Joy, Joy, Joy!

Hello, all.

I know it's been forever, or so it seems, since I last updated, but...well, you know the next line: TIGS!  Even when classes aren't in session, there is SOOOO much to do!

Last week was wonderful in that respect, though - I didn't have any classes to worry about and I got to just work in the lab and meet with SW and figure out where we are going just what I am doing over the next 2.5yrs (yes, that sounds like a long time...but when you have the to-do list that I have, it seems like that is absolutely NO way I will get all of it done - I will, don't you fret..).  I've decided!  I'm doing a monograph for my thesis work!!  I'll do a post a little later on about what a monograph treatment is.  It's the part of taxonomy/systematics that I love, I'll just say that for now.  All in all, it was a great week.  And I closed it feeling satisfied and accomplished...it's been a while since I've felt like that at the end of a work week.

The 3-day weekend that followed that productive week was pretty grand, as well.  The first half of Saturday was full of Skyping and relaxing, the second half consisted of a ton of fun with Meg and Markster.  Markster picked me up and we grabbed Meg.  We grabbed some lunch at the Mall of America (seriously, there's like a bazillion restaurants in there...and we had some stuff to return and some gift cards to try to spend).  While at the MoA we saw this epicness:

The WHOLE ENTIRE thing was made of LEGOs...I. Want. One!

After running around MoA we continued on our path to REI so The Markster and I could procure our new parkas followed by the 3 of us trying on the most ridiculous winter hats in the clearance bin...oh man...we should have taken pictures.  It. Was. Epic.  And!  We all came away with a new hat that made each of us rather cheery.  After running home to let Jakers out the three of us went back to Meg's to work on....drum rooooooolllllll.....A GINGERBREAD HOUSE!!!  SO FUN!  The house had been constructed a few days earlier and the decorating had begun, but the bug dorks tricked that house oooooout!

Markster working hard on the roof.

 Meg and Markster working hard on adding our Harmonia infestation...that's right we are true dorks and added the tell-tale sign of fall/winter to the lovely little gingerbread house by adding and infestation of ladybird beetles - epic.

Ta-da!!  I was in charge of the icicles and filling in the gaps on the roof - I'm not gonna lie, I'm way impressed with my icicles...like, considered for a split second that I should change careers and be a gingerbread house decorator or something  :)

 See all those little pink clusters?  Those are our little Harmonia!!!  It looks just like a real infestation!  Little aggregations and all!

We didn't finish the backside of the house, the front and sides look pretty darn awesome, we think!

Sunday was a nice chill day...Skypage, church...it was a pretty good day.  I was especially blessed at church Sunday night, and it was wonderful.

Monday was awesome!!  We bug dorks plus a few other friends made brunch and had an absolutely lovely time together.  Everyone brought something to share with the group and we all just sat around with some nice folksy music in the background while we chatted, ate some delish food, sipped on coffee/tea/mimosas...mmmmmhmm!  We closed out our brunch time with some Strong Bad and Teen Girl Squad.  It was glorious.

Post brunch, was positively delightful, as well.  The Markster, Meg, Christine and myself went back to REI so I could exchange my parka for a different size - the sleeves were like half-way up my arms when I put the hood up on the first one...that's something I definitely should have checked at the store.  Oh well, REI makes it super easy for co-op members to make returns/exchanges.  We next ventured to a Starbucks for some coffee (we were all spent) and freaking awesome conversation.  Man, I love these kids so much!  After a couple hours there we went to TJMaxx so Meg could make a return and decided to kickoff our semester with a steakhouse dinner at Timber Lodge.  Oh my goodness, y'all, it was amazingly delicious.  And!  They messed up my order so they brought us a ginormous piece of whipped cheesecake.  Ummm...amazingly tasty.  Soooo grood  :)  We really had an awesome Martin Luther King, Jr. Day...it was incredible.  I can't wait to continue building and strengthening my relationships with my bug dorks here...seriously, such blessings to my life.

Week one (or rather, the first 4 days) of semester two was pretty decent, all-in-all.  Nothing went wrong or poorly...always a nice way to start a semester.  I made some more headway on my semester docket as far as what I need to do for my research/thesis stuffs - I still have a lot to do for this semester yet, but I'll get there.  Classes will be quite enjoyable, I think...just a lot of work...and I mean a LOT of work.  My museum studies - practices course will be especially heavy on the work load.  Yikes...papers and projects due every week!  Most of which require going to museums and writing papers and things about exhibits, pieces, etc...time consuming, to say the least.  Not hard or tedious, just time consuming...busy work.  I am excited to have an excuse to get out and see the museums around the area, though, that will be nice.  Time is just so lacking...oi vey...I so need more hours in the day or another day in the week...something, anything!

I'm trying to remember if there was anything super important that happened this week, or if it everything was just same ol' same ol' in the land of grad school...hmmm.  Well, I'll let you know later if I forgot anything.  Oh, we had our first Pig's Eye of the semester tonight.  I left pretty early, I'm just beat - I've fallen into another bought with insomnia...yay, no sleep!  No worries, though.  This happens from time to time, and it always passes with time..sometimes it takes a few months, but it hasn't killed me yet!

Ok, enough about school and work.  I'm sure you're all familiar with my friend Katy, over in Africa, who I've mentioned a number of times.  Well, if you aren't pay her a visit - her blogging is honest, fun, colorful, exciting, broken for the Lord, encouraging, pretty much just all around awesome.  One of her resolutions was to find joy in every day, whether it be in the little things or in big things.  I really like this idea - I think it will serve to help keep each day in perspective; so, even though I'm a few weeks behind, it's never too late to start, right?  I'll start with last Saturday.

