Dear Blog, It's Me, Tanya

Once upon a time I used to write on this blog.  And I had tons of fans.  [Okay, it was just my mom, but it still felt pretty great.]

Then I felt I ran out of ideas.  So I stopped writing.

Then I lived more life and had more ideas and made the brave (read=narcissistic) decision to put them on the internets.  So here's to a bright and bloggy future!

My life in a nutshell the past couple of months:

--I've been learning how to become a master of developmental biology.  Science can be very slow and confusing sometimes, but I think it's what I still want to do.  My back-up plan is to be a professional hippie.  (But hippies don't have 401K plans, so...)
--I've become really concerned with what it means to be a woman and be perceived as a woman (vs. a girl).  I'm really into owning my adulthood.  Yet, I still need to pay my taxes.  Gross.
--I started ballroom dancing again!  Because I love it. And I just wanted to.  It's okay to not be the world's greatest at the hobby you enjoy.
--I found some great friends and have had some great conversations.
--And I've had some thoughts on occasion.

Well, there you have it!

To be continued...

A Sad Day in Potluck History

Tomorrow my department has a Christmas potluck.  'Tis the season, eh?

EXCEPT...

As I went to sign up to bring something, the secretary informed me that it had to be store-bought.  Homemade goods are a no-go this year because of food handling permits, yada, yada, yada.   She seemed equally distraught to tell me this news as I was to hear it.

Who wants store-bought treats at Christmas??  It's the one time a year where people actually have motivation to make stuff!  I like how they treat it as if people have no freedom in their eating choices.  If you are wary of homemade stuff, don't eat it!  Furthermore I find it frustrating that we are more scared of whatever "germs" people are going to pass by bringing something from home than we are concerned with the hydrogenated oils, red 40, random preservatives, artificial colors, sugar sugar and more sugar, other ingredients masquerading as sugar, etc.  This seems a little backwards to me considering the ratio of how many times people get sick from other people's food versus how many people eat their health away with food that comes in boxes and cans--instead of from dirt.

Here's my conspiracy theory:  I think they want us to eat the junk with all the preservatives so that we'll all get cancer, and then people will still have jobs researching cures for cancer.  Yeah, I think that's right.

I might just bring a home-made dessert anyway with a big sign that says:  Warning:  These wheat-free, sugar-free, vegan brownies were made at home.  This means I probably licked my finger while making the batter, but they are cooked at 350 degrees, so you're probably okay.  Eat at your own risk.  (But seriously, you'll be missing out if you don't.)

Perspective

You know how everyone did that gratitude countdown to Thanksgiving on facebook (which was kind of annoying because for a whole month everyone was blowing up my newsfeed with how great their family, husband, kids, friends, life is...(I get it okay??))?  I would have liked to see more offbeat gratitude declarations, but that's just me.

Aaaaannnnyyyway, I actually have one.  A good one.

I'm grateful that my blog is fixed!!!  I don't have to write in HTML anymore.  And you should be grateful too because it means more random stories, needless details, and unsolicited opinions coming your way!

First on the docket:  I was starting to feel a tiny bit sad about my life today, but then I went on MSN.com and read that one of the stars of Little People Big World has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Seriously, Universe?  Seriously?  Couldn't cut them a break?

Now I'm not using their situation to make myself feel better, but reading that gives you perspective, you know?  Like, maybe life isn't that bad.  There are worse things in life than freaking out about your future Master's thesis or fretting about the boy who just doesn't like you back...no matter how much mascara you put on in the morning.

So huzzah!  Happy December everybody!

So my blog is still broken. Wah!!!

Sometimes I feel like going on an adventure. Sometimes I feel like I've outgrown Provo. Sometimes I miss dance...a lot. Sometimes I wish I could speak Spanish again. Sometimes I'm still unsure exactly what I want to do with my life and where I want to end up. I found out the other day that one of the best schools in the field I want to go into is in Missouri. Bleh.

All I know right now is that I really love slam poetry, and I'm trying to find God everywhere, and I can eat A LOT of bananas. That's about it.

