Friday ramblings

So, it's Friday, which is nice. This week was pretty busy. I had two quizzes, a paper and a lab due for school. And then I had softball practice for my new softball team (BYOB: beer, balls and bats) and choir rehearsal both on Wednesday night. I also finally started getting my butt in gear and went on a couple run/walks with Indy as well as a 15-mile bike ride with Eric. I need to start fitting in about three rides a week (of about 20 miles or so) to prepare for the Red Ribbon Ride, which is coming up in three months already! I had planned on fitting in more rides Thursday or Friday and then for sure Saturday and Sunday, but now it's all rainy and cold. And this weekend, the forecast says there's a chance of snow. What? I would really like to keep up the exercise while I still have the motivation, so if the weather would just get nicer, that would greeeeaaaat (a la Office Space).

Things I'm looking forward to this weekend:
- Meeting Baby McIntyre!
- Going on a date with Eric tonight for Greek food. Mmmm!
- Hopefully fitting in a long bike ride.
- Grilling out at Mom's house on Sunday (if the weather cooperates...).

Things I have to do that I'm not really looking forward to:
- Writing a couple papers and prepping for finals
- Memorizing those choir songs for our concerts next weekend! We're singing 18 songs, and it's just hard to learn all of the lyrics -- the tunes and notes come pretty easy, but those darn words are hard to remember!

Baby McIntyre is here!

My friend Angie and her husband Pat had a baby boy yesterday! I will hopefully be visiting them later today if they are not too tired. I'll post the name, etc. later once I verify the final info. I'm pretty sure Ang and baby are healthy and doing well, but the only communication I've had as of yesterday has been via text messages with Pat. More news (and maybe some pictures) to come...

An interview with a Buddhist monk

Last Friday was so cool.

A little background info: My job as a research assistant in the Center for Spirituality & Healing at the University of Minnesota basically consists of editing and writing content for a website called Taking Charge of Your Health. The site has all kinds of information about complementary therapies and how you could potentially incorporate them into your healthcare along with Western medicine so you have a holistic approach to your healthcare.

Well, we have a section with "Expert" interviews that has topics on different mind-body therapies, connections between the brain and the immune system, etc. And last week, the Dalai Lama and his French translator, Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, were in town meeting with scientists at the Mayo Clinic on some research that's being done to study the effects of meditation on one's health, happiness, etc.

Long story short: I got to interview Matthieu Ricard! He has quite a story, which you can read here in the Minnesota Daily. My co-worker who also sat in on the interview and I kept talking afterward saying that we wished we didn't have an agenda with any specific interview questions. It would have been so cool to just go have some tea and cookies with him and listen to him talk about his life philosophies about not worrying or dwelling on the negative, taking the time to meditate to improve your own happiness and self so that in turn, you are contributing to society in a more positive way and bringing more positive energy rather than negativity, violence, hate, etc.

Anyway, I can't really explain our conversation very well here, but I am working on transcribing the interview and then posting it online. I'll post a link to it once it's all done.

I think this job has been a blessing in my life. I wouldn't claim one religion as my own at this point in my life. I feel like I've always (or at least since some time during late high school or early college) been interested in learning about different religions and spiritual practices. I took a class called Hands-on Spirituality during my senior year of college, and it was so interesting. We learned about Native American sage rituals, meditation, yoga, Thai massage, labyrinths, etc. And recently, I've been reading about the history of the Bible (what was taking place while it was written), as well as the basic principles of Buddhism, Islam, and some other religions (haven't gotten too far just yet! Maybe I'll have more time this summer...). So having these kinds of opportunities at my job has been really great. It opens my eyes to such different lifestyles and practices. One common thread that I feel like I have found thus far: a lot of religions tend to be based on some very similar principles -- compassion, empathy, love. If anyone has read Life of Pi, you might understand me when I say that I understand where the character Pi is coming from when he wonders why he can't believe in more than one religion. (Side note: Life of Pi is a great book -- highly recommend it!)

Alyse + Jeff

At long last....here are the pictures from Alyse and Jeff's wedding last weekend. Between Eric and I, we captured about 140 pictures. And really, that wasn't enough! We didn't even take a lot at the reception. There are so many pics that I wish we would have taken, so let's hope the photographer got a bunch of good ones. Alyse, you'll have to share those once you get the proofs!
See all the pictures here.

Here are some favs:

More pics from Indy

Emily sent me her pictures from the wedding last weekend, and I had to share some of my favorites. Thanks, Em!

Me and Wes - he is really smiling here, people!





Dancing and loving every minute. :) I like this one.


The girls and Eric. This is a great one, too!





Another dancing couple pic. We pretty much stayed on the dance floor the entire night.









And my favorite and the most flattering of them all.... Us eating brunch. Best mid-bite couple shot ever. EVER!

Laura + Brian

Last weekend, I went to Indianapolis for a wedding of my college friends, Laura and Brian. It was a little Butler-Purdue reunion, and Eric also got to meet about 100 new people, so he wins points for that (and will achieve even more points after this coming weekend at Alyse and Jeff's wedding in Austin, TX). Anyway, it was a full weekend filled with lots of time to hang out with college friends, and Emily, Bryan, Eric and I even fit in some exercise -- we walked from Broad Ripple to Butler's campus and back, which ended up being like a 6-7 mile walk. I'm impressed with us. Emily and I did a lot of "remember when..." as we walked around campus. Oh reminiscing...so fun! I'm sure it was way more fun for me and Em than it was for the boys, but they did well.

Here are some pics below - and here are all of them.


Getting ready!


Some of the Butler girls pre-wedding

Bryan coped with the reminiscing by running around and trying to shoot some hoops in Hinkle Fieldhouse (home of the Butler Bulldogs and the place where the movie Hoosiers was filmed).


Me and Em with the bulldog









Scott, Wes and Eleni - such a cute family!

Bryan, Emily, Scott and Eleni

Grand Marais recap

Eric and I went up to Grand Marais for four days during our spring break and stayed with his mom in his parents' house up there. It was so nice and relaxing and beautiful. We went hiking along Lake Superior, spent some time walking around the shops/restaurants in town, drove up to Grand Portage (which is right on the Canada-Minnesota border and has waterfalls) and also just enjoyed our evenings in playing Super Scrabble and watching movies. It was overall just a very nice mini vacation. Below are some of the pictures - or click here to see them all.

PS Eric signed on a house today! It is so nice and in a great neighborhood in St. Paul. (For those familiar with St. Paul, it's a couple blocks east of Snelling Ave. and a couple blocks south of St. Clair, near the St. Clair Broiler.) I love it and am so excited for him.

Okay, here are some pics...

Eric, me and Lake Superior thawing out. Look closely and you will see snow, ice sheets and water.

The rocky shoreline and melting ice.

Hiking up on Sweetheart's Bluff (yes, that's really what the trail was called) with Lake Superior in the background.

Eric at Grand Portage. The left side of the falls is Minnesota. The right side is Canada!

Close up of the semi-frozen falls.

Indy trying to share a tennis ball with Rocky, her new friend.

Coming soon: Baby McIntyre

Here are a few pictures from my friend Angie's baby shower a month ago. I'm finally catching up on getting pictures online. So here you go! Little baby boy McIntyre should arrive sometime this month. See below for some sample shower pics or view them all here.


WHS girls: me, Ash, Karin and Ang










Go Gophers!










Ashlee and Angie












Grateful Red kickball team girls: Rachel, Stacy, Angie, Karin and me