Saturday, 15 Jan 2011:  (<-- it's still really weird for me to write 2011) Fun adventures around town with a couple of my favorite bug dorks.

Sunday, 16 Jan 2011:  Made some new friends at church - a lovely young family with two little boys.  Such a blessing!!

Monday, 17 Jan 2011:  Beautiful, real conversation with 3 of my absolute favorite bug dorks.  SUCH A BLESSING!!

Tuesday, 18 Jan 2011:  Meg and I trying to keep our snickers below audibility during insect behavior...it's going to be a gooooood semester  ;)

Wednesday, 19 Jan 2011:  DAY ONE OF INSECT TAXONOMY!!!!!!!!!!  This class = me.  Oh!  And lunch with some of the bug dorks I hadn't seen since being back.  Oh!!  And surviving the campus connector bus!  (I totally felt like a freshman all over again...)

Thursday, 20 Jan 2011:  First Frenatae meeting of the semester = seeing just about eeeeveryone I hadn't connected with since the break.  I love them  :)  Plus, departmental potluck lunch day...so grood.

Friday, 21 Jan 2011:  Catch up chat on the phone with SW...I am so blessed with two incredibly amazing advisors.  Like, really.  SW + RH = advisors extraordinaire  :)

So, yeah...it was a super blessed week, full of joy, joy, joy  :)

And now, my loves, I am off to bed.  Lots to do tomorrow before Meg's big start of the semester potluck bash tomorrow night.  And so, I will leave you with this:

My sleepy, super, super spoiled Jakers dog  :)

Praying all is well in your worlds.

Much love!

Shalom!

~MW

P.S. - it is officially cold, y'all.  This morning it was -18 degrees F...without wind chill...neeeeeeat!

Can't focus? And, so I blog :]

It's going to be a long night...I absolutely cannot focus tonight.

Lots o' stuff running through my head:
--I miss my family
--I miss my friends
--I miss Texas
--How long 'til Christmas break? {~9wks!!!}
--Why can't I focus? {no clue}
--I need to drink more water {y'all, it is SO dry here - I feel like I'm turning into a human raisin}
--How on earth am I going to get everything done this week?
--Music is the best
--Jesus is better - SO MUCH BETTER
--When can I go to Africa? {waiting is the pits}
--Can I survive another 34mo in the FT?
--Care packages are the best {Jesus is still better!}

I got a care package from my parents today!! Well, technically it came on Friday, but I wasn't able to pick it up until this morning...oh the joys of leaving before your apartment complex office opens and coming home after it closes...

BUT! My parents rock - thank yas, Momma and Daddy! They sent me some stuffs I inadvertently left in the TX, along with some extra goodies :)

Jake's water bowl!!! I somehow left it in TX, so poor Jakers has been eating and drinking out of the same bowl... Now he has two bowls!!


Some of my movies!! Still missing a number of them, but these will get me
through 'til I can collect the rest at Christmas!!


A TON O' MOLESKINES!!! Best parents ever? I think yes.
Just behold the beauty before your eyes!


MA BOOTS!!!! Ok, I have missed these SO much...
Ah, my sweet hiking boots...I cannot wait to introduce you to the Frozen Tundra :)


Bonuses! My mommy knows me all too well - I now have something like
4 honey bears...you can never have too much honey :]


Oh, hai!



This is some of what I did last night and today
(along with some sketches...always sketches):


Hi there, pretty! May I dissect you?


Why thanks :)

How about you? Sweet, looking forward to it.

Ok, loves, that's all for now - I'm going to try and finish up my assignments for tomorrow morning's class...morning will be here all too soon...

Shalom!
~MW

[Insert Catchy Title Here]

Ah, we meet again!

Alright y'all, I know I've been incredibly inconsistent with the blogging, but heavens to Betsy it is insane up here! It just never ends. Sometimes I hardly feel like I'm living things move so quickly here. It's like living in a constant state of warp speed, for seri. But...even though things are beyond ridiculous and I have real rough days...er, weeks from time to time (hello, current week: I am so glad you are over), I am happy that I am here - I do enjoy what I am doing, where I am in the now, and the people I get to hang around with. I still wish (multiple times a day) that I could transplant the U to TX and just integrate my groups of peeps all into one big happy group of awesome, but, alas, no can do. So, I guess I'll stick around here for the next few years...

Man, this week was a doosie, to say the least. It started off real weepy as I sent Miss Ricci home to C-Stat (sooo wish I could have gone with her). I knew I really missed her and all my Texans, but I didn't quite realize just how much I miss everyone until I had her here beside me. Absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder, in this case. So that lead to a rather weepy week for me, but I wouldn't trade her visit for the world. Such sweet time and memories that we get to cherish forever. Speaking of which! I didn't upload any pictures last time, and I really don't have too many to share, but below are a couple shots from Mickey's Dining Car (You can read about that, the rest of my weekend with Ricci, and the beginning of my week here). You can see some of Ricci's pictures riiiiight.....here! And she played around with a few of them and made some awesome masterpieces here. (Plug: if any of y'all need picturas taken and you are in the C-Stat area check out my sweet friend and see if she has an open slot to fit you in for a shoot!!)

Come Tuesday I spent about 2.5-3hrs at the bank...with a personal banker...initiating the fraud response process. Yuuuup, I had my identity stolen. Great fun, eh? Not so much. So, now that we have canceled the card that got compromised and got me set-up with all new accounts (with some extra benefits compared to the accounts I had previously) I'm waiting for the affidavit to arrive so I can sign it and get the money back that the jerks stole. From there, the fraud research team keeps doing what they do in an attempt to catch the punks. And here I sit...frustrated, annoyed, but ok.

