Reflections: Awesome Again in 2010!

So if you are reading this blog and also know me in real life, you may know that every year since I started going to Loyola my friend Holly and I have chosen a theme for the year rather than making specific New Year's resolutions. This year our theme was Awesome Again in 2010, and I think it lived up to expectations!

Things that were awesome in 2010:

1. Going to library school and learning SO much, including bookbinding which I have always wanted to know how to do.


2. Moving to my new apartment and having an awesome roommate who helped my paint my room blue!!


3. Getting my first car all on my own!


4. Meeting someone amazing :)

Since most of my year has revolved around a) being at school and then b) coordinating leaving school, I can't think of many more specifics, but I think that 2010 definitely allowed me to become awesome again :)

That said, I am excited for our 2011 theme, Shoot for the Sun in Twenty-One-One!! This year I will be graduating from my master's degree program, looking for a job, beginning to pay back my student loans, and trying to be fully financially responsible for myself, so shoot for the sun seems like a good theme to follow because there is a lot I want to accomplish this year! I also want to continue trying to eat more healthily, as well as exercising more by joining the same gym my roommate belongs to. So, wish me luck, and hopefully 2011 will be as awesome as 2010 was!! :) Happy New Year, everyone!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I have had a great holiday so far. I came home yesterday and spent the day alternately reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and napping, then had an awesome dinner with my mom and dad and opened presents. I got a bunch of ornaments, including this guy:



It's a cupcake Santa!! I think he's tres adorable :) I also got some super comfy pj's and slippers. Later my brother and his wife are coming for dinner, which should be super delicious again! I love it when my dad cooks, it's always so yummy, even if he does refuse to accept the fact that I'm a vegetarian...lol. But, to all of you reading this blog, I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! I am gearing up to finally move all of my stuff from Champaign to my new apartment in the next week or so, and then to work on my New Year's resolutions, which I will blog about soon.

Merry Christmas!

The Tale of the Voynich Manuscript

With all of the research that has been done on nearly every aspect of our history, it is sometimes surprising to hear that there are still some artifacts and events that escape our understanding. I learned about one such artifact from a classmate who did research on something called the Voynich Manuscript for their final project.

According to Wikipedia (and my classmate), "The Voynich manuscript is a handwritten book thought to have been written in the 15th or 16th century and comprising about 240 vellum pages,[notes 1] most with illustrations. The author, script, and language remain unknown: for these reasons it has been described as "the world's most mysterious manuscript".[1]" Here are some of the images contained within:







Aren't those cool?? There are tons of conspiracy theories surrounding this manuscript. Its ownership can be traced for its entire history except for 200 years when no one knows where it was or what happened to it. Various testing and dating has proven that the manuscript's parchment and ink are authentic to the time period that it is supposedly from (the 15th or 16th century). No one, and I mean no one, has yet been able to decipher the language or code that this manuscript is written in. I am fascinated by this! How, in all this time, has no one been able to figure out what it's about? Is it real? Is it a fake? Does it mean anything at all? Does it contain some sort of astounding secret, or if we ever decipher it will it just tell us something obvious, like poison ivy is poisonous? It's a mystery...

Chocolate=love.

I could happily eat one of these for breakfast every single day for the rest of my life.



Chocolate chip scones are delicious!!

I've always wanted...

...to do this:



This morning's snow on the ground made me so happy it is finally winter! And every winter I say that I am going to go ice skating in Millennium Park, but I never have. The last time I went ice skating was....I can't even remember. I THINK it was when I went to visit a friend of mine who lives in New Mexico, but it's been awhile. We tried to go ice skating at an outdoor rink when our high school marching band was in London, but it was closed by the time we got there. At any rate, I'm hoping I can get into the city at least once this winter to give this a shot, and to go to the Christkindlmarket!