Happy Anniversary!

Happy 28th Anniversary
Mom & Dad!!

Photo by: LLB
Flowers by: Design Vertigo (an awesome new store in downtown North St. Paul, MN!!)

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.

Bucket List #1

Some time ago, I started to write a bucket list. It may or may not have had something to do with the release of the movie Bucket List (which I never actually saw, to tell the truth). I just thought that it sounded like a fun list to make; I really love making lists. As of a week ago, I was able to cross something off!

#1. Live in a state other than Minnesota for at least a year.

I moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to get my master's degree in geology. If all goes as planned, I'll be done in the spring (or summer?) of 2011. Then I'll be able to cross off #26 on my list.

5 Ways I Procrastinate Online

I've been meaning to do this post for a while, but get this... I was busy not procrastinating and working on my Geological Society of America annual meeting abstract that was due yesterday!! But now, I am back to procrastinating. Though, in all fairness, if I hadn't have woken up this morning with a giant headache, I would be at school working on my thesis.

There are many ways to procrastinate online, and I would like to share with you my 5 favorite ways to do so. In no particular order:

1) Lolcats at icanhascheezburger . The kitties are just so cute!!

2) PhD Comics (Piled High & Deeper). Anyone in grad school should appreciate the humor of these comics. There's even an "emergency button" in case your advisor walks in.


3) Various blogs. See my blogs I follow on the sidebar :)


4) Yahoo news stories. If it weren't for FOX (we only get one TV channel) and Yahoo, I would probably never know what is going on.


5) Facebook. Because, well, yeah... I'm a student who got sucked into the trend.

Images:
1) icanhascheezburger.com
2) phdcomics.com
3) blog.ning.com/2008/04/augmenting_your_blog_or_websit.html
4) yahoo homepage screenshot
5) brainz.org/completely-unscientific-yet-accurate-look-social-sites/

How am I supposed to make cookies with a brick?

That's right, a brick. I'm talking about a brick of brown sugar, because it's so ridiculously dry here. Erik and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies this last weekend, and it was a bit difficult to get started.

Brown sugar is supposed to be delightful and fluffy. Here in Las Vegas, however, brown sugar has the tendency to dry out. We've encountered this problem at home by not keeping it in an airtight container before, but this time we ended up with a brick straight from the store.

Here is the initial brick:


The white marks are from Erik trying to bust it apart with a spoon:


We read that microwaving the brown sugar with a bowl of water next to it might help. Not so much...


This is where we gave up, went to a different store, and bought brown sugar of the proper consistency.

Monday's Gone

This is how I was supposed to feel about today,
until I woke up with a migraine. Boo.

Photo: icanhascheezburger.com

Road Trip: Part 3

On the return trip from Minnesota to Nevada, we decided to play the license plate game. First, Erik sang the "States Song" so I could make the list of all 50 states. Then we began crossing off states as we saw the corresponding license plates. When you've got three days of driving to do, one needs something to keep entertained and awake.

By the end of the trip, we had crossed off 36 of the 50 states! The biggest excitement of this game was when we saw two (that's right, two!) Alaska license plates. Erik only wanted to count the conterminous 48 states, but I had a feeling we'd see a Hawaii plate (there are lots of Hawaiians in Las Vegas). In the end, I was wrong, but I'm glad we counted all 50 because we saw Alaska!

What did we miss, you ask? Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio (we saw 2 Ohio plates the day after we got back in Las Vegas...), North Carolina, Rhode Island (we basically had no hope for this one), South Carolina, Vermont, and West Virginia.

Photo: childrensfurniture.guidestobuy.com

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 2

"To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change."
~Charles Horton Cooley

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.