Organic Expressions

No, we haven't fallen off a cliff or been eaten by sea monsters or anything. I fear it is much worse! We have been consumed by the beast that is medical gross anatomy. When I started this class I knew it would be difficult but I had no idea it would be such a burden. These days I spend every spare minute I can find while Connor is taking a nap or has gone down for the night to memorize the innervations of the arm muscles, or the branches of the brachial plexus, or the vasculature of the neck, etc. I think the most important lesson I am learning this semester, however, is about balance. I have found it really difficult to maintain that perfect balance between school, family, and myself. I don't know if there really is a perfect balance but I am striving for one. I am slowly learning to listen to the that voice in my center telling me when enough is enough and it is time to just let loose and play. For someone who has prided herself in her high grade point average, this is a really tough lesson to learn. In the grand scheme of things, a single test or paper is such a small part of such a huge life.

Connor is growing into such a wonderful little man. He is quite the handful these days but such a joy! I can't even begin to describe to you the joy I have watching him explore the world. He is experimenting everyday with new words and loves to talk talk talk. Unfortunately his feet don't quite go as fast as he would like which has resulted in a few falls recently. Daycare is going great and all of his teachers really love having him there. Apparently he has become quite the artist there as he loves to paint, draw and color. You should here him sing too. What a guy!

I will leave you now with some pictures from the past two weeks. Living out in the country here in Michigan is such a treat during the Fall. The colors this year have been fantastic. I will really miss Fall in Michigan when we leave.

Posted by Karlyn at 7:27 PM | 1 comments  

My goodness...there went summer and here comes Autumn with a bang! The last two weeks have been quite a milestone for this little family. Connor started daycare for the first time and I have started what will most likely end up being the hardest semester of my Master's. Connor has adjusted to daycare really well and is having a blast with his new friends. I think finger painting has been his favorite activity so far. Unfortunately for us, however, he came home last week with a terrible cold which he so kindly shared with both of his parents. We are on the healing side of it now so we have survived. I only thought I was going to loose my mind a few times.

This semester I am taking one class and thesis credits. Unfortunately that one class is Medical Gross Anatomy which alone is enough credits to make a full load. I'm really enjoying the class and learning about the intricacy of the human body. I just can't get over the sheer complexity and beauty of the human form. At the same time, however, I'm completely daunted by the sheer amount of information I'm required to memorize. I have a new found respect for people who go to medical school. Go first year med students!

As I said earlier, Fall has already started to slowly settle in here in Mid-Michigan. Some of the trees are starting to turn and the breeze has a slight chill in it. I love this time of year more than any other. Last weekend we were treated to a visit from Tom's father who drove up from Mississippi. While he was here we decided to take a trip out to our favorite apple orchard for the best apples in the country. We will definitely miss this tradition when we leave!

Posted by Karlyn at 7:26 PM | 3 comments  

The last place we visited on our trip to the West Coast was Lincoln City, Oregon. It was such a wonderful weekend full of time spent at the beach and reminiscing with friends and family.

Posted by Karlyn at 11:15 AM | 1 comments  

One of the other day trips we took while in California was out to Lava Beds National Monument. What a fun place. One of the things that I love about Northern California is the wide variety of ecosystems and landscapes you run into. Driving though the lava beds was at times like what I think driving on the moon would look like. There were many places to stop and walk through lava tubes and caves so we decided to get out and walk through the most kid friendly one.








On the drive home from the lava beds we wound around the mountains a bit a stopped by Glass Mountain (which is basically a mountain made of pieces of obsidian) and Medicine Lake.

Posted by Karlyn at 1:11 PM | 0 comments  

One of the really nice things about Mt. Shasta is that you can drive up to a little less than the 8,000 ft level. From there you have numerous paths to follow up and over the mountain. Early one morning Tom suggested we try to climb up to an old abandoned ski resort which was located around 9,000 feet. My Dad expressed an interest in going with us so we figured we take a nice easy morning hike up the side of this mountain. Little did we know my father is part mountain goat!

Connor also wanted to go but we figured it would be to difficult for him. =)


The hike started off fairly easy but as we climbed higher the terrain became somewhat foreign and rather difficult. I didn't realize how "sandy" the top of a mountain could be.




