Sidekick

Barnes is now just the perfect sidekick for kDa

Comic of the day

Peek-a-boo!

Sorry to be away for so long, so much has happened within the last two months. Graduation, relocation and new job with exciting new adventures ahead! Here's us at the Matthaei Botanical Gardens looking for river shrimps.

Another year older!

This time it was homemade vanilla ice cream with raspberry swirls!

It's December!

There has been a bunch of T-Rex jokes, which all started with this, and then this, and this tee was hilarious. So instead of shopping on Black Friday, the Husby was put to work (since he loves me thiiiissss much) and made the dinos. Here we see Gentleman Dino and Scientist Dino in heated discussion over birds. They cannot see eye to eye if "Living Dinosaur" would be a good publication. You can find them here!

Aaand I am still alive, just busy at the bench. Am currently in love with Phantogram's "Fall in love". Looking forward to going birding in Grayling, MI in spring/summer. Dreaming about baking pear tarts and sewing all sorts of tiny bags and coasters. So much to do, so little time! I apologize in advance that I will be away from this blog for quite a while. Happy holidays and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Picnic

Picnic at Gallup Park, Ann Arbor with the Husby and these four clowns was a awesome way to spend the birthday.

Dimply plum cake anyone?

The plum cake did not look as pretty as Smitten Kitchen's but it tasted great!

This is how we do breakfast around here

Wow look! Finally she made us some waffles!

No easy feat to please everyone, but one thing for sure, the lion gets the lion's share!

*groan* we are so full *pat tummies*

Wait, what is that thing??

Mini cinnamon rolls! YUM!

Now that is how we really get fat around here! (No origami squirrel or lion were harmed in this photoshoot)

Patapsco state park

Patapsco state park Hollofield area in May with MJ and Barnes

Birds at the Leslie Science and Nature Center

The Leslie Science and Nature Center is my new favourite place! The bird of prey and raptors outdoor enclosure is most awesome and I have a new friend, the Great Horned Owl who sadly suffers from West Nile Virus. Most of the birds have been injured or are sick and cannot be released back into the wild. Clockwise from top left: Bald eagle, campus sign, the very shy Barn owl, the Great Horned Owl, the Peregrine Falcon, the Red Tailed Hawk, the American Kestrel and us at the Huron River. Center: Barnes the bear enjoying the great outdoors with dandelions- I so love them when they are not in my yard.

We are always hungry

Top left: Homemade strawberry tart for the Husby's birthday! No cake for the man, but he requested garlic bread instead which didn't look so pretty so instead here's the tart which was my idea since he loves strawberries. Top right: Awfully cute banana chocolate panda bun from Pastry Hippo House japanese bakery. This is THE store I want to run some day. Psst.... don't tell them where their new friend disappeared to! Bottom left: mini pancakes for mini people. Center: Red velvet donuts from Dom Bakeries. This place rocks! It has a drive through and is open 24/7!! Left: Pokey getting excited about strawberries.

That was not meant to last, but someday it will

In that same week that I totally wreaked the front tire of the car, my life fell apart. I saw it coming, but how do you stop something you have no control over?

It felt like someone pulled the pin, but instead of a big explosion it imploded deep inside of me. It was sad and heartbreaking, possibly the worst I have faced so far.

We knew the journey was shaky from the start, that we might never have known how this would turn out.

Shock. Denial. Grief. Lots of anger. Tons of tears. Reflection. Acceptance. Not necessarily in that order, but I know what it takes to move on. But having regrets is not one of them.

Everything happens for a reason, and it is what it is. Picking up the pieces of my life, I am going back to where I was in Feb. This time, stronger than before. Someday, it will all be better.

Random musings

Earworms in my head:

New Map by M83:
There's a hole in your heart, 
begging for adventure.
Play yourself a new track, 
set traps for the future.
On your own.
Can you do it?
The unknown.
Can you face it?

Crystalised by The XX
Sweather weather by the Neighborhood

Can't wait to try out these recipes: French toast and bacon, Potato leek gratin

Currently feeling like this book: Me without you

And yes, I'm excited that the Baltimore Ravens are heading to Superbowl. It has been a purple week in the lab, go Ravens! I just might get to see more fireworks next Sunday night!

Now who is the crafty one around here?

One of the things I miss around the house, the sight of Husby drinking coffee, pondering his next move as he makes origami animals. These are not your simple three-step folds but super complex looking ones with a thousand-folds, at least to me who has no patience for this. So depending on how you see it, I am not the crafty one around here, B! 

And you might remember the squirrel banner? No guesses who made the squirrels for me, though I think they now look like zombies attacking each other! ;)

Buttermilk Fals and Watkins Glen State Park

Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca. We could view this right at the entrance of the park - yay for not having to trek too far!

Barnes: Is this where all buttermilk pancakes come from?

Entrance to Watkins Glen State Park. Have you ever seen a photo of the place, and be so mesmerized by it that you had to go there to see for yourself? That's exactly the story with Watkins Glen State Park. I first came across this park on someone's blog, and the trip lived up to my expectations - thank goodness! We enjoyed the leisure 3hr walk on paved steps, and did not even make it to the entire loop. Someday I will come back to complete it!

Barnes and Chicken at my favorite part of the park, with cascading falls, rapids and bridges. The other half of the park which we did not make it to due to time constraints of driving back on the same day- boo-hoo.

Goodbye Mr Dino

Mr Dino was already a member of the lab before my time. We used to place him at people's desk, dressed in a labcoat looking like a scientist. He was married at one point too. Then he mysteriously disappeared after one lab spring cleaning. We searched every corner and crevice in the lab for months, where could a 1-meter tall blow-up dino hide? One random afternoon, he was discovered, deflated and down on his luck, stuffed into a drawer, with his labcoat still on! So M and I decided we had to return him to his former glory to prank S-his ex-wife, and I leave you to guess where the blower piece was strategically located! It was impossible to blow him up, so we opted to fill him with water, hence the rubber duck and styraform box. Alas, he started leaking, did you know that dinos get incontinence  too? So MJ helped me get rid of him by slashing him twice, once in the belly and in the tail. So ends the story of Mr Dino- we will miss you very much!

Upstate New York

Fall is an awesome time to do a roadtrip, with all the beautiful foliage along the way. Barnes the bear and Chicken the frog came along on this trip and they were surprisingly pretty well behaved most part of the way ;)

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Now we can finally cross the Red-winged Blackbird off our list of birds to spot! And as you can see, some of us obviously had more fun at Sapsucker Woods than others... (No frog was harmed on this trip!)

Thoughts from Barnes

Special deliveries

We have had some special deliveries lately - a bird clock, Sirracha popcorn and a night out to the steak house! Thanks guys, you know who you are. On a separate note, it was most cool to get a postcard from what I always thought to be the most secretive countries!