Life Lately (Christmas 2014)

Happy late Christmas and early New Years! Things have been go, go, go this month and I've barely had a minute to sit down and catch up. I finished my last Fall quarter (scary thought!) with a few festive events and holiday get togethers, in between working on final papers and projects.

CKI Meeting with Monica :) 

Celestial Seasonings Peppermint Tea Cupcakes. SO good! 

Almost done with Fall Quarter! 

Our school mascot in its natural habitat 

There's always lots to do during these short stints away from school (dentist visits, doctors appointments, old friends to see, kids to spend time with etc.) so it's been busy, but very rejuvenating and productive.

Christmas Eve was spent at church, as per usual, and it was so nice to see some old friends from childhood. We have a tradition that's been going on for over a decade, where our youth group friends head to Denny's for "Christmas Breakfast" after the late service on Christmas Eve. Sadly, our "spot" closed down this year, so one of our youth leaders generously bought food and brought it to be enjoyed at church after the service! We got to see lots of familiar faces and catch up with our friends. I'm so grateful to Karl for finding a way to carry on the tradition, we all had a wonderful time.

Random salad, trying to stay on track over break! 

Christmas morning was very relaxed and quite pleasant. The four of us sat around opening gifts, digging through our stockings and chatting. We also talked to some of our family on the East Coast which is always a treat. I got a lot of really sweet and thoughtful gifts this year including some holiday teas from Celestial Seasonings (I have been searching high and low for these!), a new tea infuser plus two new flavors from the Republic of Tea, another favorite tea company. My dad got me a beautiful necklace with a clock face incased in a glass bubble. It reminds me of a time turner from Harry Potter! My brother also gave me a very generous Visa gift card so I could purchase my Blogilates Fit Planner for 2015. I'm super excited to check that out as soon as it gets here!

Dad in his new "driver's hat" from mom

Posing with my twin, and looking like I was the one who spent the entire night delivering presents ;) Ha!

It's really hard to selfie on an iPad (Brother, me and Mama Bear!)

Tujague has been thoroughly enjoying his time at home :)

Despite the craziness of the holidays and all the running around, this break has actually been fairly relaxing. I've been doing lots of hiking with loved ones since I have to take the dogs out for a spin at least once a day. Cricket, the "puppy" has been having the time of his life!

Our hike today, can you even see the trail?!

Thankful and Four Things Blogger Survey!

Hello! It's been awhile, but I've successfully made it through midterms. The past few weeks have been filled with lots of highs and some significant lows. It's been a little exhausting, but I'm soaking up every second of this long weekend. This post is kind of a brain dump/ photo overshare so I apologize in advance for any incoherence!

I went home last weekend to housesit and hangout with my favorite pups. We wound up having a very low key Thanksgiving dinner a week early and I made my first turkey, with a little help from my mama! I also finished up a little early Christmas crafting. Annie, Linnea and I decided to make felt stockings which was really fun and they turned out super cute. I've also watched Love Actually an obscene number of times in the past few weeks... I love that movie!

That's a King size bed they're taking up. 

The sweetest old boy. I love this dog more than words can express. 

This girl needs to work on her embroidered lettering skills... Eek!

My beautifully browned birdie 

Other than that, I've been spending a lot of time volunteering at the Homeless Garden Project Store. The shop is open for 6 weeks (late November until Christmas) and it's beautiful. All of the products are made by local artists and vendors, and many of the products are made using flowers and herbs from the Homeless Garden here in Santa Cruz. The HGP works with people who are experiencing homelessness to teach farming and agriculture skills. It's an amazing nonprofit and it's been so wonderful volunteering in the store. Sometimes I go in just to take in all the aromas.

Wall of dried flower wreathes

I tend to hang out right here, it smells like HEAVEN.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. Despite things being difficult at home, there is still so much that I am grateful for. My family, good friends, deep belly laughs, group texts (all those long distance friendships need to be maintained), human relationships, time (to clean my kitchen, not even kidding), my car, community, and so much more. I spent yesterday with the family of two friends (they're brothers). We helped out at a soup kitchen serving food to the community for a good chunk of the day. Then we hung out at their house and had a delicious Hawaiian dinner before heading out for Black Friday shopping at the Great Mall with more friends. I am so thankful for their family's graciousness, it was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

On a completely different note: This survey has been floating around lately and I couldn't pass it up. I love these things!

