baking success.

carmel and chocolate macchiato cupcakes!!

yesterday was wonderful- a nice balance between getting a lot of work done for my research project and spending some time in the kitchen baking these wonderful cupcakes.  we also went to the pottery sale where I picked up a nice bowl and ordered a custom mug! I had the chance to squeeze in some yoga at the end of the night as well!

4 sleeps till home time!
--m

last weekend in bamfield.

this next week is going to be full of running stats, writing our final paper and putting together a presentation on our research.  that being said, I probably will not have any free time to blog.  BUT in a few short days I will be home and have lots to share with you! since these past couple days at school have been designated for finishing up other projects and to get going on our final research project, I had a bit of spare time to enjoy my surroundings.

rowing over to the west side for an afternoon with the ladies.

last early morning field collection! sippin' my hot chocolate

foggy morning- great for a nice run!

I had the chance to run 3 times this past week, which was amazing and I have been doing at least 30 minutes of yoga each day- usually by mid afternoon my brain and body need a serious break so yoga helps tremendously.  I'm also looking forward to today for one really awesome reason- later this afternoon I get to... BAKE!!!! my TA is allowing us to use her kitchen to whip up some cupcakes today and I am so looking forward to it! it will be a nice break from working on our research in the lab.  also, there is a pottery sale by one of the local artists that I hope to swing by and check out.  all in all, should be wonderful.  I can't believe how fast these past 5 weeks have flown by but I am definitely ready to come home.

several things I am looking forward to at home include:
*being at my own home, with my own kitchen, my OWN bedroom(not sleeping in a bunkbed), with my main squeeze
*seeing all my amazing friends and family who I have missed so incredibly much.
*baking, baking, baking
*thai food at kasira!!
*being back at the yoga studio
*strolling in all my favourite parks
*civilization!! I have been in my own little world out here- it will be nice to get back to a little bit of civilization

happy sunday everyone.
--m

here and there.

food:

blueberry popsicles

raspberry sorbet with whipped cream

blackberry crumb bars

home: a couple pretty centre pieces...

source

source

tunes of the week: the beatles- here comes the sun. bon iver- skinny love. jon and roy- another noon.

movie of the week: juno

yoga podcasts of the week: honey routine and yoga quickie

hope you all had a great week! i'm off on the boat this afternoon to collect some critters!
I'm home one week today!!
--m

thursday thought.

source

it's a good day.

I can't believe I only have ten days left here in bamfield!! where did that time go.. 

here are a few pictures from some other adventures here at science camp for adults.

pull hannah pull!

my muddy muddy self after I bailed(on multiple occasions).

hanging out.

a little me time on the beach.

today was a good day- I got a lot of work accomplished, we got an octopus in the lab(!), and we went to the pub for dinner because the cafeteria food was far from appealing tonight.  sometimes it is so refreshing to get away from the campus and a little girl time helps too :) i love my science nerd friends.

--m

a perfect weekend.

I felt so loved this weekend- D came to visit me, I received care packages, cards, treats, drawings from so many special people.  thank you to you all for your generosity and kind words of love and encouragement. I feel so special to have such an amazing family. I can't wait to come home.. I miss and love everyone so much.

D and I had a perfect camping weekend. highlights included..

*fresh okanagan cherries and peaches! and fresh raspberries too

*lazy walks along the beach

*afternoon frisbee

*a rowing adventure 

*campfire and smores! (thanks l & t for the smores fixin's and lending us the camping gear!)

*a visit to our campsite from my favourite science nerd friends.

it was perfect in every way possible.  I already miss him like crazy and can't wait to be at home again.  

off to hit the books, do some yoga and enjoy a fresh peach and a slice of my moms delicious banana bread as my afternoon snack. 

hope everyone had a great weekend.

--m

the simple things.

sometimes I find myself super overwhelmed with all that is going out here in regards to school. our schedules are so busy and I don't have much "free" time so to speak.  the free time that I do have is precious but since that is far and few between I have to look forward to the little things that put a smile on my face and make all this hard work worth it!


-summer mix playlist that I can't get enough of.  one of my lovely friends out here introduced it to me and I am hooked.  I most often listen to it while I get my yoga on.
-mail-seriously!! I was the happiest camper when I got a card, letter, picture or care package.  the mail comes in on tues/thurs/sat and all of us anxiously await the arrival of the mail on the boat.  I also love when some of my friends receive tons of chocolate and share it with me :)
-hugs from my classmates- we all go through days where we really miss our families and friends.  getting a good squeeze from one of my close friends out here seems to help.
-enjoy a nice thermos of hot chocolate with my biology nerds looking over this view...

the great tide pool- site of our latest snorkelling excursion.

-a beautiful sunrise(one bonus of being an intertidal biologist- but no more 5.00 am mornings for this girl, yahoo!)

enjoy the simple things in life.
--m

travel bug.

I like to daydream.. it's a fact.  one of my favourite bloggers has just ventured on a trip to europe and she takes the most beautiful photos.  check out her latest posts(about the last 5) about her arrival and recent adventures.. the pictures are just phenomenal.  I can't wait to see all these amazing places in my lifetime.

yesterday was a great day.  I got one of my weekly quizzes back and did WAY better than I had anticipated because I had about zero time to study, we got some free lab time to catch up, we actually got to sleep in until 7 and right out this window we saw humpbacks breaching while we were working on our group project.. I love this place!

here are a couple photos I took from my iphone of the beach that we camped at.. really doesn't do justice at all.  it was amazing.

although I have had amazing experience out here and learned a ton, there are definitely things I am missing about home.  I have started to compile a list of things I need to do when I'm back(not errands, like fun things) and making a plan as to how to make them happen! I am really looking forward to returning home in september.  I miss YOU!  I can say that I have made some amazing friends.. we already have about 3 occasions planned for the fall so we can see each other.  two of them are staying in bamfield for the fall program so we have lots of dates planned since they will be needing to spend some time in civilization once in a while! this experience definitely wouldn't have been the same without these amazing people.  I can't believe I only have 2.5 weeks left! time flies.

happy tuesday my friends.

