anyway, why am I talking about this again? I just found out that Three Lakes was voted Best Town in America by KRAFT Singles!

What??? How did Kraft even hear about this little <3,000>"Known for its gleaming crystal clear waters and home to the world's largest chain of inland lakes, Three Lakes proved to have what it takes to be considered the "Single Best Town" in America. Nestled amidst a spectacular 650,000-acre national forest, this endearing close-knit community boasts a charming downtown lined with antique-styled lampposts quaint shops and cozy restaurants" --The News

And how does a small town celebrate such an honor?? With an ultimate block party which includes a live performance by Love And Theft, a country band on tour with Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum, FIVE ABC Daytime and SOAPnet Soaps Stars. And I guess Kraft singles cheese.

As luck would have it I will be in Three Lakes this summer on the exact week that this event will take place.

Maybe this summer a new soap star will be discovered....

Goodbye Maggie!!

2010-06-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

The Maggie

2010-05-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

Since I cannot have a puppy of my own (yet) due to a no pet rule in my apartment, I have been enjoying Ben's little 8 month old puppy Maggie as much as possible. She is a Lab-Pittbull-mix (we think) and was adopted when she was around 5 months old. She is the absolute sweetest puppy in the world and I have become obsessed.

Here are some pictures:

Maggie looking out the car window:
Maggie resting on the couch
Ben and Maggie taking a nap:
Sleepy puppy!
Maggie in the backseat of the car with her blue bow

Ben's parent's are taking her home with them on Sunday.....I will miss her terribly.

April

2010-04-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I last posted! Things have been busy at work and my friend Mali came to visit me for a few days! I showed her around Chapel Hill, took her to the opening Durham Bulls game (we got box seats and saw the Duke basketball team, they were being honored that night for winning the NCAA championship), and took her on a day trip to Wrightsville beach. I sent her back to Wisconsin looking like a burnt lobster :) It was so fun showing her where I live (especially since I am trying to convince her and Sean to move here!) I have pictures I will post soon.

This weekend I am going camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina and am sooooooooo excited! I haven't been camping since last summer. I need to get a new camera before then because my old clunky one broke.

I meant to post this a month ago, but here is a video of a show I did at ComedyWorx in the Super Sparkle Showcase. It was the finale show, and a few of us helped Paul do a movie montage skit.

Diana's Wedding (professional photos)

2010-04-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are the professional pictures from Diana and Will's wedding day in Scotsdale, AZ. You may mistake us for paid professional models, but I assure you, we are real and we do look this good.

(Click on any picture to make it bigger)

Kyla, Anne, Diana, Caitlin, and Meghan
Me and my old roomieThe flowersThe girls doing a "natural" looking walk towards the cameraThe boys
The wedding party
Meghan and Dave (Diana's brother)Me and John (Diana's other brother)Caitlin and Tom (Will's brother)
Diana and FOB (father of bride)A view of the ceremony

Yay!Now they won't stop!Dancin' time!THE CAKE!
Singing, picking up Will and Diana, and..... pointing our fingers?

Diana and Will's wedding: a weekend of amazingness

2010-03-29T06:33:00.001-07:00

Thursday morning I woke up at 5:30am, got to the airport and after a 5 hour and 10 minute flight (oh my god that is a long flight), I landed in sunny, beautiful Phoenix, Arizona.

Diana was there to pick up Caitlin, Meghan and I at the airport. The three of us miraculously organized our arrivals within a half hour of each other. This was quite the feat since Meghan came from Portland, Caitlin from Chicago, and I came from North Carolina.

We grabbed a quick lunch at the hotel/resort and then immediately went out to the pool where we found Pina Coladas and a "lazy river".

Cheers to the big day.

That night we had a fabulous catered BBQ at the groom's parents' house. I started getting tired and delirious pretty early in the night since I was on a three hour time difference (and usually go to bed around 10pm on weeknights), but I fought through as best I could. That night I had the best night of sleep of my life.

The next morning we went to the spa for manicures, pedicures, and mimosas.
Then it was back to the pool for a few hours of sun and lounging before we had to get ready for the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner.

Outside the hotel/resort/paradise/where I want to stay forever

Caitlin, me, Meghan, Diana, and (surprise!) Dave
Will and Diana
Will, me, and Diana
The rehearsal was a little bit windy and the wind knocked over my champagne class (and broke it into two at the stem) but that did not stop me from using it!
John, my date down the aisle:
The rehearsal dinner was delicious, I made my toast and there were many tears. Well, I don't think my toast made anyone cry, but there were many toasts from parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and uncles....some were short, some were not very short.