Four names that people call me other than my real name:

1. Gracie (real name is technically Grace)
2. Graceface  
3. Grizzle (my college girlfriend's all have "street names" LOL) 
4. Facie, Dacie, Gacie and several other r-less versions of my name (I spend time with a lot of kids)  

Four jobs I’ve had:

1. Babysitter/nanny: One of my favorite jobs, and the way I support myself in college
2. Assistant Preschool teacher 
3. President/ Lieutenant Governor for Circle K International: Most time consuming positions I've ever held as a volunteer, but also the most rewarding. Wouldn't trade it for the world 
4. Student advisor for a nonprofit benefitting undocumented, first generation and low income students. Also, an amazing job that allowed me to work with a group of incredible high school and college students passionate about education. 
5. Fun Fact: I've held all of these jobs at the same time! 

Four movies I’ve watched more than once:

1. New In Town
2. Elf
3. Love Actually
4. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist  

Four books I’d recommend:

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
2. Sarah's Key
3. It Starts With Food 
4. After Her--> Takes place in my hometown. Very creepy but so enthralling

Four places I’ve lived

1. San Pablo, CA
2. San Anselmo, CA 
3. Fairfax, CA
4. Santa Cruz, CA 

Four places I’ve visited:

1. England, Ireland and Wales (all one trip)
2. Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, Mexico
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Almost all of the U.S. states!

Four places I’d rather be right now:

1. Playing in the rain somewhere
2. Drinking coffee in a cozy cafe
3. In my bed (just kidding... I'm already here!)  
4. Big Basin, by a fire place, listening to JP Cooper. I just discovered him and he is amazing!

Four things I prefer not to eat:

1. Ketchup (holy YUCK) 
2. Fishy fish 
3. Fresh pressed green juice (The last few times they've been awful) 
4.  Cottage cheese 

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Pasta
2. Banana bread 
3. Peach yogurt 
4. Chicken satay with peanut sauce 

Four TV shows I watch:

1. New Girl 
2. Disappeared 
3. Gilmore Girls (relieving middle/ high school) 
4. Grey's Anatomy 

Four things I’m looking forward to this year:

1. Graduating from University  
2. Traveling a little bit
3. Moving somewhere completely new for nursing school?! 
4. Going to see my cousin's band in January when they come to SF from New York (check them out, The Hot Sardines) 

Four things I’m always saying:

1.  I love you! 
2. Linsom, guess what?! 
3. Why am I so easily distracted...?
4. Frick on a stick (don't even know where we came up with that but my roommate and I use it a little too often).

Four people I tag to answer these questions:

1. You
2. You
3. You
4. YOU!

Halloween Recap and Shepherd's Pie

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween weekend and was able to thoroughly enjoy that extra hour of sleep on Sunday!

After class on Friday, I came home and worked on homework for a few hours before realizing that my costume was still a bunch of individual pieces. Linnea has been talking about dressing up as a giraffe since before last Halloween, and she definitely wins the costume contest this year. With the help of the thrift store, and some serious dedication, she came up with this awesome costume. She painted the tights and the shirt herself!

 I was struggling a little in the costume department. I gave the tutu and ears a little test run at a Halloween themed meeting we had earlier in the week and decided to call myself a "party animal." My friend Natalie sent me a text when she saw the pictures and said that my get up totally reminded her of Marty, the zebra from Madagascar. Thus, my new costume was born! You can call me, Marty the Party Animal! #creativity ;)

Recognize those paint samples from a previous post? 

We went to Annie's house for a little while before heading downtown. In Santa Cruz, they close down the main street and everyone parades around in their costumes. We saw awesome group costumes including a Human Beer Pong set up, hoards of Zombies doing the Thriller dance and even some people on stilts. It was pretty crazy, but we wound up back at home before midnight. 

We were all pretty exhausted after an intense week of school 

On Saturday morning I got up bright and early to head to the Second Harvest Food Bank in Watsonville, about 15 miles south of Santa Cruz. Along with a couple other Circle K members and several people from the community, we packed 2,800 bags of non-perishables to be handed out this week. And it only took us a little over 2 hours. It went by way too fast, but it was a great way to start off the day! 