--m

creatures and critters volume 3.

just got back from quite the weekend of camping! wow- I never knew I was so wilderness savvy! we had to hike into the camping spot which was about a 2 hour hike with all our packs, food, sleeping bags, tents etc.  considering I'm not a very good camper under normal circumstances, I have to say I was slightly worried.

we arrived at the most beautiful beach(of course my camera battery was dead, which I realized once we arrived. why does this always happen to me?!) but I will get some pics from some of the other students soon.  we hiked along the beach to get to a spot near a stream that we were using as our water source.  after setting up tents and tarps we got to work collecting firewood from around the area and water from the stream.  camping is so much work!! we treated the water with tablets and finally, 4 hours later, we were able to drink it! as long as you didn't pay attention to the brownish colour and the floaties, it tasted just fine! some little munchkins stole our chocolate out of the food bin(to keep the bears away) but eventually brought it back to us and apologized after ashley kindly and in a joking manner threatened to eat their dog. haha. all in all, it was a great, tiring but still great, experience.  I can definitely check that off my bucket list- I have never hiked into a campsite before! also, I have never:
*made myself a little pit toilet in the bush.  complete with a twig toilet paper holder and twig holder for my flashlight
*applied fucus(intertidal algae) mucus to my face as sunscreen.. desperate times call for desperate measures!
*gone 24 hours without washing my hands- wow, I have never been so thankful for hand sanitizer.
*actually camped right ON the beach and saw whales from our campsite on two occasions! (and sealions too.)


anyway, here are some recent critters we have in the lab...

cool crab!!

abalone- these things are awesome!

moon snail- also awesome and massive!

huge nudibranch!

and one last photo for yah..

snorkel lovin'- one of my flippers sank to the bottom of the sea :(

hope everyone had a great weekend!!
--m

coastal fun.

seppings island early morning collection...

wizard island collection.. and hanging out with the seals.

our day spent on the boardwalk in west bamfield where we stopped at the waterside cafe for rootbeer floats!

the view from our new favourite sunday afternoon cafe spot..

this week has been just insane! wish I had time to blog but I need to get some rest as we are hiking to our camping spot tomorrow- I am SO tired! highlight of the week, saw whales on two separate days! yahoo. i heart whales.

missin' everyone.
--m

something I just had to share.

source

happy by katie licht.

this put an instant smile on my face.  sometimes it takes something so simple to realize how fortunate we all are to have the opportunities that each day provides us with.  life is such a blessing- don't take anything for granted.

--m

get your bake on. (because I can't)

I miss baking SO much.  can't wait to get creative in the kitchen when I get home in september.  I also desperately miss eating my baking.  SO currently, I am accepting care packages- anybody interested in sending me one?  you could include some of these delicious things...

strawberry cheesecake truffles by annie's eats

chocolate chunk peanut butter swirl fudgy cookies by picky palate

banana pudding by a cozy kitchen

chocolate caramel slice by m loves m

strawberry sour cream ice cream by my life as a mrs.

frozen reese's peanut butter pie by bakers royale

cake batter rice crispy treats by gimmie some oven

Okay, you don't actually have to send baking.  I don't think those treats package up and travel very well.  but a letter would be awesome! I love receiving mail and the address is on the bamfield marine sciences centre website if anyone is interested! it is nice to have something to look forward to :)

since I am not baking, in my very minimal free time I have been...

*catching up my blog reading

*yoga goodness

*learning the shuffle with my classmates. yes, yes I am serious.

*putting our mattresses on the floor of our dorm and watching the movie up while snacking on treats.  treats that we had to row across to the other side of the inlet to get. a row boat is now my most common mode of transportation. it is refreshing to go without driving for so long!
*lying in the grass under the beautiful sunshine and reading my book

*nature walks-

enjoying the view.

forest lovin'

our little adventure walk

massive tree trunk!

I am so happy to call this island home.  can't imagine living anywhere else.

--m

etsy lovin'

aisle to aloha studio

yes teacher

moxiemandie

Meadow Tea

meggieslove

creatures and critters volume 2.

my anemone friend.

the resident lab jellyfish

purple urchins!

I scored a sweet coral from the beach.

ginormous barnacle! Oh my goodness

love my biology buds.

the end of last week and the beginning of this weekend was filled with field trips to several different islands to find some awesome critters to examine in the lab.  today we went snorkelling, which was totally rad.  saw some sweet jellies, a HUGE sea cuke, massive anemones, red rock crab and lots of other little gems.  THEN the best of all- a neurobiologist from the mainland came to the station to guest lecture and do a lab with us.  I enjoyed the lab today SO much- he had brought some freshwater snails with him and we got to examine the neurons in their brain.  their neurons are significantly larger than a humans and I could tell you all this awesome stuff about how cool their nervous system functions but I won't get into that.. :)  I love neuroscience.

gotta get to my group meeting and do my yoga for the day.  are you taking part in the 21 day challenge?
--m