Work and Vacations

I haven't blogged in a while because things are just normal. Nothing big has happened. Work is still awesome, and I love it every day. Things have slowed down a lot this past week. We finished our control experiment, so we can't move further until the ozone machine is fixed. In the meantime I have been running lots of multiplexes for Laura. It gets really old doing the same thing over and over, but I'm glad I have something to do at all. Many of the students spend hours everyday just sitting around, reading journal articles, and killing time on the internet. It's difficult for their supervisors because they are really busy and just don't have time to teach them everything. David has ended up just kind of tagging along with whatever I do. Sometimes I really appreciate it, and other times I find it really annoying. It depends on my mood.

Today I am running my first ELISA all on my own. I have very specific directions, and I've done pieces of it multiple times. But I've never done one from beginning to end by myself. Judy is out of town until Thursday, so I don't have her to answer my questions and guide me through. Luckily Lesly is nearby and she does lots of ELISAs and she is very helpful. The most critical and easily messed up part is the standards and samples. That step came at about 10am this morning. I had to calculate how much standard I needed to make up the concentration I wanted. But I didn't know the starting concentration of the stock solution. This should be written on the tube that I took the standard out of. There was something written on it, but unfortunately it was completely illegible. I looked up the product number on the chemical manufacturers' website, and I couldn't find it. So I went on a hunt to find who wrote on the tube, and ask him what it said. I found him and asked, and he couldn't read his own writing. So he went into his lab notebook and found where he wrote it in there. How annoying! In a lab, writing legibly is very important for this exact reason. So I wasted about 30 minutes doing that. Then I felt a lot of pressure to hurry because the last incubation period was ending. I had exactly enough supernatant for two plates. If there were any errors in my calculations or pipetting, then I would be short. It took me about 30 minutes to make up my sample dilutions. It was a very stressful 30 minutes. If I accidentally pipetted the wrong amount, or into the wrong well, then the whole thing would be wasted and I would have to start over from the beginning- which means sacrificing more mice and the whole thing. That would be terrible. But I got through it, and overall it went pretty well. I was a little short on some wells, but I noted it in my lab notebook and I'll figure it out later. The rest of it is pretty easy, but boring. I have to wait 2 hours between each step so I may be here pretty late today.

I've been talking to Judy about possibly working here full time after I graduate, until Daniel finishes and I start grad school. She seemed to think that's a great idea. Then I found out how much it pays. The starting rate is $23,000 a year. Yikes. I think that with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry I should be able to make more than that right out of school. With experience here, which I will have, I could start as high as $28,000. Better, but still not much. I have to think about that. Is it worth the guarantee, knowing who I'm working with and being familiar with the job? Or looking for a new job that may pay more, but I don't know anyone or how things work there?

Yesterday Daniel fixed my new bike! If you don't remember, I bought one at an auction on campus in May. It needed a little bit of work. Daniel got it from campus and took it to sports authority for a tune-up. There was pretty much nothing wrong with it, besides flat tires and a little dirt and grease. Last night we put new handlebar grips on it, and a new kick stand and it was good as new! We rode to the park and back on a beautiful night. I'm so happy I have a bike now! I guess it was a pretty good find, too. It was made in the 1990s and new it cost about $350! I spent 10% of that. Plus the tune-up and the new grips and kickstand, it probably cost me about $90.

I'm trying to figure out when I'm going to go visit my sister in Chicago now. I already got the okay to take off a Friday and a Monday to visit my brother. I decided that with airfare and hotel it would be too expensive. In Chicago, I can stay at my sister's apartment, and eat her food, so it will basically only cost me airfare. I'm so excited! I haven't seen Nicole in so long and I miss hanging out with her. There is nothing like your twin sister. We still know what each other is thinking and can finish each other's sentences after living apart for 3 years now. I'm also looking at going back to Phoenix at the end of August. Nicole will be there, so it will be a great chance for all the girls to go dress shopping and cake tasting! That also comes down to if I can get the time off. My presentation is on August 12, and I'll be in Estes Park with my parents the weekend after that. But I think once I present my project, I will be able to take some time off before school starts up again. I hope so anyways.

