London Part 2

I'm sitting in the gorgeous hostel courtyard in Vienna and realized I should keep updating. So here's the rest of London ! (Man I've fallen behind, been in Europe for 4 weeks today!)

July 10:
Long day! Got up early (8am) showered and ate breakfast (opted out of the omelette), talked to Lyle again, then headed out to Hyde Park and Wellington Arch for the free tour with Steph. She totally stole the Eddie Izzard bit about flags! Good tour - saw Big Ben (Elizabeth II clocktower), Buckingham palace, Trafalgar square, Downing Street, the old MI6 headquarters, Westminster Abbey, and a lot more. After we went to Old Monk Pub for more fish and chips and Nathan had chili. Meh but only 6 euro each so... we got interrogated by a Wisconsin man asking Nathan about Polaris, was awkward. His daughter was studying in Germany. We then ran (3pm) to the London Eye, waited in line to pick up our river cruise and Eye tickets. Then ran to the pier to get in line again to get on the boat. Got inside and sat next to the window. There was an audio tour through the speakers but people/kids were being so loud and rowdy it was very hard to hear. Saw Big Ben, Shakespeare Globe, London school, Tower, Millennium Bridge, London bridge, St Paul's cathedral, and more from the Thames. After the cruise we waited in line for the London Eye - got in car #12 (2 cars away from the orange car #10). Amazing views- super high. Then went home for a bit and tried to pack. Off again to the HRC (near Hyde Park, had to wander a bit to find it), then to Piccadilly circus, then back to Westminster for night pictures of the London Eye and Big Ben. Finally home again, wrote postcards and now bedtime.

Holy crud. I started typing this up almost a week ago!  I'm in Berlin now enjoying my "day off." Going to finish up this dang London post if it kills me!

July 11:
Early morning again. Packed up and stripped beds and hauled everything downstairs. Put the bags in a storage area and headed up to Camden Town to check out the markets. Picked up a small photo for my Euro art collection and wandered around more. Headed back and stopped at the post office to send some postcards. Walked back to the hostel, now just hanging out until we leave for St Pancras station and Paris! Took the bus to Pimlico then the tube to Kings Cross/St Pancras station. Should have stopped by Kings Cross to satisfy the screaming Harry Potter fan inside me but basically rushed through security and passport control to the platform. Nathan is off to spend our coinage on food.

I'm going to end July 11 here because after this point we're in Paris.

London summary:
This city felt overwhelming - too much to do and not enough time. The tower of London was exhausting and the weather went from HOT to chilly in our 4 days here. Was sunny though. Met some rude people - worker at McDs, people shoving, etc. Hostel was more early-to-bed early to rise than Amsterdam. Better public transit, but that might just be because we used it. Lots of history here and free museums (that we didn't go to!). Nathan: "big city, lots to do, but nothing too exciting. Except for the theatre." Shows are here in full for sure - Wicked for 25# was great. The hostel was nice - big lounge, fancy breakfast, free drinks, cheap WiFi but it was up 2 flights, the lockers didn't lock, and the lobby closed at midnight. Also had the impression that we were bothering the staff. Cars parked on the street faced any direction. Less bikes but still around. Confusing ordering food in pubs. Pay to use toilets - but not in restaurants at least! London Eye was good, river cruise meh.
"City of No Time"
3 out of 5 stars

London Part 1

Sitting at the train station in Venice waiting for mom and Megan to arrive, since I read during the train ride I figured I could start typing up London for the 15 minute wait for them to get here.

