i also love birthdays and mine is on sunday!

I wasn't sure how to write a list of things I love without being semi-boring. Obviously I love Aaron, and I love my family, and I love my friends, and usually I love chemistry. So here's a list of things that maybe you didn't know I love instead?

sparkly nail polish (used sparingly because removing sparkly nail polish is horrible, unless you use pure acetone...which I've never taken enough advantage of in my lab...hmmm)

wandering around Center City by myself on Saturdays (weird?)

Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon

tiny stirbars in lab that are the size of grains of rice (I hoard them in my drawer)

bright bright pink Cy3 dye and bright bright blue Cy5 dye (used to fluorescently label my protein)

taking care of my cast iron skillet (also probably weird. but no babies or puppies around here, so I have to take care of something. It might as well be a skillet.)

Tell me what you love! It will make me happy.

Cy3 dye. I love you and your fabulous pinkness.

"leave it, it fuels my hate fire"

I was going to write up a post about love and Valentine's Day and nice things, but instead, here is a list of things I irrationally dislike a lot (plus parenthetical comments!):

construction companies

"free printable" (I don't know why??)

"gluten-free"

"no chemicals!" (this one's rational)

quinoa (I've never actually tried it but am averse to the rampant quinoa worshipping online)

dealing with raw chicken (UGH it's so gross and I'm convinced I'm going to die of salmonella)

trucks

I think that's all I've got for now. Maybe I'll come up with a list of things I love to even out the tone around here. Hmmm.

I would like to be called Lady Katherine now please.

I did it.

I survived my first year* of graduate school!

This weekend I also:

planted a garden consisting of three tomato plants and one packet of carrot seeds (baby steps)
bought two rugs at IKEA
ate with chopsticks and was really bad at it
randomly ended up at Independence Hall after the chopstick experience
watched 5 episodes of "Downton Abbey."

Speaking of which, OMG. I can't get enough of that show. I finished season 2 (Matthew and Mary! You're killing me!!!! Sybil!!! Branson!!! BATES!!!) and now have nothing to watch, which is probably good since I should be reading papers or attempting to understand surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy or something. Now that I'm done with classes, I get to work in the lab full time, which is what I'll be doing for the rest of my grad school time, plus TAing here and there. I'm quite excited about it!

I suppose I should go to bed since now I'm a responsible lab worker and go to campus at 8:30 AM instead of noon...I think I'll miss those no class until 12:00 days...

*Academic year I guess? Things get murky after the first year since I'm not in class anymore, and there's no real mark of "now I'm a second/third/fourth/fifth/sixth year!" except for new students coming in.
>EDIT: this was written at 9:45 PM Mountain Time = almost midnight Eastern Time...I don't go to bed at 9:45.

a list for your monday

Someday, I can't wait to be able to afford:

salmon
steak
fresh berries
name brand bagels and bread (and whole wheat bread that hasn't been dyed with molasses)
dinner at El Vez
a garage
real parmesan cheese

Isn't it great to be young and poor?

In My Place

I survived my first week of school:

7 classes (team, Blackpool rehearsal, culture class, French civ (1700's-present), p chem part II, p chem lab, chem lit)

4 dinner group dinners (see our blog for some awesome recipes!)

2 bookstore fortification treat trips

2 new members of the ballroom dance company in my apartment (yay Kellie and Laura!!)

100 people at our dance party

1 trip to an awesome used bookstore on Center Street

1 "Treasury of American Poetry" purchased from above bookstore

10 episodes of Book 2 of "Avatar: the Last Airbender" watched

1 talk written for sacrament meeting tomorrow (ahhhh!)

All in all, a pretty decent start to the semester!
I think I might need to purchase all three seasons of Avatar. Or...get one for my birthday. Hint, hint...Mom...hint...

Christmas Adam

You know what is particularly awesome about Christmas break?

Random free concerts with friends.

Working in the lab whenever and for however long you want.

Playing Rock Band (of course).

