awesomeness

do you see that subject line?  "class canceled" are probably the sweetest words i could hear this week :) although this is only the class that i am the teaching assistant for, it still means that i have my morning free to catch up on work [...or sleep, let's be honest].  that is pure awesomeness.

whipple dam

on sunday we had a picnic at whipple dam state park for all of the new graduate students in my program.  everyone seems really friendly and very passionate about their research, which is exciting to be around. we had a great afternoon bbq'ing and enjoying the gorgeous day :)

sunday morning

 

oh how i've missed you, daily collegian crossword puzzle...

farmers market

thank gosh for laurie, who texted me late friday afternoon to see if i made it to the farmers market downtown.  i had completely forgotten!  so i quickly ran down to locust lane and got some delicious fresh peaches.

in undergrad, laurie & i used to live right off of locust lane and would stop by the market every friday for flowers and produce.  it still looks the same as it did back then.  same sign.  same stands filled with fresh flowers, herbs, fruit, veggies, and pie.  same street crowded with students excited for the weekend to begin.

it's nice that some things don't change.

framed

i'm so excited that my black & white photos have finally arrived from the printer!

i put them in my pretty frames from crate & barrel this morning.

my room is starting to feel like home...

meet alex

in the past 6 years i've lived in 5 different places.  that's a lot of moving around.  that's a lot of new jobs and experiences.  that's a lot of missing my friends and family.  but as i was looking around this new 5th place of residence [my tiny, but quaint, graduate housing room], i noticed one constant from all of those 5 places.  his name is alex.

my mom bought me this bear on my 21st birthday.  i picked him because i loved his sweater.  [it reminded me of the old roll-neck j.crew sweaters that were trendy in the 90's, remember those?  so comfy.]  his name sounds sort of random for a bear that has a big PSU on his chest, but i already had others named joe and nittany.  so when i was thinking of something penn state related, i thought of how much i loved living in my first real apartment with my friends vim and jess.  the apartment was called alexander court...so viola!  alex it was.

he's been there through all 6 years of moving around.  all of the new jobs and experiences.  and although i wish he had the ability to pack and unpack [which would have been really helpful], it's nice to have something constant in all of the chaos.

yum

yesterday was a busy day of classes and reading...group meetings and reading...and writing and reading.

the highlight of my day was going to my favorite place downtown to eat my favorite sandwich with my favorite smoothie [while reading, of course].

irvings.  sonoma turkey on homemade honey wheat.  the SOB (strawberry/orange/banana).

the perfect treat for a busy day :)

wild, crazy night

yes, wild and crazy...as in the organizational status of my desk...and my mind.

i'm amazed at how much reading there is in my classes.  last night i powered through 3 articles on the definition of social theories in technology.  not only were my eyes and head tired, but i think i heard my highlighter sighing in exhaustion.  see that bottle of excedrin in the back there?  that will be my best friend today.

i'm sure that the concepts will start to make more sense as the semester goes on.  soon i'll probably be throwing theory jargon into my daily conversations [scary thought].  but for now, these are what my nights look like.  pretty wild and crazy, eh?

new home

this is my new home for the next 5 years.  it will undoubtedly include piles of research papers, fistfuls of highlighters, and copious amounts of coffee.

...and hopefully fun times, new friends, and a cute boy too ;)

first day

[see larger image on flickr]

so today is the first day of my PhD program and like any other first day i've prepared myself...picked out a cute outfit, organized my school supplies, painted my nails, wrote out my schedule and to-do lists...but i'm having a little trouble preparing mentally. the thoughts of "what did i get myself into?" and "will i be smart enough?" keep creeping into my mind.

so i thought of what my mom has said to me each and every one of those previous first days.  i took out a pen, ripped off a piece of that new school paper, and wrote it out..."believe in yourself."  then i put it right on my bulletin board, because i have a feeling that there will be a few other days this semester that i'll need to remind myself of just that :)

miss that face

leaving home to go back to school meant leaving my family and friends, who i miss so much.  and i also miss our sweet & crazy family dog, louie...his wagging tail when i come home, his little tilted head when i ask him questions, and his happy, twirling dance when we say his favorite words...like walk, cookie, and chicken :)

now, i must admit that i don't miss him waking me up at 6am every morning running around the bed, crying to go outside [including weekends, i might add]...but that sweet, little face?  i miss that face.

denmark alterations

i've always loved photography and have recently been playing around with photo manipulation using adobe photoshop (inspired by some amazing artists on flickr). i took this photo while our family was in denmark earlier this year.  then i attempted some basic alterations by giving the photo a vintage, muted feel.

it's amazing how much photoshop can do now and i'm excited to learn some of the more complex tools.  i'll be trying out some more techniques and posting them to my new flickr site:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/alisonpsu/

change of scenery

this was what breakfast looked like just two weeks ago...

although i'm happy to be back at school, the view is not quite as nice here :)