Daniel is still looking for a job. He is getting lots of stuff done at home though, and cooking me dinner every night. I like that :-) However, I don't like the money situation. We're doing fine, but it would be nice to have another income. He's trying so hard, and he won't give up until school starts again. We'll see. It's hard to plan a trip to Chicago when we don't know if he's going to have a job or not. We were looking at Egypt guide books last night. I'm going to buy one and start reading up on it. I think we've decided on Egypt for our honeymoon. It sounds so exotic, and when is a better time to go on an exotic vacation than your honeymoon? I'm so excited and it's a whole 18 months away!!

Sunday

This morning I woke up and by the time I was out of the shower, Daniel had brought breakfast down to our bedroom! He is so thoughtful! He made chocolate chip pancakes from scratch. After eating our delicious breakfast, we decided to go see Toy Story 3. It was such a great movie! I teared up at the end because it was so sweet. I can't even explain why exactly. It's amazing how invested you get in fictional characters. There were times that I actually gasped out loud. To be fair, it was a pretty intense movie at times. Pixar and Disney just make fantastic movies. They never fail. When we got home, we did a ton of yard work and I cleaned the house. It was so tiring. Keeping the grass mowed, and all our plants watered, and our garden weeded is so much work. It was hot outside, so I let Daniel mow the lawn while I cleaned inside the house. After that I was so exhausted, I took a little nap while Daniel cooked dinner. He is just the best! It was delicious too- ginger glazed pork ribs over cilantro lime rice with a green salad on the side. Yummy! We've been spending the evening cuddling with Jackson on the couch. This is why summer is so great. When I'm at work, I'm focused on that. But when I come home, I can leave that all behind and just enjoy my little family. I don't have to stress about homework or studying or anything like that. Life is good :-)

I think I forgot to mention that we have a new roommate. It just so happens that an old high school friend recently moved back to Denver and is looking for a place to live. Whitney was in choir with us, and she dated Michael who lived with Evan in Tempe last year. Small world, right? So while she continues to look for an apartment she is going to stay with us. This buys us some more time to find a long term roommate. I'm not super close to her, but Daniel is. She's really nice and neat, and she loves to bake. That's always a good quality in a roommate. And it definitely beats a stranger off of Craig's list. I'm really nervous about finding a complete stranger as a roommate. I know that most people out there are not criminals, but there are some. And how in the world are we supposed to know the difference? I finally convinced Daniel to perform a background check before he agrees to anyone, but that isn't fool proof. What happens if this person disappears without ever paying rent, or turns out to have friends that are criminals and steal something or bring illegal drugs into our house, or is messy and leaves stuff everywhere? It seems like a million things could go wrong. But what choice do we have? I just hope one of our friends will decide they need a place to stay before August 1 when Eric moves out.

First Week

My first week of full-time work was a million times better than I thought it would be. I was pretty nervous about it. I wasn't sure how I would fill up 8 hours a day, and if I would be competent enough to actually do the work. But now I know that it is very easy to fill up 8 hours and it goes by so quickly when you're trying to get things done. And I have a much better understanding of my project. I think that Judy doesn't realize how little I actually know, so she has a hard time explaining things using simple enough language for me to understand. But with my good friend wikipedia, I filled in the gaps and now I'm completely on board with our plan. We were supposed to be in full swing by now, but the ozone machine broke when the power went out. The motor died, so we had to order a new one and wait for the technician to get back from vacation to install it. So it should be back up and running by July 1. In the meantime, we are running our control (which doesn't require exposure to ozone). On Tuesday we sacrificed 8 mice for my project, and on Wednesday 8 more for Judy's project. On Wednesday David (the other student) worked with us again. His supervisor just doesn't have time to start his project yet, so he's learning the basics by observing me and Judy. We showed him how we open up mice and everything, and he was very hesitant to get in there and help. At first we thought it was because he was morally opposed to animal testing. But later, he told us that really he was afraid he would mess something up and ruin my experiment. So we have plans next week to sacrifice some more and he will help us then. Actually, he spent most of the week observing whatever I was doing. I ended up teaching him a lot about lab technique and some different tests and procedures that we do. Trying to explain things in even simpler language than what I can understand was quite a challenge. It showed me how much I have learned in the past 6 months. Which is a lot! I think that after this job, I could get a job in any research lab. I have gained so many skills that make me really marketable.

