Kiss My Lobster Day 2

Now that we have wireless access in our cabin, I'll be updating hopefully pretty regularly.

So yesterday 5 of us drove from Ann Arbor to Maine by way of Canada. The boys were going to meet the girls at our apartments around 5:30 AM and we were going to take off by 6 AM at the latest. Now, I haven't been sleeping all that well last week and I guess my body decided it was time for me to catch up on sleep. At 6:15 AM I woke up to a group of people knocking on my window. I scrambled out of the house hoping and praying I grabbed everything I needed, and we were able to take off within 15 minutes.

The ride was lovely. We went through Ontario and Quebec, entered the US through Vermont and drove to Maine through New Hampshire. The trip didn't take as long as I had expected, perhaps because Jon and I raced each other (very safely) in Ontario, driving 140 kph in a 100 kph freeway. I haven't been to Quebec since I was in elementary school, so that distinct line between Ontario and Quebec came as a shock to me. All of a sudden, the English disappeared and there was nothing but French. We stopped at a McDonalds in Quebec and they weren't even able to communicate with us in English (among all of us, we had Chinese, Spanish, Greek and Egyptian languages covered, but not French), and couldn't take our credit cards. Since we failed to exchange currency for this trip, we had to wait till we got back to the US to eat. At one point, both Clint and I (in separate cars) both remarked that it felt like we were in a foreign country...which I guess we were since Canada is not the US.

We finally got to our cabin and it is the freakiest place ever. The three that got there earlier on Saturday ended up washing all the sheets for us. Today is going to be filled with cleaning the rooms, vacuuming, cleaning the sauna, and grocery shopping. The renter has decorated the cabin with skulls, swords, and bullets. Mel is convinced he also has the house bugged. Anyway, we're going to try to get some of our money back because it's ridiculous we have to spend a whole day cleaning on our vacation.

I've started using my digital camera and hopefully will have pictures up by tomorrow. =)

Maine, here I come!

I'm turning into a hypochondriac. I think I may have anemia which would explain my fatigue, irritability, headaches, and dizziness. It won't explain the insomnia (a whopping 3 hours of sleep last night!), but I'm getting my blood tested after getting back from my vacation.

Not looking forward to saying goodbye to a co-worker and friend of 1 year. We're going out tonight and dancing to send her off. Probably not the smartest thing for me to do since I only slept 3 hours last night. Oh well, it's almost the weekend.

Looking forward to my vacation in Maine with awesome awesome friends. Leaving early Saturday for our 15+ hour drive. Looking forward to sleeping in, lounging around, hiking, water-skiing, setting off fireworks. Here's our cabin:


Recently got into the TV show Veronica Mars. Appropriate, since last week I threw down some money and purchased this baby:


That's a Nikon D50 6.1 MP Digital SLR with a 18-55 mm lens. So I'll be taking pictures during my hikes.

I also realized I've been neglecting my other "babies." I've been playing more on my keyboard lately and I plan to take my guitar on the trip with me and spend some quality time with it.

Poisonwood Bible

I checked out the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver to read on my way to and from work. This excerpt made me laugh out loud on the bus:

"So determined he is to win or force or drag them over to the Way of the Cross. Feed the belly first, he announced at dinner one night, seized with his brilliant plan. Feed the belly and the soul will come...The whole village feasted all day, ate, ate till we felt bug-eyed and belly-up ourselves. He performed a backward version of the loaves and fishes, trying to stuff ten thousand fish into fifty mouths, did the Reverend Price. Slogging up and down the riverbank in trousers wet to the knees, his Bible in one hand and another stickful of fire-blackened fish in the other, he waved his bounty in a threatening manner. Thousands more fish jerked in the sun and went bad along the riverbanks. Our village was blessed for weeks with the smell of putrefaction. Instead of abundance it was a holiday of waste. No ice. Our Father forgot, for fishing in the style of modern redneck Georgia you need your ice. He was not going to bring up the loaves and fishes in today's sermon, was a good guess."