The next morning we got up early and had our hair done in the bridal suite. Then we got dressed and prepared for what seemed like five hours of photos (it was actually four hours)

Getting ready (this photo is cool because you can see Diana in FOUR different places)

The bridesmaids: Meghan, Anne (Will's sister), me, and Caitlin (Maid of Honor). Meghan, Caitlin, Diana and I all went to St. Olaf together and all lived with each other at sometime or another. I was roommates with Caitlin and Diana our junior year (we lived in a triple) and our senior year in a house off campus.
The venue was in a beautiful spot outside the hotel, we could see it from the balcony of the bridal suite so we could spy on the guests without them seeing us.

Diana in her dress not nervous at all:
Diana's Dave and John stopped by
Posing for the photographer, his lighting is probably better than mine.
Guests beginning to gather.
Then the wedding planner came and said it was go time!

I have no pictures from the ceremony because I was in it, but as soon as the professional photographer's pictures are available I will post a few of them. The ceremony was short, sweet, and beautiful, as I hear are most Lutheran weddings, and once the business was done we walked to the reception to finally celebrate!!

Cutting the cake

The bridal partyThe next morning there was an overwhelmingly amazing buffet brunch awaiting everyone. I swear, there was bacon almost an inch thick! Then we hit the pool one last time before planes started to take off. The new Diana (Ostrowski) Huepenbecker showed off some new bling.
Diana is my first close friend to get married so made the weekend extra exciting. This was by far the BEST wedding I have ever been to, it was gorgeous and everyone was there to relax and have a good time. I think Arizona in March was the best choice that could have been made.

The newlyweds are soon off to Big Sky, Montana to ski for their honeymoon. Then it is back to Madison, WI to once again face the real world.

SLC: the new NYC?

2010-03-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't have any Louie sitings, but I did have a great trip to Salt Lake City. I went for the big annual Toxicology meeting. It is held in different cities each year and I was glad SLC was this year's destination since I have never been.

When I got off the plane I was greeted with this view of the city (taken from the airport). It was hard to get good pictures of the mountains from downtown because the buildings blocked the views. The conference was in the midst of those buildings.

Another view, this one includes the capital building....kind of like Madison, except with giant mountains in the background.
A closer shot of the city.

The first day I went to an interesting seminar on arsenic and it's association with diabetes and metabolic syndrome (relevant to my current work). Later I walked around the city to check out the sites. I wandered to the Temple Square which has the Salt Lake Temple, the Tabernacle, and the Family History Library.

The Temple was bulit between between 1853 and 1893 (so I guess it took a while). Only members of the church are allowed to go in so I converted...........WHAT!?!?! Just Kidding!!!
The Family History Library was REALLY cool. It is the world's largest collection of genealogical resources and the librarians were really helpful. The place was packed and I think the ratio of visitor to librarian was 2:1. I spent hours at the computer looking up my genealogy. The library has electronic and paper copies of birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses, immigration records, ship passenger lists, and tons of other stuff I didn't have time to get to. I made a family tree and discovered that my dad's side of the family traced back to Germany and Norway. My mom's side is also very Norwegian (looks like going to St. Olaf made sense!). I was even able to trace one branch of the family all the way back to 1569 in Scotland!

The conference center took up a whole block. I attended some very interesting talks on POPs (persistent organic pollutants), Bisphenol-A, and phthalates.

Despite many rumors and warnings from my friends, if the city is dry I didn't notice and when I got home I slept all weekend (I'm not sure if the two are correlated).

In a couple weeks I will be headed to Arizona to be a bridesmaid in Diana's wedding! I can't wait!

Off to stalk an olympic snowboarder

2010-03-05T11:06:00.001-08:00

After watching the Olympics and last seasons Dancing with the Stars, I became a big fan of Louie Vito. He is just too cute, and his hobby is rap music.....just like me......

Anyway I got so obsessed with him that I quit my job and on Sunday I am off to Salt Lake City where he lives. I am going to find him and we will listen to rap music together.

Ok, okay, actually I did not quit my job because I love it more than Louie but I am going to SLC on Sunday (for a week-long conference). Despite the truth of my situation I promise to keep my eyes out for him and report back on this blog.

Winter pick-me-up

2010-02-19T08:22:00.000-08:00

I got these boots the other day from Steve Madden.

