Confessions

In an effort to find my voice (and also to never give off the appearance that our lives are perfect) I thought I'd confess a few things:

1) I'm writing this post on Friday, even though I'm scheduling it to post on Sunday. I doubt I'll have time to post again over the weekend, and I have a writing bug now, so I thought I'd knock out a few posts for the future.

2) I haven't changed out of my PJs all day. (We're wrapping up Honeymoon #2, and when you only get a vacation once or twice a year, you make the best of it!)

3) I buy chocolate chips just so I can eat them right out of the bag. You heard me. I never make chocolate chip cookies. I just eat the chips.

4) Chocolate chip cookies are the only type of cookie I don't make. I've never been able to make them as well as my mom can, so I don't bother. (If you have a killer chocolate chip cookie recipe, I'd love to try it! Let me know in the comments.)

5) Left up to my own devices, I'd probably eat nothing but Ramen. I cook to feed my Mister.

6) My Mister turn on the hall light every time he walks past the switch. I turn it off every time I walk past the switch. I find this endearing and frustrating in equal measure.

7) Sloppy joe recipe found at My Healthy Ohana. I don't usually like Sloppy Joes but these are delicious, probably because she uses siracha.  We're obsessed with siracha in this house, and at any given time we've probably got two or three open bottles.

8) The Joseph Joseph Garlic Rocker pictured above was found on Amazon.com. I am obsessed with this thing, and absolutely not paid to say so. Buy one. Buy a few and give them as hostess gifts! You'll thank me later.

Finding My Voice

If I've learned anything about blogging over the last few years, it's this: blogging is difficult. It's time consuming. And it's easy to lose focus.

I think that's where I am now. Out of focus. I've forgotten my original intention for this space, and it shows. When I sit to write something I come up empty. That's not to say that I have nothing to write; quite the opposite! I have so much to say, and perhaps I should say it here.

So, what is this blog about? Let's see... well, it began with Chemistry.

Okay, not really. It began with Physics, and a guy (he's a chemist, at least). A chance encounter after showing up tardy to class, sitting at a lab table that wasn't my usual spot. Later that semester, we went for drinks. After the final exam, a hug. After graduation we worked together in the same chemistry lab. We became inseparable.

A couple of years later he proposed. We got into the same graduate school (he's still a chemist, and I'm doing computational structural biology) and moved to Nashville. We got married and became roommates. We're learning to live together in the midst of this crazy thing called graduate school. And we're loving it! (Most days.)

So, perhaps that's what this is all about -- we have chemistry together. Our life isn't like most others, but it's not so different either. It's stressful and we work too hard (and don't get us started about the pay!) but we're finding ways to laugh and celebrate this mess we've gotten ourselves into. And I want to bring you along for the ride.

So! Here's to finding my focus. Thanks for letting me ramble, I needed it!

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For more thoughts from around the web, see this post: "Why Keep Going?" I think Jenny hit the nail on the head with her description of the despair and hope that push and pull a graduate student throughout their career. It's a question every grad student asks at some point, and I think she's summed up a beautiful answer.