Much Needed Update

Wow, it's been 2 weeks without an update!  Last weekend was the Mountain Mystery Weekend with Justin.  I drove to the address he gave me Friday afternoon, which was in Sylva, NC.  I had never heard of or been to Sylva, so it was a surprise to me even when I knew where I was going.  The drive there was beautiful!  Once I got off 40, the road took me through gorgeous mountains, winding around the beautiful Fall colors.  I pulled up to the address and found Justin standing by a cute little cabin back off the road a bit.  The cabin was SUPER cute.  It was very cozy, quiet, and peaceful.  There was no tv or internet, which made for a very relaxing weekend.  We ventured out Friday night to find dinner and ended up eating at Subway, haha. 

Saturday, we drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a little while, stopping at a few overlooks to take pictures.  We then decided to drive about an hour away to Highlands, NC.  Justin had been there this summer while working with USDA in western NC and said it was a cute little town.  On our way up there, we stopped at Dry Falls which is a waterfall that you can walk under.  I took lots of pictures there (until my 18-55mm lens stopped auto-focusing).  We made it up to Highlands by way of some extremely windy and narrow roads that drop off straight down on the other side.  It took us a while to find somewhere to park, but we finally did and found a great little deli to have lunch.  Our chicken salad sandwiches were phenomenal (his on sourdough and mine on pumpernickel).  We then indulged in some ice cream (strawberry for him and butter pecan for me, of course).  We walked around and looked in a few shops, then headed back to the cabin.  Once there, we took a little hike around the property and then just relaxed the rest of the afternoon.  We watched Mrs. Doubtfire on his laptop since he was bringing it along with another DVD to me that I had left at his apartment months ago.  Since it was really cold that night, he built us a really nice fire! 

Sunday we got up, packed, checked out of the cabin and headed to Waffle House for breakfast.  I had been craving pancakes, but the waffle was just as good!  We then drove to Asheville to spend the day at Biltmore House.  I had been about 8 years ago so it was nice to see it again!  We took the usual tour through the house and then did a specialty tour at 12 noon on the roof.  We learned all about the construction of the house and had a completely different view of the property from the roof!  Justin really enjoyed it, especially learning that every single slate shingle (haha say that one 5 times fast) was hand-tied onto the roof in two places.  That's some serious labor! 

We ate lunch at a cafe near the stables area (chicken florentine pizza) and then had some ice cream.  Cookie dough for him, and you guessed it...butter pecan for me.  The ice cream was better here than in Highlands, but the waffle cone in Highlands beat Biltmore's hands down :)  Justin and I then toured the basement level of the house (kitchen, pool, bowling alley, laundry, servants quarters) and the gardens.  It was a great day with absolutely beautiful weather.  The entire weekend was perfect weather actually. 

It was extremely difficult for both of us to part again after such an amazing escape.  We both felt like we could forget the world for a few days and just enjoy each other's company.  That made leaving him really, really hard.  I had a little meltdown that evening and the next day.  Talk about pouring emotions...these were flowing like the Nile!  I feel MUCH better now, but of course still miss him every day.

Now for some exciting news.  I had a meeting today with Dr. Edwards and now have a direction and a plan for my project!  I cannot discuss it in detail with the general public, but just know that it is novel, exciting, and has me ready to get going.  I will be learning a lot of molecular techniques such as RNA isolation, RT (reverse transcription), building primers, and qPCR.  A lot of this will be learned in Dr. Voy's lab, so it'll be cool to work in another lab in conjunction with the one I'm in now.  I feel like I finally have some clarity and a direction.  I was struggling with feeling unfulfilled and like I did not have a reason for learning all of these things in the lab, except to just learn them.  Now, I have lots to learn and realize that everything I've been learning will help me greatly not only with my time in grad school, but with just expanding my "tool belt", as Dr. Edwards calls it, for when I finish grad school and head out into the world.  It is amazing how perfect God's timing is.  Just when I was crying out, questioning my being here, and struggling the most, He gives me clarity and gets me excited about heading somewhere.  I appreciate all of the continuous support from Justin, my family, and all of my wonderful friends through my crazy emotional moments.  I hope you know I will always reciprocate that support when any of you need it! 

