Sunday, May 22, 2011

Spring in Montana

Wow, again, it's been awhile since I've posted. Sorry about that!

Let's start out with an 80's party I went to. Although a little lame, I did have a great time with my friends! And my back-up costume (which I'm sad to say I have for a Halloween costume) did great!
A and I


D and I. She and A went to a second hand store. I have to admit, which is sad, that I remember my mom wearing her hair like D has hers when I was little. And I have pictures on my wall of my hair like this. Big bangs. Wow...


For Easter, my friend D had us all over to her house after church. It was awesome!


Manda came to visit me a couple of weekends ago! It was tons of fun!


It was a beautiful (and warm) weekend, amazingly! And yes, you can all be jealous of where I live!


We saw a 3D movie...


She was impressed by the snow that was still hanging around. Yes, she is standing in cold snow while wearing sandals...


We decided to wade in Hyalite Creek. It was super cold! Note to self: when wading in water, make sure it is warm enough before wading. Otherwise, it will be too cold, it will hurt, and you will regret getting wet...


Yellowstone!


Again, snow...


It was too cold and there was too much snow to eat lunch elsewhere, so we ate in the back of my car. It was totally awesome...


Us taking pictures of the view...


These bison were causing a major road block. They were content where they were, and not willing to move. At all...


But there were babies, so it was okay...



At Old Faithful...


"Amy, how come it isn't working?"


"Yay, it's starting!"


As Old Faithful is going off...


Manda, disappearing into the mist...


And we finally saw a black bear, at the very end of our Yellowstone adventure!


Norris Hot Springs, where we spent the evening lounging in a hot spring and chillin' with a few of my friends...

The next day, we went and saw another movie and then we got to see Jeff Dunham in concert. It was awesome and extremely hilarious. Although, the funniest parts were when you knew the show was not going according to plan and Jeff Dunham had to improvise. And he did a great job.

It's been a great spring here in Montana. It's finally warming up (mainly) and the weather is starting to become great. And it won't get as hot as Texas! Anyone ready to visit me this summer, when it's supposed to be 80 with no humidity? Yeah, that's what I though ;p

-amyg

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Spring Break 2011

Howdy all!

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted. Sorry for that! Nothing much has been happening here. I finally finished my rotations, which I'm extremely thankful for. I picked a lab. Although it's a little weird since I'm the first graduate student in this lab (which can be both good and bad), I'm really really excited. The project is really cool, and I can't wait to learn all the new techniques. The next couple (plus, unfortunately) years look to be really exciting.

Last week I went home to Texas for spring break. Probably my last one, ever, though I do realize I say this every so many years... I guess you don't realize how much a person takes advantage of the wonderful Texas weather until you leave it. It was in the 70/80's all week, and I managed to get some tanning in. The whole time I was home I didn't wear jeans. I only wore skirts and dresses... without leggings! It was amazing! And I got to see my grandmother, my cousins kids (Mathew and Catelyn; I used to babysit them and now they're all grown up! It makes me feel so old!), my aunt, a really good friend from high school (although he is a year older, we had a blast together in high school, and it was amazing to catch up with him!), and my good friend's (who is about to have a baby Any. Day. Now... hurry Elizabeth Anne!) momma. Soooo glad I got to go home, especially since I wasn't originally planning on it. It was amazing. Now I'm not ready to go back to lab or class, where I have to have some papers ready by tomorrow. Tonight will not be much fun...

Anyway, that's all that's been happening lately. Although it feels like I haven't been gone from Montana long, I'm glad I got to go home to Texas for awhile. Hopefully I'll get to go home again this summer. How could I miss my Fourth of July in Texas, where I can (or really, just watch the guys in my family) shoot off fireworks. Love that time of year... And I really need to take a trip to Houston, Austin, and Fort Worth to see some friends.

Hope the spring goes well for everyone who reads my blog!

-amyg


My cat has learn that if he sits in the right spot on my lap, he can get the full force of my space heater... And for the record, my apartment isn't THAT cold...


While I was gone, my good friends D and O took care of my kitten. I missed him so much! But was extremely glad he was taken care of!


While I was home and trying (key work here) to soak in some vitamin D via the sun, my parent's neighbors dog like to dig into our yard and play with Cabella. I was sooooo close to stealing this beautiful yellow lab and taking him back up to Montana with me. Mason would have loved the snow and hiking trails we could have discovered this summer!

My mom took me to SciPort in Shreveport! We used to go there on school holidays and it was fun! Although my mom and I did have a good time, we discovered that the exhibits were a little dated. I'm pretty sure they haven't been renovated since we were there last, a good 7 years ago...

