(That title should be sung to the tune of the LMFAO song that will not get out of my head.)
The theme of this summer is definitely travel! On June 16 my cousin Chris got married in Chicago, so Alex and I traveled out there for the weekend. It was a nice wedding, and all of my mom's side of the family was there so it was a good family reunion. Plus they all met Alex. Alex and I had never been to Chicago, so we took an extra day and hung out in the city. I really liked it, and could see living there, but only in the summer time.
The following weekend Alex's friend from bagpiping got married in Long Island, so we went down for that. They definitely know how to party in Long Island! I think I would like a small wedding, but if I did go all out it would be in LI style!
The following week my mom came up for a short visit because I threw a party to celebrate Alex's getting tenure. Woo! Yay Alex getting tenure!
Then the first week of July Alex and I went up to Maine to visit his parents. For several years they have been renting a house for a month over the summer up there. They are big fly fishermen and the lake they go to is apparently the largest fly-only lake in the east. I have now learned how to fly fish, and although I didn't catch anything (most people didn't - the water was too cold or something) it was actually more fun than I expected. The area is of course beautiful, and with no cell phone or internet access it was definitely a relaxing retreat! I saw my first moose, and even kayaked right up to one. As a result I just bought my first (cheap, beginner) kayak and Alex and I plan to go out together around here.
After Maine I had a week at home, and then last week I went to remote Colorado for a STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) Leadership Institute. I had no idea what to expect going into it, and they warned us that there would be limited phone and internet, and to bring hiking boots. It turns out that it is in an area (near Crestone) where a lot of people go for spiritual retreats and they did intend for us to have a lot of time for personal reflection. Unfortunately we kept super busy so it wasn't exactly relaxing, but it was really worthwhile. We talked a lot about leadership and teamwork and learned each others strengths and weaknesses and how they fit together. It was really personally reflective and the participants quickly became really close to each other. I chose to focus my "leadership project" on leading the astronomy program here, so I got to spend a good amount of time thinking about that and creating a better plan of action for it. It was an unusual and interesting trip!
(During that trip Alex went to a wedding in Albany. We collectively have been invited to five weddings this summer, six if you count one in October. I thought we were past this age!)
I am now sleeping twelve hours a day in order to catch up from that week (we were scheduled from 7am to 10pm). I have two weeks at home, though Alex is up at his parents camp helping to clean it up from the aftermath of hurricane Irene, so I will probably go up and visit them some. Then Alex and I are on yet another trip, this time out west. We are going to the Mars Curiosity rover's landing event at JPL in Pasadena on August 5. That should be super fun, and I have been promised that I will get to meet Will.i.am (which I am more excited about because I know what he is doing in STEM programs, not because of his music, which I could not name or sing). The following weekend my friend Andrea from grad school is getting married in Phoenix, Arizona, so we decided to just stay out there and road trip it. Pasadena and Phoenix are only about 6 hours apart, so we are going to spend some time exploring. I think Sequoia National Forest, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon are all on the list, but otherwise we are still figuring out what we want to do. Any must-do suggestions? My mom has suggested we go to Las Vegas and elope :) I don't think we are quite there yet...
Of course I have a million pictures from all of the trips so far, but getting them organized in the time between trips has not happened. It is extra hard that I now have to get pics from Alex's camera as well. Some time this summer I'll post pics for you to see!
P.S. Update on the tree frogs: they change color! So they actually look nothing like those original pictures anymore. Limon is usually pretty dark, and Olive is more of the bright yellow green color. Also, Olive eats a ton and is now super duper fat. Her species is affectionately called dumpy frog, and I totally see why. And to answer Eva's question about feeding them, the little dart frogs eat flightless fruit flies and tiny bean beetles, both of which we are now breeding in Alex's lab. The tree frogs are bigger and eat crickets, which we buy anyway for Alex's lizards. They will also eat worms, house flies, and other similar things, but we haven't gone to the trouble of finding other stuff yet.