It's brilliant. =)

At the blink of an eye

Ever had a week when you felt like you were living a slightly different life?

This week has been one of those. Work has been going well, and I'm been getting done all the stuff I need to get done at home. I've been busy with my own research as well as working on my personal statements. I've been working out and going to my yoga classes. I visited the UM Museum of Art's photography exhibit (LOVED it by the way and am going back again), saw a movie at Showcase (with the exception of the Da Vinci Code, it's the first time I paid over $1.50 to see a movie all year), shopped around Whole Foods for the first time today on my lunch break, and am spending time hanging out with friends. I've also been getting enough sleep every night. Tonight I'm going to visit the new Chinese market in Ypsi and buy Chinese snack foods. And it's Wednesday and the first day of summer.

Things are going smoothly this week. It's scary. I'm so used to chaos and feeling days and days behind schedule or feeling dazed and sleep-deprived. Well, I'm a bit tired today because of the rain. I kept waking up this morning to the thunder and I thought my umbrella was going to break under the pressure of the rain on my way to the bus. I'm not a big fan of rainy days unless I get to stay in all day and watch it through the window.

A few nights ago it really hit me that one day I'm going to look back at these two years of my life and treasure them as two of the best years of my life. After grad school I'll probably work in academia or at a research facility, finally settle down, perhaps have a family, and remember the 2 years in my life when I was living by myself as a young professional with little responsibility and the freedom to enjoy life. I love that I've been hopping on a plane and flying somewhere at least every other month this year. I love that I can choose to spend a week in a cabin with college friends drinking beer in hot tubs and playing pool. I love that I have the freedom to make stupid decisions like go out with friends till late on a weeknight and crash early the next night. Although sometimes it gets lonely and quiet living by myself, I have sole control of the remote and the dishes can pile up for a few days without anyone nagging or complaining. I need to learn to enjoy every moment my life and to live it fully. This is my last year in Ann Arbor, and I want to make the most of it. It's scary how fast things can change. In the next few weeks I'm going to have to say goodbye to some dear friends of mine. Some friends are getting married, others are breaking up, while others are adjusting to the reality of being pregnant. Although I feel so detached from all that, it's a reminder that life can change at the blink of an eye.

Product Reviews

The other week I was in Kroger and Yoplait's whipped yogurt was on sale. I'm usually a Dannon girl myself but I thought what the hey, I'll give them a try. Well, flavor-wise they weren't so bad except it was more like eating dessert than a healthy snack. I'm not a big fan of the whipped texture though. It was like eating airy pudding - gross! If I were an infant, I'd definitely have to be burped after consumption. Needless to say, I'm sticking with Dannon yogurt.

I also bought beauty products from Avon for the first time. My supervisor brought an Avon catalog to work and I flipped through it. I never even looked at the catalog before because my brain immediate processes: Avon: brand-name: expensive, no buy. I was surprised by how inexpensive their products were when on sale - I bought some makeup for cheaper than I would have gotten them at the drugstore. Surprisingly, the quality wasn't as great as I thought. Anyway, I may buy Avon again if it was really cheap, but not otherwise.

Work has been a lot more fun now that I have work to do. I started attending the Yoga classes at Bally's and I love love love the class. I was surprised by how much of a workout it was! I was also shocked by how flexible and strong my lower-body was (from running), and how inflexible and weak my upper-body was in contrast!

My sleep has improved this week although Tuesday night I decided to go out to the Jug with my friend Lena at 10 PM. I didn't get home till 1 AM and the lack of sleep that night put me out of commission for Wednesday. In college, 4 hours of sleep one night wouldn't have affected me at all. Now, it messes my entire sleep schedule up and I can't think straight for days afterward.

Let's Get Physical

I'm so sore. I went to my first Pilates class yesterday and I'm happy to say I think it's actually effective. I'm going to try Yoga out as well next week and we'll see how toned I get in a few months.