Each day I felt more comfortable with the other people in the lab too. Everyone is so young and fun to be around and laid back. It's really a great work environment. I also got to talk to one other student, Jenny. She grew up in Denver and her parents live just a few blocks from DU. She goes to school in Massachusetts and was a student worker in this lab last summer. So she already knows most everyone and how things work there. I've enjoyed getting to know her too.

On Thursday, I attended my first lab meeting. Every Thursday morning at 9am, the entire lab meets to discuss recent happenings in the lab, and one person is selected to present some of their research. Most of what was discussed went completely over my head. I tried really hard to glean anything I could from the presentation. It was about pulmonary fibrosis and a genetic mutation that I think increases the likelihood of a person getting the disease, but at the same time increases life expectancy and decreases severity of the disease. If I understood the presentation correctly (which is doubtful). I would say about 60% of the words that were spoken, I had never heard of before. Scientists use way too many acronyms, and I had to ask what a bunch of them meant. Of course, once I deciphered the acronyms things made much more sense. Maybe next time I'll bring my computer and google everything as the person is presenting. After the morning meeting, I had another meeting with Judy and her supervisor Ivana. That was just an informal meeting to go over our progress so far, and plans for the next few weeks. Then at noon was a meeting for everyone in the lab that was working on a project involved with the innate immune system. Another person presented her research, which I understood maybe 10% of. I was trying very hard to stay focused and glean what I could from the conversation. Most of it seemed so irrelevant to me, and I wasn't quite sure why I had to be there. But I tried to treat it as an opportunity to learn. Even if I didn't understand all of it, I could try to pick out one or two things to take away. Hopefully each week I will understand a little bit more.

Thursday afternoon and all day Friday was spent running Multi-plexes with David. I had to teach him how to do those too. They are kind of boring because it involves 10 minutes of being really busy and doing multiple things at once, and then you have 30 minutes of waiting and doing nothing. Which isn't enough time to get anything else done, but too much time to sit there staring into space. So I got to know David some more, and looked up some things online, and checked my email 10 million times. I think that's how most Thursdays and Fridays will go. But I used that time to do some research and consequently, I understand my project much better. Let's see if I can explain it concisely.

We start by taking stem cells out of the bone marrow of mice. Then we grow them on plates and use a chemical to tell them to turn into macrophages, which are involved in the immune system. Then we expose those cells to different levels of ozone, which is bad for them. Then we introduce PAMPs, which simulate an infection. So basically we infect the macrophages- for my project, a virus and for Judy's project, bacteria. Using multiple tests, we can measure how well the immune system reacts. Presumably, the cells that were exposed to the highest level of ozone will have less of a reaction because the immune system was damaged. But that's what we'll find out! I hope that made sense. It makes sense to me anyways. I have to present my research on August 12, so I need to figure out how to explain it better before then. I'm already nervous!!

Wedding! and Work!

This week we made so much progress on the wedding! I have a clear picture of it now, which makes daydreaming about it so much more fun! We made decided on the colors, the location, the time, the date, the officiant, the flower girls, my bridesmaids, the ring bearer, the bridal processional music, the musicians for the ceremony, the photographer, the centerpieces, the food, and lots of other little details!

I also made a lot of progress on the dress. I really had no clue what I was looking for. But I went to David's Bridal on Saturday with my mom and Daniel's mom and tried a wide variety of styles to see what I liked. Here's what I learned: I actually really like lace, I definitely want beading, I want a train, a fingertip veil, V neck or sweetheart neckline, deep V in the back, trumpet, or A line silhouette, and that I don't need to lose weight because undergarments work miracles! I didn't really want to try on wedding gowns because I wanted to lose 10 pounds before I did. But my mom and Julie convinced me to go look, and I was pleasantly surprised. I also really didn't want to go to David's Bridal because I wasn't impressed when I went to shop for my prom dress. But we had a fantastic surprise!