July 8:
Got up early (7am) and finished packing, then off to the bus stop. Jumped on 197 and had a long ride to Schiphol. Traversed the airport, checked our bags, then off to the gate. Now on the bumpy delayed plane about to take off. London here we come! Gatwick airport - tix to Gatwick express train to London. 20 pounds each - pricey! Got to the train station and got some "King Tango" (like Fanta) and a sausage roll (not bad). Got on the train. Now off to London for reals. Arrived, waited in line to buy an Oyster card at Victoria station and ended up buying day passes instead. Rode to Pimlico, walked to our hostel and up 2 flights to our room (#8). Got settled in, changed to shorts and a tank top (hot!) and headed out to try to find a place to fix my phone and explore. Took double decker bus #24 to Victoria again and found the Apollo Victoria Theatre playing Wicked. Checked out the box office and Nathan bought two tickets for tonight! 25 pounds each, not bad. No luck on the phone - they don't make this model in the UK :-(. Hopped on the underground and got off at Westminster for exploring! Big Ben, London Eye, parliament, and hot dogs and roasted peanuts for sale on the bridge. Finally grabbed pasties and headed home to shower, change, and back to Victoria for the show! Great show - could really hear the accents! Weird thing was the crowd - people in tank tops and ripped jean shorts eating chips and popcorn, more like a movie theater! Bought a poster there - hopefully we can keep it nice. Hanging out at the hostel bar now - looking up phone info and skyping with the fam. Hopefully its not too hot to sleep!

As an aside, melting here in Venice (at the hostel now), I didn't know what hot was yet in London :-p

July 9:
Writing on the tube. Woken early by Aussies having a chat in the room at full volume around 7am - no respect! Got ready late and barely made breakfast at 10:30. Too late for the free tour so we took our time and then headed to the Tower of London (bus 24 to Victoria then train to Tower Hill). Huge place! Latched on to part of a tour, saw exhibits on the mint and torture, and inside the white tower was a big exhibit on weapons and the armory. Also waited in a long but quick line to see the crown jewels. A lot of gold, etc but almost just looks like costume jewellery. Grabbed some ice cream and a pin of the white tower, then went to a ticket shop to see if they had Book of Mormon fix - no luck. Now have to rest, relax, hopefully grab some fish & chips for dinner, and maybe see some sites at night. Took a long nap then up and out walking looking for food. Finally decided on Prince of Wales - took us awhile to figure out that we had to order food at the bar. We got bangers and mash (but they ran out of mash so subbed chips, and the sausage was gross) and fish and chips which were greasy and delicious. Caught the 24 bus home then hung out and in the room and chatted with Lyle from Louisiana (34, in the army, bearded). Now hanging out in the hostel bar trying to figure out how to do the rest of London in a day and a half. Looks like an early to bed night, shower, and breakfast tomorrow. (The hot chocolate here was not good).

Amsterdam Part 2

Going to change up the style here and make the journal entry in italics. Hope that doesn't confuse y'all.

July 6:
Overslept and missed breakfast :-( Got up and walked over to the Rijksmuseum - passed a fashion week display. Tons of paintings, sculptures, Van Gogh, Hague students, etc. Bit overwhelming! Then to the supermarket for bread, turkey, cheese, and stroopwaffels - caramel waffle cookies. Back to the hostel where we cooked the bread and toasted sandwiches with soda and Doritos. Quick break in the room then off past Rembrandtplein (street artists!) and to a market. Bought a pin, but they were all closing up shop at 5pm. Wandered back to R.plein and bought some postcards on the way. Now off to buy a some street art (I decided that my souvenirs for myself this trip, other than pins, would be art created by locals if at all possible.) Went to Amstel dam square for our red light district tour - chose to go with the rated R tour guide "Lee" with bright red dyed hair. Pretty entertaining and more info about the district - project 1012 making it more family friendly, different streets have different types of women, tried men in windows but it worked too well, etc. Stopped for a 2 euro peep show (on the tour!) Followed the guide to Durty Nelly's Irish Pub. Sat and made friends there for awhile. Nathan had some tasty Somersby cider. Met some nice Canadians and a few Irish as well. Then they went to Casa Rosso sex show and we walked home - stopping for Frozz frozen yogurt and fries with cheese and forks and a brief chat/eating on a bench. We are going to try to go to the beach tomorrow! Public transit is tricky though...

