Observer's Log

Trip to Oklahoma!

2011-06-24T10:51:00.001-06:00

At the beginning of June, Dave & I went to Oklahoma to visit family & friends and to attend a shower thrown by Chris P. in our honor. It was such a fantastic time and the ladies that designed all the details for the shower did a fabulous job. CP, if you ever see this, thank you so much again for hosting!

Here are some pictures of the decorations and details. Apparently, my mom has been keeping them informed on the style/decor of the wedding because everything fit in soooo perfectly! They even sent me home with decorations and I am definitely planning on using them at the reception! Perfect!
I just adore this tablecloth (made by CP). I know it will see a lot of use in the days to come.

My mom and I with the ladies that made everything so beautiful!
Dave and his dad came to the end of the shower so they could meet everyone there. It was so great to show his parents around Norman and to have them at this special event!

There are so many pictures I would love to post, but this will have to do for now. :)

Garden 2011

2011-06-22T10:24:00.003-06:00

Hello Blogworld!

I am running so behind on all my blog posts, but things have been busy around here! This past weekend, I moved into Hanover, so I've been doing lots of packing, cleaning, and now unpacking. There are many perks to my new living situation, which I'm sure will be detailed in a later post. One thing that is not so good for gardening is that there are many big, old trees blocking sunlight in the backyard. So, I've kept my garden at the barn, so I will have many excuses to go back and visit! Here are some pictures from a few weeks ago after we first planted all the plants!

Here we have lettuce, carrots, radishes, peas, broccoli, swiss chard, fennel, brussels sprouts, cornichons, zucchini & green beans. I've just started harvesting some of my peas and had my first sugar snap pea last night while I was harvesting/watering.

These are my pots that are now at my new house, so that I have some herbs readily available when I'm cooking. We have parsley, lovage, rosemary, basil, catnip, arugula, a mustard mix & some matchbox pepper plants.

This is the part of the garden that I like to call "The Annex". Here we have chives, 2 types of basil, oregano, tarragon, bell peppers, cayenne peppers, thai chili peppers, and jalapenos in the left bed. On the right, there are various tomatoes, ground cherries, and tomatillos. You can see Mo trouncing about in the background. He already misses the barn and its abundance of land.

I was a bit ambitious with the seed planting this year. These are all the plants that didn't find a home in the garden. :(

More recently, my radishes have been growing like crazy. They've been super yummy. (Artsy photo creds to former barnmate and fellow gardener Meghan)

Last Sunset

2011-05-04T21:12:00.001-06:00

Live from...

2011-04-28T21:57:00.003-06:00

Kitt Peak, Tucson, AZ!

I'm out observing again. It's been great weather and even though I'm mostly awake at night, I've enjoyed the beautiful late afternoon sun of 31 degrees latitude.

When I come to Kitt Peak, I have to do a total change in schedule. I'm mostly isolated and only see engineers and other astronomers. I am always guaranteed some awkward interactions when I'm here. Let me tell you about my "days" at Kitt Peak right now.

2pm - Wake up, eat breakfast
2:30 - do yoga. I've found that yoga is a great way to exercise up here. I've tried to run, but the change in altitude (6000 ft here) and hilly terrain make my already pathetic running skills just embarrassing. So yoga is great.
3:15 pm - Free time/prep time. I usually use this time to walk around or just relax
5:15 pm - Dinner time. Oh, the KP cafeteria is the breeding ground for awkward conversations/silences. I love the caf, but sometimes it's like being back in middle school looking for a lunch table.
7:10 pm - Sunset and the beginning of my work night. After this, I just point the telescope at the objects that I'm interested in and work work work.
Midnight - Ah, time for night lunch. I take a small break to make myself some grub.
5:30 am - Sunrise. I close down the telescope and go to bed.

Then repeat this over 10 days. Very exciting, I know. :)

Here's a pretty pic of the telescopes at the top of the mountain.

I call this one Self Portrait #3.I made a little trip to the gift shop yesterday and couldn't refuse this uber-nerdy purple hoodie!

Spring?

2011-04-22T11:51:00.004-06:00

So, I had a few random pictures I wanted to share with my corner of the blogosphere and I realized the common thing among them was the ever-elusive spring.

It seems to me that spring is coming more slowly than usual to the upper valley. Maybe I was just fooled by last year's mild, short winter. Regardless, I am ready for some warmer weather and no snow flurries (like yesterday).

As I was exchanging some winter sweaters for t-shirts, Mo decided he would inspect my drawer. Just to make sure it was ready for my spring things. He loves crawling in any sort of enclosure-- bags, small closets, drawers.

Spring hasn't fully sprung in the upper valley, but my tiny sprouts are a welcome sight.

And even though spring isn't in the upper valley, it has hit Boston. Here's a pretty forsythia bush in Dave's neighbor's yard. There are also blooms on trees! So amazing! :)

Some great outfits

2011-04-11T14:44:00.007-06:00

There are definitely some great outfits on the Jess LC design your look challenge website. Here are some of my faves.
Credit to Kelly M., Heather B, Diane C, Anna May, & Lakin M (see their links at the voting website)

I think I just love the overall look of this one. I probably wouldn't go for the wedge heels, but like the dress and belt a lot.

I'm not for the bowtie, but I love that someone added a bicycle as an accessory.

I feel like this outfit is so wearable. Especially when you work in a super casual place like I do. Astronomers are casual to a fault.

Love the boat shoes! I love the leftmost column this picture. I've been wanting to revisit the one-piece swimsuit with all the really cute ones that they have J. Crew and elsewhere these days. Does anyone have any opinion of the slightly vintage looking one-piece trend?

In any case, looking at all these spring outfits has made me want to spring to be here in NH/VT even more. Hopefully we get some more beautiful days very soon!!

Don't Forget to Vote!

2011-04-11T13:58:00.004-06:00

Hey Blog Readers out there!

Don't forget to take a look at my spring look below and vote. The entries are in alphabetical order by first name and you can vote once before Friday. :)

Blog Giveaways are Great!

2011-04-04T10:21:00.004-06:00

So, I've recently discovered something called the "blog giveaway" where someone who blogs more often and more interestingly than me has a sponsor that gives away x amount of stuff through their blog. Well, on Friday, Meghan let me know about a great giveaway over at Jess LC. So, I've designed my "dream" outfit for the spring. This outfit is mostly based on this great striped knit blazer from J. Crew. So cute! In order to win the giveaway, though, people have to vote for my outfit starting April 11th at makeundermylife.com. So, vote for my outfit! I'll post a reminder to vote on my blog on the 11th.

Crafting!

2010-08-30T09:00:00.002-06:00

Recently, my friends John & Lindsay moved to Washington D.C. As a going away present for them, I did a little crafting. My inspiration came from the August (I think) issue of Martha Stewart Living. Gotta love Martha's ideas! I thought everything turned out great! I also have to give credit to Dave for suggesting that I stencil a word onto the bottom of the baskets. I originally just planned to paint them blue for some extra color, but his idea was much better (and more time consuming).

You could probably buy cute letter stencils pretty easily, but I wanted more font selection, so I made mine. I first printed them out on regular paper and then eventually cut them out of poster board. It definitely helps to use an x-acto knife or craft knife (as I like to call it).

In addition to the stenciling, I used rubber erasers (Martha's idea) and sponges to stamp cloth napkins. The picture shows the ones I stamped with different sized erasers.
I had so much fun making this gift for John & Lindsay that I think I'm going to have to make some for myself!