LOVE LOVE LOVE them! The leather is super soft and I especially love the red zipper detail in the back.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! It is supposed to get up into the 50's here :)

Out of the nest

2010-02-17T11:17:00.001-08:00

I have finally moved out of the parent's house and in with two of my best friends, Liz and Jancie! I say finally only because I was supposed to move the week before but a huge blizzard hit the state and I came down with something suspiciously like strep throat.

I think my parents were more excited about the move than I was! I will miss the coffee being ready for me in the morning and having the dogs around, but I love the new place! It is still in Chapel Hill but closer to work and to campus which is great since I will be a student again way too soon.

I GOT IN!

2010-02-08T10:00:00.001-08:00

I will be attending the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in the fall of this year for my PhD in Epidemiology!

Thor's Kitchen

2010-02-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest Thor's Kitchen where Thor meets Hercules' college intern, Kyla.

Enjoy!

Welcome to THE night of your life.

2010-01-26T09:35:00.001-08:00

I am back after a whirlwind weekend with my college buddies. This was my first bachelorette party and it was worth the crazy trip!

I attempted to go to bed early on Friday night because of my 6am flight, but this was not to be. I did get a few hours of sleep and woke up at 3:30am to stumble around in the dark and then drive to the airport.

The plane was basically empty so everyone had a row of three seats to themselves. The flight attendants didn't do any work the whole flight because almost everyone was lying down sleeping, I guess the Saturday 6am flight from RDU to MSP is not the most popular.

Diana and her mom picked me up at the airport and we went to get some coffee at the Mall of America while we waited for Caitlin (the Maid of Honor aka MOH) to arrive from Chicago. It was so early that none of the stores were open and I was so tired I kept walking in the wrong direction, luckily Diana was there to tell me what to do.

We got Caitlin and went straight to the Marriott where we settled into our party suite and changed for the bridal shower. Meghan (the final St. Olaf bridesmaid) arrived getting dropped off 10 blocks away and walking in the rain and snow with giant bags full of vodka and sodas. She had come in from Oregon the day before.

At the bridal shower we met more of Diana's friends and family/family to be, ate delicious catered food and watched awkwardly as Diana opened her presents.
Sadly I am a bad bridesmaid and ordered Diana a gift off her registry (good bridesmaid behavior) but had it shipped to her house (bad bridesmaid behavior), so I made her bring it all the way from Madison to Minneapolis (and back), just so I could watch the joy on her face as she opened her stemless wine glasses and wine carafe (selfish bridesmaid behavior). I hoped she would wrap it up so it looked nice, but it was just the box it got delivered in (that one is her fault).

Meghan was a bad bridesmaid too and got Diana Tostitos, salsa and Velveeta as a gift!!! (I guess she also got her a chip n dip platter....if this rumor is true, then she is a good bridesmaid)
Then we dressed Diana up in an embarrassing toilet paper gown:
And then it was back to the room and time to party!
Diana's ring is a shot glass!Meghan made this sign:
We turned the coffee stand into a makeshift bar:
And gave Diana very practical gifts that were appropriate for her to open in front of her mother and future mother-in-law (who were also in the room with us):

After a few drinks in the room we grabbed some dinner at a pub across the street and then it was time to hit the bars! We ended the night at the same pub we started at and DJ Dustin hooked us up with our favorite tunes, like that one by "cylie myrus". There was a telephone on the dance floor that was a direct line to the DJ booth, so we used that frequently.
We ended up going to bed at 3:00am central time (4:00am eastern), so I was up for over 24 hours. I was exhausted and slept for 10 hours when I got home, but it was totally worth it! I can't wait for the wedding in March!

sooo excited!

2010-01-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

Going to Minneapolis on Saturday for a Minnesota-winter style bachelorette party with all my old college friends!!

High: 33
Low: 22

That's survivable.....

New York City Vacay

2010-01-04T05:49:00.000-08:00

I am finally back in North Carolina after a slew of back-to-back work trips and vacations.

Recap:
November: Madison and New York City
December/January: Miami, D.C., Texas, NYC

I don't travel again until March when I go to Salt Lake City (work) and Scottsdale, AZ (Diana and Will's wedding!) I'm a bridesmaid and am soooo excited!

In other exciting news my best friend, Mali, is newly engaged to Sean. I get to be her bridesmaid (and help plan the bachelorette party.....oh the possibilities)

Trip to NYC:

The most recent NYC trip was a lot of fun, however it was FREEZING outside. It reminded me a lot of Wisconsin except less snow.

