So busy -- blarghhh.

Argh, I have been meaning to post something about my travels this summer, but before I could upload any pictures, I had to remove a bunch of photos from my drive to free up space. Now that I have the space, I found that I have left my little camera at home so maybe I can upload everything later.

As for getting settled back into Miami life, things are going well. Carlos and I have a nice apartment/condo thing that is really close to campus and is even furnished! We moved in a couple of days ago and are still unpacking things and moving things from location to location, but I really like the place. We are even in walking-distance to blockbuster, a drug store, and a bunch of random stores and restaurants. That is a real rarity for a city like Miami -- you can hardly walk anywhere!

I start teaching on Wednesday, but it shouldn't be that bad since both of my labs are on the same day. Wednesdays won't be much fun, but at least that frees up the rest of the week for writing!

OK, just thought I would write a little update to let everyone know what I have been up to. I am going to try hard to make time to post about Christmas vacation before January is done...aaaaaiiiieee -- it is almost February!

Back in Miami

Actually, I have been back since the afternoon of the 14th, but things have been hectic (as expected) -- I have found a place to live, but am currently living in the office until all the paperwork is done and everything is signed. Hopefully Carlos and I will move into our new place early next week!

I haven't had time to download and organize all the pictures that I took during my various trips this December and January, but I will get to it eventually and start posting about everything. Our road trip took a total of 9 driving days from Seattle to Miami and we traveled through a grand total of 11 states:

- Washington
- Oregon
- California
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Texas
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Alabama
- Florida

We toured through some pretty country, but didn't really stop to enjoy most of it since we had to be back in Miami by the 15th. We also got really lucky weather-wise -- we returned to Miami JUST before the arctic storm front moved in that everyone is talking about. Most of the places we drove through would have been icy and treacherous had we left Las Vegas a day or two later than we actually did!

My blog was hibernating...

Wow, it has been quite a while since I've had the time to sit down on the internet and post something on my blog -- it has been a very busy and rather crazy past few weeks! As my last blog post noted, the holidays started off a little later than anticipated as Carlos and I were trapped in Las Vegas while on our way to my parents' house in Washington. After a pretty long setback (about 4 or so days) we finally made it to Redmond and the snowy and icy weather didn't really improve much for the whole (now truncated) time that we were there! I was pretty disappointed that I couldn't do the majority of the fun things in Washington that I had planned (among those visiting my high school friends and catching up with them), but I was able to spend time with my family and our new dog Remy (his full name is Remington and he is a German Short-haired Pointer like Sierra).

Mom, dad, Carlos, and I all piled into my little Honda right after New Years to drive down to Las Vegas and spend a belated Christmas with my sister. The drive involved a few adventures in a mountain pass, but eventually we arrived safe and relatively unscathed! Las Vegas was fun and felt a little like a second home since I was there less than a week before. We wandered around the strip, I beat the house (yea, I was ahead $1.25!), and we stuffed ourselves silly at a buffet. I have a bunch of pictures that I will post a little later showing some highlights of the trip.

After spending a few days with Shannon, Carlos and I hit the road -- Miami or bust! Right now I am typing this in a Best Western in Sealy, Texas and we've been on the road for 3 days so far with another 3 or so on the horizon. So far, the driving isn't too bad and we have seen some nice desert and the Hoover Dam -- I will post some pictures from the road trip so far too.

OK, I need to get some rest before our drive tomorrow -- hopefully we can make it all the way to Mobile, Alabama. Stay tuned for some retroactive blog posts on my adventures from this Christmas and New Years!

Viva Las Vegas...

Ah so...Carlos and I were en route to Seattle on Sunday 21 December and everything had gone pretty well: we made it from San Jose, Costa Rica to Phoenix, Arizona then to Las Vegas, Nevada. Once we hit Vegas however, we got stuck -- US Airways canceled our flight (along with about a billion others) -- it was a mess. Soo after a lot of waiting, Carlos and I were able to be booked (supposedly a confirmed ticket too) on a flight out of Las Vegas and into Seattle on the night of the 24th.