Tom Petty...still rockin!

2010-08-27T09:00:00.000-06:00

Dave & I recently saw Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in concert. It. was. awesome. Here are some pics from that night.

It's a shame that you can't see them in these pictures, but he was definitely wearing bright red boots to match his red shirt. I love it!
There were super cool lasers that you can see in this pic.
Dave & I struggled to get a good picture of the 2 of us, but here are a couple of us. ;)

Obviously, I was unaware that we were making silly faces for this one...

Melon Hammocks & Zucchini Overload

2010-08-25T10:18:00.002-06:00

I had a request for more illustration of the hammocks/slings I made for my canteloupes, so here is a lovely picture of one made by Dave. I am also very happy to report that I've had 2 delicious ripe canteloupes! Wahoo! Hopefully, more are on the way. :)

Also, here is a recent pic of some bounty from the garden including a wine bottle sized zucchini that I turned into delicious gingered zucchini marmalade on Monday night. I'll hopefully post some more about my canning adventures in the future!

Garden

2010-07-27T09:24:00.004-06:00

The garden is growing very nicely this year. It's been a much hotter, less rainy summer, which has been so great for my tomatoes, peppers and green beans. Here are some pictures of the garden and some of its yield. Some late broccoli...did I mention that I have green beans? Oh man, so many green beans in my future.
The hot weather has also been great for the canteloupe! It's basically taking its half of the garden as you'll see below.

Peppers....mmmm
I planted some different kinds of tomatoes this year: we have green zebras (above), sun gold cherries (below), black cherries, and some other type of golden heirloom tomato. I also planted tomatillos and ground cherries. I'm not exactly sure what the story is with these, but they are small and grow like a tomatillo, but they taste like pineapple! It is so cool, but weird. I'll post a picture of them soon.
That's about it for now. I feasted on these little tomatoes last night with some of my homegrown basil and some mozzarella. July is just so great....the hard work finally pays off! The best part is that I've seen these plants from seedling to bearing fruit and I know that no pesticides have ever touched them and they didn't have to be shipped across the country causing their nutrients to fade and lots of gas to be consumed. I think it makes it all just a little sweeter. :)

6 month Recap

2010-06-20T10:33:00.005-06:00

Well, yet again, it has been an obscenely long amount of time since I last posted. So, in this post I will attempt to recap the last 6 months of my life.

Probably the biggest change was that Dave & I adopted a kitten. His name is Mo and he is the most playful kitten/cat that I've ever met.

When we got him, he looked like this:
Now, he looks like this:

Truthfully, most of my photos of him look like this:
Winter was very mild this year and by the beginning of March, most of the snow was gone. Dave & I were able to take a chilly, but nice little canoe on the Connecticut by March 6 or something like that. Shortly thereafter, we went on a whitewater trip on the White River. The river won that day and we capsized our canoe in very cold water. We actually almost lost our canoe and belongings, but thanks to very nice people in Hartford, VT, we recovered all of our stuff. We've taken a bit of a hiatus from whitewater canoeing, but we'll be out there soon enough. There aren't any pictures from that day, but here's a picture of our lovely, uneventful 1st canoe of the year.

Dave & I also took a short trip to Puerto Rico over spring break. PR is very lovely, but we both agreed that Belize was cooler. PR does have the advantage of being a part of the US, so we didn't have to go through customs or pay any entrance/leaving fees. Flights are pretty cheap to San Juan, too. Here we are at Arecibo Observatory.
There aren't very many pictures from April & May because I was working really hard on my thesis proposal. I gave my presentation in mid-May and my committee grilled me for an hour afterwards, but I emerged victorious and am now "all but dissertation". wahoo!

It's officially hiking season, but we've only done one hike so far. Here we are with our friend Greg on top of Killington Mtn.
My cousin got married over Memorial Day weekend, so Dave & I made the trip out to Colorado where he got to meet a good portion of my family. It was a great weekend and the wedding was beautiful. He's also pretty hooked on spades, which is essential in my family. Here we are at the wedding:
Last weekend, we went to visit Mikki, Joe & Quinn. We had a great time playing Bananagrams & Bohnanza. We also went to a large-scale sculpture museum. I was so happy to meet little 3 month old Quinn, too! Here we are:
This weekend, Dave & I went over to Quincy, MA to check out a little bit of history. We went to the John Adams/John Quincy Adams birthplaces, as well as the house the Adams lived in later in their lives names Peacefield. Dave & I watched the HBO John Adams miniseries this past winter and enjoyed it a lot. Then, we realized we were only a short drive away from the places that the miniseries depicts, so we knew we had to check it out. The 2 birthplaces are basically just the houses that have been there since ~1680s, but Peacefield was lived in by 4 generations of Adams and is full of the original furniture, china, etc. The property also houses John Quincy Adams' library, which although not listed as a "Presidential Library" is technically the first library of books owned by a former president. This is me in front of Peacefield:

Other than those events, I've been baking a lot of bread. Dave got me a stand mixer for Christmas and it has made it so fun and easy to make delicious yeast breads. I'm also taking the King Arthur Flour baguette making class later this month. So excited!
I think that's about it for the past 6 months. I'll try to keep this updated more often than every 6 months, but no promises. :)

Christmas

2009-12-13T15:26:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm down in good ol' Natick for a little bit during the break, so I decided to put my tree up at Dave's house instead of at the barn. That way, we can enjoy it since I didn't really get around to putting it up until after the aforementioned oral exam. :) So...here's the Christmas cheer.
Some yuletide trimming...

I would like to also say that I'm very proud of the green bow in this picture. I watched this video on how to tie a pom pom bow on gifts and this was my first attempt. It turned out to be so cute!

Finally!

2009-12-03T16:52:00.002-06:00

I think most people have heard about my struggle with my qualifying exam, but it is over! I took my oral exam yesterday and I've officially passed. Only one more class and a thesis to go!

Canoe Paddle Carving

2009-10-24T19:47:00.002-06:00

This term I am taking a class on how to make a canoe paddle. It's been so fun, although last time I had little cuts in my thumbs from wood shavings. I decided to make my paddle out of black walnut, which is a pretty hard wood. This means that it will be very unlikely to break while paddling, but it's a little heavy. Mostly, I picked walnut because I thought it was incredibly beautiful. Here are the latest pictures. Basically, I'm at the point where I'm shaping the paddle blade which means using a spoke shave to round out the blade.

This picture shows the progress I've made on rounding out the blade, which is not that much.

A Smattering

2009-10-04T21:12:00.004-06:00

Well, I have again been delinquent in posting pictures to ye olde blog, but here are a few to catch up.

Dave and I went to see the Red Sox play the White Sox, which was so much fun. The red sox won, too! Bonus!

We've also done a bit of hiking. These are a couple pictures from the top of Mt. Mansfield, which is the highest peak in Vermont. We hiked this one about 2 weeks ago, so the trees were just starting to turn.

If you look closely, you can see Lake Champlain in the distance behind us.

These next pictures are from our hike of Mt. Cube, which we did today. This weekend is probably the peak foliage weekend, so we were very lucky to get some clear skies and good hiking weather. I'm sure you'll be able to see the change in the leaves! It was so beautiful. We hiked with 2 of my barnmates, Meghan & Sarah.

I lovermont!