Liz and I arrived in NYC New Years Eve early in the morning and went straight to the West Side YMCA where we were staying. Well, we tried to go there. To avoid a $60 taxi ride, we took a bus ($2.25) to the subway ($2.25) and got out at 65th and Broadway (the YMCA was at 63rd and Broadway)

It was windy, snowing, wet and slushy on the ground and we could NOT find it! We spent almost an hour rolling our suitcases through the slush and muck, getting our feet soaking wet and cursing at Google maps on Liz's iPhone which could not make up its mind about where we were going.

Finally we just hopped in a cab and 3 minutes later were at our destination. Google Maps was trying to take us west when we were supposed to go east.

I must admit, it was a great location, right on Central Park near Lincoln Center and Columbus Circle, and it was also cheap ($50/person/night)....however it was NOT what we expected. We had heard stories of how awesome it was from a friend of Liz's, and when we got there we were told we had been "upgraded" from the room with bunkbeds we had reserved to a room with a "double bed".

"A double bed for each of us?", I asked.

"Uh...no, just one", answered the desk guy.

They were totally booked so we had no choice but to stay in THIS "room"

This was taken with me leaning against the door:
This view is right in front of the TV and heater.
I mean, WTF!?!?! The bed was definitely smaller than a double bed (my feet hung off the end) and I'm pretty sure the mattress was filled with concrete.

This so-called 'upgrade' was totally a scam and we think they called it that because of our view, which actually was pretty nice:
This is where we stayed on the map:
Anyway, we immediately started drinking as a way to manage our anger:
We spent New Years Eve in the Hell's Kitchen area, it was a lot of fun (I think).

Being the uneducated tourists that we are, we thought we better get to a bar early in case it got too crowded. The last thing we wanted to do was wait in long lines outside in the cold. So we finished off a bottle of champagne and a bottle of wine around 5pm, and then had another bottle of champagne......then more wine.....then some free donuts from the guys at Dunkin.....then the Irish Pub.....needless to say, we were not technically awake at midnight (don't worry, we did make it back to the room). Unfortunately I cannot blame this one on jetlag.

The next day we got up before noon (after a good twelve hours of sleep) and switched rooms. We got a room with bunk-beds which gave us a bit more space, however they were still made out of concrete. After moving rooms we found a place for breakfast which we ended up going to everyday (Whole Foods' breakfast buffet) and proceeded to wander through Central Park on the way to Saks 5th Avenue. It was COLD.
At Saks we tried on Burberry coats. Liz bought a beautiful black one and I was going to buy this one but it was too big (and I need the thousand bucks for rent):
On Friday we also went to Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdales, and FAO Schwartz. At Times Square we bought half-price tickets for Avenue Q, the BEST show I have ever seen. However this is the worst picture ever taken because I didn't want to use a flash:
But here is one taken of the net:
We were heavily reliant on the street map and the NYC subway app on Liz's iPhone:

On Saturday we took a tour of NBC studios and saw the sets for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and the SNL studio. We also watched the iceskaters in the plaza, gazed up at the Tree and did some more shopping:

Then it was on to the Guggenheim. The line to get in wrapped around the building, however we found a quicker way in via the museum's restaurant and past a distracted security guard.
The building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is absolutely gorgeous:
Celeb siting out side the Gugg (Paul Giamatti buying a hot dog):
It was SO COLD and windy that we decided we should see a movie, we ended up at It's Complicated (pretty good). This was followed by an Italian dinner with a very flirty bartender waiting on us. We thought the free drinks and not-very-subtle winks were pretty cool until we saw him doing it with the people at the other end of the bar.

After mending our broken hearts over a glass of red wine, we eventually made it back to the hell hole of a room. Did I mention the bathrooms were down the hall and that the water was either freezing or scalding?

Sunday we ate breakfast and hopped on the Subway uptown, then a bus through Harlem to LGA, then a plane home. We were very proud that we only took one taxi ride ($5) the entire trip.

It was a great trip, but I'm glad to be home!

Back from Texas

2009-12-29T09:49:00.000-08:00

But not before tormenting my aunt's poor puppy, Theo, first:

December

2009-12-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

I've been home for a couple days but leave again today for Christmas in Texas. I'm soooo excited!

The last few weeks have been insane, I've been living in hotels during the week and at home on the weekends. Miami was a lot of fun and I actually did go to (most of) the sessions. However, I couldn't resist spending my lunch breaks on the sand, so I would often come back after lunch with sandy feet or wet hair.