I am really, REALLY lucky that we were stuck in Vegas since my sister lives here and she is letting us stay with her! I also haven't seen my sister for 2 years so it is really nice to see her again. I am sad that I am not in Seattle yet, but I am happy to be able to see Shannon!

I hope the weather in Washington improves prior to Thursday so that I can get to Seattle to visit my mom, dad, and friends. I'm not there yet, but at least I am stuck in the best place possible!

PS. Today Carlos, Shannon, and I are going to go wandering around the strip!

Lemon ginger tea

I had a really delicious tea a week or so ago. My friend Arietta was cleaning out her office and discovered a veritable treasure trove of tea. She gave me a whole bunch of Stash brand lemon ginger tea packs and they are great! The flavor is very strong spicy ginger with just a hint of lemon. I usually drink flavored black teas with milk and sugar so this herbal tea was a change of pace for me. I will definitely have to find this tea again once I return to Washington!

One week countdown!

Wow, I just realized that a week from today I will be back in Washington with my family! I am really excited to be returning to the states and especially to be visiting Washington (it's been 2 years since I've been home). I will be in Washington for almost 2 weeks before me, Carlos, my mom, and dad all drive to Las Vegas to visit my sister and to celebrate a late Christmas all together.

In Washington, there are lots of things I am planning to get done -- visit the dentist, get a haircut, shop for new, non-field clothes (I barely have any!), and plan out the drive back to Miami. I am also excited to do a bunch of fun things with my family and friends. Here are a few places I plan to visit during my Washington stay:

- Woodland Park Zoo
- Seattle Art Museum
- Half Price Books
- Todai
- Uwajimaya
- Trader Joe's
- Capitol Hill/Broadway

I still need to do a little Christmas present shopping, so I will also be able to visit a couple malls during my stay -- it is going to be a big culture-shock to return to Washington after living and working in Costa Rica for 2.5 years!

DS pocket case

Last night I made a little pocket-like case to hold my Nintendo DS Lite. I have needed one for a while and decided to make my own out of some felt that I had. I am pretty pleased with the end result: one side of the pocket is turquoise blue with a stitched sea monster -- the Kraken -- on it (the Kraken is a monster from one of my favorite video games). The other side of the case is made of grey felt (I didn't have enough turquoise for 2 sides).

The top of the pocket doesn't have a closure, but I may work on it when I return to the states. I am really pleased with how this project turned out and it fits my little pink DS perfectly!

Choco Keks

Today after lunch I bought a little snack (for about 50 cents!) from the gift shop -- Choko Keks! Choco Keks is a little milk chocolate bar that contains a cookie layer and a cream milk layer. It is really good and nice for a sweet snack -- it kind of tastes like a s'mores. I have absolutely no idea what "keks" are though...maybe someone thought it sounded cool?

Tropical biology course logo

My friend Jeff (from my 2005 OTS course) conducts research here in Costa Rica and also leads educational tours around the country while on research hiatus. Recently, he asked me if I could design a logo for one of his college-level tour groups (a group from OWU). He wanted a logo that incorporated their mascot (the grumpy-looking "battling bishop"), a toucan, a palm tree, and some cool shades for the bishop. Here's what I came up with:


I recently finished up the logo and I am pretty pleased with the results (Jeff really liked it too). It is pretty fun to be able to do little projects like this on the side of my research (to also make a little extra dough!).

MORE flooding!?

Wow, this is one of the rainiest times I have ever seen here at La Selva -- the forest is flooded (and closed) yet again. This is getting to become almost routine! The waters started rising last night and when Carlos and I walked home (~7:30pm) we had to wade through a shallow stream forming across the road. While we were wading, we saw a little crocodile off to the side. We watched him until he slowly backed into the grasses and plants nearby -- really cute! I hope that the rains will stop soon so that I can get out into the forest and check on a few of my seeds...