Karen's visit and Mamma Mia

Yesterday afternoon my sister, Karen, flew into Albuquerque to visit Matt and me for a few days. The first exciting stop - Whole Foods. Believe it or not, this was a crazy car ride half way across the city and there was soooo much traffic. Next we went to see Mamma Mia at Popejoy Hall. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but the show was fabulous - so much fun. I was smiling nearly the entire time. And the two guys next to us loved it even more than we did. They could not contain their excitement. This is a story about a girl with 3 possible dads, and she invites them all to her wedding on a Greek Island. It is set to a bunch of ABBA tunes. I'm a little young to have been an ABBA fan, so I only knew two of the songs, but the music and the choreography and the storyline were just enrapturing. I'm pretty sure Matt would have hated it, but luckily he was not there. Everyone should go!

Speaking of plays, Rent is coming May 18-20. Anyone want to come see it with me?

Unfortunately I had to work today, so Karen has been busily working on her French lessons. Tomorrow we will head to the Plaza, San Lorenzo Canyon, and the Bosque, where hopefully there will still be birds at fly-in. Tonight we will go Pursue Happyness.

16 days!

Snow Again!

Okay, so I left Arizona for New Mexico and found that it snows here. And then I found that apparently it snows in Tucson and Phoenix as well. Who knew? I remember one time from my childhood that there was snow on the ground in Tucson. At any rate, for those of you who may be worried about temperature and precipitation for the upcoming nuptials, DO NOT DESPAIR! There is no possible way that it can still be cold and snowy in Phoenix in 19 days. That would mean that the climate is changing in a ridiculously fast paced manner. Oh wait...

At any rate, there is an indoor location in case everything else fails. This is not a problem. :)

Rio Film Fest Part Two

Well, it appears Matt has beaten me to this blog. You can check it out at http://blog.myspace.com/32688197.

The Film Fest ended yesterday, so today I tried to inspre Matt into reducing our belongings. Sadly enough, I think I got rid of as much stuff as he did and yet I don't have nearly as much to start with. Anyway, I used to be a believer in only having as much stuff as will fit in your car, but needless to say I have recently surpassed this. As Matt and I will probably be downsizing soon (into a smaller place), but we will also be getting things for the wedding, it only make sense to get rid of stuff. Yet Matt claims his stuff makes him happy. I'm not sure what that says about me. It is probably a fight we will never resolve, but I will at least try to hold up my end. I think about this every birthday and Christmas, because I just keep getting more stuff. I think the answer to this consumerism is to give donations, buy people trees and alligators and carbon offsets - somewhat intangible things. I for one don't really need more stuff. And charity registries are really cool!

Rio Film Fest

Something's finally happening in Socorro! Tonight and tomorrow the 1st Annual Rio Film Fest, about environmenal awareness and appreciation, is playing on campus. This evening Matt and I went to see Killowatt Ours, by Jeff Barrie (see online at killowattours.org). It is on a much smaller scale than An Inconvenient Truth, but it might resonate more with local folks who see Al Gore on a whole other level than the rest of us. Check out the website and learn what you can do to improve energy efficiency and increase green power.

Things I recommend:

• Repace your light bulbs with CFLs. These cost a bit more but are cheaper to run and last thousands of hours longer, so you save money in the long run.
• Turn down your thermostat in the the winter and up in the summer. There is nothing wrong with wearing sweater (or two) in your house.
• Buy Energy Star appliances. Apparently you can find these at used appliance shops for a pretty good bargain.
• Drive less. Although I drive a lot, to Albuquerque about once a week and to the Bosque a few times a month, Matt and I have made a pact not to drive in town. Today I walked to campus to meet him for lunch, then we walked to the Post Office on the Plaza, later that night to the supermarket, and then again to the film festival. The snow just made i that more exciting.
• When you do drive, drive a fuel-efficient car. My Echo gets 40-45mpg.
• Buy green power from your utility company. If you reduce your energy usage through CFLs and other conservation, you can put the money saved towards green power. If your Electric Company is not quite sure what Green Power is (welcome to Socorro), try offsetting your use through Terrapass, carbonfund, or nativeenergy. Terrapass will even send you a CFL.
• If you can afford it, install solar panels or mini-wind turbines and break free from the energy grid. Someday we hope to do this as well.
• Live in as little space as you can. Matt and I made the mistake of renting a large 3 bedroom home which we can neither heat nor cool adequately. The temperature in our bedroom is often 63 degrees, but our gas bil last month was $85. We certainly do not need this much space and have found ourselves living in the two warmest rooms with no problems. We plan to downsize when our lease is up.

