happy mountains

mountains make me happy and keep me sane. the 2+ hour drive to and from skiing (in traffic) isn't always ideal, but the view is stunning and the skiing is great. 

the 2+ hour drive to and from skiing (in traffic) isn't always ideal, but the view is stunning and the skiing is great.

nonetheless, the colorado sky, its light, and its landscape are a reminder of why i adore this place. here's to many more days on the mountain!

sometimes i make happy mistakes, but i can't possibly call this amazing place a happy mistake. 

fat tire brewery tour

Know what's fun about living in Fort Collins? Having lots of breweries in town! Most notably, we have the New Belgium Brewery where Fat Tire, Sunshine Wheat, and many other awesome beers are made. The best part of the company is their efforts to be extremely green, so much of that is reflected in the design of the building and their environmental efforts. Oh...and on any given day you can go and get free samples of beer in their tap room.  

 Brewing Vat

 Sponge Bob, anyone? 

 Now that my brother is finally 21, we got to do some family beer-drinking! 

 Sunshine Wheat

 Seriously...how beautiful is this room?

So...if anyone wants to visit the brewery (and me) just let me know!

giving thanks to deliciousness!

thanksgiving this year has been an interesting one. first off, since i was just home a couple of weeks ago for cornhuskin' at MC, my family opted to come visit me. and by visit me, i mean the four of us have been living in my little 1-bedroom apartment in Fort Collins for since this past saturday. trust me, i love my family--a lot; however, we are definitely in tight quarters with my brother and me sleeping in the living room and my parents in my bed. nonetheless, it's been a great week...a good break from school and a better bonding experience.

with thanksgiving, obviously, there is also the cooking and the turkey. oh, and did i mention that we were in my apartment? it's fine...it worked out well enough...but i definitely don't have the space or the amenities like my parents' house does for cooking a thanksgiving dinner. oh, and another roadblock...we fixed everything on monday (the family flies out on thursday and i didn't want too many left-overs) only to find out at about 5pm (yeah...we're late turkey dinner-eaters) that the turkey was still frozen, too frozen to cook. so, there may have been a few stress-related tears shed, but we made it all work by eating a quick thanksgiving lunch on tuesday, and it was delicious. so delicious, in fact, that i felt it necessary to share our recipes and inspiration.

because we were cooking in my apartment, we decided to switch up our dinner a little bit. we had the staples--turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, rolls, and cranberry sauce--and a few new things--roasted brussels sprouts with grapes and broccoli and gruyere gratin; everything was delicious!

i thought i'd share a little bit of our thanksgiving dinner!

 I may be that weird girl who likes brussels sprouts, but our whole family loved these from real simple. they're super easy to make and likely delicious year-round.

 if you don't like gruyere cheese yet you should. this is the yummiest gratin i've ever had.

 black olives are a staple at our thanksgiving meals. our grandma never quite favored the way my brother and i would eat them off our fingers, but i mean...it was tradition. 

also in the background is some of the yummiest cranberry sauce i've ever had. i kind of used this recipe, but as per my usual tendencies, i didn't follow the directions exactly. i added a splash of OJ, about a quarter cup of blueberries, and cinnamon and nutmeg. YUM.

 yummy garlic smashed potatoes: mom makes these sans recipe, just with a little half&half, salt and pepper, parmesan, garlic, yum.

 another real simple recipe--mushroom and rosemary stuffing. we decided we'd take out one egg because it was a little too runny, but otherwise the mushrooms were deee-lish. this one will happen again.

 here's a little demonstration of the tight quarters. it worked...but it was tight.

and happy holidays from me (and the fam)! after dinner yesterday we did a brew tour at new belgium brewery (fat tire) in fort collins. there's more of that to come, but we actually got a good family pic! 

happy thanksgiving!

way overdue

okay, i'm way way way way way long overdue on a blog post.

but things are going generally well in this here state of colorado.

