Seven...Seven...Seven!!!

I've never been a chain letter gal - but that was usually because it cost money to send all those stupid letters out. I really liked this virtual chain letter I was "tagged" with by my knitting guru.

The Rules: Each person tagged gives seven random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs seven facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know today so I thought I would reciprocate.they have been tagged and need to read your blog.

1. I am an old show TV junkie, and this is best illustrated by showing what I do during the day:
--When I am stretching in the morning before my run, I watch "Saved by the Bell". I can tell you what episode it is within 15 seconds of watching it!
--When I return from my run and stretch again and also eat breakfast, I watch "Boy Meets World".
--In the evenings, I like to catch "Home Improvement" if I have cut out of work early.
--If I have cut out of work very early, I revel in "Beverly Hills 90210".
--On the weekends when I am working in the office, I catch up on my "Full House" and some more "Boy Meets World".

2. I absolutely, positively, 100% do not like melted cheese. Now this is qualified a bit because I do like Italian dishes like lasagna and manicotti, so I tend to despise most Americans, cheddar, Swiss, and anything else that is not in Italian food. The smell of Hot Pockets heating up in the microwave makes me sick to my stomach and I have to leave the room. Even the way melted cheese looks on a hamburger is disgusting. My future children will only have mac-n-cheese if their father will make it for them!

3. I tend keep to a pretty healthy diet, but there are two things I will never be able to stop enjoying. I take each of them in moderation because I know they are bad for me. But I have learned the key to a healthy diet is to have a few vices:
a) Soda - I have to have one soda a day and diet soda is the most disgusting thing ever created (with the exception of melted cheese).
b) Potato chips - I enjoy potato chips several days out of the week and again none of those fat-free or baked things.

4. I cannot go a week without talking to at least one of my sisters or my parents...I'm much happier if I can talk to all four of them! When I am gone on vacation, relaxing at the beach, without a care in the world, I still have to have contact with my family. I feel like I have to keep up-to-date on what's going on in their lives or I get really agitated. When I can't get a hold of one of them when I need my "fix", I will continue to badger them until one of the finally is able to call me back!!

5. I have a secret (although not anymore) crush on Alan Rickman. He is amazing as a villian, particularly the Sherriff of Nottingham with his threatening spoon and Professor Snape with his fiery wand. But, he can also pull off the broken-hearted and love struck Colonel Brandon who will carry you in his arms through a torrential downpour. YUM!

6. My most prized possession is my sock monkey, Mildred. Every lost piece of stuffing and hole that has been darned is the result of my undying love and devotion to her.










7. I have the most difficult time remembering my husband's birthday. It's not that I get to that day and forget it...I can't remember whether it's June 10th or 11th. The only way I can keep it straight is to think of the other day that wives never forget...our anniversary! We were married on the 10th of July, so I know then that his birthday is the 11th of June. I know, it's backasswards, but it works. However, this is still not automatic for me. I have to stop and consciously run through my mnemonic device!!

I am tagging my blogging sisters Kate and Ann, as well as my cousin Kelli. I will then hop over to MySpace and tag the BFB, Allison, Michael, and Jason.

Out of My Hands

This has to be the largest project I have ever undertaken in the short 6 months that I have been knitting. And while it took FOREVER to complete, and there were a few mishaps that I had to correct, it turned out so beautiful that for about 2 seconds I wanted to keep it for myself. Then, I remembered why I made it...

Because my sister is AWESOME!!!!

I started working on this shawl (aka Clapotis for the knitting community) for Kate back at the beginning of March. I wanted to make her something because she's an amazing woman, sister, and now mother! Her babies had received all of these gorgeous handmade gifts, and I felt that she deserved something too. I truly believed that I would have it finished in time for Easter and worked furiously on it throughout the whole month of March. But, I didn't realize until I got into the pattern that there were three sections, each over 144 rows long. As you can tell from the picture, this piece is ginormous!


So, last week I finished the last row, pulled out the last rung of dropped stitches, and wove in the last end piece. I must say that I love how it turned out...and Lucy approves as well.



