Winter Vacation

Last night, Ashley and I returned from our trip back to Oregon. I was back from the 18th to the 27th, which provided an ideal amount of time to see most of my family and friends. I spent three days in Corvallis with Ashley's family, one and a half days with Jake that involved some bowling and snowshoeing in the rain near Trillium Lake on Mount Hood, and the rest of the time with various members of my own family in the Portland vicinity.

Of all the generous gifts I received, two are worth mentioning here. My grandpa made me a custom ordered spice rack. What makes this spice rack unique is that it is made to fit White Labs Yeast bottles that I use to brew beer. I've been saving these bottles up for a while, so now I have a very unique and personalized spice rack. My grandma spent an eternity sewing a queen size quilt for me. The quilt is made solely of various black and white patterns - nearly 20 different patterns it seems. The immense amount of time and skill required to complete this quilt makes it the most special gift I've ever received.

I brought some work back to Oregon with me so I could continue progressing on my thesis project. I spent a total of 45 minutes writing one of the chapters. I've set a thesis defense date for January 10th, which means my thesis committee members need a copy of a draft a week before that. That means I have seven more days to finish my writing. In light of that, I better stop writing this blog post and resume my project.