Going shopping and finding jeans that fit...finally!

Reading a book until 1:00 am just because you absolutely had to finish it in one sitting (The Hunger Games...oh my greatness...I adored it).

Being home. And not having to do anything.


*Cue random photo from last summer's trip to San Fran with the fam. Aren't we cute?

love, save the empty

I'm sitting in my room listening to the rain fall. Today I was in the homecoming parade, handing out balloons marked with "50th Anniversary- Ballroom Dance Company Annual Concert April [whatever the date is that I can't think of right now, but you should all buy tickets from me and come when it rolls around]" to little kids. It was actually really fun. All of the other teams had to dance lindy, but we did not (and did not have to spend the time to learn the routine), as we have already sacrificed enough time to the ballroom gods lately.
This week was sort of weird for me. I got back from tour and jumped right back into school...except kept doing performances with Homecoming Spectacular all week too...so it was like tour...only at home... (odd thing number one) somehow I managed to get all the way caught up with my schoolwork by Tuesday night (odd thing number two). Granted, this took failing (ok, so I use that term loosely) a physics test (perfectly normal), but at least it's over. This white cat with one blue eye and one green eye has been wandering around my apartment complex (odd thing number three). I named it Francis in my head as it followed me back and forth between my apartment and the laundry room a couple days ago. Both of my classes were canceled on Thursday (odd thing number four). It was national chemistry week, and I ate liquid nitrogen ice cream every other day. I finished my physics homework that's due Monday on Friday (odd thing number five).

I feel a little...off kilter? maybe? I'm not sure what I'm "supposed" to be doing with myself now...I could leave on a mission next fall. I could do study abroad next fall. I could stay on the team and go to Thailand next summer. I could do more research and get a paper published. I could, I could, I could.

But what is it that I should?

Hmmm.

I should go study for American Christianity.

Happy weekend everyone. :)

It's 4:20 already?!

Currently: avoiding homework while listening to Natalie watch the football game.

Should be: typing up a paper for American Christianity. Or reading for p chem or physics. Or studying physics. Or writing a French paper.

Want to be: sleeping. Or eating Mexican food. One of the two would be awesome.

Earlier: Saw "Pan's Labyrinth". Sort of liked it. Didn't like how arbitrary the tasks Ophelia had to do were. Liked the creepiness and *****SPOILER ALERT******** stop reading right here and right now if you'd like to find out for yourself what happens in the movie***********











the fact that practically everyone dies. (Now that you think I'm a creeper, let me explain. It's sometimes more powerful when the main character dies because you don't expect it to happen. They're the main character, they have to live. And the fact that the villain gets what he deserves and dies too was satisfying to me.)

Am now going to: take some tylenol and go back to reading. meh.

Go cougars!

THE back to school post

Hey happy blogging buddies. Seeing as it's the third week of school, I suppose it's about time I got around to writing this. I worked very hard to be taking only 14 credit hours this semester, and you know what, I have a lot of time that I'm not spending in class. It's quite nice. I don't know if I'll be able to do this again, but I'm sure enjoying it.

As for classes, I'm only taking four that aren't dance:

Chem 462- Physical Chemistry: Quantum Mechanics
This is probably my favorite class. The professor is super engaging and really good at making something completely obscure and very difficult conceptually easy to "get familiar with" which, combined with twice a week study/homework sessions with my friends, has led to me somewhat "understanding" the material. I think anyway. My first test is next week so we'll see...

Physics 220- Electricity and Magnetism
I swear, I have never learned anything from attending a physics lecture. This semester seems no different. Once again, I'm hoping the physics gods will smile upon me if I can keep my distaste for the subject hidden. It's bearable because my chemistry friends are in it too.
And it's the last physics class I will ever have to take!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!

Rel 353- American Christianity
I think history/social studies was the one subject I never really did enjoy through junior high and high school, so although the subject matter is not incredibly appealing, the professor is CRAZY entertaining, so I like it. Plus Josh is in that class, so you know, that's always good too.