Currently, I am blocking the shawl on our spare bed so that it will come out all nice and straight. It took over 100 pins to nail it down to the bed, and we're going on 36 hours that it has been drying...with a fan blowing on it.

There are a number of ways that Kate could use her new Clapotis...













But those are just the ones I could come up with at 11 o'clock at night. I'm sure there are many others ones...including some that involve the 2 most adorable twin nephews ever!

Hope you enjoy it, siser! I really enjoyed making it for you!! *smoochies*

Savanna Flowers

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of either living in Columbia, MD or staying with the lovely folks at Casa de Fred, it can be hard to understand how amazing our neighborhood is. Columbia is a planned community, and I believe the first of its kind, so it has all these wonderful villages and neighborhoods with names like Hickory Ridge, Clary's Forest, and Wilde Lake. The city association takes great pride in keeping the foilage lush and green, even though it comes at the expense of having numerous rules and regulations about what homeowners can do on their own property. Putting aside the restrictions, it is amazing to see how beautiful everything can be year round.

We've also been extremely fortunate to move into the most amazing condo building where we have met and made some of the greatest friends since moving to the east coast. Our first experiences in MD were not filled with friendly neighbors, and we had started to believe that east coasters were just not interested in who lived next door to them. Then, we moved to Columbia and were astonished how warm and inviting our new neighbors were. There have been birthday parties for adults and children, many nights with the grill going and the Maker's flowing, not to mention the many many many games of cornhole! While we are both looking forward to moving back to be closer to our family, we know that moving away from these friends will be very difficult.

I have a variety of different routes that I take on my morning runs, but there is one street that I have made it a point to run down every day this week. There is this amazing lilac bush right along the sidewalk that someone has obviously taken some time to cultivate over the past years. It is quite large and all week it has been in FULL bloom with more flowers than I have ever seen. The strong fragrance rushes through my nose and instantly I am reminded how much I love the spring flowers!!!

As I ran past this wonderful bush on my way back to my home, I thought that I would put to the test once again just how much I love this town. After I finished getting ready for the day, I hopped in my car and headed out to work. I stopped by this house, walked up to the front door, and knocked. A woman with a small son answered the door and after introducing myself I expressed how much I love running past her lilac bush every morning. I asked if I might cut a few sprigs of the blossoms. Her face lit up with a huge smile and told me that I could take as many as I would like. She introduced herself and her son and shook my hand, saying again that I was free as many blossoms as I would like. Once again...the people in Columbia turn out to be some of the nicest folks I have met since moving to the east coast.

Thank you to my neighbor for brightening up my day and filling my office with the most wonderful lilac fragrance. Thank you my new friend!

Don't Drink the Water

Sorry for the delay in posts. It has been a crazy 2 weeks. Here's a brief run-down of what we've done around here:

1) Knitted furiously for 3 hours every night to try to finish Kate's Clapotis before we went to NC. I didn't get it done, but I showed it to her, so now I can finally share pictures with all of you. These are just a couple to give you an idea...and to show you how Lucy likes to help! I only have about 1/4 of it left to knit up and then I can send it to her.










2) Trip to NC so that we could be godparents to Brandon while Ann and Gabe stood up as Connor's godparents. We also enjoyed the time with the rest of the Trame clan, including an Easter egg hunt for Noah.









3) It all culminated in me coming down with an awful case of the flu. I took 2 days off to rest and what I thought was taking in enough fluids. On the 3rd day I tried to go into work, but ended up at the health center on campus taking in 2 IV bags of fluid. Guess I was doing more sleeping than drinking. I'm much better now and trying to take on as much water as the Titantic.

So, that's what's been going on with us lately. I would like to give out a hint about a future post. Many people, including PhDKnitter, have asked how Jason became so obsessed with Maker's Mark. He and I will be working on trying to uncover this mystery very soon. If any of you have any specific questions you'd like him to answer, drop us a comment and I'll ask the resident expert himself. I know my only question right now for anyone is "Do obsessions ever end?"

So Damn Lucky

But so damn tired....