The one cool picture we took... our heads on a platter!

On the way to Fort Worth, we took my sister's puppy Paris back before we picked up my sister at DFW. Manda got to spend a long week in London, England, our favorite place to visit. I'm a little (read: EXTREMELY) jealous... and the only lap Paris wanted to be in the whole way up to Fort Worth... well, it wasn't mine...

Manda brought this cool thing back to me. Apparently you can grow your own four leaf clovers! Crazy! I can't wait to try it! Hopefully the kitten won't be tempted to eat this, as he does my other plants... I need to develop a way to grow things that both survive my black thumb (I can't grow a thing! grr...) and the kitten (who likes to eat green things)....

My sis let my mom and me stay the night at her place before I had to go to the airport the next morning. This is the view I had from the couch at her place. That's the Methodist Church in Fort Worth. Very beautiful. And she took me out for some frozen yogurt. yum.... I miss that...


When I got back to my place in Montana, my kitten would not get off my lap or stop purring. He followed around all day! And I missed him just as much! Spoiled kitten!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Skiing!

Howdy all!

I finally (!) went skiing here in Montana. And it was super duper awesome! I was really worried because it had been, like, 15 years since I last went. But, amazingly, I picked it back up right away! I went with a friend who could be a professional snowboarder, and another friend, who was relearning how to snow board. It was perfect. And my friend who took me wouldn’t let us even think about using the bunny slope. We started out with the real thing! And I didn’t fall! Well, that one time totally doesn’t count, because I wasn’t getting off the ski lift, or even moving, really… I just kinda, toppled, while trying to get on the lift. Now, who has the kind of talent to fall while getting on a lift? Me, apparently… They had to stop the lift and everything! How embarrassing!




D and I



Snowboarders getting strapped in



See, I still remember how to ski!



L did pretty good for only snowboarding once before today...




Everything else is going well here in Montana. We’ve had some pretty warm weather, so all the snow has been melting. It creates a lot of dirty water that gets all over my car. It was pretty disgustingly dirty, so I finally took it somewhere to get it washed. And it was clean and silver again! And now the weather is cold, which means my car will get dirty soon. At least it was clean for a few days... Last night, I think we were -35. It hasn’t gotten above zero all morning. I know the Midwest is getting it pretty bad. I heard DFW shut down. Even Denver declared it a snow day because it was too cold. What? It’s the same temp, but Bozeman is still working. The locals tell me that they never declare snow days and cancel school, even under blizzard conditions. I think I’m going to miss snow days and the excuse not to work…



Isn't it crazy how the temperature keeps jumping up and down? Almost like Texas...


The saddest thing happened to me today. My 'R' came off the keyboard! And I don't know how to fix it! I tried placing the key back in it's place, but then it won't type. It's so sad...






Anyway, I’m just going to stay warm and keep working! And give you a parting picture of my kitten. My dad was really sweet and gave me a wool blanket to put in my car, you know, just in case. Well, since my suitcase was too packed, my mom ended up shipping that, and a couple of other things, up to me. When I got it, I just unpacked it and left it folded on the ground, with everything else. The kitten then decided that it was his. So now I’m torn. Do I take the only blanket that he has ever used as his bed, or do I just grin and bare it, and put another blanket in my car? I think we all know the answer to that…




This is his 'don't you dare take this away from me, I will attack you' look.


-amyg

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Grad Student Humor

Some funny humor on how I decided to spend my life...


Gotta love grad school...


And it's sad how true a lot of this is....


Enjoy!


Graduate School Barbie

Graduate School Barbie comes in two forms:
Delusional Master's Barbie (tm) and Ph.D. Masochist Barbie (tm). Every Graduate School Barbie comes with these fun filled features guaranteed to delight and entertain for hours:

- Grad School Barbie comes out of the box with a big grin on her face that turns into a frown after 2 weeks or her first advisor meeting (whichever comes first).

- Adorable black circles under her delightfully bloodshot eyes.

- Comes with two outfits: a grubby pair of blue jeans and 5 year old gap T-shirt, and a floppy pair of gray sweatpants with a matching "Go Screw Yourself" T-shirt.

- Grad School Barbie talks! Just press the button on her left hand and hear her say such upbeat grad school phrases like, "Yes, Professor, It'll be done by tomorrow" "I'd love to write it all over again" and "Why didn't I just get a job, I could have been making $40,000 a year by now if I had just started working with a Bachelor's. But noooooo, Mom and Dad wanted a masters degree, I wish somebody would drop a bomb on the school so that I'd have an excuse to stop working on my degree that's sucking every last drop of life force out of my withered and degraded excuse for a soul..." (9 V lithium batteries sold separately)

-Grad School Barbie is anatomically correct to teach kids about the exciting changes that come with pursuing a higher education. Removable panels on Barbie's head and torso allow you to watch as her cerebellum fries to a crispy brown, her heart race 150 beats per minute, and her stomach lining gradually dissolve into nothing.

