Day Thirty

I'm too tired to write anything. This will be an all photo blog.

Texas drums warming up by the tailgate.

Game time!

Big Bertha

Longhorn Band

Alumni band and longhorn band together

My game buddy, Josh (my cousin)

Touchdooooown!

Alumni Band drum major

Day Twenty Nine

Guess what? My car still isn't registered. Ugh. The County Tax Assessor's office is rapidly becoming the bane of my existence. Hopefully third time is the charm. If it isn't, I may start screaming. Besides that, the day as a whole was pretty uneventful. I drove up to campus around 10:15am (I don't mind this whole sleeping-in thing so far) and had a shuttle ride all to myself to the center of campus. Which was weird. The shuttle drivers are always really nice, but I can't help but think about how boring their job must be. Just drive in the same circle over and over and over again. I'm not sure how they stand it, but I sure am thankful they're there. I wish they were there tomorrow for game day, because it's looking like parking is going to be a total monster. Wish me luck! I'm going early for tailgating, so hopefully that helps me find a spot semi-close by? Probably not, but it's always good to have goals.

I'm super excited for game day tomorrow. I've never been to a football game of this intensity, so it'll be an experience now matter how UT plays (but let's hope they play well). I'm not thrilled with the weather situation (high of 100 degrees! Nooo!), but luckily my seats are toward the end of an aisle which will make the refilling of water bottles much easier (less people to climb over and shove out of the way). They're also relatively far back in the lower deck, which means there's a possibility that I'll be shaded by the upper deck. This would be the best thing ever. Hope springs eternal.

I got my roommate hooked on Rizzoli and Isles tonight. Yes! Someone to watch marathons with! I also discovered that the second season of Grimm is now streaming for free on Amazon Prime. Hello, weekend activity when it's too hot outside to do anything else (which is all the time). In other good news, Otter has her first puppy training session tomorrow! She's a (lovable) handful at the moment, but we're all hoping to get the whole biting/barking/peeing in the house thing under control. That would be wonderful.

I keep staring at this Football Parking and Transportation Map hoping a miracle lot appears right next to the stadium for me to park in. They reserved all the good lots for "Longhorn Foundation Parking," whatever that means. They get probably 25 lots, and students get a grand total of 5. And 5 extremely small lots at that. Everywhere else we have to pay $20 to park, and this penny-pinching grad student is having none of that. Not cool UT, not cool. It's pretty funny how everything in this city revolves around these football games though. Every professor I've had has mentioned scheduling Saturday exams and review dates around home football games, and apologized profusely if they ever overlapped . If there's anything I'm constantly reminded of here, it's that Texas is a whole different world than Washington.

Day Twenty Eight

Day two of grad school...in the bag. Today was my first Physical Organic lecture where we all learned that we'll have five Saturday lecture sessions, as well as three Saturday exams. Um, what? Saturday? I didn't see that in the course catalog. We must have all made faces at this, because the professor looked at us all, grinned, and said "welcome to grad school." There were actually 4 undergrads that decided to try and take a grad level class....we'll see if they're still there next Tuesday now that they know so many Saturday mornings will be dedicated to even more chemistry lectures. If I were one of them, I would drop that class so fast. Besides the whole Saturday situation the class was really good. The professor is fantastic, and while the class will definitely be challenging I’m looking forward to it.

I also spent some time at my temporary desk today in an office for one of the research groups. I had to figure out which of my four identical keys opened the room. It was an ordeal. The desk I have has a giant drawing of a t-rex on it. I’m not sure why, but it reminds me of Jurassic Park and my brother, so I like it. I got antsy pretty quickly though and just wandered around outside and in the other buildings for a while. I found a newspaper bin that was full of free UT planners, so obviously I grabbed one. Then my brother and parents requested they get one too, so I had to go covertly snatch three more. Mom, Dad, Jeff, you better appreciate them!

The most annoying moment of the day came when trying to register my car. Note the key word in that sentence – try. I was so convinced that I had all the paperwork I needed, but the tax assessors website failed to mention that my car insurance had to be Texas car insurance, so my Washington insurance ID card was quickly rejected. Dumb. Tomorrow will be spent on the phone with USAA and hopefully back at the tax assessors office with all the paperwork needed. On a side note, the tax assessors office here is HUGE. They have 40 stations cycling people through. It was completely ridiculous, especially compared to the three-person Department of Licensing Office I’m used to in Olympia.

After this failed venture, I had to go back to campus and hang out until 5pm where I was getting introduced to the lecture class that corresponds with the lab I’m TAing. So, all 6 TAs grumpily showed up at dinner time (who schedules a lecture during dinner time?!) and waved when each of our names were called. Then we left. It was exhilarating. Thankfully the Avants improved my evening by taking me out to dinner at Jason’s Deli (mmmmm). Bob and Louise, you are the best, thank you for being my Austin-parents. I couldn’t have asked for better ones.

Things learned/overheard at UT today –

People need to learn not to only put sunscreen on their face. You would not believe the number of undergrads I saw with faces that were completely different skin shade when compared to their arms and legs. This is not flattering. Either get completely tan/burnt or stay pale like the rest of us.

Girl who said, “Are you, like, writing an autobiography about yourself?” – I worry for your future.

Some people can nap anywhere. Even a crowded Chemistry hall.

Day Twenty Seven

First day of graduate school! The day had an eventful beginning when I realized that my alarm failed to go off, causing me to wake up an hour later then I intended to. Perfect. Good thing I didn't have to be anywhere until 1pm. So...the car inspection I was planning on getting done this morning didn't happen. Though I will be thoroughly inspecting my alarm tonight.

I didn't get to campus until about 10:30am, and was extremely worried about the parking situation I would encounter at such a late time. Well, turns out I didn't need to worry at all. Apparently not many people want to park out in the boonies by the baseball fields like I do. There were at least 15 parking spaces open (thank goodness). The shuttle ride was once again a success, and it's much nicer having them arrive every 7 minutes rather than every 20 minutes (like yesterday). I got to listen to a guy behind me talk about his struggle in choosing the right college to go to, and how when he began attending UT he finally felt "right with God." Um, why didn't I move to Texas sooner? You would never hear this on any form of public transportation in Olympia. I loved it. Once I got off the shuttle by main campus there was a gigantic sign that said 'ARE YOU LOST?' in bold letters. It was hilarious, yet completely relevant. Then I got a free UT pen from the UT Library booth. Then I passed the UT Polo booth where they had an actual horse in a cage hanging out in the center of campus. I can't say I ever had that particular experience at St. Martin's.

And, as expected, there were undergrads everywhere. I sat on a bench in Welch Hall (the chemistry building) for a good 20 minutes just watching undergrads try and navigate their way around the building, often failing completely. Some were brave and came to ask me for help, and thankfully I was able to point them in the right direction as a result of my own aimless wanderings last week during orientation. It was such a surreal experience knowing I was there as a graduate student, an actual real chemist who will soon be teaching some of these undergrads. It was surreal, but it was awesome. I also made good use of my time and created a two-photo collage on my phone to commemorate the day.

I couldn't go to my first day of grad school without my periodic table
Toms.

After I had my fill of lost undergraduates, I moved to a shaded outdoor area attached to Welch and read a novel. Then I happened to look up and around me and realized I had this view. Isn't it beautiful? This may be my current favorite spot on campus. And it also happened to be right outside where my class would be taking place. Hello, convenience.

Tower view from Welch Hall.

Class went well, but was pretty uneventful. It mainly consisted of reviewing the syllabus and going over chemistry concepts learned waaaay back in high school. Remember significant figures, and how much you despised them? Well, if you're a chemist (especially an analytical chemist), they never ever go away. The guest prof (our actual prof is out of town this week) was fantastic and hilarious, and made 50 minutes of review material go by in a flash.

After class, I was back on the hunt for a place to get my car inspected. I tried a couple places around campus, only to be told there was a 3 hour wait. Um, no thank you. Back to South Austin I went, where I found a place right next to my house that could inspect my car right away. Goodyear, you are the BEST. The blueberry (aka - my car) passed with flying colors, and was rewarded with an official Texas Inspection sticker to proudly display on it's windshield. You go blueberry! Tomorrow will hopefully see me getting my car registration worked out. I'm officially convinced that moving to a new state is a pain. Don't ever do it. Just stay where you are.

