Meet Murphy

I'd like you all to meet Murphy, our newly-adopted, 10-month old cat.  We adopted him from The Animal Foundation in Las Vegas shortly after visiting the cat adoption center with some friends of ours who adopted a cat.  Once you walk into the room, your fate is pretty much sealed.  If you are a cat person who wants a cat, you will find a cat you love and you will find a way to adopt them.  At least, that's what happened to us.  We fell in love with a little orange tabby female, but she was adopted before we could return.  When we came back, we met this little fella who was just bursting with love for us.  We couldn't wait this time, and we signed the adoption papers for "Skittles" (who we re-named Murphy because we didn't feel he was rainbow-y enough to be a Skittles).

He's pretty much the sweetest cat ever (even after his neutering surgery the vet tech told us he was the sweetest cat she saw all day).  I hope you enjoy these pictures of him (I know I do!).

"Thanks for adopting me!"

He's a weirdly long cat, especially when he stretches.

Play time!

He likes to attack the beams of light coming in the window in the morning. :)

Our blue-eyed sweet Murphy

Homemade Vegetable Broth

Last weekend, Erik and I made vegetable broth (based on an idea I read at The Simple Dollar).  We made the broth for next to nothing, because we made it with leftover scraps of vegetables.  In our pretty frugal life (you have to be as a grad student), we were excited to save money by not buying vegetable broth at the store, but also because we were putting scraps of vegetables to use that would have otherwise been thrown away.  (Note: We'd love to compost, but we live in an apartment in the desert.)

So, how did we go about making this?  Over the course of three to four weeks we made sure to save all of our veggie scraps that would have been thrown away.  Examples of this include:

• The outside layer of onion that's too dry to eat, but still packed with flavor (not the papery outer-layer).  We also kept the ends, or bits of onion core that were too tough for our tastes.
• The ends of a celery stalk and the leafy parts of the celery.  (You can can also see in the photos that we included some celery slices.  They weren't very crisp anymore, and neither of us would eat them).
• Carrot peels.  I like my carrots peeled and cut, so this was a good way to use those peels.
• We also included a tomato that was about to go bad (but it hadn't gone bad yet!) that we knew we wouldn't eat in time.

It's also a good idea to make sure that all of the scraps are washed really well.  The end of the celery stalk, for example, trapped a lot of dirt so it had to be washed well.

We kept a gallon-sized plastic bag in our freezer where we would deposit these veggie scraps whenever we had them.  It really didn't take that long to fill up!  

Once the freezer bag was full, we pulled out our crock pot and filled it with frozen vegetables.  That red brick on the top is frozen tomato paste (left over from when we made spaghetti bolognese).  Ahh! I loved seeing all those scraps that would have been in the trash go to good use!!

Once all of the veggies are in the crock pot, we filled it up with water to the level of the vegetables.  Then we had some fun.  We added in a splash of olive oil, two garlic cloves, some salt, pepper, thyme, and a bay leaf.  (We had thought about adding some parsley and a bit of white wine, but forgot about it at the time.)  Then we put the lid on, set the heat on high, and waited four hours.  Mmmm.... vegetable smells filled the apartment!

After four hours, we poured the veggies and broth through a strainer into a pot (Oven mitts are a MUST because your crock pot will be very hot!).

Here is the delicious broth that we were left with!  It's so red because it's a bit heavy on the tomato because of the whole tomato and tomato paste.

When we put the broth into containers I was shocked to see that we got 12 cups of broth out of this!  We froze the three smaller containers for later use, and we used the large container of broth to make risotto yesterday.

It was so much fun to make our own veggie broth!  I am looking forward to doing it again (we had too many veggies to fit in the crock pot this time, so I'm sure it won't be long before we fill up another bag in the freezer).  It just felt really nice to know what exactly was going into our food, and to know that (while we weren't reducing any waste--the vegetable scraps still got thrown away afterward) we were getting an additional use out of scrap veggies before throwing them out.  No worries though!  When we move back to MN we will be composting those scraps afterwards.

