2014, already!? Crazy!
Okay, so I’m a little late for a ‘Happy New Year’ post, but I’m now all settled back in the States after my lovely holiday visit home and so very excited for the next seven months- my 21st, visiting Chicago, making some headway on my placement project, my little sister’s 18th, my Dad’s 50th and our family travels around the US!
As you would probably have to be a hermit to have missed hearing, the weather out here has been pretty extreme (particularly for an English girl who believes it is only worth being outside when the mercury hits zero if she has skis firmly strapped to her feet…) Having not gotten above about -10 degrees celcius, all the way down to about -48 with the windchill for the first weeks of 2014, this weekend finally saw a couple of ‘thaw days,’ and the opportunity for me to finally leave the apartment without having to wear literally 7 layers. Perpetual snow cover may sound like a fun concept, but when the buses aren’t running cause its out of semester and you live an icy, possibly frost-bite inducing two miles from work, it begins to drag. Needless to say, I’ve been told that spring should appear by March and I am counting the days!!!! Not sure I’d say this if I was actually experiencing it, but from this perspective I certainly envy my lovely twinny, Em, probably baking on an Australian beach right about now :)
So, for those of you who missed my rather chaotic (but very fun!) Christmas, here’s a little run-down. In 21 days…I landed at London Heathrow (sans my present-filled baggage, sadly!), tearfully reuniting with my parents and siblings and aunt and uncle and nan, Christmas shopping with my beautiful biochem bitchez in Birmz (big love to you yellow-ninja and poshy!) being spoilt by/chilling at home with my brother-from-another-mother, lunch and shopping with my longtime welsh bestie, a whirlwind tour to Exeter for quality hoemance-time with my darling ultibabe, assorted lunches with my schoolfriends, enjoyed many family christmas and new year traditions and hopped right back on a plane from Manchester to the freeze-chiller that the Midwest became in my absence.
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| Greenland, 03/01/2014 |
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| Frozen ice sheets of the Great Lakes as we land into Chicago |
Though I was alone with my Assoc. Prof. in the lab for my first few days and everything was pretty quiet, I am really, really glad to be back. The lab gained a new fellow undergrad, who has (unfortunately for him) been under my instruction for the last week or so- which has definitely brightened up my time, having someone else my own age to talk to while we work- especially without my other colleagues returning from work until late last week!
To celebrate our arrivals back into IA, the lab headed to a local wine bar for drinks on Friday afternoon. It was such a nice opportunity to catch up with everyone, and my friend J and I made some exciting 2014 plans- overall, a lovely way to start my first week of this three month pre-birthday stretch!
Fingers crossed every week this year is as good or, perhaps, if I’m lucky (and with all the lovely plans I’ve got to look forward too) even better!
Love love,
Chloe xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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