Day Four Hundred Fifty Six

In case you were curious - yes, I am that person that stays in on Halloween night and reads her book all evening instead of going out. And it couldn't have made me happier. Plus I've got my first book club meeting on Monday, so I've got to get this thing READ. We didn't get trick or treaters, but I imagine that's pretty normal for a gated apartment complex? I'm not sure. Regardless, that just means more chocolate eyeballs for me. And I don't hate that.

I was planning on making it a short day today since I've gotten all my experiments done this week, but it was made just a little bit shorter by an emergency evacuation of the entire building. You guys! My first official chemistry building evacuation! I still have no idea what caused it (my guess is something exploded), but it was a little thrilling. Hopefully no one got injured, anything that warrants the entire, giant Welch Hall to be evacuated can't be good.

I'm too tired to think of anything else interesting to write. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Day Four Hundred Fifty Four

And the big news is..........

I passed my written qualifying exams!!!!! Now the only hurdle between me and candidacy to the doctoral program is my spring seminar. One. More. Step. Bring it, grad school. BRING IT. I found out on Monday, but was sworn to silence until Wednesday. Its safe to say I've been an emotional wreck ever since finding out. So many feelings...so much stress and anticipation finally taken off my shoulders. Finally.

Today I had class. Then prepped solutions for experiments tomorrow. Then used my nearly-expired Groupon to see Gone Girl at Alamo Drafthouse. Its a very good movie, but if you haven't read the book (I didn't read it), brace yourself. That movie is going to go in all sorts of directions you won't expect, and will leave you dumbstruck by the end. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Day Four Hundred Fifty Three

I got my first book club book in the mail yesterday! Its "The Black Hour" by Lori Rader-Day. Then I double checked online to see when the book club will be meeting and......oh, its this coming Monday. Oops. But guess who just got an excuse to read all weekend.  :-D

I also got flights booked for the holidays, and am so excited to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and Christmas with my parents! Those trips can't come soon enough, I miss my family. And thank you, mom and dad, for being so patient with me as I muddle through trying to find the best deals on flights.

I got some big news yesterday, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow's post to hear about it, as I've been sworn to silence not to share anything until Wednesday. I hope you're all still able to sleep tonight after I just dangled that cliffhanger right in front of you.

Day Four Hundred Fifty One

Things might have gotten out of hand this weekend, and I may or may not have joined 3 more book clubs. Oops? I like to reason with myself that it gives me options if a couple of the clubs have lame looking book selections each month, but I also know that when I get really excited about something, I lose all sense of self control. This is often what happens to me in Costco as well, and is how I end up with things like a 5 pack of toothpaste tubes or a 4lb case of strawberries. Regardless, I chose two of the four book club books for this month, ordered them off Amazon, and am eagerly awaiting their arrival.

I've also been consignment store hopping all weekend in a desperate attempt to make some money off my clothes that no longer fit. I've been to 2 out of 3 and have made $20 (enough to support my newly acquired book club habit for the month), and am hopeful that this 3rd store will show some love to my look-like-new Gap jeans. Come on, Buffalo Exchange!

Other than that, I've spent the weekend relaxing, writing Halloween cards, reading, and watching football. I slept through the second half of the Texas game, because that's how well things were going for that team, and cringed the entire way through a very messy Seahawks win. Get it together, boys!

Day Four Hundred Forty Nine

I don't even know where to begin describing this past week. I am just so glad it's done. Remember that "no big deal" spider bite last Friday? Turned into a big deal. Swelling eventually transitioned in to debilitating joint pain in both legs that turned in to 3 more doctors appointments (the latter two of which I went to a new doctor on campus - very good decision), a Lyme disease scare, a bevy of blood tests, and copious use of ice packs. The final verdict is....no Lyme disease and all normal blood test results! Just a mysterious bug bite to which I had a severe reaction that will (hopefully) gradually dissipate over time. While the joints are still pretty achy, they're no longer preventing me from doing day to day activities. Now everyone just pray that they get back to normal soon.

My air purifier continues to make me a very happy girl. If I could strap this thing to my back and take it with me everywhere I go, I probably would.

Today was the first day this entire week that I finally felt somewhat relaxed after this whole allergic reaction mess, which is saying a lot since I had an exam this morning. I treated myself to trips to Bath and Body Works and Barnes and Noble (its okay, I had coupons for both) and came out with some mini candles, a new lap desk, and an invitation to join an online book club. I told my roommate about the book club, to which she replied "Oh god, that's so nerdy. You totally joined it didn't you." Um, of course I did. And I'm legitimately excited about it. I think I'll read said book on my new lap desk while relaxing to the aroma of a mini candle. So there.

We're dog sitting Mia the corgi this weekend. She's a sweetie, but she makes me miss my Sophie. I still love that little dog to pieces.