My car is a rock star.

Day Twenty Six

First day of graduate school tomorrow! It's hard to believe that after 5 years of hard work in undergrad and an entire summer of anticipation, the moment is finally here. Time to battle it out for parking with other undergraduate and graduate students, teach my own group of students in analytical lab, and wander around this gigantic, gorgeous campus every day. Here's to hoping I find parking every day and don't get horribly, horribly lost.

I had to be on campus by 9am today, and left at 7:40am in anticipation of grade school and work day traffic. I definitely hit some back-ups, but still made it to my parking lot at UT at 8:10am. The shuttle wasn't planned to come until 8:30am. Fantastic. I just sat in my car, listened to music for 15 minutes, and seemingly confused the maintenance men working around the baseball stadium and parking lot. I know guys, I got here waaay early, just bear with me because it'll probably happen again. The shuttle eventually came, and I made my first successful UT shuttle ride. Victory! The East Campus shuttle let me off about 3 blocks away from my building, which I was pretty pleased about.

UT Shuttle - where I will spend quite a bit of time on while I'm on campus
(because this campus is way too huge to try and just commute on foot).

I had TA training from 9am - 11am, where we were all reminded of how to use a few of the analytical instruments that will be the main focus of some of the labs. Unfortunately, none of these instrumental labs happen until the 4th week of class, which means I'll likely remember nothing from what I learned today by the time these particular labs roll around. Oh well, I guess it'll just be a learning experience in lab for both the students and the TA! We also learned that all of the TAs will be introduced to the students (all 100+ of them) in lecture on Thursday. Since I was just recently an undergrad, I know I don't have to worry about this moment, because not a single one of them will be paying attention to our introduction and likely won't remember any of the TA's names.

After training, I went to get my keys! I now have 5 UT-related keys. Good thing I bought a separate key ring for all of them. And three of them look identical - that should be fun. But now I can get into Welch and my office whenever I want. Woohoo!

The rest of the day proved to be surprisingly busy (after my early afternoon nap, of course). I went to the post office, did the dishes, did laundry, filled out Texas residency paperwork, took online training modules for grad school, cooked dinner, and more. Life is busy, and things will only intensify once everything gets under way with school tomorrow. Bring it on.

Day Twenty Five

It's looking like it's getting stormy outside, and considering our power just went out for a couple minutes at random, I figured I should update my blog before everything goes out for good. I'm still not used to Texas storms...and we haven't even had a big one yet. Oh dear.

I parked out in the boonies of campus today, as those are the only lots that my permit allows me to park in. Awesome. Luckily I figured out which bus I needed to get on last night or I would have been a total goner when I got to campus. I think I've ridden a city bus all of once or twice in my life so I had no clue what I was doing. I knew my student ID got me free bus fare but wasn't sure how, so I just held it out toward the driver and said, "Hi, I have no idea what to do with this." She gave me quite the look before snatching the ID out of my hand and swiping it through some reader by the door. Then she slammed on the gas before I was able to sit down so I literally flew forward to my chair. Definitely not the most graceful experience for my first Metro ride. But, I made it to the stop I wanted 7 minutes later (thank God).

I had a meeting with a potential research advisor today, and it went really well. He got pretty excited when he found out I had experience working with algae from my undergrad days, which I wasn't expecting. I'll never get away from it, algae will follow me for the rest of my life. I also met another professor in the hallway before the first meeting who invited me to come talk with him about his research sometime as well. The possibilities are endless! I'll elaborate on things once I choose a research advisor and officially join a group - I don't want to jinx anything!

Then I had two and a half hours of free time before an insurance benefits seminar, so I made yet another trip to the Co-Op. I don't even want to know how many times I've been there in the last 3 weeks. I'm probably either close or into the double digits. But this time actually had a purpose, as I had to buy a textbook for the Physical Organic class I'm taking this fall. I bet every single person reading this blog cringed when they read the worlds "Physical Organic." Don't deny it. I also bought some UT pens for class, because I have very little self control when it comes to school supplies.