I also added to my home decor. My living room now has a few Picasso prints and I got some black and white photos of Europe for my bedroom. Hmm...that reminds me, I have to check out the photography exhibit at the UM Museum of Art.

I finally visited the Mallett's Creek branch of the Ann Arbor Public Library near my apartment. I had a delightful time finding books I've been meaning to reread and exploring the youth fiction section. It really brings back memories of library trips when I was in Elementary School. I checked out a few fairytales (Ella Enchanted type books) just for old time's sake.

I slept better last night than I have for awhile. I finally went to the pharmacy and bought Melatonex, a sleeping aid that's supposedly non-addictive. My insomnia got to be ridiculous this week to the point of impairing my productivity at work. I think I'm going to try it again tonight.

Yay it's the weekend. I'm looking forward to an evening at home, popping in a DVD I got from the library, knitting, calling it an early night so I can go out and play in the sun tomorrow =).

Dreamer

I haven't been sleeping terribly well this week and I'm blaming it on the Pistons and Dan Brown.

Monday I watched the game and read Angels and Demons. Tuesday I saw the Da Vinci Code. I've also been having the most vivid nightmares about the most mundane and ridiculous things. Like 2 nights ago, I woke up in a huge sweat because I dreamed that I ruined my pouf somehow and had to go to Target and buy another one for $1.99. Ah, the horror of that!

My Myers Briggs personality is ESTP although I'm starting to suspect that living alone was converting me to an "I" (introvert). Now that the red-headed girl and Jessi moved into my apartment complex, I've been hanging out with them as well as my Polish girls almost everyday. Although it's been awesome, it's taking me a bit to get used to first of all going out every evening, and second of all seeing the same people everyday. I said to Ian yesterday "Man, I just am not used to seeing the same person more than 2 days in a row. Do you think they're going to get tired of me?" To which he scoffed and reminded me that I used to hang out with the same people everyday 7 days a week while I was in college. I find myself craving time to process alone (the new "I" side of me), but then the "E" side of me trumps that and I go out anyway. It shouldn't take me too long to adjust.

One thing I've been sad about is not having time everyday to do my Chinese lessons at home. I've been listening to Rainie Yang's (Yang Cheng Ling) album Ai Mei nonstop though. I don't know why, but her song Li Xiang Qing Ren makes me really really happy.

Research Rants

As some of you know, I'm trying to conduct my own Psych study at the U this fall. I'm currently applying for IRB approval (the ethical board at the University) as the approval is required for me to interact with human subjects for my study.

After jumping hoop after hoop (complications are that I'm not faculty or a student at the University, also that although I'm a researcher at the University, I'm with the medical school rather than the Psych department), I get this email:

Dear Tracy, Could you please clarify why you are conducting this study? Also, could you please clarify the role of [omitted name 1] in this study? Kind regards, [omitted name 2]

To which I replied:

Dear [omitted name 2], [omitted name 1] and I conducted a study while I was an undergraduate Psychology student and she was a graduate Social Psychology student here at the University. We are currently working on publishing our previous study and wish to further our research on romantic relationships. [omitted name 1] will be conducting some of the research at Rutgers University (she is a faculty member there and will also be mentoring me), but because I am the principal investigator on this study, I would also like to take part in conducting experiments. I do plan on researching romantic relationships further in graduate school, but for now I am not an enrolled student. I am working for the University, hence, my desire to conduct this research at the University. [omitted name 3], a faculty here, has graciously offered to act as a resident faculty here and to mentor me on this project as well. I hope this answers your questions. Please let me know if further clarification is required. Thank you, Tracy

Sometimes, I just hate this University.