I will update the remainder of the Film Fest tomorrow. They are also showing An Inconvenient Truth for free tomorrow evening. What a great idea.

Here's to future generations - may they enjoy some unspoiled nature and clean air.

Bosque

Tomorrow I do my very first school-group tour! Just me, no one to fill in additional information. And it is bound to be freezing. We will see how it goes.

28 days and counting!

I really cannot believe that I will be getting married in less than a month. That is crazy! Sometimes I think that I am old (26!) but then sometimes I think there is no way I am ready to settle down right now. And I'm talking about actual physical location, not Matt, who I am excited to marry. It just is weird not to be able to pick up and leave or take seasonal jobs or any of that fun stuff I used to do. Now I live in a house and have a real job. And soon I will be married! I am pretty sure none of my friends would have expected this from me. And I have been here in New Mexico for almost 7 months now, so its not like the wedding is going to change anything. So I am excited! There is not so much left to do now - mostly write my vows. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the wedding! And bowling of course, we can't forget about that. Okay well that was a boring blog. I'll try to think of something more fun to say next time.

Oh and on a side note, the journal article I wrote based on my Master's thesis was finally reviewed, and somehow one of the reviewers was a guy who works in my lab. Now seriously, is the world of SD modeling really so small that one of my co-workers is a reviewer? Let me just say that this paper is not that great and neither was the review, so it is just a bit embarrassing. On a better note, all three of my references finally got their letters in for the 'secret' application, although one might not arrive until the due date - talk about cutting it close. I guess I might not hear anything else until March. Keep your fingers crossed!

Also, there are new pictures on the Happy New Years entry.

Happy New Year!

Well, I have been informed that I have not blogged for a long time. I did not, however, realize that it had come to be well over a month. Damn! At any rate, here is the first blog of the new year.

Matt and I just got back from visiting my sister and her husband in Switzerland. It was quite freezing and there was not much snow, but it was a good time none-the-less. We spent a few days in Geneve and a few days in a little town in the Alps that was absolutely gorgeous. We went hiking in the valley one day, hiking across the Alps one day, and snowboarding for part of a day. We also saw some glaciers - everyone must try to do this before they all disappear! The most hilarious part (now) of the trip was probably the fact that I could not get up the lift on my snowboard. They had some sort of strange t-bar/tow rope thing that I kept falling off, resulting in a BEAUTIFUL bruise on my ass (let me know if you would like to see a picture of that). At any rate, I had to hike up the run each and every time I wanted to board down. I am a complete loser, but at least I got my exercise! And the snowboarding part was great fun.

The other highlight of the trip was going to a castle - Chateau de Chillon - near Montreaux, the Swiss Riviera. It was cloudy, rainy, and sometimes snowy but still beautiful.

Last night we arrived terribly jet-lagged in Phoenix, and I spent today working from my parent's house. There is something to be said for a job with flexibility. I didn't really have any New Year's resolutions until now, but I think it will be to enjoy and appreciate the great things I have and stop thinking that the grass might be greener elsewhere.

The other wonderful news of the year is that I have been diagnosed with food allergies and am now on an awful diet trying to figure out exactly what it is. I just hope I am not too skinny for my wedding dress fitting on Saturday - it is hard to take in enough calories when you don't eat meat and can't eat wheat, corn, soy, and peanuts. Good times. The worst side effects of this plan were missing out on fondue in Switzerland and indirectly contributing to the car accident of an un-named friend who was so kind to come see me at my house.

At any rate, this is the start of 2007 and soon to be the start of my 27th year (when did I ever get so old?). I wish everyone peace and happiness and hope you can follow those pesky resolutions.

Things I look forward to:
(oh and by the way I recently learned that dangling prepositions are acceptable)

• Getting married
• Bridal shower and bachelorettte party (in 1 month!)
• Seeing all my friends and family who are coming in for the wedding
• Getting to hang out with my bridesmaids
• Having friends in New Mexico
• Making new friends (one can always dream)
• Starting new activities
• Learning languages
• Reducing my environmental footprint
• The end of the Iraq War
• A Democrat-run Congress
• The end of the crisis in Darfur
• AND world peace (just to prove I could win a 'scholarship' contest too)

Peace out!