The insurance seminar was exactly as you would expect, informative yet boring. I'm so thankful that UT is providing me with medical, dental, and vision insurance for nearly no cost at all - so amazing. After the seminar I meandered around for 30 minutes trying to find an East Campus UT shuttle stop to take me back to my car. It was a failed venture. Why is this campus so GIGANTIC? Back to the Metro bus I went, and I was very proud of myself when I got on the bus and slid my card through the reader like a pro. 

The power just went out again. Time to finish the post before it's all lost for the night. Tomorrow will be another attempt at UT shuttle navigation. Wish me luck!

Day Twenty Four

My parents left this afternoon to go back to Washington. Naturally, it was a rough day for all of us. We filled the day with some work around the house, an H.E.B. run, lunch with my roommate and her parents, photo taking, and Project Runway. And some crying on my part, but we don't need to talk about that. In good news, we finally have blinds in our bathroom! Thank you, dad! 

During our trip to H.E.B. we quickly learned (smelled) that the store roasts jalapenos outside. My dad loved the smell, I did not. Here is photographic evidence.

Seriously fragrant jalapenos.

I met yet another one of my parents' friends today shortly before driving to the airport. His name is Guy, and they've been friends with him since high school. I've heard many stories about Guy, so I was definitely looking forward to meeting him in person. Fun fact, Guy is also my roommate's mom's cousin. Small, small world. It's possible he'll become a judge in his home town, which gives me two judge connections close to Austin. Never a bad thing to have.

We took some photos, partly because dad and I wanted photos together wearing our new UT hats. Mom still won't wear one. She'll cave one of these days.

Mom, Dad, you've only been gone a few hours now, and I already miss you both so much. Always know that I love you both and am always thinking about you. And don't worry dad, I know your spirit is still in Welch Hall from your undergrad days. And don't worry Jeff, I still miss you and think about you all the time as well. You'll be in Texas just south of me in a couple months! I cannot wait to have my big bro close by again.

Tomorrow, it's back to UT, where I'll have my first experience riding the shuttle bus and will meet with a potential research advisor. Hopefully it all goes well and I'm not an emotional mess from missing my family.

On a final note, look how big Otter has gotten!

Day Twenty Three

I saw so many extended family members today, I almost can't even believe it. But before all of that happened...more painting! The popcorn-texture portion of the kitchen still isn't done, and I learned today that it's completely exhausting to paint and try and fill in all the tiny little nooks and crannies the texturing creates. Stupid popcorn walls. Who ever thought that popcorn textured anything was a good idea? It's just one giant dust trap. I got about 1/3 of one of the sides painted (the sections I'm talking about are up near the ceiling) before my arms went numb from being raised above my head for so long. It's a work in progress.

Then I saw my Aunt Carole and Uncle Tommy after lunch, where we made yet another trip to the Co-Op. This one proved rather unsuccessful, as none of us even considered the fact that the weekend before fall classes started would be a total mad house. We got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic about 3 blocks away from the Co-Op and quickly realized our awful mistake. Then dad almost ran over a policeman. When the policeman (who was very friendly, despite almost being hit by a van) learned we weren't there to move in, he looked at us like we were crazy for coming to campus and immediately said, "you should get off this road as fast as you can." We ended up at the small extension Co-Op across campus, which is nowhere near the real thing. Sorry Carole and Tommy, we'll find another time to go spend lots of money on UT paraphernalia.

After our failed shopping excursion we had about an hour and a half before dinner at my grandpa's house. We made a quick stop by my other grandparents' house, then went over to have dinner with my grandpa, Aunt Gretchen, and Aunt Mary. The food was delicious as always (thank you Mary!), and the company was also pretty great. It's nice to live close to so much family that I usually didn't see very often before moving here to Texas. Final extended-relative tally for the day - seven. Not bad at all.

Tomorrow, my parents fly back to Washington. It's going to be a rough day. I don't like it. Much chocolate will be needed to get through the next few days, and I don't even feel guilty about it (thank goodness I joined a gym).

Day Twenty Two

Disclaimer - if parts of this post don't seem entirely coherent, it's because it is late and I am tired. 