2009-07-20T19:38:00.004-06:00

Some of the gang and I had the opportunity to stay at beautiful Lake Willoughby during July. Lake Willoughby resides in one of the most beautiful regions of the state of Vermont. I would argue it is one of the most beautiful regions in the US, but I haven't been everywhere. Paraphrasing from one of the maps found in our lovely home away from home, Lake Willoughby is the Vermonters' Vermont. Here are some long overdue pictures. :)

Dave and I after a little hike.
The view from the scenic lookout points along the hike.

4th of July

2009-07-06T08:57:00.002-06:00

Dave & I went out to his parent's house in Wisconsin this weekend for the 4th of July. We had tons of fun just hanging out on the lake in the non-rainy weather. Unfortunately, I hogged the camera too much, so we don't have any pictures of me getting bounced around on a tube or trying my best to water ski. The rest of the time I had too much food in hand to even think about a camera. :) Sounds like the 4th of July to me! Here are some pics from the weekend:

Koshka putting on her best face for the camera.

Dave doing some awesome water skiing.

The civil war cannon that was shot off in an anti-climactic puff of paper on the 4th. Apparently, the owner is only allowed to stuff the cannon with paper after the year that they used an actual cannon ball. The cannon ball flew over the entire lake to the opposite shore barely missing Dave's aunt's house in the process. whoops.

More water skiing.
I thought this was absolutely hilarious. This is the sign just after security in the airport in Milwaukee. I mean...just how often do you see the word "recombobulation" written on a sign.
I don't know what other word you would use for it, but I thought it was pretty funny. We were feeling pretty discombobulated, too, so we took full advantage of the area. This is Dave post-recombobulation.

How does your garden grow?

2009-06-22T20:24:00.005-06:00

As promised, more recent garden pictures. It's a little out of control, but I did some good weeding tonight. :)
Squash & Zucchini
Broccoli patch
a trio of fennel
Those little yellow things are baby squash! yay!
Quite a change from a couple weeks ago...

Garden!

2009-06-20T17:13:00.004-06:00

Well, it's been awhile, but my term is over so I finally have a little time to blog. Dave & I also managed to scrape enough time together to start a garden at the barn. Dave and Harjit (my landlord) built the lovely box that holds the garden. To the right, you'll see numerous pepper plants including green peppers and jalapenos and some okra, fennel and a couple cantaloupe plants. In front, there are zucchini and squash. On the left, we have tomatoes, broccoli & lettuce. Lastly, in the middle, there are onions, mint, basil, cilantro, rosemary, parsley & celery. mm mm...I can't wait for July!

We did have a lovely harvest of mesclun mix lettuce ready to go 2 weekends ago, so I've also attached a couple pictures of Dave & I enjoying the early harvest. Last weekend, we had more mesclun mix and the leaf lettuce was ready as well. We had so much lettuce that I took some to a friend's graduation bbq as a salad and took the rest with me to Natick where Dave & I ate delicious Vermont-grown lettuce all week. It was so yummy!

That's all for right now, but I'll post more garden pics soon. We just had a LOT of rain, so it looks so different now.

Belize Pictures

2009-04-06T08:31:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone,

Dave and I have returned from Belize. You can view our pictures on this slideshow or the original photobucket album, which is here. We had a great time and hopefully I'll have some time to post some stories that go along with the pictures. For now, enjoy the pics!

Pumpkins & Leaf Peeping

2008-10-12T19:56:00.006-06:00

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous weather here in the Upper Valley, so Dave and I took advantage of the beautiful weather with a midday canoe trip to get a good view of the peak leaf turning. We also showed our political affiliation with some pumpkin carving on Saturday during the OU/Texas game. Too bad the game didn't turn out how we would have liked, but the pumpkin carving was fun. We have another pumpkin, too, that I'll hopefully post a couple pictures of in the coming days.

I'm so glad the Obama campaign chose an easily carvable logo. :)
On the left in this picture is the Montshire Museum of Science where I've been volunteering at their preschool class on Wednesday afternoons. Dave has a collection of my beautiful artistic creations on his fridge from these classes. The kids are absolutely adorable. They're a lot of fun

The Barn!

2008-08-05T09:06:00.005-06:00

Bottom part of my room
Loft part of my room
Loft again
loft
loft
The barn...doesn't it look idyllic?
Dining area
Bar & Kitchen
Living Room
Downstairs part of my bedroom
Pics from the barnwarming party to come.

one more

2008-06-26T16:29:00.003-06:00

There was a pretty impressive thunderstorm last evening. I was able to get a shot of a rainbow just before sunset.

2008-06-25T02:58:00.003-06:00

So...there are clouds tonight. Boo!

A few more from KP

2008-06-24T15:19:00.002-06:00

Observing

2008-06-22T21:39:00.003-06:00

This week I started my first observing run at MDM observatory. In my free time, I've revisited some of the places on the mountain with nice views and found some new ones, as well. Observing is going well. It looks like we should have good weather for most of the run, which is great! Here are some pics from the mountain:

MDM is located on the southwestern ridge of Kitt Peak and is a little removed from the telescopes owned by NOAO. The pointer shows which telescope we're using. It's a 2.4m telescope, which means that the primary mirror has a diameter of 2.4 meters.
Kitt Peak was built on Native American land. As such, the administration for the site has to take much care to keep relations pleasant between the astronomical community and these native americans. There are many education/public outreach programs that specifically target the native american population. All this to say, the mountain seen in the background in this picture is what the Tohono O'odham have traditionally believed is the center of the universe. Maybe we've changed a few minds about this.
The dome in the foreground of the picture houses the telescope that I'm using. As you can see, the background shows the top of the mountain where most of the telescopes are located.
top o' the mountain again from MDM
I don't know why, but I really like the landscape in AZ. I think it comes from my love of cacti. :) This is just a nice view from the mountain.

Rope swings are fun! ...and so is canoeing.

2008-06-14T11:58:00.003-06:00

John Stuart and his friend Dan were in town this week checking out the bustling metropolis of the ol' Hanover. It was a great time. Their last day we went canoeing on the Connecticut River just down the road from my apartment. We paddled to a small island downstream and then went upstream to find some fun on a rope swing. Here are the pics:
John and Dan set off from the boathouse.
Here is my first time on a rope swing. Needless to say I was scared before jumping off this tree, but, after a little poking and prodding, I did it and was very glad afterwards. It was so much fun! Cred to J-Stu for this series of photos.

Dave and I on the oh-so-much easier downstream paddle from the rope swing back to the boathouse.

Quebec, je me souviens.

2008-06-05T19:58:00.002-06:00

With school out, I had to find some way to unwind. Sooooo....Dave and I met up with some friends in Jacques-Cartier National Park just north of Quebec City. It was absolutely beautiful! Here are some pictures.
Rendezvous #1 with our friends who were kayaking a different part of this river. This was not actually in the national park, but was a beautiful area in a "town". I don't know how these people actually get groceries without driving to Quebec City because we certainly couldn't find a grocery store or general store. Apparently, that's not a requirement for town in Canada. :)
This is on our hike in the national park along the Jacques-Cartier river.
The second day at the park, we did a 28 km canoe down the Jacques Cartier river that included 10 low class rapids. This is one of the shots I took in a flat part of the river.
For the second night of camping, we drove to a different national park and camped by a lake.
Dave and I in the old part of Quebec City. On the left is the castle overlooking the river. For the third day, instead of hiking through the woods, we hiked all over the old part of Quebec City. It was quaint, but the vendors were definitely catering to the "we want to be in Europe" tourists. It did have a European feel, though.

