A rainbow made my day, my sister is the best, and the beginning of SA photos

As you can see by the post title, this is going to be a "variety" post.

1) To say that today was a boring day is an under statement.  Most people in the office were still out, trapped inside a cubicle after a fun Christmas was kind of sad...AND it rained pretty much all day.  Got poured on when I left work but when I got off the metro, there was this rainbow...and the best part was you can see the complete arc.  I only had the 50mm with me, so I had to rely on the iphone and later used photoshop to stitch two instagram photos together.  A super boring day turned into a neat one because of the rainbow :)

2) THEN I got the Christmas package that my sister mailed me today. It is the most thoughtful present ever! I love it. Thank you, Yings.  Good luck on your apps!!!

3) All right, so I have been promising photos from South Africa.  I realize that it's going to take a LONG time for me to post all the ones I like and tell you what we did, so I decided to make a highlight collage for each day.  Today I'll do Day 1 and Day 2, we'll see how this goes.  HAHA.

I think I've been productive enough tonight.  Good bye!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.  I need to start making a list of resolutions for 2012!

still adjusting...hmm.

I've been procrastinating with sorting and processing photos...75% of the reason is because I'm trying to get back on a routine...25% is because I find myself confused as I'm walking around as to why I am here and not in South Africa.  Anyhow...

Took this last weekend when I dragged ICM to the Farmer's Market.  The colors of the bunch of chard is so pretty, especially against a wintery drabby back drop.  Who knew chard could be so beautiful?? I did buy a bunch and made a vegetable soup from Cookbooks 101, link right here: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/green-soup-with-ginger-recipe.html.  Only now did I realize I had forgotten the ginger, oops.

Heading out of town tomorrow and hope to really get back in the swing of things.  Photos from SA to come, promise promise promise.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mentally adjusting.

Hello!

It's been exactly a week since I've returned from my trip to South Africa...and I miss it A LOT.  Mountains beyond mountains, safaris, beautiful coast line, nice people, great food, grilling all the time, cheap but awesome wines...what else can we ask for??  The danger in taking a three and a half week vacation is that it starts to feel like reality after a while, so it becomes an even bigger shocker when you find yourself sitting in your no-sunlight cubicle.  That was me on Monday...yuck.  Since then, school started, real life started back up..not to mention the fact that Christmas is just around the corner, ahhhhh.  I am not prepared for 2011 to end.  Maybe that's a sign of a great year?  :)  Excited for some down time to think about 2011 and sort out all the photos I want to post to show you!

Anyhow, a short post as I mentally adjust to being back and getting back into the routine.  This is a place called "Beach Camp" in Paternoster, SA that we stayed at.  This is taken inside our A frame hut right on the beach.  Very hippie commune like but boy is it a beautiful location.

Good night.

Hello from Jo'burg!

Hello from the Johannesburg airport as I am heading back to DC :(
The trip was amazing and I couldn't have asked for more. South Africa is a stunningly beautiful country and I highly recommend it! So much to talk about and so many photos to share...it's going to be both fun and headachey at the same time.

On another note, this is my 100th post!

Bye bye!

I am a hypochondriac?...and more.

Lately, I've been feeling somewhat like a hypochondriac.  Do you ever feel that way?  Let me tell you, having the internet, health forums, and websites like the WebMD, and the fact that my primary care doctor sucks (which makes me not want to go to the Doctor), has led me to make pretty ridiculous assumptions about my health...all based upon pretty generic search terms like swollen lymph nodes and a cough.  For a while I was convinced that I had lymphoma.  Luckily, I was and am comforted by the fact that the swollen lymph nodes were tender and had appeared suddenly.  If it was cancer, then it would have been more gradual and hard...that's what WebMD said!  So scratch cancer, what about lung issues, why won't my cough go away, etc!?? And it goes on. 

Even though I am almost certain it's not something terminal and that swollen lymph nodes are a sign that your body is fighting back, I will honestly admit that thoughts like "oh crap, am I going to die?" or "oh no, there are so many things I haven't done" have crossed my mind.  Ridiculous I know and I plan on getting it checked out by a professional.  But all in all, what I learned was that while I used to think that I wasn't afraid of dying,  I realized that I am.  Maybe when I am older I won't be...but right now, very much so.  While I've always had an appreciation and admiration of the strength of people who are/have been fighting their illnesses, through my self imposed experience, I gained an even greater appreciation. 

Anyways, just a bunch of random thoughts.

It's been cold here in DC and the metro definitely isn't helping.  Came across this and somehow it really appealed to me..

Oh yeah kiddies, T-Minus 5 days till we leave for South Africa!  So excited to explore and experience a beautiful country with one of the biggest reasons of why I wouldn't want to die any time soon! :)

Is it bad that...

...I want to ditch class tonight, so that I can make steamed egg custard, brown rice, and veggies with oyster sauce?  Oh yeah, our new oyster sauce has no MSG, it's not the same!!!!
...I wanted to pull a girl's hair out at a concert last night for being extremely extremely rude and inconsiderate? (don't worry, I didn't beat her up! I do actually have self control.)

Hmm...I guess we all have flaws! Or as Rick Perry puts it, "we all have our human moments!"  :)

My first WVU game!

I went to my first WVU game this past Saturday!  It was great spending time in the sun and playing with the 70-300 lens that ICM's mom is lending us for our big trip.  It was a beautiful day, everyone (except me) were decked out in full WVU gear and tailgating all day - they really have some very loyal fans.  I also got to see the Mountaineer (their mascot) receive a new musket from a generous alumni donation (see pictures below)!

Unfortunately, WVU lost to Louisville 35-38..Bummer.  Oh yeah, and the guy behind us was yelling/pretending he's the coach the whole game...Don't be that guy, ok?

Had a great weekend, hope you did too.

Here are some photos!

Oh yeah, I love Fall!



Bye Bye.

R.I.P. Mr. Guts!

 

We love you, Mr. Guts! Thanks for bringing me so much joy and delicious pumpkin seeds.  I hope the rats in DC don't find you!!! We will meet you back at the pumpkin patch next year. 

xoxo