Fren 340- French Literature
So far, it's all right. I got a 97 on the first paper I wrote, and it was not particularly good, so this bodes well for the rest of the semester. It's just fun to listen to French, speak French, read French, write French.

Overall, I love this semester. I think I'm maybe (?) getting a clearer idea of what I want to really study...maybe biophysical chemistry? We shall see.
I'm really liking all of my classes (okay, actually that's a lie when applied to physics), I love the fact that Y Chem is going to be awesome this semester, ballroom is going well (the 3 couple cha-cha I'm in, kid you not, is my absolute favorite routine I've ever been in, and I think you should all come to our concert in April so you can see it because it is going to be sahweet), I'm still dating Josh (in case you were wondering...), I have an iPod that works again (!!), I finally got a parking sticker for a Y lot, World of Dance is over, and all of a sudden this list morphed into a grateful list which sort of deserves its own post, so I'll stop it right there.

Hope the school year is going well for all of you as well!
Happy Tuesday! :)

firefly (aka I do enjoy post titles that have nothing to do with the post itself.)

I have moved.
Many thanks to Jeff, Josh, and my parents for helping carry my stuff across the parking lot from one building to the next. I'm really liking my new apartment. Why might you ask? For the benefit of Kellie and Laura who will in the future be joining me there let me elaborate.
Nicer flooring (the fake stone vinyl that's in A building)
Prettier (sort of) cabinets (off white instead of cocoa brown)
Black leather couches
Air conditioning
Bigger closets
TWO desks in every room instead of one (however, there's only one dresser...go figure...I'm going to get plastic drawers to stick under my bed for my excessive amount of clothing)

And this week I splurged a little bit at Target and bought a new 12" skillet (stainless steel with copper bottom, very pretty), and white bird salt and pepper shakers (so Martha Stewart) at the suggestion of Josh. I'm looking forward to an IKEA run sometime in the next week to get a kitchen shelving unit with hooks for pots and pans, a coat rack, and a couple of yards of fabric to sew some pillow coverings (I'm seriously on a domestic roll here).

I told my mom I knew I was an adult since I got so excited about pans.
Yep, I'm that awesome.

P.S. During the school year I want to do a foreign film night every so often since Laura and I are going in on a Netflix account/the International Cinema is just so darn accessible and fun.
You are all invited. :)

wrap up

I'm home! Burbank was very chill and very fun. Did the whole Venice Beach thing again (and ate at that one awesome little cafe with the delicious BLTs. It's become my own tradition now), went shopping on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena (3 cheers for H&M and a good Forever 21!), ate taquitos and bought ceramic chili peppers on Olvera Street, saw Harry Potter twice, discovered this delightful and incredibly good Chinese restaurant a few minutes from my grandma's house, and saw American Ballet Theatre (one of the top companies in the world) perform Romeo and Juliet. It was beautiful. I thought that I'd get a little bored (it's 2 hours and 55 minutes long with two 20 minute intermissions), but I was completely enthralled the entire time. It clipped right along, with no 20 minute pas-de-deux or anything. It was highly dramatic with all the emotion that Harry Potter lacked. :)

It is, however, nice to be home. I'm looking forward to a roadtrip with the girls this weekend, having Kellie stay in my room, going to Park City with Josh, working in the lab again, and TAing for next week's dance camp.
Cheers!

The fog comes on little cat feet.

Greetings from San Fran!
It's the first time I've been back here since I was ten (? maybe?), staying with my aunt and uncle in their truly lovely home.

Highlights of the trip so far include:

tour of Genentech, many thanks to Uncle Al who's a patent attorney there-
ohmygosh, if I were to be a biochemist (or change my major to biochemistry...have been playing around with that idea lately...), this would probably be my dream job. Great facilities, huge company, awesome atmosphere, fabulous cafeteria (very important when selecting a job). Becky pretty much summed up that experience, "This is like Disneyland for Katie." Wooo!!!!

