June 2012 in pictures

Ok, back to this picture thing. I will finish this. I will.

June was a big month for us. After many months of begging, presenting all the pros, and debating the cons, I convinced Jamie that we should get a kitten. The problem was, we couldnt find one! Finally after a couple weeks we found one on Marktplaatz and we picked her up. We had a choice between her and her stripey-tiger-looking sister, but sister was terrified of us. Our little kitten nestled up to me immediately and didn't want to let go. So basically, she chose us. She was born on April 13, 2012; she was 7 weeks old when we brought her home.

Here she is sleeping in her carrier shortly after we got her home.
We named her Islay (pronounced eye-la or ay-la)

This is her on my pillow after she came out of hiding on her first morning with us. I found out pretty quickly that she hates cameras and especially flashes. 

When she finally got comfortable with us she liked to sleep on our laps or snuggle her way behind our back and sleep there. She also slept snuggled in between us at night - she was the middle spoon.

We didn't know it at the time, but she was sick this weekend. Here she is 2 days before her first vet visit, 2 days before we discovered she was not the healthiest little kitten. 

Oh and also, our amaryllis bloomed again. This time with 4 flowers!

Like all cats she loves paper bags

We had a giant cardboard box that we used as a kitten playpen. Such a tiny little thing with her ping pong ball and mousie. 

Always trying to catch or capture my camera - probably so I'll stop taking pictures of her. 

And she loved to kill and wrestle the carrot we got her from Ikea. Gotta eat those veggies!

May 2012 in pictures

Getting a bit behind in my photo wrap-up of 2012. Or maybe it 's just that i was avoiding blogging about the month that I turned the dreaded 3-0. Still pretending to be "over" it. I guess we all have to deal with the inevitable. Since I started off discussing the birthday, lets get on with the pictures of the birthday.
We were crammed into a tiny part of one of my favorite bar/restaurants here in Utrecht (Cafe Olivier) so I could only get a picture of the whole group (that remained by 23:00) by taking two pictures.

Among other awesome gifts, Jamie bought me these chocolate brains skulls

Lots of other things happened besides my birthday. For instance, I finished the blanket for my nephew:

Also our amaryllis bloomed:

March 2012 in Pictures

Picking just a few pictures for the month of March is almost impossible. In March Jamie and I took one of the most amazing trips of our lives to South America. There was a scientific congress for my field, and it's only held every other year in different locations. I was accepted to present a poster and I was determined to go to present it. It's a great experience to present your work at a congress full of people who not only understand the work, but are also interested in it. It doesn't hurt when the congress is held in an amazing location. This edition was set for Iguazu Falls, Brazil.

I really should do a blog post about our trip. ... I have such a bad memory you'd think I would blog all the time to help me remember, but I am just too busy being lazy when I'm not working my ass off for the PhD.

Ok enough talk, lets get to the amazing pictures!

Strelitzia flowers at our hotel in Sao Paulo

One part of the amazing Foz do Iguazu

A toucan friend pondering me at the bird sanctuary in Foz do Iguazu (the city, not the national park)

Our hostel in Porto Alegre, Brazil

A massive tree among other massive trees spanning more than a city block in the Recoleta area of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Smoke and deliciousness in the Mercado del Puerto in Montevideo, Uruguay

A tropical storm coming in at Ipenema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The strangest flower I've ever seen at the botanical gardens in Rio

Flowers

Since I'm still doing lots of secret knitting (Secret Solstice, birthday, etc) I'll give you some flower goodness to feast your eyes on to tide you over until I have yarny goodness for you. These are from a bouquet I gave to my roommate when she graduated law school last week. I'm sure the images speak for themselves and need none of my blathering commentary.




















This last one is def my fav close up. You can see all the hairy stickyness of the flower sex parts and stuff. Neat!

More birthday goodies

Here is the necklace that Emily gave me for my birthday. I love necklaces. I was worried at first b/c its red, but since I actually dont own any red clothing besides my old BU stuff (worn only for hockey games of course) it wont clash with anything. And it draws attention to me, which, in a crowded bar is a good thing (well this kind of attention is good, not the look at the drunken idiot kind).



And here is the bouquet of flowers that my roommate Lindsey bought for me. They are so beautiful! I went all crazy with the camera on saturday morning, and I have to say, the pictures came out amazing. I have a couple for you here. It was hard to choose which to show since there are about 40 that are my "favourites," but as time goes on i'll probably insert one here or there in a boring blog moment (:{ But for now, enjoy these.






And why am I up so late blogging and not working on my 5 knitting wip's? b/c of a random full-on migraine today ugh. Couldn't even make it to the gym. I just slept the afternoon away and now that i woke up I feel the usual post migraine queasy-out-of-sorts-hungover feeling. And I cant concentrate on knitting when I feel like that. Ugh, now I'm going to have to overload on benedryl or I wont be able to fall asleep after the nap. Stupid migraines.
Hopefully this weekend will bring serious progress on the wip's and maybe even some pictures o:{