last woods walk before the semester...and then some baking!

Yesterday some friends and I took a last glorious walk with our dogs in the state park by campus.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, so of course we took our cameras.  


After we walked, my friend Maria and I went back to my place for some baking fun.  I found a recipe on Pinterest for pinapple upsidedown cupcakes and decided to make them.  The Student Affairs in Higher Education (SAHE) program, which is the program I am in, is having a cake party this week, so I figured I would get these done while I still had time.  They turned out AMAZING (both looking and tasting - we indulged in some extras...), so kudos to the people who pinned this!  


In other fun news, I start my career as a TA tonight and will be teaching Masters students for the first time ever!  If you believe in good omens, I got mine last night when I found out that one of my papers I submitted for the Gendered Borders and Queer Frontiers conference hosted at UW - Madison this March was accepted!  It is titled Police State: The Realities and Implications of Political, Racial, and Gendered Borders.  Now all I have to do is finish it up!  


But anyway - on to the pictures!

there were some fallen trees that looked cool with the bands of shade

i (obviously) played with this photo a bit, but i dig the b&w...

tree down!

we don't really want to know what is in that pipe methinks...

thought this was a fun shot too

eat your heart out

the pinapple go marching two by two, hurrah...hurrah...

mouth watering yet?

because they should be

ours were too until we finished the two remaining cupcakes - so good!

because i am a nerd...

I just had to post this as proof of my legitimacy as a TA.  Now if only I could get all the books I order to come with this sort of invoice...then I would really need another bookcase!

"these books are supplied free of charge" = best. thing. ever.

getting lost and finding our way

I have always had romantic visions of heading out for a drive in the Midwest, getting lost, and finding my way back to where I started.  Just me, my car, the pup, and the meandering road in front of me...

However, take into account the fact that I am a Nervous Nelly and my imagination sometimes runs away with me, and I have never really gotten lost...probably all those Children of the Corn movies...yikes!  However, this evening I went out and got lost with a dear friend.  The best part: we had our cameras in tow!  For those who have never been to the Midwest, there is something so awe-inspiring about wide open spaces.  These images don't do the scenery justice, but this is the beauty that is not 20 minutes outside of Oxford...just breathtaking.  We also happened upon some run down and dilapidated barns and farm equipment, which always make for great photo ops!  I hope you enjoy the photojournalism below, which I will let speak for itself from here on out.

this is one of my favorites - just put the camera on the ground and shot

i'm not a religious person, but this book sitting in the dilapidated barn seemed to be waiting for someone

this seemed like such a great shot when juxtaposed with the barn it was in

this bugger hung out and had a chat with us when we pulled over and took some pics...my friend named this cow moo...

my latest adventure in horticulture

Full disclosure: I suck at keeping plants alive.  


Even those plants that people say you don't need to water or do anything to - yup; I kill those too.  


I share all this as a lead in to my great surprise that I have kept not one, but two plants alive for an entire semester!  I know, right - I am moving up in the world!  So much so that a friend of mine convinced me to take on the additional responsibility of raising some spider sproutlings.  The little buggers have been in water for about a two weeks and say hi to me each morning.  Seriously, they do - just look at the picture for proof!

i hope this is not a recipe for disaster...

We shall see if I can keep all FOUR plants alive through the getting-colder-everyday winter...send positive (and warm) vibes for my fauna friends if you can!

the road to oxford is covered in snow

This morning I woke up to the one thing I have been waiting for, dreaming for, longing for all those years in the desert sun: snow!  

After a nice walk with the pup (her first in snowy weather) in the neighborhood across the street from me, I ran out to snap this picture.  I can't wait to see what the downtown area looks like!  I may have to head up there this afternoon or evening to see if all the twinkle lights that have been on for the holidays are still up.  If so, I am sure they will look just darling with the snow!

If I have said it once, I have said it a million times...I am so glad to be here.  

no traffic was held up in the taking of this photo