I thoroughly enjoyed Quebec. It was great to get to practice my French a little, as well. Quebec City is great, too, and has great access to beautiful camping. I can't wait to go back.

Sailing is fun!

2008-05-25T11:30:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of enjoying a beautiful New Hampshire day with some sailing. Granted, the water is still freezing(!!!), but the conditions were perfect for sailing. All I could have asked for was a little more sun. Here are some pics:

Readying the boats.
Dave and I poised to depart. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Beautiful New Hampshire. I'm beginning to think that enduring the winter will be worth it for the summer. And to think, this was only a 15 minute drive from my apartment.
the crew-1

I have to say that I really enjoy sailing. I might not have had such a pleasant experience had I taken a little swim like some of my friends, but I'll just be thankful for that right now. My body, however, is surprisingly sore from holding up my end of the bargain with that front sail. It was totally worth it, though.

Barack

2008-03-05T14:05:00.001-06:00

Ok, so I really don't have any time to comment, but I just want to share this video from last night.

Voting

2008-02-03T09:28:00.000-06:00

I guess I'd just like to encourage everyone to go vote on Tuesday, no matter your affiliation. However, if you're on the fence about who to vote for, let me offer my opinion and some of the reasons that I voted for Barack Obama.

When distinguishing between the democratic candidates (now mainly just Hillary & Barack), you must be picky because they agree for the most part on the big things. However, the little things can make all the difference. Let me just say that one of the main reasons I like Barack is his ability to inspire my generation. We've been labeled as politically apathetic when it comes to participating in government (which I think is not true), but for some reason Barack Obama has been able to energize more people my age than most politicians. This is an amazing feat, I think.

Also, most people cite Barack's "lack of experience" as the #1 thing that takes away his status as "ideal candidate", but I definitely look at this as a good thing. I would just encourage you to think about where "experience" has gotten us the past 8 years. Let's also remember that he is a senator. I know this is not the same as president, but it's not like he's never had any political experience. He's just not in the "in-crowd" of Washington so to speak. This, I think, is his biggest advantage. America absolutely needs change and I think he is the only candidate capable of unifying republicans & democrats in order to make this change.

As far as the issues go, you can look them up and compare between Hillary & Barack.

On the war in Iraq: Both Hillary & Barack want to end the war in Iraq, yet Hillary has never made any promises to bring our troops home. Barack outlines removing all our troops from Iraq in about 16 months of his taking office. Don't get me wrong, Hillary wants to remove lots of troops, but I've never seen her be very specific about this and that worries me.

This is obviously not an exhaustive list of all the reasons that I voted for Barack, but it's at least an introduction to some of the things about him that influenced my vote.

At the very least, though, I think we can all agree that it's time for a change. It's time for America to move past this "rule-by-fear" government that we have now and once again become a picture of hope & democracy instead of an image of war & greed for the rest of the world.

Top 10 ways to know you're not in New England anymore

2007-11-26T21:40:00.000-06:00

*I wrote this while I sat in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport waiting for my plane to take me to Oklahoma City. In general, these are not meant to be negative either for New England or for OK/TX. They are just some observations I made.*

1. Your aircraft controller is Mexican, not a big, burly white guy with a Boston accent.
2. There is western-style clothing in every store.
3. The TX/OK drawl is so thick it makes you wince, even though you were raised in OK.
4. People smile at you as you walk by.
5. People speak Spanish.
6. There's a tequila bar in the airport terminal.
7. There are restaurants that advertise "authentic SW flavor", not legal seafood.
8. People get excited about college football, not the Sox.
9. There are paintings of cowboys & indians, not Paul Revere.
10.There's one guy at the gate where you're sitting that actually commands the attention of everyone there with the stories of his travels. They're actually not that interesting, you see, but he's speaking sooooo loudly that you have to listen. (and he's not insane)

If you need a laugh

2007-11-08T11:47:00.000-06:00

After all the doom & gloom of the last post, I just want to say that I love Jerry Seinfeld.

What is the world coming to?

2007-10-26T12:33:00.000-06:00

I don't think I am surprised by the things politicians do these days, but in this clip Mitt Romney truly sinks to a new low. The "mistake" he makes by equating Barack Obama with Osama bin Laden is clearly not a real mistake. He literally starts to say Osama and corrects himself by saying Barack Obama. By saying Barack Obama's full name, he makes it even more obvious that this could not be just a mistake. Barack Obama does not equal Osama. Maybe you could slip with Osama and Obama, but not the full name. So...I'm not surprised, but I'm disgusted....just disgusted.

Homecoming Bonfire

2007-10-21T12:48:00.000-06:00

So, basically, Dartmouth knows how to do Homecoming even if they don't know how to do football. The big event of the weekend is the bonfire (think Texas A&M style). The structure, designed by Dartmouth engineering students and built by the "11's" (aka Freshmen), appeared on the green a few days prior to lighting. So the alumni come back to Hanover to crowd the streets and shops, see the leaves turning, and go to the bonfire (and maybe the game, heh) and the students take pleasure in watching the Freshmen run laps around the bonfire, while chanting 1 of 2 things: "Worst Class Ever" or "Touch the Fire". It is a spectacle. Here are some pics from my first Dartmouth Homecoming.

Putting the final touches on the bonfire structure.
Pre-lighting ceremonies. You know, singing the alma mater and such.
Huge Fire
For some reason, organizations hang posters on the bonfire, just for burning. Ironic, eh?
It was even raining this year.
pre-collapse waning

In the end, the engineers did a pretty nice job of making the structure fall in on itself. Yay fire! :)

2007-10-18T11:30:00.000-06:00

So, as usual, it's been awhile since I posted. BUT! Here are some pics from fall. Hopefully, there will be more to follow. messing around in the office
Jerod's second office.
for Devin: sunsizzle
trees turning
So, I read the other day that the weather vane is 6'8" tall. It doesn't look that big to me, though.

Things are still going well in New England, but school is (as usual) taking over my life. Only 5 more terms left. :) heh.

2007-09-20T20:06:00.001-06:00

It Pays to be a Student

2007-09-12T15:12:00.000-06:00

Tickets to the performance of Grammy-winning pianist Murray Perahia.
Regular People: $50
Dartmouth Students: $5

Hanover & Dartmouth

2007-09-12T09:07:00.001-06:00

Jerod and I have been trying to capture some pics of Hanover the past few days. It's been kinda tough, though, because it's been raining. Here are some of our attempts.

On "the porch"

Climbing out to "the porch"
walking to school
We're just a short walk away from the beautiful Connecticut River.
Our desks
The apartments
The Green
more Connecticut River

Last, but not least....the bustling Hanover business district

All in all, the past week has been fun. We've settled in quite nicely.

2007-09-09T20:33:00.001-06:00

Jerod and I were able to attend the first OU football game before we left for Dartmouth. It was awesome watching OU trample UNT. Go Sooners! Here are some pics from the game.