school's great--i couldn't have asked to be more prepared. meredith college was the best possible place for me to do my undergrad, and i'm so thankful for everything i learned there. and now i'm really happy here. i'm doing well in my classes (i think...as we really haven't turned much in yet, and currently i'm procrastinating on studying for a midterm).
i'm loving every person in my program. my cohort is AMAZING and we're becoming the best of friends. it's awesome.
oh, and i think i have an idea of what i'm going to do for my thesis and who my thesis advisor will be. i'm not going to spoil too many details because i haven't actually told my parents yet, but it's a start! and i'm excited.

last week i was very homesick. i'm not sure quite what it was, but i really needed my mom to be just a walk across campus away. thank goodness i have cousins an hour away (who seriously make things so much better) and great friends here who have helped to cheer me up. Seeing my parents 4 weeks from today will be the best thing ever. as will going to cornhuskin' and returning to mc!

in other news, my apartment is, well, a mess. it's seriously the last thing on my mind with all the school work i have to do. however, living by myself was the best decision i could've made. it's a total solace and it can be a mess if it needs to be :)

and....i got glasses. i'm still getting used to them. but it explains why i struggled with reading during undergrad. i'm hoping they help me out a bit here.
october is nuts and full of TONS of work....so i'm going to need every little ounce of help I can get.

happy october, happy fall, and please wish me luck through this crazy month!

crazy afternoon storms

sun shower much? when i say that we have crazy afternoon storms, i mean that we have crazy afternoon storms.
exhibit a:

also....there was TOTALLY a double rainbow, but i unfortunately was driving and couldn't grab a picture. however, if there's a rainbow every day after a storm like yesterday's, i can definitely handle the storms.

a high altitude learning opportunity

if you've never lived at high altitude, you've probably never noticed that every boxed baking mix includes high altitude instructions. scientifically, the usda tells us that altitude causes water to boil at a lower temperature (and therefore be unable to become as hot) and that leavening in breads and cakes expands faster. fortunately, when you're using a boxed mix, the instructions also tell you specific instructions to work with cooking at high altitude. it does not, however, lend itself to tips on every sort of cooking disaster that may happen due to the altitude.

well, fort collins' 5003 feet above sea level lent itself to me this morning. in such a way that my oatmeal simply exploded. and it wasn't even cooked. it was just one of those UGH moments where i wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.

so, next time i fix oatmeal i'll be more careful with my chemistry--and i'll definitely use a bigger bowl.

it's here, it's here!

today's the day, i'm off to great places...

mom, dad, and i are leaving this morning for fort collins--we have an estimated 26 hour, 1,719 mile drive ahead of us. we're planning on getting into town on monday around lunchtime. it'll be a loooong few days in the car, but the destination should be great!

we (mostly my dad) packed up most of my things on monday night and shipped them off in a "relocube", so we're just taking the rest of my clothes and a few random things in my car today!

expect great pictures (unlike this horrendous bb camera one) and details ahead, but for now i need to get the vacuum out for space bags!

nc--i'll see you on the flip side, aka at cornhuskin'!

bane of my existence

i'm at the point where really getting ready to move to fort collins. in fact, the subaru will roll out early in the morning on saturday, july 24th. that's less than a month away. and when i say ready, i mean, like, really ready. i'm ready for colorado weather, the mountains, starting my new adventures, and most of all i'm ready to be settled somewhere. don't get me wrong--there are things i'm going to miss about life in raleigh, especially my family, friends, and kiddos; however, this whole living "in between" thing is starting to get to me.

unfortunately, though, moving is not the easiest of processes. i've complained about moving several times a year for the past 4 years--into my res.hall room/apartment, out at holidays, out for summer, to/from colorado/denmark for 3 summer; nevertheless, none of those "moves" would i really call moves at this point. tracking down moving companies with good google ratings AND reasonable prices is difficult. furthermore, actually having an understanding of how many items i'll be moving without boxing up all my possessions. it's a process and it's very frustrating, but if i'm going to get to colorado, i'm going to need to deal with it.

thus, boxes and the life unsettled are the current bane of my existence. as are all my possessions. i have too many, but i really can't bear to part with them.

on a happier note, i'm freaking out less about my furniture situation since miss kellie and i did a little yard sale-ing last saturday morning. we were up at the crack of dawn, but we had some really fun finds. for me it was two $5 tables that won my heart. and i'm excited to make something fun out of them. i can't wait to repaint these tables and give them some beautiful character.