If you haven't guessed yet, Friday couldn't come quick enough this week...oh, it was a long one. But, Friday did indeed come! Glory! Friday closed with a departmental cruise on Lake Minnetonka. Translation: BOOZE CRUISE. Mmmhmm, it happened, and it was...interesting. Saw some interesting sides of people, to say the least. But it was fun to get to hang out on a boat and visit with peoples. It was a gorgeously clear night and the moon was breath-takingly bright. The music was a bit loud and obnoxious, but it's whatevs.

So now that my week is over, I figured I would share some fun stuff with y'all - in the form of picturas!

Geeses! I way love seeing the geese migrating through. Seriously, one of my absolute favorite parts of living here. I really enjoy hearing them as they fly overhead (just don't look up with your mouth open...eeps, that would not be good.), I love watching their formations, watching these magnificent creatures take off is such a sight - if I ever get the chance I'll snap a video of them for yas. I just think they are fun. Huge poo...but what do you expect from HUGE birds??



Honey from our very own honey house! We got these little honey bears at the departmental welcome party earlier in the semester. I feel very privileged to have one of these, as it's been a tough year for honey - no one has any. The bees are taking quite the hit right now. It's pretty depressing and, to be honest, if we don't figure out how to help our little buzzy friends, it's pretty terrifying to think about honey bees hoping on the endangered list (I can't think about the other "e" word yet...)...we'd be pretty sorely out of luck in the food department.




Care packages from some of the sweet members of my congregation back in A-town. Thank you Miss Susie and sweet Hannah! This made my week when I got it. The cookies were delicious and the teas, oh so lovely. Thank you!!!



Awesome signs on random vehicles driving through town. "Stay back....Stay alive"
Love it.




Jakers on the porch. He way likes it when there are days that I can open my sliding door and he gets to hang out outside and watch the birds and our neighbors as they come and go. These days are fast fleeting, though.



Moths!!! Ok, these are not very nice specimens (we "stole" them from the teaching collection...so they take a beating) and these are not my Euchaetes friends. These guys are relatives that I got to start out with on dissections about a month ago. I have some new ones to run through (starting tomorrow!!), and I am way excited about them. They are newer material and in much better shape than these poor little loves. YAY, DISSECTIONS!!!

Oh!! A lot of you have been asking to see my cubbie in the lab. So, just for you, here are some photos of my little nook. It's nothing fancy, but it works :] Enjoy!

You can find me at:

Where you will probably find me bent over some moth literature here:

Or digging through stacks of lit/books...or digging in desperation for snacks or tea here:

Or else checking or writing another something to do on my calendar here:

There you go, sweet readers. There's my little cubbie, where I spend a good 70-80% of my time each week, certainly each day.

Tomorrow should be a good day of dissections and studying, followed by a good night of sweet worship and fellowship at Christ Redeemer. Hooray for worshiping at the same place 3 weeks in a row! Glory!!

Praying you all have a wonderfully blessed Sunday.

Love in Christ to you all.
Shalom!
~MW

P.S. - If any of you have been thinking about adoption or even if you haven't or aren't super sold on it, may I encourage you to take a gander at this post? If you know me at all you know that things like hitting the mission field and adopting the precious ones who have no one are very near and dear to my heart. J-Hump and Ricci do an excellent job of putting our hearts on the issues into writing. I implore you all to prayerfully consider their entry on adoption. And, I'm done ;]

A fresh week!

Salutations! (Charlotte's Web, anyone??)

This week is seeming to be off to a better start (yes, I am well aware that it is only Monday...)! Yesterday, other than the botched attempt at trying a new church (all I'm saying is that the street I was supposed to turn onto does not exist...it's just not there...I drove around for 20min trying to find it and it simply was not there...stupid FT streets...hmph!), was a rather productive day!

I ran a ton of errands (including grocery shopping - best experience yet!) and did a ton of cleaning around the apartment - my desk is no longer a heaping pile of...well...crap. Everything has now been filed away and has it's very own appropriate place in my new home (all of the, "hmmm...not sure what to do with you - I'll deal with you later" things ended up on top of my desk - it was more than awful.). So, that was quite the accomplishment! I cooked some stuffs for my dinners and such after all of the errands (we'll get to all of that in a moment) and cleaned my crazy trashed kitchen that followed that project. I love my kitchen right now - it's gorgeous, I'm just sayin'.

But, errands! Oh the adventures running errands brings. Though not completely successful, they went pretty well. I am still in serious search of Moleskines...my life kind of depends on them. Yes, I am well aware that I can simply purchase these little life essentials online from Moleskine directly...but the I have to wait. Y'all, I'm down to like 4pages in my last cahier!!! I just might die. I'll try not to, but I make no promises. Anywho, aside from my Moleskine search being a bust I got a lot of other stuff done that I needed to!

I went to Target and got the drain baskets I've been needing to get so that I no longer am looking down gaping holes when I take a shower or brush my teeth...I no longer have to fear dropping my Aggie ring or my earrings or something, either. Whew! I also picked up a few things I'd been needing to get for my cubbie in the lab so I can actually settle-into it. Like school supplies!!!!!!!!!!

I got a trashcan and a board and some peg-board peg/hook thingys so I can store some stuffs in my cubbie - like my ladybug from Mika, my butterflies from Momma, pictures of my peeps, verses to keep me sane in the world of evolutionists/athiests/agnostics/etc...you know, the stuff of life :)

I got a lovely new pot (and some potting soil, or course) for my ground orchid, so I could re-pot her and hopefully be rid of those blast scale insects!! Ugh, they gross me out...yes, I just said that a bug grosses me out. These little buggers are just plain mean, though! They infest my beautiful, beautiful orchid, that I've had for over a year now and has given me two absolutely lovely blooming events, and they suck the life out of her!! How incredibly rude!! She does, however, have a lovely new shoot growing - gives me hope that she'll pull through alright.

