Day 16

Day 16 – A picture of someone who inspires you.

Two people: my mom and my grandma (mom's mom). They're both such strong, caring, independent, loving women. Also, I love that my grandma's shirt says "Welcome to America." :)

Day 15

Day 15 – A picture of something you want to do before you die.

I had to think about this one a lot, but I *think* I want to have a kid, eventually. I change my mind a lot depending on my mood and how annoying I think kids are that particular day.

This is Audrey, Bryan's niece when she came to Boston.

Day 14

Day 14 – A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.


Patrick! I mean, ... Bryan!

Day 13

Day 13 – A picture of your favorite band or artist.


Glee! Ok so they're not really an artist/band, but I just like watching them perform.

Day 12

Day 12 – A picture of something you love.




Puppies!!! I couldn't just pick one picture :)

Day 11

Day 11 – A picture of something you hate.


Giant bugs in the Amazon.

This picture was taken in summer 2006 when I went with New Tribes Mission to the Amazon to build a school. One morning I went to the bathroom (an out-house type of building) to find this guy crawling on the wall. The funny thing was a friend went to the bathroom before me and never even saw it (it's really dark in the bathroom -- no electricity/lights and it was dawn). She freaked out when I pointed it out to her. =P

I took the picture while a boy held it between a stick and a leaf. The thorax of the bug is probably a lot smaller, it just looks creepy because the stick looks like it could be the thorax.

Day 10

Day 10 – A picture of the person you do the craziest things with.

Doris - I bit her once. Accidentally!


And Smeri - She makes rainbows.

My mouth is open in both pictures... =P

Day 09

Day 09 - A picture of someone who's gotten you through the most.


My dad

Day 08

Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh


I volunteered to get duct-taped to the wall during my first year in grad school.

COLLEGE SECTIONALS (CONFERENCE) THIS WEEKEND @ MIT!! GOOD LUCK SMITE!!!

[Edit] ... yes, and Michelle. I will be there to heckle you all this weekend :) I'm all for equal opportunity heckling.

Day 07

Day 07 – A picture of your most treasured item.

Photo by Shang Chen

Wedding rings.

[Edit] OMG do you people not understand the concept of an engagement ring?! Left: Bryan's wedding ring. Middle: My engagement ring. Right: My wedding ring. Bryan gave me the engagement right when he proposed. The wedding rings were exchanged at the wedding ceremony. You're welcome!

Day 06

Day 06 – A picture of a person you’d love to trade places with for a day.


I wanna see what it's like to be tall. and HUGE. and famous!! haha

Day 05

Day 05 – A picture of …your favorite memory.


Making college nationals in 2008 :)

Day 04

Day 04 – A picture of your night.


Sleepy

Day 03

Day 03 – A picture of the cast from your favorite show.


Modern Family!!

Day 02

Day 02 – A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest.


Oh by the way, did I ever mention that Esther and I were in a cult together? It's how we became the closest the longest.... hahaha juuuuust kidding. E and I went to a rooftop bar in NYC in November last year and it was freezing so we got spiked cider and cocoa and wore the establishment's creepy red robes all night.

My life in 30 days

I normally don't do these kinds of things, but this one sounds super cheesy so I say go for it! And... no judging. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

Day 01 – A picture of yourself with fifteen facts.
Day 02 – A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest.
Day 03 – A picture of the cast from your favorite show.
Day 04 – A picture of your night.
Day 05 – A picture of …your favorite memory.
Day 06 – A picture of a person you’d love to trade places with for a day.
Day 07 – A picture of your most treasured item.
Day 08 – A picture that makes you laugh.
Day 09 – A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.
Day 10 – A picture of the person you do the craziest things with.
Day 11 – A picture of something you hate.
Day 12 – A picture of something you love.
Day 13 – A picture of your favorite band or artist.
Day 14 – A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.
Day 15 – A picture of something you want to do before you die.
Day 16 – A picture of someone who inspires you.
Day 17 – A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently.
Day 18 – A picture of your biggest insecurity.
Day 19 – A picture of you when you were little.
Day 20 – A picture of somewhere you’d love to travel.
Day 21 – A picture of something you wish you could forget.
Day 22 – A picture of something you wish you were better at.
Day 23 – A picture of your favorite book.
Day 24 – A picture of something you wish you could change.
Day 25 – A picture of your day or favorite day
Day 26 – A picture of something that means a lot to you.
Day 27 – A picture of yourself and a family member.
Day 28 – A picture of something you’re afraid of.
Day 29 – A picture that can always make you smile.
Day 30 – A picture of someone you miss

So today is Day 1. Here goes, 1 pic of me and 15 facts about myself.

1. I really only started eating cheese in grad school. Mostly because of Doris and Smeri.

2. I'm one of those married women who never ever wants to plan another wedding ever again. It was fun at the time but now I look back and I can't believe I actually did all that.

3. I started drinking coffee like a year ago. Now I drink ~ 2 cups of coffee a day. Usually once at 2pm and once at 4pm.

4. My rock climbing month at Metrorock was awesome.

5. I work better when everyone around me is working.

6. I'm really competitive when it comes to sports. I like winning. A lot.

7. I am more likely to get up earlier when I sleep on the side of the bed that's not next to the wall.

8. Life after graduate school sounds scary and exciting at the same time to me.

9. I love reading. A recent favorite book is Ender's Game.

10. I also like Speaker of the Dead and Xenocide a lot, even though they are very different than Ender's Game.

11. I think about my family a lot, but it doesn't always translate into calling them.

12. I've never been camping. That's going to change this summer!

13. I love broth-y soup.

14. I bake when I'm stressed.

15. I LOVE BANANAGRAMS!

[Edit]: I thought of this fact after the 15, but it's really important so I'm going to add it anyway: I LOVE LIME GREEN. It's such a happy, inspirational, catchy color!!!

