Ito...a damn good dog

In all honesty, I've been avoiding my blog because I didn't want to write this post.

It breaks my heart all over again to write these words, Ito passed away. My beloved pup fell ill early this year and after numerous tests, including a biopsy, a lymphoma diagnosis was confirmed. The only saving grace to his ailment is that everything progressed relatively quickly and while he was still feeling spry he enjoyed his own party and one last big adventure to Niagara Falls!

 Baby Ito. He found me and I'm so glad he did.

 Safe at home

 Lake Ontario Campground

 Fingerlakes, NY

Adirondacks, NY  

   

 Maine Shoreline

Hampton Beach, NH
 

I miss him everyday. He was a damn good dog. Truly my best friend.

Rest in peace, my sweet friend. I love you.

Spring Equinox

Why hello, Spring! Your timing is impeccable. I was starting to get a little tired of all the snow and cold. I look forward to the warmth, sunshine, and flowers that will soon be sweeping across my yard.

For the first time ever, I decided to tap the sugar maples in my yard for sap. Robert is a go-getter so he's been the instigator and muscle behind this adventure...thank goodness, because carrying gallons and gallons of sap around the yard isn't really my thing. 

As soon as the first warm day (that's above freezing folks) knocked on our door we put the spiles (the metal thingy featured in the first picture) in to our trees. We used the largest drill bit I have to drill a ~3 inch deep hole into the tree about 3 feet above the ground. We knew we were in the right place because when we pulled the drill bit out the sap began to flow...super exciting!! All of our spiles are located on the east side of the tree. We learned the sap flows on the east side of the tree first because the sun warms it up fastest in the morning.

After drilling the hole, we hammered the spile into place. Since we are rednecks at heart (and cheap!), we decided to attach water jugs to the spiles to collect the sap. We secured the jug to the tree with some very tough string (used for fish nets). Amazingly, our redneck sap collecting equipment fared really well through the previous two days of 30+ mph wind gusts and a sustained 15 mph wind.

So how much sap have we collected so far? At least three gallons worth! And that's only been over two days of decent sap flow. A cold spell fell across New England recently slowing down the sap flow. Next week looks like a good sap week though. It will be above freezing during the day and freezing at night! Perfect for collecting sap.

To turn the sap into syrup requires a lot of boiling. I've read that the sap to syrup ratio is about 30:1...oh boy. Good thing we won't be using any extra energy to reduce our syrup. Since I primarily heat the house with the wood stove our syrup will be added to the stove top so the excess water can be boiled off.

Other than sap collecting, farming activities this winter have primarily consisted of taking care of the chickens and ducks. After culling quite a few birds from the flock, my chickens decided to start laying eggs again which was a pleasant surprise. my coop is quite large (24 ft x 8 ft) so I'm a little perplexed my birds were feeling cramped. I guess it's for the better that the flock is smaller these days though. I enjoyed selling eggs to friends and coworkers, but it was a bit more work than I can handle while trying to keep up with my graduate research. Farming is fun, but my primary job is school these days.

In celebration of the equinox, I'll be sure to continue to look forward with an open heart and enjoy every moment of the spring's brilliance over the next few months. 

I've posted some pictures from the previous few months with captions. Life is good! I'm blessed to have some amazing people in my life.

XC skiing in Utah with my family.

Mom's first XC skiing foray. She's a natural!

Dad went downhill skiing. A brave man! And he truly conquered the mountain.

My wonderful family. I wouldn't be who I am without you all.

Snowy owl sighting in New Hampshire. I'm pointing to the owl in the rocks (look for the white speck that isn't snow). Thanks, Robert, for seeking out this awesome opportunity.

Dartmouth snow castle. This is Robert's birthday pose :) Happy 33rd, Bert!

This one's for Jude. Ito and I found a flamingo in the snow. 

XC skiing in NH

On our way to the local winery. This is my good friend, Lori,

The slightly tipsy XC ski gang. We indulged in wine, moonshine, and apple brandy. 

On our way home.

While in Utah mom took me to see the original Where the Wild Things Are drawings. Amazing!!

Best pizza of the year! Regina Pizzeria, Little Italy, Boston, MA

Bruins hockey on Saint Patty's Day. The Bruins lost, but we saw our first hockey shoot out. Pretty cool!

Be sure to make today a good one! 

New Beginnings and a New Year

What I thought was everlasting didn't last. It's been very hard for me to work through the emotions and feelings that emerged when Ryan and I decided to breakup. Honestly, some days are still a struggle. But I cherish the days and moments when I feel truly happy that a new chapter in my life has begun. I am ever so grateful for my family and dear friends that have supported me. I'm not one to ask for much because I like to keep to myself, but it felt really nice to know that when I needed someone you were there for me. I thank you for that.