New (Wedding) Blog

I'm starting a new blog: Amethyst, Diamond, & Peridot. It'll be about the adventures (and hopefully no misadventures) that Erik and I come across while planning our wedding.

Enjoy!

The Proposal

Something exciting happened last weekend:

It was around 1:00 in the morning, our 4-year anniversary had just technically begun, and Erik and I were still up talking. We decided that it was about time that we got some sleep, so I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When I came out of the bathroom, there was Erik down on one knee in our room. Candles were lit, and my penguin stuffed animal (Tubby) was standing beside Erik, who was holding a ring box.

He said, "Do you remember the night, the first time we stayed up all night talking, when you fell asleep in my arms? I thought to myself I could do that forever. Will you marry me?"

I was very much surprised, given the hour of night, and had a goofy/giddy smile on my face.

"Yes, of course," I replied.

So, needless to say, Erik and I are really excited! I bought a wedding planning book at Barnes & Noble today (The "I Have a Life" Bride's Guide, edited by Andrea Mattei) to help me get started with some of the planning. Also, once a few more things are decided, I'll probably start a wedding blog so that this one doesn't get overloaded with posts about wedding planning.

Minneapolis Makes Me Smile

The "watermelon garage" on the way to Great Wall (yum yum yum!)

Cora is being so calm.

Ginsberg and Charlotte having a tussle.

Ulysses, or zen kitty, hanging out in a decorative box.

Road Trip: Part 1

It's summer and after a long semester followed by field work and lab work, it was time for a break. So for roughly two weeks, Erik and I are going to enjoy some time back in our lovely state of Minnesota. Also, we decided to drive instead of fly. Here is a sampling of what we saw along our way.


Not so long after leaving Nevada, we passed through the breathtakingly awesome Virgin River Gorge, Arizona. And as two geologists, it was difficult to keep our eyes on the road and away from the amazing rock faces.


Going through Utah we were amazed by the landscapes.


We spent a lot of time in Colorado, but who could blame us with scenery like this? This particular shot was taken somewhere between Gunnison and Denver.


There's not a whole lot to see in Nebraska as far as the landscape goes, which is why we were intrigued by this Gateway.


And then there's Iowa, which most people would call extremely boring. However, the stretch from Omaha to Des Moines is actually quite nice. And there are wind farms! I love wind farms. They make me very happy.

And finally, after three long days of sitting in a car, we made it to Minnesota.

I Love Little Surprises (the tree outside blooms!)

"Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning."

~ Lydia M. Child

Thanksgiving

Things I Am Thankful For Over Thanksgiving Break:

• For the second year now, I got to spend Thanksgiving with Erik
• I was able to see relatives that I normally don't see on Thanksgiving because they live in Las Vegas and Los Angeles
• Being able to talk on the phone with the Minnesota relatives I usually spend Thanksgiving with
  
• Fun times (and free drinks) with my generous cousin
• A very much appreciated early Christmas present from my aunt & uncle: A Costco Membership!
  
• Another job prospect for Erik (he has an interview this Friday!!)
• Decorating the apartment for Christmas
• Today is pay-day!
  

Picture: http://thelegacybuilder.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/a-few-of-my-favorite-things/

It is pretty grand...

This is definitely the coolest thing I've seen since moving out west:


Photo 1: Grand Canyon, Colorado River, Lava Falls, Lava Falls Rapids
Photo 2: Grand Canyon, Toroweap Overlook

Tip-Toe Through the Tulips

Tulips are my favorite flower. One of my favorite things from last spring was walking through town and seeing all of the tulips as they popped out of the ground and began to bloom in various colors. My cousin, future artist/graphic artist extraordinaire, made an amazing painting of my favorite flower (in one of my favorite color schemes!) to grace the very empty and very white wall in my living room. Thanks so much, Tess! Shortly after the painting graced the wall my mom sent tulips to me. What a perfect coincidence!

