26

I learned two things today.  I am closer to 30 than I am to 20, and I now need three hands to show my age (possible with Mike's help!).

Oh, and taking a final on your birthday blows.

Here's to another year.  Hopefully it can be as good as the last few! 

xoxo

Foot is better!

You heard it here first folks!  I've been staying off of my foot (not running on it) for a while, and it no longer hurts!  Today will be my first long run on it, so we'll see how it goes.

In other fitness news, Mike and I started insanity this week.  It is insane, but not impossible.  It's probably a good thing that I'm doing it with him.  It is an every day thing.  It's good to have a work out partner with programs like this one.  We'll see how long I last once I start running more again.  Insanity is cardio, so I'm either going to be super buff with super endurance, or super tired....or both!

Finals are coming up and start next week.  We've only got about two weeks left of school, and I cannot wait to be done with this semester.  After this, I will never have school in the summer again!  WOOOOOOO!

Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend.

xoxo

Foot problems

You all know I run, like..... a lot.  Luckily, in my long running career, I've never really gotten injured.  I mean, I've had knee pains every now and again, but they don't keep me off the roads.  I've fallen, eh hem..reminder, but it doesn't stop me from going out every day.  I've never had anything occur that actually keeps me from running when I want to be running.  I think today might change that...

I went on a pretty standard run for me today, and nothing outstanding happened (besides the scorching heat radiating through my soul).  I get home, relax, and watch an episode of "Keeping up with the Kardashians" (...yes, I know I have terrible taste in television, Mike reminds me everyday).  I get up to get lunch, and BAM! Something is hurting on my right foot.  The ball of my right foot to be exact.  I limp to the kitchen, and the tile makes it hurt worse.  I grab a granola bar because no way am I standing at the stove to make a batch of pasta when my foot hurts like this.  I go back to sit down.

I've been trying to figure out what this is since.  The news is not promising.  It sounds like I'm going to have to take some time off from running to get this to heal up.  Super sad news for me, but lets just hope I can stay out of the hospital.

Lets not forget my knees are still sore from falling three weeks ago, and now my foot hurts.  Is this what it feels like to get old?  I sure hope not.

We'll see how it feels tomorrow.  Until then, I'll be sitting right here, either studying, reading, or sleeping. 

xoxo

July mid-month wrap-up

July has been a great month so far, well....minus having summer school.  However, I did get some students to switch clinic shifts with me during the 4th of July week so that I could make it to Ohio to spend some much needed vacay time with my boy and his family.  We went to a amusement park, rode go carts, climbed rock walls, went in bumper cars, played laser tag, and much more!  It was a ton of fun, and I never thought I would like all of those things so much!

His family also has three birthdays that they celebrate around the 4th, and now our anniversary.  They got us a cute little cake with our wedding colors on it!  It was sooooo good.  I'm still craving it.

Mike also took me on a mini-second honeymoon to Bar Harbor...............
Road.  Haha!  He found a Bar Harbor Road near us, and took me there to celebrate our "second honeymoon".  That boy is so sweet I can hardly stand it. 

In prep for the Color Run, we needed to get Mike out and running during our little vacay.  The easiest 3 miles in my life turned into the most painful because I tripped over something and scraped up my knees pretty bad.  They were bandaged for a while due to bleeding, but now they have bruised over.  It's almost three weeks later and they are still sore.  Just my luck!

Ever since that little vacation we've been back here at home relaxing.  I've been studying late for exams (hence the gigantic coffee that I was drinking at 9pm), we went to a Coldplay concert (my dream come true, it was AMAZING!!!!!!), and I got a haircut!  First one in a very long time. 

 Hope all is well with you!

xoxo

Color Runniversary

July 8th, 2012.  One year wedding anniversary.  Color Run.

YAY!  We made it one year!  I'm so happy to be married to this guy, it's insane.  To celebrate our insanity, we decided to do a 5k, but not just any 5k.  The COLOR RUN.  Every kilometer you get slammed with color powder to create a very colorful body/runner.