As you can see the paths were not clearly defined so after much debate we ended up taking what we later figured was a goat trail.




When we reached the abandoned (and avalanche demolished) ski resort, Tom and I called it quits. The high altitude and our sheer exhaustion had finally caught up to us. My Dad, on the other hand, decided he wanted to hike up over to the next ridge so he could look over it. So there he went...Can you see him on top of the ridge?




What a wonderful experience. Being surrounded by so much beauty is such a privilege and can be quite moving. You really feel like you are on top of the world up there.

Posted by Karlyn at 10:38 PM | 0 comments  

As the summer continues to wind down to an end, I thought it would be a good idea to get the pictures from our trip to California up on my blog. I'm afraid I won't even have a moment to breath once Fall semester begins.

One of the first day trips we made during our short two week stay in California was to the waterfalls outside of a small town called McCloud. The town itself is rather quant with a wonderful little cafe that makes the best milkshakes I have ever had. I think Connor ended drinking his own and half of mine plus half of his Oma's. What a guy.

The waterfalls themselves were beautiful and looked so inviting as it was well over 100 degrees that day.

Posted by Karlyn at 10:05 PM | 0 comments  

We have recently returned from our trip to California and have many pictures and stories to share but alas, I have lost my little cord that connects my camera to my laptop. So these stories must wait and instead I figured I'd share with all of you some fun things about Connor. We will call this Connor's favorite things...

Favorite Book:



Favorite Song:



Favorite Food:





Favorite Toy:



Favorite PBS Program: (I think this is because he relates to George in some way...)



Favorite Place:



Favorite Activity:



Just kidding! Man that video is disturbing!

Posted by Karlyn at 8:37 AM | 2 comments  

I am proud to announce that we have found a bit of nature in Southern Michigan! On Sunday the four of us drove out to the very cute town of Grand Ledge and spent a good portion of the day playing and hiking in the park there. It actually was quite beautiful. I guess over the years the river has worn away at the limestone in the area making these really beautiful ledges, hence Grand Ledge. The hike that we went on also passed by a steel bridge built in the late 1800's. Good stuff.

We have also come to the conclusion that our boy is definitely at his happiest when he is outdoors. He loves the sun, sand, dirt, pine cones, and trees more than his blankie I think. Well, maybe not that much! In less than a week we will be leaving for Northern California again so he will get his fill of the outdoors there. We can't wait to go!!!

Posted by Karlyn at 10:36 AM | 3 comments  

Happy Summer everybody. After completing this last semester I was so excited to be entering into I time I thought would be relaxing and full of free time. Ha! The summer started off with a bang. To make some extra money I taught a two week class on Forensic Science as a part of this really neat summer program offered by our local public school district. I taught two classes a day to a wild group of 13 year olds who all were very interested in forensics but unfortunately were all a little too excited! I was surprised to learn that many of the parents of these 13 year-olds let them drink energy drinks in the morning. Now that's a great idea! Get them incredibly hyper for the three hours they are in class so they completely crash by the time the parents come pick them up. Anyway, we covered everything from fingerprints to forensic chemistry. We took a vote at the end of the class and forensic anthropology was unanimously voted coolest type of forensics.

I have also been working this summer on a project (that will hopefully get me published) and trying desperately to get my thesis off the ground. Several months ago I developed an interest in teeth and the many different ways in which teeth are useful in forensic investigations. One of the most useful techniques used to determine the age of a subadult is the growth and development of teeth. If the subadult has some sort of pathology or disease, however, the accuracy of the age estimate will be affected. This is what I plan to look at in my thesis. More specifically, I will be looking at the affects of cerebral palsy on the growth and development of teeth. Hopefully everything works out and I will be able to collect enough resources to get this thing off the ground.

Connor has been growing by leaps and bounds! He's 25 lbs now and climbs everything! He loves music and is already trying to sing along. His favorite song is "Old McDonald" and he loves to say tweet-tweet and meow-meow at the appropriate times. His vocabulary has expanded to include dog and well (his version of Noel, who is visiting right now by the way). He is also climbing stairs now. He's not quite tall enough yet to actually walk up the stairs but he is certainly a good climber.

