Italy Days 1 & 2 - Rome

 Sites Seen

Vatican Museums

These include a gigantic collection of art and sculptures. The buildings themselves are as pretty as the art. The tour ended at the Sistine Chapel. It was cool to see something so famous, but, honestly, after seeing all of the other ceilings, it didn't seem too special.

St. Peter's Square and Basilica
I wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing this, but it was actually really impressive.The basilica was so huge and ornate.

Trevi Fountain 

Villa Borghese/Borghese Gallery
This art gallery within a mansion is located in a giant park. We had to check our bags, so I didn't have my camera with me, but here's a picture of the gallery I found online.

Spanish Steps 

Colosseum
We paid for a guided tour of the Colosseum, and it turned out to be well worth the money. Our guide was a stereotypical "macho" Italian (I'm sure it was mostly an act), and the tour was hilarious as well as informative.

Palatine Hill/Roman Forum
To me, this area is what I always thought of when I imagined Rome (other than the Colosseum, of course). I loved looking at all of the ruins.

Pantheon
I had no idea that the Pantheon has been turned into a church. It was cool to see, but the most interesting thing was the protest going on outside. Based on the pictures they were holding, we think it might have been an anti-vasectomy protest?? 

 (Also found online)

Piazza Navona

Lessons Learned

•  If someone offers to take your picture for you, don't let them, unless they look like a tourist, too. We ended up paying over $10 for 2 stupid Polaroids. Ah, well. 
• The street names in Rome are on the buildings, not on signs. 
• Don't linger too long at the posted outside menu of a restaurant unless you want to be forced to a table.

 Favorite Memories

• Enjoying our first big Italian meal, complete with complimentary limoncello, biscotti, and a rose for me.
• Eating our lunch on the Spanish steps. We finished seconds before guards told another couple that there was no food allowed. 
• Stepping off the Metra and seeing the Colosseum right there in front of us.

Catching Up

Wow, so much has happened since I last posted. The last three weeks have been CRAZY but very fun. Of course, I have a lot to post about our Italy trip, but I don't want to forget the things that happened before that. So, a quick recap.

1. Mom and Dad visited. I mentioned this before, but I didn't get to post this picture or talk about the awesome time my mom and I had getting pedicures, going shopping, and doing Pinterest crafts while my dad was at his conference. I loved getting to spend so much time with her. 



2. I got a job TAing summer school. This was a huge relief, as I was unsure for a while whether I would have any job this summer. I'm excited about meeting a new group of students in June. 
3. The school year ended. This was very bittersweet. I was definitely ready for summer. But, most of my classmates graduated and are moving away. So, there were many end-of-year get-togethers. And, since I was never really sure if a certain get-together would be the last time I would see people, there were many, many goodbyes.

Making joomok bap, a yummy Korean dish, at Narae's baby shower. I, obviously, just followed directions from the true Korean chefs.

My MATESL classmates: Cassandra, Jenna, Mica, and Katy. Mica's sticking around with me next year (yay!).

I messed something up, and now it won't let me change the number on the next item to 4. Just pretend, ok?

1. My little brother graduated from college. How can he be a grown-up? It was so great to see all of my family, including grandma, aunts, and frousins (and especially little Samuel). While I was in Abilene, I was able to eat breakfast and enjoy a wonderful chat with my friend Laura, which is always a treat.

Matthew, Amy, Samuel, Darby, me, Matt, Tori, Hannah

April Books

Halfway Heaven: Diary of a Harvard Murder by Melanie Thernstrom
This is the true story of a murder-suicide that happened at Harvard in the mid-90s. Both the victim and the murderer were female international students. The author explores the isolation that many international students experience when they come to the U.S., which is interesting to me as an ESL teacher, and exposes how ill-prepared Harvard was to handle serious mental illness. It was very sad, obviously, but a worthwhile read.

Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans
I recently started reading Rachel's blog and wondered how I had gone this long without reading her. Her thinking on faith-related issues is very similar to mine. Plus, she's a great writer and very funny. This memoir is about her journey from the fundamentalist certainty of her childhood through doubt to a new kind of faith. I could relate very well to her story (although my upbringing and college experience weren't as extreme), and I found this book very encouraging. I'll probably do a separate post about it in the future.


