2 Months of Updates

If you can't tell by the 2-month delay in blog updates...I've been a little busy.  I'm not sure I've ever been this busy in my life, actually.  So where to begin...

Let's go back to February 1st.  On this day, I gave my first ever actual, full-on lecture.  I lectured in the class that I TA (Reproduction & Lactation) on Puberty.  It was 50 minutes in front of 80 students and it went really well!  I was very proud of my effort and Dr. Edwards seemed to be pleased as well when she went back and listened to the audio recording. 

A few days later was my birthday.  After a delicious lunch at my favorite, Dead End BBQ, I hit the road and drove to Raleigh for a weekend full of wedding showers.  The first shower was hosted by Margie Bowles and included my barn friends, a few school and church friends, and ALL of my bridesmaids!  We were showered with gifts and had an incredible time.  Justin and I had a meeting with Dan, our music minister, and Larita, an amazingly talented pianist at our church, to finalize wedding music.  Later that evening, we had another shower hosted by two of Justin's friends from vet school, Jess Huwa and Jenn Beasley.  That shower was full of vet school friends and was also loads of fun.  One friend, and talented singer, Mellissa Kerns, sang us two songs with the help of Tim Gaffrey on guitar.  That was really special!  :)  I headed back to Knoxville the next day full of excitement for the wedding!

Later that week, I entered my chili into my apartment complex's chili cook-off and won!  This is a recipe I got from Gay Davis and tweaked a bit.  I won $100 off one month's rent!  Woo!  I also attended the First Baptist Church Talentine show the next day.  It was pretty corny, but gave me a good laugh :)

A few Fridays later, Kim came to Knoxville and the lab ladies all met her for lunch at, yet again, Dead End BBQ.  (If you ever find yourself in Knoxville, it is a MUST)  Kim brought her boyfriend, Zach, and we all laughed until we cried talking about her job and all of its accompanying stories...

At the end of February, I gave my last of 2 required seminars.  Graduate students are required to take "Seminar" twice during their career in which they must present a seminar and attend all others.  This year, my topic was on horse slaughter.  I could spend a good while talking about everything I learned, my views, and the controversy, but I will leave that one for another day.  The seminar went really well, considering I was asked questions for 18 minutes...It was a topic that everyone seemed interested in and it brought about some great conversation.

One weekend (I don't even remember at this point when it was), Justin and I decided last minute to meet up in Granite Falls.  We had a delicious brunch at Bob Evans including the BEST PANCAKES I have ever eaten.  We then surprised my grandparents and spent some time with them before heading to dinner with his Dad and Louise.  It was really awesome to see him, even just for a short while :)

I got the opportunity to help another professor with his research doing sheep surgeries.  They hysterectomize these sheep in order to remove 15- or 17-day concepti from the uterus.  I actually got to scrub in on one of the surgeries!  It was pretty neat!

Ok, some other random tidbits...Asher got sick again and had to go to his normal vet for an enema.  The food and medicine regimen I currently have him on seems to be working in keeping everything flowing, so cross your fingers that we have found the trick!  We had another round of pretty nasty storms come through, but NO hail damage!  Yay!  Also, I decided to start reading the Harry Potter series on CD.  I have gotten through the first 3 and have been waiting over a month for the 4th one.  It is amazing how much important detail they leave out of the movies! 

A few weekends ago, I went on the scrapbook retreat again with Dr. Edwards.  It was in the same place as last time, Camp BaYoCa, and was just as fun.  With my new cricut, I was able to get a bunch of pages done!  I had a nice, relaxing escape of a weekend and enjoyed many "life" talks with Dr. Edwards. 

The day I came home from the scrapbooking weekend, Justin came to Knoxville to spend his Spring Break with me.  We had a pretty busy week, going to Bean Station twice (to collect my LAST cows worth of samples) and entertaining guest lecturers for 320.  We had a party at the Edwards/Schrick house on that Tuesday night and had a fun date night Friday, indulging in delicious food and authentic gelato.  On the weekend, we finalized our reception menu and picked out tuxes. 

Other wedding planning updates include my dress alteration appointment, getting wedding makeup, sending out wedding invitation, and buying bubbles and "unity sand" paraphernalia.

So the past month has been very busy and very stressful.  Things are finally coming down to the wire and I have an immense amount of work to accomplish in the next few months.  I had a meeting with Drs. Edwards & Voy last week and have finally nailed down exactly what I have to do to finish.  This has required staying at JARTU until 8 or 9 PM each night for the past few weeks and I anticipate more of the same until I leave to come home for the wedding.  Other than research, writing, eating, and sleeping...there's not a whole lot of time to do much of anything else.  So I apologize for neglecting this blog and for, perhaps, being more non-responsive than normal.  I will get to the other side of this hurdle.  With a whole lot of patience, perseverance, and strength...I will get there.  I have 2 weeks away from Knoxville (week before the wedding and then the honeymoon) and then will be returning to continue in my efforts to finish my thesis and defend.  Currently, I plan on defending in mid-late July, so I anticipate being back in Raleigh for good in August.  Justin will be in his 4th year, busy in clinics, so we will both be working very hard.  It will be annoying to have to be away from him another month or so, but it is what has to happen so I can finish and come home! 

Justin has been so supportive along this whole journey, but especially recently.  He is always there to hear me vent and cry and helps me remember how far I've come, how much he loves me, and how proud he is of me.  For that I am very grateful.  He also sent me "pick-me-up" flowers last Tuesday which brightened my whole week.  I know this is not easy on him and I am so thankful for his patience and understanding.  He is my rock and my best friend.  I am so blessed to have him in my life and cannot wait to marry him (and live in the same city!)

I appreciate any and all prayers as I work on this last leg of the race.  I am beginning to see a faint light at the end of the tunnel and will be extremely relieved once I reach it.  Thank you for your patience and I look forward to seeing everyone at the wedding in 2 months and 2 days!!!!!