Yes, yes, I know...

****SEE EDIT AT END!!****

...It has been way too long since I last updated and I promised you all an update on the Minnesota trip, and, and, and...I know... So, here goes! Hold on to your horsies, kiddies - a fast and furious ride, this entry will be. {Haha, do you like how I just intertwined prairie with The Fast & The Furious with Starwars...blissfully awesome}

Minnesota! {Now to lovingly be referred to as The Frozen Tundra}
So, most of you are up to date on the fact that I went to Minnesota for The U's prospective grad student "Welcome Weekend" a few weeks ago. Now for how awesomely God moved over the course of 2.16 days {Exact enough for you??}:

* I arrive at the airport circa 8:30/8:45pm to be greeted by one of the faculty members {who also happens to be the woman I have been corresponding with and dying to work with...let's call her Lep} with a hug. Yes, a hug!! How awesome is that?! For those of you who know me in "real life" you know how much of a hug person I am. For those of you who only know me via the interwebs...I LOVE HUGS...like, seriously. I could hug people all day and it would never get old. So, if you ever need a hug, I'm your gal! ;) Anyways, back to the story...

* From the airport I am shuttled around the sleepy "town" to my host's apartment. I was kind of nervous about staying with an ento student who I didn't know...cause, if any of you know any ento students, well, then you know that we can be a little, er...odd. Haha. But, fortunately, Robin was absolutely delightful. A lifelong Minnesotan {I guess I should find out if that's what they are really called...haha}, a non-ento undergrad degree, and a current ento PhD student - we got along quite nicely. So that was another blessing to ease my nerves a bit.

* Day one of the "Welcome Weekend" began with a meet & greet amongst the other students who were there interviewing {I was like 2min late, because the bus was running late, and I missed all of the introductions...I felt so small!!}. Then we were presented with a talk on the Ento Department and the program itself - you know one of those selling presentations: here's our awesome history, what we are doing now, and why you should come here...cause we're that awesome. In all honesty, it was pretty interesting and nicely executed. Oh man, then they showed us their insect collection/museum!!! We all nerded-out hardcore...this thing is immaculate and HUGE!! They said it's the 2nd largest collection in the US, either on a university campus or overall...I can't remember which one it was exactly...either way, that's amazing - and it was SO COOL!

* Now begins day one of interviews. To my pleasant surprise it was all a double-sided interview. Not only was the department and it's faculty interviewing us as candidates for their program, but we were also interviewing them to see if they really were as awesome as we thought, basically. I met with 7...yes, 7 professors in one day. 7! Each meeting was about 30min long...and they became increasingly more exhausting. Saying the same thing about yourself over and over again and trying to be just as excited about it each time and then asking the same questions and hearing what that many people study and what they are involved in and what they do outside of research/teaching....geeeeeez! It was an incredible experience, but just as incredibly exhausting.

* Highlights of day one: That afternoon I met with...hmm, let's call him Tricho. Anywho, we were having an awesome visit and then he asks me if Lep has talked to me about him being a co-advisor for me. No...she hasn't mentioned that. He goes on to explain that he would like to advise me alongside Lep so that when she is detained by her 20billion other commitments I will still have someone on hand to provide guidance in my research should I need it. And that he was very excited to work with me throughout the next few years if I didn't object. I - was - dumbfounded. Totally in awe that professors have been discussing me and that not one, but TWO professors want to advise me. Wait, what?? Is this real life?! Um, yeah...it totally happened. In all honesty, I'm still in shock. I of course did not and do not object to this! What a blessing! Having more than one major professor can be a bad thing, but in this situation it will be awesome. Oh yeah...and dinner was spectacular...I already have a new
{though pricey!!} addiction, haha.

* Day two was a bit more chill - thank the Lord! I was totally wiped after day one. But, day two was by far the most exciting: Lep and I finally got to sit down one-on-one (well, with the inclusion of her recently graduated PhD student) and discuss my/our future as far as the next few years are concerned.

{Side-note: the few weeks leading up to my trip to MN were insane. I had really started to doubt what my motives for going to grad school were: Is this something I am just wanting to do so that I can say, "I have my master's in Entomology..."; or is this something that am following after the Lord in, in an effort to glorify Him with my life? I was wondering if maybe I shouldn't just go get my teaching certification and just head straight into teaching after my awesome experience subbing at PCA... Overall, I was very confused and was pleading with the Lord to grant me some inkling of direction, clarity, anything. I mean, I would have been happy with as little as a weird feeling, or something as minuscule as that. I was trusting in the knowledge of God's never failing faithfulness (yes, I know that is a rather redundant and repetitive statement, but it was intentional) that He would grant me some sort of something during my time in MN. Not only did He grant me an inkling, but He handed me a silver platter...all I had to do was accept it. How's that for a teaser?!}

