Day Five Hundred Fifty

Impromptu Skype dates with one of your childhood best friends is the ideal way to end the work week. Abbie, I love you. And you have the cutest kitten in the history of kittens.

Overall, I'd give this week a solid C-. Not a great week at all...but not a complete failure either. Let's just say I'm relieved its the weekend, even though tomorrow will basically be devoted to a big homework assignment as well as reading literature pertaining to my research...gotta pass those classes and make it through doctoral candidacy! But on Sunday...its Seahawks time all the way. I'm not even trying to kid myself that I'll get anything else done that day. I'll be too busy losing myself in emotions (hopefully only good emotions).

Day Five Hundred Forty Six

I know, I promised photos yesterday. But...sometimes my IBS likes to surprise me and dictate my schedule. As it did last night. It wasn't fun, but thankfully the worst seems to have passed. So without further ado, here are the two photos I promised...

First up - lab snacks! There's this company called Thor Labs that likes to surprise
sad, lonely, hungry graduate students with small boxes of Lab Snacks when there's
extra room in the box holding your brand new lab equipment. It's the best
thing ever.

Next - basketbaaaaaall! This is from the sold out UT vs Kansas game that I went
to with my Grandpa and family friend Mary. It was a close game until the very
end, when Kansas bested us.

Today was back to work as usual. Class in the morning, homework at lunch, and my first lab introduction in the afternoon. I stayed awake during class (victory!), finished my pre-lab assignment for my Optics class on Wednesday, and had a smooth lab introduction with my first class of students. They seem like a fairly normal group of undergrads, which is really all I can hope for at this point.

In other news, it was 71 degrees out today. In January. Winter isn't over yet, Austin! Don't do this to me. I'm not done wearing sweaters.

Day Five Hundred Forty Four

I went to a basketball game today! Thank you, Grandpa and Mary, for inviting me to go watch UT battle Kansas. It was close the entire time, but unfortunately we ended up losing. We'll get you next time, Jayhawks. Count on it. I would post a photo I took while at the game, but my phone blogger app won't let me post photos anymore, and I'm not willing to get out of bed to remedy the situation. I saw something new at this game - they lowered the mascot from the rafters of the arena right before tipoff (the costumed Bevo mascot, not the actually steer...though that would have been even more impressive). Not even those acrobatics could help motivate us to sink the 3 pointers.

Yesterday marked the end of my first week of the semester. And I can already feel the exhaustion settling in. It just wouldn't be grad school if us students weren't nodding off at all times like we have some sort of contagious strain of narcolepsy. On to more reading about Optics and Lasers (first class) and Cell Biology (second class). I give myself a solid 4 minutes before whatever I'm reading puts me to sleep.

Day Five Hundred Forty Two

Austin gifted me with Washington weather today, and I loved it. 50s a drizzly? I'll take it. But while I've come to expect a mass insurgence of umbrellas upon the first hint of rain, I wasn't anticipating the warzone these umbrellas would create when it came to me trying to get to class. I'm lucky I didn't lose an eye. Mindy and I were legitimately ducking and weaving the entire 3 blocks to class. Another friend of mine who apparently isn't so gifted at ducking and weaving ended up in a puddle due to these insane college students and their umbrella-weapons. I miss my homeland of people in rain jackets, life was so much simpler then.

I spent most of my day reading for class and for research. Ahhhh, the excitement. Tomorrow is experiment time, though! Wish me luck. And if its raining again, pray for my safety as I travel the perilous streets of UT.

Day Five Hundred Forty

First day of the new semester! Back to riding the shuttle with the baseball boys and almost getting run over multiple times by errant cyclists. Oh, how I've missed it. If today was an indicator of how the semester will go, it will be best described by one word: exhausting.

First up today, meeting with the boss, where we continually got distracted talking about movies and quoting cinematic classics such as Zoolander and Despicable Me. Then, class. Optics and Lasers. It's going to be super interesting and hands on, as well as extremely time consuming and difficult. In other words, classic grad school. After that, experiment time! Working with bacteria and washing my hands every 10 minutes due to paranoia caused by said bacteria. Next up, seminar for an hour, where a fellow grad student presented his research like a champ. Lastly, prepping for tomorrows experiments before running downstairs to be introduced to one of the classes I'm helping TA for. So...you could say I was a touch busy today. Thankfully I have a wonderful adoptive Austin family that took my frazzled self out to dinner tonight and didn't even comment on how scatterbrained I was. Avants, I love you. Let's go watch some baseball soon.

Tomorrow should be slightly less hectic. I think? I hope. Goodnight.

Day Five Hundred Thirty Nine

As I was thinking about what to write for this post, I figured I'd focus on how tomorrow is the first day of spring semester. Even though it will soon be the source of almost all my worry and frustration, I can't help but still be that person who gets excited for the start of new classes and a rejuvenated campus. Then I realized...unless something horrible happens that would cause me to fail or drop one of my classes, tomorrow is the start of the very last semester where I'll be required to take new courses. Part of me is thrilled about this (No more grades to worry about! I'll never have to think about maintaining my GPA again!), but there's also part of me that isn't quite sure I'll like this change. I love learning, and considering I can't remember a time when I wasn't being taught something new (whether I liked it or not), it's a weird feeling knowing its almost over. This probably explains why I decided to jump in to grad school, and why I'll likely remain a lifelong academic in some form or another. It's at least comforting to know that there will always be a part of my brain that can't wait to be taught something new.

Outside of school....oh my gosh SEAHAWKS. That game yesterday put me in a terribly emotional state. I cried, and by the end of the game was on the floor in the fetal position. I've never cried watching a sporting event before. Ever. I hope it happens again in 2 weeks.

