Reception pictures

I have the pictures back from our reception in Champaign. If you wish to see them, please drop me an email and I'll send you the link. They turned out pretty good and I'm happy with them.

THE poster

Well I've been in grad school longer than I care to admit but it looks like things are actually turning towards a freaking PhD. Yes I do realize that stands for Piled higher and Deeper just like a BS stands for Bull S*&@.

I'm going to a Gordon Research Conference in New Hampshire at the end of June and I'm torn between being excited about it and being scared out of my wits. I'm presenting research in the form of a poster that summarizes the work I've been doing since I entered my research lab. Needless to say it has a lot of blood (although not mine), sweat, and tears. Since I work in studying how a blood clot forms, that's where the blood comes from and since it is against good research practices that you work with your own blood (or things from your own blood) that's why the blood is someone else's. ok, I get it, TMI.

The cool thing about this research is that it is making a lot of people step back and question the current "this is how things work" theory. The scary thing about this is that a lot of people have a personal interest in the theory and I'm more than likely going to step on a few toes just presenting the work suggesting that the current theory needs to be modified. I'm not saying people are wrong but that if you look at it from a different perspective that you can come to a different conclusion than what the current theory states. Last time my adviser presented research similar to mine, a scientist jumped out of his seat and ran to the podium shaking his fist at my adviser because he was so mad at my advisor's work and declared that it couldn't possibly be correct. Ten years later, this scientist published a paper supporting the research my adviser presented without giving any credit to my adviser about the idea. (Although others had already given my adviser credit for the idea and it had become the new "this is how things work" theory.) I'm just hoping to keep my cool when I need to and be able to defend my work and not be intimidated by someone that's got 30 years experience in the field that's never tried the experiments I've done (in at least triplicate) with the proteins I've made. And for the first time I actually feel like the scientist that I am. (Took long enough)

As usual, I can't take the easy route and must do things my own way. If you don't believe me ask my friends, my parents, or even my hubby. I'm sure that's one thing (if there's not others) that they can agree on.

Wish me luck!

Back and married :)

We had a great trip to St Lucia! We went to Sandals Grande St. Lucian and loved it. By staying in the Concierge level room we were able to get free room service 24 hours a day and also had a bar in our room stocked with various liquor, champange, soda, bottled water, and juice. It was nice being able to take bottled water with us to the pool if we wanted to do so.

The wedding coordinators were great! My only real complaint is that we felt a bit misinformed about the layout of the ceremony and would have preferred a generic practice, even if it was just with the wedding coordinator. Little things like I didn't know that we weren't going to take the wedding bands at the same time. Not a big deal but I would have been a little more comfortable having a generic rehearsal when we met the wedding coordinator the day before. Also, Gene didn't realize that he was going to have to give a toast to his new bride which kind of left him a bit out of place but he managed to get something off that we'll laugh at for years to come. All we were told for this part is that the groom would say something. Guess we should have asked more questions. All of this was very trivial and honestly the wedding went off without a hitch. Just things I wish I had known in advance.

We're definitely planning on going back to St. Lucia at some point, maybe to stay in the same resort. The resort was full but we didn't feel like it was overcrowded which is what I was afraid of when I realized that the resort was full before we left. Plenty of beach chairs by the beach and pool. Towels weren't too big of an issue. Usually you could get one about 30 min after they ran out because they had just come back from the laundry from being washed.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to write more at some point. Had a fabulous time and can't wait to go back!

Trip booked!

We booked our trip to Sandals Grande St. Lucian resort today for January. Airfare wasn't too expensive but we haven't really tackled the stuff of the wedding yet. Definitely have narrowed the finer details down though which is a plus. At this point I'm ready for the beach. Oh well, only a few months to go until the beach vacation!

Update on Wedding plans

We're starting to narrow down the wedding plans. I'm hoping that some of my out of town friends will be able to get updated with this blog but anything is possible.

Current plans (nothing booked)
We're getting married at a Sandals in St. Lucia in January
Reception tentatively scheduled for May 17, 2008 in Champaign

Things we have done:
Bought my dress & shoes, veil is being made by a friend
Gene's suit is in and being altered
Bought wedding rings
Narrowed down invitation style for reception
Narrowed down dates for events

Things we haven't done: too many to list!