The crates we filled on Saturday morning! 

Sunday was very low key. I slept for nearly 11 hours which I was not expecting to do, but I think my body really needed it.  We went to the grocery store and I picked up some ingredients for Shepherd's Pie along with my usual haul for the week. I glanced at an ingredient list before heading to the store, but when it actually came to preparing the meal, I totally winged it. After an 8 hour stint in the library, I decided I wanted to get to work in the kitchen and I think the recipe turned out really well!

iPhone photos don't do it justice! 

 Shepherd's Pie 
Note: The ingredient amounts are just approximations. I am terrible about following recipes and I tend to just eye ball everything. I need to get better about that, please forgive me!

• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 yellow onion (diced)
• 1 cup Frozen Parisian carrots (TJ's)
• 1 cup Frozen Peas
• 1 cup Frozen Green Beans
• Approximately 30 rounds of Frozen Mashed Potato Medallions (TJ's)
• 1/3 cup of Beef broth 
• 1/2 cup loosely grated Cheddar Cheese
• 2tbs Butter (to be used at various steps in the process) 
• Salt and pepper (to taste) 

1. Melt 1/2 tbs butter in large skillet on medium heat

2. Add onion and ground beef, add salt and pepper to taste

3. When the meat is mostly cooked through, add carrots, peas and beans (you can use pretty much any vegetable medley. Next time I might add some corn)

4. Pour in enough beef broth to cover the bottom of the pan, cover and let simmer until vegetables are fully thawed. 

5. While the "filling" is cooking, line your baking dish with biscuit dough (I used the pre-made crescent roll dough from TJ's). This will serve as the crust.

6. Mashed potatoes: You can make your own, or take the easy way out and use the TJ's potato medallions. I just prepped mine in the microwave and mashed them with a fork (and the rest of the butter) when they were done.

6. Fill your baking dish(es) with the beef mixture and spread the mashed potatoes over the top to cover the mixture. Grate cheddar cheese over the top

7. Place in oven at 350 degrees for approximately 35 minutes (or until cheese is very lightly browned) 

The final product. I promise it tastes better than it looks! Very hearty and it totally hit the spot in terms of comfort food! 

The only baking dishes I had were the brown clay roasting dishes (pictured above) I got in Mexico a few years ago. Portion wise, I would say this recipe allowed 4 very generous helpings, though it will probably look more like 6 for me! You could also bake this recipe in muffin tins if you want individual pies, or in a larger casserole dish. Enjoy!

Study Tips

First things first, Happy Friday and Happy Halloween!

My bunny is pretty happy it's Friday too :)

Studying is probably the last thing I want to be thinking about today, but I think the celebrating will have to be kept to a minimum. I've got a busy weekend coming up and lots of school work to catch up on. I'll be sure to post a recap with our costumes later this weekend! 

I was thinking about it after yesterday's post and I've realized that writing on the blog is also a nice stress reliever. I spend 100% of time in school reading and writing papers, but somehow this kind of writing feels different. It's a nice way to reflect and unwind, and it helps me refocus. 

Speaking of focus! Since my life currently revolves around school, I figured it would be useful to write out a few things that help me concentrate when it's time to buckle down and study.

5 Study Tips

1. Make a List: This is always the first thing I do when there is a lot to get done. Writing down tasks makes them seem more manageable (visualization always helps me), and it's really satisfying when you can check things off. 

2. Have a study space: As a college student, my bedroom and my "office" are the same place. If I'm going to study at home, I need to minimize distractions. Usually that means taking 10 minutes to make my bed and clean up my desk. Going to one of the libraries on campus is also a good idea. I'm always more productive at the library because I feel guilty if I go and don't use my time wisely. 

3. Unplug: For some people, studying with music is really helpful. For me, it's a major distraction. It is really difficult for me to retain information like important dates and concepts if I'm distracted by music. Although I look like a super dork, I've found that wearing ear plugs is tremendously helpful! 