For those of you who do not know me that well, I am a graduate student working on research on children’s social development, particularly looking at the benefits of having friends. Part of the fun of being involved in research is attending very LARGE research conferences in which individuals from across the globe convene in a large city to share their latest research with one another. You’re probably thinking…BORING! In fact, they can be quite exciting and exhilarating, while at the same time completely draining on the body.

For me, these conferences serve a number of purposes:

1) This is the chance to see what other researchers are currently studying in their own labs. It can take over a year to get a study published in a research journal, so these conferences allow us to glimpse into what others are doing right now! This can serve two purposes of it’s own:

a) It is quite motivating to talk to other researchers as it can help spawn new ideas that I would like to explore in my own research. Plus, it’s fun to see other people who get excited talking about friendship and how children think about friendship…we’re all just a big bunch of dorks!

b) It is also very important to make sure that other people out there haven’t “snaked” your brilliant idea.

2) I can have my own “star struck” experiences right there in the lobby of the hotel or the line at Starbucks. I have been working in this field for over 6 years now, and I have quickly learned who the “celebrities” in the field are…and pride myself to find out that others agree with me that my advisor is one of these celebrities. It’s so amazing that they all converge into the same place as me, and for the most part they are interested in meeting other people with similar interests.

3) Of course these events would be remiss without lots of laughter, hugs from those who live far away, and meetings that take place over drinks.

All of that being said, I have recently returned from another great conference in Boston. After being gone for 5 days, it was such a joy to return to the comfort of my own home, where my husband was ready to put me to sleep and the cat was so excited that she drooled all over my face as I tried to sleep. Unless you have attended a conference of this nature, it is very hard to understand just how exhausting the entire experience can be. The best way I can describe it is to say that it’s like reading a complicated research article for 5 days straight while walking around a concrete-floor convention center in heels surveying the room for a celebrity that you would just love to talk about their latest research with.

I had the awesome pleasure of giving a research talk at a symposium on friendship for the very first time while in Boston. This symposium scenario works in that four researchers each give a 20-minute talk on their own research along a similar content area…this one being friendship. I have been working on a paper with a former graduate student here and she allowed me to actually give the presentation. Can I just tell you how amazing it felt to sit up on a stage with three other presenters who have all been doing research on friendship for the past few decades? There I sat amongst these celebrities in my Ann Taylor pin stripe suit thinking to myself “What the hell am I doing up here with these men? They are such amazing researchers and I’m just a 4^th year graduate student who happens to have a project that falls under the umbrella of friendship research? Oh my goodness, I think I’m going to pass out.”

I was the slated to be the second presenter and so during the first presentation I had to keep telling myself to NOT drink the glass of water in front of me or I would need to pee before everyone had spoken. I was also telling myself that I could make it through this whole experience because I knew more about this topic than anyone else in the room (except for my collaborators who were there for moral support). So, I got up there…gave my talk…and it was just AMAZING!!! Such an exhilarating experience to have about 65 pairs of eyes on me, all interested in knowing what we had examined in young adolescent’s friendships.

The crème de la crème took place at the end of the four presentations. The man who I consider to be responsible for starting the revolution of friendship research over 30 years ago stood up at the end and offered his discussion of the entire symposium. This man is 80 years old, and it is still so obvious how dedicated he is to understanding children’s social development and the current research that is being published. He offered such an amazing viewpoint on all four presentations and had some critical questions that each of us needed to consider. I became incredibly motivated by his thoughts and suggestions, and I wanted to run back to a computer to do some new analyses right away (I know…I’m the biggest dork ever). After the entire symposium, I walked up to this man, who I consider my idol, and formally introduced myself, thanking him for such an insightful look into our project. He and I chatted for a few minutes about his suggestions and I walked away feeling like I had met the most amazing individual. In my mind, those few moments will always be remembered and I believe will also help guide me through my many more presentations I hope to deliver during my career.

