La Cucaracha Maraca

I was awoken around 4:00 this morning by an unfamiliar noise.

*tap tap tap scratch scratch tap tap*

I sat up to listen to the noise better. The same sound kept coming from the hallway. Having no idea what it was, and being a little concerned, I woke Erik up.

"Erik, do you hear that? What's that sound?" I asked.

"Huh... [insert really confused just-woke-up-words here] Oh... it's just the water heater," he replied.

*tap tap tap scratch scratch tap tap*
*tap tap tap scratch scratch tap tap*

"See, Julie, it's repeating; it's the water heater," reasoned Erik.

"But, I've never heard it make that noise before," I replied. "Oh well, I have to go to the bathroom anyway, but I'm turning the bedroom light on so I can see what's making that noise."

I got up, and as I was about to enter the bathroom I saw a huge cockroach belly-up on the bathroom floor. Ewwww. But, that wasn't the source of the noise.

Then I heard the now slightly more familiar *tap tap tap scratch scratch tap tap* coming from behind me. So I turned around.

On top of our 3-foot tall pile of recycling, in a plastic cupcake container I saw a (smaller) cockroach scurrying around.

*tap tap tap scratch scratch tap tap*

"Erik, I found what's making the noise! It's a cockroach in the recycling!!! Ewwwwww! And there's a big one in the bathroom too!" I complained.

Knowing that the cockroach in the bathroom could be dealt with easily, I focused on the one (very much alive) in the recycling. The cupcake container is one of those take-out containers that you can snap shut. I snapped it shut, worried that any other course of action could result in the cockroach's escape and subsequently I'd be more grossed out than before.

*tap tap tap scratch scratch tap tap*
*tap tap tap scratch scratch tap tap*
*tap tap tap scratch scratch tap tap*
*tap tap tap scratch scratch tap tap*
*tap tap tap scratch scratch tap tap*

It just kept making the noise inside of the container! So in a slightly cruel, but desperate attempt, I began to shake the container. I hoped that it might end the bug, and it could all be over. Erik eventually had to come to my rescue and finish the job.

After all was taken care of, I crawled back into bed.

"Ewwwww, ewwww, ugh, I hate cockroaches! They're so gross!" I exclaimed. "We need to have the bug spray people come again this week, it didn't accomplish anything the last time they were here!"

At this point I began to get a little loopy (I mean, I was tired and had just lived through a semi-traumatizing bug experience. Remember, it's 4 a.m.).

"Ugh... cockroaches... La cucaracha! Ewww..." I paused.

Then I giggled a bit.

"La cucaracha maraca!!"


Image: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id307768700?mt=8

School's Out

School ended a few weeks ago, which means no more classes or teaching for a few months! Yay! I've been keeping fairly busy though (trying to finish up thesis-proposal-related paperwork to make sure I'm on track and getting things together for research). So, even though I'll be doing research all summer, I'll have a lot more time for fun activities.

For my research, I'll be going to northern California soon to collect weathered rock samples for my thesis research. We'll be in the mountains; it's supposed to be a place with amazing scenery! After samples are collected, which shouldn't take long, the rest of my summer will be spent doing lab work.

We're also planning a road trip back to Minnesota for a bit this summer, because I haven't been home since December. Not only will it give Erik and I a chance to hang out with family and friends, it will be a nice escape from the 100+ degree heat of Las Vegas. My family also has a ton of June/July/August birthdays, so I'm hoping to be back around birthday party time to be able to see everyone!

That also means that I have a ton of cards to make before we leave! This weekend I'm hoping to do a bunch of anniversary cards and start planning the birthday ones. I feel like most of my blog posts as of late have been about cards, so I'm contemplating the idea of starting a separate blog for that. Any thoughts?

I'm also making it a goal to be more active this summer. I didn't ever exercise while in Morris, but I didn't own a car and you could walk anywhere; I also played intramural volleyball. Here in Vegas, walking places is pretty much out of the question (I've got a 20-30 minute commute to campus), and as far as I know intramurals are for undergrads (not to mention, I don't need more reasons to be on campus all day!!). So yeah... although I never really "exercised" in the past, I know I'm definitely less active than I used to be.

Erik and I are going to try going on more walks and hopefully make time to play tennis or go swimming. I bought a jump rope today as part of this "do stuff!" idea. Maybe I'll even start trying yoga (we already have a mat and a ball).

Happy Mother's Day!

For one of my best friends who is having a baby in December. :)

For my mom and Erik's mom. :) Hugs to you both!

New Stamp

A friend of ours graduated today with a Ph.D. in Soil Science.

Congrats to Dr. Robins!

Now that the majority of my work is done (just need to do some grading), I had the free time to make a card for him. I used a new stamp that I ordered from 'Paper Pretties.'

Holy Mackerel! Congratulations!

End of the Semester Craziness!

There are 23 days left until the semester is over, and it feels like I'm swimming towards a shore but I'm not getting anywhere. Each week, more gets crossed off the To Do List, but there's always so much more to do!