4. Logout: These days, there are millions of things to get distracted by on the internet. Whether it's social media (Facebook and Instagram are the biggest time suckers for me), blogs, Pinterest etc. LOGOUT. By logging out, I have to make a conscious decision to log back in. This helps prevent mindless scrolling. Often during finals I will deactivate my Facebook temporarily, or have my roommate create a new password so that I can't log back in. 

5. Take breaks: If you know you'll be focusing on dense material, allow yourself time for breaks. I try to focus for 50 minutes and then take a 10 minute break to stretch, get some tea, use the bathroom or chat with my roommate. Taking a step back helps me refocus and stay on track. 

I know these tips are fairly generic, but sometimes it's good to focus on the basics. 

Hope you have a happy and safe Halloween! 

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Balance and Baseball

Holy moly!!! Our team won the World Series for the 3rd time in 5 years! I was born and raised in the SF Bay Area, so the Giants have always been a huge part of the culture in our area. My dad and I went to a game back in September and it was truly one of my favorite memories. Going to the ballpark with my old man, looking out over the Bay on a beautiful sunny afternoon and just enjoying the camaraderie of all the excited fans. The last time I had been at a game was in 2012!

My housemates and I have been watching every game since we all moved in together (two of them are from San Francisco) and it's been something that I look forward to after a long day of school. Plus, our team colors were perfect for getting everyone in the spirit of Halloween!
I didn't actually get to watch the whole game last night as I had a meeting, but my housemate texted me as soon as we won and I announced the win to everyone in the room. We all erupted in excited cheers, it was great! I so wish I could go to the parade tomorrow, but school has priority :(

Other than baseball, things have been a little overwhelming lately. I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but last year was incredibly difficult for me in terms of finding balance. I was traveling at least 3 weekends a month, babysitting a ton, and trying to keep up with my volunteer position as Lieutenant Governor for Circle K. I had no energy for studying, and keeping up in all my classes was so hard. I felt guilty and ashamed of how awful I was doing and it was nothing short of miraculous when I found out I had passed all of my classes. I used to be 4.0 student, so this was a huge shift for me and it was really hard to digest.

As this summer came to a close, I was getting more and more excited for school. I wanted to use this last year to really focus on my studies while still finding time for the activities that enrich my life. I absolutely love volunteering and I use it as a stress reliever, so I try and attend at least one project per week. It also serves as a great time to socialize and reconnect with the friends I've made in Circle K throughout the years. But it does take time, and with the amount of homework I've had so far this quarter, time has been my biggest enemy.

Things have been a little rough at home (as in home home, I'll spare you the details), so being able to focus on my studies while still getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising and making time to enjoy life, has been really rough. By the time Friday rolls around, I am exhausted and my brain is totally fried. I want to saturate my weekends in "me" time, but right now it's just not possible. Like I said, I still try and carve out a few hours for volunteering, and I would be lying if I said my roommate and I didn't take unplanned study breaks, but for the most part, it's all about the academics right now. Finding balance is tough, but I know that 7 months from now when I'm walking across the stage, it will all have been worth it. As Dori would say, "Just keep swimming!"

Weekend Recap

This weekend was incredibly busy, but quite fun. After class on Friday, Linnea and I went to Ace Hardware to pick up some fertilizer for our winter vegetable patch. Granted, this is mostly Linnea's project, but it's still fun to spend some time outside and learn more about proper fertilization and gardening techniques!

I also managed to snag a ton of paint samples for a little Pinterest project I've been thinking about. 

Our garden, which we affectionately refer to as "The Dirt Patch" 

Saturday started bright and early! Every October the California-Nevada-Hawaii district of Circle K International has two massive fundraisers for the Pediatric Trauma Program. Did you know that 90% of accidents involving children are preventable? This program works to provide training for doctors treating children who have experienced some kind of traumatic accident, and also provides safety equipment and training to help keep as many kids safe as possible. The way the fundraiser works is that members from around the district sign up in teams of six to compete in a series of relay type activities and compete for a spot in the finals. Each team pays a registration fee and all the funds go to supporting PTP. We call it Crazy Kompetition for Infants, a.k.a. CKI North/South.

About 1/3 of the attendees. This is my division, Sunset, and Central Coast division! 

