After church on Sunday we went to the sculpture garden outside the New Orleans Museum of Art. I was overheated within 15 minutes. What happen to my ability to deal with heat in San Antonio?? Wimp.
There was a little train that ran around the museum's botanical and sculpture gardens--so cute!
I enjoyed the lake, where the trees were weighed down by moss. In many ways, it's what my mind's eye sees whenever it thinks of Louisiana. Well, that and gators sitting on the front porch of a one-eyed Cajun with three fingers playing the blues on a guitar. You know.
This little guy was really cool! There were lizards everywhere. You could hear them scampering in the bushes, waiting to build up enough numbers for world domination.
Wow, look at all the violins. I'm pretty sure Brittni would whole-hearted agree that they are violins. Definitely not cellos. Impossible.
It was so beautiful and tranquil there. If it didn't feel like the surface of the sun, I probably would have never wanted to leave...
All you need is love...
More of that moss. It's haunting.
In memory of Brittni's sweet turtle:
I'll leave you with a sense of progress. Brittni and I complete our first years of graduate study apart. We were one year older than the last time we had physically seen one another, and both of us had independently learned a vast amount of information. We are both very different than the last time we were together, but also very much the same. Progress had been made. Tests had been taken. Things had been checked off of our respective lists. We are continually moving forward, beyond what we imagined we could accomplish. Yet, at the core, we are still the same. I find this very comforting.
So, I was not in New Orleans for 2 weeks, but in the 2.5 days I was there I accumulated a bunch of outstanding pictures. I'm going to use the pictures I post today as my last 8 days, even though I'm giving you more than 8 pictures.
These extra photos are for no other reason than to say I love you. Enjoy!
The trip started out rough on Friday. My flight from San Diego to Houston was delayed, and I missed my connecting flight to New Orleans. To make matters worse, there were no other flights until the following morning! So, I called up Brittni, told her I was going to be stuck in Houston, TX for a night, and without hesitation, she said: "Ok, don't worry. I'll pick you up at the airport." Holy. Cow. Brittni made the 5+ hour drive from New Orleans to Houston to pick me up at the airport. We were able to have a non-stop 6 hour conversation on the way back. A good portion of the time was spent listening to me say names like "Atchafalaya" and looking over the miles of bridge we were traveling on by moonlight. It was too fun!
We woke up early and went to breakfast at the Camellia grill. I was greeted by the waiter with a fist-bump, and I knew things were looking up. After breakfast, Brittni surprised me (well, kind of) with and a cooking class at the New Orleans School of Cooking in the French Quarter! I had such a fun time.
This is Tom, the instructor. He taught us how to make bread puddin'. The mirrors helped quite a bit...
And a roux for gumbo...
...which was delicious!!
We also made jambalaya! Do y'all know what people mean when they say "pope" in New Orleans? Garlic!!!
This is Tim and Laura...they're Brittni's friends from church, and they were our cooking buddies for the morning!
We had a good time too...
Here I am with the instructor, looking awkward :).
The bread pudding was marvelous--I think that's what I'm going to try to make first!
The pralines were also creamy and delicious, but definitely not as good as my momma's!
After our lesson and lunch at the cooking school, we headed over to Jackson square to see the Mississippi and the art (and artists) located all around the square.
Hello, Cafe du Monde, my love. We'll talk about you later...
I love the second floor balconies of New Orleans, they're all so lush and vibrant!
Being a tourist and posing for a photo in front of the cathedral :).
Here's the guy the whole square is named after...yee haw!
Brittni, hamming it up...haha...
She also took a few pictures during the trip. This one is one of my favorites--it captures how happy I am to be with her!
There is so much history in New Orleans--it's like the whole town is a historical distric. Here you see General Lee, glaring at the North with his arms folding. Darn yankees. I'm pretty sure I called him General Custard to Brittni, but she didn't seem to care too much.
We looked around on the levy by Brittni's apartment at the end of St. Charles. I loved looking at all the boats and rigs.
The moon rose over the Mississippi, and I thought about the stories of Huckleberry Finn that I read in high school. Cheesy, I know.
Brittni and I were having a great time!
Then, we went to Cafe du Monde, and I died. When I woke, I was in beignet and chickory coffee heaven.
We went back into the French Quarter, and Brittni led me down Bourbon street. I have now checked that off of my list of things to do. Before we left, she showed me this particular church located in the quarter. A light illuminates a teaching Jesus, and his shadow is projected on the face of the church. I found this to be an interesting juxtaposition to what was down the street and around the corner...
Finally, we were tired. I look psychotic in every picture taken hereafter. This is the best one. We're on the streetcar, going back to Brittni's apartment. What an incredible and full day!
I'll post more pictures of Sunday's activities soon!
2.I learned quite a bit about cell biology, structural biology, and immunology---and I enjoyed the process!
3. I can wake up at 3:47 AM in the morning consistently for 6 months.
4. I can function on 5 hours of sleep for 6 months, but I will not be a pleasant addition to anyone’s day.
5. I now know that college was a totally unique time in the social aspect of my life. The deep friendships I made at Trinity are truly amazing.
6. I call my mom. Often. She’s undoubtedly my best friend. She kept me awake while I was driving to work at 4:15 AM for 6 months. This is the one time the time zone difference actually worked out in my favor.