Picked up a little something "for" Jakers...CHILDPROOFING LOCKS FOR MY CABINET DOORS! In case you haven't heard, he's taken to opening the cabinet under my sink and pulling out my trash can and throwing my trash around everywhere...lovely. So, to remedy the situation I decided I'd childproof my cabinets. With some help from the neighbor I got them all installed last night.

I was so proud of my defeating the war. I left for campus this morning with an extra spring in my step, as I was 100% certain that I was going to come home to a kitchen that did not have trash thrown around it. I walked through my door all excited to see my "well behaved" puppy dog and not have to scold him, and what do I find, but a cowering puppy dog. I'm thinking, "what on earth could you have done that you know you are in trouble??" I make the turn out from my entry way into the kitchen and see the cabinet door open, the trashcan on the floor, my trash bag across the kitchen...and the childproof lock? Totally and completely snapped off. He was so determined to make a mess that he actually broke the lock. As frustrated as I was/am, I gotta hand it to him, that's some serious determination, and I mean, ok, in all honesty, it's pretty funny...CRAZY DOG! So...all you parents out there: what childproofing ticks do you have for those, errr..., way strong chil'ins you have/had running around..??? I'm thinking the magnetized ones, where you have to use the magnet to unlock the door?? Thoughts?

Ok, I had probably the best grocery shopping experience, yet. I went...to...TRADER JOE'S!!! And, my dear readers, it was positively glorious. Ten times more exciting than the day I first set foot in Rainbow. Oh, my heavens, it was just beautiful. I can't do all of my shopping there (it's just too expensive for some things, and they don't have absolutely everything...), but it's nice to have, none-the-less. I may or may not have splurged a bit...I got way good meats (including, but not limited to lovelies like prosciutto!!) , and eggs, and cheese, and yogurt, and umm...jasmine rice, and, and, and!!! And, then I went to Rainbow to get things like PopTarts...convenience still wins on some days...I did get my real coffee from Rainbow, though...Organic Coffee Co., how I have missed you :)

I think I found my new favorite thing to substitute for ice cream...soooo good, and it doesn't make me want to die!!

Ok, so what all did I make as far as dinners and things go?? I made some more jambalaya for last night's dinner and I'll probably make the rest of the week on it, if I can control myself and not keep eating the chicken spaghetti I made....it's just so good! And, I haven't made it in forever, and I like it. And it's cheesy, and it has Rotel in it so it reminds me of home, and it has Rotel in it...did I mention the Rotel??? K, as long as we are clear on that ;)

JAMBALAYA!!!

CHICKEN SPAG!! Pre set stage.

Well, my loves, here I sit with my vanilla honey chamomile tea, and I am thinking it is about time I get to getting ready to settle-down for the evening. I love you all, and I hope you've enjoyed this more up-beat post :)

Shalom & Blessings!
~MW

Jake's First Adventure in the WIL-DY-NESS

So, today was pretty great...not at all entirely productive, but meh, that's whatevs.

This morning we all (myself, BigBoy, the hissers, Jakers) woke up to a crisp, cool morning - seriously, I was sporting a hoodie, jeans, and socks. With the wind essentially gone from yesterday (which prevented us from playing after I left the lab), the conditions were absolutely perfect for taking a stroll in the park. So, off to one of the local dog parks we went. This place is just up the way from my apartment, maybe 2mi or so, so it's pretty close - bonus. The really cool thing about this particular park is that it has a few fenced-in off-leash areas as well as general walking paths (happen to be paved...nice for running. I'm thinking...I've found a good route - inclines and everything!!), so it works for everyone: if your out for a stroll with the fam/friends, going for a run, or if you want to take your pup(s) out to run around and play. Awesome.

We got there early enough today that we had to big off-leash area all to ourselves - fantastical. We had a blast. Played ball for a bit and then hiked around on the trails that have been carved out in that area...on such adventures is where the following video takes place, enjoy:

Well...after that I took my rather dirty pup out to the walking trail for some general strolling and perusing of the gorgeous nature that was surrounding us. I kinda geeked out for a bit looking at all the trees and decided that in my "fee time" one of my activities will be to flip through my National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees, Eastern Region. I just enjoy trees. Today I for sure saw red pines (gorgeous...also, turns out they are the state tree for MN...neat!), eastern cottonwoods, some variations of oaks I'm not familiar with, and some other things I need to look up. I was awestruck by the red pines though. Such magnificent organisms. I could have stood under them for hours just listening to their creaking in the breeze. SO cool. Here, look!

A little piece of heaven, for sure.

I also came across a lot of awesomeness like this:

Can't see it too well, but that's a swampy wetland!

Shelf fungus!!

We had a blast, to say the least. And Jake really enjoyed imagining himself running after all of the grey squirrels and bunnies and birds we saw...he's quickly learning the command, "leave it." It works for pretty much everything! And he's a fast learning - you can totally teach this "old dog" new tricks :)

After our adventure in the wilderness we headed home for a serious bath. And, I mean serious. I think I had him in the tub for a good hour...that's just how dirty he had managed to get himself, silly doggy. But now he's all glossy again and smells lightly of lavender, cinnamon, and patchouli - divine.

We were both rather tuckered out after all of that and pretty much took the rest of the day off. He slept, I played with the video editor I downloaded to put that little "film" together for y'all.