The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
I picked up this book on a whim and wasn't too impressed by it. It is the story of a lonely, twice-divorced middle-aged man, the relationships he forms, and how all of those people eventually become interconnected. The author is very skilled at writing in several different voices, but I just couldn't connect to the characters.


The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
I've loved all of Atwood's books that I've read, and this one did not disappoint. Like many of her other books, this one has an unreliable female narrator, and Atwood keeps you turning the pages with her gradual revelation of  key details of the story. I can't say much about the plot without giving some of the surprises away, but it's set in a cult-like dystopian U.S. in the near future (technically now the past, as this was published in 1986). Very thought-provoking.

The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball 
If I had to pick my favorite genre of book, it would be memoirs about food. So, of course, I loved this story of a city girl who falls in love with a farmer and rehabilitates a run-down farm with him. They had a dream to establish a "whole diet" CSA (a farm that provides its paying members with all of the food they need, including meat, grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, etc.), and it's amazing the amount of work they put in to realize that dream. Almost made me want to move to a farm (except for all the passages describing how they slaughtered pigs or castrated bulls). Even if you don't completely buy in to the local foods movement, this book will encourage you to be intentional about the way you spend your time and the products you buy.

Things worth bragging about

This was a great week for the Hewitt/Anderson family.

On Wednesday, Darby passed his preliminary exam. This was a major step towards his Ph.D., and I'm so proud of all the work he put in. There's no rest for the weary, though, as he has to prepare for a conference he's leaving for in a week.

Mom and Dad came into town on Tuesday night. Dad had a conference in Chicago, and Mom came along to hang out with Darby and me. This morning, we all got up early to cheer on Dad as he ran the Illinois marathon. This was his fourth marathon, and he did awesome. It was a lot of fun cheering him on. Running a marathon is definitely a big accomplishment, but we all had to laugh when Dad told us about a woman who yelled at the runners, "You're all heroes!" That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but we're all very proud of him. :)

Me gusta chocolate

I'm taking a Spanish conversation class this semester. The theme for this week's chapter is "Coffee and Chocolate." Awesome, right? Anyway, the class is almost all girls and the discussion about chocolate today was one of the most lively we've had all semester. Here's about how it went (translated into English, of course):

Teacher: What's your favorite way to eat chocolate?
Student 1: I like chocolate ice cream.
All other students: Oooh. yum.
Student 2: I like 100 Grand Bars.
All other students: Oh yeah, those are good.
Student 3: I like chocolate fondue.
All other students: Ohhh, fondue.
Teacher: One time I ate a dozen chocolate-covered strawberries all by myself.
All students: Wow. Yeah, chocolate-covered strawberries are sooooo good.
Student 4: My favorite chocolate is Lindt.
All other students: Mmmm-hmm. Yes.
Student 5: Dove is also really good.
All other students: Oh yeah!

And that went on for about 15 minutes. I was dying laughing. It didn't matter what anyone said. Everyone would say oohh and nod their heads vigorously. Normally, the teacher has to pry answers out of people, but we probably would have gone on talking about chocolate for the whole hour. It seems that talking about chocolate is almost as good as actually eating it...almost. The lone guy in our class just didn't get it.

Party Like It's 1999

On Friday, we went to Mica's "millennium" themed Tex-Mex birthday party. Guests were encouraged to dress like they did in the 90s. I decided to go all out and curl my bangs (although I didn't have bangs in the 90s) and pull my hair back with a claw clip. Darby was not a fan of my hairstyle. The first thing he said when I showed him was "I'm so glad it's not the 90s anymore." I also wore my late-90s/early-2000s uniform---a long-sleeved shirt under a short-sleeved shirt.

We watched 90s music videos, hula hooped, played with an etch-a-sketch, and watched 10 Things I Hate About You, which was my favorite movie in high school. I don't remember how many times I watched it with my girlfriends. I could still quote practically the whole movie.

Since I forgot my camera (as always), I stole these pictures from Mica's facebook.

Darby wasn't so sure about Harrison's hairstyle.

Jin, me, and Cassandra doing the macarena. Man, that song is long. And there's really not much to the dance.