On a positive note, 2014 closed with some really fantastic moments. I had the great joy of visiting some of my favorite relatives down in Virginia. While I was there I caught up with my cousins, Kyle and Andy, over beers and pingpong. And we even relived some of our childhood memories at the GoKart track. You both really whooped my ass! I also had the pleasure of spending lots of time with my Aunt and Uncle. Vickie - you are such a lovely women. I'm glad we were able to drink coffee together each morning and catch-up on life. There's plenty of snow here in NH these days for a nice ski. See you here soon? Jimmy - your zest for life is contagious. Thanks for being such a joy to be around. I also met the newest relative, Andy's firstborn daughter, Maddy. Even though she was just a little thing (~6 lbs),  I could already tell she will have my cousin's "life's a great adventure" attitude. Welcome to the family, Maddy!

Christmas was another joyful time from 2014. My parents flew across the country to spend a few days with me at my house. We had high hopes to XC ski while they were here, but mother nature had another plan...rain, not snow. No worries though, we took the weather in stride and explored the seacoast a little, ate lobster (well Mom ate at least three lobster rolls, and Dad had at least one steamed lobster), and enjoyed each others company.

For Christmas, I decided to invite a few friends that were still in town to enjoy dinner with us. Kristi, Cynthia, and Robert were all available for an afternoon of laughs, games, and food. Dinner included my female goose (Dad had honors of slaughtering her, and Robert and I plucked and cleaned the bird. Thanks for being a good sport, Robert!), local fingerling potatoes and pumpkin, green salad with backyard tomatoes and corn, corn bread stuffing (nicely prepared, Mom!), ambrosia, and cranberry sauce. It was quite the feast...way too much food actually! The dessert, I think, really put the meal over the top; we had raspberry pie made with raspberries I picked this fall in the yard and Robert made an excellent pie crust. Cynthia also contributed with a delicious vanilla custard. It was oooo so good. In the end, Christmas dinner was a lot of work, but it was so nice to be around some of my favorite people.

Something I learned over the holidays is that we should all make an effort to find time to just be with the ones we love. I have found and continue to find so much happiness in those seemingly simple moments.

My New Year's Eve celebration involved dancing, bluegrass, and laughter. Robert, Cynthia and I all decided to go out on the town to ring in the New Year. Before the clock struck midnight we each disclosed our new year's resolutions. Here are mine:

1. Stretch every day (I stole this one from Cynthia)
2. Make someone else laugh or have my own belly laugh every day.
3. Do something for myself at least once a week.

So far I've done fairly well keeping to my resolutions. Stretching has been really helpful in getting rid of some of my pesky neck pains. I still have bouts of stiffness, but stretching (along with awareness of my posture while working) has worked wonders. 

Laughter, I've come to realize, is so essential to my own personal happiness. I unknowingly went nearly three years with very little laughter in my life. When you don't share the same sense of humor with your partner it can be a little difficult to chuckle. Therefore as I open this new chapter in my life I am also making an effort to also open the door to laughter. Coincidentally, I just found out today that Robert wants to go with me to a Comedy Show in a week. He didn't even know how much I love laughter right now, but his inclination has (as usual) hit the nail on the head. There's something about this guy.... :)

Doing something for myself once a week is another thing that brings me joy and self awareness. All to often we get wrapped up in the silly day to day tasks - school work, feeding the dog, cooking dinner, laundry - and we overlook our own need for something that nourishes our soul. For me, this includes art (recently crocheting), gardening, dancing, swimming, reading a book, walking through the woods, playing soccer, and even just cuddling with Ito (my now 8 year old pup!). It felt weird at first to make this time for myself, but I'm starting to enjoy it and feel a little bit more like my old self.

As this new year really ramps up I am sincerely looking forward to all the joys I will experience. If I am faced with more trying times, that's okay, I will rise to the occasion yet again and learn from the experience. I'm optimistic this is going to be a great year for me and you! 

Goose day one minute, Comprehensive exams the next, and Snorkeling till the sunsets.

November and December came and went in a blink of an eye.

It seems like only yesterday that we had the joy of hosting Ryan's parents for Thanksgiving. They made the long trek to NH from TX with their Australian Shepard in tow to indulge in a home raised goose feast with us and our dear friend Cynthia. Yes, we decided to eat one of our beloved feathered friends for this year's festivities.

Here's Ryan holding our male Chinese goose moments before his last breath.

Cynthia and Ryan inspecting the goose after it emerged from the smoker.

And here he is after slow roasting and being smoked all day.

