Why, Hello again.

I am blogging from a new url...again. Since graduating from the U of M in the spring, I have adopted a new personal e-mail address - one that simply ends in gmail.com (there are a whole host of problems that come along with using a U of M-hosted gmail account). I am happy to say that I have finally created a blog associated with this new personal e-mail address, which embodies my new life as a college graduate, free from the pressures of homework assignments and group projects, ready to unleash all of the stored-up creativity accumulated over the last three years of hectic schooling. Well, maybe that's a little ambitious. It's my goal, anyway...to allow more time for creativity. But also to read more, to get out and enjoy the outdoors as much as possible, and to cook more. So far, I've been succeeding on all levels but the "creative outlet" one. So this is my attempt to begin achieving it.

The last few months have been a whirlwind. I graduated from college and started a brand new job and a new internship. Now I'm preparing to move out of my apartment and into the top floor of a house in uptown with three new roommates. Lots of change, yes, but they are good changes. 

The best of all though, is that I finally have the time and money to do a little bit of traveling again. Maybe not back to Uganda or South America at this point, but last week I did book a plane ticket to California to visit my best friend for a week. I haven't seen her in a year (the last time I saw her was on her wedding day in August of 2011), so you can imagine my excitement to reunite with her and to see the entire life she's built with her husband on the other side of the country. Not to mention my excitement to visit wine country and road trip down to the beaches of Southern California. 

On top of it, I got the news that she's visiting Minnesota in a few weeks, too, so I'll get a much needed dose of chick flicks and endless laughing sessions with my bestie even before October when I'm scheduled to visit =)

In short, life is good, and it's good to be back.