Salad Recommendation...with a slight ammendation...

So last night I tried out a new salad recipe courtesy of Everyday Food. Kevin got to partake of it with me, and we both agreed that it is quite tasty indeed and that the salad is particularly appropriate for the fall. The salad is called Roasted Sweet Potato and Watercress Salad but it also has feta cheese and roasted walnuts (tossed with cayenne pepper and evoo to boot!) in it. The watercress is tossed with a little bit of honey, evoo and lemon juice. The only thing I might change, if I were to make it again, is the watercress. While very nice and light, the watercress has long stems which make for an interesting eating challenge. Kevin suggested Romaine, which would be delicious. I think baby spinach might also make for a nice substitute.

Any Irrational Fears?

Okay folks, here's the deal. I am afraid of snakes. I can't stand them. They give me the heebee-geebees (however you spell that)! But my fear of snakes has been fairly dormant in the past few years. See no evil, fear no evil. However, I like to go for walks and runs on the canal path located behind my apartment complex and I've recently found myself watching all the twigs on the path very carefully to make sure none of them looked too snake-like. I wasn't even sure if snakes lived in this area. I kind of naively hoped that New Jersey didn't have snakes or something like that. Nevertheless, once or twice when I've been out running during the past few weeks, I thought I saw some very small snakes on the ground in front of me. I couldn't be sure and they were very small so I just did a quick kind of hop/jump move over that area and ran on my way (probably looked very silly). A few days later though, my friend Brittany and I were out on a power walk. It was a beautiful sunny, September afternoon and we were chatting away like normal when all of the sudden we both let out an ear-piercing scream, stopped in our tracks and grabbed one another's arm. Brittany immediately turned around and started running back and I had to catch up to her and tell her to stop. Now what possibly could have been the source of our screams and fear, you wonder? Yes, you've got it. One big, fat lazy snake sunning itself in the middle of the canal path! Dang! My enjoyment of the canal path has just taken a nose-dive. Brittany and I walked back just as fast as our legs could carry us, all the while our eyes were peeled as we nervously kept watch out for any more snakes. Guoughhhh! Yuck! You can give me slugs, bugs, worms, spiders, etc and I'm fine. I'll be brave. I'll touch them or kill them or move beyond them without any problem. But when it comes to snakes, I have no real grasp on reality. My worst fear is that I'll be out for a run and won't see a snake fast enough and my foot will come down on it, and it will be a horrible interaction of the snake squirming and freaking out and me freaking out and being totally spooked from the experience of actually feeling the snake beneath my foot. I hate to even think of it!

So friends, what should I do? Last run, I took a different route--one where I knew I wouldn't encounter any snakes. Should I keep to this new route until the weather changes and I'm sure the snakes will be gone (this should be by October)? OR--Should I somehow try to face my fears and run on the canal path--come what may? If any of you have an irrational fear or good story that you want to share, please do tell!

Oh the joy of learning French!

It's been a slow and steady process of learning French this summer. And now on my last night of studying, my last night before my French language exam, which I am required to take and pass (!!!) before the beginning of my second year in the PhD program (which begins next Wednesday), I'm all joy and smiles. Yes, studying French non-stop (almost) all week long will do that to a person. :-) Or will it? Maybe the big grin on my face (thanks for the study break, Brittany!) is instead a symptom of the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, perhaps that is it. Instead of weeping tears of sorrow for the end of French, I'm smiling with glee at the thought of the freedom that will soon be mine come noon tomorrow. Whatever the case may be, this is the end of French, folks. It's been great! But now, alas, back to German I will go....

A Few Highlights from Summer 2007

Well now that summer is over, it strikes me that I should once again update this wee lil' blog o' mine to mark some fun memories from the summer. While much of my summer was indeed spent inside the PTS library working in the media lab, learning French and reading a lot on theological method, I did manage to do some fun things and hang out with many good friends. I'm thankful and I'm sure once the full impact of the craziness of fall semester hits me, I'll be missing those lazier summer days and longing for warmer weather. For now though, I'm excited for what is in store in this coming year. September always marks new beginnings for me, oftentimes more so than January. I am definitely a product of the academic calendar. Plus, fall is my favorite time of year. Who can resist the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, new schoool clothes, pumpkin bread and chai tea and the changing of the leaves? Ah, but before I wax on anymore, here are some summer photo highlights. Enjoy!

Having my dear friends, Katie and Cari, over for our last bible study of the year before we all went separate ways (Cari and Todd moved up to New York and Katie and John to Germany).




The Smythe family having lots of fun at Disneyland--I promise we really aren't that scary looking in real life!





Here I am with both sets of grandparents before my brother's awesome senior recital.



My brother's graduation was in the morning before the hot Cali sun got too intense. Here we are waiting for the ceremony to start and trying to catch glimpses of my brother processing in.





The happy graduate himself!






Celebrating the "Month of Harry Potter" included a Hogarts-esque dinner hosted by my friend Brittany and myself. Brittany and I wanted to embody our role as hosts of this dinner as much as possible, so we dressed up as if we were Hogwarts students in Gryffindor.







After repeatedly telling stories about my fine afternoon tea productions, I finally threw a tea party for Anna Kate, Kara, Brittany and myself (Nicole, we missed you!) to celebrate friendship and the opening of the movie about Jane Austen.





And finally, there was Cape Cod, Labor Day Weekend, 2007--a.k.a: The Raclettes (Lexi, Pidge, Bitsy, Gigi and Fiona) do the Cod!





We spent a nice day relaxing on the beach at Buzzards Bay! I even enjoyed a refreshing swim in the Atlantic ocean.




Here's the cute little cottage we stayed at (thanks to the hospitality of Jeff and Nicole!)



We took turns cooking for each other each night and had all sorts of great conversations around the table!



Catching the sunset on our last night