Well that's probably enough for now. I will leave you with some pictures taken recently during our hot hot days and the Fourth of July. (These are for you Grandma!!! Noel told me you were waiting anxiously for some new pictures of Connor.)

Posted by Karlyn at 10:36 AM | 2 comments  

Three semesters done...two to go! I can see the finish line and boy does it look good. This last semester was quite a challenge but I have emerged victoriously with a little help from my mother and mother-in-law. Oh! And Tom too! Although my classes were really tough this time around I sure have learned a lot. Sometime in the near future I will share with you all how anthropologists view the concept of "race." It's really interesting.

So much has happened in the last month and I have so many pictures to share (which is why most of you read my blog anyway). Here is kind of a hodge-podge of what we have been up to this last month including playing in the grass, picking "flowers," visiting the Detroit Zoo, and a tour of the Michigan State Capitol building.

Posted by Karlyn at 7:14 PM | 1 comments  

Last night Tom and I were lucky enough to take a break from the craziness that is the end of the semester. Connor stayed with a babysitter while we went to a Death Cab for Cutie concert...can you believe it? They came here to East Lansing. It was like having our own little slice of Seattle. They are such a great band. There music is creative and smart, not to mention the fact that they are great performers. Some of their music makes me tear up though thinking about growing up in the Northwest. One of my fondest memories of their music is how the father of one of my best friends in the whole world used to call them Dead Cat for Katie....oh how we used to roll our eyes at our parents.

The concert took place in the basketball stadium so when we sat down we found ourselves sitting on bleachers amidst a huge group of 18 year old undergrads. Man did that make me feel old. There was absolutely no room so Tom and I went to the ticket counter to see if they could move us back up to the chairs. They told us no but they could place us in the handicapped seating. I guess we looked too old and decrepit to be sitting with all the "kids." So we had our seats changed and ended up sitting on a balcony with chairs that we could move anywhere we wanted and only had to share the place with two other people It was great. We are pulling the handicap card now every time we go see a show!

Happy Spring everybody.

Posted by Karlyn at 9:05 AM | 0 comments  

Happy Easter everybody! We love you and miss you terribly!

Posted by Karlyn at 2:17 PM | 3 comments  

Over the last few weeks Tom and have tried to widen our culinary horizons by trying all sorts of new dinner and dessert recipes. I figured that as we went along I would share with all of you the recipes that really stood out. The first one that comes to mind is one that I found just recently in a wonderful cookbook by Nigella Lawson called Feast. The recipe itself is called Chocolate Guinness Cake and is pictured above and yes...it does contain some Guinness. Interestingly, however, the flavor that the alcohol leaves in the cake does not taste like alcohol at all. Instead the cake has a bit of a tangy flavor that is really appealing. It is a really dense and moist cake with a creamy whipped cream cheese frosting and if anybody is interested I can send you the recipe.

I leave you now with a picture of my little man who is now 15 months old and finally walking!!!

Posted by Karlyn at 9:11 PM | 2 comments  

Our short trip to beautiful Northern California has come to an end and we are back to the routines we left behind in Michigan. Spring is slow to arrive to this part of the country but we are enjoying our slightly above freezing weather and the return of the chirping birds. We have just contented ourselves with the warm and wonderful memories of our trip across the country this past week...


This is the view of Mt. Shasta that is visible from my parents deck. I can't even begin to express how beautiful this little corner of the world is.


This is another view of Mt. Shasta during the day and from a much higher vantage point.


During the fist few days of our visit Tom's mom joined us and we traveled to several wonderful little towns throughout the Siskiyous and beyond. Connor's favorite town was Jacksonville because it had a wonderful toy shop where his Oma bought him a rather noisy toy.


One of the little towns that we past through had a small motel that was made up of 20 or so old rail cars. It also sat at the bottom of another natural wonder of the area known as the Castle Craigs.


Here is another view of the Castle Craigs. The photo does not do it justice.