July 7:
Had a rough nights sleep - woken by roommates' lights and snoring, ugh. Up around 9, ate breakfast and packed up for the beach! Walked to Centraal station, bought tickets from a person after a machine demanded a PIN. After a little confusion we jumped on the train to Zandvoort an Zee. Nathan took a nap on the train - I enjoyed the scenery. Got here and followed the long train of people headed to the beach. Convinced Nathan to come down onto the sand and found an orange rock for Vicki. Now to relax, eat our picnic lunch, and maybe go out in the water. Went for a walk up and down the beach. Saw quite a few topless ladies (young and old). Headed back and slept on the train ride home. Kept looking for a free toilet but no luck, eventually paid 0.50 euro at KFC. Back to hostel around 4pm. Ate stroopwaffels - YUM!  We must buy more... went to Albert Heijn supermarket and they were out! Went to Anne Frank house - no pics allowed but very interesting/depressing. Headed toward the Dam square and stopped at another AH supermarket and looked for stroopwaffels - too many options and none looked right! Sent Nathan in to look while I sat out front and updated my journal. Mailed a couple postcards. Next to find a Febo (vending machine fast food place) and another delicious hot dog from that street vendor near the HRC. We did except hot dog man was gone :-( so we got more fries instead. Walked back, packed, showered, and then my phone was knocked down and the screen completely broke! Hope to repair in London...

Amsterdam summary:
Overall I really enjoyed this city. Weather was nice, all walkable, traffic with bikes, transit, cars, and peds was terrifying. Everyone was pretty nice and it was easy to get by with no Dutch. Our hostel was a bit far from the main part of town - next time stay more downtown. Red light district seemed tame - saw more flesh at the beach! Paying to use toilets was a pain, soda was pricey in restaurants, and paying for ketchup sucked. The meat I'm burgers and hot dogs seemed tastier - more spices? Probably spent too much $ but will try to keep a better eye on it. Tours (Sandemanns) were great, boat cruise was meh. Museum was way too big and overwhelming. Anne Frank house was depressing and moving but I don't think it would have been worth a 2 hour wait in line - unless you'd recently read the book. The airport is huge and well signed. Public transit probably wasn't as confusing as we thought but we just rarely used it. Zandvoort was a great beach but not much else around, other than restaurants. Overall, a great town with lots to see and do!
Four stars out of five

Okay so that wraps up Amsterdam, right on the day I leave Florence. Not sure how much I'll be able to do in my future travels but one city out of 10 is a good start! I'm three weeks into my trip today and about to go to my 6th city out of ten. Halfway done! Mom and Megan leave from Venice on Saturday, then I meet up with Amanda in Vienna.

Amsterdam Part 1

We'll see how much I actually post sitting in my bed in Florence but I've decided to at least attempt updating about my grand European adventure.  We'll start with Amsterdam, taken directly from my handwritten journal:

July 3-4:
Left work around 3:15 and met Nathan at the light rail. Rode it down to MSP. Long flight to Reykjavik (6 hours) but we got "upgraded" to the exit row. Couldn't keep the bags under the seat I'm front and couldn't recline so not sure if it's really an upgrade... my window seat was VERY cold! I watched Argo and tried to sleep. Short layover at KEF - Iceland is weird! No trees at all, just rocks, grasses, and lichens. Our flight to Amsterdam was delayed - waiting for a late plane from JFK. Arrived in Amsterdam (2.5 hour flight), got our bags, and went to find the bus. After some confusion we got our tickets and on the bus. Got off at "Museumplein" and then a 600m walk to The Flying Pig Uptown hostel. Briefly "lost" our bags (someone kindly hauled them up to our floor) then got settled in (top bunk!). I showered then cleaned and Nathan napped and showered. Here the pen color changed as I indicated I stopped writing in order to take a short nap. After our nap we went on a wandering walk through Amsterdam. We first looked for an ATM and then just headed toward the city. Walked past the Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) and then stopped for some food at "Pancake Corner." Had giant pancakes topped with ice cream. Also some yellow "orange" Fanta. It was okay. Kept walking and exploring and finally found an ATM for Nathan. Finally turned and headed back - never really got lost. Another nap, a short walk, and then back to the hostel bar for WiFi, pizza, and Coke (& vodka for Nathan). Made semi plans for the next day then off to bed (after reading Chris Kluwe's book for a bit).