I think I took more pictures of the band than the actual football team. Oh well...what can I say? I think I'm a little biased. heh

The Trek

2007-09-06T22:05:00.001-06:00

Well, we made it into Hanover a couple days ago. It was a long long long journey, but I got to see some of the US that I had never before seen. It was an adventure of some sort, I suppose. All in all, though, I am glad to be in New Hampshizzle and I'm finally getting my apartment in some sort of order. I attempted to document the journey across half the US. The pictures are a little sketchy since they were take from the passenger seat of a budget truck, but they're here.
Photo creds must go out to my cohorts on some of these, so thanks Mom and Jerod.
A blurry view of the St. Louis arch.
On our way.
The budget truck was a little crazy at times.
somewhere in Illinois.
Indiana state line
Ohio definitely has the best state line.
Somewhere in Ohio.
Pennsylvania state line, I promise.Lake Erie somewhere in the distance.
New York state line.
Buffalo, NY
We decided to take a little side trip to Niagara Falls. It was pretty cool. I think we all regretted it just a tiny bit while we were driving on a snaky highway through Vermont in the dark, but it was fun.

Hour 2,357,899.2
So close, but first you have to shell out $30 in tolls to get through NY
New York

Vermont state line. hehrolling into Hanover.
It was a long 3 days, but it was fun in its own way. I guess.

New Car

2007-08-09T17:59:00.000-06:00

Bye Bye Penelope...:(

Hello Gwen!

Paris again. :)

2007-07-02T16:53:00.001-06:00

Here are some more pics from Paris. I've been having a splendid time here and will be here for another few days before heading to Rome. I'm about to go pick up my mom from the airport, so hopefully that will go smoothly. :)
Non-blurry picture of me in front of the Eiffel Tower. yay!
Part of a sculpture in the Pantheon sporting the motto of my soon-to-be home in New Hampshire. Live free or die.
Frederic Chopin's grave. I decided to post this picture because while we were there we ran into some American tourists. The daughter was reading aloud from her Rick Steves' guidebook about Chopin's grave, but had to stop to ask her mom how the name was pronounced. We all walked away in shame. I was especially sad.
La Bastille. This was very interesting. We were just walking and realized we were near the Bastille and so we decided to stop by. Little did we know that there was a huge LGBT party going on in the plaza. It was interesting and we stayed for a little bit. There was just a huge DJ and people dancing everywhere. I'd say it was a priceless experience. :)

Another shot of the people.

2007-06-30T03:20:00.001-06:00

Hello world!
Just a little update. I've left Vichy and was in the SW part of France for a few days with a friend. It was lots of fun. It is truly wine country. There were vineyards everywhere! Here are some pics from the trip:

The Bordeaux train station.
Pretty cool tower thing...don't know what it's called
Me with Bordeaux! I look superimposed in this pic. It's weird.
Aida and I outside the Bordeaux Opera house.
Cool spiral staircase in the Opera.
Castillon. This is the village where I stayed.
Gustave Eiffel designed this bridge in Castillon. pretty cool.
Me being a stereotypical French person at the super cool market in Castillon. :)
St. Emilion and some vineyards.
St. Emilion: the medieval village.

So....Right now I'm in Paris again and will leave for Rome next Saturday. I'm excited, but really really sad about leaving France. A month+ is definitely enough time to get used to a place. But...it will be nice to be home again. France just needs to become my home. :) Anyway...Stay tuned for exciting pictures and new visitors. ;)

Paris

2007-06-19T07:59:00.000-06:00

So, let me just say that I loved my weekend in Paris. Again, I did not want to come back to Vichy. We decided today that Vichy:France as Stillwater:Oklahoma. Pretty profound, eh? I'm glad there are lots of people for me to hang out with or else I would be pretty bored. Paris, however, was not boring. Here are some pics:

Metro stop. I thought it was cute.
The Louvre. We didn't go in, but it was cool from the outside.
This was the bowl of coffee I was served at a cafe when I didn't specify what size I wanted. Always specify the size.....
If you don't do anything else in Paris, go to the Opera Garnier. It is so beautiful. This is a hall in the building.
This is the Sacre Coeur. It's pretty cool. If you had to miss something, this would be it. ;)
The girls and I at a cafe near the Eiffel Tower. How amazing! We had rude waiter #1 at this restaurant.
We were kinda bummed that it started raining when we were at the Eiffel Tower, but once it stopped and this double rainbow appeared, we weren't complaining. It was so beautiful.
This needs a little cropping, but I think it's great. This is from our boat on the Seine.
C'est moi! This was my pic of me at the Palais Royale. The trees are cut so cute.
Notre Dame et moi.

Paris is amazing. Anytime anyone wants to go, just call me. :)

Food & St. Tropez & Food in St. Tropez

2007-06-10T11:40:00.001-06:00

We went to St. Tropez this weekend and it was soooooo nice. None of us wanted to go back to Vichy. :) Mostly, we don't want to go back to class. Oh well...Here are some pics.

This is one of the many pastry and bread shops that are everywhere. mmmm....so good
This is me at the port at St. Tropez. We spent the whole day on the beach and it was awesome.
We took a boat from Ste. Maxime to St. Tropez (they're just across the bay from each other) and this is me on the boat. The water was so amazingly blue.
This is where we spent the day. A restaurant rented umbrellas and chairs and so we all got chairs. Then, when we were hungry, we went up to the restaurant and had some food. 'Twas awesome.
This was my yummy Cannelloni that I had at the restaurant on the beach. These pics are just for you, Mikki!

Top 10

2007-06-07T09:29:00.000-06:00

Top 5 most annoying things about living in Vichy
1. Ali: This is probably going to sound very rude, but there's a man that goes to school with us and lives in the same dorm that is incredibly annoying. He is harmless, but the cultural divide between American women and Pakistani men combined with personality conflicts can make for a very interesting conversation. He has been so condescending to us, but I think that he finally understands that we just don't want to talk to him anymore.
2. Dog poop on all the sidewalks: Apparently, the French don't really care if their dog poops on the sidewalk. You have to be very careful where you step.
3. Everything closes at 8 and is not open between 12 and 2. That's not too bad, but it take some getting used to.
4. Being in French class for 4 hrs. and 45 min. most days. Monday mornings we start late and we don't have class on Wednesday afternoon. We're in class for 3 hrs. and 15 min. in the mornings and I think that in America they would teach us the same amount in about an hour.
5. Rain: Normally, I'm not opposed to the rain, but when you have to walk everywhere, it can get annoying. I think it has rained everyday except one while I've been here.

OK, now i'm done complaining. Time for the good things.

Top 5 great things about being in Vichy
1. I'm in France. I really do love French culture. Even though it's inconvenient for things to close early, I'm really glad that French people love their leisure time and wouldn't give it up to make some more money.
2. There are pastries every two feet. Just picture walking down the streets of Seattle and imagine how many Starbucks you will see. Now, just change that to France and bakeries (Boulangeries). You get the idea. ;)
3. The people I have met from OU and other places are amazing. I would not be able to make it without them! New friends are great!
4. Being able to communicate with people from Korea, Japan, Brazil, Viet Nam, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany etc. etc. The language school here is truly international and it's great to hear about everyone's country.
5. Europeans know how to conserve everything....space, resources....it's crazy. I love being part of a culture that is not focused on consuming at a ridiculous rate.

Blogger is being stupid and won't let me upload photos, so I'll have to do it next time. :(
Stay tuned.

Short Update :)

2007-05-30T09:29:00.000-06:00

Well, I made it to France. It's so beautiful, which is not surprise. I love the town that I'm living with and luckily there are lots of OU kids that are really great. :) Here are some pictures from around town.

This was the view from the Gare de Lyon (train station) in Paris.
This is the timetable at Gare de Lyon.
This is my dorm room. It's so much better than the OU dorms. I even have a little burner. :)
This is the view from my dorm room. Vichy is so cute. C'est mignon.
This is the view of one of the churches in Vichy. It's really a beautiful town.
I promise to post more later!
Au Revoir!

g-r-a-d-u-a-t-i-n-g woo!