 As for how he tasted...well, it was good, but it was not turkey. This was the first time any of us had tried goose so we weren't really sure what we were getting into. What we quickly realized is that goose is 100% dark meat that should be served medium rare. Because Ryan is a germaphobe when it comes to meat we cooked ours till it was 165 degrees Fahrenheit so it wound up being a little tough, but I sincerely appreciate that Ryan was looking out for the well-being of all of our bellies. We all came to the conclusion that the meat tasted and felt very similar to roast beef. I have to say that for our first time cooking a goose I'm pleased with how it turned out. We are undoubtedly more prepared to deal with the next goose that comes to our table. Our female goose may last for a while though if she keeps laying gorgeous giant eggs :)

Aside from eating goose, Ryan, his parents and I had a nice time exploring the Seacoast area. We even went to a Men's Hockey game, which was really fun even though we lost.

It was sad to say goodbye to the Phillips as they packed up not only because they were leaving, but also because that meant my comprehensive exams were quickly approaching.

If you are not familiar with higher education, specifically doctoral degrees, I will gladly fill you in on one of the lovely hurdles all doctoral students must overcome prior to graduation....the dreaded Comprehensive Exams. In some programs, like Physics (which Ryan is in), students must pass a comprehensive test within two years of being admitted into the graduate program. This test typically includes two days of exams covering all types of physics (e.g. quantum mechanics, classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism) that last 6 hours. Believe me, all the folks walking out of these exams looked like they had aged 5 years just from the stress and brain power they exerted over those 12 hours.

In my program, we approach the comprehensive exams in a much less friendly manner (if you can even imagine that!). I was asked to answer five questions written by my committee members over the course of 21 days in the form of extensive literature reviews. So for 21 days I typed, deleted, typed, deleted, sat, sat, sat, sat, and drew weary of writing responses to the questions they asked. From Dec 2 to December 22, I composed 57 pages of response. It was exhausting! This is why I barely remember December. It was full of the same thing day after day. Thank goodness that is over with. Now I have the joy of the oral examination which is slated for next Wednesday.

On Dec 23, Ryan and I were able to enjoy each other's company a little bit...unfortunately we also had to say goodbye to our pups at the same time because they were headed to the kennel. Why would we do such a thing? Well, we were holding two tickets for a fun filled week with my parents in Turks and Caicos!

On Christmas Eve, also Ryan's Birthday!, we boarded the 3am bus to Boston, caught our 6am flight and were on our way out of the country.

With very few hours of sleep, we greeted my parents at the T&CI airport, gathered some essential food from the grocery, and drove to our abode for a snooze. My parents were also deprived of sleep since they flew from Utah on a red-eye. We were all in bed by 6:30 pm the first night.

When we awoke we were greeted with warm sun, ocean breeze, white sands, and crystal blue waters. What a sight! We were on the island of Providenciales, which is the most populated of all the T&CI islands. Since Christmas is the high season in T&CI there were quite a few tourists on the beach, but it never really felt crowded which was nice. We all took life easy lounging around, soaking up the rays, swimming, and reading books for pleasure. We were in hog heaven...especially me since I yearned for some R&R after the exams.

During the week we ate lots of delicious foods including local seafoods like conch (tougher than we expected even raw), grouper, and snapper. Ryan was most smitten with the jerk chicken we found on the street during the Maskanoo parade held on Boxing day. He scarfed down two servings of it in no time.

Jerk chicken from the street vendor

Maskanoo Parade

This is the view from "da Conch shack" where we all threw back quite a few rum punches...oh so delicious. Ryan even enjoyed them :)

We were all also super excited about snorkeling the reefs right off shore. Luckily there were a few protected reefs close enough to our condo to walk to so we all were able to snorkel around.

Caribbean reef squid! They can fly out of the water.

Conch. Alive and healthy.

Flying dad.

 This guy is not only a great dad, but also a great scuba buddy.

Stingray. We saw quite a few of these snorkeling.

Brain coral. 

Dad (the brain) with the brain coral. 

I love this one!

Large starfish...at least 10 inches across.

He and I have now snorkeled in Florida, Hawaii and T&CI together.

love him.

 This woman taught me most of my snorkeling skills.

Looking good, Mom!

Heading down to the bottom.

That's me if you couldn't tell.

Snorkel boat trip. We outlasted the entire boat.

 Beautiful coral. Look but don't touch.

My gang. One awesome bunch of people.

Ryan and I were truly blessed to be invited to go on such a fun adventure with my parents. We had a lovely time exploring the warm beaches with them. So thank you both for inviting us and being such fun to be around! We're looking forward to the next one (hint, hint, wink, wink). Love to you both!

Now that we're back home we are trying to readjust to the bitterly cold temperatures that recently swept across the country. Luckily we have plenty of firewood to keep our house warm and our power hasn't gone out. Our bodies are slowly coming to terms with the New England weather again, but we oh so long to be back in the warm sun in the Caribbean. 

Happy New Year to you all. We look forward to sharing some more of our experiences as we navigate graduate school and life these next three (no more, please, no more than that) years.