May Showers

It's been a rainy month but hopefully the sun is here to stay. I just got back from a weekend trip to Durham to see my ladies from the Pirate House. It was a short, but fun-filled weekend with spa night, tours of Duke and Chapel-Hill, a picnic in the garden, a nice dinner, relaxing breakfasts, yummy ice cream, games and movies, and lots of giggles with some of my best friends. I got up early this morning, had a nice workout, ate breakfast while reading the newspaper (a new habit I want to get into), and went to work almost on time (45 minutes earlier than I usually get to work). None of my superiors were in, but I had a little bit of work to do still. I just finished one of my grants, so big transitions are to come in terms of work. I did the only thing that made sense to me to do at a time like this: I redecorated my cubicle. =) It's been over a year since I started this job and I'm finally feeling confidant and comfortable at work. I was so nervous a year ago. I'd wear formal work-wear everyday and never walked around without my name badge. Today I threw on a black v-neck tee and green peasant skirt with sandels and I was good to go. I leave for the Big Apple Thursday morning. I'm pretty excited. I finally finished my poster this morning. I'm trying to work extra hours today and tomorrow so I can actually make it up to North Campus to print it out.

This week is busy with preparations for the conference and making time for the Pistons game. =) Then I'll finally be able to go to church in Ann Arbor again!

I registered for the (free) One Thing Regional Conference in Chicago for June 16-17 after discovering that the cheapest, seediest motel only costs $48 a night. Dunno if that's the smartest thing in the world considering that I'm presenting at another Psych conference in Ann Arbor less than a week afterward. Still, I think it'll be worth it. Anyone interested in coming with me?

Serenade

I don't know why, but this week I've tallied up a short list of songs I want a guy to serenade me with or dance with me to:

1. The Glory of Love - Pete Cetera
2. I'll Be There for You - Bon Jovi
3. The Nearness of You - Hoagy Carmichael (although I prefer Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong's version
4. The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra
5. Moonriver - Breakfast at Tiffany's
6. Blue Moon - (I dunno who sang it first, I feel like everyone sang it: Elvis Presley, Sinatra, etc)

Chicago

I had such a fun weekend!

Friday after work, I left for Evanston, IL to visit my favorite red-head. Unfortunately, I-94 is under construction pretty much all through Indiana so traffic and detours were a pain. Still, I got there safe and sound thanks to my crappy and duct-taped yet ever so reliable car Vinnie.

Saturday morning, I ran a 5-K at Northwestern. Since 5-K is only 3.1 miles, I didn't really prepare or over-train for it. It was a LOT harder than I expected, probably because I was much more conscious about the speed I was running. The whole time, I had a running commentary in my head. "Oh, I can feel the bag of Jelly-bellys I devoured last night." "Why on earth didn't I eat a balanced meal??" "Just burned off 4 Gobstoppers..." "How are tiny people with no muscles running faster than me?" Lesson learned: eat well before the race, no matter how short it may seem. My meal the night before consisted of Jimmy John's Sorry Charlie and a box of Gobstoppers. Bad idea.

Afterward, we went to the Chicago Botanical Gardens. It was so incredibly gorgeous! My favorite part of it was probably the Japanese Garden. We felt like we were in the end scene of Memoirs of a Geisha.

We walked around downtown Evanston for a bit and shopped and ate dinner. Then we drove back to Chicago to catch a show at Improv Olympic. The show was really funny and they improvised a whole musical the night we went!

We ended the evening by renting "Joe Versus the Volcano." It was Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan's first movie together and supposedly very very good. It turned out to be one of the strangest and most random movie I've watched. I wouldn't say it was super good.

The next day was leisurely. Church, then lunch at a kitzchy diner, then ice cream at Cold Stone. Then back to Michigan I went.

Now that the academic year is over, work is slowing down A LOT. I'm really looking forward to this week though. Hopefully I'll be spending my time starting some new hobbies and catching up with friends.

It feels like spring...

I woke up this morning and wished I had a summer break. Yesterday was sooooo beautiful out and I didn't get a chance to go outside because I was working. =(

I'm running my first race this weekend and I'm pretty scared. It's only a 5-K so I'm not buying any special running gear. I'm not going to think about it anymore and just run. I don't know why I keep making plans to race. I don't even like running half the time.

