February 2012 Round-up

It's that time again...here's my February round-up.

What I Read...

• The Bungalow by Sarah Jio: I needed something light after finishing The Book Thief, and this book fit the bill. I really enjoyed the story, which took place on Bora-Bora during World War II.
• The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford: I just finished this book yesterday. It was about a young woman and her pursuit of love, usually with the wrong men. It was definitely an entertaining book, and I'm looking forward to reading the second book in the volume (Love in a Cold Climate).

What I Saw...

• The Iron Lady: I saw this movie the day before the Oscars, and I'm so glad I did. While the movie itself wasn't that great, Meryl Streep gave a commanding performance as Margaret Thatcher, especially in the modern-day scenes where Thatcher is battling dementia.
• DVD: I rented two terribly awful movies from Redbox: Breaking Dawn (the latest Twilight movie) and One Day. Save your time and avoid them.
• Television: The second season of Downton Abbey concluded this month. I don't know what I will do with my Sunday nights.

What I Want to Remember...

• Traveling to Colorado for the Four Continents Championships
• Spending Valentine's Day with my mom apartment hunting. We also ate at Chuy's and picked up chocolate-covered strawberries from Amy's and cupcakes from Gigi's.
• Discovering Paper Source, one of my favorite stores from Boston, downtown
• Watching the Puppy Bowl with Dad
• Visiting the Garden of the Gods and the Air Force Academy while we were in Colorado Springs
• Experiencing snow while we were in Colorado
• Holding the February potluck at work
• Playing my new piano (a gift from Michelle) for the first time
• Seeing all the little signs of spring: wildflowers, trees budding, bugs (well, maybe not that last one)

What I'd Like to Forget...

• Getting super sick last week after the potluck. I'm not sure if it was something I ate or a bug, but I did NOT feel well.
• Cleaning up after Sammy the day we got home from Colorado. He threw up seven times around my apartment, and I had to enlist Mom for help.

A Few Pictures from February 2012...

Cadet Chapel at the Air Force Academy

Snowy feet

Valentine's cupcake

Angelic cat

Garden of the Gods

Four Continents in Pictures

A few more pictures from my time in Colorado...

Skating in Colorado

It's hard to believe that at this time last week, Mom and I were just arriving back in Austin after spending several days in Colorado Springs. I traveled to Colorado to attend the Four Continents Championships, and Mom accompanied me so I wouldn't be lonely (thanks, Mom!). I'm still sorting through all of my pictures at the moment, but I thought I would post a few thoughts before I forget everything.

• I enjoyed visiting a few other landmarks in Colorado Springs while I wasn't at the arena. We went to the Garden of the Gods (above) on Thursday after we arrived and the Air Force Academy the morning before we left.
• It was nice to see the American ladies on top of the podium again. Ashley Wagner and Caroline Zhang did so well skating back to back and finished first and third, respectively.
• It was wonderful to some of the skaters I had never seen before — Virtue & Moir, Daisuke Takahashi, Weaver & Poje, Marley & Brubaker, Agnes Zawadski, Adam Rippon, the Shibutanis, etc.
• I loved the small medal ceremonies held in the concourse outside the main arena. It was interesting to see the skaters interact with each other and answer questions from other fans.
• One of the things I love most about skating competitions is meeting the people seated around me. The woman to my right had been to several national and international competitions, including the last Winter Olympics, while the couple to my left was from Texas (he bought her the tickets for Christmas — what a good husband!). It's nice to talk to people who know about skating rather than boring my family all the time.
• I was rather excited to wake up to snow falling outside on Saturday. It hampered our morning plans a bit, but I was still able to make it to the arena in the car. I was NOT excited, however, to clean the snow off the car; at least it wasn't as bad as in Natick.
• We went to eat at Outback one night, so I asked my mom if she thought the Australian skaters might have tried it too. (Yes, there were skaters from Australia. There was one from South Africa too.)
• One final thought: Feathers on the ice are dangerous. Just ask my mom. :)

Just a few skating pictures for now...