Sparty's is the MSU-brand convenience store. Some of them are also cafes, including the one in Hubbard Hall where I work as a tutor. I'm not always impressed with what I get at Sparty's; I'm not sure they've ever made me a chai that tasted like one. However, they have rocked my socks with their latest seasonal flavor: hazelnut hot chocolate.
I don't know how I've never thought of it. I love hazelnut coffee. I love hot chocolate. It makes so much sense that they'd be delicious together. Thank you, Sparty's!
Yet another reason to GO GREEN!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Finals Week
Sometimes I say that Rebecca and I are just like any normal couple. Well, as normal as a couple can be when one of them is in med school and the other is in grad school. Advanced degrees don't lend themselves well to normal lives.
So a normal part of our abnormal lives is finals week. We've both worked hard all semester and expect to do well, but there's still that looming uncertainty. In my case, I have one exam, a presentation, and an online portfolio. I have no idea how many exams Rebecca has, but probably a lot. She's done a week from today and then will fly out to visit family in California for a week or so. I'll be staying home trying to work on my thesis.
During my undergrad, I once blogged about how school is kind of like a video game - each year is a level, and the end of each semester is a save point. Graduating is beating the game.
Not too much longer.
So a normal part of our abnormal lives is finals week. We've both worked hard all semester and expect to do well, but there's still that looming uncertainty. In my case, I have one exam, a presentation, and an online portfolio. I have no idea how many exams Rebecca has, but probably a lot. She's done a week from today and then will fly out to visit family in California for a week or so. I'll be staying home trying to work on my thesis.
During my undergrad, I once blogged about how school is kind of like a video game - each year is a level, and the end of each semester is a save point. Graduating is beating the game.
Not too much longer.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
My Gay Christmas
Rebecca and I officially started off the Christmas season on December 1st with Christmas music.
A very gay, very sassy Christmas tree followed on Saturday - the tree is not gay, but the decorations might be, given the proportion of purple to everything else.
Finals will then interrupt our jolly season until the 11th, when we are hosting a Christmas cookie collective. If you are in the Lansing area, you should come help and then take home an assortment of sweet treats.
We wish you a gay holiday season!
A very gay, very sassy Christmas tree followed on Saturday - the tree is not gay, but the decorations might be, given the proportion of purple to everything else.
We wish you a gay holiday season!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Floral Global Chic
The theme for our commitment ceremony is "Global Chic." Basically, I want it to be a fun and elegant representation of beautiful things from many cultures. In my travels, I've seen orchids in Ecuador, Peru, and Taiwan, so it just felt natural to have them at the ceremony.
I've been buying them a few at a time with coupons from a couple different stores. (The Lansing World market was out of red out on the floor after my last visit, but I think I'm all set on red anyway.) We'll have four colors: red, pink, purple, and white, which will be dispersed through the venue.
Friday, December 2, 2011
MI Hate: Employment Discrimination
I love so much about Michigan. I hope that's clear from quite a few of my posts.
However, there's a lot of hate here. One of the most discriminatory policies allows employers to fire employees that they even suspect are gay. The Don't Change Yourself. Change the Law campaign is working to end this. One of their more hilarious tactics is a set of "not-gay" recommendations designed to help LGBT individuals stay in the closet. If you believe that people should keep their jobs based on performance, not sexual orientation, visit their website and tell House Speaker Bolger to change the law.
However, there's a lot of hate here. One of the most discriminatory policies allows employers to fire employees that they even suspect are gay. The Don't Change Yourself. Change the Law campaign is working to end this. One of their more hilarious tactics is a set of "not-gay" recommendations designed to help LGBT individuals stay in the closet. If you believe that people should keep their jobs based on performance, not sexual orientation, visit their website and tell House Speaker Bolger to change the law.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Date Change
So I mentioned in a previous post that we have changed our date. I didn't post why because I didn't want to "out" someone else's news . . . BUT now I think it's safe to tell you:
Rebecca and I are going to be aunts!
Her sister is expecting and is due on June 14th, which was very close to our original ceremony date. While odds were that it would have been okay, we really didn't want to risk that Emily and Greg would miss it. Fortunately Gone Wired still had earlier spots open (okay, so that far ahead, I don't know if they have anything booked; they don't do events like weddings very often). We had reasons for choosing that date, but they paled in comparison to having our loved ones there.
Since we don't know the gender of our new niece or nephew yet, we're calling him/her the Ewok until further information comes in. Yes, as in Star Wars. Yes, there is probably a plush Ewok toy coming for the baby shower. We just couldn't help ourselves.
Rebecca and I are going to be aunts!
Her sister is expecting and is due on June 14th, which was very close to our original ceremony date. While odds were that it would have been okay, we really didn't want to risk that Emily and Greg would miss it. Fortunately Gone Wired still had earlier spots open (okay, so that far ahead, I don't know if they have anything booked; they don't do events like weddings very often). We had reasons for choosing that date, but they paled in comparison to having our loved ones there.
Since we don't know the gender of our new niece or nephew yet, we're calling him/her the Ewok until further information comes in. Yes, as in Star Wars. Yes, there is probably a plush Ewok toy coming for the baby shower. We just couldn't help ourselves.
MI Love: Dairy Store
Michigan State University is sometimes referred to as "Moo U." I wear our land grant heritage proudly, although MSU has expanded far beyond agricultural fields now.
One bonus to a school with a bovine research, food processing, and food packaging programs?
The ice cream.
MSU's Dairy Store is famous for its innovative flavors, including one for each Big Ten School, as well as other whimsical flavors related to Spartan life. My favorites are Frozen Four (bright green mint ice cream with tiny peppermint patties) and Buckeye Blitz (so sue me if I'm in love with the Ohio State flavor - it has tiny chocolate-coated peanut butter balls in it).
Given that our ceremony will be sometime in the hours of 4-5 and a light meal will follow almost immediately, with cake at an undecided time, there might be a need for a snack . . . and the Dairy Store has changeover buckets at very affordable prices. (Changeover buckets are the result of an effort to clean the ice cream machine as little as possible. Flavors are cycled through from vanilla into the more exotic things, leaving a bucket in between flavors that can't be sold at the ice cream shop. These are available to resident mentors for free or to the public for purchase.)
A shout out also to Dairy Store cheese - I love their cheddar for grilled cheese or in chowder.
One bonus to a school with a bovine research, food processing, and food packaging programs?
The ice cream.
MSU's Dairy Store is famous for its innovative flavors, including one for each Big Ten School, as well as other whimsical flavors related to Spartan life. My favorites are Frozen Four (bright green mint ice cream with tiny peppermint patties) and Buckeye Blitz (so sue me if I'm in love with the Ohio State flavor - it has tiny chocolate-coated peanut butter balls in it).
Given that our ceremony will be sometime in the hours of 4-5 and a light meal will follow almost immediately, with cake at an undecided time, there might be a need for a snack . . . and the Dairy Store has changeover buckets at very affordable prices. (Changeover buckets are the result of an effort to clean the ice cream machine as little as possible. Flavors are cycled through from vanilla into the more exotic things, leaving a bucket in between flavors that can't be sold at the ice cream shop. These are available to resident mentors for free or to the public for purchase.)
A shout out also to Dairy Store cheese - I love their cheddar for grilled cheese or in chowder.
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