2007-05-08T22:18:00.000-06:00

So I'm graduating. It's weird because I really don't feel like I know enough to have a BS in astrophysics. Crazy! Anyway...here's a couple end of year pics from Crimson Club Senior Night. We had fun with Papa B.

End of Year

2007-04-26T22:17:00.000-06:00

So...it's been too long since I've posted. This is the quintessential story of my blogging life. I blog when I feel I have something to blog about. This time, though, I don't really have anything to blog about. This might be a bit boring. :) It's really unbelievable that I only have 11 days left in my OU career. It's quite surreal, actually. OU has been my home for many years and I love the university. The color green will never top my Sooners. Anyway...My life is going to be very different in just a few months, but I'm excited. It will be good to experience other cultures and meet new people. I will miss the old people, too, but I will see them. Just not as often. Anyway...no more blathering on. I will put up some fun, random pics.
1. me at White Sands Nat'l Park
2. Batman...I'm someone in there.
3. looking like i'm doing something productive out at Kitt Peak. In reality, I was trying to put a sign in front of the webcam at the 2.1m. It gets a little boring waiting for it to get dark in the summer in AZ. hehe
4. me and chewie back at Adams
5. Finally I can put this picture up! This is when Mikki went shopping for her dress. I had to keep it stashed away for a long time, so Joe wouldn't see. :)

Dartmouth

2007-04-01T21:54:00.000-06:00

Well, I got back from Dartmouth yesterday. It was a great trip except that our flight out of Chicago was canceled because of the weather. Nonetheless, a few hours and $60 later, we made it back to OKC. Here are some pics of Hanover and Dartmouth.

Look! They have a lacquered stump, too. I read the plaque, but I don't remember what it said.

This is Jerod in front of a building at Dartmouth. I don't remember what it's called.

These are the graduate student apartments. I would probably live here my first year.
This is me being silly in front of their observatory. The sky looks pretty nice in Hanover. Much better than Norman, that's for sure.
Here's Jerod in front of the Physics and Astronomy building....this just might be my future home. :)

This is Jerod in front of "The Green" and Baker Library.
Some random buildings on campus. I don't remember what they were.

more from Mikki's wedding

2007-03-27T11:55:00.000-06:00

Hola!
So.....Blogger is being stupid and won't let me upload pics right now. My photobucket account has all my pictures from her wedding, so here's the link

food is good

2007-03-26T20:15:00.000-06:00

awkward

2007-03-25T23:02:00.000-06:00

quite possibly the best picture of us...ever

more pics to come

Relief

2007-01-31T23:24:00.000-06:00

1 down, 10 to go!

I just found out that I was admitted to Indiana University's grad school!

It is such a relief to know that I will be going somewhere!

Seattle

2007-01-13T19:36:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone!
I hope everybody had a nice holiday season and that 2007 is shaping up nicely. I just went to Seattle for the most recent installation of the American Astronomical Society meeting. Some of you may have heard about it through the popular news, but all you would have heard about is Mars. Funny how all the interesting astronomical news for the public is about the moon or mars. Why can't it ever be about cataclysmic variable stars? They're much more interesting in my opinion. :) Anyway...School is starting soon and I've inevitably found myself with nothing to do. This is partially due to the ice that is currently prohibiting my going anywhere, except for the post office. I tragically discovered yesterday that I needed to mail my officious "statement of intent" to the Ohio State astronomy department, so that I might be able to go to grad school there. It definitely made for an interesting morning. It took 20 minutes to scrape the ice off of my car and the first 5-10 minutes were spent trying to pry one of my doors open. I certainly love Penelope, but Camaros are not very good in the snow. I don't speak of the driving part, now, but the fact that the front and rear windshields are more horizontal than vertical. 'Twas truly brutal. Enough complaining....Seattle was most certainly a fun time. Here are some oh so awesome pics (again, in my opinion). Oh yes, I must mention my joy at being almost completely done with grad school apps. 8 down, 3 to go. I am ecstatic. Now for being accepted....anyway...here's some explanation of the pics.
1. Me being overly excited about my poster making it to Seattle. I was a bit paranoid.
2. The Space Needle
3. Me holding on for dear life at the front of the ferry that we took to Bainbridge Island. It was awesome, but very very windy.
4. This time from the back of the ferry. Lovely Seattle in the background.
5. My very dapper boyfriend
6. Rachel and I looking engaged in scholarly conversation. We were probably just talking about how I like the color of her poster. :) Thanks to Shaye for the pic.
7. The Kitt Peak Gang...minus Shaye (again thanks for the pic) Too bad we weren't sportin' the blue and tan
8. A serendipitous encounter with my building.
9. The infamous life size model of J-dub (JWST).

Snow Day Part Two

2006-12-03T10:26:00.000-06:00

Well, The first snow day was pretty dreary. It was fun, though. It consisted of my roomie and I watching lots of movies in our pajamas and then going and playing in the snow and then watching some more movies. It was very relaxing! The second day, though, was lots and lots o' fun. Jerod and I went sledding with Mikki and Joe. Here are some beautiful pics from sledding.

2006-12-01T01:53:00.000-06:00

Yay for snow day!
Here are some pics of my roommate and I!

2006-11-01T15:51:00.000-06:00

Want this badge?

yay Halloween!

2006-11-01T07:18:00.000-06:00

Hey! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been busy. I promise to post more after I take the physics GRE. Anyway...here are some pictures from the Halloween party last night.
1. Some profs checkin' out the food and the flame tube. Interestingly enough, we just had standing waves on the flame tube until the profs got there and one of them hooked it up so that it would change with the music. It was awesome!
2. Jerod and I...we couldn't get closer because of my costume haha!
3. Devin as Hunter S. Thompson standing by the flame tube
4. Me as Abell 39
5. Me with the Abell 39 poster...hehe Yay Planetary Nebulae!

2006-09-16T17:33:00.000-06:00

we were robbed.

Yay for Football Season!

2006-09-10T09:20:00.000-06:00

Well, I went to my first football game for this season and it was definitely a good one. Well, we could have played better, but we won, so it's ok. Most importantly, I had a fun time hangin' out with Randi and Mark and my mom and my family from Arizona and Chicago and pride peeps......Long story short, it was a rockin' good time. hehe...This weekend has been great, except for the lack of studying/work i've gotten done. It will be ok, though. I'll get it done. I hope everybody has a great week!
pics:
1. the glorious stadium
2. Eric and I
3. mellies are the best: Jacob, Elaine, Josh, and I
4. the fam

Dentists stink!

2006-09-05T22:50:00.000-06:00

Well, I suppose I procrastinated too long on this one. The dentist appointment, I mean. Today, I went to the dentist to get 3 cavities filled that they had found before I went to Arizona this summer, but I didn't have time to get them filled before I left. I paid for it today, though. It was probably one of the worst experiences ever. I think I am more motivated to go above and beyond the dentist recommended brushing 2 or 3 times a day with flossing at some point. I think I shall try to get back in the habit of doing a fluoride rinse every night. It's not that hard. Just gotta keep thinking about the amount of discomfort I experienced this afternoon. It's really not that it hurt, but just that people were jamming things like drills and needles in my mouth while I was aware of it. ugh! no more cavities!

