Me 'n May

Trish and May came to Kentucky this past week for a visit, and they just left this morning; I'm really missing them!  I am May's Godmother and this was my first time meeting her.  Ahhhhh, this baby is just....so AWESOME.  She has a huge repertoire of facial expressions, and goes between little, babbly conversations and an extremely thoughtful, focused stare that sees right in to your core.  I know everyone says this about their own baby, but she definitely is incredibly advanced.  I am so happy and grateful they came to visit, love them both so much!  Lots of baby photos to sort through now, stay tuned :)

~xomo

ps: An extremely clear resemblance to her parents, haha!

T.W.O.R.G.B. - Day 5

The Week of Really Good Breakfasts - Day 5:  Spalding's Donuts 

Spalding's is a bakery that is both joyously and tragically located a quick walk from my apartment. Their big specialty is donuts, and oh. my. God.  they are unbelievable.  Seriously they are so good.  No really, you don't understand, they are sooooo good.  It is also joyous and tragic that they are pretty inexpensive, which is why there are a plateful shown above.  I guess when I picked them up my thinking was somewhere along the lines of "Ok, one for right now, one for...elevensies, or something?"  I can at least solemnly swear that I did not eat more than half of them today.  Ahem.

Go there!  If you are able.

ps:  I know this is something an obnoxious person would say, but...it's like I can actually feel the amazing combination of fat and sugar on display before you move to my waist when I look at the pictures.  Or maybe the pictures just remind me of what I ate?  Good grief.

Stretch, Scrimp, and Spare

This month I have decided to embrace the spirit of the poor, graduate student stereotype.  I'm enjoying UK so far, but it turns out their administrative communication and organization are weak.  The other new TA's and I were informed we won't start receiving our stipend (which is essentially our income, especially as we've just arrived and haven't had time to find more work) until a month and a half after school started.  Yeesh.  Well, I can challenge myself to live a frugality-themed month.  There are a couple small things that would be nice to take care of...for instance, the front light on my bike broke, and instead of replacing it I had to tape a small flashlight to my handlebars.  I don't own a pair of pants without a huge whole in the inner thigh area.  Also, I don't own any forks.  I have four knives and one spoon.  Why?  How?  Who knows the answer to these mysterious questions.  But these small things can all wait.  Except the forks, maybe, because that's starting to get awkward.  I had a friend over for dinner the other night and we had to keep washing the spoon.  Anyway, when I first arrived here I felt super stressed about all this (I literally only had $30 one weekend) but the trick is to stay focused on the fact that it's temporary, because then it all just seems ridiculous and makes me laugh.   One morning I told Trish about my pitiful breakfast of a banana and half a tomato, and she replied "Wow, a veritable feast."  That really cracked me up, and I've felt fine ever since.  So!  For the rest of September I will be searching out all things that Lexington has to offer at free or low-cost prices, and also attempting to cook on a lower budget than usual without resorting to solely eating beans from a can.

It's great to be in this situation with student status because there are lots facilities and opportunities available for free.  Well, I guess the idea is that you're paying for them with thousands of dollars of tuition, but I'm not, so there you go.  The other day I went to hang out at the main library on campus.  My jaw dropped when I first saw this building, and I assumed it was something for athletics because it looked impressive.  It feels bigger than it is (it's very large) because it stands on top of a hill, and there's nothing immediately surrounding it.  It has a really cool glass dome at the top that lets in a lot of light, and is stuffed with books, comfy chairs, private desks and lamps, group tables, and a cafe area.  Cool!

Brought to you by Maker's Mark

The first week at Kentucky is complete!  It started off completely disorganized and a bit stressful because the school is...not the most clear communicating organization I've ever come across.  I felt frustrated and discouraged the first few days, and even entertained doubts about returning to school.  But two things happened that made me feel excited about being a student.  

1.  I parked my bike alongside hundreds of others when I went to my first German lesson, and when I came out, every single bike was outfitted with a waterproof seat cover and reflector swatch.  This made me feel happy to be a part of everything.

2. I went to my opening 20th century music history lecture, and the professor managed to make a lesson centered on the syllabus captivating.  Totally rad.  Bingo - ready to learn, student-style.

And of course, everything starts feeling good as you get to know those around you.  I went to a bbq last night with cool people and found out that the orchestra is sponsored by Maker's Mark.  Now that's when you know you're where you're supposed to be.

These pictures are from around campus.  Lots of brick, lots of green :)