Snapshots of autumn

A few memories almost forgotten from October and early November: 

-Princeton really showed up for fall this year. 

-There is, surprisingly, a Naim June Paik art piece on display in Trenton. 

-Sam and I went to Utah for Fall Break and it was very much needed, from seeing family, to friends, to talking with old professors at BYU, to hiking in real mountains. 

[hiking in rock canyon]

[sam in his element]

[you just don't get views like this in jersey.]

[somehow i neglected to take photos of every other friend and family interaction while we were out there, so this picture with rebecca will have to serve as a stand-in for all wonderful interactions we had with family and friends.]

-We also saw the Spiral Jetty and Promontory Point while we were there (shout out to Dani for coming with us), and they were both worth the half-day trip. 

[sooooo cool.]

[at the place where the golden spike was driven. the golden spike is now at stanford.]

-Utah always gets cold at the the end of October before warming up again . . . and then diving back into freezing temperatures. Princeton is doing the same thing. 

[case in point. the fountain froze over the other week.]

Since we spent Fall Break in Utah, we missed the final glory days of Princeton fall. But what the trees lack in color now is made up for by some beautiful late-autumn sunsets. And for those I am grateful. 

And a happy new year

It's interesting, looking at the "archive" list that I have of this blog and seeing the number of posts I have throughout the year. Last year I had a pretty low number of posts. Working on a PhD can definitely do that to you, especially as time starts to become not your own. So many deadlines, so many chunks of reading to do. I'm happy to say that the semester is now over (and has been for about a week or so), and there was SUCH A HUGE BURDEN OFF MY SHOULDERS when I turned in those papers, because I am officially done with coursework for my Phd program. And that feels so good. Now it's just onto general examination time, which is its own beast to face, but it's something different.

So, that brings me to my (what seems to be) monthly update on my life (though, this is a resolution of mine--to be more deliberate about writing on my blog because 1) I like it, and 2) it's the kind of social media sharing that I like the most, even though I know it gets the least amount of traffic).

To close out 2018, Sam and I spent a lot of time with family and friends in Utah and Boston. We also enjoyed getting to be outside a lot (in Utah) and eating at really yummy places (in Boston . . . though unfortunately I got food poisoning at one of those places, so now I'm sadly turned off from lobster rolls. But the rest of the food was really good!).

[Loving those bright blue Utah skies]

[Tubing with the family]

[Sam and I went snowshoeing in Sundance and it was really fun.]

💗

[In the meadow, we can build a snowman]

[Different view of Timp]

We were also able to attend the wedding of our good friends, Bailey and James, while in Boston, and it was so lovely, and very much them.

[The Emmanuel Church in Boston]

[We love Bailey and James!]

[In between the ceremony and the reception, we hung out at the Boston Public Library]

[At the reception. So literary. Very lovely. Much wow.]

[I might have taken two . . .]

[At the Dostoevsky table with all the cool kids]

[Quite the view]

[We also got to see Greer and Nathan, which was so nice.] 

And then, when we got back to Princeton, to ring in the New Year (and to take a break during essay-writing time for me), we were able to go to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where we saw Aida. Princeton has an opera ticket lottery, and I ended up winning tickets, so it made for a nice date night, complete with a very classy dinner at a gyro food truck. (And, honestly, the gyros were really yummy.) We also ran into some Princeton friends, so when the opera ended around 11:30 pm and the next train to Princeton was at 12:45, we had some friends to talk with on the train ride home.

[The Lincoln Center at night--also, New York shows up to the opera.]

[Feeling fancy]

[For the record, we did enjoy the opera, especially the scenery and costumes--the spectacle of it all. It was reallllly long, though, and I didn't know that it would be about 4.5 hours long.]

At the moment, I'm in Russia doing research while Sam is in Uganda for work. Let's just say that we're looking forward to being together again. 

I think the world is glorious

Sam was in town last weekend, and so the world, was indeed, glorious. (Cheesy, yes. But that's how I roll these days.)

[Awwwww]

Sam was in town for a friend's wedding, and it was just a nice weekend filled with friends, food, and flowers. (Also, ICYMI, the Provo City Center Temple is stunning, and the sealing rooms look like English chapels, which just made my heart very happy.)

[Also, the sun was reallllly bright. We are both struggling to look normal here.]

[The wedding reception. I loved the vibes there. Super chill and just really cool.]

[I realize this little girl looks like she's falling down. I promise I did not take a photo of a child in distress just for the photo's sake. She is rolling down the hill. Because she can. And I probably would have too, if I didn't care for propriety and decency, but there are things you can do when you're 6 when you can't do when you're 26. Sigh.]

[See? She's rolling down. No falling children here. Except maybe the boy is falling down? I'm failing here.]

Sam and I also went hiking in the Albion Basin and had a picnic. It was idyllic. And the wildflowers are in full bloom right now and stunning. 

[Isn't he cute? Yeah. He is.]

[Some Maria Von Trapp/Heidi vibes going on in this pictures. The hills are alive.]

[Better together.]

[Okay, those views, though. So, so pretty.]

[This, my friends, is Utah in the summer. Simply glorious.]