2012/04/21 - Boring, boring, boring

Hey kids!

I don't really have any travel updates, unless you count my adventures on the internet and to the library as traveling. Which I don't. Nothing terribly exciting has been happening. It's been Easter break for the past three weeks. I've been exercising and eating better (also training for a walk for cancer in Dublin next month), working on small assignments for class as well as slowly writing one of my two final essays.

After my final papers are due next month, one of my favorite people and best friends is coming to visit me from the States! I am seriously so excited to see Miss Grace! :D It's pretty much all I can talk about. We are gonna have some sweet adventures. We're going to London for a couple days and checking out Dublin as well as the north coast. I'm looking forward to spending time with her and showing her around town. <3

So it's safe to say that my next entry will be less technical stuff and more fun. : )

Stay frosty, folks!

2012/03/29 - Am I really in Belfast?

I just need to talk for a moment about the amazingly gorgeous weather we've been having in Belfast.

No. Seriously.

Am I really still in Belfast?

Natasha, a native to Thailand, and myself, an American, are baffled by the sun and the warmth and the blue skies. We've had this for a week. Temperature has been holding steady at around  12-18 degrees Celsius (60ish degrees Fahrenheit). No rain, no clouds. According to locals, this is July weather. You know, if it were Belfast July weather all year round, I might not be so depressed or unmotivated, haha! <3

2012/03/16 - Venezia!

One of my dream trips was to go to Venice during Carnival. Being the history buff that I am, it always appealed to me. What fun would it be to join a tradition that's been happening since the 13th century? Quite a lot, I'd imagine! When I found out that I'd be going to school in Belfast, I knew that I had to make this a reality. I started talking it up to some of my friends waaaaay back in December. When we bought our plane tickets and booked our hotel, it was so hard to believe that I was actually going to be in Venice for Carnival. It still seems a bit surreal and it's been almost a month since the trip.

The timing was perfect as well. The most two important nights, the last Friday and Saturday, were right before my birthday. I got to spend the big twenty-four in Venice! During Carnival! Wearing a mask, dancing in the streets, and exploring everywhere.

As a warning: lots of text and several pictures. <3 All my Venice photos can be seen at this [link].

2012/03/13 - Wut is 2012 for 200 plz

Erm...

Hi.

: )

A smiley face always seems to make things less awkward and disconcerting. It's not that I haven't been active or doing anything - quite the contrary. After Xmas break, I worked hard to complete my essays for my courses followed by a whole lot of nothing. Since my work was due at the beginning of the finals' period, I basically had an extra few weeks of break before second semestre started. During that time, my old flatmate, Natasha, and I planned a trip to the north coast of Ireland. We decided to hit up Portrush and day trip from there. We visited several places including the White Cliffs, Dunluce, Bushmills, Mussenden Temple, and Derry. It was a fun four days. It was also nice to get away from dull Belfast. We were super lucky - the whole trip was sunny and beautiful! Very rare for Ireland. It was just so nice to have sun - I miss my vitamin D.

2011/12/25 - Happy Christmas 2011

Happy Christmas from tanith k! 

I hope Santa was super nice to each of you this year! 

2011/12/23 - Chili Recipe!

Two post in one week? Someone stop this gurl!

One of my favorite hobbies is cooking. Not many people know that about me - my flatmates are always asking what I'm making and how I make my meals look so pretty (I don't know the answer to that latter part... I just like pretty food? Presentation is everything after all!) Today, I had a cooking experiment. I really wanted chili, but none of the recipes I looked up were what I wanted nor did I have all the ingredients. I'm poor and in grad-school, you really think I can afford all of those fancy food items? I had a pound of meat in my freezer - it's been in there for awhile and took up a bunch of space.

So it came to me! Make my very own recipe up! Now, I've never done this before. I've altered recipes and made them more suited to my tastes and cooking styles, but making up my own? Adventure time! It was so good that I had two bowls. <3 Kristy made some cornbread muffins to accompany the meal. Yummy! My flatemate Katie and her sister, Sarah, joined us. It was a delicious meal on this chilly day (punnnn)! Really hit the spot. :D

2011/12/22 - Medieval Field Trip + Life Update

Hello everyone! : ) I hope that you are doing well. Me? I'm all right. I can't complain too much. I thought today was going to be an awesome day. 11 degrees Celsius, bright and beautiful sun outside, a gentle breeze. I was gonna have a photo day!

Snapped this one from my kitchen 15 minutes after sunrise this morning before heading to the gym. <3

Until I mucked it all up by twisting my ankle during badminton. Curses! Foiled again. Now, that said, it's not nearly as bad as it sounds. It took me about five minutes of swearing lovingly at myself to calm down. Kristy was super kind and sat on the floor next to me in order to make it seem like we were pow-wowing instead of me dying from pain. A nice boy at the gym came over to check on me too - "You went down but you didn't get back up. I wanted to make sure that you were okay." So I guess it really wasn't that bad. I made it home okay, but climbing the stairs up to my room? Oh gawd. Talk about a challenge. Stairs still are a challenge. However! The swelling went down well before I made it home and now I just gotta deal with stiffness. Hooray! Progress.

But that's neither here nor there. In more exciting news, here's a story from roughly a month ago because I'm slow and irresponsible when it comes to updating here. Aren't you guys the luckiest?