This past week was extremely busy. I don't recall being that busy ever in my life or if I have, it has been a very long time. I spent most of my time during the days in the lab, continuing my learning of techniques that I will be using for my project as well as making media. We did go out to lunch on Thursday for Dr. Edwards's birthday, which was a nice break. I rode Essau bareback on Monday and have not ridden him since. The days were just so cram packed and when I was finished in the lab, it was pitch black outside and all I wanted to do was go home. He has been fine though, going out in a pasture behind the barn and doesn't seem to mind that I haven't worked him much this week.
I am not sure what all I will get into this week. The Animal Science department is having their annual Thanksgiving lunch on Wednesday so that will be a fun time! I am going to be a bridesmaid in a wedding on Sunday the 21st in Nashville, NC. I am driving to Granite Falls Friday night, driving to Raleigh Saturday morning to stop and have lunch with Justin, then heading to Nashville. The wedding is at 3:00 PM on Sunday and I will be driving back to Granite Falls that night. I will then wake up early and drive back to Knoxville in time for class Monday morning. I then have three days of class and fly HOME on Wednesday evening. I am looking forward to seeing my family, Justin, my horse, and all of my people! I can't wait and hope that this next week flies by so I can get home ASAP! Justin has all of his final exams before Thanksgiving, so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. It is a very stressful time for the vet students as they have 7 finals in 7 days! EEK! Oh, I get my longhorns back next week in time to drive to Raleigh. I'm so excited to see them and get them home so I can work on finishing them up over break. Yay!
Did I mention I'm ready to come home?
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
qPCR RT RNA KSOM...it's an abbreviation sort of week!
Well this week has flown by, but it's been a great one! I have been incredibly busy, but not in a rushed, overwhelmed way. I have been spending a lot of time reading about the theory behind all of the biotechnology that I will be using for my research project (qPCR, RT, RNA isolation). While it is difficult to understand some of it without actually doing the process, it has been very helpful for understanding the reasoning behind why it's done, how it's done, and which parts are most critical. I have also been getting some more training in media making, RNA isolation, and did my first qPCR run today. Brooke is an incredible teacher and she explained the process so well! I made KSOM, an extremely important media that the embryos live in, today by myself (with Brooke watching). As long as the pH checks out tomorrow (at 24 hours), then I should be cleared to make it on my own. Check!
I have been learning all of the information about adipose collection and RNA isolation because tomorrow while I am at the slaughter house collecting ovaries for Kim, I will also be collecting a few fat samples in order to practice next week. I am really looking forward to this as it will be the first time I isolate RNA by myself. I will be doing a LOT of this in my project, so it is a great feeling knowing I am learning something that will directly affect my project!
Essau has been doing well, but I haven't had the time to ride him a lot lately. He doesn't seem to mind at all. I rode him on Tuesday and he did really well. Today he got de-wormed and was surprisingly good for it. I really like that Quest Gel! It isn't messy at all! It's so nice to get the de-wormer all in his mouth and none on me! It is supposed to be pretty cold the next few days and nights (lows in upper 20s/lower 30s and tomorrow's high is 45!!) so he has on a warm blankie :)
Asher is also doing well. He got de-clawed last Thursday and came home on Saturday. His surgery went well and he is healing super fast! We had to do 5 days of shredded paper in the litter box (yick) and he finishes up his antibiotics tomorrow. He will most definitely appreciate that!
It's hard to believe this semester is winding down. I have two more full weeks of class, then the week with Thanksgiving break, then 2 days of class after the break. After that, it's two exams and this semester is over! I am really, really excited about coming home for the first time since I've been here. I can't wait to see all of my friends and family, ride Ivan, and spend 4 whole days with Justin!! I just hope that I will have the strength and courage to come back to Tennessee! I actually get to come to NC the weekend before Thanksgiving because I am in a good friend's wedding as a bridesmaid. She is getting married in Nashville, NC (yes it's a real place) on Sunday the 21st. Since I have to come back to TN Sunday PM and go back to Raleigh on Wednesday, I decided to fly home for Thanksgiving so I didn't have to make two 6+ hour trips in 4 days. This will also give me more time at home since I won't have to take 6 hours out of the day for driving each direction.
A few for the prayer list:
* Justin is sick with a double ear infection and sinus infection
* My great aunt Nina has pneumonia
* NCSU vet students have their finals all before Thanksgiving
I have been learning all of the information about adipose collection and RNA isolation because tomorrow while I am at the slaughter house collecting ovaries for Kim, I will also be collecting a few fat samples in order to practice next week. I am really looking forward to this as it will be the first time I isolate RNA by myself. I will be doing a LOT of this in my project, so it is a great feeling knowing I am learning something that will directly affect my project!