We started off all white, and ended up rainbows!  It was so much fun.  AND, it was Mike's first 5k ever!  He finished like a pro too. 

The color was some cornstarchy substance that murdered your lungs as you were running through it, but it was worth it.  It was centered around the Art Museum *cue very confused tourists*, and afterwards there was a huge party with music and color.  Everyone threw color at the same time and it turned into a huge color cloud.  It was an awesome experience.  And it was especially awesome because Mike and I did it together!

I was really excited for Mike because it was the world's largest color run ever, and the third largest 5k ever.  I think that's a pretty cool way to start your running career. 

I hope there is always a color run around us on our anniversary because this would be an amazing and fun tradition to do every year!

Here's some pictures and a video of the "color cloud" experience!

xoxo

Yeah, imagine being right in the middle of that.  Crazy, and super fun!  I wanna do it again right now!

Optometry's Meeting 2012

I went to Chicago June 28th-July 1st to attend Optometry's Meeting 2012.  It's where all of the AOA and AOSA get together to learn (CE courses), attend the product expo, and have lots of fun.  I love Chicago, so I was pretty excited about this trip.

Four of my close friends came with along with about 50 other students from my school.  We had to leave at 4am to make the flight in NYC that was at 7am.  The plan was to wake up at 3:15am, get ready, and go.  I was already packed, so all I really had to do was shower and go.  Thankfully something wakes me up at 4:15am, and I realize I have five text messages and two missed calls telling me that my friends were at my complex waiting for me.  *GULP* You know in cartoons when the character's eyes bug in and out really fast because they can't believe what they are seeing?  Well, I'm pretty sure mine did that to my alarm clock.  I'm never late.  Ever.  I text them really fast that I'll be down in 5 minutes.  Throw my hair into a ponytail, throw on a shirt, jeans, and shoes, grab my bag, and I'm out the door.  I was having heart palpitations from the stress of knowing that I might not make my flight, and I might cause us all to miss it.  Thankfully my friend that was driving has a lead foot.  We made it with time to spare. 

Now that that's out of the way, we get to Chicago, and all of us are dragging.  First order of business: Caffeine.  There was this cute little Cuban restaurant that had cuban coffee that you get in little shot glasses because it's so strong.  Let it be known that it kept me going until 3am the next night.  It's strong, no joke. Good thing too because every single night there was a party for students, so I had to stay awake!

Oh, side note, when we left the east, we were at the end of a "heat wave".  I say it that way because it's been more like a heat tsunami, not a short wave, but I digress. Anyways, we leave the east and it's 100 degrees.  We are all excited because we all think we are flying over this so-called wave, and that we would miss the rest of it.  Lo and behold, when we get to Chicago, our pilot proceeds to tell us, "It's going to be a hot one folks, heat advisories are just entering the Chicago area until Sunday."  Mind you, we were going to be leaving Sunday.  So not only did we just experience that last of the heat wave in the east, but we flew right into the beginning of one in the Midwest.  Awesome.

We decided to do the traditional touristy stuff the first day we were there.  We went to the Bean........and then decided we were all going to melt so we went back to the hotel.  I chased a bird to get it's picture on the way back to the hotel.  It didn't do much to help me cool off, but the bird smiled!  That was also when my friends realized they were hanging out with an infant.

We hung out at the hotel until it was time to go to the Student Quiz Bowl, which is where each school sends one participant to compete against the other schools.  We didn't win, but it was a blast, and I loved the t-shirt we got!  I even made it work with the skirt I was wearing.