The only 90s hand sign we could come up with was bunny ears.

Jin was awesome at the hula hoop. She barely put forth any effort.

It was such a fun party. I love spending time with my MATESL friends anyway, but the awesome theme and yummy food were the icing on the cake (pun intended).

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. We don't get any days off school for Easter, but we enjoyed a lovely weekend nonetheless. On Saturday, a package arrived from the Easter Bunny: Darby and I each got a book from our Amazon wish list and 2 Reese's eggs (yum!). I love that our parents still send us holiday treats. It's so fun to get those unexpected packages.

After church this morning, we went over to our friends' house for a delicious Easter lunch of pork loin, sweet potatoes, roasted asparagus and sweet potatoes, and strawberry pie. I was so happy when they invited us. Last year, I had a lot of fun throwing an Easter brunch, but I just didn't make it a priority this year. I was kind of sad that we might not do anything special to celebrate.

Easter weekend always brings back memories of LTC (Leadership Training for Christ), which was a conference our church always went to over Easter weekend. Kids could participate in different events like chorus, puppets, drama, art, etc., and earn medals. Being the huge nerd that I was and still am, I always participated in a bunch of events. I went through my old photo albums tonight to find some pictures from LTC.

The conference was always held at really fancy hotels, so in our down time, we would go exploring. Jessica, Hannah, and I found these creepy kid statues and thought it would be cool to mimic their poses. Dorks.

Our puppet team and our famous vegetable puppets. I was always one of the three snow peas. This was our senior year, and some of our team members had graduated, so either Whitney or I had to be two peas' voices, so Stephanie could play the corn (named Corn E. Cob). Thinking back on my puppeteering days cracks me up, because it's so random. Are puppets only a big deal in the church of Christ? Or do other denominations have them, too? They're kind of creepy when you really think about it, but we always had so much fun planning and performing our skits.

Our Bible Bowl team. Bible Bowl was my favorite event. You studied one book of the Bible for several months; my dad was usually the coach, and he always came up with fun games to help us prepare. Then, all of the teams gathered in a huge ballroom and answered questions about the book. The atmosphere in that room was so tense; it's hilarious now to think how worked up I got about it. Your team sat in a line, so you couldn't see each other, and everyone displayed cubes with their answers on it. Then, they would announce the correct answer, and your scorer would hold up the number of people on your team who had gotten it right. When the number was less than 4, I was always thinking, "Who missed that one? That was easy!" I was perhaps a teensy bit high strung. But overall, it was such a fun experience, and most of my Bible knowledge is from those years. In December, I was a scorer for a small Bible Bowl competition at our church here, and it brought back so many good memories.

March Books

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
My friend Kalyn bought this book for her brother, but he had already read it, so she gave it to me. Lucky me. :) The style of this book was interesting; it was almost like a short-story collection, rather than a continuous story. I just couldn't get into it, though, because the characters weren't very likable. The last few chapters got more interesting, as they revealed the author's perspective on what our world will look like in 20 years---quite incisive and ultimately a satisfying ending. This confirmed my suspicion that, overall, I'm just not literary enough to enjoy Pulitzer Prize-winning books. I want to like them, but they're never my favorites.

How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
I'm really into pop psychology books. This was a fascinating look into the large role that emotions play in our decision-making process. One of the main premises of the book is that people often overthink decisions, when their "gut feelings" are actually quite reliable. I'm definitely guilty of this. This book overlapped some with Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, which is also excellent. I recommend both of them.

The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister
This book is the compilation of the personal diaries of a woman who was a teenager in Russia at the time of the Holocaust. She kept a record of her experiences but didn't compile and translate it into English until she was an old woman, and didn't want it published until after her death. I don't think I've ever read about WWII from the perspective of a Russian, so that was interesting. It was, obviously, quite a sad book, but Nonna's faith and optimism were inspiring.

Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush
I gave this book to my mom for her birthday and then promptly borrowed it. :) Although it was a bit too long, I really enjoyed learning more about Laura Bush's life. It was also interesting to find out what really goes on in the White House. I had no idea just how insecure everyone in D.C. felt after 9/11. I remember reading a review of this book right after it came out. The reviewer basically said that she liked the book but she wished Laura hadn't used it to defend her husband's policies. My first thought was, "Of course, she's going to defend her husband." I don't blame her at all. This book was a great reminder that all of our presidents and first ladies are real people with real feelings, and we should be much slower to attack their character or personality based on what we hear or read.