Besides the “working” part of the conference, there are many, many opportunities to socialize. I was able to spend a lot of time with my former mentor from WKU. This woman made such an impact on my life that I thrive on being able to see her at these conferences and show her that the only reason I’m in this place in my life is because of her and her amazing husband, who regrettably passed a little over a year ago. She came to hear my presentation and sat in the front row beaming the entire time. Afterwards, she told me that not only was she proud of me, but that she knew her husband would be just as proud of me if he could have seen me. *sniffle* I was also able to spend a great deal of time with a close friend who graduated from UMD and is now a professor up in New York. She has been and continues to be such a role model for me that I reveled in the time we spent over dinner or drinks talking about her research and my dissertation ideas.

These conferences are very much about learning about the current status of the research world, but it is also so much more than that. It’s about meeting new people, mustering up the strength to walk up to your idol and ask him what he thinks about your ideas, expanding your ideas on research, and learning a little bit more about yourself each and every day. I am still completely exhausted from the whole experience, but I am also very invigorated to begin working on all the ideas that I have from the conference. Look out Denver…we’re all coming in 2009 and you had better be ready!!!

Wishin' and hopin'

I suppose that’s exactly what I was doing when I stopped by Target yesterday afternoon…wishin’ and hopin’. We had enjoyed 3 days of GORGEOUS weather, including an almost 80 degree day on Wednesday. And that all just fell apart come Thursday when the rain came in. Over the course of the next 24 hours, the temperature dropped 40 degrees and the rain turned to sleet. So, when I stopped into Target, I headed right for the shoe section to try to brighten my day. After all, I knew I would be greeted by rows and rows of FLIP FLOPS! All the pretty colors and styles…some with jewels, others with cork wedges, and still others with lovely straps to lace up the ankle. It helped me forget the sleet and rain, even if only for a moment.

DH thinks I’m insane when I pull out the flops for the first time because it’s usually still cold in the morning. But I feel it’s worth it to have some chilly tootsies when I know that later in the day those tootsies will be all nice and toasty in the warm sun! I’m a pretty basic flop gal as I don’t like to spend a ton of money on shoes that may only last a few months. I treated myself to a new pair of black flops and some classic looking brown ones. They may be boring, as this post may appear to you as well, but it was the highlight of my day! Now if I could only convince Mother Nature to stop being finicky and just let us have some warmth so I can enjoy my new flops.

I've been thinking ‘bout things

"I've always had confidence. It came because I have lots of initiative.
I wanted to make something of myself."
-- Eddie Murphy

Recently, I have given a lot of thought to the term initiative. What does it mean? How do we learn it? When and where should we use it? And more importantly, why are some people afraid to use it? I consider myself to be a pretty independent gal, trying to make my mark in this world and trying to make something of myself. As such, I feel that I do take a lot of initiative in my life, particularly in my work.

Many people have asked me how I have been able to foster such a great relationship with the two academic mentors that I have had. I truly believe that the greatest thing I have done is that I take initiative in my own graduate career and research. I am the type of person who loves to be involved in as much as possible. I will not sit around and wait for someone else to tell me what I should do, which classes I should take, and what I should be publishing at the moment. I also don’t wait around for someone to tell when I should complete something or to check and make sure that I have crossed all my “t’s” and dotted all my “i’s”. I am a pretty intelligent person who can figure out what the rules and regulations are and how I am expected to follow them.

So, when my fellow comrades get upset because they feel they have been wronged because they were not specifically told to do something, I just don’t know how to respond. I knew what we were supposed to do, you saw me doing it, why didn't you do the same? My philosophy has always been is that for every task you do: “You should always know the next step.” We cannot wait around for someone to tell us what we should do with our lives and our careers; rather we need to figure it out for ourselves. If you know without asking what the next step is, than jump on in and get started. If you are unsure of what you should be doing next, than I suggest taking the initiative to find out. We’re not always clairvoyant about what is expected of us; however, we cannot sit with our little hands in our little laps and wait for someone to walk past and tell us what to do! Inevitably, you will end up disappointing someone, getting yelled out, and then complaining about it later.

I suppose another way to look at initiative is that it is about taking responsibility for yourself. No one else can tell you what to do with your life. Sure, there are plenty of people out there who can help you and guide you, but only if you ask. Initiative has many forms and the simplest one is to just know what the next step is.