Antrim's Floors are Slanty

I set up a little work station in the corner of the kitchen, but as I was working, I felt really uncomfortable, like my body is tilting towards the center of the kitchen. I mean, I always knew that the kitchen floors were slanted, but man, they are REALLY slanted.

I took a video:



Exciting, huh? haha

Boogers

My boogers are grey after every time I go climbing. I think it's from breathing in all the chalk and dust.

Spring Hat

Daphne and Bryan signed up for a spring hat team together (I decided to opt out to attempt to get more work done this spring, so far as you can see, it's not going well =P) but Daphne was out of town this weekend so I decided to impersonate Daphne on Sunday and take her place. First of all, their team is "safety orange" (amazing!!). Second, their name is "Huck Wing Duck" in the spirit of the superheroes theme (so cute!). Third, they have so many baller people on it. In fact, they had so many people on it that I ended up being given away to the opposing team, who had 7 people when the game started. :(

I had so much fun!! I forgot what it's like to play frisbee and run around and cut and fake. I cut the whole game which was sooo much fun. Haha! I kept stumbling around and tripping on myself though, like my legs weren't connected to my body. I think I'm just really out of practice =P

A few points into the game, Bryan was going for a "D" and collided with his guy and in the process, rolled his ankle and then the guy fell on top of him, which made the ankle roll a lot worse. He wasn't a little guy either. =P It was scary to see Bryan grimacing in pain so much, but I helped him off the field, and he elevated and took ibuprofen. Later he took off his cleats and someone on the sideline said, "wow your ankle is really swollen!" And I thought, "It is??" And then the guy compared the ankles and replied, "Oh wait, you just have really fat ankles." Hahaha. Anyway, sad day, plus it's still swollen today, but hopefully he'll get better soon so he can run around again.

Bouldering today!

[EDIT]: Keiko, who is on "Huck Wing Duck" told me the first thing she thought when she saw Daphne's and Bryan's name on the team list, but not mine, was that I was pregnant. REALLY?!! Then one of the guys on the sideline said, "I don't think you should be playing if you're pregnant." AHHHH! Keiko, you need to stop spreading rumors =P hehe

Decisions decisions

Cornell or bell crack?
Husband or frisbee?
Relaxing fun weekend or tiring fun weekend?
Beach house or yang's house?

My Metrorock month

Last night was my last time at Metrorock. JJoo, Bryan, and I had gotten Metrorock Groupons for a one-month membership (also includes belay class if you want it and rentals) and it just expired yesterday. We went probably 4-6 times a week every week in the last month. SO MUCH FUN.

One thing that I loved about climbing was that I can see improvement in myself, even in just one week, in strength, technique and endurance. I started at 5.7s exactly 30 days ago and now I can climb 5.9s clean, and a few 5.10s. I'm less tired after each time we go to Metrorock than previous times. I feel more comfortable and flexible on the wall. And tonight I'm going to see if I can do a pull-up! =P (I've never been able to do one in my life.)

Another thing I love about climbing is that it takes a lot of focus and concentration. This climbing month came at a much needed time in my life. I've been struggling a lot with research, my dad's death in January, and just personal issues in general, and I just needed something to take my mind off of all of it. When I'm on the wall, I can't think about anything else except climbing and making it to the top. And it felt great to leave the gym exhausted and sleep soundly at night because I was so tired.

One of my favorite climbs is called "Bring your Jetpack!" The starting handhold starts about 8 feet off the ground and there is a stepping hold about 3 feet off the ground that you are supposed to use to hoist yourself up to the start. All the guys and some of the taller girls can stand next to the stepping hold and just step up to grab the starting hold. The only way I can get to the starting hold is if I take a running start from about 10 yards away and jump on the step and convert my forward momentum to upwards momentum and then grab the starting hold tightly so I don't swing off.

The first time I tried this climb, I couldn't convert, so it looked like (and felt like) I was running into the wall head first 10 times in a row and then bouncing off. One time I "bounced" off so hard I stumbled backwards and landed on my butt. After the first three times I looked around sheepishly and this girl belaying next to me said, "Don't worry, I did the same thing." Haha! But finally, I was able to grab the starting hold, and make my way up. The entire climb is fun because you do need your "jetpack" for parts of it. The handholds are easy to hold onto, but they're far apart and you need to reach for them and run up the wall during some parts and do some splits during other parts. After I found out about the "Bring your Jetpack" climb, I think I climbed it every day for a week because it was so awesome :)

I think climbing is much more a personal, mental exercise, like tennis. When I played tennis competitively, I felt like a crazy person sometimes. I talked to myself, cursed at myself, and psyched myself up. It's kinda like that for climbing, both fun and a little disturbing at the same time. I think I still like team sports more, like frisbee :)

I'm not going to continue my membership at Metrorock because 1) it's expensive ($215 for a 3-month student membership, but I do have my own gear :) ) and 2) it's far (without someone driving me on a regular basis, I would probably end up never going because I'm lazy and taking the T is too much of a hassle for me). Buuut I plan on getting into bouldering at MIT (it's free! and on the way home!) so if anyone wants to come with me, let me know! And maybe when I have a real job and a car I'll look into getting involved at a climbing gym, but that's too far in the future for me to think about right now.

So, to Metrorock, to Bryan, to JJoo, and to all the friends I climbed with, thanks for making this past month more bearable, more fun, and just plain awesome. :)