So, we get to visiting, she shows me her lab, and all that jazz, and things are going smoothly. Then we get to talking about the grant, which includes talking about the project. Let me just say this: I'm jealous of myself, haha! No, but really, this project is beyond cool and I have huge opportunities to experience some once-in-a-lifetime things while I work on it. I'm stoked. {I'll fill you all in on some more specifics of the project later on...} So, I'm getting very excited as she is describing the history behind the project and everything it entails, and then she says this to me, "Now, I'd like to propose something else to you... {At this point God whispered, pretty loudly, to be honest, "Listen closely, Heather...this is important. Listen."} What would you say to getting a minor in Museum Studies while you are here?" Intrigued, I respond, "Sounds interesting...what all would that entail?" "For you, you would get a minor with an emphasis on education. So, you would take classes geared towards creating and implementing educational outreach programs through the museum setting. And, you would also take some curatorial classes just to learn the basics behind maintaining and building collections. There is also a built-in semester-long {I think that's how long she said it is} internship at one of the museums here in town {there are a ton of museums there}...most likely working on a current or developing a new outreach program with the staff...." OH MY BUSINESS!!! Are you kidding me?! Did she really just ask me if I wanted to learn how to be an outreach educator AND get experience doing that as class credit!??! HECK YES I WANT TO MINOR IN MUSEUM STUDIES WITH AN EMPHASIS ON EDUCATION!!!!!!! If you can't tell I'm beyond being ridiculously excited about this unreal opportunity God just dropped in my lap. That silver platter I mentioned above...I definitely accepted it. I wish I could have recorded my souls reaction for all of you as Lep was telling me about an opportunity to obtain an insane foundation for entering the education world. I was dancing with the Holy Spirit - haha, it was amazing. Needless to say, God granted me, ever so graciously, the direction and clarity I needed to know that He has indeed prepared this path for me. I cannot wait to see how He grows me throughout my time at The U. I'll be there for about 3yrs...yikes, that's a lot of intense winters in The Frozen Tundra, haha. Not too shabby - I'm excited to go on this adventure with my Heavenly Daddy. It's gonna be off the heezy fo sheezy! I mean, don't get me wrong, it's going to be beyond challenging, but it will all be so worth it. I'm stiz-oked!

So, that was Minnesota!

Of late! So...lately I have been working on some senior pictures with the J-Man. It has been SO fun! Mostly because it has given me a good excuse to spend time with my lil bro, and secondly because B loaned me his Rebel to play around with...soooo nice - I'm gettin' one! Haha. I'm in editing mode right now...it's pretty fun! I'll throw some up when I have more processed.

A rant! Haha, this is about to be another hold on to your horses moment, get excited. I'm not sure how many of you saw my post on Easter & Chocolate, but this is along those lines... My dear friend J-Hump, husband to my lovely Ricci of The Humphrey Happenings and Sweet like Spice, posted a ROCKIN' update to his blog Josh's Projects and Plans. {Do you think I included enough links in those two sentences?? Haha.} Each and every one of you needs to go read it - Christian or not. We all really need to stop and think about what we are purchasing, where it is coming from, how it is being made/processed, and whose hands are making/processing these things we are purchasing. I'll keep my ranting to a min so you can spend more time reading through J-Hump's...he executed his rant beautifully.

{Side note: For any of you guys out there who are desiring to be real men as opposed to the commonality found in our culture today of men being chick-dudes (© Butch Smith), I would encourage you to bookmark/follow Josh's Projects and Plans, as he is planning on addressing this issue on a weekly basis - it's going to be intense, y'all. But I can honestly tell you that Josh is a good man to seek counsel from in this area - living up to being a true man of God is something he definitely strives for.}

Oh, and back to the rant real quick, if any of you are looking for places to get good foods in an honest and raw way, check out this site for farms/ranches in your area: Slow Food.



Ok, I have officially spent too much time at the computer today...so now I will close. I feel like I'm forgetting to tell you about something or to talk about something, though...hmmm... Well, my beloved readers, if I remember I'll throw in an edit on this post or, most likely, devote a whole post to whatever it was I'm forgetting. That's all for now!

Shalom!
~MW



EDIT: I remembered what I was going to tell you all about earlier!! I kind of started to in my rant, but never really explained it...wooops! Anywho, I was going to tell you all about the lovely Ricci's new project/shop Sweet Like Spice. She has started making her darling camera strap covers to SELL! Guys, I know you might not be as pumped about this as us ladies might be, but hey...if you have a photographer mom, sister, friend, gf, fiance, wife...makes a great a gift! Hop on over tell her hello! Like I said, she's just getting started so show her some love and bear with her as she gets everything up and running. Also, if you act quickly there is a giveaway happening for one of Ricci's creations through Palermo Photography. Check it out!!