We took the long way back to Sacramento through tiny towns like Ferndale and Weaverville. Most of the time was spent peeking into adorable little shops and enjoying the scenery.


We stayed at a wonderful little Victorian Inn in Ferndale with period furniture and everything. I woke up in the middle of the night hoping to see a ghost of some sort but alas...no luck.


I was surprised to not see a ghost as we were right next to one of the oddest cemeteries I had ever seen. It stretched all the way up this little hill and was really quite old. Many of the graves belonged to individuals who died in the late 1800's. Too cool, but that's the forensic anthropologist in me speaking.


We also drove through a section of the Redwoods known as the Valley of the Giants which was absolutely amazing. It was so dark and peaceful beneath those gigantic trees.


What a wonderful adventure. And the best news of all...


Connor took his first steps on his own on Wednesday! Yay!!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend everybody...cheers!

Posted by Karlyn at 9:28 PM | 7 comments  

My goodness...life never seems to slow down. Right now I am so grateful for Spring break and my parents as I am writing this post from their house at the base of Mt. Shasta in sunny and warm California. I absolutely refuse to go back to Michigan now! I can't even begin to describe the beauty that surrounds us in this little corner of the world. I will be sure to post some pictures as soon as possible. So far we have been all over Siskiyou and Shasta County and are planning a trip out to the coast this weekend.

In other news Connor is now standing on his own. He hasn't quite made any steps without our help but he teeters about the room quite quickly with Mommy or Daddy in hand. He is quite the little dancer now too and loves to dance to just about any kind of music. This morning it was Bach. What a character.

Posted by Karlyn at 7:05 PM | 2 comments  

I miss the Northwest, where the changing seasons move subtly from warm to cool to warm again. Here in Michigan we endure 5 months of brutally cold winter that never seems to end. Connor and I have been watching snow flakes dance outside of our windows this morning while listening to Craig's music. It has been very peaceful but honestly, I am so tired of feeling cold! In honor of the spring that never seems to come I thought I'd share some pictures of the new town that we live in that were taken during the summer.



Here's to that elusive Spring...may it come quickly and warm our frozen bones!

Posted by Karlyn at 10:09 AM | 3 comments  

Just popped in to say Connor is up to three words now in his vocabulary. Yesterday while I was trying very hard to put on his shoes (I really dislike baby shoes by the way) he said..."Shhhooooeee!" I don't think he likes shoes either. =) And today it was, "Hi!" What a character.

Posted by Karlyn at 7:18 PM | 4 comments  

Last week I ordered a print from a good friend of mine who is an artist in Washington and I just had to share it with all of you. It's beautiful! The colors, the precision...everything!



Her art is a mix of everything odd and beautiful and if you are interested she has a blog with a link to her online shop. The address is http://eggmanstudios.blogspot.com/ so check it it out!

Posted by Karlyn at 7:39 PM | 0 comments  

Finally! Lansing reached 30 degrees today! What a difference from our -15 degree nights and 0 degree days. It feels like a heat wave.



The three of us are doing well despite a few runny noses and some coughs. School has started again with a bang. I'm taking biocultural evolution, advanced osteology and law and forensics. I thought this semester was going to be easier because I didn't all those bone quizzes every week but boy was I wrong. I'm currently reading the equivalent to several books a week and writing, writing, writing. Phew...this is only the second week of class and I'm already exhausted. I also have been working on several different ideas for my thesis, most of which are based on determining ancestry in either Northwest Native American or Native Michigan skeletal remains. Ancestry is kind of a hot topic in forensic anthropology these days because of all of the controversy that surrounds it. We'll see.

Have a great weekend!

Posted by Karlyn at 4:40 PM | 4 comments  

Lately I have been trying to get Connor to express to me in some way when he is finished eating and ready to get down from his highchair. So everyday for the last few weeks I've been asking him, "All done?" On Saturday morning after breakfast he finally said Done!!!...very loudly which was his first official word besides mama and dada.

Connor is also crawling like a mad man and races with us down the hallway in our apartment. He has made several attempts to stand without holding on to something and is getting closer every time. My boy is growing up so fast!

Posted by Karlyn at 9:05 AM | 2 comments