The next day we decided to chill out at the expo.  We tried massage chairs, food, wine, and of course optometry related things as well.  They even had the FIFA 2014 World Cup there.  I got my picture taken with it, but only after I spent about three minutes moving all around the glass case it was in to please the guard.  First I was too close, then I wasn't close enough for the picture, then my hand got too close, then my shoe was too close, then my purse was too close...it went on and on.  Apparently my hand couldn't be in front, behind, within two inches, or on top of the case.  I made all of those mistakes before the picture you see now was taken.  The security guard who was guarding it seemed like she hated me.  The people in the line were making snarky comments about  how I was holding up the line, but I just told them to pay attention because I just helped them from making the same mistakes!  They didn't think I was very funny. 

The next day we finally got to the Sear's Tower, where we went up to the sky deck.  The glass floor that extended out from the building was pretty popular.  It was creepy, but it made for some pretty cool pictures from 103 stories up.  While I was in the box, I noticed a spider just chilling on the outside of the box.  I decided to make him attack Chicago.  I started a trend too.  Three days after I get home from Chicago, I noticed a friend from facebook went to Chicago, and he took the exact same photo I did.  I can't help but think that my facebook posting of the photo a week before his didn't "inspire" him...maybe...a little bit...? Thanks for the credit, "friend". 

We also went on a sail boat cruise which gave me some amazing photo opportunities, and we went to the Field Museum for the presidential inaugural ball.  That was awesome.  Sipping cocktails next to Sue (The T-Rex), eating cheesecake bites next to mammoths.  It was quite the experience.

We left the next day after a loooonnnnngggg night out.  I think we only got about 1.5 hours of sleep before our flight.  Let's just say we all completely crashed when we got home. 

It was a great trip all around!

xoxo

June

June, oh June.  

It was probably the hottest month I've ever experienced here on the east coast.  It consisted of me running a lot, mixed with sweating even more, mixed with rehydrating less than necessary.  I was basically dehydrated the entire month.  Hah, it's funny now, but it wasn't then.  I woke up thirsty, spent the day thirsty, and went to sleep thirsty.  No matter how much water I drank, I could just never catch up!  I lost 3-4 lbs each run on average, and that's just because even if I woke up at the crack of dawn to run, it was still 92 degrees with 100% humidity.  I learned to go on a run, and immediately jump into the pool when I got home.  That was fun.  Cooled me off quick, and sometimes I would even get some swimming in for extra exercise.

It's still hot, but I'm learning to drink eight glasses of water a day.  Dehydration headaches are not fun!  

One good thing about all of the running is that the runs have gotten longer and smoother.  My speed is increasing tremendously, and it's just because of the mileage I'm getting in each week.  So far it's between 30-40 miles per week. The scenery around here is pretty breathtaking as well.  I've taken a couple pictures of my running path that I've included in the wrap-up collage. 

Chia, remember that? Well, I've been eating it and/or drinking it consistently since I started using it.  I really notice a difference in my energy level, and it is suuuuppppeerrr good in my oatmeal. 

Between studying and studying I realized I needed some kind of artistic outlet, so I decided my nails would be it.  I did an ombre glitter polish.  Turned out pretty fancy, but was a super pain to remove.  Anything for beauty, am I right? *cue cheesy smile now*

Summer school is rough.  It's even rougher because it's mandatory and you have to actively participate.  I've been stabbed in the eye, poked with a metal thing, and had a needle stuck into my tear duct while releasing saline through my nose into my mouth.  It tasted wonderful....not.  I'm pretty much over summer school right now, but I'm still truckin' along.  The only good thing about going to school in the summer is 1.) the drive (yes I know I shouldn't be taking pictures while driving), and 2.) seeing the little baby ducklings in our pond!  I love them soooo much.

A new fro-yo place opened up nearby.  Anyone who knows me knows that when I moved out here, I fell in love with frozen yogurt.  The fact is, I love fro-yo, but I hate the pricing.  You think $0.25 per oz is cheap, until you end up spending $11.00 on a bowl once you weigh it.  Whoops...haven't been back since.  It's probably a good thing.

