The end of January

Holy crimeny how does time just swish by like that??  

My golly...I'm unsure what really happened in January...We've had wacky weather sun, rain, strong winds, and snow...SNOW!  Snow postponed our first aquatic biology seminar class a couple weeks ago.  I say "our" because I'm sitting in on the class as well this semester!  It's a nice way to ease into the intellectual side of science which I have largely shunned the past two years while trying to finish my thesis.   Yeah! gettin' knowledge!

Let's see, the rest of the month - a championship parade in town, spice cabinet organization, and a lot of working...I've been running some Iceland samples 24-7 for the past couple of weeks.  Running samples for me 24-7 just means loading the autosampler with samples everyday and having the machine do the hard stuff, not me actually sitting in front of the machine for 24 hours a day - whew.  Dan has been entering all the data he's generated the past few years for a poster at ASLO in February.  Soon he'll be telling the story about the effect of stream warming from the aquatic insect perspective.  Yeah NOLA!

Right now at Coweeta it's a little chilly.  Mick and I tried to do a spot of fishing, but we were thwarted by fallen trees in the road - poop.  Then we tried to head out to a trailhead to hike up to the fire tower...another no go as the road turned icy, steep, and blocked by a USGS truck that took up the whole road.  Oh well, instead we're back at the dorms drinking hot chocolate and watching TV, also a nice way to spend the day...we'll sample tomorrow and be back in T-Town by dinner time...February's gonna be a busy one!!!  Until then!

a few pics!!

Rainy sunday rainy sunday....

Hello there!

Well, I tried an Ox tail stew recipe with gnocchi, but used Mario Batali's gnocchi recipe since I didn't have any ricotta/parm cheese Sat night...I did take a few pics of the dish, but the original blog posting really does it nice...I think I need to take a photography course or something because my food pictures suck balls and may induce wretching...

Our pet anole Rambo has been quite active as of late, maybe because it's been in the 70s this week...yikes!  It's nice to have the windows and doors open to let in some fresh air, but for crimeny's sake!  It's January!!!  Anyhow, we've spruced up Rambo's area a bit with some plants and caught him wading in the little water dish set out for him.  It's kind of fun to check up on him throughout the day as he moves around - his little corner of the living room is kinda like a free range terrarium.  I hope he sticks around for a bit and is finding enough insects to keep him happy.

Here are the weekly pics...

xo

Hola!

Just a quick post with some pics..xo and hope your New Year is off to a fabulous start!  Excited to cheer on the Crimson Tide tomorrow evening!  Yeah!

xo!

Happy New Year!

Hello! I'm back in a chilly Alabama and happy to see Dan and Hannah again...Had a great Christmas in Long Beach with some sun, family, and good food, miss the Tran family mucho already...  

Here are a few pics (way too many of the Endeavour visit)..and here.. from my LBC trip...I petered off on the camera train shortly after the trip to see the Endeavor...the 150 pictures of that will give you a clue as to why...Click here to see a time lapse video of the shuttle moving the 12 miles from the airport to its downtown home..I couldn't find the exact one they showed in the exhibit...but you get the idea...

ALSO here are some pics from our first experience of the ZOKU...DIY popsicle making (check out details here) - super delicious...a family present from Dan for Christmas!!  He also got one for his niece and nephew for Christmas so hopefully we can have virtual Popsicle parties!

Dan and I spent a nice and quiet NYE at home, we did stay up until midnight but didn't watch any Moon Pies or Balls drop.. but we did get to relax at home, have my Mom's egg rolls for dinner, and be content to be warm, happy, and loved!   

We've been keeping busy with SCRABBLE games...Dan is up 3 games to 1 so far, and each time he wins he insists on playing "We are the Champions" on his new Fender Telecaster...pictures to come soon...time to beef up on my wordplay!  In addition, we've been doing a bit of home sprucing as well - installed a new ceiling lamp (need to make a lamp shade still), ripped out all the veggie plants (hit hard after a frost during Christmas break, but the herbs are still holding on strong!), planted some kale seeds (now drowning in a winter storm), and put up new art from Simon (visit his webstore and buy some affordable art HERE!!).  We'll probably take down the Christmas tree soon and chuck the thing in the corner of the yard to create "habitat" for the birds...excited to have the space back in the front room!  Pictures of general home sprucing to come...