Twins

Once upon a time, Claire wanted me to write about a ward date(ish) activity. I will let you know that I have to write all my posts in HTML now because my blog is kind of broken. So, you're welcome.

There's a show called Amazing Race, and apparently it's about how people race amazingly. As is wont in Singles Wards in BYU, every activity needs to involve pairing of some sort. (Let's get these people married!!)

Cool thing #1--My "date" (ugh, I hate using that word because it was a forced situation. I don't want to put words or terms in anyone's mouth. Let's say partner in crime (PIC)) and I were wearing the SAME thing! Like almost literally. Same light blue linen(?) button down shirt, dark skinny pants, and tan shoes. We so stylish. This was a good omen, which was beneficial because I wanted to pretend like I didn't care about winning...but let's face it, I really wanted to smoke this thing.

Cool thing #2--My PIC had been living in Provo for the last ten years, so he knew Provo really well. This was a plus because we drove all around the freaking town.

Cool thing #3--There was great music in the car, so we pretty much jammed the whole time. This kept me from not getting too crazy-competitive, although I think my PIC caught some glimpses of my inner psycho. Nice to meet you too.

Cool thing #4--My PIC was really stellar at mini-golf precision and accuracy, and he ate all the pretzel bites (one of the challenges), so that I wouldn't get sick. Awwww...

Cool thing #5--Earlier that week I was at the vending machine about to blow all of my quarters on a $2 Clif Bar (woof), but I had this premonition that I would need to save those quarters, so I put in a little more effort to dig out my dimes and nickels, which might have been annoying to the person behind me. Well, come the competition, we needed quarters for this fortune teller booth. I busted them out without hesitation. Huzzah! This separated us from the couples who forgot to fill their lamps with oil...or you know, their wallets with quarters.

Cool thing #6--We got 2nd place (it would have been first if the other couple had parked correctly, but I'm not bitter) and a Coldstone gift card! And we both can't eat dairy! But you know, it wasn't about the ice cream.

Lame thing #1--One of the challenges involved a proposal...at the temple. Someone get me a serotonin (5-HT3) antagonist stat! (It's an anti-nausea drug group. Yay, pharmacology!)

Oh Provo.

A typical conversation:

Me: You know Dr. Bridgewater?
Fellow Grad Student: Yea.
Me: I think she's fabulous. I'm her biggest fan, and she doesn't even know who I am.
FGS: I know! Me too!
Me: Didn't she discover something really important?
FGS: Yeah, like nuclear Bmp2. It was published in Cell or Nature or something like that.
Me: OMG!!!!!

But seriously. Dr. Bridgewater has it all--brains, beauty, career, family, etc. She's my Woman Crush Wednesday candidate.

Hiatus Ceased

So my mom has been asking me all summer to post on this, and I was just too lazy until my friend Kellianne also suggested that I write again. Well, I guess that was the kicker. It turns out I only need two people to convince me to do something. It's like my mom is an enzyme, and Kellianne is the cofactor.

Hi, I'm Tanya, and I'm going to make as many scientific comparisons as I can in this blog because that's my life lately.

A glorious thing happened today. Let me preface this by saying that I love BYU.

Sometimes I don't agree with its policies--namely the leggings under a shorter skirt rule. (Wah, wah, wah, I know.) Not a huge deal, but I always saw it as an effort someone was making to be more covered and/or modest. I feel like BYU saw it as people trying to push the line. With that logic then, these subversive tactics needed to be be stopped by wasting paper--I mean, putting up posters--all over campus informing people that leggings don't make up the difference between your skirt length and your evil knees.

So we complied. Because, you know, you have to take tests.

But then. Skinny jeans rose in popularity and morphed into different colored, spandex-cotton-y like pants that still retained some form of jean-liness, but denied the thickness thereof. And heavens to Betsy, how do we classify (or vilify) jeggings???

And then I think the fashion industry thought, "whatthehell, let's not beat around the bush." And then simple leggings as pants hit the shelves. And I think BYU threw in the towel.

Which brings me to today. I waltzed in the testing center with just leggings (and a shirt of course). For the win.