Another day, another trip to UT. But, this time my dad came along, which was awesome. I still think it's so amazing that I'll be taking classes in the exact same building he took classes in when he was an undergrad getting his biochem degree. We walked around Welch Hall and learned that the seminar room that I've been sitting in for most of my orientation is the same as when he was in school, and it instantly took him back to his organic chemistry days. I was able to show him the analytical lab that I'll be teaching in as well as where my desk is located this semester. Then we wandered over to some of the newer science buildings before making the quintessential visit to the Co-Op. Per usual, we were unable to leave the Co-Op without buying something. I got a new hat and a lanyard for all of my UT-related keys, dad got a new hat, lanyard, and fancy Nike polo. And I grabbed 'Longhorn Mom' and 'Longhorn Dad' car decals, because those are required for proud UT parents.

When we got back to the house, we all got to work on various projects. We finished painting the bathroom (thanks dad!) and were able to start and finish painting the kitchen (thanks mom!). My mom worked her paint-edging magic while I wielded the roller, and we were able to finish the entire kitchen in record time (except behind the fridge, because it just makes no sense to move an appliance and paint a section of wall that will never be see - you all know I'm right). The new colors both look fantastic, thank goodness. Then my dad got to work moving a love seat out of Kelly's room with her dad, who is coincidentally also named Gary (except my dad has two r's in his name - don't worry dad, I made sure to clarify this for you). It was pretty funny listening to them strategize how to get the 33" wide love seat through the 29" door frame.

"That's a great idea Garry"

"Well, thank you Gary"

I had a pretty good time listening. Somehow, the Garry/Gary team worked some kind of magic and the love seat made it out of the room. I'm still not entirely sure how they got it out in one piece, especially since there was a point where just cutting the love seat in half was seriously considered. One of the mysteries of life. Now, Kelly's room is way more spacious and the home to a super comfy new chair from Costco, the store where dreams come true (in bulk).

The Seahawks won tonight! It's a preseason game, but I don't care because I got to see Russell Wilson play on the gigantic TV at the Avant household. I can't wait to start watching them in the regular season and watch all the Real Rob Report updates on YouTube. For any football fans who have never heard of this, you have to look it up. I promise you won't regret it.

I would give you a sneak peek at what I'm doing tomorrow, but I'm so tired I can't even remember what that may be. Walking around campus in 90 degree heat and painting a room has proven to be exhausting when combined.

Day Twenty One

Guess what? My dad's in town! It's so nice to have both parents here again, I've missed him so much. Unfortunately, this also means that they'll both be leaving soon (on Sunday), but I'm choosing not to think about that right now. We went straight to County Line from the airport and ate delicious barbeque and homemade bread. I love eating there, but I wish it wasn't so void of fruits and veggies. Sometimes, I just want some carrots. Is that so hard? I saw my first thunderhead on the drive home. And it was gigantic. Unfortunately it appears to have gone around Austin, so we didn't get any rain. Lame.

Crazy huge thunderhead. We saw some bolts of lighting come out of it,
I was impressed.

Another exciting part of today...I got to sleep in until 8:30! The second group of incoming grad students had their fire extinguisher training this morning, which meant I didn't have to be on campus until 10:30.  I hope they enjoyed putting out their gasoline fires, I know I did (seriously). Today we had an hour lecture from Library Information Services. The presenter is lucky that he went the day after safety training, because compared to the safety classes we took yesterday, his library presentation was riveting. My favorite library is still the one in the main building (the tower) though, because it looks like it could be in the movie Hogwarts, and there is no down side to that.

I also had my TA orientation today, which was exciting. I learned all the basics of TA-ing an upper division analytical chemistry class, and was relieved to learn that I don't have to deal with any students who want to argue over their grade or anything else that may come up, we just send them all to the lab director for that. You mean I have to deal with little to no conflict? I'll take it. But he did inform us that pretty much all of our students would be 21 or 22 years old. Fantastic, I'm barely older than any of them. Freshmen would be way easier to corral and force to pay attention.

And now for the second installment of "things I've learned in Austin"

1. People wear pants in 98 degree weather like it's a totally normal thing to do. Which it is not.

2. Washington State drivers licenses completely mystify anyone who sees them. "Why does your License # have letters in it? And a double photo? I don't understand."

3. Rush week is not a good time to go to the drag to get food. Sorority girls and frat boys are everywhere. It's like they multiply right in front of your eyes.

4. Driving 5 over the speed limit is not enough. You will get honked at, passed, and thrown angry looks. If you want to fit in, you have to drive erratically and way too fast.

