Small updates

In an attempt to get my creative life back on track (it has sadly taken a hit lately), I'd like to take a dedicated stab at blogging regularly, or at the very least post more than twice a year. I'm brainstorming lots of super fun post ideas, so hold onto your butts. In the meantime, here are some brief life updates:

• Moxie has grown up and has developed the habit of bringing me a leaf from outside at least once a day. Who says cats don't care about their owners?
• In October (so long ago now!) I passed my PhD qualifying exam and advanced to candidacy. This is a fancy way of saying that I willingly signed up for ~3 more years of graduate school, with all of the structure (i.e. classes) now over.
• I have become a somewhat competent rock climber.
• I have become a still-gaining-competency downhill skier and mountain biker.
• I realize that this is three new sports in a year, which is definitely a record for me.
• I presented my research at two conferences, the Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting in August 2015, and the American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting in December 2015!
• My amazing and excellent friend (and fellow badass lady scientist) Caity brought me on a top-notch adventure to Cali, Colombia this past March. It was my first time in South America and it could not have been a cooler trip!!

I think this mountain is called Pico de Loro - it's part of the Farallones de Cali in the West Andes.