Cassie crossed the Rainbow Bridge

It has been a month but I'm still getting used to the fact that Cassie is no longer around. She passed away on July 11, 2007 with Gene & I holding her at the vet's office. I always knew that she was going to lose her battle with lymphoma; it is a nasty disease that hides but never fully goes away. Her last few days were a struggle for her as her breathing became very shallow and she no longer was willing to take her pain medication that she had been on the last few weeks of her life. When we could get the pain meds down, it was obvious it was only making a dent in her pain. She had had a vet visit on July 3 and at that point there had been little change in the size of the lymph nodes since early June. A week later, they went from nickel size to nearly golf ball size. She was helped across the bridge by her oncologist, just before her oncologist left to start her new practice after her residency. I miss Cassie a great deal but I'm glad that the struggle is over and that she isn't in pain. Miss Cassandra Scylla is now at peace at the age of 7 years and 4 months. Chemo gave me 2 good years and I don't regret it at all. It was worth every moment and every penny.

Cassie was treated at the University of Illinois Small Animal Clinic in the oncology department. She loved going there and loved the people she encountered.

Just in case you don't know what the Rainbow Bridge is, the following is a poem describing it.

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown... (http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.htm)

Indy here we come! (Eventually)

It appears that Gene's transfer to the Indianapolis Airport Tower is going through and were tentatively scheduled to start living in Indy in Jan 2009. Which seems like forever until you realize that it is a year and a half from now. The reason it is tentative is the fact that we'll get a more firm date around the holidays of this year after Champaign tower reviews its staffing after a bunch of people have transferred out and some newbies have transferred in. We actually may be living in Indy towards the end of next summer but nothing can be promised.

Gene got the job offer on Thursday, we talked about it over the weekend, he accepted the job on Monday morning, and within hours we had a tentative release date. I expected the release date to take a month but it looks like Gene's got a great manager and set of supervisors which try to do their best to do right by the folks in the tower. I'll definitely miss seeing everyone in Champaign but part of me is excited by the idea of having more job options than just U of I. Which honestly is probably just the difference between the devil you know and the devil you don't know. :)

Hawaii Pictures

I finally got off my bottom and uploaded our Hawaii pictures to Picasa. Hope you enjoy them! This was from our trip from late Feb to early March of this year with Gene's family.

Hawaii trip

Wedding update

At the moment, there really is no update for the wedding plans. We've pretty much decided to do a destination wedding and have a reception in Champaign when we get back. Since the next time Gene has vacation is during hurricane season (August), we are thinking of doing the wedding in the spring. So not much to update but that's what we know at the moment. Nothing is booked yet, so anything is possible. :)

Picture of the engagement ring

I'm finally getting a picture of the engagement ring that I'm happy with. I've been happy with the ring since we picked it out but haven't been able to take a picture I'm happy with. I still don't think that the picture does it justice though. It is a Jeff Cooper design with 4 princess (aka square) cut stones on either side of the main diamond. The main diamond is a 1 carat ideal cut round diamond. One of my favorite aspects of the ring is the side view "architecture" which is why I've included the side picture.




The best place to view the side of the diamond setting is probably Jeff Cooper's website.
Go under Collections -->Bridal Sets --> Style R3102
My wedding ring is a different ring than the one paired on the website. I think I have the model R3100B (or its R3101B). The two models are so close I can't tell from the picture. You get the idea anyway.

Announcing our Engagement

When you're a little girl, one tends to dream like the fairy tales that the Disney company turns into movies. Prince Charming is going to come and sweep you off your feet to take you away from your misery and heartache. And then you've got Barbie that tells you it's good to have a career but still be Ken's girlfriend/wife/significant other. Once you're an adult you realize that if you're the girl that has to be "rescued" you're probably never going to get a date or if you do it is with someone that you don't want to date. At the same time if you're "too smart" then sometimes you're not asked out because people expect you to want more than what they have. Truth of the matter is that what I think that most girls want is someone that's willing to work for a living, get along with our friends and family to some degree, and doesn't mind leaning on the girl when he needs something as long as she can lean on him when she needs support. No matter what the salary or education level, that can be a challenge to find.

