What A Busy Week. And 5,122 Miles To Go.

Posted on May 8, 2013
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It has been an extremely busy week, and it’s going to continue in that way … Last week we received very sad news: Jason’s Grandma had passed away. Although she had a good, long life – she was 95 – it doesn’t make the sadness to go away. Our loved ones are always taken away too early.

Without a question Jason and I booked flights back home to say her the final goodbyes. It was a real quick trip: we spent about 20 hours traveling, and 27 hours at the destination. Gotta love the red eyes. But I’m glad we were able to make it. It meant a lot to us to be at home with the rest of the family.

Grandma is always in our hearts.

Grandma is always in our hearts.

Although our trip was really short, we were able to squeeze in some relaxing entertainment. After all these years, I finally saw a movie in the Drive-In movie theater. Until last Sunday, I had seen drive-in movies only in the movies. It was such a cool way to watch a flick: sit in the car, enjoy the snacks (Jason’s Mom&Dad kindly made sure we were well fed) – without anyone kicking my seat, coughing or checking text messages every 3 seconds. I truly enjoyed the experience and hope to go again.

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Starting tomorrow, Adventures of The K Family becomes solely a travel blog for a few days. We are about to start our road trip to the east coast. We have 5,122 miles ahead of us, crossing the border to Canada, and hopefully some beautiful views and wildlife encounters. So stay tuned and check the daily updates and pictures along the way.

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Why I Started Blogging ….

Posted on May 7, 2013
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Samantha and Neely are hosting one-day Why I Start Blogging linkup, with an idea of sharing stories about the day when we started blogging. So if you are a blogger, grab the button and join the fun, or learn how other bloggers started their adventures in the blogosphere by checking the blogs linked up on Samanta or Neely’s site.

My blogging started almost 10 years ago, mainly concentrating on photography. Blog became an awesome way to stay in touch with my fans (yes, there are people who admire my pics), clients as well as anyone who wanted to learn more about the technicalities of photography, or just simply check out the pictures out of the curiosity. The photography site is still up and running, showcasing some of my latest work – only the name has changed thanks to the marriage.

I started  personal blogging mainly to keep our friends and families updated about our adventures around the world. Life being so hectic, there are times when I simply don’t have a chance to touch base with everyone over multiple time zones, so I figured the blog would be a great outlet to share pictures stories. Nowadays, the blog also serves as a creative writing outlet since most of my writing is related to work or the research I do.

The blog has also turned out to be a great way to connect with people around the world: I have made great friends in the blogosphere with whom I stay in touch either through our blogs, emails, and have even met some of the fellow bloggers.

 

 

Hooah and Hiccups

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Sunday Social: All about 4′s

Posted on May 5, 2013
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Time to link up with Ashley and Neely, it’s Sunday Social! If you want to join the fun as well, answer the questions and link up on one of the ladies’ blogs.

1. 4 favorite things to do on a weekend: 
Working out
Hanging out with my best friend aka hubby
Traveling
Doing outdoorsy stuff

2. 4 favorite things about your best friend: 
I can always count them
They love me as I am
Although we can be thousands of miles apart,we are still there for each other – friendship doesn’t know distance
They are funny and adventurous with whom I always have the best time

3. 4 things you would do with $100,000:
 I know, I am boring but I would probably invest a good part of.
And probably would travel some more…. not that I don’t travel more than enough already :-)

4. 4 favorite books you’ve ever read: 
Not in a particular order:
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Memoirs of Geisha by Arthur Golden
Les Trois Mousquetaires by Alexander Dumas…. and so many more.
Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers) was the first real book in French I read from the beginning to the very end. Nowadays I read quite a bit French literature, especially for maintaining my fluency.

4. 5 favorite snack foods: 
I am quite a bit of a health nut, so probably not a surprise that my favorite snacks are fresh fruits (I could eat pineapple every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner), berries, veggies, and I do like smoothies occasionally.

6. 4 things that you must do daily: 
Brush my teeth
Work out
Walk the dog
And - how cheesy but… –  tell the hubby I love him.

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No Running, No Shopping But Eating Pizza

Posted on May 4, 2013
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Last night when I crawled to the bed, there was no snow on the ground anymore. And really, who would expect to see any snow in May? Not me, not even in Alaska.

But how wrong I was. This is what I woke up to:

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I had a long run scheduled for today but I decided to be a wimp. No matter what I tried to tell myself, there was no way I could convince myself to dress up once again like a Michelin man and head out. I need summer – sunny, warm days. In the morning I was working in my lab with hamsters, finishing up some research, and while at the university, I swear the snowflakes just kept getting bigger. There sure are days when Alaska is not making me happy.

And my day continued pretty much with a negative tone. Jason’s Grandma passed away earlier this week, and I did a quick stop at the downtown mall to see if I could find a two piece suit for the funeral. Banana Republic’s selection had apparently gotten significantly worse since my last visit at the mall – probably six months ago. No luck. Their Anchorage store didn’t carry anything formal looking. Nothing. In Lower 48 I often found pretty nice business outfits at Banana Republic…. disappointing. So my next step was Nordstrom. Which, by the way, doesn’t look like Nordstroms in Lower 48, at all. If you didn’t know, you’d think of being at Sears or Old Navy. Anyways, there was no single two piece suit in that store either. Nothing. In fact I was at the point where I would have bought any two piece suit without even looking at the price if I only had found one. So another major shopping disappointment in Alaska. No two piece for me but I guess my old black dress will do just fine.

Pigging out at a pizza restaurant made my day though. I had a chance to have lunch with one of my dear friends. And some girly time with pizza makes everything better – even a snowy day and unlucky shopping trip. But tomorrow’s long run will be even longer ……. gotta get that cheese off my waist although it was delicious.

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”― Mark Twain

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Success!

Posted on May 2, 2013
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As the Finals Week is winding down, I am drowning in grading duties while trying to work on a couple of my own research papers too. Writing one, running statistical tests for another… tons of stuff to do but I can’t wait to be presenting my findings in an international convention in Hawaii this summer.

While I was going through the final exams, I found quite a few positive comments from the students about my teaching and the class in general. Looks like I was successful once again with my class – mission completed.

 

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