Other than that, I had a good day, but an even better weekend. My cousin Billy and his wife Carin and their 7 month old son Benjamin came for a visit this weekend. We had lots of good food, good playing and fun shopping. I got to watch part of the football game with Benjamin and we had a great laugh while he ate. He was so hilarious. Granted, I can see how trying to hit a moving target with sweet potatoes would be a bit frustrating if I had to do it everyday, but just this once it was pretty funny. I'll attach some pics of Benjamin. so cute! We all went shopping on Monday and had yummy yummy Pei Wei. If you haven't been there, send me an email or call me and lets go! It's owned by the same people that own PF Chang's if you've ever been there, but this is cheaper. Still good, though. :)

School is going well. I'm less busy with schoolwork, but more busy with research. That is ok with me, though. I would much rather be doing research stuff than the ole H-dub. Classes are good. Quantum is pretty ridiculous, though. It's hard material explained in a not so clear fashion. Never a good combination. I need to start spending more quality time with my book. Hopefully that will help the situation. Well, I must go to bed.
Pictures:
1. Benjamin and I havin' fun rolling around on the floor. He likes to do that a lot.
2. My new compy! woo!
3. A picture of me taken with my compy's cool built-in camera! Double-woo!
4. Benjamin rolling around on the floor almost under the bed.

Hola everyone!

2006-09-02T08:33:00.000-06:00

Well, if you didn't know, I'm back in Norman. School has started and is actually going really well. I need to start getting ready for the GRE, though. I've been procrastinating! Anyway...In other exciting news, I got a new computer and am currently composing this post on the blogger widget. I didn't even have to open firefox or anything. I now have two apples. I desktop and a laptop and I love them. woo! anyway...I'll try to post more often.

Fruit of my Labor

2006-08-04T17:21:00.000-06:00

So it's getting to be the end of the summer. It will most definitely be a bittersweet moment when I go home. I'm definitely excited to go home, but I am sad to leave my friends here in Tucson. I will also miss Tucson to an extent. Yes, it was hot, but they actually have whole foods grocery stores here. I've only been to Wal-Mart twice or something this summer. woo! It was also nice to be around so many astronomers. Everyone here is thinking astronomy and it's just cool. Well, I'm attaching a radial velocity curve. This is what I've been doing all summer. It basically plots all of the line centers of the spectral emission lines against the phase that the system is at when the spectrum was taken. This one has the sine curves for all of the lines that I dealt with this summer. It's nice and pretty! There are more of these, but they're the same idea. Hope you like it! :)

Hello!

2006-07-28T00:17:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! It's been awhile since I updated. Sorry! anyway...Things are starting to wind down here at NOAO. It's crazy! I can't believe the summer just flew by! Before I know it, school will be starting! agh!!!!! anyway...I've still been having lots of fun. I went to San Diego one weekend and then this past weekend Jerod came to visit! We had so much fun. We went to dinner and a movie (btw, I would recommend Lady in the Water). We also went with some people to a cave just outside of Tucson. It was really nice because the whole cave was 70 degrees all the time. It was a nice break from the 102 Tucson weather. I've also been observing! It was so much fun! We got to observe on the 2.1 meter telescope at Kitt Peak. We all got 4 nights of observing time. I got two nights using the Infrared Imager named SQIID (pronounce: squid) and then another two night using the GoldCam Spectrograph. I really had fun using GCAM and I think I got some useful data of planetary nebulae to take back to OU. woo! We had a couple nights of clouds, but there was beautiful lightning to keep us happy. haha.
Pictures:
1. sunset from the 2.1 m catwalk
2. a storm about to eat the 4 m from the 2.1 m catwalk
3. me with the San Diego skyline
4. the 2.1 m telescope
5. me filling the dewar on GCAM with liquid nitrogen...yay liquid nitrogen! :)

Lots of stuff!

2006-07-11T00:38:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! I'm sorry it's been awhile since I posted, but we were gone all last week to Sunspot, NM. Sunspot is a small mountain astronomy community where they study the sun. We got to hang out with all the Sunspot REU kids and it was fun. We spent the 4th of July there and saw some fireworks, but the fireworks were less impressive than the lightning that was going on on the opposite side of the sky. While we were in New Mexico, we got to tour the VLA (Very Large Array). This is the radio astronomy facility featured in the movie Contact. It was lots of fun, but we were all really worn out from all the driving around. This week, the Sunspot kids are in Tucson and we're touring the Large Binocular Telescope. Lots of fun, but not lots of productivity. I can't believe it's already the second week in July. crazy! I don't feel like I've done enough on my project, but oh well. It's getting there.

We also went to the Grand Canyon. It was so much fun! It was beautiful and it was really nice to be in the cool air for awhile. I'll provide some pictures here, but follow this link to see all my pictures.
We stayed at a hostel in Flagstaff and it was so nice. Flagstaff is really beautiful and I've decided I need to get hired at the observatory there. :)

So now we're back in Tucson and trying desperately to work hard and get everything finished that we need to do. It's hard to go back to 9 to 5 work after a week off. :) Still having lots of fun, though. hehe
pictures: 1. me sitting on the railroad tracks that they use to move the radio antennae around on at the VLA
2. Myra and I being silly at the Grand Canyon
3. The 5 of us in a tree at the Grand Canyon
4. Sunset at the Grand Canyon
5. The highway up to Sunspot, NM...this is significant because it is the wavelength of a transition of Hydrogen. H-alpha...if you know what I mean...

Swimmin' and Desert Museum

2006-06-25T12:11:00.000-06:00

Just a quick update! Yesterday, we had so much fun at a pool party and the desert museum. The desert museum showcases plant and animal life that is native to the Sonoran Desert. We saw lovely fluorescent scorpions, as well as lots of cacti and some really cool hummingbirds. There were also beavers and otters, too, although I'm not quite sure how those live in the desert. There was a cactus garden even though there was cactus all over the place. It was so much fun. Well, that's all the excitement. Here's a pic of me kissing a teddy bear cactus. :)

2006-06-22T20:08:00.000-06:00

Here are pics from dancing.

Hiking and more!

2006-06-22T20:02:00.000-06:00

Hello! It's been awhile, but I'm still here and having plenty of fun! This past weekend we went to Sabino Canyon for a nice 3 hour hike. It was beautiful and I'll include pictures, but it was too long. hehe...I'm a wimp in this hot weather. That was Saturday and then, on Sunday a group of went to see Cars and then we all cooked manicotti together. It was sooooooo yummy. I have to say, though, I was disappointed in Cars. Pixar has yet to falter greatly in my eyes, but Cars is their worst movie to date. While there were moments of hilarious wit and irony, there were also moments that were way too sentimental, like the whole middle of the movie. Even the kids were bored. I could tell because they were all screaming. Then it was back to work during the week. Last night, we went to this place called the Women's Club of Tucson for a dancing lesson and more dancing after that. Pictures are attached. :) Other than that, I've just been working. It's been kinda frustrating because the program that I am using wasn't working, but today I figured out the problem and can once again move forward! yay!

