Friday, July 8, 2011

A little work out motivation

Just when I look around and I think that people are really getting into being fit and active this article pops up on my Google home page. 

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/176817/20110708/america-obesity-f-fat-mississippi-food-health-rate-increase-high.htm

In case you are pressed for time or don't actually feel like opening the article here are some nice little excerpts for you.

"High Obesity rates continue to earn America an 'F'."
"An annual report F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011, from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that Mississippi has the highest rate of obesity in the country, soaring up to 34.4 percent (That would be my neighbor state, way to go guys!)......The report released on Thursday also showed that over the past two decades, seven states have doubled their rate of obesity and ten states have doubled their rate of diabetes......The highest obesity rates fell mostly in the South, in large swaths of poor and rural areas, and where fried foods are eaten in abundance.....Since 1995, obesity rates have risen fastest in Oklahoma, Alabama and Tennessee, with the slowest rates occuring in Colorado, Connecticut and Washington, D.C.......Following Mississippi, the most obese states are Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee and Louisiana. It's not until No. 10 on the list, Michigan, that a state above the Mason-Dixon Line appears. The least obese states continue to be in the West and Northeast."

In case you missed the trend in this post (the bold and large words) let me bring it to your attention.  I live in the worst possible place to succumb to corpulence.  And as I have no desire whatsoever to be catagorized as any type of over weight let the long runs in the scorching heat begin.  And perhaps I should consider a move to Colorado?  Or better yet Europe.  If America is getting an F, who is getting the A?




Saturday, June 18, 2011

Remind Me

I am completely obsessed with this song right now.  I might have listened to it on repeat my whole way home from work today. Can't wait for the actual video!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Homemade Fruit Punch

Doesn't this look absolutely amazing and yummy?


Definitely think I'm going to have to make it sometime soon!  Recipe here.


Thursday, June 9, 2011

Sorority Girl Problems

So I have recently become obsessed with Twitter.  Today I started following someone who is cracking me up right now.  And I feel it is necessary to share some of her tweets.  For your reading pleasure:

I can do all things through wine who strengthens me.

Humidity wants me to be ugly.   (So relevant in the south!)

Must be productive....Must be productive...Oops I just found someone on Facebook I haven't judged in a while.

I feel bad for people who aren't caffeine addicts: when they wake up in the morning, that's as alive as they're going to feel all day.

I should really work on getting some less obvious "I'm judging you" eyes.

Someone please teach me the difference between boredom and hunger.

I don't hate Mondays.  Mondays hate me.

Whenever I feel like my life is a lost cause, I remind myself that somewhere there is a Real Housewife who is a bigger disaster than me.


Hope you enjoyed!  If you want more, you can follow her @SororityProblems


Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Happy Birthday To Me

Today I turned 27.

And I sure as heck do not feel like it.  And I'm pretty sure most the time I don't act like it.  So how on earth did I get to be it?  So weird.  Ah, well, here's to another candle on the cake and a happy birthday to me!  (Which it indeed was!!!)

Saturday, June 4, 2011

I PASSED: The story of my next big step on becoming Dr. Peacock

As is obvious from my complete lack of posting the last couple months, I've been a little busy.  My life was consumed with proposal writing and preparing for my big Admission to Candidacy exam.  Round 1 came on May 10th.  My committee had been in possession of my 8 page research proposal for 2 weeks.  Plenty of time to read and come up with criticisms for my research and plenty of questions.  The exam began with me giving a 20 minute presentation, essentially summarizing my proposal followed by 2 excruciatingly brutal hours of non-stop question grilling.  At the end of that 2 hour period I was sent out of the room where my 7 committee members spent 30 minutes discussing my fate.

