Chocolate World!

The hunger for chocolate runs deep in my family...indeed, it is almost as deep a heritage as the Twilight vampire family has for their preferred food. So you can almost taste the excitement I had when I found out that there was a World Chocolate Dream Park in Shanghai. While it was not quite what I had hoped for (I expected an actual chocolate volcano, not just a painting of one...) it was still very interesting and there were some truly fantastic chocolate sculptures. The art was treated with chemicals to keep it from melting and otherwise discoloring over time and with lighting, etc., but you can bet I was still able to get my chocolate fix and stock-up at the gift shop! To give you an idea of the life-size type of art that was sculpted in chocolate and placed on display, here is a picture of me modeling a Ronald McDonald-size pair of shoes:

I want to try and share the chocolate art with family by picking some that I think they'd like to eat:

For Ivan:

 For Jill: 

 For Ryan, who is going skydiving with Jill soon:

 For Mel:

 For Shannon:

 For the aunts, who might love shopping more than chocolate:

 For dad, as a challenge to Christmas lights on the house next year:

 For mom, to encourage her Easter egg hunt tradition:

 For Mel and Ivan, and also Miranda and Russ:

Bon appetit!

Homecomings

This blog is dedicated to U.S. Army Captain Bryce Markiewicz who, after several long hot months and, surprisingly, cold nights deployed in Afghanistan, is returning home. Bryce is one of my oldest friends- we have known each other for about twenty years. Welcome back, Bryce!

I was happy to celebrate my own, brief homecoming in Colorado for Christmas this year. As my mother was quick to remind us, this was the first Christmas in four years when the Doherty clan was able to all be together and not have anyone skyping from abroad. The highlight of the Christmas presents this year was a new puppy- ok, a big puppy, for my parents!

We got to share family time in a number of really memorable ways. For starters, Melanie and Ivan surprised us all with tickets of White Christmas at the theater downtown. We spent Christmas at Aunt Sheryl’s house with my mom’s side of the family, and made calls to my dad’s side in the afternoon. Movies were also on the agenda: an afternoon showing of Les Mis, and then a late night show of The Hobbit, joined by our cousin Will. Then, to get in touch with nature and our sweet teeth, we drove up to a beekeeper’s shop in Fort Collins, where we learned how to make honey! And for New Years, we got together for bowling, laser tag, air hockey, and DDR dancing!

Family time during the holidays was such a much needed break from cultural and language immersion in Asia and from working long hours. This trip gives me the fuel to keep going through another year abroad, complete with plenty of photos to turn to when I start to feel homesick! 

2013 - Year of the Snake

It’s New Year and I am proud to release the newest version of me, fully-upgraded, supporting open-source software for continuous development. Ladies and gentlemen I give you the redesigned, Sean 2.0. Sticking to my theme of upgrades, I decided to make some big changes and really ‘trade-up’ in just about every aspect of my life. Take it from a sales guy, a good amount of what we buy is “sales pitch,” so be sure to fully read the “reality check” section! Single women will need to submit their own, current product version information to judge for appropriate compatibility! (pictures of my new apartment at the end)

downstairs living room:

the lab:

hallway, with bathroom on the right, my door at the end, with another small hall to the left for French roomie:

my bedroom, looking into my bathroom

truth be told, I only made the bed for this photo: 

places where I put stuff (can you spot the new traveling hat?)

 staircase!:

upstairs living room / laundry room 

upstairs living room / laundry room: