Class, Teach, Lab, Repeat...

As you can tell by the large delay in updating...things have been very busy around here!  After Kim finished up her defense, things started to change pretty quickly.  She turned everything in and "checked out," leaving one lonely grad student in JARTU...me.  I did move into a real office with a locking door, so that is very exciting, but things are definitely different around JARTU without fellow grad students.  I enjoy the privacy and peacefulness of my own office, but I miss having Kim and Jessy to talk to and to decide on random ice cream runs. 

I started my classes mid-August and they are going well so far.  I have a nutrition course, which is basically a review of my biochemistry class from undergrad.  We've already had our first exam in there (one every 3 weeks) and it wasn't bad at all.  My other course is animal physiology which is INTENSE, but I love it.  It is what the first year vet students take in two semesters, crammed down into one semester.  We leave out the pathophysiology parts (how normal processes are altered by disease states) because we're not pursuing vet school and just need to know how things work.  I really enjoy learning about "How It's Made" and how things work in the body.  I find myself going ah-ha a lot in my head during class as I learn things I've always heard about but never understood.  Our first exam is in a week. 

I have also been busy being a TA for Dr. Schrick's advanced reproduction class.  I'm really enjoying it, especially being in charge of getting everything together for labs and helping students with their questions.  I'm also helping Dr. Edwards and a co-teacher Dr. Stewart manage the Blackboard site (the online interface where students get assignments, announcements, etc) for their Research Ethics course.  All of the new animal science graduate students are in that course, so it's nice that I have that time to interact with them since my office is across the river and I rarely see them otherwise. 

Outside of school, I met Scott, Louise, Erica, Jay, Kelsey, Makayla, and Bryson in Pigeon Forge, TN for dinner one Sunday because they were taking a vacation around there.  It was great to see everyone and catch up!  I also had an out-of-body experience at a Keith Urban concert.  My good friend Milly went on tour with Keith Urban for a year a while back and is great friends with Keith's guitar tech (the one who hands him a new guitar every song).  She called him up and asked him if he could get us tickets for the Knoxville concert and he did!  Not only were we 3rd row, we got to go back stage!  Keith Urban and Jake Owen both walked right by me!  AHH!  The concert was incredible and I will never experience something that special probably ever. 

Other happenings include our -80 freezer crashing, a trip to Clemson for the day to collect and freeze bull semen, many trips to Bean Station, putting up flyers for Essau, babysitting Tyler and Laney (Schrick and Edwards's kids), a fellowship dinner with a group of people from First Baptist Knoxville, and a trip to Granite Falls to get my car back! 

Exciting news: Kim accepted an embryologist job at a human IVF clinic in Charlottesville, VA, moved up there this weekend, and starts tomorrow!  She is very excited to start, but is a bit lonely living by herself in a brand new city. 

Wedding updates:  We are now less than 9 months away from the big day!!!!!  Can you believe we have finally gotten down to single digit months!?!?!  I have added Kim to the bridesmaid group, so I now have 5.  Justin is almost done with getting his 5 together, so that is very exciting!  I have been adding things to my registries and thinking about timing for when the girls will get their dresses and when other things need to get done.  I feel pretty accomplished already, having the photographer, DJ, cake, florist, venue, music, dress, and bridal party sorted out.  Things left to do: finish invitations/stationary, send out save-the-dates, bridesmaid dresses, decide on flowers, figure out honeymoon details, rent suits, and any other little details along the way :) 

Things are changing

Hey folks.  It's been a while again.  I have been pretty much the same, lots of lab work, staying busy, meeting with my committee members, sorting out my experimental design for this Fall, etc, etc.  Kim defended her thesis today!  I am shocked that she is finished and very sad to be seeing her leave soon.  She has truly been the "big sis" I never had and I love her to death!  Jessy got a lecturer position at UT so she'll be sticking around, though her office will now be over in the main Animal Science building.  So it will just be little old me over here at JARTU with Becca, Louisa, and Edwards.  That will be interesting.  I'm sure we'll all adjust quickly, but it will be very strange to not have someone my age to chat with or vent to. 