5. Everyone talks about Interstate 35 like it's a death trap, when in reality it's like every other highway everywhere else. I felt like I was back home on I-5. Yet another example of Austin exaggeration. Just because trucks are allowed on this highway does not mean you will die. Just don't swerve in front of them.

6. Western Washington (in fact, basically the entire west coast) is way weirder and way more hipster than Austin, no matter how hard they try. It's time to just accept it.

Day Twenty

Today was one giant day of safety training. Fire extinguisher training was actually pretty fun though which was a relief. We had sassy fire marshals helping us the entire time - my favorite went by the name "Mr. Easy." Remember how I joked that we'd all have to put out a fire? Guess what? We all had to put out a fire. They ignited a controlled gasoline fire for each of us to douse with the extinguisher. These were not small fires (as seen in the photo below), and they totally freaked out the poor UPS drivers that drove down the street only to have flames shoot up next to the truck.

No, this isn't me. But I did put out a fire just like this. Mr. Easy
is hanging out in the back in the blue shirt.

After training we all had an hour of free time and nothing to fill it with, so I went to explore the labs where my desk will be located (with the Brodbelt research group). All the current grad students are swapping desks, so I have no clue where I'll end up in their maze of rooms. Then we had two more seminars before lunch break, which provided me with another hour and a half of free time that I had no clue what to do with. So...I explored all the science buildings! I learned that the Molecular Biology Building is super fancy on the inside, but not as fancy as the Bill and Melinda Gates building across the street. Obviously their building is made of giant glass windows and fancy sculptures, because that is the most practical of buildings to have. It looks awesome, but I would not want to be in there during a big thunderstorm.

The last part of orientation today was three and a half hours of lab safety training. Oh my word...it was as exciting as it sounds. The worst part? The teaching labs we were lectured in were waaay too cold from air conditioning. By the end of the training, my teeth were chattering and I could feel my core temperature slowly dropping. I never thought I'd be so happy to walk out into 97 degree heat and just stand in it for 15 minutes to warm back up. Everyone was high-stepping out of the lab just to get feeling back into their stiff legs. We looked ridiculous. But we were all three and a half hours safer than we were earlier today. Success.

Tomorrow I don't have to go in until 10:30! I get to sleep in! I don't have to drive in morning traffic! And my dad flies in tomorrow evening! So many things to be happy about. I also go to my first session of Analytical Lab TA training, which I'm pretty excited about. But I'll have two more hours of dead in the middle of orientation, so I'm sure more campus exploring will ensue. Hopefully I don't get completely lost and miss the second part of the day. But I know the day will end well, because my dad will be back in Austin and we'll be eating delicious barbeque. I can't wait.  :-)

Day Nineteen

First day of orientation. It was long and exhausting. Woke up at 7am (ugh), left at 8:20am, and enjoyed 40 minutes of early Austin traffic to get to campus. It wasn't too bad though, Austin drivers in the morning are more subdued than later in the day...apparently road rage slowly builds as the day progresses? I'm not sure, but I didn't have to slam my brakes once this morning (which can not be said for my drive home in the afternoon). I swear, in the almost 3 weeks I've been in Texas I've had to slam on my brakes more times than I ever did the entire time I was driving in Washington. No wonder there's so many auto accidents here.

Since my building is in the middle of campus, where no cars are allowed to go (there are even guard stations to ensure this), the closest parking space I could get to was 3 blocks away in a parking garage. Luckily, I got to campus with 30 minutes to spare before orientation started so this wasn't a problem. Also lucky, my building (Welch Hall) is right next to the UT Tower, which is visible from basically everywhere. If that tower didn't exist I would never find my way to Welch, it's like my north star. 

Orientation today was almost entirely seminars, and by the last seminar I was dangerously close to nodding off. We heard an overview of the program, listened to a faculty panel, learned how to be a successful graduate student (study and manage your time well...I never would have guessed), and went through advising for classes. And I also learned what my teaching assignment is. I'll be teaching a lab section of upper division analytical and instrumental analysis for non-chemistry majors (which consists of mainly biochem and chemical engineering majors). That's not intimidating at all. These students will only be 1-2 years younger than me. Super.