(insert Jeapordy theme song here)

Here I would like to interrupt my little retelling to point out some facts that most of you are probably unaware of.  The Admission to Candidacy exam for PhD students is a huge deal.  It essentially determines if you are good enough to go on and actually obtain your PhD or if you should just give up and take the MS (failure).  The proposal that we are required to write is basically like writing a grant, and while 8 pages may sound quite whimpy, trying to fit all of your preliminary data, proposed research, and benefit to the field into 8 pages (which for NIH standards is actually supposed to be 6) is like trying to fit your life story into 1 chapter: almost impossible.  Luckily I have a little grant writing experience so the writing part wasn't too bad.  And by not too bad, I mean I've never been so stressed in my life.  Normally when students are writing and preparing for this exam they take a few weeks off from doing experiments, trying not to overload themselves.  But not me.  I was told that I was expected to work the whole time I was preparing, and I did.  And since we are working on getting a paper out, my normal work load was significantly increased (thanks boss).  Needless to say my mind was not completely focused on my exam.  Never the less, I finished my proposal on time and put together my presentation.  Which brings us back...

After the longest 30 minutes of my life (dramatic, but true) I was brought back into the room with my committee.  I was told my proposal was great, they were all very impressed with my writing.  SWEET!  I was also told that my presentation was very well done, I obviously have no problem giving one.  SWEET AGAIN!  And then the knife....they were not so impressed with my ability to answer questions on the spot.  NOOO!  They all told me that they knew I was smart, top of my class, and they had faith that I knew my science, but they were worried about how I handled the stress and the questions.  They asked me how much time I had taken off to spend preparing, and when I told them none, they were shocked.  (My advisor got scolded a little for not making sure that I did.)  They decided that while they could pass me at that point, they knew I was capable of more and wanted to see what I could do given the appropriate amount of time out of the lab to prepare.  While at that moment I was extremely heart broken and let down, now I can say I'm kind of grateful they did it. Extra practice is always a good thing.  And most of the time students get asked to rewrite their proposal (this is actually pretty common) or redo the presentation anyway, but since they thought I did great at both of those, all they wanted from me was to redo the question and answers session.  Easy.

I spent the next 2 1/2 weeks away from the lab, not doing any experiments but just immersing myself in the science.  I probably read at least 100 papers, reviewed old class notes, and became an expert on every technique and protocol that had any relevance to my research.  So when Round 2 came I was posed and ready for every question they threw at me.  And this time I knocked their socks off!!  Unlike the 30 minutes I sat out of the room the first time, this time I walked out and walked right back in.  The decision to pass me was instant and unanimous.  My admission form was signed and I am now a PhD candidate!  Woo hoo!!

The whole process was long and stressful and for the better part of two months I had a constant nauseous feeling in my stomach.  But I am officially done and can get back to focusing on other things, such as the paper we are submitting next week which will be my first, first author paper (boo yah!).

Oh, and I think the moral to this story here is that it is better to force your boss to allow you time off instead of being an extreme workaholic when your future is on the line.

I want....

Yes I do have a thing for owls.  So sue me.  But this is so cute!




















Whoot!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

From: The Dog

My mom sent me this as an email and I thought it was pretty cute, so I decided to share it via blog.  Enjoy!
 
From: THE DOG
CC04DD9B6F8F4BE6ADFBEBFE07FBB99E@VICTORIATECRA
Dear God:  Is it on purpose our names are the same, only reversed?
97A85C4B7A3C4719A9A06A3F5C5D8D2D@VICTORIATECRA
Dear God:  Why do humans smell the flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another?
C33BAE3803BB45D18F0C495AEBBCA083@VICTORIATECRA
Dear God:  When we get to heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it still the same old story?
D05F6D1024FE4672A7FC18643145B262@VICTORIATECRA
Dear God:  Why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cougar, the mustang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit, but not ONE named for a Dog? How often do you see a cougar riding around? We do love a nice ride! Would it be so hard to rename the 'Chrysler Eagle' the 'Chrysler Beagle'?
6103E74550BF484194B2916824B489F7@VICTORIATECRA
Dear God:  If a Dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad Dog?
DAB6CFCED6B2400293A8C77079E915B5@VICTORIATECRA
Dear God: We Dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID's, electromagnetic energy fields, and frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?
BCF0FC438D11403FAB18362822ACA4F7@VICTORIATECRA
Dear God:  More meatballs, less spaghetti, please.
4BAA0261D997459A842277D18D45780F@VICTORIATECRA
Dear God:  Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are, will I have to apologize?
10D5E124306145FDB86C0F7B23717E4A@VICTORIATECRA
Dear God:  Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember to be a good Dog.
1. I will not eat the cats' food before they eat it or after they throw it up.
2. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.
3. The Litter Box is not a cookie jar.
4. The sofa is not a 'face towel'.
5. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.
6. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.
7.  Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is an unacceptable way of saying 'hello'.
8. I don't need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm under the coffee table
9. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house - not after.
10. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt across the capet.
11. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch.
12. The cat is not a 'squeaky toy' so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.
B9A291D4DFDD4C89ADB848B13DC23973@VICTORIATECRA
P.S.  Dear God: When I get to Heaven may I have my testicles back?