This year I was one of the judges and got to help out at the jump rope station. People don't realize how physically demanding jump roping! Two members of each team are responsible for turning the rope and the other four must jump. The first person must make three jumps before the next team member can join them and we don't start counting jumps until all four members are jumping. It's intense! The highest scoring team made 152 jumps as a team of four in just five minutes! Bonus: My friend's team, The Sexy Six, has competed together for the last three years and they took first place in the finals this year!

Some of my friends who were also judging jump rope wanted to give it a go... It's harder than it looks but they managed 195 jumps in 5 minutes! :) 

I love this event because it brings together a lot of people that I only get to see a few times a year. Plus we usually wind up getting food afterwards and it's so fun to catch up. By the time I got home though, I was totally wiped. I wound up going to bed at 9:30pm and sleeping for almost twelve hours. It was glorious!

Sunday was supposed to be my relaxation/ homework catch up day, but there was far more relaxing involved than there was studying... Oops! Linnea and I went back to the apple orchard and walked away with a complimentary jar of apple butter from the owners in addition to our next ten pound stash of apples!

So many yummy fall treats!

We ran a few errands on the way home, and I walked away from Target with the best purchase I think I've ever made. I have never owned a pair of patterned pants, but I could not leave them behind after trying them on and feeling how soft and comfy they were. I wore them all afternoon yesterday and I didn't want to take them off!

Please ignore the dirty mirror and my lack of a face (I was pretty sunburnt from Saturday)

Overall it was a great weekend, but I'm seriously wishing I had done more homework. I have about 500 pages of reading to finish before Wednesday, so we'll see how that goes. Wish me luck!

Back to School Craziness

Unlike a good majority of college students in the United States, my school runs on the quarter system. Basically, our year is divided into four quarters, three of them being during the academic year and the final one being split into two sessions over the summer. Because each quarter is only ten weeks (plus one week for final exams), we don't start school until late September every year. However, because of the Jewish Holiday falling on the typical first day of school, the UC system decided to push back the start date until the following week which meant I didn't start school until October 2nd this year. Crazy late! 

It's been almost exactly two weeks since the quarter started and I am already swamped. I'm taking a  full course load (two upper division history classes and my last survey class) which makes for tons and tons of reading. I've been to the library a record number of times in the past eight days and I am still not completely up to date in all my classes. I have about 500 pages of reading per week and since there is no time to waste on the quarter system, my first midterm paper is due tomorrow!

In addition to school, I'm also active in a few clubs on campus (Circle K International, Red Cross and Colleges Against Cancer), and I am finally starting my volunteer position at our local hospital. The hospital in our area has a fairly new program for college volunteers that allows us to work in the Emergency Department and take shifts at any hour of the day. There are also opportunities to work in Labor and Delivery as well as the NICU which is what I'm most interested in. I'm super excited to get started, but I'm currently waiting on immunization records from my doctor as well as the TB testing clinic to open next week. I did get to go to UC Davis this past weekend for the 12th Annual PreHealth conference which was very informative, reassuring and motivating in terms of where I am in the process (*ahem* barely starting out, more on that later) 

Anyway, I'm going to try really, really hard to keep writing on a fairly regular basis since it's nice to look back and see what I was up to and how I was feeling at different points in the year. I'm still kind of riding the high of the start of the school year, but the reality of senior year is quickly setting in and I can tell this final year of undergrad is going to be a crazy good one! 

Time to keep working on that midterm paper...

Apple Picking at Clearview Orchards

Growing up on the California Coast means we only really have two seasons. It's sunny and warm/hot about seven months of the year, and then mid October it starts to get chilly. Fall is by far my favorite season, so these last few weeks of Indian Summer have not been popular with me (or my fall wardrobe.) I adore the crisp morning air in November and the smell after it rains. Basically, it's not unusual for me to get really excited about weather. Especially when it involves cooler temps and rain (come on draught, we're done with you!)

Anyway, yesterday felt like a good day to pretend it wasn't 90 degrees outside so after a morning of volunteering for the Homeless Garden Project, Linnea and I headed out to Clearview Orchards in Watsonville to pick some apples. This is actually our third year visiting this particular orchard and we love it because the prices are reasonable, they have great variety, it's certified organic and it's family owned and operated. All kinds of winning!

Last year at the orchard. Las tres amigas!