I got Mike tickets for the Childish Gambino concert, and of course it basically tornadoed on our walk to the outdoor concert.  We were huddled under a flimsy umbrella for about 10 minutes in hurricane force winds, rain, and lightning.  It was just like in the movies, except way less glamorous.  I bet you can't guess what we did when we found out the concert was cancelled!!!  Obviously got fro-yo. *it wasn't from the same $11 place*

I tend to really get some great pictures of the surrounding area on my phone while I run.
The baby geese are one of the most amazing things I've seen on my runs.  I've been running past them for months now, and they are not babies anymore!  It was so cool to see them grow, and they are now ready to fly away.
I also live by a castle, so one day the clouds were aligned, and I got this perfect shot.
Oh, and obligatory Tip Tip when I get home.  See!  It's so hot even she has to cool off on the tile!

Slackin'

Well hello there blog family!  I have been seriously slacking lately on keeping you all updated with the going's on of my life!  A lot has happened since Memorial Day, so get ready for the massive blog post party that is about to happen!

xoxo

Memorial Day wrap-up

This memorial day we took a little trip to Chaddsford Winery with some friends, and it was fabulous!  Those who know me, know that I can't really stomach wine.  However, everyone wanted to do the wine tasting, so I caved.  It actually helped me realize I can't stand red wine (I think it tastes like cheese, and smells like it!).  It also proved to me that I do like some wines.  More specifically, if it has a ton of sugar in it, I'll drink it.  My favorites were the sangria slushies because it was a crazy hot day, and they were like a little slice of cold, sugar heaven for me.  There was barbeque food and a cute little band there as well.  Really great place too.  The actual wine was made in a super old country barn.  The area around the winery and the drive there reminded me of Wisconsin.  Including the little antique mall next door!

We also found time to play some board games that we got as wedding gifts.  It was all fun until Lily jumped on the board and ruined it. Guess that's what we get for trying to play on the floor!

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day, and remembered why we get one!

-xoxo

Travels

Summer is finally here, well not really, but at least it feels like it. High 80's and full humidity make for some very stuffy days.  I've been running like mad around here lately.  Trying to keep to running at least five miles per day. So far, so good.  When I was back home, I got a ton of running in. I love being able to walk out my door and go on for miles. It's a comforting feeling. Running in the warm air, and my body warming from the inside out is just a great feeling.  Now, when the temps hit 90...that's a different story.  I actually have a couple stories about running in terrifying heat.  One that comes to mind is when it was 90 degrees out, and 100% humidity, and I was hoping to run ten miles, give or take depending on how I felt.  I was convinced I was going to pass out, but I kept talking to myself, literally speaking to myself, saying "You aren't going to die if you keep running, if you stop, you will die."  Guess my mind games worked, because I ran the entire ten!

I've started back up at school again for the summer.  That week-long break sure rejuvenated me....yeah...right. I remember when I had the entire summer off....oh boy do I miss that! The one good thing about this summer, is that I have a pool!  It opens Monday, and you bet your bottom I'll be there!  I've always been a little fish during the summer, so I can't wait to spend the entire summer running, swimming, and studying....wait that last one doesn't fit.  I'm looking forward to running an insane number of miles with my swimming suit underneath my shorts and t-shirt, and crashing into the pool when I get home. Cannot wait.

I've recently read Born To Run by Christopher McDougall, and boy if that doesn't motivate someone to run, nothing will! I also started eating chia seeds, the supposed miracle supplement/food to ultra-marathon runners, and now me! Mike and I first got them at night, and eating them was a mistake!  I was up until 2am. They are a super food that packs a serious energy punch.  Great for running, and great for tired students that don't want to see 3-year-old patients at 8am, i.e. Me. Here's my chia seed recipe that I've been using to consume them.