Day Four Hundred Forty Two

This is the saga of the last couple days. After getting back to Texas from vacation, I noticed that our apartment was starting to smell faintly of tobacco smoke again, especially in the evening when we crank the A/C. Why, you ask? Because our downstairs neighbor smokes like a chimney and it comes through the plumbing and vents. And makes me absolutely lose my mind. LOSE. MY. MIND. After talking to the front office (result - deal with it or move), making maintenance reseal all the plumbing in my bathroom, crying, and talking with my parents about how unfair life is, I decided to buy an air purifier. It only arrived today (Amazon was amazing and delivered it one day after I ordered it), but I'm already hopeful that this may have been one of my best purchases ever. Bonus - it should also help with my allergies. There is literally no down side.

My new best friend.

In other news, I got my first Texan spider bite. Right smack on the back of my knee. Fabulous. After watching it progressively swell, I decided that perhaps I should get it looked at to make sure I wasn't going to lose a leg (I'm quite fond of both of them). I'm happy to report that while it is a nuisance, it should go away with the help of some steroids and benadryl. I was also supposed to get some fancy cream to put on it, but when I went to the pharmacy they told me it was $72 post insurance. Seriously?! 72 dollars?! Is it magic cream? No thanks. I'll just stick with $5 hydrocortisone cream.

School has gone well in the 3 days I've been back. It's nice to return to focusing on research, even though my first experiment back failed at the second to last step. It was my very first experiment working with bacteria (yay!), and I was disappointed (boo). But hey, it wouldn't be science if it worked perfectly the first time.

And to finish off this post, photos from Colonial Williamsburg that I promised a few days ago. Enjoy!

Nameless confederate soldier graves.

The palace.

Things got a little worrisome at one point by the court house...

The Capitol.

Day Four Hundred Thirty Nine

Sorry for the lack of blog posts the past couple days...I was enjoying not having to be glued to my laptop on vacation, then once I got back to Austin I learned that the internet in our apartment wasn't working. On vacation, no internet is totally okay. But once I'm back to real life and school and work, no internet is definitely NOT okay. I just got it fixed a little while ago, so I'll be able to post some more Virginia photos tomorrow.

Vacation was exactly what I needed after the stressful 3 months of studying for and taking qualifying exams. Virginia was beautiful and seeing my parents was the best. My first trip to the east coast did not disappoint. The first leg of my trip back to Austin got a little interesting though...due to bad weather in Atlanta combined with a closed runway, the plane I was in got put in a holding pattern until a spot opened up for us. This means we traced big circles in the sky for about 45 minutes. And as our pilot so graciously informed us, we were given the okay to land in just enough time, as we were almost so low on fuel that our flight would have had to make a detour and land elsewhere. Thank you for being so honest, Mr. Pilot, but I really didn't need to know about the low status of our fuel. The good news is we landed, I didn't miss my connection due to a 2 hour layover, and I made it back to Austin safe and sound.

Day Four Hundred Thirty Six

The Seahawks lost, and I am sad.

But in better news, I had a good rest of the day exploring downtown Richmond and my dad's dental school.

Museum of the Confederacy, right next to the White House of the Confederacy,
and awkwardly squished in the middle of an abundance of hospitals in downtown
Richmond.

Because there's no more appropriate pose to strike when
next to an absurdly large (and real...this thing was attached
to an actual ship) anchor.

No picture could truly do justice to the sheer size of the monuments
on Monument Boulevard. It was ridiculous. And awe-inspiring. And ridiculous.

V!C!U! Go Dentists!

Day Four Hundred Thirty Five

I'm in Virginia! After a grueling week of horrible exams, I needed a vacation. Badly. And after a rough week like that, there's no better place to be then with your parents. I flew in yesterday evening, had dinner at Red Robin (Yum! We don't have any Red Robins in Austin, so I've been craving it for roughly a year now), and then explored my parent's new house. I officially approve of their house buying decision.

Today was a day of shopping. And when I say shopping, I mean "shop so much that your legs hurt by the end of it." But overall the day was a success, and I have some new pants. Victory! I can't get over how beautiful and colonial everything is here. This is my first time on the East Coast, and it is definitely different then the west (best) coast, but in all good ways. Tomorrow I get to explore downtown Richmond and see some true historical sites, as well as my dad's school, so I can pretty much assure you that tomorrow will be a picture post. Today would have just featured pictures of store fronts, so I figured we didn't need visual documentation for that.

On a final note, Texas almost pulled out a major surprise win against OU today. Good job, Longhorns! I was expecting you to suck in tremendous fashion, but I was gladly proven wrong. You made it a true battle. Now on to tomorrow, where Seahawks jerseys will be worn and proudly paraded all over Richmond. Go Hawks!

Day Four Hundred Thirty Two.

You guys, it's been a rough week so far. With the second half of qualifying exams on Monday afternoon and a Microbiology exam this morning (none of which I felt good about), I am physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. So I'm going to read a funny book and go to bed and pray for a better day tomorrow.

Thank goodness I'm flying away to see my parents this weekend - it couldn't have come at a more needed time.