Last week we trekked up to Wasthington DC for the Expert Panel meeting on soy formula. It was a crazy week with some long hours, but I had a great time. The day we left we had to drive through the start of the huge snowstorm that hit the east coast. It took 9 hours to drive back (usually 4.5) and was very slow, lots of cars were piled up in the ditch. The airports were shut down as well, so I'm glad we didn't fly.

Quite the opposite of my previous week.

Today I am off to visit the family in Texas and the week after I'm going to New York City with Liz to celebrate New Years!

Merry Christmas!!!

Stand-up

2009-12-13T19:36:00.000-08:00

I took a stand-up comedy class and performed my material in a show last week at Dirty South Improv in Carrboro.

It was taped and posted on Rooftop Comedy.

http://www.rooftopcomedy.com/watch/KaylaTaylorDec4th2009

Unfortunately I am now known as Kayla Taylor

Enjoy!

Miami, Day 2

2009-12-09T04:51:00.001-08:00

On no! I missed my boat!

Miami Beach, Day 1

2009-12-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Miami Beach yesterday. It is the land of smarmy waiters, high priced cocktails and gorgeous beaches. Luckily my conference didn't start until this evening so I was able to explore and experience the local culture.

The beach in front of the hotel
Parasailor, I wish that were me.
The terrible view from the balcony of my room....yes my own balcony.
Art galleries and shopping (I could not afford the high prices)
Me working hard!
Man collecting coconuts!

Madtown Thanksgiving Vacay

2009-12-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday I flew from RDU to Madison, WI for Thanksgiving vacay! I was met at the airport by Mali (only 20 minutes late) and we went straight to the grocery store to pick up some essential ingredients for my special surprise southern traditional meal that has been in the family for thousands of years!

We gathered at the house to settle in and then went over to Matt's so the Christgaus, the Moores, the Taylor and the Babs could meet, drink and mingle.
After the rents left we hit the Old Fashioned, one of my fav Wisconsin bars, for some local beers and local martinis.

The next day was Thanksgiving!!! We were awoken in the middle of the night (10am) by the sounds of parents coming over to start the festivities.

Sean started the TWO turkeys
Matt drank too much
Mali's dad sneakily watched the Packers game while pretending to play cards.
Sean's dad stole all my money in poker.
The dogs went crazy
And I began cooking my surprise traditional southern famous meal. What did I make????

Why, pig's tails and pig's feet of course! I don't know why anyone didn't want to eat them...

Sean made a joke that he was going to eat a "Tater Tot"
But Tater didn't think it was very funny
Finally we ate.
The next day I hit the early sales with the Christgaus, but the lines were too long so I didn't end up buying anything. Sean and Tater tried to recover from all the food/booze from the day before.
Friday night I got to be a special guest in the Monkey Business Institute Improv Show!! It was awesome and so much fun. Before the show, Mali and I exchanged gifts! I got so many socks!!!
On Saturday I did some X-mas shopping with my cultured New York friend Mickey. He is so sophisticated he wears a fancy pizza eating bib.
Mickey and Lucy didn't get along very well.
Later we just took lots of embarassing pictures of Lucy.*

I had such a fantastic weekend! It was great seeing all my good mid-western friends again and their families (and their dogs). Miss you guys! :)

*I would like to apologize to Lucy for exploiting her adorableness, I just couldn't help it.

Movie date with a Vampire

2009-11-17T08:24:00.000-08:00

New Moon (the Twilight sequel) comes out on Friday!!! I, along with the entire teenage girl population, cannot wait!

I have plans to go early on Friday (after work) to see it with a few of my Twilight crazed friends. And yes, they are actually my age and not young teen girls I bribed to go with me.

I just wish Mali, Babs, Laura, Kate, Anna and my aunt Sue could come too!

See, there are LOTS of 25+ year-olds who are just as obsessed as me!

Saturday night my friends Liz and Janice are having an early Thanksgiving, then next week I get to spend actual Thanksgiving in Madison with all my cheese-head friends! I even get to perform in a Monkey Business Improv Show. I'm looking forward to my weekend in Wisconsin, it's too bad I won't have a car because I would love to visit my grandparents while I'm there.

Ky and Laur's big weekend in NYC

2009-11-09T06:06:00.000-08:00

I had a great weekend in NYC! It was so fun to see Lauren and hang out. On Saturday we met up after Lauren's film class for sushi with my friend Mickey. Mickey and I caught a Patton Oswalt stand-up show in Times Square and later we all hit up one of Laur's old college haunts for a few beers.