Rach's Chia Fresca

1-1.5 cups of lime juice (I use "Simply Lime")

1 cup of water (to dilute the juice a tad)

1 tablespoon of chia seeds

Just let the seeds soak in the water juice, and stir every five minutes for about 15 minutes.  Then you can let the juice sit in the fridge for up to a couple days.  The chia seeds get a gel exterior so drinking them is super easy, and the texture is fun.  If anyone ever drank Orbitz, it's kind of like that. Worth trying, plus they have a super amount of antioxidants and omega-3's in them. Side note: Consult your physician if you are taking blood pressure meds before trying them.

And before I bid you all adieu, here's my weekly wrap up of what I've been doing besides running, relaxing, and getting back into the swing of school.  *Warning: tons of photos ahead!*

R-L, top-bottom:
Obligatory cat picture
My Broad Street Run 10 miler medal, nicest one yet!
The most colorful set of packed luggage I've ever had, spring is here!
Beaut-i-ful clouds on the flight home
Family farm love
Pearl Ice Cream, best vanilla bean ever
Granddad's Bluff tourist shot
Beautiful valley, i.e. My home.

R-L, top-bottom:
Good ole Wisconsin cheese curds
Goose Island at dusk
Chia Fresca
My favorite running road
Grandma's teacup
Sunset in Wisconsin

-I hope you all get to travel a lot this summer, even if it means running the furthest you've ever run in a place you've rarely been to!  That's still traveling to me!  

-xoxo

Spring sprint

It's been a long spring, but it's been flying by.  Ever since I returned to the east coast, I've been studying non-stop, seeing patients non-stop, and trying to find a little time to myself.  I have a break in six days, and I cannot wait.  It has been far too long since I've had to think about nothing.

This finals sesh is by far the absolute worst I've ever experienced in my 20 years of school.  2.5 weeks of h-e-double-hockey-sticks.  In that amount of time I'll have taken seven finals.  That on top of seeing patients.  Just thinking about it is making my palms sweat, but thankfully I'm almost done.  I told one of my friends the other day that my brain was full.  It's a shame really.  I feel like every exam I walk into my brain unloads, and then I go home to fill it up with more knowledge that I unload the next day.  All semester I've felt like I really understood the material for exams.  Obviously new stuff has been taught for finals, but that is added onto the cumulative stuff we've learned already.  I can barely remember the new material because we have so much to study in such a short amount of time.  I can't wait until I never have to study again.  This semester has made me realize that I really don't want to be a forever student.

I have been able to find some free time throughout the mess of school, surprisingly.  Here's what I've been doing when I'm not cramming my face in highlighters, powerpoints, and notes.

{R-L, up-down}

Went to Washington D.C. Saw the Whitehouse.

WWII Memorial

Cherry blossoms!

Jefferson Memorial

Capitol

Baked lemon zest cookies, recipe on the blog.

It's been beautiful here lately.

Obligatory picture of Lily.

My plants are growing! I might actually have a green thumb!

Study mess.

 Obligatory picture of Tipsy.

Campus is gorgeous these days.

I finally got my 26.2 sticker.  Three years later.

Baked some more. Banana Nutella muffins, recipe on the blog.

Broad Street Run. Running that tomorrow! Nation's largest 10 miler.

I'll see you all on the flip side (of finals)!

xoxo

Lemon Burst Cookies

These lovely wonders are called Lemon Burst cookies, and boy do they have a burst!  I found the recipe on Pinterest, where I find most of my recipes lately.  They were so easy, so I decided to post the recipe!

Lemon Burst Cookies

1 lemon cake mix (I used betty crocker)
1 egg
1 tub of regular cool whip
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put powdered sugar in a small bowl.

Beat lemon cake mix, egg, and cool whip together in medium bowl. Batter will be sticky. Drop 1 tsp of batter into bowl containing powdered sugar. Coat the dough in the powdered sugar and then roll into balls. Place on cookie sheet evenly spaced. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

I baked them for 10 minutes, they were super fluffy that way!


Enjoy!