Justin was in town from Friday to today.  We went and saw Harry Potter (amazing), went to the barn so I could ride Essau, went to church, went to dinner with some friends, and just hung out mostly.  It was great (as usual) to have him with me.  I feel like I say this every single time, but I am more ready now than ever to marry him.  I just love coming home and having him there.  It feels so right and I love being able to look him in the eyes when I talk to him instead of on the phone or through a computer.  It's less than 10 months now...

Another exciting bit is that Brooke should be coming to Knoxville this weekend, so we're having a get together at Edwards' house for her and for Kim and Jessy's graduation.  That'll be fun.  Sunday I'll be meeting Erica (Justin's sister) and her family, Justin's dad and stepmom, and Makayla, his niece for dinner because they're coming to Pigeon Forge for a long weekend vacation.  I haven't seen them in a long time so it'll be great to be around family.  I also will be seeing my grandparents and parents (most likely) in a few weeks so we can swap back cars since mine will be done getting fixed from the hail damage.  Grandmamma told me yesterday she and Grandaddy canned 48 quarts of beans, so I'm stoked to get to take some home!! 

Other than that, classes will be starting in 2 weeks.  I am now a 1/4 time Graduate Research Assistant and a 1/4 time Graduate Teaching Assistant.  So yay for more money and more teaching experience.  Not sure what class I'll be TA'ing, probably Research Ethics, which Edwards teaches.  I turned in my candidacy form yesterday which is the first step towards graduation, so that is pretty exciting!  Before I know it, I'll be defending my thesis, getting my "green card", and going home to get married!!

Lab, lab, lab...

Well sorry it's been so long since I've posted an update. Things have been insanely busy the past few weeks. To give you an idea...besides staying in the lab for 11 hours at a time some days, I have a sore muscle in my hand where my thumb attaches from repeated pipetting.


I have gotten a lot of work done, had some really frustrating days where absolutely nothing works, and have had a few successes. I'll be meeting Monday morning with Dr. Edwards and Louisa to finalize my experimental design for the Fall. I also might have an opportunity to help out one of the vets here at UTCVM with one of his projects doing similar lab techniques I'll be using for my project. So things are still moving forward, but just very very   s l o w l y. That seems to be a common trend in grad school. Things always take longer than you think they will. Lovely.


Jessy defended her thesis on Tuesday. I can't believe it! She did a great job and after a few hours of brutal questioning by her committee, passed! It doesn't really feel real to me, though I'm sure no where near as unreal as it feels to her to be finished. Kim will be defending in a few weeks and then once they turn in their theses, I'll be the only grad student in this lab until January when Megan Goodwin starts. It's hard to believe enough time has gone by for Jessy and Kim to have finished, but thankfully time is still flying. Before I know it, it will be me about to defend and turn in my thesis.

I've been enjoying our Tuesday night book studies at Barley's.  Kim has been joining me as our Sunday school class reads One.Life.  We usually end up discussing all sorts of interesting things with no limits for the topic.  I think most people might feel a bit awkward in our group discussing the things we do, but we all have a blast and enjoy the honesty and openness of the discussions. 

Justin and I finished The Five Love Languages and really, really enjoyed it.  I HIGHLY recommend that everyone read that book.  It not only helps you figure out the ways in which you like to receive love, but it makes you become more aware of others and their needs.  Just by the actions that we do, the things we say, and the requests we make, someone who knows what they are looking for can tell what kind of love we need in order to keep our "love tank" full.  Words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, receiving gifts, and acts of service are the 5 languages that we use to express love to each other.  This knowledge not only helps in personal relationships, but also with children.  Again, it is a must read, especially if you are married or in a serious relationship. 

I am almost finished with The Host, written by Stephanie Meyer (who wrote the Twilight series) and it is incredible!  I have a few other books that Louisa has lent me (some of her favorites) that I will eventually get to.  My next audio book series will definitely be The Hunger Games because I have heard nothing but incredible reviews about them.