oh, and remember that desk my mom forgot about? check out this beauty. it's going to be a beautiful yellow marigold color. i'm so excited.

lackluster

tonight i talked grad school budget with dad. looks like i'm going to be eating beans and rice for the next 2+ years (at the very least). at least the fat tire brewery has free samples on a daily basis, so if i need a beer i can head over there for a free pint (once i add up the 4 4oz. glasses!). HA! but seriously...anyone know any kids in fort collins who need babysitting? because i'll be allll over that!

to continue on the train of depressing matters, i spent the weekend at the lake with no camera for 1 day, then a dead camera for the next. i will say it was nice to be removed from technology for a couple days as i read 1.5 books (this and this), but the feelings of lackluster persisted with storminess and an overall absence of energy throughout the weekend.

basically...i need something to brighten me up. hopefully tomorrow will bring some bright, cheery, happy colors and faces to put an upswing on this week. there's a light, i just haven't quite gotten there yet.

bike is the theme...

bikes, apparently, seem to be the theme of my life these days. i haven't had any time to blog lately, let alone take any pictures. so, today when i finally downloaded all the pictures i took on spring break (2 weeks ago), i realized that the majority of my pictures have been of bikes these days. funny since a. the last time i was on a bike was in denmark, and b. our class gift (an event i am co-chairing) is two bicycle racks, so the logo is a bike.
anyway, in taking a break (read: procrastinating) from my thesis a little longer, i'll share with you a few images from march.

bike at Meredith - this was what i'd like to call March coming in like a lion. the beginning of the month was miserable, but it's ended up beautifully! 

one of my favorite things in copenhagen last summer was seeing so many raleigh bikes around the city. this raleigh bike was spotted in old town fort collins over spring break, so it's likely that i'll always have a little reminder of my roots around town.

in case you don't know, the new belgium brewery - known especially for fat tire beer is located in fort collins, so this bike rack is extra fun!

now i just need to finish my thesis so that i can get a little time to take more pictures & get out on my own bike in raleigh! long story short...the wheels keep turning and life goes on!

lost february...

okay, so i pretty much failed at my blog. and using this outlet for my psychological sanity. but the second half of february got pretty insane with work...although a LOT happened.

i attended one of my first (and last) sporting events at MC. the meredith and peace rivalry is pretty huge, so it was a fun game.

i also went to colorado. it was kind of a big deal. the faculty and students at CSU were outstanding and SO nice and i can't wait to begin in the fall. there'll be more on that after my trip with dad in 2 weeks, since i'll actually have an opportunity to walk around campus and get some pictures. but aside from the visit to CSU, i had a little bit of time with my cousin Bryan and his wife and daughter. isn't this one just precious???

oh, and i also got a pretty awesome mountain view from the top of Flagstaff in Boulder. it was reeeeally sunny, so i'm a little squinty, but the view was spectacular. unfortunately Bry was in the car with a sleeping baby, so i had to go for some self-portrait action...

more life coming soon...i promise!

the future is coming!

yesterday was a day for the books. i went to sleep very bummed thursday night because the client i shadow at preschool was sick so he wasn't going to be at preschool for the Valentine's party, meaning my only hope for V-Day fun had been shattered. okay, it wasn't that bad, but i'd been very excited--so excited that i bought a festively cute shirt for the occasion. then, yesterday morning i was awoken by my client's mother calling to say "he has been cured", so i got up and headed into preschool for the morning excited to wear my shirt and observe the 3-year-olds' excitement over celebrating Valentime's.

the day took a drastic turn when I received an email reading, "Congratulations!  We are pleased to inform you that we are recommending to the Graduate School that you be admitted for graduate study in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Colorado State University." i'll be working on a M.S. in Family & Developmental Studies in Fort Collins, CO beginning in the fall!

as you can probably guess, i've gone through a whole variety of (almost all good) emotions since yesterday. it's been a shock, but i'm so happy and very proud of this accomplishment. i was starting to become worried about next year and was working on establishing consolation prizes for myself with potential plans for after graduation.

so, since receiving that email, i've made many phone calls, booked a flight for the open house at CSU on February 26th, and bought some professional attire since this grad program will not have me rolling around with children the way i'm used to doing. it's funny that yesterday i went to school as an undergrad serving as a shadow in a preschool classroom and ended as a future graduate student who will be moving to CO in less than 6 months. more news is on the horizon, but for now...WOW!