Happy New Years to all, hope the holidays were great!!!

A video of a tortoise at the California Science Center that I took and made me smile...

xo

Season's Greetings!!

Hello all!  

I write to you from a pleasant Southern California abode!  The Tran family household in fact!  I got here late Wed night and will be here enjoying the holiday with the family until Friday.  I only come home once a year so it's jam packed with food food food...and sprinklings of movie watching at home, and a few outings.  Today we're off to see the Space Shuttle Endeavor at the California Science Center!  I'm super excited to see it up close and in person after watching the various news coverage and such!

It's been a fun few last weeks since the last blog post!  

I think I forgot to mention a while back that Dan passed his Oral exams in early November...he is now considered a "Ph.D.c"  or a Ph.D. candidate now..which means he doesn't have to take another test for the rest of his academic life!  PLUS!!!! he gets business cards now!  Ha!!  So the biggest hurdles are over for him - no more classes, no more tests, now it's just research - in the lab, in the field, and writing at the desk!!  Just how he likes it (For real!)!!  

As of Dec 14th I am officially a Master!!!  My thesis was turned in and approved, much help provided by Karrie and Rick for gathering up signatures for me as I was in Alabama at the time.  That was a rather stressful time - these small tasks must happen in a specific order and then you wait to see if you did everything correctly...I made it by the deadline and WHEW!  What a HUGE-OLA relief!!  I'm so very much more calm and just all around beaming with happiness!!

The above lead to an especially exciting Dec 17th - which was not only my birthday (My first Bday as a Master!!!!) but also pre-Christmas for Dan, Hannah, and I.  Since I was spending actual xmas with the Fam in the LBC we decided to combine birthday and pre xmas celebrations before I left town.  It was pretty fun to open gifts and be surprised by each other's gifts!!  It was also great fun to torture Hannah with her wrapped gifts as she momentarily attempted to tear open some gifts, only to have her give up and go sit on her bed...Silly Hannah...

Anyhow, we spent the rest of the day lounging about - with birthday brunch (which is just breakfast with booze) and a lot of cooking with my new cookbook from Dan - How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman...It's a beast of a book and so much fun to flip through.  I'm not a big reader of books, but at night before falling asleep I very much LOVE to fall asleep perusing cookbooks, getting ideas for future meals and learning about new fun ingredients...This book promises to keep us both quite happy and busy for many nights!

Various pictures from the last few weeks in T-Town... All for now, I'll update with a few LBC pics...just now catching up!!!

xo, ct

pics..mostly of Hannah..

Here are some pics of Hannah, a few of our tree...Dan comes back Saturday - yeah!  His trip to Iceland has been successful thus far - chilly, but they were able to get the field work done which is really all that matters.  Lotsa snow on the ground which meant they had to hike in a bit!

Anyhow, it's a short post, but enjoy the pictures of Hannah..these are mostly for Dan to enjoy while he travels back home, but you get an overdose as well..

Here is a video of her enjoying her Thanksgiving cupcake..the link might not be live for a few minutes yet...

xo

Yum Yum day!!

Happy Tday everyone!!!!  We are spending the day walking around town with Hannah, cookin up some food (we're providing mashed potatoes, popovers, and brussel sprouts!), then having our orphan Thanksgiving dinner this evening at Jamie's...Should be delicious!!  

A few things:

- Alabama lost to Texas A&M - we were sad, but we're still #2 - let's hope we stomp Auburn and Georgia in the SEC finals!!

- It was Dan's Bday on Tuesday!!  We celebrated by spending the day in Birmingham - it was great fun as the pictures will reveal...

- We just booked our hotel in New Orleans in February for the ASLO conference!!!  Yeah!!!!  Dan presents a poster on his Iceland stuff and I just tag along for the ride...Can't wait for our first trip to the Big Easy for a whole week!!  We'll likely drive down and leave Hannah at home under the care of our very loving friends...

- that's all for now, have a wonderful turkey day!!!

Some pictures from the last few weeks..

xo