So long, farewell...See you later

This past week has been an unbelievable time in my life, and for my family.  My beloved Grandmother passed away.  I cannot describe the level of grief we are all processing right now, but I do know that my Grandma would have never wanted us to be sad upon her passing.  She lived an exciting life until the ripe ol' age of 90 years old, and she had never been sick or in the hospital.  I can only hope I have the life she did.  She was an amazing woman, and she will always be with me and my family.  She taught me so many valuable things about life, and I will never forget her wisdom.  I was trying to think of the right words for this post, but I realized the words that describe what and who she was to everyone around her were already spoken.  I wrote a few paragraphs for her funeral with every intention on reading them myself until I tried to read them to Mike.  I was going to be a blubbering mess, so my Aunt kindly took on the job.  She did great.  I think it portrays her life and value the best that I can right now. 

Grandma:

 My Grandma taught me early what it takes to thrive in this world.  She taught me how to be strong when the going gets rough, how to tackle anything even if it seems impossible, and how to always find a way to get to the end of a rough patch.  Because of her life and career, she inspired me to reach for the sky and follow my dreams even if I thought they were unreachable. My Grandma is the reason I chose the medical field as my career.  She is the reason I chose to become a doctor, and she was the reason I tried my hardest, even when I never thought I would make it. She is the reason all of us grandchildren have a passion for learning, and I know I speak for all of my cousins when I say that she has inspired them just as much.  

She gave me one of her old chemistry text books from nurse’s training when I started optometry school.  Whenever I feel like I’m not focusing well or getting confused about something, I bring out her book, and read some of her notes.  In her notes you can see how she had a passion for learning. That resonates in me, and makes me strive to be better.  I will always remember her for that, and I will never forget all the ways she has inspired me.  I know she has been there for all of her grandchildren in good times and bad, and she has been such a wonderful support for all of us.  We could never thank her enough for her support and love that helped make us who we are today.  And I know she has given us invaluable advice when we needed it most.  The phone calls will definitely be what we all miss the most.  She was truly a one-of-a-kind person that will never be replaced.

I think I speak for everyone when I say that her strength, perseverance, and independence inspired us all. 

........................................................................................................................

I will love you always, Grandma, and I will never forget you.  You will keep influencing my life, even though I cannot call you anymore.  Like Pastor said, you are now just a prayer away.  This isn't good-bye, it's just "see ya later".

 

Just found my favorite store!

And it's called Ruche!  Boy oh boy am I excited!  I love everything in this store, and I especially love the prices.  It may not be as cheap as H&M, but it also has clothing I've been looking for that other stores do not carry.  It has a very vintage like feel, and really reminds me of the early 1900's inspired fashion.  I've been watching a lot of Downton Abbey lately as well, so maybe that's why I'm noticing.  (Speaking of Downton Abbey, if you haven't watched it ever, watch it, it's on PBS!)

Anywho, here's a few of my favorites after browsing during my study break last night.

Time for me to get back to studying!

xoxo

Vernal Inspiration

So I've really been getting into this spring feel with fashion, accessories, crafts, furniture, oh and food of course!  It's been consistently nice here the past weeks, and I've taken serious advantage of that by running as much as my schedule allows. I'm training for a gigantic 10 mile run in May too, so that means I have to keep up the running. 

Anyways, every year I get this change of season inspiration. Change my clothes, clean my apartment, transition into fresher food, lighten up the colors, etc. This weather has been a welcome, but unexpected visitor, and usually this "spring" inspiration comes closer to...well spring.  So because spring has already made it's appearance, I'm getting obsessed with some things. Like......