Painting: Tess F., 2009

Couch!!!!

We don't have to buy a couch!!!!!!!!! My wonderful cousin and her husband (who've been mentioned a while back in regards to their new baby, Isaiah) are going to give us their couch! So excited!! They are going to get a newer couch from my aunt, who is re-doing pretty much their entire kitchen, dining, and living room, and will be getting a new couch.

Yay for hand-me-downs!! And it's a fold-out couch too, so we'll have a place for visitors to sleep in our apartment!

Colored Bubbles!

This article popped up on the feature list on my homepage today, and it sounds so cool!!!

Colored Bubbles That Won't Stain

How cool is that?!?!?!

Photo 1: http://www.zastavki.com/eng/3D-graphics/wallpaper-6938-1.htm
Photo 2: http://www.eikongraphia.com/?p=63
Photo 3: http://digd.ug/dig/184

Me? Royalty?

Kathleen from Easy for me to say... has graciously included me in a blog award. "The Queen of ALLL Things - Awe-Summm!!!" Award, to be precise. As a part of this honor, I am supposed to list 7 "awe-summm" things about myself, and then pass this award off to 7 other awesome bloggers. I might not get to seven, because I don't know if I closely follow that many blogs, but I'll try to get there (one might be a king, though... I wonder if that is allowed... probably not, I guess).

1) I am generally a very organized person.
2) I'm not afraid to fall down (especially during volleyball, or soccer and basketball..... which has allowed for some good digs and some penalties called on other teams, respectively, haha).
3) People say that I have amazing eyes. I get them from my dad, though his are more blue than mine. Mine are more of a blue/green/gray with flecks of gold.
4) I am starting grad school in August! (nervous, but excited!)
5) I have kept my cactus alive for almost two years now, and my other two plants for one year! Maybe I will add more plants when I get to the new apartment.
6) Though I am very picky about food, I am getting a lot better about it. Thanks (largely due to Erik) I am trying new and healthier foods.
7) I............. um.... can make some really tasty pancakes. Not my recipe, but they're really good!

And now to pass this award off to some other awesome bloggers:

1) Shannon at Juhnke's Junket (Miss you! Keep up the D.C. stories!)

2) Melinda at Kia Ora Aotearoa (Sharing her awesome adventures in New Zealand)

3) Allison at Sonny (Miss you too! You should post an entry!)

4) Kathleen at Easy for me to say... (Yes, you just won this, but you are pretty darn awesome! So you're getting it again from me)

Apartment Hunting Trip = Success!

This past weekend my dad, my boyfriend, and I went on an apartment hunting trip to Las Vegas. We woke up freakishly early in the morning (4:30 a.m., which by the way, is 2:30 a.m. Vegas time) to get ready to go the airport. We got to Vegas sometime around 8:00/8:30 Vegas time. My uncle picked us up from the airport and then took us to his work. From there, we took his car so that we could go driving around town looking at apartments all day. But first, we stopped on campus so that Erik and my dad could see what the place looks like and to also meet my grad advisor, Libby. And then the apartment visiting began.

Apartment #1: Fairly close to campus. Decent apartment, but nothing special. But... rent was out of our price range. So the lady sent us to a sister property nearby that would have lower prices.

Apartment #2: Still not that far from campus. Really nice looking apartment. But... lady #1 lied, the rent here was way higher and definitely out of our price range.

Apartment #3: Finally, something with rent that we could afford. A bit farther from campus than the last two, but a straight shot down one road, at least. Not the greatest looking neighborhood, but not too horrible (granted, it was daytime). The model apartment seemed fairly nice. But then we noticed that the bathroom sink had sewage backed up in it. Nom nom nom... Do all the apartments do that? But the guy here also told us that utility prices were pretty high here.

Apartment #4: Very nice looking complex. I really, really liked the floorplan of this one. But there really wasn't much in the area. We'd have to drive a bit to get to stores for necessities. Higher rent range, but still affordable, and with lower utility costs.

