Getting back into the swing of things

I have been back in Missoula for one week. And while I thoroughly enjoyed reacquainting myself with my old haunts, I hate my school schedule.  Monday through Wednesday I don't get out of class until after 7.00pm or 8.00pm.  Tuesday and Thursday I don't even start classes until around 3.30 in the afternoon.  Then out of the blue on Friday--BAM!--and 8.00am lab. Uck.  For what feels like the first time in my life I am regularly staying up extra late (like 1 in the morning late) in an effort to wake-up after 7 in the morning.  So far, my ingenious plan has only caused me to sleep in until 8.00am and induce massive, panging headaches that even a few liters of water and coffee can't cure.


 At least textbooks only cost $300 this semester instead of $600.


I spent this weekend catching up on a few zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  Maybe I will wake up later this week, eh?


Just like my last week in Seattle, Missoula is a winter wonderland.  But unlike Seattle, the snow has not put the entire hamlet city under house arrest.  Everyone straps on their boots, piles on the coats and prays the Mountain Line buses won't be delayed. Below are a few pictures I snapped from my dorm window.

{little difficult to see in the picture, but in the center of the road between the traffic lanes is a 3 foot pile of snow.  NO ONE uses the crosswalks in this weather.  People literally just walk straight through the intersection}

In an attempt to cut down on my coffee expenses this semester, I decided to start sampling different brands/roasts of coffee I find around Missoula.  This particular brand, Blackcoffee Roasting Company (BRC), is roasted in Wyoming, but is sourced directly out of Missoula.  I picked up a bag of the AM blend at the campus grocery store shortly after determining I would be needing access to coffee well after all coffee shops close in the vicinity.  I've tried the BRC Mexican Chipatas blend before while at the Good Food Store and might give the Half Caf blend a go in the coming weeks.  

{dripping coffee before I devour a bowl of carrot cake oatmeal YUM}

Overall, I'd say I am rather satisfied with the brand.  The AM blend actually has a nice cocoa-creamy flavor even without soy milch. Tastes nice at 7am, 4pm and even at 6pm right before I head off to Psychology.

Other odds and bobs from the week:

On Friday, I got mail!!!!

And the one thing I was most excited to receive in the package was not the supply of much need socks, nor the ever elusive powdered soy milch, nor a borrowed copy of The Disappearing Spoon (although, as I am already a good quarter of the way through the book, I clearly am enjoying the read). Nope. I was ecstatic for crazy flavored extracts.  Yup. You read that sentence right.  I was over the moon to open up a box to see three little bottles of flavored chemicals.  I might one day develop cancer from consuming copious amounts of "Vanilla Butter Nut" flavor or artificial "Maple", but for now they are a guilty pleasure.  I slap happily dump a tsp in my oatmeal and coffee each morning. 

Broccoli sounded really yummy, so I made green peanut ramen-noodles.  Green because the ramen-noodles were green and the peanut sauce was green after I food processed a few broccoli florets into the  peanut sauce.

Over my winter holiday I fell back in love with an eyeshadow by MAC called "Club."  It is a green/brown/black oil-slick color.  Since coming back to Missoula, I have just continued to keep wearing the eyeshadow without abandon.  Its pretty. And mesmerizing. 

Cheers, kaite ;]