Countdown: The Race for Beautiful Solutions at the International Mathematical Olympiad by Steve Olson
Darby had read this book a while ago and recommended it to me. On the surface, it's the story of the U.S. team's performance at the 2001 International Mathematical Olympiad, an extremely difficult math competition for high school students. The profiles of the students are interesting, and, even if you don't understand the problems discussed (like me), you still get the general concept. But, what was really fascinating to me was the discussion of the nature of "genius." The author, and other experts quoted in the book, lean heavily toward practice, not innate talent, as the determining factor for success in any field. A very interesting read, especially if you're a nerd like me who enjoys books and movies about academic competitions.

Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt
This was a free or cheap offering on the Kindle. It was a compelling story about a woman who accidentally kills a young mother in a car accident and then becomes entangled with the woman's widowed husband and son. But, at times the plot was a bit far-fetched. A decent beach read but not very substantial.

The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis
This has been on my "to read" list for years, but it wasn't until I borrowed it from my brother that I got around to it. In all honesty, I was a bit disappointed. I struggle a lot with theodicy, and I (admittedly naively) thought this book might be the answer to all those doubts. It was not. I thought some of his explanations were a bit of a stretch. But, it gave me a lot to think about, and I do like his perspective on Heaven and Hell.

Body image

One of the things I found surprisingly refreshing about The Hunger Games movie was that the heroine (played by Jennifer Lawrence) was not rail-thin. I felt like she looked a little more like me than most female stars. (Notice I said "a little"; I haven't deluded myself into thinking I'm that fit!)


So, it angered me, although it didn't really surprise me, to hear that many reviewers had criticized her as being too big to play Katniss. Oh, sure, they justified it by saying that Katniss is supposed to be starving for most of the novel. But, the same thing applies to the male actors, who aren't scrawny, and no one's criticizing them. The scrutiny women receive about their weight is completely ridiculous. And the range of acceptable weight between "too thin" and "full-figured" (which, let's be honest, is not usually used in a positive way) seems to be minuscule.

I like to think I'm not affected by this pressure to be extremely thin. But, I don't think that's true. I've gotten back on the eating healthy/exercise bandwagon, and I'm creeping closer to the lowest weight I've been in the past 6 years, at least. I plan to stop at that point. I feel good about the progress I've made, and I know I'm healthier. But still, still I find myself pinching fat in the mirror, thinking that my thighs are a little too big, wishing I had a flatter chest so I could look smaller. I know it's crazy, but I still do it. (I realize this sounds a little bit like I'm developing an eating disorder, but I'm definitely not close to that.) I'm just always thinking (and I think many women think the same way): I'll be completely happy with my body when I lose 5 pounds, or completely eliminate my love handles, or get rid of all of my arm flab. But, it's not true. Even if I did accomplish all those things, I'd still find something to criticize.

And I think that disparaging comments about beautiful, healthy women do contribute to this constant identifying of flaws in my own body.

As I get closer to (hopefully) having children, I think a lot about the example I want to be for them. And, if I have a little girl, I definitely don't want her to be critical of her appearance. So, if I don't want it for her, why would I want it for myself?

So, I'm resolving right now to try to reduce the amount of time I spend thinking about what I need to "fix." I still think it's important for me to maintain my weight, because this is my natural weight when I eat healthily and exercise regularly, which I should be doing all the time. But, I don't want to spend time identifying flaws or bemoaning things about my body that are never going to change. There are so many better things I could be thinking about. Like knitting! :)

Spring Break highlights

Well, I did not get near as much work accomplished during Spring Break as I planned to (surprise, surprise), but I had fun, so I guess it's ok. Some of the highlights after our Madison trip:

• Cooking dinner for church. I made chicken spaghetti, carrots, salad, and Rhodes rolls. Each time it gets a little easier, although I'm still completely wiped out by the end of the night.
  