7. I have the ability to give the “double bird” to groundskeepers who think it’s funny to honk right while I walk by the front of their truck. Guess what? It felt good.
8. I have worked more at graduate school in one year than I did during my entire stint at Trinity, and I feel like I’ve aged considerably.
9. Surprise visits from friends are invaluable. I know the sound of your sneaky-run-up-behind-Lisa-and-squeeze-her-to-death walk, Brittni.
10. California has grown on me. It’s only taken a whole year.
11. For about 2 months I thought I had Hepatitis C, based on a false positive result. I learned that having a fake disease can sometimes feel like having a real disease.
12. In February, my husband and I began to tithe at church. Within 2 weeks, Tony had a job that nearly doubled his salary, a new (working) car, and a note from the government saying they were going to pay us for the rest of our lives. Powerful.
13. I’ve experienced two earthquakes in the last year, but I only felt one of them. I couldn’t tell my grandma about it, because she’d probably explain her “California-is-gunna-sink-into-the-ocean” theory for the 45th time. I probably should shut up and listen.
14. I saw the cab of a semi truck roll down the 5 on fire, with a guy (presumably, the driver), running after it.
15. I enjoy photography. I am apparently unknowingly following in my father’s footsteps, who became interested in photography during his early twenties. I have one of his photos hanging on my wall.
16. I found that I don’t do well in haunted houses. This should not come as a surprise to anyone. I spent the better part of one Saturday night with my head buried in my husband, or a friend’s back. On the haunted hayride we went on, one of the diseased townspeople jumped up on the wagon, right by me, got in my face and told me I smelled nice. All I could say was, “You do too…”
17. Not going home for Christmas was a stupid idea. May we never let that happen again.
18. We were able to fit 1200 square feet of stuff into a 790 square foot apartment for one year. It was cozy (that’s a really nice way of saying it was cluttered and consistently messy).
19. I’ve found that I rely on my husband to a fault. When he was considering re-joining the service, a main concern of mine was about who was going to kill the spiders while he was at training.
20. I never thought I would enjoy working with kids. After working for the spring quarter at my church in the 3-5 year old room, I now look forward to spending time with them. They know me. I have a favorite, and her name is Taylor. She gives me hugs whenever I open my arms. She gives Tony headaches by pulling down entire trays of cookies and then eating them off the floor.
21. I enjoy cooking. I like using weird ingredients and strange recipes. I am also not afraid to say that we occasionally eat frozen meals and hamburger helper. I think I’ve learned that life requires balance, and I can’t be the perfect wife and a graduate student who works 60+ hours a week.
22. I have become a fan of blogging, even though only a handful of people read my blog. It makes me feel connected to family and friends far away, and provides me an outlet to be creative.
23. I can’t imagine anything more fun that spending time with my husband at home, or driving around aimlessly with him. I have accepted the fact that I am not a social person, and to only have a few friends is just fine in my book.
24. I now read CNN and I am interested in current events. Last year, I could have cared less. I think this new found interest stems from the need to look like I’m doing something important at my desk, when all I really want to be doing is reading recipes, looking at LOLcats, and stifling my laughter about awkwardfamilyphotos.com. Or, we could just pretend that I’m becoming an adult.
25. I survived a year of graduate school, and I only threatened to quit a handful of times, without ever following through. One year down, four to go.
Thankfully, I am still not sore from the events that occured on day 147. I ventured out of my comfort zone in an effort to be social, and went to a yoga class a friend was teaching. I had a really good time, but I haven't done yoga in about 2 years, and let me tell you, my body reminded me of that fact. Down dog pose is one of my favorites, and it really REALLY worked my shoulders. Nothing is better than some hot tea after a long night like that! I bought a new kettle recently, this time porcelain instead of steel, because my last one rusted. Yuck.
Day 148:
I went to check on my plants after work on Thursday, and what did I see when I opened my blinds? This little guy. I think he is only a teenager. He seemed confused and full of angst, which is fitting.
Wait, what's he doing? Eww.
Oh, he was just taking off to watch the crazy camera lady from the bird feeder. Wow. He's giving me a totally hostile look.
Day 149:
Have you met my new best friend? It's called our laundry room. Ahh. This place feels way more like home than the apartment in Poway. We can do laundry whenever we want, without worrying about trashy people opening our dryer and letting the time run out. Jerks. Whew! At least that's in the past :)!
Day 150:
The 'maters are still growing. No fruit yet. They're very fuzzy, though. Take a look:
Day 151:
I decided to be slightly indulgent and buy something from Whole Foods. No, it is not food, ironically. It's a solid perfume that smells AMAZING. It's slightly hippy, but I love the scent. Plus, it comes in this cool little carved stone. The scent is called Egyptian Goddess, and it is fantastic!
Happy (belated) Memorial day! Tony and I both took a half day off, and had time to go to the garden center and pick up a few more plants for the porch.
We added marigolds to ward away any evil bugs:
We also planted some strawberries. Apparently, we're going to have to buy a cover for them once they start to produce fruit, because birds enjoy strawberries as much as I do...
From my porch, I noticed some lizards sunning on a rock.
A hummingbird was guarding her territory from all of the other, larger birds. She seemed to be doing a good job.
There's a little bird feeder right below us that is populated with all kinds of birds.
I love the nature outside of my window.
Day 146:
I really love him. I like his profile. If we have a son, I hope he gets Tony's nose, and common sense :).
