A Review of 2013

We didn't create a Christmas card for 2013 but if we had, we may have highlighted some of the experiences and decisions we made in 2013.

 Trips of 2013
After years and years of living in the Boston area, we finally saw Cape Cod. We went camping there with friends, drove to the tip to admire the view, and drove back to Cambridge. We don't do weekend trips as often as some, but we're hoping to repeat this again next year. I also took a trip to England for work, to a small village with one hotel that was surrounded by sheep and horses, small gray stone cottages with beautiful English gardens, and fields of beautiful flowers and weeds. Yes, even the weeds were beautiful there. I loved it.


We also went to Kuna and Logan over the summer and during Christmas, which was wonderful. Being near family in the West always makes us hopeful that someday we might be able to move to a place near family and wide-open space.

Enjoying being the tour guide of the summertime mountains.

Our final leg of our trip home from Christmas: a 15 minute walk from the T in the snow with our luggage.

Experiments of 2013
In terms of long-term consequence, our professional experiments are likely to be the most important. I experimented by taking an industry position and learned a ton along the way, before deciding to leave in November to try some independent work. Will made steady progress on his research all year long, culminating in a fantastic way with a Cell publication and an agreement by his committee that he will graduate at the end of the summer(!). The hunt for a postdoctoral position is on... 

Additionally, in the realm of domestic experiments, we attempted to grow another outdoor potted garden and again met minimal success with this experiment (I believe the total yield was enough for one salad), in part because the pots were small and in part because I forget to water them everyday. Sorry, plants.  We learned how to make excellent saag paneer in the kitchen and molten lava cakes in the outdoors. I believe my favorite experiment in recent memory was fixing a hairline crack in my teapot by boiling it in milk for a few hours! Who knew such a thing was possible?

We also attempted a few artistic activities including pottery and glass blowing, which was definitely a highlight of the year.

Our sole cucumber, which saved itself from being consumed by being weird looking.

Dutch oven molten lava cakes, idea courtesy of Russell. That's right--we come to friends' dinners to impress.

Will at the wheel.

Molten glass on a stick.

Hand blown ornaments.

Merry Christmas.

Sights and experiences of 2013
Seeing Will on a daily basis, seeing him work and laugh and read and just be with me is perhaps my favorite sight and experience every day.

Beyond that, a contest of intricate sand castles at Revere Beach inspired us, as did seeing a field of flags in the Boston Commons on Memorial Day. Each flag represented one soldier, one soldier who sacrificed life for our freedom. We loved having family come visit us in Boston and hearing how they also loved the beauty of this city and area.

The sirens and the chaos of the Boston Marathon bombing, shooting and manhunt were nerve racking for me. But I remember also feeling deeply grateful this was a rare event, feeling grateful for the safety we are afforded by living in a land of relative peace and security.

The sand castle you wish you could build.

2013 was good to us. Here's hoping the same for 2014.