Lauren and I (notice her dorky notebook)

At the sport's bar where Laur likes to "prowl"
Lauren was really bad at this for some reason:
So I showed her the way:
And now she is an expert!
Lauren's room at the convent:Early the next morning around 2pm we went to brunch at a really cute French restaurant. The cappuccinos were AMAZING.
And Lauren was really interested in everything I had to tell her!! She even took notes, I think....
Le Omelette:
We went to check out the roof at her place, thanks helpful signs!!!!:

Lauren and I walked around Chelsea, the East Village, and the Meat Packing District where I walked right past the guy who plays Kevin on the office! My first real New York celeb sighting! Except I have no idea what the actor's name is.....but he is totally famous. .

Mickey went off to watch the Packers game in his Brent Favre T-shirt (It says :"We'll never forget you Brent":

Sunday evening I arrived at the airport and found out my flight was overbooked. However, to my delight I was bumped up to first class and enjoyed the extra attention and luxury for my hour long flight.

I had a great weekend and want to go back SOON!

NYC

2009-11-06T05:37:00.000-08:00

I am going to New York City today after work! I can't wait to see my cousin Lauren!!

Reunion

2009-11-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

Last night I went out to dinner with my old college roommate, Caitlin. I haven't seen her in years even though she lives in Chicago and Madison was only 2 hours away! However, she was in Chapel Hill for work so we got to meet up.

I picked her up at her hotel and proceeded to get very lost on the way downtown. I think she probably caught on to the fact that I'm not the best host when I pulled a U-turn at a creepy dead end gravel road. Luckily she didn't let on that it looked like I was about to kidnap her and remained calm.

Over a dinner of pasta, Tatar tots, and wine we reminisced about our days at St. Olaf and the great times we had at the 3 bars in Northfield. Caitlin was one of the first people I met in college and now it is 3 years post-graduation and I have to say, we have both aged well.

(Actually, we look exactly the same but probably weigh less because we are no longer gorging on the limitless caf food three times a day....)

The most exciting thing is that we are both going to be first time bridesmaids in the March wedding of our other roommate, Diana! The three of us shared a triple room our junior year of college and then lived in a house together our senior year. The wedding will be in Scotsdale, AZ and I already have my ticket and my dress.

In addition to doing improv, I started taking a stand-up comedy class. Hmmmm maybe that will be my wedding gift to Diana and Will...I mean, who wouldn't want stand-up at their wedding???

Halloween (and other) Pictures!

2009-10-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

I made these cupcakes for work (I made the orange-color myself with food coloring):
Here is the dog's costume (he doesn't really like Halloween):
Mom enjoying a beer:
The cake my mom made for my 25th birthday! So cute!

State Fair!

2009-10-27T06:58:00.001-07:00

I recovered enough this past weekend from being sick to attend the NC State Fair! I used to go every year as a kid and I still love it. My mom and I went the very last day it was open and luckily the weather was nice and cool.

I saw the deep fried twinkies, deep fried pb&j's, deep fried oreos, chocolate covered bacon on a stick, and my favorite: deep fried cheddar nuggets at the Hot Wisconsin Cheese stand. I think this is funny because these are the same thing as Wisconsin cheese curds but named differently so as not to scare off potential customers. "Curds" doesn't sound quite as appetizing down here....but I guess "nuggets" does?

We saw all the animals, my favorites were the piglets all in a pile.

We also saw the live bears but resisted checking out the spider woman (woman torso and spider legs)....oh well!

I had a great time and was exhausted at the end of the day.

On Friday night I went out with some girlfriends. We started out the evening tasting some new beers. Our favorite was called Delirium aka "pink elephant". It was very strong but delicious.

We continued the night at my favorite roof-top bar that overlooks the sprawling down-town Chapel Hill area and ended the evening dancing away, I mean reading novels, at a bar called The Library.

nothing much

2009-10-21T11:26:00.001-07:00

Nothing much has happened lately. I got pretty sick over the weekend so spent most of the time sleeping. I don't think it was the flu, but it was not fun. I'm much better now aside from the nasty cough.

I'm excited for the travel adventures to return when I visit New York City and Madison in November and Miami and D.C. in December.

Until next time....

185 nanoparticles walk into a bar.....

2009-10-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

I stole some pictures from the birthday weekend from Jancie's blog (which I've also added to my blogroll).

Liz took Jancie and I out for mani/pedi's on Saturday. Next was lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. She then proceeded to flirt with our very young waiter and invited him to our party. He didn't come. Probably got stuck in traffic or something.
Birthday girls!

The night ended at Top of the Hill.