We got a little carried away and picked those apples like they were going out of style! We got plenty of Granny Smith's for a pie that we'll probably bake up tonight, plus plenty of apples for snacking. They are juicy and crisp, with just the right amount of sweetness. We walked away with about ten pounds of apples, plus a butternut squash.

Missing 1/3 of our trio

Apple picking is definitely one of my very favorite activities and I'm so glad we got to go, even though it doesn't really feel like Fall yet. Bonus: We got apple fritters on the way home AND our local grocery was having a sale on my favorite tea brand. Now if only the weather would get the memo...

I'm planning to spend the rest of the day chipping away at my 200 pages of reading for classes tomorrow. Whoever said the first week of school was low key clearly has never been on the quarter system!

Outtakes (in which I seemingly have no eyes. Ooops!)

Best Concert of My Life

Last Sunday was a crazy special day that I had been looking forward to for months. Way back in March, I heard the acoustic version of Sam Smith's "Latch" and I totally and completely fell in love with his voice. My friend Kayla is also a huge fan, so when we heard he would be touring North America, we freaked out. Kayla lives in Southern California (approximately a 6 hour drive from me, or a 1.5 hour plane ride) so we had to decide whether we wanted to see him in L.A. or in Oakland. We decided on Oakland because that concert was on a Sunday which worked better for both of us, and we were so glad we did. The venue (Fox Theater) was beautiful and it wasn't very big. We were in the absolute last row in the balcony, but we could still see really well and didn't feel like it compromised our experience at all.

Woooo! So excited! 

Inside the Fox Theater in Oakland. So gorgeous! 

During the opening act, my heart was racing with anticipation. I don't think I've ever felt like such a fan girl, even with Maroon 5! The minute he stepped on stage and started singing, I was in HEAVEN. Oh my gosh, I can't even put into words how beautiful his voice sounded! You can really feel the emotion in his voice and his passion for the lyrics really shines through in every song. He played a lot of the songs from his album, "In the Lonely Hour" and also covered a few songs including Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" which was incredible. He is so charming and charismatic which made the show that much better.

The man himself. I was flipping out. I even cried at one point! 

The thing I love about concerts is the energy and the passion in the crowd. Good fans truly make the experience. The people sitting next to us were equally as excited as we were which made it really fun to sing along and enjoy the show. I am so happy we were able to go and I cannot wait to see him in concert again next time he's in the area. Oh! and I am so glad we didn't see him in L.A. The venue was huge and super crowded, and on a college student's budget, we definitely would have wound up lost in the back somewhere watching his face on a monitor. Bay Area all the way!

So glad Kayla was able to come up for this! <3 

Wisconsin Road Trip Days 5, 6 and 7!

The final stretch (I feel like I've been dragging this out, but I'm glad I'm taking the time to write this all down because it's only been a month since the trip and some of the details are already getting hazy.)

Anyway! Day 5 started in Sterling, CO. We headed out early knowing that this would by far be our longest day of driving. Our destination for the end of the day was Des Moines, Iowa which meant we had to travel through the rest of Colorado, all the way through Nebraska and through a good chunk of Iowa too. Day 5 was totally uneventful. Quick thoughts:

• I wanted to cry leaving Colorado
• The entire state of Nebraska smelled like popcorn 
• Gas stations have showers? 
• Where can I get a damn salad?!

We finally got to Des Moines where we checked into our hotel and had dinner in the hotel's restaurant. It was a Thursday night and the hotel was anything but poppin'. I had some Italian Wedding soup which was kinda meh but it filled me up. We decided to walk a few blocks to a liquor store for a bottle of wine and some ice cream. We wound up with a bottle of Malibu and headed back to the hotel to watch Clueless. Pretty uneventful day! 

Des Moines at dawn

...

The next day we drove the last 4 hours to Madison! We passed by Em's new office (which was so cool!) and then headed to her apartment to check it out and wait for the movers to arrive. While we were waiting, we decided to go to Culver's because everyone told of us we had to try the cheese curds. They were good, but I didn't expect them to be fried!