• Learning how to knit! Mica taught me, and I think I'm obsessed now. I'm working on my first scarf (very slowly), and it's preventing me from doing my schoolwork. I keep dreaming of all the things I can make. Hats! Headbands! Baby shoes! Never mind the fact that I can only do the knit stitch. Details...
• Game night with Daniel and Liz. Love those guys, and we don't get to spend time with them enough.
  
• The Hunger Games movie with James and Kristen. So good and very faithful to the book. Darby even liked it, even though he hasn't read the books.
• A long overdue dinner and game night with the Oelzes. They've had us over to their house so many times, and embarrassingly enough, we've never reciprocated. (In our defense, it's easier to go to their house so they can put their daughter to bed. But, still...) Eden cracked us all up with her beyond-her-years logic. I didn't make the most kid-friendly meal. I offered to make pigs in a blanket for Eden, but Stephanie assured me that she could try the regular food. Once she tried the chicken taquitos, she liked them, but she was very wary of the Mexican pasta salad. So she said, "Mom, I think I'm going to be too full to eat the pasta salad, but I won't be too full for dessert." I completely understand, Eden.
  

It was hard to go back to school this morning. But, it's less than two months til summer and our trip to Italy. Yippee!

Troll capital of the world (and Madison)

Mica and Harrison were kind enough to invite us along on their Spring Break getaway to Madison. So, we set off on Sunday morning and soon arrived at the Edgewater hotel, which is the self-proclaimed hotel of choice among "visiting celebrities to Madison." Alas, we didn't see any celebrities, perhaps because it's the off-season.

We explored downtown and the campus area and then enjoyed dinner at The Old-Fashioned, where we had amazing cheese curds, and I had the mac and cheese. Then, because we hadn't had enough dairy, we enjoyed some delicious Madison ice cream from Chocolate Shoppe.

Me and Darby

Harrison and Mica. They're way cooler than us.

Mica and me at dinner. On a whim, I got my hair cut short again.

Saturday, we had breakfast at Magnolia, then wandered around downtown in the rain before deciding to drive to the Cave of the Mounds, the "premier cave of the upper Midwest." I'm not sure how many caves it's competing against, but it was pretty cool. Mica dazzled us all by correctly answering all of the guide's questions.

Me and Darby under the stalactite "chandelier." It was pretty cold in there.

While there, we saw advertisements for the Wisconsin "Trollway" and were too curious to pass it up. So, we drove a little ways to Mount Horeb, which was the cutest little town. It has a large Scandinavian population, and there are tons of cute shops and restaurants. Plus, there are like 15 troll statues scattered across town. We never found the elusive "bonus troll," although I'm sure we made some bank employees' day when we wandered into the lobby in search of the troll. I've decided that, if we can't live in Texas, I'd like to live in Mount Horeb, where I would spend all day eating cheese curds and ice cream and visiting all of the trolls.

One of the many trolls. It looks a little creepy, but we were assured that they are friendly trolls.

It was a great getaway and made my Spring Break not completely boring. I always feel a little nervous before going on a trip with other people, but it worked out marvelously. We all love to eat, and we've now discovered a shared passion for spotting troll statues. Who knew? Perhaps the most amazing thing about this trip was that I didn't plan it! Mica and Harrison made our hotel reservations, drove us there, navigated the city, etc. We were just along for the ride, and I loved it.

Good things

Well, I didn't mean to leave that sad post up for so long. I'm feeling much better now. Things have just been busy, and I haven't had time to post. A few good things from the past two weeks:

• The 70-degree temps. Despite the wind, it's still lovely.
  
• Looking forward to a quick trip to Madison with Mica and Harrison over Spring Break. I was feeling a little down about not having any plans for the break, so I was so excited when Mica invited us.
  
• My first experience with Korean karaoke. For Jin's birthday, we all went. I was hesitant at first because I was picturing traditional karaoke. But this is way different. Your group goes in a room and you all sing together. It's awesome! Reminded me of playing Karaoke Revolution in high school with my girlfriends.
• My new orange jacket. One night when Darby was out of town, I went crazy online shopping. I put like 15 things in my cart. Luckily, I came to my senses and only bought 2. I'm very satisfied with my purchase. The bright color makes me happy.

My new jacket. I'm laughing because I feel so stupid taking my own picture in the mirror.

