Food Edition

Another lovely waffle breakfast at Uncle Kevins this morning. A few family friends were there as well which always makes for lively conversation. Speaking of food...I made the most delicious fish last night! We've been going through this old Food and Wine magazine, they have a little fold out with a bunch of easy summery, Italian-inspired dishes. Last night was cod (supposed to be halibut but that was $20 a lb at Whole Foods...) pan seared and then baked for a few minutes with a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, capers, fresh chopped oregano, and grape tomatoes. It was served over a bed of baby spinach and was absolutely amazing! If I do say so myself...I like these recipes also because they can usually be cooked using only one pan! This one required an extra pan because we don't have an oven safe skillet, but still, very neat and easy! I've decided balsamic vinegar is a great thing to go with fish especially if you don't want to use a lot of butter for flavor.
Now we're at Cafe Ardour, a cafe downtown that is known for its dedication to locally grown and organic foods and coffee. Very cool little place, slightly too respectable for the grungiest of the hipsters, so it still has a nice, not-too-annoying atmosphere. Anyway, I'm supposed to be working on homework, so I should go. I CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS BREAK!!! And I'm sad Thanksgiving is over:(
ciao,
Megan

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Hello Everyone! And Happy Thanksgiving! I am sitting in the new addition to Aunt Erins living room, I love the big windows here that let in the thin, cold, prairie sun in the morning. I'm listening to NPR on my laptop and waiting for all the sleeping boys to wake up and come play! There was a huge terrorist attack yesterday and today in Mumbai, the financial capitol of India. It's so weird to think of the places in the world who are, as I write, full of bloodshed and turmoil. The least of my own worries right now include where I should go look for a blanket because my toes are cold. How bizarre is that?! I guess we here in America really do have a lot to be thankful for. I only hope that more and more of our population will realize how lucky we really are.
Dinner last night consisted of delicious salad a la Aunt Erin, and delicious pizza a la some pizza shop downtown who's favorite ingredient is the green chile...SPICY!!! Plus Uncle Kevin brought some delicious Odells beer, Dad chipped in some Ska brews and we all had a lovely visit.
Grandma Helen is on the front page of the news paper this morning! Apparently she was helping out at a soup kitchen or something getting turkeys ready for today. So cute! She said the newspaper took a bunch of pictures, and I say, since she was obviously the cutest old lady, so they used her!:)
I miss you Caitlin!!!! And Mike is an older man who works in my lab....

Oh Mondays are so blah

Hello everyone! I am at work, I have been here since 9am this morning, I took a 45 minute break a little while ago, but let's just say it's been 8hrs and counting. Ah, the life of the graduate student. I missed out on the 65 degree beautiful sunshine we had today, I'll have to make an effort to take advantage of the predicted 71 degree day tomorrow! I'm planning on being here until the biking meeting at 8pm...the internet is my friend:)
Still waiting on the stats exam scores!!! It's been 11 days!!! Carsten promised they would be up by THE LATEST today. So, all day I've been sending and receiving emails and facebooks; everyone wants to make sure they're not the only one who didn't get a grade! In any case, they better be up tomorrow before class, or he will have a riot on his hands:)
I'm super excited about Caley moving in! We do have fun together, plus I've had my eye on his armchair for quite awhile....:)
I'm still looking forward to the snow, but honestly, I can't complain about 70 degree weather in November. As long as the roads are dry I guess we'll be biking. But, I'm getting the hankering to wax my skis, perhaps that would be enough to get ole Ullr to make it snow!
Adios!
-Meganita

A True CHAT girl

I'm Cold, Hungry, And Tired...to bad I'm not nordic skiing with all my other CHAT girls!
It's seriously hard to motivate for a bike ride (or anything really) on a cold Friday afternoon.
-Megan

Gmail has video chat!!!

Which is awesome:) Because now when I'm at work, Caley and I can video chat! Makes the late nights more fun. Dad, you should get video chat, and a webcam (really cheap at Walmart or somewhere) it's so much fun! Although, you might need a faster computer...or at least clean up the home computer so it will go faster than it does:)
Also, by the way...Caley is moving in!! Probably next month, or January depending on when he can find someone to sublet his current room! Whoo hoo! We had pretty much decided that he was going to move in next year after his lease was up at his current house, but he's been basically living at my apartment for most of this semester and just decided it didn't make sense to be out there anymore. So, our next big purchase is going to be one of those bike holder things that is a giant pole with hooks. I'm thinking we can probably find one that will hold 4 bikes..which only leaves one (the cannondale) that will have to be found an extra corner. The closet will have to become a lot more organized, and I definitely need some more shelving. Amazing how fast the salary goes every month. I try to give myself a good amount to put into savings...not sure if I'll be able to this month. But yeah, this is good, and will be a grand time, not like anything is actually changing, only no more free laundry really. :)
CAN'T WAIT TO SEE EVERYONE OVER THANKSGIVING!!!
-Megan

Testing out the video camera

A little hello...I think my voice sounds weird, do I always sound like this? I think it was because I didn't want anyone to walk in on me talking to myself during work :)
-Megan

Proud to be American

Finally, after eight years of hanging our heads, the American people can finally look the rest of the world in the eye and prove that we all aren't a bunch of war-mongering-hicks!!!! No offense meant to the intelligent Republicans out there (but even that's kind of an oxymoron...)
Our election party was a great success, lots of people, lots of food, and lots of cheering as the good news came pouring in! At one point the t.v. blanked out, during Obama's acceptance speech no less, and picture this, 20 college kids huddled around the radio to hear the rest of it. I was soooooooooo proud and thrilled at the level of involvement and concern my demographic has shown during the past year. I'm glad that we finally had some impact on the direction of this country, because it's true, we ARE the future!!
Here are some pics of the fun we had:)
-Megan

Is it really November??

I just went on another beautiful ride with shorts and a jersey, and was quite comfortable! I can't believe it's November!! The warm weather will certainly have repercussions; I'm sure to be in denial as soon as it starts to get cold. Although, I'm looking forward to skiing with much anticipation:)
Tomorrow is election day. Caley and I are having a party at my apartment...apparently we're making lasagna, although I'm a little intimidated, I've never made a lasagna, and I'm thinking it's kind of involved, at least takes some timing. We have the noodles, all that remains are fillings and cheese! I'm thinking a lot of people will show up...no one has really rsvp'd like we asked them to, but quite a few people said they were thinking about coming tonight at the meeting. Sitting room will be a problem, but I now have a nice rug, thanks M and D!:)
I'll fill you in on the festivities later...hopefully with joy and not with the news that I will be moving to Europe!
-Megan

One More Cat Video

Sorry, he's just so cute:)