Deluxe Barbie comes with specially designed eye ducts. Just add a little water, and watch Grad School Barbie burst into tears at random intervals. Fun for the whole family!

Other accessories include:

-Grad School Barbie's Fun Fridge (tm) Well stocked with microwave popcorn, Coca-Cola, Healthy Choice Bologna (99% fat free!),and small bottle of Mattel Brand Rum (tm).

-Grad School Barbie's Medicine Cabinet. Comes in Fabulous pink and contains Barbie sized bottles of Advil, Prozac, Zantac, and your choice of three fun anti-anxiety drugs! (Barbie Medicine Cabinet not available without a prescription)

-Grad School Barbie's Computer Workstation. Comes with miniature obsolete PC (pink of course), rickety desk, and over a dozen miniature Mountain Dew cans to decorate your workstation with (Mountain Dew deposit not included in price, tech support sold separately)

And Grad School Barbie is not alone! Order now and you'll get two of Barbie's great friends!

GRADUATE ADVISOR KEN: Barbie's mentor and advisor in her quest for increased education and decreased self esteem. Grad Advisor Ken (tm) comes with a supply of red pens and a permanent frown. Press the button to hear Grad Advisor Ken deliver such wisdom to Barbie as "I need an update on your progress" "I don't think you'll be ready to graduate yet" and "This is no where near ready for publication." Buy 3 or more dolls, and you can have Barbie's Thesis Committee! (Palm Pilot and tenure sold
separately.)

REAL JOB SKIPPER: When Barbie needs to talk, she knows that she can always count on her good friend Real Job Skipper (tm), who got a job after getting her bachelor degree. Press the button to hear Real Job Skipper say, "Sometimes I wish I went for my masters degree" and "Work is so hard! I had to work a half an hour of overtime!" Real Job Skipper's Work Wardrobe and Savings account sold separately. WARNING: Do not place Grad Student Barbie and Real Job Skipper too close to each other, as there have been several mysterious cases of children leaving the room and coming back to find Barbie's hands mysteriously fused to Skipper's throat.




What the Professor says.
What the Professor means.
Tell me what you like to be called.Who are you?
How do you spell your name?Who are you?
Please follow these guidelines and you'll do fine in this class.Don't cross me you maggots.
We will be using one of the leading textbooks in the field.We will be using my textbook.
The gist of the theoretical framework is what's most important.I don't understand the details either.
Most scholars believe that . . . I believe that . . .
Ask me that question in another way.Try being coherent this time.
There are no stupid questions.But there are stupid students.
You'll have to see me during office hours for analysis of that issue.I don't have a clue.
That issue is beyond the scope of this class.I really don't have a clue.
Today we are going to discuss a critical research topic.Today we are going to discuss one of my articles.
Unfortunately, we don't have the time to study all the scholars who have made contributions in this area.We will not be covering the work of people whose ideas differ from mine.
We can continue this discussion at another time.This has nothing to do with anything you moron.
We can continue this discussion at another time.Ok, you win.
We can continue this discussion at another time.I have nothing else to say about this topic.
Today we'll let a member of the class lead the discussion.I was busy revising an article and didn't prepare for class.
What did Piaget say on this point?Did anyone do the assigned reading?
That's an interesting point of view.What incredible nonsense.
You think so?I don't.
The implications of this study are clearI don't know what it means either, but there'll be a question about it on the test.
The test will be primarily multiple choice questions.The test will be 60 multiple choice questions, 30 true-false items, 15 fill-in-the blanks, 10 short-answer, and three essays.
Keep in mind that this was a challenging examNo one scored above a C-.
The test scores were a little below my expectations.No one is going to accuse me of grade inflation this term.
I'll certainly give that some consideration.Not a chance.
I'm sorry about your grandmother.Wait till you see the make-up exam.
Any further questions?I'm ready to go.
It's been very rewarding to teach this class.I hope they find someone else to teach it next term.
You should probably get a reference letter from someone who's had you in more than one class.Who are you?

http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/saymean.html



TOP TEN SUBTLE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GRAD SCHOOL AND HELL

10. You never complain that your office is too cold in Hell.
9. Everyone has heard of Hell.
8. It's fun getting into Hell.
7. You can't fail out of Hell.
6. At least you can sleep in Hell.
5. Hell is forever; grad school just seems like it.
4. People smile in Hell.
3. You only have to sell your soul to get into Hell.
2. There are attractive people in Hell.