Here are the pictures from my weekend if you care to take a look

Longhorns

Well the two days of slaughter house are done.  Friday turned out to be a very long, but very interesting day.  It went by a lot faster than I had imagined.  Firstly, driving up to Bean Station at 6:30 AM, I was literally driving through a cloud almost the entire way.  I could not see more than 3 cars ahead of me.  It has been a long time since I've seen fog that thick!  I was afraid it was going to be very lonely all day since Kim was not with me, but I ended up talking a lot to the USDA guys.  Quite randomly, one of them mentioned something about horns that set off a thought I had been thinking in the back of my mind.  I just happened to ask what it would take to fix up a set of horns and that just started the ball rolling.  To make a long story short, I now have a set of horns that are at a taxidermist being boiled and cleaned up.  I will have to sand them and lacquer them in order to finish them off, but I am so incredibly stoked.  I have always wanted some horns and really love that old western stuff (ie wagon wheel tables, antler chandeliers, cow hide rugs, etc).  What is even crazier is that Jason, the guy who got me these horns, told me that they are killing LONGHORNS on Monday!!!!!!!!  He said he would get me a great big set and send it back to me with Jessy (who just happens to be going on Monday, how convenient!).  I'll take those to the taxidermist Monday evening and will hopefully be able to get them to Raleigh by Thanksgiving so my daddy and I can work on finishing them! 

So this taxidermist is awesome.  He has his shop in his back yard off a pretty road down in Lenoir City, TN (about 20 minutes from me).  He is a sweet old grandaddy, very kind and funny.  He has two grandchildren, that I saw, who are so cute running around the shop and riding bikes.  I'm really glad I found him because he seems to want to do exactly what I want him to do.  He is all about the customer and making sure everything gets done properly.  Once I get the horns back, I will post pictures so you can see them!  The ones I have now are about 3 feet wide from tip to tip.  They're gray-ish with a couple white rings on them.  So pretty!  Anyway, just a little update on that exciting find. 

I spent the whole day cleaning my apartment, going to the grocery store, and Wal-Mart, and taking the horns to Mr. Rick Hill.  I also took a nap and am going to skip the run I had planned because I am just still pretty pooped from the past two days.  I'll start back tomorrow.  Justin and Tim are in Wilmington right now and will be going wreck diving tomorrow!  I'm so excited the weather is cooperating this time and hope they have an awesome time (without getting bitten by all the sharks they're supposed to encounter).

Have You By Chance Seen My Fall Break?

This week has gone by pretty quickly, thank goodness!  I have been super busy most every day, which makes the day fly.  Here are some highlights from this week.  On Monday, I had class most of the day and then had a therio lab on breeding soundness exams in the bull.  We also watched Cheif, the stallion, being collected.  On Tuesday, Dr. Edwards and I attended a Graduate School luncheon for all of the recipients of scholarships and fellowships.  Since I was awarded a fellowship, I got to go!  It was a pretty nice lunch and I met a really nice girl who is an education major.  Yesterday was my BCMB exam.  Our professor had said that he was going to make this one shorter and a bit more straight forward.  Yeah right.  It was definitely longer and what blew my mind was that multiple choice questions were worth the same amount of points as short answer ones.  Fair?  I think not.  Yesterday ended on an amazingly high note as I got a hand-written letter in the mail from Justin.  It was so sweet and just made my day.  He is incredible and I am more and more sure every day that he is the one for me :)

Today was a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG day.  I woke up at 5:35 AM in order to get to JARTU, meet Kim, and head to the slaughter house.  We arrived there around 7:20 and stayed until 1:30 PM.  We collected repro tracts all day long and let's just say I'm glad to be home and sitting down.  I will be going back tomorrow to collect ovaries from 7:30 AM - 2:00 PM.  Don't you just love being the newby?  I baked cookies for all of the guys that work there because they are so very helpful!  They sometimes get backed up because they have to take the time to cut tracts out for us, so I thought it would be nice to give them a "thank you" treat.  I mean who doesn't like cookies? 