Leap Day Musings

I really love Leap Day, and I'm not sure why. I just like quirky dates, I think (hence the 07/07/07 anniversary). My Grandma Trish was born on Leap Day and I remember thinking it was hilarious to wish her a "Happy 16th Birthday" the year she turned 64.

Despite my love for this day, I must admit I'm feeling kind of down. I try to stay fairly positive on this blog, facebook, etc., because I don't want to be a complainer. But, I also feel like I should be honest, and sometimes it's a very thin line to tread between being positive and being fake. I once had a friend tell me that it had taken her a long time to get close to me because she felt like I never complained...it was only her complaining. Any family members who are reading this are probably dying laughing; I am not known in my family as being upbeat. I guess that's the issue. I don't really feel comfortable sharing problems until I'm close to someone, but, if you don't share problems, how do you get close? It's an interesting dilemma.

Since that conversation with my friend, I have tried to be a little more open. So, in that spirit, I'm admitting that I just feel blah. In the four years that we've been here, I've gotten progressively more "homesick" with each year. I'm not sure why it gets harder rather than easier. Of course, it doesn't help that four of our best friends have moved away in the past 18 months, and two more will soon. It's been rather lonely here lately.

Well, I feel better having gotten that out. And now you know why there's been somewhat of a dearth of posts in the last year or so. But, I promise not to turn every post into a pity party. I just found out today that Custard Cup opens for the season in 10 days, so you know I will be a happy girl then!

February Books

I'm really reading a lot this semester, mostly because I don't have much reading to do for my classes, so all of my bus time is devoted to fun reading. That is one positive about riding the bus. I'm mainly doing these summaries for myself. Posting it on the blog just helps me remember to do it regularly. So thanks for bearing with me. I realize this is probably quite boring. :)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Darby bought me this book for my Kindle since he knew I wanted to read it. Much of it is told from the perspective of a highly precocious 11-year-old, so it's an interesting read. I loved Everything Is Illuminated, and this reminded me of that book. Both deal with how people cope (or don't cope with tragedy) and both have a kind of magical realism feel. It was a bit of a downer but very beautiful. I really want to see the movie now.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
I had heard a lot of good things about this first book in a detective series set in post-WWI Britain, and it did not disappoint. The heroine is incredibly intelligent and truly cares about the people she works with and for. I enjoyed learning more about World War I (Maisie was a nurse). I look forward to reading more books in this series.

Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman
Darby and I have both become interested in the history of the Bible (that is, how we came to have the form of the Bible we have today, not the historical accuracy of the Bible, although that's another interesting subject). This book explores some of the changes that were made to manuscripts of the Bible by scribes, especially those changes that appear to have been intentional. It was very interesting to read about how controversies of the day might have shaped the text we currently have. Some people view this kind of research as antithetical to faith, but I don't. (In fact, the author was a believer when he wrote the book, though he has since, for different reasons, become agnostic). I would like to read more on this topic from different perspectives.

Meant to Be by Walter Anderson
The author of this memoir found out as an adult that the abusive man who raised him was not his biological father. His quest to find out more about his real father and his Jewish heritage is compelling and sincere. A very quick, uplifting read.

A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein
I think this was a free (or cheap) Kindle offering. While engrossing, I wouldn't recommend it. It's pretty dark and ended rather negatively.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
This one's been on my shelf for a long time. I always buy "classics" and then put off reading them, expecting them to be a bit dry. This story was very engrossing, though; I particularly enjoyed learning more about Nigerian culture. It raises interesting issues related to colonialism and forced assimilation.

Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider (not a misspelling, Tsh is really her first name)
I'm really into self-improvement blogs/books right now. This one had a lot of practical tips for simplifying your routine and making your home a welcoming, stress-free place. While it's mainly directed at people with kids, it did inspire me to do some decluttering around here.

Creativity

In spite of the fact that Darby majored in physics and I majored in English, he is the more creative one. This became even more clear to me this morning, when we each described the dreams we had last night.

Me: I dreamed that I was trying to help someone prepare to take the written section of the driver's exam (something that I have done in the past). They didn't get it, and it was really frustrating.

