Snow

I spent the past two weekends out of town... in a shite ton of snow. First I went back to the motherland (aka Michigan) and this past weekend was spent in Big Bear, CA. Now it's a common misconception that I left Michigan because of the snow. To clear up any rumors, I left Michigan because of the excessivity of the snow. I thoroughly enjoyed the massive dump ons the past couple weekends but after five months or so it gets a little old. But to pay homage to the fun I had in the snow this winter is my top five fav moments in the frozen water:
1. Snowball fight with the bf who hadn't seen snow in a good fifteen years.
2. Relearning how to snowboard (after I got over how much I initially sucked).
3. Exploring and really appreciating the Dirty D (aka Detroit) laden in fresh snow.
4. Sitting in a hot tub with some amazing peeps while white flakes adorned our hair.
5. Taking pics of nature in its natural winter glory.

Arcade Fire

I love them tonight. Because they're saving me from the monotony of my part of an insanely boring, entirely irrelevant to my future group project. Unable to find any fun in it I am instead more fully appreciating the upbeatness of this band.

Vday

That was yesterday so this is slightly irrelevant but hey, we have the holiday every year so why not plan for the next one. The bf hard core surprised me with my first "real" Valentine's Day ever but that isn't to say I haven't enjoyed me some Vdays in the past. In fact all but one were pretty spectacular. During the Vday surprise last night the bf asked me what my favorite Valentine's Day ever was. Of course yesterday's! But my second favorite Vday ever was the one I spent with my bestest undergrad friends either our junior or senior year of college (they all run together). We started the night out volunteering at a dance for adults with developmental disabilities. And then (before you start to think we're the biggest dorky do-gooders in the world... although, there may be some truth to some of that) we continued to volunteer at a bar passing out condoms (while possibly slightly intoxicated) as part of the Safer Sex Patrol. We even got a free t-shirt that said Safer Sex Patrol on it. Now if that isn't a fun way to celebrate the big Vday I don't know what is.

Superbowl

I love the Superbowl. For much more than the football (although I love that too). It's a way better holiday than Christmas. Far less drama amongst family members. Well, unless maybe you're living a little too vicariously through one of the teams. Everyone has parties with their bests full of delicious (extremely healthy) food and drinks, fun games and pools, and clever, fun conversation. Plus it's always on Sunday so everyone has the day off to celebrate. And I'm loving the Superbowl even more than usual this year because my team (well, one of my teams), the Packers, are in it. While I watch them kick the Steelers arse I will be enjoying one of my favorite Superbowl (or any party) foods, 7 layer bean dip, which I also love because it's so easy to make. Oh happy day!

The Simple Things

It really is the simple things that make life worth living and fun. Sure, backpacking in the Andes is going to be a grand time and something you'll talk about forever but what really creates a consistently "good" (quotation marks is indicative of subjectivity) life are those teeny tiny daily moments you aren't sure anyone other than you thinks are wonderful. For instance, the inspiration of this post was that I just sent an email entitled "Running and Sociopaths", which cracked myself up. And I have many moments like this which I hadn't realized were so fulfilling until today. But I believe that that my friend is the secret to true happiness and fun in life.

Parallel Parking

I love to parallel park. I have no idea why. I can't even remember learning to do it. But somehow I am AMAZING at it. I think it's super fun. I get excited every time I see an open spot that I have to get into without just pulling straight in. Parallel parking is just one of the strange things I find fun that probably a lot of others don't. What things do you enjoy doing that the average person would avoid at all costs?

New Vantage Point

I've spent much of grad school round dos frustrated and not having a lot of fun. At least with the school part. I went round and round trying to figure out how I could get more out of it to no avail. Until this week. Thanks to some staunch supporters who both kicked me in the butt and gave me loving support I came to a realization. One I already knew but apparently hadn't entirely understood. Disappointment (and thus no fun) comes from having expectations that aren't met. I had gone into my program expecting it to be a great intellectual/academic challenge and so far, haven't found that to be the case. What I hadn't expected was it to be so emotionally challenging. That it would challenge me in ways I wasn't prepared for and up until now didn't want. That I have skill deficits that this program is bringing to light and forcing me to deal with. For that I am now quite thankful and excited. Because I'm sure this is what I need more than an academic challenge to reach my future goals. And perhaps that new perspective will lead to what I had originally expected as well. So this is scientific evidence people of the importance of being mindful and letting go of expectations in terms of complete life enjoyment. It's necessary to find the silver lining in all challenging situations. My situation hasn't changed one single bit but because I'm looking at it differently and have found the importance of it to me it's becoming much more fun.