Well, that's all for now.  Essau is good.  Asher is good.  I'm busy, but good.  Justin is wrapping up work with USDA and will be in Knoxville next weekend for a few days before he starts his 3rd and final year of classes!  This next year is going to be the most hectic one yet and I am ready to face it head on.

Fin

Well I did it.  I finished all 4 books!  So, so good.  I'll be reading Stephanie Meyer's other book, The Host, over the next few weeks.  I got a Knox county library card and am borrowing the CD audiobook for my trip to Raleigh this coming weekend.  It's 20 CDs...so it'll take me more than the trip there and back to finish it. 

This 3-day weekend has been very enjoyable.  I spent it reading, cleaning, working out with Herald, and hanging out with the Erwin family.  I took three of the four kids to the barn today and they watched me bathe Essau and then we grazed him while he dried off.  They seemed to enjoy that, especially little Sophia who called him seesaw :)  I am going to a 4th of July cookout this evening at Jessy's house.  Providing the storms we just had stay away, it should be a fun evening outside eating and making s'mores. 

I really hope this 4-day week goes by quickly.  I had a really rough Thursday and Friday last week where absolutely nothing worked in the lab.  That was funny at first, and then extremely frustrating.  I hope that we can figure out what is going on this week so that I am not as frustrated and so I can move forward instead of spinning in circles.  Friday can't come soon enough!  I'll be heading home that afternoon, getting in late Friday night.  Saturday we have our cake testing/consultation and will be visiting the fairgrounds to watch the girls in the State 4-H horse show.  Other exciting things to look forward to include seeing my new apartment, eating cheesecake from cheesecake factory, eating a cookout milkshake, and of course seeing friends, family, and Justin.  :)  It will be a short trip, but I am very glad I get to go home at all.  This summer is zipping by so fast!  We hit the 11 month mark two days ago and it is finally starting to feel like it's getting close.  I'm really excited to see how the next 11 months go...

Catching Up

Reading status:  almost done with book 3!!  Stephanie Meyer is an amazing author.  She writes so that the reader feels like they're living in the story.  I feel like Bella and that I'm experiencing all of her emotions.  It has been pretty cool living her love story throughout the books and I am excited to see what happens in the end.  I haven't read the 4th book and the first of two movies for that book comes out in November so I really have no idea where the story goes or how it ends!!  I should know in a week or two :)

Mom and Dad got back from the Caymans on Saturday.  It sounds like they had a nice, quiet time with lots of relaxing, reading, and snorkeling.  Justin also took a little trip to Delaware to help load a bunch of Holstein heifers onto the world's largest livestock ship to be sent to Turkey.  He seems to have enjoyed it a lot! 

My last week was SUPER busy in the lab (extending into Saturday...ugh).  I am now finished optimizing my primers and am ready to start testing real samples as preliminary data.  So that's good!  Jessy and Kim are working really hard to finish up their theses so they can defend and graduate by August.  It's nice to be able to watch them in this stage because that is where I'll be next Spring. 

Kim and I went to Scott's for dinner last night (my Sunday school teacher) where we had fresh hamburgers (from his uncle's cows) and all the fixings.  That was one of the best burgers I've ever had (sorry Dad)!  We had a great time talking to Scott and Wendy, her grandparents, and all of their kids.  It was very relaxing and comforting being around such a loving family.  It's nice not to spend the evening alone in the apartment. 

Justin and I started a new book for our video chat book dates.  The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman had been recommended to me by many different people, so we decided to try it out.  We took the assessment and figured out our top three love languages (which happen to be the same, just in different rankings).  I love these books because they create conversations that we would not otherwise have and allow us to discuss things we've never even thought about.  I feel so comfortable talking to him about everything and it is a great way to enjoy time together even though we're apart.  It's at these times that I feel closest to him despite the distance, when we're sharing our deepest thoughts, feelings, and experiences. 

This week should be pretty busy in the lab again, but next Monday is the 4th of July (meaning a 4-day week) and the following weekend I'll be in Raleigh!!!!!  Not that I'm excited or anything...