Darby: I dreamed that we went on a trip with the president of Iran. He stole some old-school Nintendo cartridges and was trying to smuggle them back to Iran because he had stored some data on them. Then, he held us hostage. He was drinking one of those little cartons of milk, so I squeezed on the sides until it exploded on him. Then, I poured the rest of it into his suitcase to ruin the Nintendo cartridges. I hate that guy.

Our dreams are always like that. I dream something totally normal, albeit frustrating, and Darby dreams something totally ridiculous. I'm not even creative in my dreams! (Well, except for my crazy sleep-talking episodes.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

This year, we got to celebrate Valentine's Day several times. My parents sent us a Starbucks gift card, so on Saturday night we went on a little Starbucks date. Since we already had plans for tonight, we had our Valentine's dinner at home on Sunday night. I made pesto chicken stuffed shells (I adapted the recipe and covered the shells with this guiltless alfredo sauce before baking), bruschetta, and Caesar salad. The shells were delicious. I highly recommend the recipe. For dessert, I made this Oreo-crusted white chocolate mousse tart. I made a mistake while reading the recipe and accidentally added too much white chocolate to the filling. It was still good but a little on the sweet side, even for me. It's best to eat with coffee, so there's something to cut the sweetness. We ate our "romantic" meal on our TV trays while watching Downton Abbey (our newest Netflix obsession). I did manage to at least change out of my Christmas pajama pants before eating, so I haven't totally given up on romance. ;)


Tuesday nights are my usual women's Bible study tonight. We didn't want to completely cancel, so Billie invited all of us and our husbands to dinner. Dick made his famous lasagna, and I contributed a red velvet cake roll. It was wonderful to spend the evening talking and playing games with some of our favorite people.

Casey, Matt, Kim, Erin, Billie, Dick, Will, and Darby

I've always loved Valentine's Day, because I don't think it has to just be about romantic love. It's fun to celebrate with friends and family, too. Although, I will admit, I was happy to receive my traditional single rose from Darby when I picked him up from the lab this evening. He's a keeper.

And the Valentine's fun will just keep going. Darby's parents sent us some Valentine's Day money, so we're going to go out to eat sometime soon. Yay!

I didn't get cards made this year. I hope I'll be back on track next year. Hope you all had a wonderful day and at the very least used the excuse to eat copious amounts of chocolate!

Super Bowl

I'm a little late in posting this and, sadly, I forgot to take any pictures of the night, but I like to write at least a little something about big events, so indulge me. :) For the Super Bowl, we invited a bunch of people from my program over to "watch the game" (i.e., eat a lot and stop talking long enough to see the commercials). A lot of people turned out, so it was a little bit crowded but very fun. I enjoyed making a bunch of snacks, including a brownie swirl cheesecake. I forgot to take a picture of the whole cake, but here's one of the pieces. I thought it turned out very pretty---and there was no huge crack down the middle. Yay!



It was a fun evening. And, since there are a lot of international students in my program, it was several people's first Super Bowl party. I hope we did this American tradition proud.

January Books

I decided I'd like to start keeping a record of the books I read. My memory for books/movies is so bad that I often can't remember whether I liked a book, or even if I've read it. So, I thought I would do a brief review of each of the books I read at the end of the month. I normally don't read this many books in a month, but schoolwork hasn't really ramped up yet.

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
I had heard really good things about this series and decided to go for it over the break when I knew I'd have a lot of time to read. I absolutely loved the first book, really liked the second, and thought the third was only so-so. But, overall, the series was great. The characters are very relatable, and it brings up interesting ideas about sacrifice, free will, and our addiction to reality TV. I think the third book falls apart when the focus changes from a character-driven story that takes place in the future to a more traditional, plot-heavy science fiction story.

Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy
This was offered for $0.99 on Kindle, and I thought it might help with my word of the year: "discipline." Like most self-improvement books, it was a bit repetitive and had a lot of common-sense ideas. But, it was a quick read and I think worth the time for the few really interesting ideas in it. It certainly inspired me to try to curb my insane multi-tasking.