. 

oh yeah...my blog...

okay so, i know i said i was going to blog more in 2010, but things have been nuts. however, in the midst of my life becoming crazy with work and school and grad applications and getting sick on top of all that, i have done a decently excellent job of working on my resolutions--and i didn't even know it, really!

so...in the past two weeks:

- my friends and i celebrated carolyn's birthday with a KILLER hipster party, which was super fun. and really good times with the friends. (resolution 1!)

- i've been cooking some really delicious dinners including this one from the latest Real Simple mag. and i've been eating vegetarian only...and that hasn't included pasta in a really long time, so that's a major improvement from my usual veggie self. (resolutions 3 & 4!)

- and friday i submitted my application to the Family & Developmental Studies masters program at Colorado State. i really can't anticipate my likelihood of getting in...but going into this program in Fort Collins would be an absolutely ideal next step for my academic career, so i'm going to be keeping my fingers crossed for that one. (resolution 2 CHECK! and still working on 7!)

as for the camera, that's where i'm still lacking most. i'm very much looking forward to some free time and some sunnier days so that i can get out and take some pictures. but i'm still fiddling around with my beautiful camera as much as possible and will be working on the daily camera usage as much as i can!

and there should be some pictures coming soon of the beautiful children i'll be keeping this week while their parents are in key west. my mom says that they were raised as meredith angels since their mom is a staff member here--even if they are boys!

happy week. and i leave you with a shot of my amazingly cool and wonderfully hip friends.

10 for '10

one thing i've always struggled with is making short-term realistic goals. i've decided that it would be to my advantage to determine 10 things i'd legitimately like to accomplish in 2010 and to really work on accomplishing them (really in no particular order). so, as the door opens to 2010, here are some things i'd like to do in order to help myself be the best possible marie--not just at the start of this year, but at the start of this decade..

1. to spend as much time as possible with my family and friends who mean the most to me.

2. to apply to graduate school. at least at colorado state. and hopefully get in.

3. to decide whether or not to be a vegetarian again...and stick with it.

4. to continue creating new, delicious dishes. and eating delicious things.

5. to participate in some sort of physical activity at least twice a week, preferably more.

6. to laugh as much as possible.

7. to move to colorado (or definitely out of raleigh...but preferably to somewhere in colorado).

8. to take as many pictures of everything as much as possible.

9. to continue working on finding a balance between my type A and type B personalities.

10. to be as positive and happy as i wish others would be. and to surround myself with the things and people who will help me to be positive and happy.

happy 2010!

colorado on my mind

so it's about 2-something in the morning, and because of the 3 hour time change i'm currently readapting to i'm not even tired. what better thing to do than blog about my adventures in colorado?

okay, so really it probably was not an overly exciting week for

 anyone but me, but as most people who know me well are aware i adore my cousins and i adore colorado. truly. 

so, the majority of the week was spent just spending quality time with the family. my cousin bryan, his wife joanne, and their 6 month old daughter eilee live in lafayette, which is a suburb of boulder. every time i've gone to visit the family in co i've stayed with them--except for this trip. jo's best friend came into town from charlotte this past weekend, so i started

 out staying with kevin & beth (bryan's brother and his wife) who live about 400 yards away, and i just ended up staying with them for the majority of the week. SO the week consisted of lots of family meal sharing, some drinking, and lots of talking & catching up on life. like i said, eilee is 6 months so she was the object of much of my attention this past week. beth is pregnant now, too, and she is due in about 3 weeks!

So...basic run-down on the week

Saturday-Monday: hung out in lafayette, went to 

pearl street in boulder, spent some time outside (it was like 70 degrees there...)

, and had lots of fun family time + jo's friend sarah who i love!