Monday, March 28, 2011

A Happy Tune

I am really liking this song right now.  The beat always make me feel happy!  Even after a long Monday. With my increasingly busy and stressful days I need all the happy I can get!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

F*ck Cancer

In my mind this statement can be interpreted 2 ways.
As in 1) YES!  I am working toward a cure, so take that you vicious disease!
and
2) I'm soooo over this!  Who needs a PhD?

Most of the time I lean more toward the first interpretation.  Unfortunately, lately, and especially this week, I'm really feeling the second.   However, no matter how terrible my day I find myself chuckling every time I see this hat.  I mean, its just ridiculous.




So the story behind the hat.  Our main lab tech is in a band.  Every Thursday they have a gig at the same bar and as a result have some regular followers.  Well one of these fans brought a new friend with them a couple weeks ago.  After the gig he was talking to our tech who said his day job was working in a cancer research lab.  This guy said he made hats.  So the next week rolls around and after the gig, this hat making guy comes up to our tech and says 'Hey I made something special for you', and hands him this hat.  Our tech was perfectly nice about it and accepted it, but the next day in lab we all got a huge kick out of it.  I mean really?  Who would actually wear that??  So funny.  So ridiculous.  And just one more little thing keeping me sane right now.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

A Happy List

So I feel as though this morning I need to make a little list of things that make me happy.  Mostly because yesterday was such a long, stressful, frustrating day that I am not going to vent about because I feel it would be bad for my health.  So instead, this morning, before I go off and try to conquer my mountain of work, I am going to write a happy list.

1. Warmer weather and spring (the trees are blooming!!)
















2.  Skype dates with my little sister.  We recently talked about the 1 mile kids race she just completed, in her wheelchair!!  Such a rock star!





















3.  Making new friends!!
4.  And on that note, finding fun new places to hang out.  Check out this awesome vintage decor at the Mollie Fontaine Lounge.











5.  Phone dates with old friends you haven't seen in forever (and by forever I mean like almost 2 years!!)
 Miss you Ghetto Fab!
















6.  And coffee.  Without it, I would never make it out of bed.















via, via, and via

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Boss for 3 Days

So my PI is out of town this week at a conference.  Which of course means that everyday I get random texts, emails and phone calls with questions about have we done this experiment or we need to do this experiment or I just went skiing and it was awesome (gee, thanks for rubbing that one in).  And I know when she comes in on Monday she will have a 10 page list to add to the ungodly length list we already have of experiments to get done.  But that is all beside the point of this post.  The point is she is gone.  Which normally puts Luciana, our post-doc in charge.  However, Luciana left yesterday to go home to Argentina for a nice little 3 week visit.  And in my lab the heirarchy follows such that I am next in charge.  Making me the boss for three days.  I barely have time to be the boss of my own experiments, let alone manage 2 lab techs and 2 undergrads, who lets just say, all need an extreme amount of managing.
For example, thank you undergrad number 1 for texting me at midnight last night (MIDNIGHT) asking me if I was awake and could I read over your paper. 
Or lab tech number 1 who sits and stares at the computer all day unless I specifically go up and give them something to do.  A little initiative would be nice.
However, gotta love the encouragement from the boss.  Such as last nights (extremely long) email that ended in "Thanks for holding down the fort.  You are in charge, whip everyone into shape."
Anyway, I've managed to make it through almost 2 days.  And tomorrow is Friday.  Thank goodness!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Laughing Baby

I totally stole this off someones Facebook post today, but I couldn't help it.  So funny and so cute!

Happy Friday everyone!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Its a Parasite!!