Teaching assignment. Eek!

Even though I had advising today, I still have no clue what I'll be taking. All I know is that one of my three courses this fall has to be an advanced analytical class where we review everything we need to know for our big 2nd year qualifying exams. Other class options are...Electrochemistry, Advanced Immunology, Biomedical Pharmacology, Fundamentals of Toxicology, and Advanced Medicinal Chemistry. There's actually like 50 other class options (since we're allowed to take classes from any graduate science program, not just chemistry), but these are the ones that looked the most interesting to me. Looks like a piece of cake, right? Not so much.

My first event tomorrow morning is fire extinguisher training. For an hour. Do you think they'll set a fire for me to practice putting out? I'm both intrigued and slightly terrified by this possibility. Then, two more seminars and a three-hour lab safety training session. Dream come true.

Day Eighteen

It's finally happened. We finally have wireless internet in our house...I almost don't know what to do with myself. You mean...I can check email? And pay my bills? All from the comfort of my own home? I thought I'd never see the day again. Time Warner guy, even though it made you cranky that we have Dish cable instead of your brand, thank you for restoring us to the modern world. And pest control guy (who also came today), thank you for hopefully making our house roach-free. Even though we just saw one in the garage. But I'm sure he's the last one (he better be).

I made one last practice drive to UT today, since tomorrow the drives begin for real and I actually have a certain time I have to be somewhere. I scouted out parking lots and shuttle stops today. There are a bunch of them, but not nearly enough for the number of students that will be there each day. I'm fairly certain every morning will be total madness from here on out. After finding all my permit-friendly lots, we made a trip to the band hall so my mom could relive some college memories. She was pretty happy to be there, and was shocked to find that the band hall was essentially the exact same as it was when she was a student. Across the street from the band hall I found something pretty exciting. It was a seating area, with chairs made to look like vertebrae. This may be the coolest thing in the entire world. 

Vertebrae seating.

I also found a saber-tooth tiger.

Then I came home and waited for the pest guy and the internet guy to show. Thankfully, my mom kept me company. We tested paint samples on the wall, put a shelf in my study closet, cleaned the kitchen, and installed a curtain rod. Never let it be said that we don't know how to productively fill our time. 

Tomorrow is the beginning of orientation. The thing I'm most nervous about? Parking. And getting there late (which would likely happen as a result of parking). University of Texas, it's time we officially begin our relationship. It's going to be a long-term one.

On a final note - congratulations to my good friend and freshman roommate Emily Reister and her new husband, Mason Morris! I'm so happy for the both of you, and wish I could have been there for your big day today. You better post photos real soon.

Emily and I at freshman orientation at George Fox (apparently I somehow
knew I'd be a longhorn back then). Now, we're both PhD students in
chemistry. My, how far we've come.

Day Seventeen

I start orientation in two days. I am so excited. I'm sitting here at my desk re-reading the acceptance letter from UT I received about 7 months ago, and I'm still in awe that I was given the opportunity to study at a doctoral level at such an amazing school. Sometimes, it doesn't even feel real. On the first day of orientation I'll both sign up for classes and learn what my teaching assignment is (which will likely be an analytical or freshman chemistry lab). Yes, in four months I will have gone from being an undergrad to teaching them. That won't be weird at all.

Today was a fairly lazy Sunday, which is good considering those days will be few and far between once school starts up. The day basically went like this: church - lunch - read - Home Depot - dinner - Criminal Minds - Avant's house. Home Depot was full of paint samples (for the bathroom and kitchen) and slabs of wood (for the closet in the study). Did you know that the area in Home Depot where they cut wood for you is unbearably loud? I never notice it when I'm in other parts of the store, which is shocking considering how ear-splitting it is. The cute guy cutting the wood helped matters a little though, I will admit that. He would have gained even more points if he had provided us all with ear plugs.