So much for a Fall BREAK, but I am excited for this weekend.  I am going to spend all day Saturday cleaning the apartment, going to the grocery store, doing laundry and making chili!!!!  I love to clean for those of you reading this wondering why that day sounds exciting...  Sunday I will be going to a local showgrounds to watch a $25,000 Grand Prix with Emily from the barn.  I'm going to take lots of pictures and cannot wait to go!  After this weekend, it's only 5 more days until I get to head off to who knows where in the mountains and see Justin!   

Fall is Here!!

This morning I woke up to a soft, attention-seeking little kitty, much like this one (but without the baseball bat):




It's going to be a beautiful day.  Currently 50 degrees and only supposed to be 75 for a high!  Thank goodness Fall has finally arrived.  It is my favorite season and I've been waiting for it to cool down.  I am about to head out to the barn to ride Essau this morning, and then will be spending the rest of my day studying for my cellular and molecular biology test which is Wednesday.  I also need to do a load of laundry in there somewhere. 

As for this mystery weekend, Justin has planned a mountain trip for us the weekend of October 16th and I am so excited.  I have no idea where we are going or what we are doing, but we are planning on going to Biltmore Estates on Sunday.  I have not been in many years and this should be a perfect time to go with all the leaves changing and the fall mums in bloom!  No worries, I will definitely be bringing my camera :)  This weekend is helping me to look forward to seeing Justin instead of thinking about missing him.  This past week has been a really good one.  I have been staying busy, doing hands-on things in the lab, and being productive.  I actually felt like a graduate student this week. 

Next Thursday and Friday are UT's Fall Break, but we are still expected to work.  Luckily, we don't have to stay in the lab all day, but will be going to the slaughter house to get repro tracts for Dr. Edwards's Reproduction and Lactation class in the Spring.  If we get enough on Thursday, we might only have to stay a half day on Friday which would be GREAT!  I have nothing else going on that weekend, no tests to study for.  I think I'm going to make my first batch of chili!  I have a nice, big pan to make it in that I got for my birthday, so I will see how it goes!

Slowly but Surely

Things have been pretty good lately.  Asher is doing great after his vet appointment.  He is getting better about taking his antibiotics (I don't have to sit on him to get it down his throat).  I have given up on his collar.  He takes it off every day, usually under my bed at the very back.  It is a break-away, so it is not hard for him to snap it off while he's scratching.  He can just go commando :) 


The lab has been pretty slow recently.  I helped Jessy make three different kinds of media yesterday for oocyte collection/maturation.  That took a few hours, but was not difficult, just tedious.  I have to watch each media be made, then make it with someone, then have someone watch me make it in order to be able to make them on my own.  Kim and I will be making more tomorrow between classes.  Friday, I get to go to Bean Station Slaughterhouse by myself for the first time to get one thermos full of ovaries.


On this past Sunday evening, I went to a concert at First Baptist Knoxville and Brooke came with me.  It was The Isaacs, an amazing southern gospel group that has been around for 30 years.  They're bluegrass and have PHENOMENAL harmonies.  They often sing at the Grand Ole Opry and on the Gaither Band shows.  That concert was awesome and I have already downloaded some of their music.  FBK has a fall/winter concert series and I think the next group to come is a Gospel Choir.  Justin and I know how much fun those can be :)      


I bought my plane ticket this week for my trip HOME for Thanksgiving.  I am so excited I get to come home and will not mind the Thanksgiving airport rush one bit because it will save me lots of driving time so I'll have more time to spend with friends and family.  I am also very excited about getting to see Justin in about 2.5 weeks.  We are going to meet in the mountains again, current plans are not known (to me anyway), but we are going to try to go somewhere instead of sitting around in his dad's house all weekend.  Is it October 15th yet?  No?  What about now?