I wasn't able to get an appointment on a Saturday on such short notice, so we decided to just walk in and browse. If nobody was able to help us, oh well at least we can look. So we walked in at about 10am and they told us they had an appointment available at 1pm. So I took it! In the meantime, we browsed the racks and wrote down style numbers to try on later. While we were looking at bridesmaid dresses, a girl came up and asked questions about what we were looking for. We explained that we were here to look at a wide variety of gowns, and started asking questions. She looked at the style numbers we wrote down and gave us some good advice. We asked if she would be available for my appointment later that afternoon and she explained that she's just in training. But she asked her supervisor, and her supervisor told her it was okay to start right away! So she pulled gowns and took down my information and I started trying on dresses. It was so much fun! She was the sweetest girl, I felt no pressure, and she had great ideas. She treated me so special. I told her that I was hesitant to try on a mermaid style or trumpet style gown because I'm not really comfortable with my body, but that my fiance likes it a lot and likes that style. She told me "of course, he likes your body, he loves you!" And she told me repeatedly that I didn't need to lose one pound, and that the dress should fit my body, not the other way around. It was so much fun and completely changed my mind about David's Bridal. Every dress I tried on was under $1000 and they were all gorgeous. There were 3 that I absolutely loved equally. I took pictures and sent them to my sister so I could get her input as well. Daniel is dying to see the pictures, but I won't show him any. Now I am so excited to try on more dresses! Though I loved all 3, I think that none of them was "the dress." I really want to go to Demitrios in Scottsdale. I have looked at their dresses online and they are really beautiful.

Today was my first day full time at work. It was strange, but really fun. I love the people I work with. And now that I'm full time, I think I'll really get to know them better. I heard that last week a transformer at the power plant here in Denver blew up. Like literally, exploded. So the power went out for about 4 hours at our house and at the lab. When that happened, Judy (my supervisor) was in the middle of an ELISA so it kind of got messed up. Today we repeated that ELISA. In the middle of it, the fire alarm went off! So we evacuated the building and had to just leave it there. Luckily it didn't mess it up too much. We picked up where we left off. Then, around 3pm, the power went out! That is really really bad in a research lab. Almost everything we do requires a computer or centrifuge, or some other machine that requires electricity. Not only that, but every freezer and refrigerator and incubator lost power. So immediately every machine shut off which made this deafening silence. There was no hum that is usually there when tons of machines are running. Then almost immediately after, lots and lots of beeping. Every freezer is on an alarm so if it looses power, or warms up by more than 1 degree Celsius, it starts beeping. And it is set to automatically call the emergency contact in the lab. So everyone's phone started ringing too! Every sample in the freezer started to thaw, every cell line growing in the incubator started to die, and every reagent in the refrigerator started to go bad (like milk would without power). It was bad. We were so frustrated because we just wanted to get this ELISA done that got ruined because of the last power outage! Judy told me I could just go home because there was nothing we could do and who knows how long the power was going to be out. What a strange day.

Today was also the first day for many of the other student interns. I'm finally not the bottom of the totem pole anymore! Since I have already worked there for 6 months, I'm way ahead on my project and just knowing everybody and where we keep everything and how we do things. Laura even told me that I could make the other students label my tubes! I won't do that though :-) Today another student tagged along with me and Judy because he needed to learn how to do an ELISA for his project. He's never worked in a lab before, and never done an ELISA before. Yikes. He's one year behind me in school, and hasn't been to Denver since he was 6 years old so he doesn't know anybody here. I told him a lot about the lab and my project and ELISAs. We really spent a lot of time together so we got to know each other pretty well. I really want to meet the other students. I'm sure I'll get a chance in the next few days. I think this summer is going to be great!

Grades

Oh, and I got my final grades. I somehow managed to pull a B- in anatomy. I have no clue how, but I did. Unfortunately, I got my first C in chemistry. But I don't even care. I got a B in anatomy!!! I'm thrilled about that. I know that I tried my hardest in every class I took, and they were really hard! I am proud of myself for getting through it regardless. And my GPA is still a 3.4 which isn't terrible. I'm so glad I have 3 months before I have to take another test!

VBS potluck and show tonight. Now that I have all this wedding stuff and school stuff behind me, I think I'll really enjoy myself.

We Have a Wedding Venue!

After a very long, stressful week, we have picked our wedding venue! It was really REALLY close between Aldea and Sassi. Aldea is fun, friendly, beautiful, and colorful. Sassi is elegant, sophisticated, expensive, and a little snooty. I was in love with the feel of Sassi. I thought that I would feel completely pampered having my wedding there. It's a gourmet restaurant, with a plated meal. They even offered us champagne during the tour! But, it had an arrogance about it. Our waiter during dinner was somewhat unfriendly, and Daniel felt like the lady that gave us the tour pretty much ignored him and was a little rude. Sassi doesn't include all the decorations that Aldea does, and it doesn't include the DJ, photographer, or some of the other stuff. Of course the price was lower. So when you added that stuff in, the price was pretty close between the two. But when we looked at pictures, the reception looked the same for every wedding. It had very little color. And Daniel felt that it was a bit crowded when it was set for 100, so with 150 it would be really crowded. The grand entrance was incredible though! Huge doulbe doors that open just before the bride comes down the stone staircase. The background was all desert with pinnacle peak off to the side.