Muir Woods-
beautiful, awe-inspiring redwood forest. It was absolutely incredible. I'd rank it up there with Niagara Falls as random-outdoors-place-that-I-thought-would-be-way-overrated-but-surpasses-all-the-hype.

Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square-
fun shopping, quaint atmosphere (at least the square was), and I ate a chocolate cupcake with coconut cream cheese icing (felt very Rockstar Diaries-esque).

We also drove past the "Full House" house, took photos of the cute Victorian houses, drove on Haight and Ashbury, shopped at Nordstorm Rack, went to the Academy of Science, Bay cruise, and walked on the Golden Gate Bridge.

This summer I've really been blessed to travel and see all kinds of fascinating places, whether it was Jared's mansion cabin in Island Park, Washington, DC, Burbank with friends, Philadelphia, the Sacred Grove, New York City, Boston, Indianapolis, Kirtland, Nauvoo, Independence, etc. And it doesn't end there. We'll be headed back to Burbank next week, I'm doing a roadtrip to Cedar City with some friends the weekend I get back, might possibly be going to Vegas, and will be going to Irvine, CA...all before school starts.
I may not have gotten to go to Europe this summer, but I feel really grateful for the opportunities I've had to travel throughout the country, literally coast to coast.

"Reading is sexy." -Rory Gilmore's shirt that I want real bad

I had a request from a couple friends for book recommendations, and I thought I'd share a short list with the blogosphere (I'm trying to keep myself distracted because I have no desire to think about ballroom).

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
The Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan
(ok, let's just face it, pretty much anything by Amy Tan I'd recommend...love love love her books)
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

If you've read any of these, or if you have any other recommendations (I'm always looking for new books), please share your thoughts. :)

currently less than three-ing:

a. this headband (got my cheapo version at forever xxi for $1.50)
b. flower hair clips
c. this movie (so, so cute! so, so funny!)
d. new hair, 3D glasses minus lens from c., and rootbeer popsicles
e. this scent from Victoria's Secret...
f. farmer's markets! (new discovery! they have one here, and Kellie and I got major deals on earrings and b.)
g. this boy :)

happy thursday!

i'm freestyling...it's rrrandom! there's a picture of new york...*

Do you ever have those days where you think to yourself, "Wow I am so weird...and it is so awesome"?

Today's purse contents:
8 pairs of ballroom shoes including two very sparkly latin medley sandals
1 vial of tin(IV)oxide nanoparticles
10 completely disfigured fruit smiley fruit snacks

Being back at work has been great. I didn't even realize how much I missed being in the lab and feeling somewhat productive. Go chemistry!

Also, I think I need Kristen living with me again. It seems that since we've not been roommates I can't bring myself to cook. Plus I keep not having key ingredients...mayo for chicken salad, pasta for pasta salad, butter for rice-a-roni, raspberry vinegar for raspberry vinaigrette...and the starter for my car is being replaced so I have to walk to Smiths...which isn't really a problem, but it just takes too much motivation

*Flight of the Conchords, anyone?

star spangled

Let me sum things up-

Pennsylvania: Rocky stairs, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, pictures with Porsches (so fun! who knew I liked cars?), H&M (again), Amish country, philly cheesesteaks (apparently not my thing), and Gettysburg.

DC: monuments, Barack Obama in his limo (we really saw him pull up to the White House...so so so cool), capitol building, John Kerry in the senate gallery (yay for me and Zach for pulling that one off, we watched him debate about whether to give aid to failing foreign economies...again, so so so cool...and I do not even like him), Holocaust Museum, National Archives, Arlington, and adventures on the subway.

While on this trip I decided I sort of have a weird fondness for cemeteries. I think they're beautiful and eerily peaceful if that makes any sense. We had a chance to see a lot of them the past month.