This past weekend was a three day weekend thanks to Columbus day. So thank you, Columbus. I was very productive on Monday because I slept late, went shopping, went to the gym (okay that part actually was productive), and watched movies all afternoon. I was all set to go and discover a new land but by then it was dinnertime and my dad was making eggs and toast for DINNER! what?!?! Who would turn that down?

At lunch today I entertained my coworkers with my improv skills by telling them '185' jokes. My suggestion was nanoparticles.

i.e., "185 nanoparticles walk into a bar and the bartender says "Sorry, we don't serve nanoparticles here." So the nanoparticles say "What? We just wanted to try your micro-brew!"

"185 nanoparticles walk into a bar and the bartender says "Sorry, we don't serve nanoparticles here." And the nanoparticles say "Fine, we will go next door to the Mar-tiny bar"

Yeah....maybe sounds better when you hear it out loud....? But remember I work with scientists so it was quite the hit.

Actually a coworker got in on the action and said:

"Two nanoparticles are at a bar and one says "See you later," and the other says "No you won't".

Get it? Because they are really small.

I thought that was pretty clever.

My Gramma is having eye surgery tomorrow so just want to send positive thoughts over the internet waves, good luck Gramma!!!

Life and Death of a Pumpkin

2009-10-07T06:57:00.000-07:00

Just saw this very funny/scary video by Blame Society Productions.

Loved it! It's never too early to get in the Halloween spirit!

Adventures Without Kyla is back!

2009-10-03T06:52:00.001-07:00

Kate and Anna are together in Germany and have once again started up their blog Adventures Without Kyla! Check it out!

I'M 25 TODAY!!!

2009-10-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning on the dark side of 20. I can't wait to celebrate this weekend!

Chad Vader, new episodes

2009-09-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

Though I have moved away and am no longer an extra in Chad Vader, Blame Society Productions have somehow found a way to continue on without me. Below are episodes 7 and 8 in which my friend Sean scored the coveted role of Marshmellow Bandito!

But not to worry, I did some filming before I moved for a couple of videos that will appear on YouTube, so once those are up I will post them!

Episode 7, Season 2:

Episode 8, Season 2

in case you are interested....(or bored at work)

2009-09-28T06:35:00.001-07:00

This article in Newsweek talks about the exposures I am researching at work: Obesogens. It explains how exposure to these chemicals during critical developmental periods can lead to obesity (despite diet and exercise).

Very interesting and frightening!

http://www.newsweek.com/id/215179

catching up on sleep

2009-09-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

I realized around 2pm today that I had not changed my clothing (pajamas) AT ALL, not once, since Friday evening.....is that bad?

2009-09-23T08:19:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is my first work trip! I was asked yesterday if I wanted to fly up to D.C. for the day for a seminar on obesity and it's non-traditional risk factors. I'm very excited, it should be fun and hopefully I am home in time for the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy!

settling in

2009-09-21T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family!

I have completed my first full week of my first ever full-time, permanent job and I love it! My office is in a really nice, clean building with lots of windows (though I, of course, am in a cubicle), a workout room and a shuttle over to the main campus which has a very nice cafeteria.

I'm not sure how much I can talk about what I'm working on at this point, but it involves critically reviewing literature on the health effects of different environmental exposures. Currently we are looking at soy formula fed to infants and 'obesogens', chemicals that can disrupt normal development and induce obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. They are endocrine disruptors, similar to what are making male fish in the great lakes carry eggs (yuck). In December I'll be attending conferences in Miami and D.C.

Chapel Hill is turning into a great place to live. Durham and Raleigh are within 20-30 minutes of my house (It takes 15 minutes to get to work). So far I've been tailgating at NC State and UNC football games, and out with friends in downtown Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro. I've been working on developing an appreciation for North Carolina beer and actually it hasn't been too difficult (sorry, Wisconsin beer...).

Now I just have to figure out where I want to live as I do not have the kind of parents who wish for their child to live with them at home for an extended period of time.

From Wisconsin to North Carolina

2009-09-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

I'm alive!! (In case you were wondering) And I am back in Chapel Hill. I have moved back in with my parents and am what Mali likes to call "recession chic". However, I have assured them it is only temporary, though I think I could get used to it.....

The last few days were a flurry of friends, beers and many tears (rhyme!). I had my final final Madison improv show on Friday (though really it isn't my final one because I was told I am welcome to come back and play anytime, and I definitly plan to visit!), went to the Great Dane on Saturday to celebrate Mali leaving her job as a nursing assistant to begin Nursing school, and Sunday and Monday nights I spent quality time with all of my lovely friends.

