No earthquakes this year

carefree for a moment, originally uploaded by desireux.

Compared to last year with the midwestern earthquake, this year was *peaceful* but still as meaningful. I passed my Preliminary Examinations (a major milestone in my graduate program) two days ago, and today Pop-Ups by tracychong has been online for two years.

The day I had my prelims was a very nice day, so I had a mushroom bagel, a cold bottle of vitamin water, and just sat outside slowly eating my lunch. At that time I was too tired to be overjoyed but it was so nice to just be able to sit in the sun savoring a little carefree moment. I was happy with the way my prelims went, but if I were to do it again, I would definitely handle the preparations differently. I was juggling experiments and writing at the same time right up to a few days before I had to submit my proposal and that really took a toll on me. I would have enjoyed the writing process much more and produced a better piece of work if I had just concentrated on the writing. I'm glad that I can concentrate now on experiments, I received some suggestions during the presentation and I'm so excited to try them out.

Moving on to the pop-up cards, yay for two years, thanks to the most awesome new owners of the pop-ups- you have no idea how happy I am reading the feedback that you take time to leave, many times it has made a not-so-nice day much better. To the other person behind this pop-up venture, you still continue to surprise me with your best-selling ideas, I always enjoy our discussions, thanks so much for everything!