Quit bugging me!

Yesterday I decided to work in our garden--pulling weeds and harvesting some green beans and so forth. (It really needed it, since we've been gone out of town for a week and a half and weeds grow like, um, weeds around here.) It was late afternoon, not dusk or anything, but I still got myself about 10 enormous mosquito bites that itch like the dickens. (Do the dickens itch?) These are not your run-of-the-mill bites, either--we're talking like two inches across, giant welt-looking mosquito bites. AND, to top it all off, I got stung by a bee or hornet or wasp or some such painful stingy creature. But, I did get a nice juicy bell pepper out of the deal. Not much of a bargain, actually, I have to admit.

The "G" word

On Thursday my advisor said the "G" word to me. Yep, GRADUATION. It was in a rather abstract and hypothetical context, mind you, but still. I might actually graduate after all! Hurray! He said (and this is VERY uncharacteristic of him) that maybe we should publish a smaller article, not in Science or Nature, on the work I've done recently (plus a few more things I'm still working on), rather than waiting for ALL of it to be done for the "Big Paper". (Ususally my advisor only likes to publish Big Papers). And he said I could probably GRADUATE on that paper, and then I could finish up the rest of the stuff as a post-doc while Kevin finishes up his Ph.D. WOOOOOO! Of course, this is all assuming that I get some more stuff to work as planned, etc. (and if there's one universal truth in research, it's that things NEVER go as planned) but I was still super excited to hear that my advisor is even thinking along those lines. Yay! Maybe I haven't completely wasted the last 6 years of my life after all!

So, obviously, my research has been going well the last few months. Wow, that is a strange thing for me to say/type. I'm very grateful--it makes such a big difference to how I feel to have things actually progressing. I still have lots of work to do, but I haven't felt this optimistic in a long time.

Kevin has been super busy of late, working on various papers and such for his advisor while also trying to release a new product for eFolder (that's the business he helped start before grad school and which he is now CEO for). It's nothing new--he's always super busy, but since about February it's been especially bad. He's also gone out of town like 4 times or something in recent months--mostly to conferences/trade shows for eFolder.

Last week we wrapped up this year's Stake Youth Conference (a 3 day event put on by our church for teenagers 14-18). I was in charge of registration and housing, which was no small task for a group of 250 people (we were actually combined with Peoria Stake as well, and they have twice the number of youth we do)! We had them all staying at host homes in the area--we had about 50 small groups to find places for, print maps for, etc. I also helped with the general running of things. All in all, it was quite exhausting. I slept for 11 hours the night after it was all over! It was a good conference--I think it was really good for the kids to get together and make friends and feel the strength of one another. The theme was "Forever Strong" taken from Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."

Kevin and I will soon be celebrating our fifth anniversary (which I can hardly believe)! We decided we wanted to spend some time in the mountains, so we booked a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana. (Yay for frequent flier miles!) I at first thought we would camp, but Kevin vetoed that idea--he has a thing for actual *beds*. I think it's because he's so dang skinny that he has no extra padding for sleeping on the ground. So, it's not going to be the budget trip I was first thinking of. But, hopefully it will be worth it--the park is supposed to be spectacular. If it would just stop SNOWING in Montana, we might actually be able to do some amazing hikes in those mountains. :) I've been looking like a dork wearing my new hiking boots around all the time (with shorts and other various things that do NOT go with them at all) trying to get them all broken in. I'm also trying to get ahold of some of these bad boys:

I have heard they help prevent blisters, especially for people like me who have hammer toes that rub together a lot. We'll see (that is, if I can even find any to buy). Has anyone else ever tried these before?

We're also going to spend the day in Chicago before our flight leaves from there, which is highly appropriate since that's where we got engaged! It should be fun. The best part about the trip: backcountry hiking = no internet access!

Arachnophobia

I HATE spiders. Ever since I was a girl and a spider egg sack hatched in my open window, delivering hundreds of itty bitty spiders right above my poor little reading-in-bed-really-late-at-night face, I have hated them. (I sprayed an entire can of Raid in my room that night. I couldn't even go in there for days afterwards because it smelled so bad). And that movie--Arachnophobia, that came out when I was a kid--scariest movie ever. At least, that's how it seemed to my 10 year old self.

Anyways, back to the spider issue. I have found FOUR spiders in my bathroom in the last few days! A couple of days ago, I was about to step into the shower when a big ugly black spider jumped out at me from the drain. I made Kevin kill that one. Then, a few seconds later, I found ANOTHER spider on the shower curtain (I killed that one myself)! This one was light brown and smaller. Then, the next day there was a long spindly spider on the wall by the toilet (also killed by me). And today when I went to take my shower, there was another furry black spider in the tub! (Not quite as big this time though). What is going on? Did the Spider Association of America decide my privy would be the location for this year's annual convention? Now, I know spiders are helpful for killing bugs that get in the house, so I'm not on any crusade to go out and find them all, but they darn well better stay FAR away from me (and my bathroom) if they want to live another day.

the Easter Feast

Isn't it beautiful? Some of it didn't turn out quite as yummy as I'd imagined (I'm talking about YOU, baby artichokes! Waaaaay more trouble than they're worth), but some things turned out truly outstanding. Our favorite was probably the "Spring Salad with Grapes and Pistachio-Crusted Goat Cheese." Wow. So good. Overall it was a great feast! It's a good thing, because we didn't do any of the "traditional" Easter things like colored eggs or egg hunts (but those ARE deviled eggs on the table there--that totally counts I think. Although, my brother pointed out that it doesn't seem right really to have deviled eggs on Easter) or Easter baskets and such. But it was a lovely Easter nonetheless.

