Cait's Adventures

Jan 30, 2013

Nike Zoom Elite+

Thanks to my marathon-running coworker, Joe, a new pair of running shoes is heading my way this week. (He gets a discount with a running website). I've been a faithful Mizuno user for the past few years, but ever since my current pair of Wave Inspires had been left at a Hampton Inn in who-knows-where Kentucky, I thought it was time to try something new. (Update: they were supposed to send the shoes to me but forgot -- thanks Hilton! -- but are now en route back to me). Anyway, tomorrow I'll have a new pair of Zoom Elites, which came highly recommended as I start to train for a half marathon. Woohoo for new goals!

Hiking with Josh

This past weekend Josh came to visit! We decided to hit the trails on Saturday... and headed to the Davidson-Arabia Nature Preserve about an hour from my house. We had to get up at 6:30am to make it for the 9am ranger-led group hike. It was definitely worth it though. Lots of picturesque waterfalls and certainly lots of insight from Ranger Robbie about the topography and history of the land. We were certainly tired after spending six hours on the trails! Here are some pictures:

^ at a lovely waterfall :)

^ one of my favourite shots of the day

^ hiking with the group

^ (1) a waterfall... and (2) the summit of the really cool rock mountain

Jan 28, 2013

Movie Night: Argo

Last night we went to see Argo -- I thought it was out of theatres but luckily it was still playing! I'd wanted to see this film for a while, especially since the 1979 Hostage Crisis had interested me over the past few months. And what a great movie! I highly recommend this for anyone to see. It was about 2 hours and had my attention for every second. George Clooney and Ben Affleck did a fantastic job directing this one. :)

Jan 25, 2013

Just Because

Just because this is my most favourite song EVER. :)

Yesterday's Photos ♥

Jan 24, 2013

Lake Acworth Trail

This afternoon I took Callie and Duke on an adventure to the next town north of here: Acworth. We walked through the small historic downtown and went to the lake! It was a bit chillier than I expected, which made me regret wearing shorts... but nevertheless it was a great adventure. :)

Here are some pictures from walking the Lake Acworth Trail.

More pictures to come once this computer's working a bit faster.

Kombucha

So, some of you may know about my newest DIY (do it yourself) project at home: Making Kombucha. I'm basically starting a small-scale brewery here, but instead of brewing beer I'm brewing kombucha!

What is kombucha? Great question. Although it's been around for thousands of years, it's not extremely well-known yet. Kombucha is a fermented tea made from what enthusiasts like to call a SCOBY-- Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast. Mmmm. Sounds delish, right? Haha.

Anyway, the SCOBY is the "mother" of the fermented tea, and to successfully brew a batch you must use yeast cultures from another kombucha batch to grow a mother. (People drink this tea because of its numerous health benefits). This process requires boiling distilled water, adding organic black tea bags and some sugar, and letting it get back to room temp.

Then you take some culture strands from the bottom of a kombucha drink (store bought or locally produced- both ok) and mixing it with the cooled tea mixture. It must be placed in a sterile glass jar, like a large mason jar... and then covered with a cloth or paper towel and an elastic.

After one to two weeks, the mother will visibly start to grow. I know this all sounds really gross, so if you don't think you can handle the pictures STOP reading now. lol! I'm about to start the second stage of the brewing process today, so I'll post those pictures later. Until then, here's what my project looks like so far. :)

^ the mother grew on top of the liquid... and to make the next batch she will sink to the bottom and a new baby will grow on top. Interesting isn't it? ;)

Jan 22, 2013

Bryson City, NC

I spent the weekend with Kristin and some friends at a cabin in Bryson City, North Carolina. We had an awesome time adventuring and hanging out at the Smoky Mountains.

^ my lovely friend Anna at the Museum of Design Atlanta

Jan 18, 2013

Today's Adventures

Unfortunately, today wasn't much of an adventure as much as it was staying home because the painters were here. (We're getting our house ready to sell...). So I played "house mom", which was totally unfun. I did, however, manage to get involved in a couchsurfing group that exchanges postcards from around the world. Here's a pic of the postcard I'm sending to a Bolivian student in Switzerland:

I also made a delicious dinner (for one, argh!) but had a blast making it! I tried a new recipe for a dish called "Coconut Lentil Soup". I also steamed some brussel sprouts and made a kick-ass salad. Looks like I'll have tons of leftovers, but thankfully there will be people here tomorrow so it'll get eaten eventually. :)

If you want the recipe for this soup, here's the link. Have a great Friday night, everyone!

~ Anna's Birthday ~

This past weekend I got to celebrate my good friend Anna's birthday with her and some friends in Alpharetta, GA. We had a blast that Saturday night, and then the following morning Anna and I went to hear her dad speak at a Bible study. It was really nice being in a group of people willing to hear and discuss religious/spiritual things together. I felt really welcome by everyone during our brief time there. :)

Anna and I spent the rest of the day at the High Museum of Art in Midtown Atlanta. We saw a really interesting (and slightly disturbing) exhibition called "Hard Truths" by an artist named Thornton Dial. He grew up in Alabama and witnessed a lot of racial tension and prejudice. His art was interesting- he used a lot of layers, sometimes incorporating items like desiccated rats, barbed wire, and barbies. It was mostly dark but explored a lot of racial issues and "haunting meditations on events of contemporary global concern".

Here are a few pictures from our day out! :) Love you An!

The Local Natives is an indie rock band from the LA area... this song is brilliant!

Jan 17, 2013

Notable Quote

I was reading an article about yesterday's helicopter-crane crash in London, when I came across this interesting commentary:

It is often said critically of religion that it seeks to impose meaning on meaninglessness, that it is a sort of anxiety reduction strategy in the face of the general randomness of things. This is not the religion I know. What I see in church is a place that is remarkably accommodating to confusion and doubt. A place where people bring their not knowing what to do. They sit and light a candle or say a prayer, not fully understanding what this really means or expecting some instrumental purpose. "I don't believe in organised religion," people often say. That makes me laugh. All religion is intrinsically disorganised. Forever perched over chaos.

And no, I am not implying that God is the ready-made answer. For me, God is the question. A question that will not leave me alone.