My Alternate Universe

I am so sorry that I haven't been blogging. It came to my attention recently that it's been roughly three weeks since my last post! I can't believe how quickly time flies. Between having two jobs, being in graduate school, and active social life and a grueling gym schedule, I barely fit in time to sleep! I get nervous sometimes when I realize how quickly time flies... this life is so short! But at least life is treating me right, and I'm having a lot of fun. I can only think of a three things I would even improve at all: I wish I were warmer more often (it's cold here!), I wish I made more money (but who doesn't?) and I wish my back didn't hurt. As for the back thing, I fell down my *ICY* front steps on the the way to work about a month ago, and now I have a sharp sharp sharp sharp sharp pain in my lower right back when I bend over or move or sit a certain way. Even crossing my legs can make me go cross-eyed sometimes. I'm suspicious of a pinched nerve, so I'm going to hit the chiropractor when I find time to get things adjusted and see if that fixed the problem.
Here's my favorite picture from Christmas break, which I spent at my parents' house in Los Angeles:

This is me, holding Clare, my 9 year-old cousin. I can't believe that it's been so long since she was born! It feels like yesterday that she was breaking hearts with her chubby legs and curly baby-hair. I pretty much worship her. And here's my OTHER favorite picture from Christmas break:

Now, I recognize that the word "favorite" denotes only one, but I couldn't ignore this picture. This is my dad and my nephew, Quentin. Quentin is my parents' first grandchild, and watching them love him is really fun for all of us. I came down one morning for breakfast and Poppie was nonchalantly holding Quentin like this. It kind of melted my heart on the spot! My dad also loves to sing the Talking Heads song that goes "Little baby, you're just a play thing, I want to make you stay up all night..." to which my sister-in-law good-natured-ly scoffs and takes back baby.
In other news, my good friend Whitney Low got married over break, and is now Mrs. Whitney Erickson. It was a beautiful event, and it was wonderful for me to be able to participate in Whitney's happiness (not to mention shopping for honeymoon unmentionables!!) Congratulations, Whitney!!