So what's my point? (since I do tend to ramble a bit)
I managed to stumble into a relationship with a guy that gave me more of what I was looking for, especially the things I didn't know I wanted. We clicked and it works. And the guy is crazy enough to think he wants to spend the rest of his life with me. So who am I to argue?

Although how on earth does one plan a wedding? Guess I'll find out.

Finally moved!

Well it is official!

All of my crap is finally over at Gene's house. Cassie seems pretty happy about it, seeing the stuff that she's used to seeing with all of Gene's stuff. Thank goodness Gene has a full basement. I can't believe how much crap I've accumulated in the past six and a half years in one place. Ugh! Now time to go through it better.

Now to clean up the apartment. Which shouldn't be too much of a problem, but like everything else takes time.

Yeah, I know thrilling news... why do I even have a blog in the first place? :)

moving

Did I mention at any point in time that moving sucks? Not to mention the fact that I'm trying to move in with Gene without taking any time off of work. Easier said than done. Especially when Gene has different days off than I do. But at some point the furniture will have to be moved, which means a day off of work for me. (hey he makes more money than I do) At the moment I have 2 small pickup truck loads moved over here, basically doing one per week. Good news that means that 95% of my kitchen is here and abotu 1/2 of my clothes. Not to mention the Christmas tree. :)

I constantly joked just over a year ago, that things change quickly and you never know what you're going to expect if you open yourself up to opportunity. So here I am, moving into my boyfriend's place after dating him almost a year with a trip to Hawaii booked with his parents (after we spent thanksgiving with them), and a trip down to visit my parents for Christmas. I guess I was more ready for a relationship in January than I thought I was. So far it looks like a good decision on my part (to go ahead and give the guy a chance) and I'm very happy with the result.

Back to school

School has started and the towns of Champaign & Urbana are again under siege. I'm sure that every college town goes through this every August or so, but with a school the size of UIUC, it makes life difficult to get around at times. But that's life.

Cassie is doing well so far with the cancer. She's running around enjoying life, which is exactly what I want her to be doing. Sasha on the other hand has developed allergies to something, probably outdoors. Poor thing is on benedryl three times a day and she's not very happy about being itchy all the time. Hopefully whatever is bothering her will go away soon or stop flowering so that she can get a brake. Guess we'll see.

Nothing really exciting is going on at the moment, which I'm happy about for once. Two fantasy football drafts are at Gene's house this week. Labor day weekend means moving day for a couple we know, which is exciting because then they will finally get a chance to live in the new house they've been building all summer. Then in two weeks, I'm going to a baby shower for one of Gene's coworkers and the next day going to a birthday party for a soon to be one year old.

It kind of blows my mind sometimes how much change has occurred in the past year. Dating, new babies being born, and adjusting to where I'm at now in my life has definitely been a journey. In some ways I miss dating just a little bit in the fact that I don't get to go through that initial encounter of excitement you get when the first date goes well. At the same time I'm not missing trying to figure out the creeps from the nice guys that will actually treat a girl how she's supposed to be treated. And I definitely don't miss the bad first date awkwardness. One thing I do love about being in a relationship is looking forward to seeing that person when I get done with work for the day, whether it's to tell him about the good, bad, or just that I'm glad to be home. I always knew I would look forward to that once things progressed to the point where that was an option, no matter who I was dating. I guess what surprised me was how much it actually means to me, and how much more stable my life feels because of it.

Golf?!?!

Well, I'm back from my vacation to Minnesota. I'm tired but rested. Sometimes it helps to be out of the lab or away from the everyday mess for a while.