Apartment #5: Once again, a very nice looking complex. Decent floorplans with a great amount of closets/storage space. This neighborhood has a lot of shopping places nearby or just an exit or so away. So, quite convenient. Also in the higher rent range, but with decent utility costs.

In the end, and after going back and forth a lot (Saturday was definitely a roller coaster ride of emotions during our decision-making process) we made a decision. Once we calculated it out (including utilities and such), Apartment #3 was actually just as expensive as #4 and #5, and we didn't like it much. So, having eliminated #3, our choice was down to two places, and ultimately we chose Apartment #5. It was the nicest looking place and had the best location for the aparments within our price range. We'll still have some stuff to figure out as far as transportation, but I think this is a nice start.

Now I just wanna make a chart with all of our furniture and start figuring out where it should all go. Here's the floorplan, by the way. The only real trouble will be trying to figure out if we want to combine the office and the dining room, or to squeeze the dining stuff into the living room, and have the "dining room" be the office. We'll see...

Floorplan: Courtesy of the apartment complex website, which I'm not posting for privacy reasons.

Cat Practice

Lilyface. Lilymonster. She's simply known as Lily. :)

This is the cat that I'll be taking care of for a couple of days while my friend Kyla goes apartment hunting in Ohio. I haven't seen Lily in a while, so it should be a fun time. I'm just hoping that she won't harass the beta fish too much or sneak into the food container (she can be a sneaky little bugger, I hear).

I'm looking forward to cat-sitting. When I was really little, we had an orange cat named Max (he was big, fuzzy, had a bald stomach and was a total sweetie). But then my dad found out he was allergic to pet dander, so we haven't been able to have pets ever since. Max then moved over to my grandma's house, where he had my grandma's white cat Schatzi as a companion. So, really, the only times I've taken care of a cat are when my grandma or aunt and uncle (who also have cats) went out of town. My mom and I would drive over there, feed the cats, clean the litter box, play for a while, and then head home. This time I actually get to stay at my friend's apartment and be with Lily full time for a few days. Someday, I want to get pets of my own, but I don't know when I'll be able to afford that. So, for now, it's nice to hang out with my friends' pets.

Photo: Kyla or Rustin

Commencement Highlights

The boys being boys. :)

Roomies!

Kelsey dearest. <3>

Erik & Me

GEOLOGY!!!!!

Photo 1: Me
Photo 2: Shannon's Mom or Dad
Photo 3: Me
Photo 4: Mom
Photo 5: Mom

Newest Family Member

It's a good thing I got that baby blanket done this past weekend because...



Isaiah David was born at 5:00 this morning to my cousin Ginny and her husband Dave!!

I don't have many details yet, but I do know that all is well. Congrats to the new parents!

Now that there are two babies in my family, my mom is preparing for little ones to be visiting our house by having super cool toys around. An example would be this awesome penguin bouncy thing (that I am horribly jealous of, by the way, and I may have spent 15 minutes playing with it as soon as I discovered its existence in our house...).


Photo: My mom, Linda, who is actually a photographer by profession.

8,035ish Days

I wish I had a cat. Perhaps next year, when I live in an apartment that allows pets. *wishes for a kitten* :)

Photo: icanhascheezburger.com

Should have stayed in bed today...

Today was one of those days where staying in bed would have been much more pleasant than getting up. I had a terrible dream last night, and tossed and turned the rest of the time. Once I got up this morning, I went to start my day as usual with a cup of white chocolate caramel cappuccino and a bowl of frosted mini-wheats. The only thing out of the ordinary was that I poured water onto my cereal rather than milk. Oiy. I also found out today that I did not get funded for an assistantship at the one school that has accepted me so far.

On the plus side of things, Erik was there as usual for hugs and I had a pleasant evening at work. So, I shall leave you with a picture of the lovely flowers from Erik on Valentine's Day (which, by the way, was the first time any guy has ever given me flowers).