So apparently I only like to blog these days when I have funny stories about my sister.  Unfortunately that means that there is absolutely nothing of interest going on in my life.  At least nothing blog worthy.  Therefore I will share another one, of oh so many, funny Sarah stories for you.

So Sarah really likes to watch Animal Planet.  You could turn it on in the morning and she would seriously sit there and watch it until bed time.  Well one of the shows on Animal Planet is called the Monsters Inside Me and it is all about parasites that live inside your body.  The other night her and my dad were having dinner together while my mom was at choir practice.  She looked in her milk and asked my dad, "what is this?".  He replied without really looking, "I don't know."  She then exclaimed, "I think its a parasite!!!"  At this point my dad looked in the milk to find a tiny piece of black lint.  He then had to explain to her that parasites do not hang out in milk.  I don't know if you think this is as funny as I do, but even now I am still laughing.  It helps if you can imagine her little 7 year old self and the fact that she thinks she is a little know it all sure that she had just discovered a parasite in her evening milk!  Oh man, so funny.  I made sure to ask her about it yesterday on the phone.  "So Sarah, I heard you almost drank a parasite."  To which she replied in her matter of fact voice, "Ew, gross.  Anyway, it wasn't a parasite, it was just lint." 

Love that kid.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Bubble Wrap

So I try to act my age but there are times when I feel it is appropriate to indulge my inner child.  Such as the times when the lab receives the occasional package containing a little bubble wrap.  I really don't know what it is but I just love the stuff!  There is a sort of satisfaction from hearing the little "pop" sound every time you squeeze a little air filled bubble.  Plus, not to mention if you're experiencing a little frustration it can be a great way to relieve some stress.  Not that I know what that feels like or anything.  And I'm not obnoxious about it.  I don't do it all the time and I only do it when I know it won't bother anyone.  I'm a polite bubble popper.  But seriously, if you ever buy me a gift and it comes in bubble wrap, don't be surprised if act like a 2 year old and pay more attention to the wrapping then the gift!

And for your enjoyment!!!
Fun with Bubble Wrap

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Round and Round

So apparently I'm just full of funny videos today.  Mostly I just love my little sister to death and I have to share these because I think they are hilarious.  Hope you enjoy!!




Lady Gaga Parody

In case you were wondering what scientific humor looks like, here it is.

Really though, it is both very clever and very funny.  Oh, and for some unfortunate people very true!! Lucky for me I have a great project!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Been a Long Day-Rosi Golan

Beautiful song.  Also pretty much sums up how I've been feeling.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Emotions

So I'm not sure what is going on in my life right now, but my emotions seem to be running amuck.  High, low, happy, sad, angry, really angry.  I just can't seem to get a grip on them.  I've spent the last few nights crying myself to sleep and I have no idea why.  I keep wanting to yell at people for no particular reason.  Its extremely frustrating.  Its been a long time since I've felt like this and I know a few of you know what I was like when this happened.  I hate this me. 

On a happier note, Auburn beat Oregon last night!  That made me very happy.  Enough to do this :)  I also know a few of you who just love those little emoticons!!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Happy 2011!!

Just in case you were wondering I almost published this as Happy 20111.  Ha! 
Anyway, since everyone seems to be sharing their plans for 2011 I guess I'll share mine too.

1. Be happy and content with what I have.
2. Continue running (more on this later)
3. Not be such a workaholic, tell my boss no I will not come in this weekend and take more weekend trips: Nashville, St. Louise, Destin, New Orleans.  There are so many great places near Memphis.
4. Go back to Washington!
       This I know is happening for sure!!  In June I am going back to the wonderful state in which I spent most of my youth.  My gracious grandparents have offered to help me with my ticket (love them!) and my mother has decided that we need to run the Seattle Rock and Roll half marathon!!!!  Crazy woman!  But she has recruited about half the town of Kalama, so I guess it could be fun.  So mark your calendars ladies, last week in June I'll be back on the west coast.  And if any of you aren't going to be there, well then I might cry.
5. Make it through my Admission to Candidacy defense. 
6. Have a huge party after number 5 :)


Those are the big ones.  #3 has been on the list since I've moved here and has yet to happen.  Maybe 2011 is the year.  We'll see!!