Tomorrow is a new church and I need to run up to the lab for a spell so I can back-up all of my files from my laptop onto my desktop there so I can send Yoshi off to Toshiba to get his CD-drive looked at and repaired. Which means, my dear readers, that once I send him off I'll be out of the blog world, at least as far as pictures and things go for at the very least a week...7-10 days is the estimated repair time. Here's hoping for less than that! But it won't cost me a dime - they're even sending me the box and postage to send it in, gotta love killer customer service :) While he's gone, I'll try to do updates from my comp at the lab, but those will probably be somewhat minimal...we shall see.

Now that I've told you all about today (er...now yesterday, I suppose...I really should be getting to bed, but I just don't think I'll be able to fall asleep...hmph!), I reckon I should fill you in on yesterday (Friday)!

Friday rocked. Like, really, really rocked. I spent a good portion of the day visiting and working with SW up at the lab, which was simply awesome. I love this woman. Aside from the fact that she's an incredible scientist, beyond accomplished researcher/author, and is a good teacher, she is positively endearing. Such a delight to work with - and, she gives hugs. This, I absolutely love. Especially right now...when hugs are rather non-existent (I NEED A CHURCH FAMILY STAT!).

We went over a lot of general stuff regarding Euchaetes morphology and I have a few specimens to dissect next week (super stoked...like you have no idea - morphology and dissections are what got me hooked on entomology; thank you, Dr. Wharton...I blame you for everything, in the best possible way!), which will be just great. Dissections will really help me get familiar with these critters and should give me a much better handle on it all when it comes to reading the literature regarding arctiids, in general.

After we finished running around collecting stuff for me to do next week, discussing papers, setting up rough meeting/researching schedules for the semester, and just plain enjoying one another's company, she went off to her other world a few buildings over and I got to working on some me stuff in the lab: setting up some things on my desktop (p.s. - I feel way legit having my own lab computer...I mean, I won't get to keep it when I finish in 3yrs, but now I don't have to store everything on my laptop! Aaaand, this thing has a huge monitor...it's gonna be awesome when I start making phylogenies! Holla!), scanning some lit (the department has a scanner that emails the scans to you in pdf form - so awesome...and, I have Adobe publisher on the desktop...WIN!), setting up my scope/dissection station, stuff like that. Yay! Love it. Love, love, love it.

Well, classes finally start on Tuesday...I'm less nervous about this starting classes this semester than I ever have been before...weird. In my head I should be way more nervous than any other time I've started a new semester - this is, ahem, grad school... But, I don't know, it's just kind of a, "Meh...here we go again...let's make those grades..." type thing. Weird. Really, really weird. Basically, God rocks. I really haven't had any nerve issues since I got here. Now, those last two months leading up the move, oh my business, was I a wreck?! Seriously, ask anyone - I was an absolute mess. But since I've arrived, especially since I started setting up my home and all that jazz, I've been surprisingly at peace with basically everything. I feel extremely comfortable and at home in Hodson (the ento building) and my lab. I'm extremely comfortable with SW - I'm still figuring out the thresholds and boundaries with our relationship, but that's to be expected, and everything is different in grad school, as compared to undergrad...that is taking some getting used to. I experienced some of that with Wharton once I hit my senior year and we were going to conferences and doing presentations together and then after graduation, but that was different than this too, because I'd known him for over half of my collegiate career...he had taken care of me in more ways than one. He's family, at this point. But, I digress. I love this environment - makes me a little nervous, to be honest - I don't want to do academia...I just don't want to, but I'm afraid I'm going to get sucked in... I've never entirely nixed the idea of a phD, I've just said that I don't want to do it - I don't like all the politics involved with professorship, especially in the science world. But hey, no need to worry about that right now. I have plenty of time to figure all of that out :)

Well, kiddies, I think I might be able to actually get some shut-eye now.

Love to you all!
Shalom,
~MW

Back to....

...the old grind?? Hmmm, I guess we can call my overly exciting life that ;)

Fair warning, I have a feeling this entry will be erratic and probably will not flow...at all. Fasten your seat-belts, kiddies!!

Let's start with why I have so terribly neglected my faithful readers for the last week or so: I...was visiting with friends in CS and Houston....and...spending precious time with them was more dire to me than posting my thoughts... I know!! I'm terrible. But, don't you worry, I've been storing up things to tell you in my forgetful steel-trap of a mind! Ok, so I was also working back in the wasp lab during the day last week, but my lunches and nights were full, full, full of visiting and simply enjoying my loves. I had a blast staying with my lovely Humphreys the first half of the week. Ricci taught me how to make petit fours! I think I have a new addiction...in fact, later on today I just might go get some "play-doh for adults" and fiddle around with it :) I just have to say that I absolutely adore Ricci and Josh...they have so blessed my life and I can't imagine not having them an email/text/chat/letter/phone call away. The Lord is so, so very good to me. The second half of the week I spent with BMetz & KZhaurova - love them! Haha, we totally nerded-out one night and watched NOVA specials on Netflix whilst playing Scrabble...oh, it was glorious. I had an awesome time going to Hope Group, hangin at MugWalls with my loves, watchin some olympics, making dinners, and just all-around enjoying the people who have come to mean the world to me. It was a productive week in the lab, too. And, Wharton is awesome and surprised me with a happy belated-birthday/congrats on getting invited to the U of M welcome weekend ice cream party on Friday - he's such a great boss/mentor/prof.

Over the weekend I went down to Houston to celebrate Kacydilla's BDay! It was way fun to just get to visit with her and JJ. I was blessed to help them around the house with some things and we went and saw Valentine's Day on Saturday which was way fun. {I may or may not have cried....again} And the young adult pancake lunch was tasty and I got to visit with my buddy Brandon, so that was delightful. Kacy and I also got to take a run to Kohl's where I may or may not have bought these beauties...
{Ricci, I think I have a problem... ;) }
Anyways, after Kohl's I hit the road to Arlington. But, I stopped back in CS on my way. I know...I just couldn't stay away! I got to visit with B, Paul, and Alyssa. It was truly great. I watched them play tennis for a bit and visited with the "loser"...haha, but I'm pretty sure they were the real winners, cause they got to visit with me!! ;) We got to have dinner with the amazing Freemans, too. Truly a blessed evening. After dinner we headed back to the courts and I hit the road to Arlington. I think that was probably one of the most difficult drives for me.

