caramel apples

On bad days I like to pull on my warmups and remember that one time I was a Blackpool champion.

(oops, closed my eyes in this shot)

What a seriously awesome summer I had.

Today I was talking with my relief society president, and she asked me what my goals were. And I realized that in the span of three months I'd sort of accomplished every major goal I've had since 5th grade:

Win at Blackpool
Live in France
Get engaged (eventually married in 50 days!!)

So...I'm a pretty lucky girl I guess. And even on days when I cry all through inorganic because of disappointing test scores I've got the best fiancé ever to put me back together and then spend Friday night helping me study for Saturday's test.

Lucky lucky lucky.

decisions, decisions

So, I've been scouring etsy for the past three weeks looking for a printable wedding invitation pdf that I really, really like, and I've found several. This one, however, is my favorite:

I can change the colors to match the dark navy, slate grey, and ivory theme I've got going on, which is awesome. What's not so awesome is the price...$75 for just the pdf file! What do you guys think? Is it worth it? Or should I just go with this one (for a lovely $25):

Thoughts?

get that corn outta my face

I dream in chemistry all the time these days. A couple weeks ago I was measuring concentrations using a spectrophotometer but in my dream I thought I was doing Raman spectroscopy. And then like two days ago I dreamed about NMR and figuring out structures of organic compounds.


but. i still. do. terrible. on instrumental. analysis. tests.


and i still. do. awesome. on verbal sections of practice GRE tests.


Sometimes, you know what, I feel like Nacho Libre:
"Precious Father, why have you given me this desire to wrestle and then made me such a stinky warrior?"


It's just disappointing that I finally found out that it makes no difference whether I'm up to my eyes in ballroom or not, I still don't have the self-discipline and motivation to do well in school.

[600] posts of katie

This little Dell Inspiron on which I'm currently typing has been through a lot with me. It was a graduation present the summer before I started college, and it's lasted me through the past three years without much complaint. But...it's getting slow.
And the battery life is non-existent.

And THIS is just soooo much prettier:

So...instead of buying myself a new $40 battery, I'm thinking maybe it makes more sense to just cough up $1200 for a macbook.

Smart financial decision right?
Maybe if I needed it to last me through 5 years of grad school? And maybe if I bought it for myself as a "congratulations you survived two GRE tests in less than 2 weeks" present? (assuming I will survive both tests in less than a month...ohmygosh)

Thoughts?

too bad "just be glad we made it here alive" is never quite enough

I dreamed of $6.50 macarons this morning. I was telling my mom how much cheaper they are in Europe (like 2 euros for a big one) and how I was going to buy one anyway. But then the store didn't have the flavor I wanted (passionfruit? why that was the one flavor I wanted, I'm not sure) so I left macaroonless. 

And I woke up missing French food and summers. 

I could use a vacation or something. Just saying. 

dandelions

Aaron and I got our engagement pics back today, all 200+ images. And I love them! So much fun! Many thanks to Nickell for taking them!

(Oh and new hair dye job-check it, my bottom layer's now waaayyy dark in trying to fix the bad box dye job Bec and I did the night before we were originally supposed to take photos. Don't try that at home kids.)

you have stolen my heart

Hey, whadddaya know, I'm marrying this cute boy in two months from today.

Woooo!!!!!

and thus we begin national chemistry week

Somehow in the two hours between when I started my 227 test and when I ended it, my voice dropped an octave.

Really body? Sick again?

"behind the scenes with chemistry!!!"

Wouldn't you know, this week is National Chemistry Week. 

If you're interested in celebrating with us nerds, why don't you stop by for a chemistry magic show running twice a night, every night this week? Tickets can be found here (they're free!). Y Chem will be selling liquid nitrogen ice cream (only $1 a cup!) before and after every show. And...if you're scientifically minded (or just like movies), Y Chem's sponsoring a professor lecture series: four twenty minute lectures each focusing on movie chemistry versus real chemistry.

3:00 -  Dr. Bates -  DNA, Dinosaurs, and Dolly the Sheep: Biochemistry
in Jurassic Park
3:35 - Dr. Patterson - Something for Nothing: Energy Sources in the
Movies and Real Life
4:00- Dr. Austin - Chemists Catching Crooks: CSI vs. Real Forensics
4:35 - Dr. Asplund - "Why no Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!":  Lasers
in the Movies

I mean, look at how cute we are. How can you resist?

(photo from last May's National Lab Day event)

delicious imagery for your monday evening

"There is nothing that exists separate from me, Arjuna. The entire universe is suspended from me as my necklace of jewels. Arjuna, I am the taste of pure water and the radiance of the sun and moon. I am the sacred word and the sound heard in air, and the courage of human beings. I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the radiance of fire; I am the life in every creature and the striving of the spiritual aspirant."

-The Bhagavad Gita

(thank you very much Philosophy 210)

booya

This is basically how I feel right because guess what.
French paper = DONE.

also, i feel so cool because i just barely figured out how to embed videos in my posts. as in, this is the first time i've successfully displayed a video for you to watch dear readers. soooo behind on technology!!

and then sometimes

I get a letter from Madame Moreau back in Toulouse, and I order myself a picture book with my Amazon.com credit (with free two day shipping, I love Amazon Prime), and I pick up stuff from the stockroom with Curtis, and I feel a lot better.

So...this is me saying do-over on this afternoon.

sometimes

i get scared that i will end up as one of those moms who refuses to get out of bed and just sleeps all day and lets the laundry pile up and the kids be neglected.


or maybe i'm really just scared that i will either a. not get into grad school or b. (even worse, in my opinion) i will get into grad school and then realize i'm in way over my head and the admissions committee will realize that i sure fooled them and then they'll flunk me and i'll sink into a depression and never do anything productive with my life. 
it's things like products that don't dissolve and incorrectly done columns that make you (and by you i mean me) think such things.

pourquoi apprendre l'américain? demain, on parlera l'occitan!

whyyyyyyyyyyohwhyyyyyyyydidithinkitwouldbeagoodideatowriteafifteenpagepaperinfrenchaboutoccitanculture?

bleh.

the end.