Day Five Hundred Thirty Six

Friday Friday Friday Friday Friday!

I'm so happy it's the weekend. But the fact that it's the weekend also means that I'm that much closer to starting the madness that will be Spring semester. I'm excited to get back into the swing of things, but also slightly terrified of the sheer volume of work that will be coming my way.

But in good news, I think I figured out the problem that's been plaguing my research for the past few months. I seriously almost wept, this one issue has been driving me absolutely nuts for what feels like forever. It also helps that my boss will be very happy. It perfectly describes the research process. Long stretches of frustration followed by brief bouts of euphoria. It's exhausting.

And now, I'm going to go read...while I still have the time to do so.

Day Five Hundred Thirty Four

Today, I learned that one of the spring classes I signed up to take has a 4 hour lab. Um, what?! So much for running experiments on Wednesdays. Grad school, sometimes (almost all the time) you fluster me.

Day Five Hundred Thirty Two

After being out of commission for a week with the flu, it was almost a relief to go back to work today. There's only so much sitting around and feeling icky that a girl can take. I was a productive machine today up at campus (which means there were minimum YouTube breaks) and am ready to tackle a fresh experiment tomorrow. Bacteria, please behave. I've really had enough of your finicky behavior. It's my last week of freedom to do pure research before Spring semester starts, and I'm hoping to make the most of it. Ugh, spring semester. This one is going to be a doozy. Two classes + two labs to TA and grade for + research + spring doctoral candidacy seminar will make for one always-exhausted Allison. But after this semester...I'll be done taking classes! It felt like it would never come. Lord, please let this semester go as smoothly as possible.

One of the downers of being back at work...5pm traffic. I rewarded myself with a Schlotzkys when I got to my part of town. It was a rough week last week, so I figured I earned it. Mmmmmmm.

Oh! Have I bragged about my new backpack yet? I got it last week (yes, in the middle of having the flu, it wasn't my wisest decision), and I'm in love with it. It's my very first North Face backpack, and it definitely earns a rave review. I made everyone in lab try it on so they could feel the extreme comfort. They all agreed with me, though it's possible they were just humoring my slightly over-exaggerated excitement. I'll take it.

I hope everyone is mentally prepping for the Seahawks game this coming weekend. If you're not rooting for the Seahawks, don't tell me. It will do nothing for our relationship.

Day Five Hundred Twenty Nine

Still sick. I finally caved and went to the doctor today, where it was confirmed that I have the flu. I guess I should be thankful I got it now before the semester starts? Regardless, its no fun. Let the hibernation continue.

Day Five Hundred Twenty Six

New year, new stomach virus. Not cool, 2015. Not cool.

Day Five Hundred Twenty Two

You know you're a grad student when - you go in to work on January 2nd, even though that day falls on a Friday. There was a (very) small army of us in the chem building, because research never sleeps. I got lots done though and the laser behaved after being out of use for 2 weeks, so overall it was a successful day. I think we should have 1 day work weeks more often.   :)

Day Five Hundred Twenty One

The holiday blog hiatus is over! Yaaay! As per usual, I enjoyed a (largely) computer-free vacation in Virginia with my parents, and it was a wonderful ten day break from life as a grad student. But...it's back to the grind tomorrow (I know, first day back at work is a Friday? There's just no justice to it), where I return to my second home here in Austin - Welch Hall. Treat me kindly, bacteria...you were not cooperating with my research when I left, I certainly hope you've straightened yourselves out.

Vacation was fantastic, I got to spend lots of time with my parents, a day and a half with my brother and sister-in-law, and did a bunch of historical things all around Virginia. Here is a short picture diary of my time there...

First up was Colonial Williamsburg on Christmas Eve. The town was festively decorated with wreaths and lights, so naturally the first thing we visited was the jail. What can I say? We're a family that loves justice. And we got to go inside a jail cell that once held Blackbeard's pirates, which is just awesome.

Dad and I in front of the cell that held pirates.

For those of you that have been to Colonial Williamsburg, you know that a major tourist destination is Merchant Square. I love it too...mainly for this candy shop that sells amazing chocolate.

Then as we shuttled our way back to the visitor's center, we ended up sitting next to this guy. Obviously one of the actors, right? Well, he informed us that he's just as much of a tourist as we were. This was just his outfit from when he played the role of town crier in historical Boston reenactments. He may have been the highlight of that entire Williamsburg trip.

Feeling colonial?

Next up - Christmas! I got a bevy of ridiculous and wonderful things (my favorite combination), such as evidenced by this Blue Footed Booby ornament (aka - one of the best ornaments EVER). And we went to see the new Night at the Museum movie, which was the icing on top of a wonderful Christmas cake. I realize that was a stupid analogy, but I'm still jet-lagged so we're just going to go with it.

I'm currently taking name suggestions.

The following day we spent an ungodly amount of time in the car to get from Richmond to Dayton, Ohio to see my brother and sister-in-law (worth it). We played games and watched The Office and enjoyed spending our first Christmas together as a family of 5 (best sister-in-law ever).

The last few Richmond days were very historical. We went to St. John's Church (where Patrick Henry gave his "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech), a military hospital museum with a weird name that I can neither pronounce or spell, and Hollywood Cemetery where two presidents are buried.

Inside St. John's Church with Ray, the best tour guide in the history of
tour guides.

Hollywood Cemetery

Grave site of Pres. James Monroe

Grave site of Pres. John Tyler

I got back to Austin yesterday after a very early wake-up call (get to the airport at 4:30am kind of early) and blissfully slept through the new year. Today, I celebrated by deep cleaning my apartment and watching Netflix. I miss vacation already.