And the #1 subtle difference between grad school and Hell . . .

1. You would never tell someone to go to grad school!

http://www.math.uh.edu/~tomforde/hell.html




You Might Be A Graduate Student If...

…everything reminds you of something in your discipline.

…you have ever discussed academic matters at a sporting event.

…you can tell the time of day by looking at the traffic flow at the library.

…you look forward to summers because you can study more productively without the distraction of classes.

…you regard ibuprofen as a vitamin..

…you consider all papers to be works in progress.

…you find the bibliographies of books more interesting than the actual text.

…you have give up trying to keep your papers organized and are now just trying to keep them all in the same general area.

…you have accepted guilt as inherent feature of relaxation.

…you find yourself explaining to children that you're "in 20th grade."

…you look forward to taking some time off to do laundry.

…you are startled to meet people who neither need nor want to read.

...you are constantly looking for a thesis in novels.

...you've ever brought books with you on vacation and actually studied.

...Saturday nights spent studying no longer seem weird.

...the professor doesn't show up to class and you discuss the readings anyway.

...you still feel guilty about giving students low grades.

...you can read course books and cook at the same time.

...you schedule events for academic vacations so your friends can come.

...you find taking notes in a park relaxing.

... 90% of your time is in front of the computer or reading.

...8% of your time is spent in class.

...2% of your time is divided among eating, sleeping, shopping, TV, laundry, and socializing.

...you use words that only the people in your classes can understand.

...free time is taken up by studying.

...studying keeps you awake.

...a complete dinner might be a bagel with cream cheese and a diet coke.

...a full night of sleep is 4 hours and a 2 hour nap mid afternoon.

...you have mastered the art of studying while on the bike or stairmaster.

...when you tell people your thesis topic, they blink repeatedly and purse their lips while attempting not to burst out laughing.

...you have an academic/professional text that you think is cool because you got the author to sign it.

...you consider cooking and cleaning your apartment leisurely breaks from real work.

...you have every minute of the next four months planned out but have no idea what you are going to do for the rest of your life.

http://www.gettingintogradschool.com/book/you-might-be-a-graduate-student-if



The Top Ten Lies Told by Graduate Students

10. It doesn't bother me at all that my college roommate is making $80,000 a year on Wall Street.
9. I'd be delighted to proofread your book/chapter/article.
8. My work has a lot of practical importance.
7. I would never date an undergraduate.
6. Your latest article was so inspiring.
5. I turned down a lot of great job offers to come here.
4. I just have one more book to read and then I'll start writing.
3. The department is giving me so much support.
2. My job prospects look really good.
1. No really, I'll be out of here in only two more years.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~danhorn/gradhumor.html

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Princess Thing

The Princess Thing

A very good article by one of my favorite authors, Meg Cabot. You can still be a princess and not have to rely on a man to save you.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

What I've Learned from Living in the Snow...

What I've learned from living in the snow:

  • Anything below 10 degrees feels the same. 10, 0, -10, -20... it's all just cold.
  • Always walk with your knees bent, as if you're about to fall. Because you will fall, and it will hurt.
  • Snow tires are a must. As soon as I got mine, I realized that my car CAN drive in the snow. That whole slipping and sliding thing that I was doing before was a result of bad tires...
  • However, when (not if) you get stuck, carrying extra floormats helps a lot. Stick them under your tires and it provides enough traction to pull you out.
  • And when (not if) there is too much snow and not enough floormats, there are always people around that are willing to help push your car down the street. And I would like to say that I didn't know this from experience. But it was before snow tires...
  • You want the orange washer fluid. Not the blue kind. The orange kind won't freeze when (not if) it's 20 below zero. Again, I wish I could say that I didn't know this from experience...
  • It may not look like it's snowing an awful lot, but it builds up fast. And 5 inches overnight is A LOT...
  • In a parking lot, any parking spot that is on the end is totally useless. They have to put the snow somewhere after it's plowed...
  • Cats do not like to be thrown in the snow. No matter how often London looks through the window to be let out onto the balcony, being thrown into the white stuff is not what he was expecting...
  • And speaking of cats... Cats+fleece+dry weather = a lot of electricity. You can hear the crackle of the shock building up. And it's not a pleasant shock...
Anyway, just a few things I learned... Plus, I felt like I needed an update ;)

And now I'll leave you guys with a few pictures from Thanksgiving that I took with my computer. Gotta love a Mac. Enjoy!










-amyg