Essau has been doing well, but I haven't had the time to ride him a lot lately. He doesn't seem to mind at all. I rode him on Tuesday and he did really well. Today he got de-wormed and was surprisingly good for it. I really like that Quest Gel! It isn't messy at all! It's so nice to get the de-wormer all in his mouth and none on me! It is supposed to be pretty cold the next few days and nights (lows in upper 20s/lower 30s and tomorrow's high is 45!!) so he has on a warm blankie :)
Asher is also doing well. He got de-clawed last Thursday and came home on Saturday. His surgery went well and he is healing super fast! We had to do 5 days of shredded paper in the litter box (yick) and he finishes up his antibiotics tomorrow. He will most definitely appreciate that!
It's hard to believe this semester is winding down. I have two more full weeks of class, then the week with Thanksgiving break, then 2 days of class after the break. After that, it's two exams and this semester is over! I am really, really excited about coming home for the first time since I've been here. I can't wait to see all of my friends and family, ride Ivan, and spend 4 whole days with Justin!! I just hope that I will have the strength and courage to come back to Tennessee! I actually get to come to NC the weekend before Thanksgiving because I am in a good friend's wedding as a bridesmaid. She is getting married in Nashville, NC (yes it's a real place) on Sunday the 21st. Since I have to come back to TN Sunday PM and go back to Raleigh on Wednesday, I decided to fly home for Thanksgiving so I didn't have to make two 6+ hour trips in 4 days. This will also give me more time at home since I won't have to take 6 hours out of the day for driving each direction.
A few for the prayer list:
* Justin is sick with a double ear infection and sinus infection
* My great aunt Nina has pneumonia
* NCSU vet students have their finals all before Thanksgiving
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Crazy Week
What a crazy week it has been! I am not sure I have been that busy for that many days in a row in a long time. This week has consisted of lots of media-making, studying, ovary slicing/oocyte searching, meetings, classes, and lab time. I felt like a chicken with its head cut off most of the week! Tuesday was really cool. The 420 class I TA went to one of UT's research farms in Crossville, TN for the day to pregnancy check cows. We met early and ate at Cracker Barrel that morning. I was just talking to a girl and picked up the little peg game. I normally leave about 5 pegs (ig-nor-a-moose). I wasn't really thinking and just played the game while carrying on a conversation and low and behold, I left ONE PEG! That has never happened and I decided right there that it was going to be a good day (I also had pecan pancakes on the way, which was extremely exciting). It was a long day once we got to the farm and started preg checking. We did not stop until about 3:00 PM and then ate at a Mexican restaurant called Cancun. It was really fun to palpate so many cows and to feel so many babies! When they're this far along (4-6 months), you can bounce them like a basketball. It feels like a water balloon with something inside and it's so neat to feel a fetus!
Asher got de-clawed on Thursday and I am going to pick him up today. The doctor said he was doing great and seemed happy. Hopefully he won't pull any stitches out once he gets home. I have the apartment vacuumed and ready for him so he does not get anything between his toes. He also has pretty shredded paper in his litter box from my paper shredder.
An update on the horns. Jessy went to the slaughterhouse Monday and brought back a BIG set of horns for me! Yay! I took them to the taxidermist that evening and should have them in time to take them home at Thanksgiving so we can sand and polish them! The set from before looks great and I am so excited to see them both finished!
Some other random tidbits. I carved a pumpkin last night. It was not as good as mine last year, but I like it. I am hoping to have trick-or-treaters tomorrow to eat this candy I bought! Essau is doing well. Poor guy didn't get to see me all week because I was so busy! I saw him yesterday though and he was content :) I have an exam Monday which I will be studying for this weekend, but next week should be a bit less hectic, thankfully! I am getting very excited about coming home for Thanksgiving and the next 3.5 weeks can't come by quick enough!
Asher got de-clawed on Thursday and I am going to pick him up today. The doctor said he was doing great and seemed happy. Hopefully he won't pull any stitches out once he gets home. I have the apartment vacuumed and ready for him so he does not get anything between his toes. He also has pretty shredded paper in his litter box from my paper shredder.
An update on the horns. Jessy went to the slaughterhouse Monday and brought back a BIG set of horns for me! Yay! I took them to the taxidermist that evening and should have them in time to take them home at Thanksgiving so we can sand and polish them! The set from before looks great and I am so excited to see them both finished!
Some other random tidbits. I carved a pumpkin last night. It was not as good as mine last year, but I like it. I am hoping to have trick-or-treaters tomorrow to eat this candy I bought! Essau is doing well. Poor guy didn't get to see me all week because I was so busy! I saw him yesterday though and he was content :) I have an exam Monday which I will be studying for this weekend, but next week should be a bit less hectic, thankfully! I am getting very excited about coming home for Thanksgiving and the next 3.5 weeks can't come by quick enough!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
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
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
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Longhorns
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).
Thursday, October 7, 2010
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!
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!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
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!
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!
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