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So here we are! Finally found a few minutes to get this together. I'm slowly bringing my life to a manageable level of chaos. I've already started my first challenge, albeit a week late. And now I'm excited to have a place to maybe talk about other stuff. A warning: I tend to write novel-length emails, tell long-winded stories, and generally ramble about anything that comes to mind, and I don't think this place will be any different. But I'd love to make friends and hear from anyone who might have advice or a story of their own to share. So don't be shy! A bit about me: I grew up in Texas (suburbs of North Dallas), got my B.S. Chemistry (and *almost* Chemical Engineering, but that's another story) from Louisiana Tech, and now I'm going for my Ph.D. at U Wyoming. Pretty much everyone I know is 1000 miles away, save for two friends in Colorado. As you may have figured, I'm a science nerd. I've got mad love for calculus, too. Quantum mechanics is one of my favorite fields, because anytime you want to ask why something is the way it is, the answer is generally "Because math." I'm trying to get back into the habit of reading for fun. I got lazy during college, and Netflix was just so convenient. I do love me some good comedies (Archer, Bob's Burgers, The League, Wilfred) and dramas (Breaking Bad!!!), but I feel like I get a good mental workout from books, which are so satisfying. Harry Potter and Ender's Game will always be dueling for top spot in my heart, and I really don't think I could ever choose a favorite. Recent reads include The Fault in Our Stars (I swear, I wasn't crying, I was cutting onions) and...holy crap, is that really the only book I read this summer? Man, I really gotta get on some reading. But to John Green, if you ever read this, I both hate and love you. More one than the other, though I'll leave you to decide which. As my challenge says, I love backpacking. It's been about 7 years since I've been, though, which is extremely depressing. So my year's goal is to go on a backpacking trip next summer. If anyone is in the Wyoming area and wants to join me, let me know! Another goal of mine is to get down to a size where I feel comfortable taking pictures again. I've never been very photogenic, but I at least looked better when I was skinny. Right now I completely avoid pictures whenever possible. I just don't like how I look, and I don't want to be reminded of it. As for what to expect here, I have no idea really. Likely a combination of foods I've made and liked, workouts I've done, personal life stuff (mostly bitching about work, probably), and any random thoughts I get. I like writing, and I'd like to do it semi-professionally in the future, so this might be a practice space for that as well. So if anyone wants to follow and chime in here, feel free! I'll return the favor. Things are always better when you do them together, right?

Hey! So I'm really new on here, but I was curious if anyone else is dealing with graduate school woes? Has anyone else been through it? I'm writing my Masters thesis at a university in Taiwan and I never realized how awfully isolating it would be. Not only is it hard to make friends in school because everyone else has a job/family/bf/gf/life, but the social life is non-existent. No one seems to care about anything other than their research papers. Not that I can blame them. It's the axe hanging over all of our heads and our advisers are holding it. This loneliness is all-consuming though. It also sucks because I'm at home almost everyday writing and researching my paper. It makes me feel lazy and useless. It's not like I enjoy looking at the same paper everyday, but I have deadlines to meet. I suppose the worst part of graduate school is the lack of purpose everyone feels. No one knows why they are there, no one is that passionate about their topic, no one knows what they are doing and no one knows what they will do with their Masters degree afterwards. Of course I'm speaking as a student who is in Taiwan, but I'm fairly sure the US is quite similar. Life gets better after grad school right? It gets more rewarding? Have to ask because It's just been one of those days for me, ya know?

Hello to any one reading! To try my hand at daily logging (which I have never done, really) and to keep myself accountable on things, I wanted to start a log. So here it is! I just moved from California to Maryland for grad school, so things are super different. I'm still getting used to the 3 hour time difference, even though it has been already been a week. I'm also trying to get back into my rebel-ness, which is taking a while. Since I graduated undergrad, I stayed at home for the summer before my big move. I slowly slipped of track. I started off good. I kept my diet pretty reasonable, and tried to teach my parents about the paleo diet. They tried it for a week, but after that I had to lighten up on them because they weren't eating properly. Then with all the 100-115 degree heat outside and my mom wanting me to go with her everywhere, I lost track of working out and eating completely healthy. And I couldn't do my second challenge as a result. Sometimes it is a bit difficult staying on your lifestyle change when you are with family or on outings, because it gets tempting to go back into old, comfortable ways with them. But now I'm trying to get back into the hang of things! I am in grad school and I'm taking a preliminary course for 2 weeks, which is awesome. And I'm trying to get back into the swing of working out. My goal is to do 30 minutes of cardio in the mornings, and then do free weights on weekday evenings. I haven't quite settled on what routine to do with weights, but I'm currently thinking about it. I also have 4 textbook chapters to read tonight. D'oh! Time to get it done.