On a happy note, not only do I get to see my favorite Red-Headed Girl this weekend, but she's moving back to Ann Arbor in June to an apartment two buildings down from me. Yay!!

Good Friday

"When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me"

I'm still sick from this weekend.

And my hairdryer broke this morning. =(

Feeling pretty unmotivated at work today.

Last week I asked the question "can you be friends with an ex?" Well, my friends, the answer is that you can't and in trying to, you'll experience even more hurt. Well, you live and you learn.

I can't believe it's April already. The year is just whizzing by. I feel like I went through a lot of transition this past few months and I have a lot of transitions coming up including changing churches as well as saying goodbye to a community that has been my family for the last 4 years. I've felt conflict and pain in almost every area of my life (besides family, thank goodness) and have been brought face to face with who I have become over the last few years. One thing I've learned is to not be afraid of who I am because Christ's work on the cross has justified all and His work of sanctification can overcome all our weaknesses. It hit me this weekend how beautiful life is and how simple it can be. I have a lot to look forward to and will press on toward the perfection that Christ has called us to.

Task #24: Sleep in till noon. I was so traumatized from the weekend that I took a sick day off work yesterday and slept in till 12:30 PM. It felt glorious.

Task #63: Order a Dirty Grey Goose Martini. Okay I'm going to lie on this one. I ordered a dirty gin martini because I knew I wasn't going to like the olive juice and I didn't want to waste the cash on the Grey Goose. I'll order a Grey Goose martini of some sort next time to balance this one out. I was at Seva with Autry and Amanda and couldn't decide what drink to order when Amanda reminded me of this particular task. It was the most disgusting drink I have ever tried. Never again am I ordering a dirty martini.

Task #95: Devise a great April Fool's prank. Does this mean I had to carry it out? I had the best prank and last minute a few things went wrong and the whole prank fell through. Well, there's always next year!

Been meaning to blog, but everytime I do catch a moment, I have no idea what to blog about! So here's just some random thoughts:

Product review: Blistex Lip Infusion. After seeing Ad after ad after ad, I decided to be a sucker and give in a try it. Although it was nice and cool and smelled somewhat attractive, it left a waxy feel on my lips (contrary to what was advertised!) and dried out my lips completely until I finally had to cough up $2 for new chapstick. Conclusion: It was horrible. Don't buy it!

Why are relationships such a salient part of women's lives? I feel that over and over again I talk to women who have great friends and successful jobs/careers, yet their lack of relationship causes them to question everything they do have. Also, broken relationships hurt women more than they care to admit - and no matter how strong they are, that failed relationship seems to haunt women. Can a woman balance relationship and family with a career? All the twenty-somethings I talk to say you have to pursue one wholeheartedly or the other. The late thirty/forty year-olds say that when you're young and in your twenties, that's the best time to pursue a family. I'm going to take my cue from the more mature folks and conclude that it is indeed possible to start a family and still pursue my PhD. Wow - that means I only have 6 years left... Can you be friends with an ex? I dunno - but I'm finally giving it a go.

The more I get to know my boss and her thought processes in her research, the more I realize how simple my mind is. I have barely scratched the surface in the research world and I have so much to learn.

My back is officially straight again and I only have a few visits left to the physical therapist.

I also finally picked out a color for my apartment walls and it's getting painted next Wednesday. Whee!!

I also got a new cell phone so for the first time since I moved in, I have reception in my apartment!!

I have been too tired to cook lately so I bought a huge family size can of Chef Boyardee Ravioli and have been picking at it since Monday. I need to cook healthy food again. Especially since I'm finally getting somewhere with my marathon training.

Finally, I'm realizing there is indeed a difference between pursuing God and pursuing holiness. If you pursue holiness as an end to itself, your priorities are off and there's room for selfish motivation and moral filth to pollute your heart. James is such a convicting book because it urgently calls us to examine our hearts and our motivations.