July 5:
Got up at 9am, got dressed, and went down for free breakfast. Chocolate flake cereal, toast with peanut butter, and a not great undercooked hardboiled egg. Back to the room for a bit then down again for the free city tour at 10:30. Again I took a break here and picked up after the tour. We really just got hauled to the dam square for the Sandemann's tour at 11:15. The tour was great. Nathan is telling me to write that I'm eating old BK fries. Tour: guide was Kate, walked thru the red light district and the old church. Scantily clad ladies in the window. Church and district had good business sense - could pre pay for sins. Passed coffee shops and Chinatown, the highest point in Amsterdam (3m above sea level), the porch weigh station, cannabis museum, break for lunch at meeting point on Amstel dam/Royal palace/white monument (we ate at BK and got charged 0.50 euro for ketchup!).  Also went outside the cheese shop - 2 year old cheese and I won distribution duty/leftovers. Ended outside the Anne Frank house and the tallest church. Nathan and I went to Paradox coffee shop and had cake and Coke with two people from the tour (Leon and Winni from Perth). Took a walk through Vondelpark (right next to hostel). Ponds and lots of people. Took a 2 hour nap then went on the river cruise canal tour - audio guides, narrow turns, tight bridges, house boats, and (no offense Amsterdamers) nasty Heineken beers. After we split the tastiest hot dog and stopped at the HRC for a pin. We then walked to the red light district which was packed full of people. A long walk back, had to stop at McDonalds for a toilet. Footsore and tired muscles mean shower and bed.

Okay this task is very daunting. So I'm going to stop here and pick up again later.

Rainy Day in May

Well it hasn't quite been a month, so I'll call this a win!

I have become a lazy slob. No, seriously, I've barely been biking at all (other than to/from work) since two weekends ago.  On that weekend I biked a lot - to work (2.3 miles), to a potential place to live next year (2.4 miles), back home (4.4 miles).  Then I biked from my house to Nathan's (12.3 miles HOWEVER I got lost and went an extra 2.2 miles).  That was all just on Friday (total = 23.6 miles)! Then on Saturday Nathan and I biked back to my place (another 12.3 miles, no getting lost this time!).  On Sunday I biked from Nathan's to Anoka where my mom and sister were having a spaghetti feed fundraiser (for the 3-day walk for breast cancer) - that was 15.9 miles.  So for that one weekend I biked 51.8 miles, and that felt like a lot.  Over three days. I haven't done nearly that much since then, and in exactly a month I will be biking three times that much over 2 days.  I am so screwed!  I did order bike shorts - that were "delivered" but I never received so now I'm dealing with USPS to get that sorted out.  I also took Addy on a bike ride - that was fun for me but not so much for her!  I think I'm going to try to get her used to it, it was fun!

Finding a place to live has also been vexing.  I'm pretty committed to one girl to room with, but she has a 75# dog that is making it difficult to find a place.  At least for only 2 people, and it has been incredibly difficult convincing a third person to join us.  We've had 2 people turn us down and 1 just completely ignore our request. Disheartening to say the least, especially because I found a seemingly perfect place (that I biked to) that has 3 BR.  It's $1250/mo, which is good for 3 people but a bit steep for 2.

Europe has been fun, but challenging.  There is just so much to plan! And I'm definitely not one to just get there and "wing it."  I did that on the cruise with Nathan for the most part and that meant that most of the stops were spent wandering aimlessly.  I don't plan on making that mistake again, but it does mean a lot of research to do. So far I have hostels and travel booked for Amsterdam, London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, and Vienna.  Still have to get things setup for Prague, Berlin, and Copenhagen.  I did book my flight home though, so I will be back in the States on August 16, just in time for my sister's bachelorette party on the 17th (that's been another mess in itself, but not really worth mentioning).  Haven't booked any tours or attractions or planned anything in detail yet though, that's still on the to do list.

Work has also been fun, but challenging.  I've been writing a protocol paper on a protocol I've never done before, so that was interesting.  In more of the fun category, I've finally started working with mice again!  Yep, less than 2 months left and I finally start a mouse project.  Working with the mouse people at the U has been a challenge - getting card access to all the restricted areas a hassle, not to mention all the quarantine rules, but it brings back good memories of working at the VA.  Just the good ones, because no one was ever being mean when the mice were out.