Other updates: 
*I did my first rectal ultrasound on a cow on Monday and saw a little baby cow!!  I saw its skull, pretty neat!
*We had lunch today at Litton's (best burger joint in Knoxville area) and it was pretty good.  Not the best burgers I've had, but their desserts were delicious!

A Nice Saturday

Asher had his first vet visit on Saturday.  His vet, Dr. Mark Jones, is a really nice man and was very informative and helpful.  He and his vet tech were impressed that I seemed to know what I was talking about and were glad to find out that Justin is in vet school.  As for Asher, poor guy, he was pretty traumatized.  They checked his temperature, swabbed his ears, stained his eyes and looked at them, gave him a shot, and made him eat yicky dewormer.  He did not like the dewormer at all and ended up getting it everywhere!  He has tapeworms (treatable and not a real problem) and ear mites.  He is on an antibiotic for 2 weeks for his little sneeze/watery eyes.  He has to have 1/2 cc twice a day with food.  This morning was the first day and I already have a battle wound.  Needless to say, he does not like medicine!  But who does?

After his appointment, my great Aunt Baby Rachel and great Uncle Charlie came to Knoxville from their vacation cabin in Pigeon Forge, TN.  We sat around in my apartment and talked for a while (and by we talked, I mean she talked and we listened).  You'd just have to know Baby Rachel to understand :)  I then took them to Calhoun's for lunch, which they really enjoyed.  That was by far the most incredibly delicious bbq I have ever eaten.  If you ever come to Knoxville, you MUST go eat there! 

After they left, I went to the barn for a couple hours.  I rode Essau and then let two of the younger girls ride him walk/trot on a lunge line.  They enjoyed him and he was just perfect.  They were wanted to ride off the line, but he is no where near ready for that.  Too strong and too inconsistent!  Anyway, I was proud of him and they had fun. 

Asher

I have a kitty!!!  I went to Petsmart in Turkey Creek (the Brier Creek of Knoxville) today to meet a kitten named Shadrack.  I got there and met him, a beautiful guy, but he would have nothing to do with being held.  I was bummed because he was my favorite of the three I was going to meet.  I was looking for a solid gray, short-hair and he was going to be the one.  Apparently fate had a different idea.  I spent a while talking with the lady from Granger County Humane Society and then decided to look at this other kitty in a different crate.  He was a tabby, very uniquely stripped and patterned, but still gray.  I picked him up and he melted into my arms.  He was snuggly and quiet and sweet, just how I like them!  I pretty much knew right then that he would be the one I would adopt, but I told the lady I was going to meet two other kitties tomorrow and that I would let her know tomorrow evening about this guy. 

After calling my mom and Justin, I decided to go back and get him today.  I would save me and the lady an hour drive each direction and there was no real point in waiting since I knew he was the one for me.  I brought him home and he has settled in amazingly fast!  He likes to lay on the couch and will come to me when I call him.  He also likes to lay in the chairs under the dining room table, under the tablecloth where it is dark.  Jack used to lay there too, so I'm not surprised.  He is super laid back and sweet as pie!  So a funny story on his name.  I wanted to name him something that was related to the color gray.  I did not want anything obvious like Smokey or Dusty.  He also did not need a super manly name like Slater (I just think of a macho guy whenever I hear that name).  I e-mailed Justin and said what about Asher?  He texted me a while later and said Asher.  He had not received my e-mail yet and so we both came up with that name on our own!  Needless to say, the little guy is Asher!  I am sure many nick names will come from that and I will keep you posted as they come along.  Here are some pictures of him from today!  Asher is 4 months old, has been neutered, and is all up to date on shots, deworming, and Frontline.    I will be taking him to the vet within the next week to have a general check up.  I am so excited about this little guy and I don't think I could have picked a more perfect cat!  I am sure there will be funny stories to tell about him as he grows up :)