51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life by Kristen McGuiness
This was offered for free on the Kindle, and it seemed like it would be right up my alley. I love memoirs, especially ones about crazy life experiments. In this one, the author decided to go on 51 dates in 50 days in order to hopefully find her life partner. While it was interesting and funny in parts, the author's worldview was just too different from mine (she's way into mysticism) for me to get into it. Additionally, in her attempts to overcome her lack of confidence, I think she became over-confident. She expresses the idea that she didn't fit in in Texas because she "thinks too much." Boo. I don't think Texas wants her. ;)

The Marriage Bureau for Rich People
This is a book that I borrowed from my dad a while ago and just got around to reading. The back cover says, "If Jane Austen had been lucky enough to set foot in modern-day India, she would have written [this book]," and I completely agree. Like Austen's books, it offers a strong critique of the status quo but does so through lovable characters and an ultimate happy ending. I would describe it as "light" but certainly not "fluffy." The influence of Indian English is obvious in both the dialogue and the narration, which was interesting for me to read as an ESL teacher.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
I cannot believe that this book has been sitting neglected on my shelf for years. When I finally began it, I finished in a matter of days. It is about a group of Jesuit priests and scientists who make first contact with alien life on another planet. It is such a smart, compelling, and heartbreaking story. And it offered a very challenging perspective on the nature of faith and doubt, the problem of pain, and the level of God's involvement in day-to-day life. Highly recommended.

The Sacredness of Questioning Everything by David Dark
I agree strongly with the premise of this book: that we should always be questioning our religious beliefs and not be satisfied with trite answers. However, I found the stream-of-consciousness style of the author hard to follow. And, while he claims to be apolitical, he obviously equates liberal political views with true Christianity, which I think can be just as dangerous as the opposite view. Ultimately, the philosophy that everything should be questioned falls apart. How can one even say that everything should be questioned without questioning that statement? So, while I agreed with much of what the author said, I found the book impractical.

Running by Patrice Fitzgerald
This was another Kindle freebie. It is about a presidential race between two female candidates, centered around a blackmail scandal. The main character is very likable, and it is definitely a page-turner (or page-toucher, hee-hee). But, the criticism of our current political system, especially the Tea Party, was not subtle enough and definitely too one-sided for my taste. Probably not worth your time.

M-I-C-K-E-Y

On Friday, our church had its annual "Beat the Blues" banquet and talent show. This year the theme was Disney, and I was asked to make a Disney-inspired dessert. I found the idea for these Mickey Mouse cupcakes on Pinterest. They were pretty easy. Just frost the cupcakes, dip them in Oreo crumbs, and then make Mickey's head and ears using half of a full Oreo and two mini Oreos. If you make them, be sure to place the Oreos on at the last minute. Nobody likes soggy Oreos!

Another girl made Minnie Mouse cupcakes. I wish I had gotten a picture of hers because they were awesome!! Definitely showed me up, but I'm ok with that. I'm the first to admit that my decorating skills are quite lacking. Anyway, it was a fun evening, and Darby won a door prize (the movie Julie and Julia...lucky me!).

On a side note, Darby's parents have an adorable home video of him singing the Mickey Mouse song when he's about 3. But, he sings "M-I-C-Cake-E-Y" over and over. Cutest thing ever, even if toddler Darby looks suspiciously unlike adult Darby. I'm still not sure he wasn't swapped at some point around 4th grade.

Last semester - or not

So, in December I made the decision to extend my degree for one more year so I'll finish at the same time as Darby. I figured it's safer to stay in school, keep my health insurance and stipend, and get one more year of teaching experience than to risk trying to find a job, in a relatively small city, for only one year. I feel really good about this decision. And I know I am so fortunate to get paid to go to school. But, I must admit, it was a little hard to start this semester and realize that, instead of only having 4 months until I'm done with school forever, I now have 16 months. Oh, well.

One plus side of staying an extra year is that I have time to take some "fun" classes. I'm in an oral Spanish class, and I LOVE it. It's basically just a time to practice speaking and listening in Spanish, which is exactly what I need.

I'm teaching the same class I taught last semester. I enjoyed last semester, but I kind of felt like I was just scraping by, trying to stay one step ahead of the students. Now, I know what I'm doing, and it's so much less stressful. I'm really excited about trying some new ideas. My first challenge is memorizing everyone's name, though. Hopefully I'll have that done by the end of the semester. :)