Twice a year my running partner and I, both of us geoscientists, teach geology for Texas Parks and Wildlife Becoming an Outdoors Woman program. I created the course in 2014 by condensing an entire semester of freshman level physical geology into a 3.5 hour workshop (~1 hour lecture, ~1 hour lab, and ~1 hour spent in the […]
Loire Valley Wines Event: Spring to Loire in Houston
There are a couple countries/regions that have been swaying me away from my usual Italian pour lately. While I’ve been learning about and enjoying South American wines, I received an invitation to attend the Spring to Loire tasting and seminar event hosted by Loire Valley Wines. Having never dabbled in this French region, I jumped […]
Wine & Alligators…the Perfect Pairing (Part 3: Post-Festival in Miami)
A guest blog post by Tracy Continued from: Wine & Alligators…the Perfect Pairing (Part 2: South Beach Wine & Food Festival) Part 3: The Fun Isn’t Over Yet! When we planned this trip back in October, our excitement level over the festival events far exceeded anything else we hoped to see or do in […]
Wine & Alligators…the Perfect Pairing (Part 2: South Beach Wine & Food Festival)
A guest blog post by Tracy Continued from: Wine & Alligators…the Perfect Pairing (Part 1: Pre-Festival in Miami) Part 2: Let the Festivities Begin! Now for the festival details. The festival ran from Wednesday, February 21st, to Sunday, February 25th. With over 90 (90!!!) events taking place over five days, we somehow narrowed our […]
Wine & Alligators…the Perfect Pairing (Part 1: Pre-Festival in Miami)
A guest blog post by Tracy Part 1: Pre-Festival Shenanigans After attending a few really impressive food and wine festivals over the last few years (including the International Pinot Noir Celebration in 2013 (Willamette Valley, Oregon), the Telluride Wine Festival in 2015, and the Aspen Food & Wine Classic just last year), we felt a […]
Downtown Nassau on Your Own: Walking Guide
For Jean and other friends leaving for the Bahamas soon… Last month I cruised the Bahamas on two back-to-back cruises, both times stopping in Nassau. I had visited Nassau before and did the full day Atlantis Resort excursion, but I wanted to see and experience historic (and touristic) Nassau. So this time we […]
Drinking Outside the Cookie Box: Our Girl Scout Cookie and Wine Pairing
For the most part, children scare me…except for the ones in the green uniforms selling cookies. I always cave and buy Girl Scout cookies every year, and I rarely share. This year was an exception to being greedy with my cookies, and I brought four boxes to a geek/costuming convention in Dallas to share with friends. […]
Costuming Dark Rey (Concept) from Star Wars
I’ve always wanted to make/purchase/wear a Darth Vader costume, as I tend to gravitate towards (and sometimes root for) the villain in stories. After Aimee Miller and I made her Resistance Rey costume, I took pride in and admired it but felt like it wasn’t “me,” nor was I compelled to costume Kylo Ren or […]
Finding DNA: Additional Testing
These past few years have been full of science and serendipity with all the DNA testing my mother and I have participated in in search of ethnic lineage, not to mention being matched with BOTH her biological parents’ family members (she was adopted). As we navigate through our new relationships with newfound family members, I […]
Finding DNA: An Adoption and Ancestry Success Story (Part 2)
Those closest to me know that my mother was adopted. It’s no secret, never has been. Her parents (my grandparents) are incredible people who raised her (and me) in a loving and structured home. My grandmother is my hero and my grandfather(s) encouraged me to put myself through college and succeed like they did. We […]