January 26

Sparkle party day!!! Spent the day doing some things around the house, then went to Sarah's to help her set up a little. It was such a blast. I think everyone had a good time. It did get a little crazy, but a good crazy. Sarah and Jumah got me a cookie cake with an owl on it! It was so cute! I think everyone had a fun time, I know I did.

January 24

Today was the last day of demonstration speeches and I must say, I have some pretty talented students! They all have really interesting hobbies and did such a good job speaking. I'm so proud and impressed!

Today the birthday fun continued because my friends are awesome! First, I came home to a package from Eliza with my birthday present in it. Her and Ian picked out three records for me since I got a record player to help me build my collection! I've been listening to the Beatles all evening and am now listening to the Caribou album. I love them. It was such a thoughtful gift! I'm so thankful for friends and friendships like the one I have with Eliza, because I honestly think it's rare to find someone who just gets you on so many levels.

ALSO! Caleb had made homemade lasagna over Christmas break and I had commented on his photo of it, so he made it for me for my birthday! SO SUPER NICE OF HIM because I know that lasagna is a pain in the ass to make and takes a long time. It was also delicious! And now I have a ton of leftovers. Between the lasagna and birthday cake, my carb and sugar intake is going to spike. I know. I'm spoiled...but I'm so grateful for everyone and everything.

January 23

Birthday! I am now a quarter of a century old! Crazy to think about it like that! I had a really, really good birthday. I'm so thankful for my amazing family and friends who helped to make it so awesome. My mom bought pizza for my whole office for lunch, which was so thoughtful. I went in to the office for a few meetings and to get some grading done. When I got back to my apartment Daniel had left my birthday present on my coffee table. Kind of creepy, but also nice, haha.

In case you can't read it, the bag says, "Happy Birthday to my favorite Asian-American of all time." Hahaha. What a nut. I love the owl beer because it has a really cool bottle cap. I'm going to look up some crafts I can do to make something with it because I like it so much. Some people came over for birthday cake. My mom had ordered me a cake from Concannon's Bakery, a local bakery in Muncie, which is delicious. Then we went to Savage's for a few drinks and just to hang out. It wasn't anything too exciting, but it was still fun and nice and chill. I liked it. :)

January 21

MLK, Jr. day AND inauguration day! Oh, my. So the last inauguration I was a junior in undergrad, and I knew it was significant and important, but I don't think I fully understood the impact of the event. However, THIS inauguration really got to me. I felt so emotional while watching it, so proud! I loved that a woman, Myrlie Evers-Williams, gave the invocation, I love that Sonia Sotomayor swore in Biden. I loved seeing Hillary Clinton and the Obama women, strong, beautiful, and successful women, stand in our nation's capitol. I loved that the Bibles that Obama was sworn in on were Lincoln and MLK, Jr.'s Bible's. Just so much of the day's event spoke to me. The commentators didn't think that Obama's speech was as powerful, but it spoke volumes to me. I looked like a crazy person cheering and yelling at my TV, but I don't even care. I loved that his call for unity and equality, for all individuals. It just made me so happy and hopeful that our country will become more open to progress and change and acceptance of everyone, regardless of gender, race, age, class, sexuality, etc. I'm hopeful that I will live to see a woman president. Today's event was just wonderful, and I'm glad that I was able to watch it and recognize the importance.

Today I worked on some thesis stuff, went to the gym, and basically ran errands and everything. I'm having my birthday party on Saturday and it's a "sparkle" theme. Really, I just wanted an excuse to wear a sequined shirt, but still, I thought it would be fun. I went to the dollar store and got glasses and have modge podged glitter on the bottom. I think they turned out pretty well. I'm excited. I'm just sad that it's supposed to be freezing and snow all week. That always happens on my birthday, one of the downfalls of being born in the winter.