Another one bites the dust

One of the less than pleasant aspects of the Neuroscience graduate program are all the hoops I have to jump through, especially the oral exam.


Why do they call it an oral exam? I'm not in dental school, people.


The oral exam consists of three professors (my committee) grilling me on all sorts of subjects from all my coursework. Okay, not really grilling, they were pretty nice about it. But it's three against one, I felt a little ganged up upon.


Oh, and I answered vocally. Hence, "oral" exam. I guess it sort of makes sense.


It was today. And I passed! Hallelujah! All that's left is getting all my data, writing my thesis, and defending it. Piece of cake. A giant, ultra-dense, mega-chocolatey, uber moist piece of cake.


Speaking of data gathering. These are my data monkeys.

So they're not monkeys, they're mice. But look at them climb!


They're cute little buggers. And they liiiike alcohol. Well, some of them do. It depends on their genotype. Which provides me with fanTAstic data.



'80s high school portrait time! Poor guy, no one should be in a picture that looks so silly. Silly mousy.


They are curious little cats. I mean mice. Anti-cats.



Thanks to Photoshop for assisting me in this presentation. For comparative purposes, see original photo below.
Ah, photoshop, what would I do without ye?

rrrip rrroarin

Now that's a man. The same man who bowled a 167 last night.

After he bowled a 62 in the first game. The game in which I won. Ha.

We went out with another couple last night, had lots of fun, and I of course didn't bring my camera. How am I supposed to practice editing photos if I don't take any? Hmm?

CS4!

My wonderful husband bought me Adobe Creative Suites 4 for my birthday! What a spoiler!!! I feel so special. I thank my lucky stars for that blessed, blessed student software discount.

My first task: figure out how to work Photoshop. Thank goodness for video tutorials!

Here's a quick first attempt, mostly getting rid of a little forehead shine and burning the edges a bit. But it does feature my mom's gift, what a cute bag! Made by her visiting teaching companion. What talent!

This may now become a forum for my photoshop prowess progress. Warning, this may take some patience on your part!


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Anyone catch LOST last night? Wowser, that'll twist my mind around for a while!

"What is it?"
"A compass."
"What does it do?"
"It... points north, John."

(HAHAHA, the first time I wrote that quote, I typed "It... tells time, John." Ha, guess it's not so obvious)

Mini-Us

One of the neatest gifts Sean and I received was created by Sean's mom.

It's made of foil.

And paper.

And some material.

And photos.

Not to mention wax.

And scrubs.

Are you ready to behold?

Ta Da!!

Aren't those just the cutest, most fun things you've every seen?? Sean loved he's depicted as a doctor. I love that I'll be eternally gazing at his glorious visage.

I especially love the feet, they're the cutest part.

Home for the Holidays

What could be a better way of enjoying the holidays than...

Meeting new best friends

Anticipating the unknown

Living on the edge

Napping with a very special birthday balloon.

Nothing better!

The List

I came across this list a loooong while ago on Marci's blog and thought it might be fun to read through. There's 99 things here that I've formatted in bold if it's something I've done. And because I can never give an unqualified answer, I've put the things I've sort of done in italics.


1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a Meteor Shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland (Disneyworld is so the place to be)

8. Climbed a Mountain (maybe not all the way to the top...)

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables (Green BEANS!)

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a Lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse (I think...)

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (that should be all the time, shouldn't it?)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (and swallowed a gallon of sea water)

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie (a teeny tiny class project movie, but that still counts)

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business (we made and sold paper cranes in elementary school. The teacher got mad when she found out)

58. Taken a martial arts class -self defense, taught by a martial arts guy. I say it half counts.

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (when I was a girl scout for about 6 months)

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma- I tried and almost fainted

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job (they ran out of work for me, it's not like I was a bad employee, okay?)

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle- mom would NOT like that!

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book- but I'm an author on a paper that's to be published soon!

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper (gathered the most food for a food drive, booya!)

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury- got called up for duty in IL when I wasn't a resident there anymore.

91. Met someone famous (my favorite one was JK Rowling. And she talked to me!)

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake- and it's so close...

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee


So, 44 out of 99... that's kind of pathetic. I'll work on it.