Tuesday: went to visit CSU with my friend Oshi (i've worked with her the past two summers at bryan's deli in Edwards, CO) and i visited the counseling psych ph.d. program and ended up speaking with a student in the program! i really, really liked the whole program a lot. we also went to the fat tire brewery for free beer!

 i sure as heck won't complain 

about that. later that 

night we went out for drinks in fort collins with a few of oshi's friends--i really like the town and could definitely see myself living there in a year and a half.

Wednesday: i wore shorts. seriously. also, oshi brought me back and i hung out with jo & eilee

 for the afternoon before we went to denver for dinner with Sarah before she headed back to charlotte. 

i need to mention that we went to this restaurant commonly called "the rio" 

for drinks &

 dinner. they have killer margaritas---and i was able to have my 5th rio margarita that night. we'd also gone to the rio in boulder on saturday (for #1 & 2) and oshi and i went in fort collins (for #3 & 4). 

and uh...those are some strong drinks. but way yummy. i have the secret recipe now, too!

Thursday: i did a photoshoot of eilee for my "echo" 

project in photography. it was super fun, and i'm anxious to process my film tomorrow afternoon. 

how freaking cute is this child???

that day, i also left boulder to head up to the mountains to visit the other two brothers--kraig & keith, who is more commonly known as bump, and his wife(!) jillian. we did lots of hanging out, too, and we went out to a bar where a local band was playing that night. it was fun to catch up with those guys, but it definitely wasn't enough time. 

Friday: i skiied! unfortunately there hadn't been much fresh snow in vail for the past month or so, so conditions weren't too much better than they would've been in nc, but the fact that it was vail made up for the crunchy, icy snow. bump & kraig both had the day off so the three of us got to ski together. i've pretty much come to terms with the fact that i am a high maintenance skier (i wear lots of layers and have a ton of trouble carrying all my crap), but i'm going to need to get my act together before i move out to ski country. nonetheless, i did well for not having skiied in a year and successfully conquered several slopes (including some black diamonds).  after skiing, i headed back to the front range to spend my last evening with the fam. last time i left CO i cried 12 times, but this time bryan only made me cry twice. and it was on friday, not saturday. 

Saturday: i was kicked out of colorado. okay, not really, but leaving gives me the worst feeling. especially when i'm sitting in the airport terminal knowing that in a matter of minutes i have to leave the place i love most. fortunately, the flight wasn't bad and jesse & ashley picked me up from the airport, which made the return a little sweeter. 

so now i'm back to the real world. the worst part about returning this time is that i don't have a definite trip back yet. hopefully (with every single body part that's crossable crossed) i'll have a grad interview sometime in the spring, and i'll make it back for those. but if not for those interviews, my best guess is that i'll head back sometime next summer after graduation. nonetheless, it was a great trip. i had a wonderful time, and more than anything it was great to spend time with my wonderful family! 

uh yeah...

i'm moving to colorado.

the end.

colorado, i think i'm coming home

less than 2 weeks til i'm in colorado. 

there are already plans to visit Colorado State with Oshi.

skiing in Vail.

photoshoot of baby Eilee.

and some quality cousin time.

i'm beyond excited for this:

"Hey Colorado is it too late to change my mind
I've done some thinking and I'm trying hard to find
The way to come back home
Oh I've been so very long alone
Won't you take care of your own Colorado I think I'm coming home"

-- The Flying Burrito Brothers

future world traveler, here...

today i submitted my application to study abroad for 6 weeks this summer at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark today. 

we even do a 5-day study tour in CROATIA. i'm beyond excited. like, really beyond excited. 

here's a link about the program. take one look and you'll understand why i'm going! 

there'll be plenty more information to come, but YAY!

(p.s. the only travel I've done up to this point in my life has been within the US, a driving trip to Canada years ago, a driving trip to Juarez, Mexico from home in Albuquerque, and a cruise with 2 days in the Bahamas in 8th grade. I had 2 trips to europe canceled after 9/11, so clearly i'm anxious!)

also, i'm going to Hilton Head & Savannah this weekend, so there'll definitely be some pictures coming from that adventure. 

and i'll be in boulder for spring break WAY soon. AHH!

"Far away far away, I want to go far away.

To a new life on a new shore line.
Where the water is blue and the people are new.
To another island, in another life."

-- Ingrid Michaelson