My classes have been proceeding along.  I am so excited to be done with Chemistry - easily the worst class I've taken since graduating.  Each test is 20 multiple choice questions, generally ones that require a lot of equation making and solving long problems with multiple steps, with easy places to mess up.  And of course the answers you get if you mess up a single step are all potential choices - and no partial credit.  So if I solve the entire problem but forget to subtract at the end (say I solved for the amount of gas released and the question asks for the amount of gas left) I get it wrong and lose the same amount of points as someone who just completely guesses.  It's completely disheartening, and I almost always run out of time on these tests - usually I'm a fast test-taker.  Right now I'm averaging a B in the class, but the final is worth about a third of my grade and of course it's cumulative.  Ugh. On the other end of the spectrum, Physics has been a breeze.  I don't know why, but physics just makes perfect sense.  All you have to do is find the right equations and input the numbers and bam, answer.  It's probably all the algebra. Anyway, my physics final is on Saturday and my chemistry final is on Tuesday.  So one week from today I'll be done with classes until vet school!  That's pretty exciting.

I think the weather has finally started to normalize. We haven't had snow in over a week!  At least here, but down in Rochester they had a ridiculous amount of snow last week (well over a foot).  Mom's car got stuck in the driveway - and this was in May.  It's raining tonight, but rain is acceptable to me.  Just no more snow.  It was supposed to be thunderstorming, but I haven't heard any yet.

Here's hoping I don't fail my finals, can find a place to live next year, and get everything figured out before I leave the country!

April? Are you sure?

I mean, if there's still snow on the ground it can't have been that long since my last post in January, right?

WRONG!  It's freaking mid-April and there's snow on the ground and snow in the forecast for tomorrow!  I can't handle this endless winter, it's got me so far down in the dumps. 

So, lots and lots to catch up on. I'll try to just hit the highlights:

Vet school:

I'm in!  I was accepted at the U of MN for the class of 2017.

This was after the interview I had January 24th - my mom came up and we spent the day together.  The interview day was horribly timed, info session at 8am, then nothing for hours, then tour+lunch at noon, my interview was at 1:15 (had to choke down my food after the tour), and there was a final tour at 3:45 but we elected to skip it.  The interview went pretty well (obviously, since I got in).  One of the interviewers was a Gustavus grad who worked in research, so that was helpful - had a few talking points with him.  Found out about my acceptance on February 15th - they called and emailed me.  

As far as the other two schools, Oregon has me on an alternate list (like a waitlist, but unranked) and UW-Madison put me at #45 on their waitlist.  Made the choice pretty easy for me - and I think my friends in the area and Nathan especially were grateful for that decision.

Told my boss about my acceptance, and she was thrilled for me.  I had been dreading telling her (basically handing in my resignation) but all that stress about it was pointless!  Of course now I'm super busy at work since we're trying to tie up my project before I go, but it's still a good feeling knowing your boss cares more about your future and your life than just thinking selfishly about how it would affect their lab.  

Of course I still have pre-reqs I need to complete in order to attend next fall - Chemistry II w/lab and Physics II w/lab.  I'm in both courses right now (8 credits) and I have no idea how I'm finding the time to do all of the homework, study for the tests, do the labs and the lab work, along with everything else.  The chemistry lab is easily the worst part of the whole thing - I'm partnered with two freshmen (18!!) and I feel like I'm babysitting every lab session.  Only about a month left though, just have to stick it out.

I'm also trying to figure out my living situation for next year - looking for a cheap apartment/house to rent that allows dogs (for my future roommate and possibly my future dog) near the St. Paul campus. So that's fun.

Europe:

I'm going!  I set up a route, have found traveling companions, and started booking tickets and hostels, so it's really happening.  Right now the plan is Amsterdam-London-Paris with Nathan (meeting Sarah in London and my mom and sister in Paris), then Paris-Rome-Florence-Venice with Megan and mom, Vienna-Prague with my former coworker Amanda, and finally Berlin-Copenhagen with my friend Michael.  It's going to be an epic trip - from July 3 - mid-August.  Trying to plan that has been a huge ordeal, but it's just on my list of things to get done!

Health:

Well this one has fallen by the wayside a bit.  However, Nathan and I (foolishly?) signed up to participate in the MS150 bike ride from Duluth to the Twin Cities.  That is happening the second weekend in June and we may very well die.  Been trying to start training but it has been extremely difficult with this ridiculous weather we've been having.  Of course that's no excuse to not get to the gym, but it's much easier to convince myself to bike outside when it's nice out than to convince myself to go to the gym at any time.  I also need to fundraise for it - not the crazy amount that my mom and sister (Sara) have to for the 3 day walk for breast cancer, but hey if you reading this want to donate $5 feel free to go here and do it!  It's for a good cause. 