I have yet to cry when leaving CS since graduation...yeah...well, that trend is now broken. It was so hard for me to leave this time around, because it's becoming more and more real to me how difficult the move to Minnesota is going to be. I've never been afraid of moving. My family has moved a lot over the course of my life, so I've grown accustomed to saying good-byes. But this time will be much more difficult, I think, because I haven't only been here for 2-2.5yrs...but rather 4.5+ It makes a huge difference, one I hadn't realized until this trip. No matter how I slice it, it's going to be an extremely painful move. I was talking with my mom about it yesterday and she said she had been thinking the same. Haha, she said maybe I should just go to grad school at A&M... I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered it to stay fairly close to my friends and family here. But I think I need to take this step. I need to have an adventure of my own. If a handful of someones come along with me that'd be awesome, but either way, I think this is just one of those things I need to do - part of my personal growing-up process. It's totally going to suck, though...

Anywho...that said, I had a truly blessed week. And I can't wait to go back next week! :)

It was nice to come home, I must say. Especially because I was welcomed home by these:

I'm totally and completely in love!

I wore them all day yesterday...and felt totally awesome on my trek to WholeFoods :D TOMS are pretty much the greatest shoes on eath...so beyond comfortable and an amazing organization. If you don't have any, you should get some!

Well, now that I'm home, I have tons of freetime...what am I going to do this week?? Hopefully sort through some boxes of junk. What fun!! I also want to whip up some canvases I have laying around. And as mentioned above, I think I will be playing with some "adult play-doh" :)

So, random thought here: have you ever been entering the word verification on a comment you are leaving and thought to yourself, "man, that would be an awesome word!!"? Well, I think about that pretty much everytime...it's so annoying, because some of them would totally be awesome, but alas, they are not real. Haha, I'm a dork, I know. But I love words :)

Well kids, the day is quickly fleeting, so I'm out for now!

Shalom!
~MW

I'm still alive!

Ok lovelies, I know I have been M.I.A. for forever. My bad.... I was busy... Alright, so I may have taken the last week off from blogging, just because I could. Lame? Maybe, but I'm back now!

I know some of you are still patiently waiting for my post on resolutions, but I kind of have a problem: I may or may not have misplaced my notes from that Sunday because I managed to forget my journal that morning so I took my notes on a piece of scratch paper, which I cannot find. So, until they post the sermon or I corner Chaplain Willis and beg him for his notes, I'm stuck with trying to remember everything I wanted to remember on my own - it's going to take a bit of time.

Now, for some updates!

So, what have I been up top that has been keeping me from you?? Well...For starters I got to spend the whole week with the lovely Alyssa down in C-Stat. We celebrated her belated bday on Saturday - oh, it was lovely. We definitely made some awesome memories this week. Aside from hanging with Alyssa I was working in the lab with Dr. Wharton and Aubs. Made some progress with some stuff that needed to be finished up, took some pictures of some wasps, you know, the usual. I had lots of lunches with peoples, LOTS of coffee dates...oh my gosh, I think I drank more coffee last week than ever before...oh, no, that's a lie, actually - the most coffee I have ever had in a week was during finals this past semester...that was a lot of coffee. Went to some movies, etc. It was great to get to hang with BMetz and KZhaurova and Aubs - I have missed my bug dorks. Oh my goodness, Friday night was ridiculous: after a lovely dinner with the Humphreys and some quality YouTube perusing, Alyssa and B and I went over to Cam's for some classic signs followed by hide and go seek in the dark...yes, you read that correctly. Alyssa and I were up til about 3:30am...we felt SO OLD!! Haha, it was sad. We experienced a few of those "we aren't in college anymore" moments, too. But it was great fun, and we slept well that night. It was a huge blessing to get to attend worship at Living Hope the last two Sundays as well - and my quality time with the Humphreys followed by quality time with B this Sunday before I hit the road back to A-town was absolutely wonderful. Basically, I had an awesome week. I cannot wait to go back for another of week of work and visiting.

I will say this, though: it was a very odd feeling to be back in C-Stat and not be a student. Alyssa and I talked about this feeling a bit and how it is so strange that it sets in almost over-night. You, know...that feeling of not being in college anymore, but not exactly starting that next stage of your life. There are lots of names for it: time of waiting, limbo, in-between...I'm calling it my intermission. It really is just that to me. The drama that is my life isn't over yet, but it's time to take a little break and stretch my legs...err, brain...get a little snack, etc. It's weird and has its ups and downs, but I am excited to see what growing comes out of this time that God has graced me with. Because really, I am very fortunate to have this opportunity to simply be.

Well, all, it is time to get things really rolling...taking the wee ones to see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus around 2 - should be good!

Happy Tuesday.

Shalom,
~MW

Angela is demanding.

Hello my loves!

First things first: I do realized that I have been neglectful in my blogging activities since the first day of class. I am sorry. I am busy. I am tired. I am sorry, again. And Angela, I apologize most profusely to you because I "forced" you to make a blog and then I've left you hanging for almost two weeks...

Well, now that that's done: Let's have an update, shall we?? {I just have to tell you that I typed that last sentence while bending over backwards....no lie. I'm awesome.}

So, what is it that I have been up to of late that has been keeping my nimble fingers from gracing your eyes with a feast of letters and symbols?? Two words: School, Work...oh, and some driving, so I guess more like 3 words...