The view from Em's new place

We spent the rest of the day unloading boxes and assembling furniture. We headed out to a place that specifically specialized in salads because we were all craving some greens. My salad was good, but the shrimp in it tasted a little fishy for my taste. We still had room for dessert so we headed to UW Madison for some delicious ice cream. The University was bustling with people, live music and lots of locals out enjoying their Friday night. It was nice to be back in a city! 

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Chicago so that L could be dropped off at her uncle's and I could catch my plane back to the homeland. We stopped in downtown Madison on our way out of town to visit the Taste of Madison foodie fest and pick up some non-fried cheese curds to bring home. Once on the road again we realized that there are so many toll roads in Illinois! It took us about an hour longer to get to Chicago than we anticipated so by the time we got the airport, I jumped out of the car, grabbed my bags and made a mad dash to security. I barely got to say goodbye to Em which made me weirdly emotional. By the time I got to the TSA agent at security there were tears running down my cheeks and I was a total wreck. 

Cheese curds from Taste of Madison! 

I made it to my gate on time, and listened to some Ed Sheeran on the flight to Denver. The airport was super dead so I grabbed a bowl of broccoli cheese soup and ate dinner while I waited to board my last flight. I had a bit of a head ache (this becomes important in a minute) so I took some ibuprofen and hung out with my book. 

Before things got ugly... 

All was fine and good until about 30 minutes into the flight. I started feeling terribly nauseous and my head was killing me. (Warning: this gets a little graphic) I don't know if it was altitude sickness or food poisoning or a combination of both, but about 20 minutes before we landed, I couldn't hold it in any more. Of course there was no barf bag in the seat back pocket so I wound up puking in my canvas bag that I had stowed under my seat. I felt so awful for the people next to me. I was crying and rocking back and forth trying not to get sick again. 

Finally we landed and I got off the plane in San Francisco (did I mention I was sitting in the very back row in the window seat...) I ran to the bathroom to clean myself up as best I could. I saw my Dad as I was walking up to arrivals and I just fell into his arms and started sobbing. The poor guy hugged me tight even though I can assure you I smelled awful and was toting a bag of... well yeah, I won't go over that again. 

Anyway, I made it back to tell the tale and I'm sure looking forward to more road trips in the future... Like back to Colorado please!! 

Wisconsin Road Trip Day 4

Note: Day 4 was probably my favorite day of the whole trip so I'm dedicating an entire post to it. 

Before leaving Parachute, we got new wiper blades which made me feel exponentially better about driving through potential thunderstorms. While Emily was across the street at the mechanic, Linnea and I planned what we thought would be a short one mile hike in Glenwood Springs, CO at Hanging Lake.

View from the parking lot. It was gorgeous! 

L taking photos again :) 

We got to the trail head and realized that the hike which we thought would take us no more than an hour, was actually all uphill on some uneven terrain. We started the hike, and quickly my head really started bothering me. I get bad migraines fairly frequently so I tried to push through it, but at the half mile mark I had this incredibly intense pain in my temple and I started to feel sick. I didn't want to hold my friends back so I just took a seat and decided to wait for them.

Subtle selfies on the side of the trail

I started to get a little bit worried when one of the other hikers who had gone up right after E&L came back down the trail. It started to drizzle and my head wasn't hurting so badly anymore so I decided to keep walking. Less than 10 minutes after that drizzle it started to POUR. The trail was quickly turning into a river. I finally found the girls and at that point everyone was making a mad dash back to the parking lot. It was quite the adventure!

And of course it stopped raining as soon as we got back to the car.

Colorado was by far our favorite state, so we wanted to spend as much time there as possible. We stopped at a visitor center in Vail, CO to find out if there were any short trails in the area, but when we got out of the car we were greeted by a huge boom of thunder. We scrapped the hiking plan and decided to head to the AlpenRose for an early dinner. Emily went to move the car while Linnea and I got caught up in a freak hail storm. For a California kid, all these crazy weather conditions were really keeping me on my toes.

So much rain! 

Crazy, crazy hail. I thought it was gonna snow!

Cheese plate at the AlpenRose

Käse schnitzel 

Totally can't remember what this is called but Linnea said she's had it several times with her boyfriend's German family.

The whole trip we really wanted to see a moose or a buffalo... this was the closest we got.

We spent our second night close to the border of Nebraska so we could embark on our longest day of driving the next morning.

Part 3, coming up next!