Aldea was very friendly. The girl that showed us around was fun and friendly. She said yes to just about everything we asked. They have done a million weddings, and each one was different. They are very flexible. And they have an entire decorating business, so there is a whole storeroom of every color of linens imaginable, chair ties, tons of different centerpieces, and chair covers that are ALL included. They also have a photographer that they contract with who is incredible. It's called Kiss the Camera and their photographs are gorgeous. It doesn't have the secluded, exotic feel that Sassi does. It's right in the middle of the city and there's no big entrance to the courtyard where the ceremony is. However, there is an upper level that will allow for fantastic pictures during the ceremony, and a big staircase entrance as well. The reception area is huge with a big dance floor and lots of lights.

I was completely undecided between the two last night. Daniel was leaning towards Aldea, though he agreed Sassi was gorgeous. He felt that they were unfriendly. I was leaning towards Sassi because I love the luxurious feel. We kept going back and forth. I couldn't sleep at all last night and I woke up this morning exhausted, stressed, and depressed. It's ridiculous, I know, but this is an important decision! And though our parents have said all along that it's only about what we want, we both felt pressure from both sides. So I spent all day thinking about it, and finally called my sister. And after a conversation with her, it is crystal clear. She asked me "do you want your guests to leave your wedding thinking 'wow that was an expensive wedding,' or thinking 'I had a fantastic time and danced all night long.' " And the truth is, I want my wedding to be a PARTY! Not an elegant, sophisticated dinner, but a dancing all night long, drinking a little too much, party. So there you go. That's our answer. I have "worn" that decision for about 15 minutes now, and with every passing second I feel more confident that it's the right one. Thank you Nicole, I love you!!!

Third Year of College: Complete!

I'm officially done with spring quarter and junior year of college! I took my last final in chemistry this morning. I think it will take a few days for the relief to set in. I am still a little anxious and stressed from it all. Yesterday I was feeling quite sick, so we didn't go to Body Worlds. I made a doctor's appointment on campus and got some antibiotics. I'm already feeling much better, so by tomorrow I should be back to 100%. We went to Body Worlds today instead. It was incredible! I understood so much more after taking anatomy. I actually kind of wish I had gone before my final exam because seeing real bodies like that cleared some things up. It really helps you see how things relate to one another: something a textbook isn't very good at. Daniel asked me a million questions. It was fun to be the know-it-all for a little while.

The past few days we have been making appointments with all the wedding venues. It's going to be a crazy week while we're in Phoenix. We have one on Monday afternoon, two Tuesday evening, two Wednesday evening, and one Thursday evening. Hopefully by then we can make a decision and then on Friday or Saturday make a final appointment and draw up a contract. Then the wedding planning will really begin! Once I can visualize the location, I think everything else will fall into place. Our guest list is nearly complete too. We have almost exactly 150.

Hope left last night. She's officially moved out except for her large furniture. It was a little sad, and a little awkward. With every passing day, I feel like I've been dropped for the "London friends." Daniel feels that way too. They all went out together last night to say goodbye to Hope, and we weren't invited. I'm over it. If they choose to hang out with those friends instead of us, that's their right. We have plenty of other friends. It's probably a good thing they're moving out. Unfortunately, we still have no leads on roommates to take their place.

Daniel and I are planning a trip to Monterey now. My brother has been asking me to come out and visit him for months, and I think we'll be able to make time in July. I'll take Friday and Monday off work so we can spend a long weekend there. Monterey sounds like a beautiful town. I'm looking forward to the aquarium, and eating lots of sushi!

I have all evening with nothing to do, so I think I'll take a nap. Or maybe I should clean the house, do laundry, and begin packing. Because we leave for Phoenix very very early the day after tomorrow! I'm sooooooo excited!!! We get to be the bride and groom for a whole week :-)