I've gone hard...

...And now, after almost a year and a half, sixty-eight completed credit hours and one long bout of homesickness, I am finally going home.

(Picture from the first stop on the Stairway to Heaven, on an August adventure with the roommates.)

Aloha for two weeks and a half weeks, Hawaii. 

Hello, Maryland. Please, don't freeze me while I'm out there!

It's a (relatively) cold, rainy morning, which makes oatmeal and cinnamon apple tea the perfect accompaniment to writing reading responses to Marx, Levi-Strauss and the hater of an author who penned the chapter on post-modern anthropology in my textbook.

For some strange reason, my posting increases exponentially at the end of the semester in comparison to the beginning. My room is also cleaner and everything I own is more organized. At least my procrastination is productive, right?

I bet...

Rubber Ducky likes outside showers too, not just baths...

P.S. The pasta had the opposite problem this time- it was a little too tough (and the lasagna, although quite tasty, was far from pretty, thus no pictures). I feel like the Goldilocks of pasta. The third time she always likes it, right?

ADVENTURE TIME!

...that title is for Raycho and MayeHsuwimmer. Because even though I don't see the point of that show, I think you guys are a-okay.

Anyways.

My adventures of late may not be super-exciting-jumping-off-rocks-into-shallow-pools-of-water adventures, but I still think they're delightful. In recent weeks, many of my adventures have been going down in the kitchen. (With good reason, far too many of past outside adventures have ended in pain lately. Why yes, my left knee and hip are still lovely shades of purple and green, thank you for asking.)

A few weeks ago, I decided to try my hand at home-made pasta. Home made spinach pasta, in fact. The process was fun, and made more fun with the help of friends. It turned out beaaaaaaaaaaautiful.
See:

The color was lovely, and the recipe I conglomerated from a few different ones (and didn't write down... typical!) worked pretty well. I'd never made pasta before and the sources I looked at varied on drying time, so I let the noodles dry for two-three hours before sticking them in the pot. In my exuberance, I put them in the pot to take pictures and let them there while the water was boiling, which, in combination with the short drying time probably played a role in the mushy texture.

I was happy, but not completely happy, so with nothing except planning a lesson for Sunday on my agenda for Saturday night, I decided to have another go at it.

Right now the lasagna noodles are drying out in the kitchen, and this is me desperately hoping that even though the dough was a completely different texture and they're not as thin as they maybe should be, it all works out and tastes great.

And yes, in case you were wondering, this is a pretty typical Saturday night for me. At least I went to the beach today in combination with hanging out in the library. My life is so exciting.

Non-sequitur: I am flying home in twelve days and couldn't be more excited. I guess to be more accurate, I'm flying to visit my grandparents in twelve days and driving home in fourteen, but GOOD HEAVENS it has been a long time since I saw my family. I like this rock in the middle of the ocean and all, but it being a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean when my family lives on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean does put a bit of a damper on face to face interactions on a regular basis.