Other news:

Amanda is engaged - getting married on my birthday.

Sisters have been having trouble organizing a good date for Megan's bachelorette party.

Had an Italian exchange student (Fabio) work in our lab for a month - very nice and friendly, had a crazy landlady.

Katie did not get into her Masters of Nursing program - very sad.  Decided to instead try for an Associates in Nursing.

Brian (Nathan's brother) may be moving to the cities after getting a job at Polaris.

Nathan decided to stop fostering for BCRMN after Ocean (Dutch Shepherd) was adopted (not because of her, just so he can put more time and energy into Jackie, who needs it).

Mom and I made some pretty mosaic pieces at a woman's house in St. Paul - mom a light yellow/green themed mirror and myself a peacock.

Mom and dad were thinking of buying a house near St. Paul campus for me and Sara to live in, that idea fizzled out.  

I decided to stop working at Como Zoo - I was having trouble finishing all of my homework and stuff on the weekends when I'd have it.  Just needed that extra time.

I think that's the majority of the highlights.  There are probably some major things I'm missing but it's good enough for now!

In conclusion, STOP SNOWING MINNESOTA, IT'S TIME FOR SPRING!

Welcome 2013!

Well, bad me.  I was on a roll back in November and then I apparently forgot I had a blog and just didn't do anything.

Quick recap of the rest of 2012:

Thanksgiving I spent at Nathan's in North Dakota.  We ate food, hung out, vegged, played Cards Against Humanity, etc and so on.  We took my car because Nathan's heat didn't work and I wasn't about to drive 4.5 hours each way freezing my butt off!

Mid December I was busy cramming for my finals.  Microbiology wasn't so bad - it wasn't cumulative just the last of 4 exams.  I did have to finish our "Skim vs. Whole Milk" project (more bacteria in skim, who'd have thought?) and give a presentation on it, but it wasn't bad.  Plus we got to use a notecard for the exam.  Case in point, aced that class.  Physiology was another can of worms entirely. 50% of my grade for the class depended on that last test, which was 2/3 new material and 1/3 review of the entire semester.  Not to mention the fact that the questions were terrifyingly specific details - no overarching themes or general topics.   I pretty much bombed it, at least by my standards.  I got a 76% on the final exam - but here's the good news.  Apparently everyone did poorly because with the curve, my 76% translated into an A-, bringing my final overall grade to an A.  I feel like I dodged a bullet, but that class was terrifyingly intense.

Also in December my grandma down in Florida had been stuck in the hospital for weeks and my parents decided to fly down to see what the situation was.  Well it wasn't good, so my mom took charge, packed them up, and flew them up to Minnesota.  I met them at the airport and helped keep company and load things into the car.  They drove back down to Rochester and got grandma settled in at the Charter house and my grandpa took over my childhood bedroom.

The week before Christmas Nathan went back to ND to celebrate with his family - but I didn't trust his car to make it there and back (it had been to the mechanic and needed thousand dollar repairs made).  So I did the crazy thing and offered to trade cars with him for a few days.  Driving his car just through the neighborhood or the few blocks to the post office was a terrifying experience.  When he finally got back the weekend before Christmas he came to my apartment to swap back and his car died for real.  There was no saving it.  Luckily his insurance covered a tow so he got it back to his garage.  That weekend he and I celebrated a mini Christmas.  He got me a board game (Mice & Mystics), a wonderful new office chair (it's seriously awesome), and the third QC book (he's gotten me the 1st two previously).

On Christmas Eve we drove down to Mankato and celebrated Christmas with the Koenigs/Kehoe clan.  We had done a "draw a name" gift exchange this year with the caveat that the gift had to be homemade.  Well Nathan, myself, and a few other people took this to heart but the rest of them threw in gift cards and other store bought items!  Even my mom, who's the craftiest of us all!  We ate appetizers all day, played with the puppies (Ben's beagle puppy Penny and Travis' chocolate lab Bauer plus the two shih tzus), played pool, and just hung out until it was time to drive back to Rochester.  Drove back, parents picked up grandpa, and we headed out to late mass at Holy Spirit.  We arrived far earlier than we needed to (apparently the 9pm Christmas Eve mass isn't nearly as crowded as the 4:30 or the 7), so my sisters and I took the boys on a tour of our elementary school.  My 8th grade class picture is still hanging up in the hallway outside the library, oh the good old days!  After mass we went home, put on PJ's, and of course watched White Christmas.