veggies via ehwilder

outfit via unknown

two stone ring via etsy

photo arrangement via marylynn's pinterest

loveseat via redefine home store

feather ring via old gold boutique

glasses necklace via nordstrom

circus animal cookies via lauren lock

I love all of these things right now. Soooooo much. 
-The outfit is perfection for this weird spring/winter weather we are having lately. I love the skirt, mostly because it's like a big girl's tutu that you are allowed to wear to work, and the color of the blazer is so unique.
-The two stone ring has been a fave of mine for a really really long time, and when I finally found it on etsy, I was so excited to buy it!  Turns out, it was $475.00 because that's a real diamond in there...sooooo that went un-purchased.  The feather ring, however, is in my budget, and is such a great design. I love the vintage look of the metal.
-I've been really into fresh food lately.  I've been juicing a lot and eating a lot of salads with tons of chopped veggies in them. They taste so good and fresh!
-The couch is a dream that deserves a real home, not a little apartment, so that's a dream that will have to wait.
-The picture idea I've been dwelling on for a while. It's crazy to think how much we used to print our photos, and now I never do. I remember looking through my parents old photo albums for hours, and right now I have hardly any pictures for my future children to look at, so that needs to change. It's sad, and this was inspiration for me to start printing my photos again. 
-Glasses necklace....duh! I love gold right now, can't you tell?
-And those wonderful cookies. Everyone knows them, but my friend Lauren actually made them from scratch! She was kind enough to give my friends and I a whole bag when we were in lecture last week, and was that one massive distraction sitting in front of us! We finished half by the end of the first hour I'm pretty sure.

Has spring sprung in your neck of the woods?

xoxo

Happy {late} Valentine's Day!!

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day! We did! Mike made some amazing scallops with mashed taters and asparagus. I made those yummy naner nutella muffins. I also got some much needed studying in. Ohhhh the life of a student.  We ate during one of my study breaks...haha!

xoxo

Banana Nutella Muffins

We all know I'm a fabulous cook..............(hah!), so when it came to Valentine's Day treats, I decided to make these babies.  Mike (previously known as Hubs and Hubby, but is now going by Mike because I feel stupid writing Hubs and Hubby, so the cat's out of the bag, his name is Myq if you didn't already know) loves bananas and nutella, so when I came across these lovely bunches of goodness, I just had to break out my baking apron.

They were fairly easy to make, and required a baking skill of about 5 out of 10, so they were within my range.

Here's the finished product. They are sooooo good! And Mike loves them.

YUM!

Only downside is they love their wrapper so much that they stick to it when you peel it off.  Appropriate for Valentine's Day, inappropriate for my appetite.  I never expected that fun problem. If you have any idea how to prevent this love affair, please let me know in the comments.

Hope you get lots of sweet treats this Valentine's Day!

xoxo

Quick catch-up

First and foremost, I've been very MIA lately, I know. This semester has pretty much blindsided me. Seeing patients and studying is more demanding than just studying, which is why I think I feel blindsided. However, clinic has been great overall. The eye is pretty cool.

Since I'm currently studying for an exam, and I don't have much time, I'll post a couple pictures to tide you over until next time. Don't worry, we'll catch up soon, I promise.

xoxo

This was about 9PM in Nebraska, long exposure.

Flying back to the east.

Blurry Christmas.

Midwest winter solstice.

Long exposure Christmas.

Bag solutions

We made it safely home!  However, after we got here, we realized (I realized) we had wayyyyyy too many plastic bags.  This is what our "bag shelf" originally looked like upon returning home. 

Seeing as we have one cat that LOVES to eat plastic bags, I figured it was time to find a better bag solution.  So I was browsing my new favorite website, Pinterest, the other day, and I found a perfect way to de-bag our "bag shelf".  Here's the results!

Voila!  Easy, didn't take long, and now all you have to do to get a bag, is pull one out! I skipped the container option for the bags seeing as we didn't have any, but our way works just as well!

I'll be posting more about my break later tonight, but until then, xoxo!

Leavin' town

So that break went waaayyyy to fast. I also didn't even blog ONCE! I feel like I really embraced the laziness that is winter break.

I figured I'd just write to say I'm still alive, and that I'm leavin' on a jet plane tomorrow afternoon. Be ready for a picture post of the holidays, and my new found love of long exposure photography. I'll leave you with a little taste of what I've been doing for the past three weeks.

xoxo