Trip to OG

The last trip to OG was sure memorable....we celebrated Carilee and Meghan's new job like we were 21....well maybe 25, but definitely not 28!!!!
Friday night was spent dancing at Club Robbins, Saturday chillin at the beach and watching movies, and then finished it up with a trip to the Aquarium Sunday.
The only thing that could have been better about this weekend was having Schwenk there, the missing person in our posse! We might have to have a replay and break in her new house with Club Shumate!
Below are some highlights of Club Robbins that I can't resist posting.....Love you Meghan and Colleen!! (the audio is bad--my only excuse is tequila)
Check out pictures of this weekend at my flicker site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23257648@N00/

Fun with Bobie and Sarah

We had Katlynn this weekend and it was a lot of fun, but also exhausting--that 3 year old had so much energy, we went to the park, had ice cream, went downtown and road the river boat, had a water gun fight and more....it was a busy weekend! Here are some of my favorite pictures!

Katlynn and her Uncle Bobie

SeeSaw! Josh and I were on the other end!

Just the girls!

Getting ready for water gun fight!

She's showing me the figure she hurt! :)

Get Aunt Sarah!

New vocabulary words I learned this weekend:

Ohhay (O hay): 3 year old speak for okay.

Her (her): 3 year old speak for your...took us a while to figure out that one......

10 year flashback

So.....I went to my 10 year high school reunion this Saturday and there are a few things I realized.... (besides that I'm freakin old....)

1. I'm so glad I'm not in high school anymore.
I realized the person I used to be with these people is not who I am now. I used to be shy, withdrawn, and unsure of myself and I still feel like I can be those things occasionally, but for the most part I feel like I know who I am and I'm not afraid to be that person, which is a great feeling.

2. A big %&#$ hurricane can make any situation fun!
This reunion would have been a little dull if it weren't for the alcohol that made everyone look great, made me feel like I looked great, encouraged dancing and socialization even with people I didn't know! WooHoo--go rum! (hopefully I'll have some great drunk pictures soon...)

3. I have great friends and a great husband.
I realized that the friends I've kept along the years are the best ever and I don't need to go to a reunion to see who I've missed out on, but to see what I do have right now. This reunion would have been dull, even with the alcohol if it wasn't for Sarah and Rachael--they were the best part of the reunion!

There were some people that I enjoyed talking to and catching up with, even exchanged numbers with an old friend and we're going to meet up for dinner soon, so all in all it was a good night.

Today's word
verdure \VUR-jur\, noun:Green; greenness; freshness of vegetation; as, the verdure of the meadows in June
http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2008/06/17.html

"The grass is always more verdure on the other side" haha

May Reflections

So May was a crazy busy month that put my brain and skills to the test. There are some key things I learned about myself and also somethings that hopefully will enlighten you all.

1. Dry ice burns like a mother....
I'm sure your thinking....duh, don't you know dry ice burns? Why yes i do, but you really don't get the full understanding until you actually burn yourself...which i did. Sad thing, i was really trying to be careful, i had gloves on, was digging through it with a metal spatula, trying to get to the goodies inside (lab supplies..of course) and didn't realized that while i was digging, my arm was getting burned-my arm below the gloves. To add insult to injury, i possibly may have overreacted to the severity of my burn (you're surprised right?!?) , but the Chinese research assistant reassured me it was fine, while he applied antiseptic and bandages to my cold, burnt arm. To my defense it did burn and sting for the next couple of hours and i had to wear jacket that day so no one would ask about my band aids. Good news though, my arm is fine and I just have a tiny mark to show for it that fades more each day. Hopefully this will be the last of my lab injuries....

2. The last 4 weeks of school is to working out like oil is to water
I was so proud of myself in March/April time--i was biking riding, running on the tread mill, kept up with my working out....I even road in my first biking event: the Fiesta Wildflower Ride http://www.fiestawildflower.com/ and road 25 miles in 2 hrs, 6 mins, a new record for me! Well the end of April, school got the best of me and my regular work out routine went out the window. I am still trying to get back into it, with a 20 mile ride with Colleen and Jeff 2 weekends ago--I survived it , but barely! So I"m hoping to get back into the game soon....very soon....

3. Maybe having a kid won't be soo bad....
After vicariously living through my sister having a baby and seeing that she survived and all is well, maybe better than well, i might be changing my mind about the whole baby thing....we'll see.

4. Negative feedback doesn't motivate me, it just upsets me
I am much better with constructive criticism....and i think there is a big difference. I got some feedback on one of my assignments that rubbed me the wrong way, i know this is my first year of graduate school and there is no way I'm going to be great at everything i do, i realize this, really i do, sometimes I'm too hard on myself. But i really don't like feeling like i let someone down, and trust me, i let myself down enough because i didn't do as well as a should have. I know they wanted me to take this feedback and learn from it and motivate me to do better, but it really didn't. But i did feel better after i approached them and asked for more feedback and talked to them face to face where i was told "it was good." Oh well, I'm just going to chalk it up to a first year blunder, and the fact that i tried my best is enough for me.

So I decided to end each blog with with a new vocabulary word, because for a PhD candidate my vocabulary sucks! So we'll all learn to be eloquent and use impressive words together!

http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2008/06/10.html
surfeit \SUR-fit\, noun:1. An excessive amount or supply.2. Overindulgence, as in food or drink.3. Disgust caused by overindulgence or excess.
transitive verb:1. To feed or supply to excess.
"My lack of working out and surfeit amount of sweets last week did not help my weight maintenance plan!" and oh was this so true.......

Weekend getaway

Here are some of my favorite pics from this weekend in San Clemente, California. Lisa, Scott, and baby are doing really well and Aunt Sarah got to help out and take the Sat morning 3:30-7:30 shift and the Sun morning 4:00-8:00 shift--just getting in some practice! See more pictures of baby Jocelyn at my flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/23257648@N00/.