Ok, I'm hooked

Just as an update...I finished Twilight tonight :)  I'm going to Books-A-Million tomorrow to buy them all because I am hooked!  I can't believe I finished it so fast, which tells you it must be amazing considering my lack of enthusiasm for reading...until recently.  I also bought the DVDs from Walmart :)  I saw the trailer for the new one (first of two for the last book, like in Harry Potter) which comes out November 18th.  I will not be one of the crazies who watches it at 12:01 AM on opening day, but I am very excited about seeing it.  I will have them all read by then for sure :)

Kim and I had a girls' night tonight.  We went to dinner at Jason's Deli, had milkshakes from Chic-fil-A, and then went and saw Something Borrowed.  It was really good! 

Justin went home today to spend some time with his family.  Louise posted pictures of him, Amber, and Erica with their dad as well as all their kids.  It was really great to see everybody together in the pictures, but I was a little bummed I wasn't there with them.  But I am glad Justin will get to spend Father's Day with his dad! 

Also, Mom and Dad arrived safely in Grand Cayman today (sigh).  I know they'll enjoy their week and everyone here who knows what we're missing will be wishing we were with them.  Justin and I have been talking more about honeymoon destinations and Grand Cayman currently sits at the top of our list :)

120 boxes of floss...really?

Ok, so I just don't get that Extreme Couponing show.  I mean yes, I understand that coupons can save you money and I know many people who take advantage of "double days" to save them even more.  What I don't understand is why these people have to buy HUNDREDS of items?  Is it just to impress the world enough to land a starring role on the show?  Or is there some rule that the coupons only work when you buy large quantities?  It just blows my mind that these people have literally stock-piled any non-perishable item (many of which they don't need or use).  I mean these people build rooms onto their homes to store all of their stuff.  I saw one lady who built a room to store her COUPONS!  And they devote at least 35 hours per week getting things in order and figuring out exactly how their shopping splurge will go.  That just seems insane to me.  I think I use a coupon here and there when it is for something that I am already going to buy.  I don't have the rule where I only buy things that are on sale.  Why would you go the grocery store multiple times a week to buy just the things that are on sale?  Seems like a waste of time to me. 

Well, in Uther news...I have been infected with the bookworm...Perhaps I am finally turning on the gene that my mother expresses so abundantly, but whatever the case, I am really into reading lately!  I "read" The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown on the way to and from Charleston for Chris and Sam's wedding and LOVED it!  I really love all of Dan Brown's books!!  Then, after seeing the movie and loving it, I read Water for Elephants in...get this...THREE DAYS!  That is completely unheard of for me!  Jessy lent me that book and just gave me the first in the Twilight series.  I opened it today and 128 pages later realized it was getting late!  It is such a peaceful feeling to get lost in a story, in another world for a bit.  It is a very cleansing feeling and really helps me to "escape" from the stresses and busyness of grad school.  So I'll probably have this one finished by next week :)  Luckily there are 3 more after it, so I should have plenty to read over the next few months!  Any other really awesome book suggestions would be gladly accepted :)

On another note, Justin and Tim moved into their new apartment last weekend (what will be Justin and my first "home" once we're married).  I have been given the tour through video chat and it looks nice.  Definitely a mansion compared to my little bitty abode :)  Justin also ordered a new bed which should arrive on Thursday.  It is the exact same as the one I have been sleeping on the past 8 years or so.  It is a premier pillow top orthopedic mattress and my back and I are in love with it :)  I'm glad Justin will get to enjoy the wonders of that mattress now too! 

Things are INCREDIBLY busy in the lab.  I have been going 100 mph all week doing all kinds of lab work.  I don't really see things slowing down much either.  The most annoying part about the recent weeks has been my dreams, which consist of exactly what my days entail.  I spend the whole night dreaming about doing lab work and wake up thinking I am actually doing it. I have to constantly remind myself that I am not actually in the lab and that whatever I am doing can wait until I get to the lab.  I thought dreams were supposed to be the ultimate escape!  Someone needs to have a serious conversation with Mr. Sandman...