On my vacation I got a chance to:
1) go tubing on a innertube on a lake for the first time (which those of you that know I grew up 10 miles from Kentucky Lake will probably find hilarious)
2) Watch a meteor shower
3) Drink alcohol every night except for the night before we headed home
4) Get constant updates from the place that I boarded Cassie to tell me that she was so CUTE! (and thus being spoiled rotten)
5) Learned how to play golf

On my golfing experience, I learned from a golf pro how to hit the ball on the first day with a 7 iron and went to the driving range to shoot half a basket of balls. Day two I learned how to chip and to putt. After the lesson, Gene and I went through the par 3 golf course at the place we were taking lessons at and I didn't do too bad. I hit 2 trees, which I found hilarious. Came within 2 shots of par on most of the holes, and made par on one hole (Gene made par also). And I got sunburned. I've been out in the sun all day ON THE LAKE without sunscreen and no appearance of a sunburn but the minute I step on a golf course I get a sunburn. WTF? Figures. At least I got some color. I still look like a ghost.

So back to work before I know it and maybe I'll work in some time at the driving range. Might as well. The lessons were pretty basic but made sense.

Overall the trip was fun and relaxing. Sure beats my old trips to Virginia that tended to be more stressful than relaxing. It was NOT the company I kept while I was out there but more of the situation of trying to cram in EVERYTHING in such a short amount of time, which tends to happen when you take chunks of time off to visit someone you care about. At this point, I know it was a learning experience and that I'm honestly happy now.

No teaching

I managed to get all of the technicalities worked out and I will not be a teaching assistant at the Univ of Illinois during the Fall 2006 semester. My advisor somehow worked out the money so I get the same pay and all I have to do is research, go to seminars, and group meeting. Which also means that I have to get more done which I have absolutely no problem with. I'm being a good little grad student and getting in earlier, staying late, and pushing an amount that's more towards getting things done.

And at the moment, my seminar date is November 8, 2006. Not fun. Guess we'll see what rabbit I pull out of my hat this time.

It's getting hot in here.......

Things seem to be going ok, I think. I'm busy in the cold room purifying proteins. Definitely not a way to spend a nice warm summer. Although today with a heat index of over 100 degrees, I don't mind it as much. Quality of life is definitely dependent on your perspective.

Gene met my parents about 2 weeks ago and going along with them pretty well. The weekend went pretty smoothly and the only real problem we encountered was learning that a black lab can be claustrophobic in small spaces. You learn something new every day, I suppose.

In just over a week, I will be heading up north to cooler temperatures and a vacation in Minnesota. I never thought that I would travel so much in a relationship where it wasn't long distance, but I've been proven wrong. Not that I mind it, most of the time; whether it is being proven wrong about how good things can get or the travel for that matter. I think that the traveling more than anything has shown that we can make things work.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to post another update soon. Funny thing is almost every time I try to post an update, Blogger has issues. Must be my timing. :)

Meet the Parents & Wine tasting

Well apparently it's time to meet Gene's parents. Talk about being nervous. Not that it's not normal to be nervous when meeting your boyfriend's parents for the first time but it seems like another check that I'm happy where I'm at with this relationship and I don't want something to screw things up. Such as his parents hating me.

Does it really matter if his parents don't like me? Or does it matter if they do like me?

And as usual, I worry too much. :) If I didn't then that would be a good sign that there was something wrong.

The wine tasting that Corkscrew held was great! Procedes went to the local PBS station, WILL which is always a good cause in my book. For once in my life I went overboard on buying wines and bought right around a case. I've never bought so much wine in my life. Needless to say there were a lot of great wines and once you got to case level, you got a 15% discount. So with adding in the friends 1-2 bottles (each) with my order then we easily got that discount. I'm guessing that I'm not going to buy wine for a year or close to it. We'll see. But the tasting was a lot of fun especially since it was the girls going out and just having a fun but relaxing time.

FINALLY!

Yes Duane there is a Santa Claus. Whoops! I mean to say that I finally got a blog going. It doesn't say much now but if you're nosy enough to see if I have a blog, then stick around and maybe I'll post something entertaining.

Current plans for the weekend: head to St. Louis with the boyfriend and go see Train in concert at The Pageant Friday night. Then have lunch with Beth, that crazy gal that STILL hasn't left Rolla (but we still love her anyway) before heading back to that crazy place nicknamed Chambana.