Christmas morning dawned and we all hung around and ate some of mom's humongous breakfast - waffles, eggs, quiche, bacon, ham, hashbrowns, cinnamon rolls, the list goes on. Finally we got to pick up grandma and then the real fun began!  PRESENTS!  I won't go into the details with the list (how selfish am I?) but the major things were a bike rack for my car, a video camera, a hand made apron, and a few other awesome things.  Hung out the rest of the day, ate breakfast all day, we were going to go see a movie (Les Mis) but everyone wussed out on me when they discovered how long it was.  At one point my uncle Jeff and aunt Gail showed up from Des Moines as a surprise for my grandparents, so that was nice. We also played Wii Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune - that was pretty fun

The day after Christmas (mom's birthday), Nathan and I went and looked at new cars for him in Rochester.  We checked out a Honda Fit and a Toyota Fiesta.  While the name, color, price, and overall look of the Fiesta were more my style, the interior of the Fit won Nathan over. We didn't test drive any of them there and he didn't buy anything but it was a good learning experience. After that we headed to Culver's (had a nice little chat with Steve - owner) and had lunch with Hannah.  Got caught up on a lot of stuff and she got to meet Nathan so that was fun.  After that we went back to the parent's house, hung out for a bit, and eventually headed back up to the cities.  Had to drop off Addy first and and then drove over to Chanhassen Dinner Theater to meet up with Nathan's parents and see Bye Bye Birdie.  The show was pretty fun, the food was good, and it was a decent night.

Back to work on Thursday and Friday - although the lab was like a ghost town.  I basically just did what I needed to do and then went back home.  On Thursday Nathan and I went to a Honda dealer and he test drove a Fit - he liked it but the dealership wasn't nearly as friendly as the one in Rochester. That weekend I drove back down to Rochester for the Coughlin family Christmas.  I spent most of Friday night hanging out with Jackie which was exceptionally nice.  Saturday was the big event, house jam packed full of people.  It was nice seeing the whole family together.  We ate Mr. Pizza, did the gag gifts (I got a very nice light up Santa picture - I gave outhouse salt and pepper shakers), the boys played poker, and we all played the Wii. On Sunday I went and saw Skyfall with Jackie and then drove back home to the cities.

New Year's Eve day I went in to work, but that night Nathan and I drove down in his new Fit (he bought one over the weekend) to Kyle's house.  We hung out with a bunch of people (some drunk and annoying, others sober and annoying) and ate Buca di Peppo's and other appetizers, played Cards Against Humanity and WiiU games, and watched the ball drop.  Not the best night ever, but it was nice to get out a be a bit more social.

New Year's Day I went in to work again, along with the rest of the week.  Was rough getting back into the swing of things, but I did receive some excellent news!  I heard back from Oregon State (I'm still under consideration) and the U of MN (they want to interview me)!  So that was exciting.  I also acquired a spare cat.  Sybylla's neighborhood cat dubbed "Thomas O'Malley" - super friendly, was pretty much abandoned when his rightful owner moved out.  He seemed to be in rough shape so we flea collared him for a few days and then captured him and moved him in with me.  Addy's not thrilled about it but she seems to be getting used to the idea.  He's very nice and friendly and ignores her hissing and growling.  I managed to get the rescue Secondhand Hounds (where I got Addy) to host him while I foster him, so hopefully he'll get fixed soon and then adopted.  He's super sweet but I don't really have the room for two kitties.  I'll attach a picture of him to the end of this, tell your friends! (see here)

Here's what I'm hopeful for 2013:

1.  To be at a healthier weight than I've been in recent memory
2.  To travel across Europe this summer on the road trip of a lifetime
3.  To begin veterinary school and the start of the rest of my life

Lofty aspirations, but we'll see how it goes!