Here's what I'm dealing with. (Not trying to complain, just need to get it off my chest. The person I generally vent to is out in the field somewhere camping and digging soil pits)

[x] Practice poster for Geosymposium
[x] Contaminant Hydro paper on Acid Mine Drainage
[x] Revise students' policy letter rough drafts
[x] Form my thesis committee
[x] Get committee to sign paperwork
[x] Schedule my Thesis Proposal Presentation for my committee
[x] Final poster for Geosymposium
[x] Presentation on Acid Mine Drainage
[x] GPSA Fall Grant Application
[x] Geosymposium
[x] Aqueous Geochemistry homework
[x] Revise and complete Thesis Proposal
[x] Get the completed Thesis Proposal to my committee
[x] Grade students' final drafts and normal homework
[x] Figure out students' final grades
[x] Run olivine dissolution models for Aqueous Geochemistry
[x] Write paper on olivine dissolution model
[x] Prepare presentation on olivine dissolution model
[x] Finalize dates and other info for summer field work
[x] Survive my Thesis Proposal Presentation
[ ] Get all thesis proposal-related paperwork turned in

Holy buckets. I needed to get that out, but... that's a lot!

To end things on a positive note, here are some SEM images that I took in the lab last week (of my olivine samples) that reminded me of a doggy and a frog. Does anyone else see a resemblance?


Note: I may occasionally cross more things off my list as they happen. Might not keep up though. We'll see.

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

Strawberry Bellini

I'm very glad to be living near a large city with a multitude of restaurants as opposed to living in a rural town with about 5 different food options. However, with that said, we have yet to find a replacement for Bella Cucina. Sure, we found an Italian restaurant that had great food, but it's part of a chain and they don't have my favorite dish (fettuccine fra di avilo) or my favorite drink to order (other than a cosmopolitan), a strawberry bellini.

Well, Erik and I are still working on perfecting the fettuccine dish, but we mastered the bellini! We were shopping at Costco the other day and came across the giant container of strawberries, when I suggested that we try making daiquiris, or better yet, strawberry bellinis!

Next came the quest to purchase champagne that would both be affordable, but not taste gross. After wandering the bubbly aisle for quite some time at the liquor store, I was about to pick a very cheap kind of champagne (after all, it was just going to be mixed in--it's not like we'd be drinking it by itself), when a bottle with a light blue label caught my eye.

My thought process: "THEY MAKE MOSCATO SPARKLING WINE?!?!?!?!?! We are so buying this one!" (In September, we discovered moscato and it has been my favorite type of wine ever since) Another plus, the bottle cost less than $10. We had a winner.

Here was the delicious result:

1 tray of ice cubes
2 oz. white rum
4 cups of strawberries (!)
2 spoonfuls of sugar
1/2 bottle of champagne

Mix in a blender, and enjoy. :)

"Treatsa Pizza" or Grasshopper Pie

This is probably one of my favorite desserts ever. Seriously. It's the oreo cookie crust that gets me (I always save the crust for last!)

It was Erik's 23rd birthday yesterday, and this is what he chose for his birthday dessert. I gave him a choice between my Grandma B's chocolate cake and this ice cream dessert. I love both of the choices, but he'd never had this one before.

Here's the cupcake version of the dessert (I made a pie-sized dessert too, but there were some leftover ingredients, so I made mini pies/pizzas in a muffin pan).


Oreo cookie crust. Mint chocolate chip ice cream. Homemade fudge sauce.

Delicious.

3 for Valentine's, 3 for Birthdays

I've made a few cards recently, but waited to post them so that the post office could do it's thing and get these off to the recipients before I went and ruined the surprise on here. I've been following the blog Mojo Monday which posts sketches or templates of cards. I love them!!! I really like making cards, but I've always struggled a wee bit with coming up with things to do with the papers and layers and such. These are also some of the first cards where I've tried using ribbon successfully. :)

"Manly" version of a Valentine's Day card, for my sweetie

Valentine's Card (red edition)

Valentine's Card (pink edition)

For my uncle's 55th birthday

For my grandma's 80th birthday

For Kelsey's birthday

Yay for (so far) keeping with my goal of not purchasing greeting cards, but making them!

Valentine's Day

I think I got more excited for Valentine's Day when I was a little kid. You'd get to to go the store and pick out a box of little Valentine cards for all of your friends at school (favorites of mine included Powerpuff Girls, Star Wars, and Kittens), and of course some candy too (Sweethearts, anyone?). At school, you'd get to decorate a brown lunch bag which would become your desk's mailbox for candy and cards from your classmates. And no one was left out, because the rule was if you were going to bring Valentine cards or candy to school, you had to have enough for the whole class. It was always one of the best days of school, ever. I mean, who doesn't like less time for class and more time for candy and fun?

Now you just see a ton of commercials telling you to spend $60+ on long-stemmed roses (when you could just wait until summer and get 20 beautiful roses for $10 at the Farmer's Market), ridiculous jewelry that's supposed to look like it's hugging something, or having to pay an arm and a leg to go see the new romantic comedy at the movie theater. Oiy... I liked when things were simpler and only about $5 total cost for the day.

Well, given that my boyfriend and I like simple things, we're going to have a pretty laid-back day, which I am looking forward to very much.

Tentative Schedule:

• Heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. Although, they turned out nothing like those in the photo. Mine were free-handed and ended up looking like asymmetrical blobs.
• A walk to the park (hopefully there are doggies in the dog park for us to watch!).
• Prepare the slow cooker for a tasty pork chop dinner.
• Go feed and play with Milo (a very poofy orange kitty).
• Pick up delicious cupcakes at the Cupcakery. (This is our one splurge for the day)
• Have delicious dinner, wine, and cupcakes!

Photo: http://www.more4kids.info/613/valentine-treats-for-kids/