Animal Afternoon

So, I just uploaded some new pictures from the Habersham Co. Animal Shelter on my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/goatneck. Go check them out! They are all such darlings. I wish I had a giant animal farm so that I could take them all home with me.

Shameless plug: http://www.fohcas.com.

Hello world!

So, here it is, world. This all started as a project to help a friend, but I may keep it around for kicks. I have missed messing around with php/html/etc. I’m on Christmas break right now, which is why I have any time to do this sort of thing. This layout is based on one that I found, but I definitely added my own touches to it. I am currently working on the other pages, so some of them are blank still. It’ll be something fun to mess around with. More later when I finish messing.

I just want to give a shoutout to my Jeremiah! I love ya.

Quick Update

1. My research is going well. I have only a bit left to do at the beginning of next semester before I can start my senior thesis.

2. I had a great time with Jeremy, Tonya, and my family at the regional ACS meeting at the end of October. I was able to meet up with my advisor from this past summer, Dr. Urbauer. It was great to see him again. I presented our poster and had quite a few grad students and professors come over to discuss it with me, which is always good. I also met many of the professors from Clemson University, including Dr. Hwu, who spent about forty minutes talking with me about grad school. I was told unofficially by the graduate coordinator from Clemson that I would be accepted, which made my day. It was a good trip and I’m glad my family came to see me.

3. I was asked to present at the local Athens area ACS meeting on Nov. 30th by one of my profs, which will be a good experience, not to mention that I’ll get a chance to network. I’m looking forward to it. Unfortunately, Dr. Urbauer won’t be able to make it, but I’ll make him proud.

4. I recently got an email from the graduate admissions at UGA stating that they had accepted me into their program and that I would be receiving a letter from the Graduate School soon with the details. This came as quite a shock since I wasn’t expecting to hear from any programs until February or March, but it was definitely a nice surprise. So, hopefully I’ll be able to weigh the pros and cons of a few programs and make the best decision for me. I applied to GSU, Emory, Clemson, UGA, and USC, but I am hoping to go to a school that is more rural, so UGA and Clemson are my top two right now. We’ll see how it goes in the next few weeks. 

5. Jeremy is still wonderful. He’s incredibly supportive and I really need it right now.

6. I’m almost to Christmas Break! Then, I’ll have only 13 hours next semester–quite the slow down compared to my usual 24 hours. I’ll have more time to devote to studying for my orals and working on my senior work. Then, I’ll graduate in May. It’s crazy how fast time goes by. I’m looking forward to our family trip after graduation. Not looking forward to my possible ear surgery this summer. We’ll see how things go.

Love and Christmastime

 Senior research and physical chemistry now own all of my free time.

Family time is good.

Jeremy is wonderful.

I miss Heather and Katie.

I get really lonely here on campus, so I leave as often as possible.

I’m a dork. But I’m hopeful.

Love and Christmastime will save me from this melancholy.

More later.

My Greatest Strength

“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
I Corinthians 13:13

“Love is the greatest because it glorifies both faith and hope, sanctifies every faculty and Christian grace, is the very moving impulse of the gospel, and is the one quality that is divine. God is love.” (1Jo 4:8)

To be continued…

- The Many Facets of Love
- The Love of Family
- The Love of Friends
- The Love of One Man
- The Love of All Loves

The Signpost Directional

Topics:

- Start Your Engines
- Hurry Up and Wait
- What Now?

The Light Breaks

Topics:

- Semester in the Dark
- Saved and Stronger
- New Friends
- Goodbyes and Hellos
- Adventures in Housing
- Athen’s Finest
- Growing Up

A Summer In The Dark

During the fall of my sophomore year, I declared a chemistry major and began searching for opportunities to quench the insatiable thirst for knowledge that had started the instant I had stepped onto a college campus. I was only taking general chemistry, but I scoured the internet for weeks searching for something I could do with my following summer. I knew I needed a job, but I was hoping that there was some way that I could avoid flipping burgers like the rest of my cohorts. Not that I was too good for it, I just preferred to exhaust my alternatives before it came to that. I came across “research experiences for undergraduates,” or REUs, and randomly selected one to apply to–at the University of Pittsburgh. I had passed the deadline on many of the others, and, though I did not think I had a chance at getting accepted, thought it worth the try.

A few weeks later, a Dr. Joseph Grabowski emailed me regarding my application, offering me 5K to come up to Pittsburgh and do research for the summer. Talk about jaw-dropping. I was a sophomore with only genchem under my belt. I must have had some amazing letters of recommendation to get a chance like this. Scared, but excited, I accepted this generous offer in hopes that I could use this opportunity to improve myself and meet others interested in science. 

To be continued…

Topics to cover:

 - Intro
- New Friends
- Learning The Hard Way
- People Are Not As They Seem
- Some People Are
- In The Dark
- Love and Some Verses
- Squeezing Metaphorical Juice Out of Pittsburgh
- These Things I Have Learned

Baby Steps

“Pretty ain’t worth a damn,” my great grandfather used to say quite often, even after admitting that I was the prettiest baby he’d ever seen. That might tell you a little something about me. Ever since then I have been trying to prove myself to my family and my world.

I was born during a time of change, and, therefore, evolving and transforming has always been a large part of my life from the chemical reactions that I have spent years studying to my constant struggle to be a good person, not just a good Christian. My mother and father were going through some difficult times due to money issues and otherwise, and, soon after I was born, they split up. Mom eventually got her own place on some land adjacent to my maternal grandfather’s farm. I spent the first nine years of my life in a small single-wide trailer in a pasture, though I have many good memories there. My father was still actively involved in my life, and, thankfully, they were always civil to one another in my earshot. They eventually got back together and were remarried when I was twelve.

My parents are amazing people and in more ways than one. They are almost polar opposites in so many ways, but they share the same sources of inspiration, which is why I believe that they came back together after so many years.

To be continued…

Topics:

- My Beginnings
- My Family
- How They Have Made Me Who I Am Today
- Eccentricities and Marvels
- Animal Kingdom
- Dark Days (high school)
- Brighter Ones (college)
- Wings
- New Family

I’m Lousy At Updating

 I’m better…just busy. I have so much going on lately. 

I am excited to be going on Fall Break soon. I need a mental health day, for sure.

Jeremy’s wonderful. 

More later, loves.