I somehow lucked out and ended up living with two other girls who love the same creepy shows I do. Criminal Minds and Dexter marathons, here we come (actually, they've already started). And now that we have Dish cable, the possibilities are endless. Especially once we learn how to actually use all the buttons on the remote, since there are about 8,000 of them. In the middle of one of the episodes of Criminal Minds I got a call from my mom, who invited me over to the Avant's house to hang out. I was thinking this would involve card games or some other kind of entertainment. No, they were all painting. And somehow I ended up crawling under the piano to reach a corner of the wall that no one else wanted to maneuver to. Needless to say, this was not how I saw my night going, but I enjoyed the company. At one point, both my mom and I were painting different sections of the wall while all 3 Avant family members were sitting on the couch watching. They totally pulled a Tom Sawyer on us. I hope you were all just impressed by my Mark Twain reference. I'm pretty proud of it.

Tomorrow I hang out with both pest control and the internet company. What better way to spend the final day of summer?

Day Sixteen

Two really exciting things happened today, and neither of them was in Austin. First off…my brother got engaged! Yay!!! I’m so happy for him, and I couldn’t have asked for a better future sister-in-law. Krystle, I hope you’re prepared to join this crazy Myers family. I can’t wait. Congratulations again to you both! And thank you Jeff, for finally finding me a sister.  J

Second, my friend from George Fox got married today! Man, today was a day so full of love surrounding people that I love. Mary and Craig, I would say I wish you a lifetime of happiness, but I don’t have to since I already know you both have a joyful life ahead of you with each other. I wish so badly that I could have made it to see you both today, it looks like it was a beautiful wedding.

Compared to these two things, my day was extremely uneventful. I went out to lunch with my grandparents at my already-favorite Austin restaurant, Jason’s Deli. Why do I love this place so much? I get to make my own gigantic salad and you get all the mini cornbread muffins you want. It’s like a dream. On the way back to their house, my grandpa saw a yard sale sign and just couldn’t resist it’s pull. The entire house was filled with things for sale, including an entire room devoted to UT things. I’m not even kidding. But according to the owner, someone had come earlier in the day and raided the room of all the really good stuff, which left me with nothing that really caught my eye. The yard sale gods were just not with me today. Next time…

Then Kelly and I went shopping for wedding gifts and organization things (mainly for the bathroom). We came out with two suction-cup shower trays that we stuck to our shower and filled with soap/shampoo. Then two hours later, we listened from the other room as they crashed to the ground. Suction cup fail. Luckily, my mom got back today from Houston and saved the day with a Container Store purchase that works perfectly in our shower. Mom, you rock. Container Store, you also rock (but not as much as mom).

On a final note, I got my UT parking permit today! It’s orange and white and extremely shiny. I love it. Now all I can do is pray it actually gets me a parking spot when I go to school each day. Even though the parking lots are literally across campus (a gigantic campus, I might add) from my building. Those UT shuttle drivers and I are going to best friends by the end of this year.

Three more days until orientation! Can’t wait.

Day Fifteen

I went back to the gym today, and was woefully reminded of my complete lack of upper body strength. Nothing makes me prouder than moving the weight pin to the very lowest weight setting…and still having sore arms as a result. Oh well, it’s bound to change eventually as long as I can drag myself out of my house. I’m thinking next week I’ll brave a Zumba class. I know, I know…things are getting crazy in Austin. When I got back from the gym, I met a cute little friend on the tree outside our house. Isn’t he adorable?

It didn’t hit the 90s until early afternoon today! Miracle! It was so, so humid though as a result of the rain last night. Will I ever get used to this weather? Things aren’t looking promising. But in good news, my allergies are finally improving! Pharmacy Bob, I give all the credit to you. Kelly and I made a Costco run today, and all we bought was toilet paper. This is a first for me, as I usually have no self-control when it comes to Costco. We made two guys really happy looking for checkout lines though, as I heard an excited voice say, “Those girls only have one item! Go in that line!!!” You’re welcome, random Costco guys. You’re welcome.

We’re working on training Otter not to bark. Yesterday we tried a bark collar, and got a malfunctioning collar so that clearly didn’t work. Desperate times call for desperate measures though, and since the Petco guy recommended that my roommate try a vinegar/water spray, Otter (and our living room) have a tendency to sometimes smell like vinegar now. Maybe it’ll help us keep the bugs out as well? Hope springs eternal.

Tomorrow we’re rumored to be having floorboards installed. And there will possibly be another drive to UT. And lunch with the grandparents. It will be a day of pure adrenaline, I’ll keep you all posted.