This time last year (at the time of writing this), in England, it was about 11 minutes out from midnight on New Years Eve. I had accidentally short circuited our house and Andrea and I were watching the movie 21 Jump Street. It was around this time we were putting warm clothes on to go to the park across the street and watch the fireworks go off around Birmingham.

This year I am half a world away sitting in my tiny studio apartment I just moved into yesterday, and am doing my best to ignore the last few boxes that need to be unpacked.

2015 was absolutely nuts. I will most likely never have a year like it again in my life. I never imagined it would be like this.

So let's go over some of the high lights!

-I visited five countries in Europe. Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and Scotland (I am counting this don't take it away form me).
 In Italy I stood in the imperial palace and walked down streets that were thousands of years old. In France I stood under the Eiffel Tower and slept under the stars in a centuries old village. In Spain I visited cave paintings I had studied in undergrad, some of the oldest known to man, and got to lay on the beach while everyone back in England was getting rained on. In Scotland I hiked mountains covered in snow that went up to my waist and got to stand in the spot where ancient kings were once crowned.


 In Germany I got to meet my family there for the first time. I saw the house my great grandfather was born in, and camped in the Black Forest with two dear friends. These are memories I will have forever, and are greater than anything I have experienced before.


-I graduated from grad school with my Masters and wrote a 15,000 word dissertation on sexism in celebrity interviews. How nuts is that? It was one of the hardest things I have ever done but I am so proud of what I accomplished.

-I went ice skating for the first...and probably last time. I fell flat on my butt. It hurt...a lot.

-I made some amazing friends. Leaving them behind was incredibly hard. Living abroad and making bonds with the people you meet is a wonderful thing, but saying goodbye not knowing if and when you will ever see them again is pretty miserable.


-I conducted a celebrity interview, and nailed it. I was recovering from food poisoning, and had a throat infection the day of the interview, but I still dragged my butt to London to attend a press screening of Pitch Perfect 2 and interview Elizabeth Banks. THAT is an experience I will always remember.

-I witnessed Track and Field history. I was there, in the press box, when Mo Farah broke the 2 mile world record in Birmingham. It was an honor to be there and I still can't believe it happened.

- I drank an entire cup of coffee for the first time in my life because I didn't want to be rude to my German relatives who had bought it for me. It was disgusting. Never again.

-I went whale watching for the first time. I saw humpback whales and more seals than I could count.

-I picked up my life and moved to Seattle....without a job. This one is a work in progress, and nothing has gone like I hoped it would, but that is life. As you get older it gets harder and harder, and you have to fight for what you want. I want this. I want to be here and I want to thrive.

This year has been truly astounding, and these memories are just the tip of the iceberg on everything I did. But this year was also really hard. Personally I have dealt with a lot of stuff, and it has been aggravated by the horrible things going on in the world, things that I wish would stay in 2015 but I know they won't. No matter what happens, 2015 shaped my life and I will always remember it as the year that everything changed. For better or for worse, it will always one of the most important years I have lived.

Happy New Year everyone! May 2016 be a year of growth, success, and peace.....especially peace.

A month and a half into my move to Seattle and home sickness is hitting me hard. Except, I am not home sick for my childhood home in NY (sorry mom), I am home sick for the UK. Lately I have begun to miss the land I left behind more and more. Maybe it because I am not settling into Seattle as quickly as I would have liked, or I am just lonely, but it is starting to become a constant ache of something missing.

Happy Thanksgiving a day late! This was my second year away from my home for Thanksgiving, but I had a good time in Seattle with my brother and his friends.....Friends-giving. At least I did not have to make the turkey!

However, I was expected to contribute to the dinner, which I did with yummy mashed potatoes. They turned out pretty good considering this was only the second time I have ever made them.

BUT the day before Thanksgiving I was told we needed another dish. So, having the major sweet tooth that I do, I decided to make a dessert.

Growing up my favorite Thanksgiving dessert was never pumpkin or apple pie. No, it has always been peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses in the middle!

I have been wanting to attempt these cookies for a while, but after a recent failure at a no bake cheesecake, I wasn't feeling confident. Plus with all the organic, overly healthy, pretentious stores that are around here, I knew I would have to make it from scratch. I have never successfully made any baked good from scratch, so I was a little concerned.

Anyways, I use this recipe, which is pretty simple. First, you put the egg, milk, regular sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, and butter in a bowl.
My brother does not have a mixer, so I had the pleasure of mixing this stuff by hand.....yay. I have very weak arms, so it was a bit of a struggle. Thankfully Matt came in and helped at the end, because apparently I was doing it wrong...

Anyways after that, I added the flour, baking soda, and baking power, and mixed it all together again! Next, roll them into balls, stick em on a baking tray, and put them in the oven.
Look at those beautiful things cooking away. Best looking cookies I have ever made. There was some difficulties because it took about twice as long for them to cook than the recipe said it would. I ended up standing in front of the oven while watching Parks and Rec on my laptop and checking the cookies every few minutes.

They did finally finish! And as soon as I took them out I smooshed Hershey's kisses into them. Hershey kisses that were obnoxiously hard to find btw. This city needs to chill on the super organic food everywhere.

ANNNDDDD.....

THEY CAME OUT PERFECT!
Of all the things I have done in my life that I am proud of, these cookies are top ten. Literally could not have been better. Plus they were a huge hit! Matt was hovering like a vulture until I told him he could have one, and on Thanksgiving day most of them were eaten before dinner even started.

I am really pleased with how it all turned out, and it was a pretty good first Thanksgiving in Seattle. We watched a lot ....(a lot) of football, played some weird card games, plus I got to see this little baby, who I occasionally take care of these days. I really had a great time.

Okay that is a lie. It is like my third library card. But, my two previous cards were from when I was a child, and I never used them.

This is my first library card as a certified adult and I WILL actually use it! As evidenced below, I took out two books already! Of course they are historical fiction because...I am addicted to that genre.

It is that time of the year again! National Novel Writing Month AND the time of the year when many people, including myself consider it to be the beginning of the holiday season.

Yes, I am one of THOSE people. I am the reason Christmas decorations go on sale the day after Halloween. I am part of the problem. What are you going to do about it? I will force Christmas cheer down your throat. I do admit though that the fact that most of the trees are still green in Seattle definitely puts a damper on the spirit. Oh well. I will jingle bell rock on anyway. I bought a Christmas themed oven mitt from Goodwill for my apartment (whenever I get one). I am determined to be full of cheer.

In Birmingham, my former home, it is around this time they put up the German Christmas Market in the city center, so really I am just following a precedent.

Apart from the beginning of Christmas, it is also NaNoWriMo. Yes that is a really long abbreviation. This is my second year where I am attempting to participate. Basically you try to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. You are *supposed* to write like 1,600 words a day. That didn't really happen last year, but this year I want to do better. If you want to track my progress, you can follow my profile here. If you are participating as well, add me as a writing buddy! We can do this together!

If you look, my word count is just north of 15,000 words right now. I promise I did not write that in one day. It is the accumulation of almost 2 years worth of work...which is pretty sad.

I hope to see you all writing away! I am off to attempt my best now. Good luck and HAPPY HOLUDAYS! :D :D :D