Well, I was going to update, but I didn't realize how late it was...I must now make the trek across Raymond Stotzer and help out with the UESO icebreaker of awesome. I will finish this later...after I go to the Humphrey's to the the ld on taking care of Mr. Grimm.

And.........I'm finishing my post starting now :)

So, let's see, what do you need to know...?

Last weekend was Elaine's bachelorette party - it went well, I wish more girls had shown up, but the little group worked out nicely, too. After the bachelorette party in RR, I drove up to Arl for Christopher's birthday celebration - he turned 16!!!!! Insane. We took him to Medieval Times where I was blatantly hit on by one of the executioners...he wove his way through the crowds from all the way across the waiting hall to come screw with me...it was funny, though, i enjoyed the ridiculousness of the situation.

Week two of classes has gone pretty well...nothing too exciting. We got our "awesome" plant presses for taxonomy of flowering plants on Tuesday...that was fun to lug around - I'll post a pic later.

Hmm, I do believe that's about it. Oh!! Angela came to visit on Tues., that was fabulous. I love it when my roommies of old come to visit, but it always makes me miss them even more...it makes me appreciate the love and relationships that have grown between us over the past few years even more...even if I'm nearly falling asleep the whole time they are here ;) But it was wonderful to see her. I was sad it had to be so short, but short is better than nothing.

I think I'm applying to grad school at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul....WHAT?! And I think my graduate advisor will be Susan Weller...director of the Bell Museum of Natural History and outreach programs at U of M....WHAT?!?! And I'll have all of my tuition and fees covered, full benefits, and a living stipend....WHAT?!?!?! Is this real life?!?!? Granted, I still need to actually apply and pass the GRE, but still - this could really happen. I could really be working towards a master of science degree in entomology at the University of Minnesota, Golden Gophers (yikes...), come fall of 2010. This is almost too much awesome potential to handle.

Well, my dear ones, it has been a looong week...so I'm calling it a night. I'll try to get back on top of my blogging duties from here on out - sorry for the neglect, nothing personal :)

Blessings!
~MW

P.S. - I think I have a new-found addiction: Mountain Biking...even though I'm crazy sore, all I have wanted to do all week was hit the trails again!!! I might have to find some way to get myself and my bike out to the lake this weekend...I want to ride, yo!!

Summer, fleeting summer

As I sit here in my nook at the lab after a day of busy runnings around in the Wharton Lab I realized something: My summer has been full and eventful, and yes, even exciting, but I got nothing done that I wanted to get done!! Yes I got some of the things I needed to get done finished up, but none of the things that summers are reserved for, like catching up on that ever growing book list, putting your artistic expression (as debatable as it might be) on paper/canvas/pottery/etc., knitting that thing you've been meaning to knit for months now and are quickly running out of time to finish in time, taking those strolls in the park/great outdoors (ok, I don't feel so bad about this one because it's been like a million degrees outside and I, outdoorsy as I might be, do NOT handle heat well - it's sad, but true), the list goes on. How depressing!!! (and, just in case you were wondering the word "how" is now typed "hope"...???)

How is it that in nearly three months of no real commitments to anything but work and moving, really, I have failed to accomplish anything I wanted to accomplish for myself?! I feel like a failure. This was possibly my last summer of "nothing" and I just wasted it. Dang. I don't even know what I did. I have experimented a lot in the kitchen, and that has been rewarding and educating, like my adventure Sunday night:

I decided circa 10pm, Sunday, that I was going to attempt to make some Pavlova, a dessert from Australia/New Zealand. Recipe is simple enough - basically eggs, some sugar, corn starch, and cream of tartar - no biggie. So I'm whipping up my egg whites into beautiful "soft peaks" (picture to be uploaded later) and I'm thinking: "Holla! I can totally do this thing!" Ah, key point: I was attempting this recipe without any sort of mixer aid - just me and my whisk. So, I carry on with the recipe with a little spring in my step from my success with the "soft peaks." Things were going great until I added the sugar and.....corn starch....dun, dun, dun, dun. Insta-impossible, right there! I'm beating and beating and beating this mixture trying to get some semblance of a meringue out of it, to no real avail. After beating my heart out for a little over 15min I give up and decided it's good enough for me - so I don't quite have the "stiff peaks" the recipe calls for, but I do have droopy peaks!!! That's gotta count for something, right?? Apparently not. I divvied everything up and threw it in the oven. So, the taste wasn't bad, though a little over-done, the consistency was just all wrong. Blast you stiff peaks any my weak arms!! While it wasn't a complete failure, it was definitely nowhere near a success. I'm going to need to invest in some sort of hand mixer, at least, if I am going to attempt anymore "whipping" desserts. Now I know why the moms of old were so buff!!! To try to redeem myself I made a little raspberry reduction sauce to go with my sad Pavlova and I think it worked. It was de-lish!

Since the Pavlova only called for egg whites, I was left with 6...SIX!!...egg yolks. I couldn't bear to let them go to wast so I decided that I would save them 'til Monday and make some creme brulee with them. **and here enter the yummms, and mmmms, from the readers** Well, I did not realize that creme brulee was so high maintenance and has decided that it needs to sit over-night before it can be fired...LAME! Well, so we shall see how the broiling goes for it later tonight. I'm excited!! I really hope it works! I've never used a broiler before, but I'm hoping that having a gas stove will make it near the awesomeness of having a torch - if only I were that amazing of a cook to warrant having my own torch. *sigh* ....Maybe someday.