Acutally Sunday night Mali, Matt, Sean and I went to see the movie District 9 and I felt a bit motion sick through most of it.

Sean and I at the sidelines at the show.
Ricker and Babs dancing to live music outside the DaneAll of us having a super awesome time!

Everyone had tons of energy!
Matt couldn't get over the fun he was having!

My dad flew into Madison on Tuesday, we stopped by the terrace for beer and brats before we hit the road.

The drive back wasn't as terrible as we feared. Actually it flew by because of a book on tape called Dead Sleep, scary! We stayed overnight in Indy and made it home around 8pm the next day, I think total driving time was 16 hours and despite all of my mechanic's warnings, the car had no problems!

To make the transition more bearable, I brought a few bottles of my favorite Wisconsin beer with me.

Something was missing, I wasn't sure what it was until I found it at Trader Joes! Cheese curds! In the South!

I also ran into this cow and we reminisced about greener pastures. He said that when he earns enough money he is going to quit Chic-Fil-A and go back to Wisconsin, I said that in this economy, he is lucky to have a job at all.

My mom is a big fan of Brent Favre so I got her this shirt!

The Final Countdown (6 days)

2009-08-26T09:32:00.001-07:00

Exciting news: Monkey Business Institute improv comedy was voted NUMBER ONE COMEDY/IMPROV by readers of Madison's very popular and well respected paper: The Isthmus. We even beat out the more well known Comedy Club. This is great news for our group and I am performing with them for my very last show on Friday!

It is my final week in Madison. Next Tuesday I will pick my dad up from the airport and we will start our drive back to North Carolina (after a quick stop at the Terrace, of course). I can't believe I've been living in the midwest for 7 years!

I've been having so much fun that I don't want to leave, but I know that summer can't last forever. The past couple weeks have been filled with MANY visits to the Terrace, going out on a boat, playing in some more improv shows (guess I didn't have my last one after all), and Mali's blowout 25th birthday party where we watched Wet Hot American Summer on the side of her house, made use of three different grills and had plenty of beverages (one of these caused me to sleep most of the day Saturday AND Sunday).

I also went to this kid's play place called Bounce U with my improv group. The workers said something like "this is the first time we've seen anyone older than 6 in here". We sure showed them....

I've really been enjoying my consultant work for NTP, I have great bosses who are so excited about what they do, and am looking forward to actually becoming a federal employee in a few weeks (joining the family business). I will, however, really miss my mid-morning and mid-afternoon naps.

I've been SO lucky to have such amazing friends, coworkers, and been part of Madison's most famous improv troupe.

2009-08-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

I had my last Out-on-a-Limb-Prov show on Sunday. It was a fun show, but a little bit sad :( Friends came out to see me and celebrate the end of the beginning of my great improv career.

I've decided to enjoy Madison as much as possible while I'm here (and now homeless since my lease ended today), so last night we hit the terrace. Laura is back in town visiting and Brett just moved here to start law school!
The movers packed up my stuff on Wednesday and its on its way to North Carolina. I handed in the keys to my apartment this morning, now everything I have left fits in a couple of suitcases.

Devil's Lake

2009-08-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago a bunch of us went up to Devil's Lake for a weekend of camping and (unexpectedly) climbing. I hadn't been car camping in years, and I forgot how much fun it is. You can bring EVERYTHING.

On Friday we all arrived, had some food and went to bed. Saturday we went on a long hike to see the views of the lake and attempted some rock climbing.

A view of Devils Lake
Lucy's crew (Matt, me, Mali and Sean)
Mali and I with a statue of a dude
Sean telling Lucy secrets
Friends!
Best friends! Matt "helping" Mike with the ropes
Devils Door

We could not find Balanced Rock. I don't know why.
Mali talked me down. Life is worth living!
But I accidentally fell anyway and had to climb back up.
Climbing ropes everywhere
Oh wow, someone caught me in this natural, candid pose!
Everyone tried climbing and, to my surprise, we all made it to the top. As you can see I worked hard and paid lots of attention when Mike was climbing in preparation for my own go at it.

Me before the climb, faking confidence
But I made it higher....And higher!
Can't even see me (I think I'm behind some branches)A cool shot of Ron climbing

Lucy climbing on Mali's shoulders, she is special.
Saturday night we celebrated not dying and cooked up some delicious food. That night I slept like a rock and Sunday after breakfast we headed back to Madison.