And of course we had a real spiritual feast from all the beautiful messages given at General Conference.

A word about the dress I'm wearing in these pics which I simply must point out--it's a new but old dress that I bought 5 1/2 years ago while I was visiting Kevin in Utah (this was after I graduated from BYU but before Kevin graduated, and we were doing the long distance relationship thing). I went to the BYU bookstore and found the dress on the clearance rack. I tried it on and it was just a little too tight. I decided to buy it since the price was really good, and it was one of those "Jody" dresses that everyone else but me seemed to have while I was at BYU. And because I thought soon I'd loose a little weight and be able to fit in it.................HA! As it turned out, I gained something like 30 or 40 pounds in my first year of grad school--far from losing a few! Anyways, it's been hanging in my closet these long years, and finally I can fit into it now! It is quite exciting. Easter was actually my second time wearing it, but it is still kind of an Easter dress feeling (my mom bought me Easter dresses well into my undergrad years, so it's quite the tradition for me).

Mollifying myself with some lists

Things I got done yesterday:

• Went to choir rehearsal for "Heritage Singers" (we have a way-talented guy in our ward who is getting a Ph.D. in choral conducting and who put together a sort-of-auditioned choir, many of whom are former members of BYU or BYU-I choirs. It's super awesome. He is going to conduct the MoTab someday, I bet. Actually, one of his arrangements is going to be sung in General Conference this time, I hear!)
• Made breakfast/lunch of scrambled eggs and toast
• Refilled handsoap container with "homemade" foaming soap (did you know you can just dilute bathwash or even regular liquid soap and put them in one of those foaming pump bottles and it works just as well as the twice-as-expensive-as-normal-soap stuff you usually have to buy for those?)
• Took a nap (should have exercised, but I was so tired!)
• Went grocery shopping
• Wrapped and mailed my sister's birthday present
• Cleaned out MOUNTAIN of water bottles and other trash that have been in a pile in the back of the Focus for months
• Took a shower (finally) and got dressed in a skirt
• Decorated for and prepared food for our Stake YW Mother/Daughter Dinner which we had yesterday in conjunction with the General YW broadcast
• Attended the aforementioned activity
• Cleaned up after the same
• Did 2 loads of laundry (still one down there waiting for tomorrow)
• Took out the trash and recycling
• Returned 6 library books
• Wrote my "weekly report" for my advisor
• Sorted through a week's worth of mail
• Tidied the living room and kitchen (mostly because my visiting teachers are coming Monday morning!)

Things I didn't get done yesterday (but wanted to):

• Exercise
• Turning over soil and composting our garden plot
• TAXES (eeks!)
• working on my book chapter which is due on the 31st (eeks again!)
• sewed that button that fell off my dress last week
• Finish putting away the laundry
• Wash my winter coat (been meaning to do it all winter..now it's spring!)

*Sigh* Saturdays always go so by so fast. But I feel better now that I made these lists, because the first one is longer. :)

Goodbye, Half-Marathon.

There. I said it. I'm officially giving up on the idea of running the half marathon in Champaign in May. *Sigh* It's all because of my dumb knee. I trained all the way up to 8 or 9 miles (I forgot exactly) , which is actually really close to being done because most training programs only have you train up to 10 miles before you run the race. But then, my knee started hurting and it hasn't really gotten better. I mean, it got better in that it doesn't hurt unless I run. Then, it starts up again. It's so frustrating! I was really enjoying the running and I'm sure--cardiovascularly speaking--that I'm totally up to the distance. I kept harboring a secret hope that my knee would get better and I'd be able to catch up with my training and still run the race. I find myself looking at the joggers outside or in the gym on the track with longing. I just want to run! The stationary bike is so, well, not-that-fulfilling. At least it'll be spring soon and then I can ride outside. *Sigh*

Now that it's March, let's talk about Valentines!

So. For Valentine's Day this year, I wanted to get Kevin one of those "Edible Arrangements"--you know, the ones you see in airline magazines all the time (and like the one shown above)? It seemed like such a good idea, but then when I looked into the pricing online I was in for a shock. 60 bucks for a little bitty arrangement?? And that's NOT including the delivery price? Yeesh!

So I got the brilliant idea that I should make my own and save some cash. I *do* have experience with flower arranging, so it seemed like something I could do. I'm fairly proud of how it turned out, although I will say three things: #1. Just buying the fruit was actually a lot more expensive than I was thinking. I don't mind too much, though, because the price also included leftover fruit that we ate all week. #2. Cutting flower shapes out of pineapple is MUCH harder than you might think. Those Edible guys must have a cookie cutter type thing to do it with or something. #3 WHY is it so hard to find wooden skewers in stores? I looked at Walmart and Hobby Lobby and they had nothing of the sort. Naturally, the grocery store close to my house that I assumed would definitely NOT have something like that was the place where I finally found them.

(The roses in the pic below are what Kevin gave me, by the way.) I think next time I will just dip strawberries in chocolate and give them to Kevin, because that seemed to be the main part he cared about.

We had a nice Valentine's Day--Kevin took me out to a nice restaurant we'd never been to before on Saturday, and on Sunday we ate lots and lots of fruit. ;) Neither Kevin nor I have really been really really into Valentines much somehow--I think for my part, it's because I spent many years LOATHING "single awareness day" and just wanted it to go away. It's nice to actually have a sweetheart now but maybe I still remember the loathing somewhere in the back of my mind. I read in friends' blogs that they have always considered Valentine's a day of celebrating love and friendship in general. I don't know why I never thought of it like that....