1.25.2013

I finished up a day of application reading, which is great when I'm on a roll but mind-numbing when I realize I haven't stood up in 3 hours. As my mind wanders, I find myself looking through random photos I've saved to my desktop. The majority are work-related, but there are a few of ML and of my Ole family here and there. Then... I saw...
This glamour shot of the most magnificent baked item I've discovered over the last almost-decade - one look, my mouth waters. One bite of this "Ole cookie," a treat originating from my alma mater's food service, and I'm brought back to late night study sessions with soggy coffee cup in hand. I used to alternate coffee sip to cookie bite, which created this incredible caramel-chocolate-nutty flavor. The coffee's dirt-poop taste was also masked by the cookie, turning it into a snack accomplice, and not just sludge I drank to get me through the day. Those were great times. These days, the Ole cookie is a treat I gravitate towards when work days reach the afternoon drag. It is an offer of friendship and gratitude. I reward student workers with Ole cookies when they've blown my socks off with their incredible work ethic; I accept them from friends who offer to treat. They're to be enjoyed and savored, not inhaled. I don't have much else to say beyond the superficial nature of this post, but it's meant to act like the cookie itself in a way -- a break from it all for a second. Also, sometimes I'm just at a lack for anything that doesn't apply to reading applications, talking wedding plans, and seeing how many days I can go without a shower as I work from home.

1.15.2013

I can't quit you, blog

Admittedly, I have become very rusty at blogging in this style. Usually, all my blogging efforts are work-related; I get used to using similar adjectives, quips, one-liners, word-plays, etc., which is fine - it just doesn't add a lot to creativity. And, you know, life gets in the way sometimes: I've given up creativity in the flurry of moving to Minneapolis, settling into a new home, commuting to work 45 minutes each way, balancing friends with boyfriend (er, fiance!) and trying to feed myself on a regular basis. My early 20s have given way to my late-20s, and I now find myself with a slower metabolism, desire for earlier bedtimes, and even on weekend nights out, a bedtime of 1 a.m. at the latest. It has been about two years since I updated this blog, and so much has changed since then. But, it was fun to read back on the NYE 2010 blog post and remember the time when I was snowed in at home in Casper. I had to miss "getting to know a new group of people" which consisted of my then-recently-determined boyfriend (a term I'm still awkward saying... doesn't that seem so high school?) Though we missed our 2011 NYE, after he proposed in late October 2012, it was decided that we would have decades of them left. Shucks. So, now we're onto the arduous task of balancing wedding planning with work obligations (hola, 13-hour reading days) and the task of staying calm and giving love and attention to friends and roommates. That, and life in the city, makes the days of my 5 minute commute and second family at the coffee shop seem like another life. This is all just to say that I want to start writing here again - even if no one reads it - because it's good to flex that part of my brain muscle.