Yay - I'm going to Durham in May to hang out with my foos. That's 2 weekends in May that I'll be out of Michigan. I love traveling!

101 update:

#50: Learn to play guitar well enough to lead worship with it. I don't know how well I played, but I did lead worship at church with it and no one told me that the music was horrible. Of course I had another guitarist and keyboardist to back me up, but the point is that I did it and was able to concentrate on worshiping God instead of worrying too much about the music.

#80: Open a Savings Account. I'm so tight on cash that I decided to just open a savings account and add to it every month and never touch that money unless it's an emergency.

Ramblings

I believe this is the first time I've updated by blog from home since I started this blog!

As some of you noticed, Tracy's been a bit unreachable lately. I've been bad at returning "non-business" emails. I do not really have phone reception at home, so I'm pretty much unreachable via phone. It's frustrating.

Work is going well. My boss gave me a promotion, so now I'm getting a taste of what it feels like to feel that 40 hours is not long enough of a work-week. I come home pretty exhausted and fade pretty quickly. Unfortunately, we're trying to finish the first draft of one of my Psych papers by Friday, and I find myself going home every evening staring at my computer screen in a mental stupor thinking "aren't I supposed to go to grad school to learn to write one of these things?" Eh, the week is almost over.

This weekend is the IV Women's Relationship brunch. I'm pretty excited about it! I'm hosting it at my apartment and we're going to talk about 1) the drive behind desiring romantic relationships (identity issue vs. healthy desire), 2) what constitutes a Godly relationship, and 3) Our relationships with others (including other women). I've jokingly thought about using this as a focus group for one of my papers since #1 is what my research is mostly about. It should be a good retreat. =)

My poster was accepted at the APS convention in May. I'll be staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square and hopefully having a mini rendez-vous with Deezy. I'm still hoping to make it to a foo-reunion in Durham, NC the weekend before, but that all depends on how much my week-long trip to Maine this summer with old roommates and friends will cost. A lot of traveling, I know, but that's where I've decided to spend my money.

So yesterday I was reading Deutoronomy 18-20 and I noticed two things:
1) The shedding of innocent blood was repeatedly portrayed as a grave, grave wrong. As I've been talking about Christ's death in reading the Cross of Christ and my Bible Study, I feel that it only emphasizes the incredible injustice Jesus willingly submitted to when he, innocent of all wrong, chose to be our substitute in facing the wrath of God.
2) I finally get the eye for an eye deal! I guess I always vaguely understood that Jesus "changed" things when he came. Yet, when I was reading eye for an eye, etc, I realized that this truth is unchanged today. God demands justice. Yet, when Jesus died on the cross, we sinners were justified. Thus no longer do we have to repay eye for eye, tooth for tooth, because justification for the eye and the tooth already took place on the cross! That is what Jesus meant when he said that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it! (Matt 5:17) How exciting!

Anyway, it's 10 PM and already I cannot keep my eyes open. I'm going to be an old person now and drag myself to bed.

Blessed...or not?

I'm back in Ann Arbor from a wonderful trip to Florida! My apartment is becoming more and more homey each day. Yesterday, I bought a nice wooden mahogany coffee table off Craigslist and it's amazing how it transformed my living room. My project this week is to choose a paint color for my living room walls after which I'll get a living room rug, pin cushions for my couches, and maybe some wall art.

The business trip to Florida was amazing. The first couple of days I spent in West Palm Beach. Wednesday, Marta drove up from Miami to go to the beach with me, then that evening I had dinner in Ft. Lauderdale with my boss and her brother. The rest of the week I spent in Naples. I ate a lot of seafood and enjoyed 80 degree weather everyday. I tanned almost every afternoon. I dined at some high-class restaurants, and stayed at the Marriott and the Hilton.