Either way this is turning out to be a good week. Angela came in town yesterday and will be here 'til Thursday. And, Miss Mika arrived today and will leave tomorrow afternoon/evening: I love having house guests! Angela and I are going to see a movie tonight; 500 Days of Summer, I believe! So that will be fun times, for sure. I just love that girl.

Oh, my hummer greeted me this morning before I left for work, it made my heart happy - I'll snap a picture of that little bugger if it's the last thing I do!!!

Signing off. 'Til next time!

~MW

Saturdays :)

Oh Saturday, how I love you, but how fleeting you can be...

Well, initially today wasn't going to be all that exciting, other than swim time with the lovely Alyssa...but then...haha, you have to wait 'til I get to it!

So, I went to work for a bit and got some specimens a bit farther along in the curating process for miss Mika. Ugh, I had to do it without using a chemical hood, though (shhhh, don't tell the health & safety inspectors!!) and it was AWFUL!!! I'm pretty sure I burned the top layer skin off of my throat and nose...and my eyes burned sooo bad! Builds character, right?? Right!

Well, after that Alyssa came over and we swam around and attempted to catch some rays, of course as soon as we started to lay out the biggest clouds in the history of the earth (ok, so maybe not quite in the entire history of the earth, but they were huge!) decided it would be a fun time to come out and completely cover up the sun. The temperature was nice outside, though (what, nice temps in August, in C.S.?!?! It's true...) so we stayed out anyways. Well, and here comes the exciting part, we finally decided to head inside but much to our dismay found my front door locked!!! What?! Oi vey. Lindsey had come home and left again, locking the door behind her. We got ahold of her and she said she and David would be back from Wal-Mart in about 30min...more like and hour, but it's whatev. So, we decided to go back to Alyssa's apartment (she had taken her purse out to the pool with her - smart gal) for the time being. There we ventured through mylifeisaverage.com and got in some good laughs while waiting for me to be let back into my little apartment.

Lindsey left again and I took it easy. LeeAnn and Mel came over for a bit later on and we just chillaxed - they brought me food!!

All-in-all it was a pretty good day, I suppose. Really enjoyed my time with Alyssa.

Oh! So, for your viewing pleasure, here is a snapshot of my lovely new couch cover!!!


It's so pretty :)

Well, kids, I'm off to read for a bit and then I'm going to try to get to bed early - I think my insomnia is on its way to being cured again!!

Blessings!
~MW

Naturally...

As I informed you yesterday I decided to go ahead and try for Teach For America - grad school will always be there, maybe just with different people and doing different things...only the Lord knows and only time will tell. But for now, I feel the Lord is leading me to keep pushing for Teach For America.

If I don't get it, well then that's ok because, quite naturally, as I had predicted, George Heimpel emailed me back about grad school in Minneapolis. But...as I was saying, if TFA doesn't work out it's ok because, George has a spot "for me" fall of 2010. Fancy that.

Oh life, you are so fickle.

On a more temporal note, my couch cover came in today!!!!! It looks amazing!! I absolutely love it. It's a little wrinkly right now, but it definitely helps to pull our little living room together. I had planned to snap a picture of it for your viewing pleasure, but Lindsey and I got distracted watching movies on her little TV - yay girl time :) I also unpacked TWO more boxes (little ones) of stuff for my room - all the good stuff, picture frames, crosses and the like.

Work was uber productive. I do have to go in for a little bit tomorrow, but not for too long. And THEN! And then, Alyssa and I are going to catch some rays! Holla!! I'm soooo excited to get to see her, it has definitely been too long.

Well my loves, I took my sleep stuffs about 40min ago, so it is time to close my sleepy eyes and try for a "good night's sleep." 4th night's the charm!!

Happy weekend!

~MW

PUSH....and I'm applying for TFA!!

Tomorrow is Friday! Tomorrow is Friday!!! This is exciting, because then I can play and maybe get a few more things done around the apartment/my room. I have a few canvases I've been meaning to paint and we need a clean/dirty dishwasher sign...so I have lots to work on. Plus I REALLY want to get some reading annnnd....I need to work on poli sci, awesome. But it will be the weekend none-the-less!

Work went pretty well today, had a little hear-to-heart with the boss about Teach For America, grad school opps, and possibly going to Dominica with Brendan to teach the kiddos about bugs for 6mo *yikes!!*, and he helped me kind of reason out why it would still be best to do TFA now - or at least try for it. I'm young, TFA will help take care of loans and I will be getting paid (minor, but important details), if I get stationed in CHI then I will be able to go to Champaigne-Urbana all the time (it's only about 2.5-3hrs away from Chi) and get to know the people at the labs there, plus Therese and Brendan will be getting established and maybe get me a better in with those peeps. The U of I people I'm interested in working with always have $$ floating around because they write killer grants, so there should, theoretically, always be a spot open for me somewhere there. I haven't heard back from Heimpel about Minneapolis. There are plenty of other places just as amazing as Dominica that I could do science/ento outreach with kids, plus I could maybe just go for a few months, instead of the whole 6... And I need to be able to go do and see things right now, in his opinion, and TFA would give more of an opportunity to do that than would grad school. Granted, putting everything towards TFA means I probably won't be able to swing going to the Entomophagous conference in France in 2011, but I guess I'll survive...

That said, TFA apps are due TOMORROW!!! I pretty much have it all done, I just need to clean up my resume a little and polish off my letter of intent, then I'm set! Crazy.

Well, other than that I had a little girls night with Lindsey and LeeAnne. LeeAnne made us some delish pasta and we watched PUSH - it was actually really good, except the ending sucked!!! They totally leave you with a million questions, but rumor has it that they are making a second one, so we shall see.

Well kids, I'm off to work on the resume for a little bit before calling it a night.

Cheers!
~MW