Merry Christmas!

So I missed posting by a couple minutes, but Merry Christmas! Blessings to you and your family!

done done and done (almost)

PRS is done!!

My group's capstone presentation was yesterday. It went very well, and I'm glad to have it finished. The response was positive as far as I could tell, which is rewarding. The final report and powerpoint will be up online eventually, and I'll share that link when possible.

Thanks to everyone who helped and encouraged me through the project!

Now just one more paper until freedom....

dead microwaves.... should study physics

Well, finals have finally arrived. I have managed to finish one paper about rather dubious connections between climate change and malaria, and physics is waiting for me. I imagine that physics has a rather raspy voice which randomly gets really excited about energy waves.

Speaking of microwaves, ours caught on fire on Friday. Thankfully, no one was hurt and no serious damage was done to anything except the microwave itself. Never a dull moment...

In other news, I've made some progress and revisions to my two year goals. It's been an interesting semester. Here's my update:

• This time next week, I'll be one paper away from finishing more than half of the MPP requirements and exactly one half of the pre-med requirements. Yay!
  

• I have to laugh now at my label "dating med school." Does dating a med student count? Of course, I'm only dating him for his help on physics homework. Thanks Mark! ;)

• Running went out the window around the middle of October; however, there are plans in the work for running a marathon next fall. I also just got invited to run a marathon relay in April. I had never heard of this type of race before, but I think I might give a try. Better get training!

• I'm dropping my plans for writing a screenplay. Honestly, I started one and didn't really enjoy the practice. I think I just have to keep my stories in my heart. Or in music. Or in drawings. Or other art.

• Likewise, I am going to abandon my goal to be in a movie. If the opportunity arise to help a movie-making friend as it has in the past, I'd be glad to but there is simply not enough time in a day for everything.

• Another revision: maybe an Irish step class instead of yoga? We'll see. More to come on that later.

• Final revision: I don't I'm ever going to cook the whole way through any cookbook. There are far too many things in cookbooks that are gross (aspics....who thought that was a good idea.... Julia) or don't eat usually (red meat). My new, more realistic goal is to develop an ever increasing battery of healthy recipes that I like. This semester, I have found that I can use (and hide) a lot of spinach in cooking. Pretty tricky, I know. Over Thanksgiving, I made spaghetti with lots of spinach in the sauce, and my non-vegetable eating family members liked it. Hooray!

So my list of ten goals shrank this semester, and I haven't really made progress on several of the remaining eight.

And yet, I have nothing to complain about. I'm really thankful for wonderful and unexpected blessings that have come my way this semester. Check out some pictures for highlights. :)

EVMS Fall Ball... "I like fall.... and I like.... hey, wait.... that's not fair!"

The Jackson 5 and Joe Jackson "Blame it on the Boogie" for the TJPPP Halloween party. We did a performance and everything!


And despite still being in Williamsburg, it's been a pretty good time.