This week made me think about what it meant to "be blessed." I remember back in the youth group days when we used to go around in a circle and share with others why we were blessed. We were encouraged to share answers such as "I'm blessed because I have a roof over my head" or "I'm blessed because I have food to eat." Well, last week I was sitting in a nice restaurant, rubbing shoulders with rich old folks, when I realized the temptation to call myself blessed because I have access to these materialistic things. Somehow, I felt that being blessed doesn't mean riches or education. It doesn't mean food on the table or even a roof over our head. Or does it?

I feel that the Biblical use of "blessed" on one hand focuses on the eternal. In the Beatitudes, Jesus is obviously referring to the eternal. "blessed...because theirs is the Kingdom of God." But then, in Job, the Lord "blessed" the latter part of Job's life how? By increasing his material riches.

So what does it mean to be blessed? I'm not quite sure. Any thoughts?

101 update:
Task 58: Go to the beach. Marta and I meant to go to Juno Beach in Florida. We got lost on the freeway and stopped by an Applebees for lunch. Our very exuberant waitress directed us to Singer's Beach. It was a lot smaller, but still fun.

Task 78: Keep to my budget for 2 months. This was difficult to do with a lot of unexpected expenses popping up. Luckily, with tax returns, etc, I was able to pay off the extra expenses with the extra money coming in (not ideal, of course...next year I'll save my extra income). I also had to give up that massage and scuba-diving in Florida to stick to my monthly budget. =(

Task 90: Take the bus to work. I have to do that now I live way off campus and still refuse to pay for a parking space on campus. Also, UM students and employees now can take the AATA for free. It's pretty fun and stress-free to take the bus - except today, when I missed the bus because I forgot my ID badge in my apartment.

Changes

Not sure how I feel about the new layout, but I needed the change.

This was a bit of a crazy week for me. I realized that I experienced a lot of changes these past 2 months... and there are many more changes to come!

Starting 2006...

• I'm single again
• I have bangs
• I have a tattoo
• I moved into my own apartment
• I went on my first business trip

I was looking at my 101 in 1001 and wished there were other things I put on there. For example, I should have included getting a tattoo, going scuba-diving...

101 update

#2&3: Keep the list updated and Blog about each item. Although I'm not finished with this list, I suppose keeping things updated for 2 months allows me to assume that I'm going to accomplish these two items.

#87: Live on my own. I just moved into a nice 1-bedroom apartment today. I'm super excited about living on my own. My parents are bringing some furniture tomorrow. For now, I'm all set in my apartment except I have no living room furniture. Eventually, I'm going to set it up with a loveseat and 2 wicker chairs. If anyone wants to donate any of those items, let me know! Until then, if anyone has a tent I can borrow to set up in my living room for fun, let me know. After spring break I'll look into getting a cat. =)

#94: Finish a crossword puzzle without any help. I kinda cheated on this one. Newsday crossword puzzles are incredibly easy. But hey, I finished it without help.

A week of food

I feel like I went to bed Sunday and woke up to a Thursday. Where did this week go?

101 update:
Task #49: Cook a new recipe a week for 6 weeks
Week 1: Beef with Pea pods
Week 2: Shrimp with Soy beans
Week 3: Veggie Alfredo pasta
Week 4: Red Bean Soup
Week 5: Teriyaki Pork (with homemade teriyaki sauce)
Week 6: Orange-glazed pork chops
Week 7: Spicy BBQ Ribs (I threw in the 7th week just for kicks since the red bean soup was kind of a cop-out)

All of them turned out well except the orange-glazed pork chops. I'll have to try that again. The Spicy BBQ sauce was also homemade (oil, water, vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, ground red pepper) - and I'm not sure I'm a big fan. I like ribs, but I don't think I'll make it at home again. They're so heavy!

Task #81: Eat only homecooked meals for 1 week
It wasn't that hard - I don't go out to eat very much anymore.

Lots of thoughts, but I'm too tired to blog more right now.