So on Memorial Day today, I've got Gettysburg and Arlington on my mind. I'm sitting on a rock on Little Round Top, surveying the landscape below, picturing what happened there, the sacrifices that were made to preserve this country; I'm watching the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier, touched by how the meticulousness and intricacy of that process respects and honors those whose names we don't even know who gave their lives that we can be free; I'm taken back by the sheer number of white tombstones on the lawns of Arlington, so many who died...

I'll go home tonight and eat my hamburger and Sister Wilkes' funeral potatoes and someone else's jello salad, and I'll forget all of this.
But for now,
thanks.

half full :)

I've realized a few things while being on tour:

I adore old houses. It's been so fun to drive through residential neighborhoods and see adorable houses painted all sorts of interesting colors. I'm thinking I would love living in a yellow house. Doesn't that just sound so cheerful?

I also adore the midwest. I think the landscape is so beautiful out here. As we travel from state to state, I keep thinking to myself, "Hmm...yeah, I could live here." Bring on the fireflies, thunderstorms, and cornfields, baby!

I adore sending snail mail. Buying $8 of stamps was totally worth it because I've been buying all sorts of postcards and normal cards (I realized I'm missing Mothers' Day, my roommate's birthday, my mom's birthday, and my sister's birthday while on tour). It's give me such a kick to write to people by hand. So much more personal.

I adore going to church history sites maintained by the LDS church. It was so interesting to me going from the Kirtland temple (which is owned by the Community of Christ aka RLDS church) to the rest of Kirtland like the Whitney store, the sawmill, ashery, Whitney home, etc (owned by the LDS church). There was such a different spirit about it! I loved walking around the rest of Kirtland. The temple was beautiful and everything, but it just wasn't the same to me...
Granted, I am biased in a major way. But there was something different between the two sites (sights? have been debating all week about the proper word choice)...

I adore Josh Cluff. And that's all I have to say about that. :)

Peace out from Ohio, friends!

run, run...fast, fast...cha, cha, chachi!

Today I love:

picnics
"Arrested Development"
Rockband
study parties
daffodils blooming by the ramp
getting good test scores for the first time in a long time
rocking Dashboard songs

We toasted with apple mocktinis yesterday:
"May we be lucky all year long!"

So far, so good.

Never tell me the odds.

Goals:

Keep that darn scholarship.
Go to bed by 11:00 every weeknight this week.
Do 50 crunches every night.
Go running at least twice.
Read through every chapter in my math book on which I'm being tested.
Get cracking at my chem text book as well.
Ace my math test.

Maintain my sanity.
Be happy. :)

Nomenclature

Right now I'm sitting in my dad's office. Sometimes I come up here to do homework and study and whatnot, and he went home for the weekend, so I have it all to myself. It rocks. I want my own office on campus. They could just give me a little corner in some building, and I'd fill it up with books and chairs and rugs from IKEA, and cool art prints, and a mini fridge filled with the fixings for panini and cheesecake and everyone would want to come study with me so I'd start charging admission, and I'd earn all the money I need to pay rent next year just from that alone, so I'd put the money I'll be making from an actual job into a France study abroad savings account, and ...that would be really cool....
Anyway, I'm listening to Waking Ashland via imeem (if you guys haven't checked out that site, you should. You can listen to music for free; it's rad) whom I have wanted to listen to lately, but have not had the time. Anyway, I'm supposed to be doing my math homework (I swear it never ends), but I'm a little sick of parametric equations so here I am! Blogging! Woot! I really liked Alyssa's post with her list of names she likes, so I thought I'd post my own. Mine are a little less creative, but I like them, hehe:

Ivy
Piper
Ryan
William
Ashton
Tyler
Nicole
Didier (hahah it's a French boy's name pronounced dee-dee ay, it's just so fun to say...not that I'd actually name my child that)

Hmmm I think I just ran out of names. Darn. It's funny because when I was like 13 I had this huge list of all these names I loved. Now I can only come up with a few...I guess this means I must return to math. Have a supremely wonderful weekend everyone! :D

PS I trimmed my nails back down to a socially-acceptable length so I was able to type this with a minimum of typos! Yeah! I can type again!