Night #2 on Kitt Peak

2006-06-11T03:45:00.000-06:00

Pictures! yay! Picture #1 is of the WIYN 3.5 meter telescope that we've been observing on. I think it's really nice and that even the dome is pretty stylish. hehe Picture #2 is the telescope itself. Picture #3 is sunset from the dome. Picture #4 is the detector we've been using named HYDRA. Picture #5 is a view of the peak from WIYN at sunset. It was really nice out there. Well, we're nearing the end of observing run #2. It's been going really well and tonight I got to learn how to reduce spectra from HYDRA. pretty cool...it's good for me to learn, so it's cool. ummm...so there was a request for more information on Room 27. Room 27 is the room where all of the REU students from KPNO and also NSO (National Solar Observatory) work everyday. It just has computers that we work on all day doing our projects. The whole deal with decorating it was that we thought it was pretty stark and hospital-like, so we decided we would spruce it up a bit. anyway...so that's the DL on room 27. It's our collective office. I'm starting to get pretty tired and I think I will not be making much sense if I keep writing, so I think I will try and catch my third wind. hehe

observing, part 2

2006-06-10T02:48:00.000-06:00

So this is lovely Room 27 after we decorated. Already, a strong rapport has been built within the group. So much so that we've dubbed ourselves PSI (Problem Solving Institute). It's pretty heavy duty. Our motto is "PSI: where any problem can be solved" haha!

These are from a Mexican food restaurant that we went to one night. It was pretty good. I have yet to Mexican food as good as we have in Norman, but oh well. I'll live. So in the first pic (of everyone) we have (L to R) Rob, Matt, Myra, Shaye, Stephanie, and Casey. Yes, that is a sooners hat that Casey is wearing. I was very excited to find out that he was a sooners fan. Much better than any of the alternatives. hehe...It makes this place feel a little more like home. :) To further instill the Oklahoma pride in room 27, we hung an Oklahoma flag. yay! It hangs right above Casey's and my computer. wahoo! The other picture is Myra and Shaye at the mexican restaurant. Well, so we're observing and I do have internet access. wahoo! so...what else has happened this week? I've been reducing spectra, which is tedious, but will yield good results, so it's worth it. The food here is not as bad as I thought it would be, but it's still bad. The observations have actually not been going so well. With a first go at the reductions, it's not really looking like we're going to get much. :( so sad. that's ok, though. I think this is good experience anyway. but...yeah...so Shaye and I decorated Room 27, so it's looking a little better. Everything is kinda falling down now, but we're going to rectify the situation soon. :) well, that's about it. I'll post some pics of Kitt Peak as soon as I can. It will probably be tomorrow night or something. We still have two more hours of observing to do and I'm starting to get tired. no bueno!

observing

2006-06-09T14:14:00.000-06:00

just a quick update. I'm going observing this weekend, so I will not have cell phone access. Just wanted to let everyone know. I think I will have internet access. we'll see. If I do, I will post more pics and stuff about Kitt Peak. yay! I'm so excited about observing!

The first weekend

2006-06-05T00:39:00.000-06:00

Well, the first weekend in Tucson is coming to a close. I had lots of fun hanging out with the REU kids and just getting to know Tucson a little better. Everyone can rest assured that it is still blazing hot around here. Just tonight a few of us were walking back to the dorm and noting how cool it felt. (FYI: the bank around the corner said 92 degrees). We all felt like we were going crazy to think that 92 was pretty cool. crazy!
Today I got to tool around Tucson with my friend Jackie. She's one of the people that does PNe stuff and I roomed with her in Hawaii. I thought it was really nice that she was in Tucson and we got to hang out. We went around and looked at some houses and ate at a place called Beyond Bread which is like Panera, but better. Then we went to the San Xavier Mission. It was a really ornate, pretty old Catholic church. It was really cool, but the highlight of the trip was definitely the Native American frybread burritos and the prairie dog that was trying to get some of our burritos. He was a very brave prairie dog, but we didn't feed him.
hmmm...let's see other highlights of the weekend...On Friday night, I had dinner and watched a movie with two other PNe people that I met in Hawaii. We watched Serenity, so that was fun. I found an organic foods market that I can go to and I played putt-putt at a really sketchy mini-golf course. I was definitely glad to be in a nice group of people. One of the guys took pictures. I'll try to get them and post them. :) Well, that's about it, so off to bed. By the way, these are pictures of my dorm room. It's a typical dorm room, but it's home for the summer. :) well, Goodnight!

It's Official

2006-06-02T00:33:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm officially an employee of the NOAO (National Optical Astronomy Observatories). It's a nice feeling. This is my cool new ID card that lets me in to all the secret places around NOAO. I have 24/7 access. haha...anyway...My first day went really well and all the other REU kids are awesome. There's even one guy that's from Edmond. It really is a small world. We even figured out that we have a mutual friend. crazy! On another note, it is definitely blazing hot here. But...it's a dry heat. :) Let me just tell you, it's already in triple digits and I don't really care if it's a dry heat, it's freakin' hot. oh well...I'll just hole myself up in Rm. 27 of the NOAO building. That's the drab, computer-filled room that the REU students have been assigned to. I'll try and take a picture tomorrow. It's really bad. We'll try to spruce it up a bit. :)
For those of you who are astronomically inclined, I'll provide a little explanation about what I'm actually going to be doing this summer. Basically, I'm looking at data from 6 cataclysmic variables. These are close binary star systems that consist of a white dwarf (a very small, massive star) and a less massive companion (like a K or M star). My advisor, Steve, has taken data and plotted the radial velocity curve of one of our stars and has seen something rather interesting. There is a difference in the radial velocity curves when you look at them in different ways. This is not something expected, so we're going to try and determine why they look different and if this difference is true for all of our systems. This is important because these r-v curves help us determine the masses of each star and other things as well. I'm really excited because this is really new and we really just don't understand what is going on. Steve told me that if I got really ambitious I could even be first author on the paper that will come from this project. That's really exciting, so hopefully I will work really hard and figure some stuff out so we can pull it off. anyway...Sorry if this is confusing, but it's good for me to put it into words. It helps me identify what parts I'm not exactly understanding. anyway...Steve is really cool and is really helpful. He's also not too clingy, which is nice. He basically told me about the project and then said "you're a researcher, so you can organize the project however you want". This was a little intimidating, but nice at the same time.
Other than that, I've just been hanging out with the REU kids. We've been planning what we'll do with our weekends. So far, I think we're going to go to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and maybe even Los Angeles. Next weekend, we're going to venture to Phoenix to see the D-backs play the Mets. Small steps first. :) Well, it's off to bed for me. Goodnight!

Here, finally!

2006-05-31T17:39:00.000-06:00

This is the entrance to The Shed which has authentic "New Mexican" food. :) It's really spicy and yummy!

Well, I'm settled in my dorm room, now and I dropped my mom off at the airport this afternoon. So...I'm all alone in Tucson. I still don't feel like I'm staying here the whole summer. I'm really excited, but it just hasn't sunk in, yet. Some of the other people in the program are here now, though, and I think I will go out to dinner with some of them. Anyway...Here are some of my pics from the past few days. These are from Santa Fe. I'll post some from Arizona soon.

En Route

2006-05-28T16:06:00.000-06:00

Everybody Everybody!
We're still on our way to Tucson. No, it doesn't really take this long to get there and no, we didn't get lost in Nebraska. We've just been making our merry way throughout the southwest. We went to Santa Fe for two nights and shopped and went to the Georgia O'Keeffe museum and had great "New Mexican" cuisine. Then we drove another 8-ish hours to Mesa, Arizona and are having a wonderful time with my uncle and aunt and adjusting to the roasting weather. It's great, though. I'll post pictures as soon as I buy a card reader for my camera because somehow I lost my USB cord that hooks up to the digi digi. anyway...Hope everyone is doing well and is keeping cool!

Hello World

2006-05-23T13:10:00.000-06:00

Hello!