Wait. Am I cool again?

Heyooooo blog update.

I apologize to my loyal readers, as my blog posts have been in high demand and I simply have not found the time to fulfill your needs in these passing moments. Well, that's not actually true, but ever since Dan's blog made a comeback, I felt mine should too, and I have some great updates. Where to start? Let's bring it on back to the summer of 2014.

As of August 2014, I've officially finished my first year of graduate school and currently in to my second. The year capped off with a study collaboration with a group from France, and man oh man did I put some ridiculous hours in to that one. Nobody wants to hear how hard I worked over the summer, that's just part of the Ph.D., but afterwards is where the real cool life updates begin.

Come September I had pretty much burnt out on lab and desperately needed a break. I never took more than an afternoon off in about 8 months, and decided that a week away from it all would be best. However, instead of getting away from it all, I decided Salt Lake's own back yard would be fun to play and relax in, and I had my first ever "stay-cation," which consisted of hiking, napping, biking and nothing. It was absolutely fantastic. 

In hindsight, the week off from lab was exactly what I needed, but I ended up getting much more time off in the near future.

Below is just a short list of things that happened all within just over 2 months (Oct/Nov/early Dec)

I went to the University of Missouri to spend time with a really great professor who helped me kickstart one of my Masters projects.

I went to Palo Alto to hang out with Dan, Nick and Leo, watch some volleyball and ride bicycles

My parents came to visit and play in the mountains with me as well

And then I went to see my all time favorite band (The Foo Fighters) play in a semi-private venue with around ~1000 people in Seattle.

Wait. Back up. How did that last one happen? So my girlfriend's sister and brother in law waited in line for 5 hours immediately after hearing that the tickets went on sale, and both her and I went to Seattle for Thanksgiving to see them and (coincidentally), the concert. That's pretty straightforward, right? Maybe a little clarification is in order.

To the surprise of literally every single person I've ever talked to, including my mom who legitimately thought I was gay for Dan at one point (I am a little, but I digress), I am currently in a relationship. Genny, the aforementioned girl, and I have been seeing each other for ~4 months, and I have literally 0 clue as to what I'm doing.  She's really been the catalyst to all of these cool things that in my life lately, including:

Hike Mt. Timpanogos, the 2nd highest peak in Utah

Wear kick ass couples costumes

Go to Seattle for Thanksgiving to hang with her sister and brother in law (who are absolutely amazing people). 

And as of this past weekend, go back to Palo Alto/Santa Clara for the Ducks/Arizona Pac 12 game per her christmas gift to me. See Dan's recap of the trip: here

It's really been an insane few months. Being in a relationship, living an actual life outside of school and staying busy with lab and projects has been fantastic. My mind is in a better place by not entirely focusing on school, and I'm out doing cool things that I wouldn't have done by myself before.  Compared to even this summer, my life has completely turned around for the better, and I really don't think I could ask for a better person be spending it with. It's pretty neat.