Quiet week in GNV

With all my publication deadlines met and no finals to take, things have quieted down here in GNV, especially now that most of the undergraduate students have left also :) Enjoyed the cool and sunny weather to do some wildlife and moss spotting at Lake Alice this afternoon. My new lens continues to take stunning photos and I played around with the monochromatic mode on my Rebel today :)

old oak trees and Spanish moss

 

Baughman center

Baughman reflections

around the lake

Some friends taking in the sun :)

What have we been up to?

Amongst being distracted by my dissertation and 3 weeks of traveling, needless to say I have neglected the blog :) Here's some highlights of what's been going on in October!

While Austin headed up north to see family, I finished up writing my dissertation and then headed to St. George island for the weekend with lab friends. Nice weather and a good way to relax and finish up my tan for this year :) A big thanks to Georgia for letting us stay at her family's beach house!

Our lovely beach spot :)

Over my birthday weekend, one of my Serbian friends just happened to be in the neighborhood and he stayed at our place for a couple of days before heading back to Europe after his epic summer in the Northeast. We enjoyed the GNV sights (including a very important trip to Wal-Mart) and spent my actual birthday tubing at Ginnie Springs :)

Exploring the flora of northern Florida :)

Igor and Evan getting ready to tube with Austin and I

A perfect day for tubing and swimming :D

We found an abandoned disposable underwater camera. I sent him the photos after snapping this one on my phone of us :)

How many grad students does it take to dominate trivia? Only 4! Though we had a tough time defending our title we enjoyed our prize from Gator's Dockside after showing those nerds who's boss :D

Trivia masters Evan, Matt, and Austin (with me in a supporting role)

After a busy weekend hosting family and defending my dissertation, I had some additional celebrations with my lab mates before heading off on a celebratory epic road trip. We enjoyed some drinks downtown and also played some intense board games at home. What a month it's been!

Downtown at the Palomino

Game night at our place

Autumn has finally come to GNV and we are enjoying the cool sunny days as we get closer to heading up north for Christmas. Hopefully more updates to come as I get closer and closer to having my Ph.D. in hand :)

Signs of autumn approaching

We had our very first bonafide breeze yesterday afternoon! I was even able to have the windows open for more than an hour. It finally feels like Florida Fall (aka the best weather all year round) is slowly approaching. Other signs have also arrived over the recent days:

Belgian beer and french fries for dinner! To help build up a layer of warmth against the cold autumn winds...or something.

Our favorite Maine-based brewery and the pumpkin-infused beer!

New boots :) this season of the cowboy variety

Well this is not really autumn-related but we had sushi to celebrate my paper getting accepted :P

Ahh, true, looking forward to fall at last :) Thanks, Ned Stark!

Beach weekend :)

Last weekend we took a trip out of GNV for some beaching and relaxing on the Northeastern coast of Florida. We spent some time camping in this area last May and really enjoyed it, and decided it would be a nice break over the long weekend (and coincidentally our one-year anniversary!).

After a nice afternoon relaxing on the beach, we spent our first night in the city of Fernandina Beach at a cute little hotel. There is a fantastic local restaurant where we had amazing calamari, salads, and thai scallops. We also spent time at some fun outdoor bars and watched the sunset from the pier.

Some really nice lady asked to take our picture. We didn't even have to ask her, she just walked over and said "You guys look so cute together." Aww!

On the pier of the inter-coastal waterway

We spent the next day at Fort Clinch state park, where there is a really cool Civil War-era fort and some nice nature trails. After it got hot towards the afternoon we found a shady spot on the beach by the fishing pier and watched the waves roll in. We had a more casual dinner of burgers and a milkshake and then headed to our campsite for the night :)

Some views from the fort

The fishing pier on the beach

Rocks along the shore where the river meets the sea :)

Sunset on Sunday

After a short nature walk in the morning we headed back to GNV to rest and relax before another week in the lab. Happy to have a short break amidst what's been an already busy semester thus far :)

What happened to summer?

Well, it still feels like summer outside, but with the undergrads having returned and the streets full of traffic again, we know that the Fall semester has begun already. It was a rather busy summer for both of us (and sorry for the lack of posts!!) and now we are both transitioning into finishing up our dissertations. I finally have a tentative date set for my defense (hooray!), so now that I can breathe at least slightly easier I thought I would post some updates.

Austin and I both had some fun travel adventures this summer (see my other blog for more details), with him going to Japan for work and a conference in June, while I went to Serbia and the UK for work and a conference planning/site visit in August. We both had a fantastic time and it was good to catch up with old and new friends abroad.

Amidst the busy summer, I am sorry to say that my grandpa Anderson passed away. While it is very sad to have him gone, we were able to attend his funeral (which was really nicely done and it was great to be surrounded by family at this event) and Austin and I both have many happy memories with him. He was an incredible person and our family was lucky to have him! I took a photo of his Marine Corps honors and I continue to be impressed with all of the things he did in his life and in how much he loved us all.

I only had a short amount of time back in Omaha but was happy to have spent some of it with good friends and to see close family as well. I plan on coming back in November to catch up with folks some more so I look forward to seeing everyone on my next trip back :)

And so begins the final big push towards December! Looking forward to finishing up this dissertation, getting some tolerable weather again, and some time to celebrate with family and friends :) And hopefully I can do better at keeping this updated this fall!

                                      

A familiar friend greeted me upon my return home :)

The end of June approaches

Apologies for not having many blog post lately-it's been a busy month of writing and working here in Gainesville! Already the end of Summer A semester is on the way, can't believe it's already almost July :)

Last week I was able to take a break for a bit and celebrate the birthday of my lab mate's sister Jamie. We had a 'classy' dress-up get-together on Wednesday and then went downtown this Saturday. Downtown Gainesville is always a fun experience and we were able to check out some new places along with some of our old haunts. It was a fun chance to get out of the house for the night after being cooped up with work!

Classy night!

Repeating Jamie's 21'st b-day

Time for another couple of weeks of more writing and finishing up lab work before heading off for more travels. Stay tuned for more updates...with more exciting news to come than just sitting at home writing hopefully ;)

Summertime fun times!

Amidst a busy couple of weeks with lab work, dissertation writing, and post-doc fellowship applications, Austin and I have enjoyed being back in Gainesville for the last half of the summer A semester. A city all to ourselves due to the lack of undergrads, early summer sunbathing, and hanging out with lab mates have been a real treat for us as a respite from the rigors of trying to finish up grad school ;)

We will certainly enjoy these days of summer and are looking forward to more GNV adventures in the near future!

(LtoR) Joe, Austin, Candice, Jamie, Matt, me and Cody out for Joe's birthday!

Yay for CEHT people and ciders :P

A successful group photo

Crab boil!

96 live blue crabs about to take a hot bath...

The finished product!