TA of the Year!

On Friday, the 21st, I received an award--I am the Teacher's Assistant of the Year for the biology department. I am very happy about this because it is awarded by student votes. So I guess my students decided they like me this semester! I was also happy because this was my last chance to get the award because I will graduate before the next spring semester. Yay!

The Results, Finally!

On Wednesday I finally got the results I have been hoping for and looking for. The frog skin I'm researching shows that it inhibits the growth of bacteria! Yay!
I was so happy that I started doing a little dance in the lab. Now I am going to write a paper on my preliminary results and try to get that published. Then it's on to the next phase in my research.
One step closer to being done!!!

My Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday. I had a good time. Brian took off work just to spend the day with me! Wasn't that nice of him!?

He took me out to breakfast. Then we spent the day together doing things around the house. His family and some of our friends came over. We had cake and ice cream. My friend Valerie actually made my cake for me. It was a yellow cake with chocolate icing. It was supposed to be a surprise but I found out. I was out with Brian's mother after dinner. We went to the store to get food for grilling today. We stopped by her house and picked up Brian's dad. Brian's mother, Jill, asked Alan if he wanted to stop anywhere to get his dinner. (We had already eaten earlier.) He mentioned that he didn't need to because we were going to have cake and ice cream at my house. Well, Alan gave the secret away! Jill tried to play it off, but it was too late. I figured it out!

After cake, ice cream, and presents we watched a movie and talked. I had a great birthday. I got lots of cards from my friends and family (Thanks to everyone!).

Today I grilled lots of food for us and Brian's family. We ate and then had more cake and ice cream. I'm going to have to roll into bed tonight!

Driving---Music

Hey, when I'm on the road I have to listen to music. I like to listen to different kinds of music. Most of the time I listen to christian radio, like K-LOVE. Or I listen to my cd's.

Here's some music that I like to listen to:
I like to listen to KJ-52. It's pronounced five-two... KJ is a Christian hip-hop music artist that I love listening to. He's got such wonderful messages to his songs, although some of his songs are just silly. I've been a fan for a while and have all four of his cd's. I like singing along or just bobbing my head to the sounds. Even if you don't like hip-hop, check out his website by clicking on the link I've added to this page. His name stands for "King Jonah" and the 52 stands for the story in the Bible about the five loaves and two fish. I went to one of his concerts and afterwards I got my picture with him. The picture was taken by someone else on their camera, so it didn't come out well. But I still look at this picture and remember the fun time I had at the concert.

I also like Michael W. Smith, Bethany Dillon, Toby Mac, Jars of Clay...to name a few. These are also Christian music artists. They are not hip-hop because I just like a variety of music. I also put a link for Bethany Dillon.

I like Carrie Underwood. She's last year's American Idol winner. She sings country music, and normally I don't like country music, but hey, she's from Checotah, Oklahoma! (That's where Brian's mom's side of the family lives.)

And to make things interesting I also listen to bird sounds and frog sounds! I have some cd's to help me identify their calls. My mom also gave me something that plays bird and frog sounds when I put a certain card in it. (But I don't use this when I'm driving!)

Oh, just a warning: if you go to the music links I put on the side, music will start playing when the page comes up.

Driving--Roadkill

Okay, now you knew that this subject had to come up at some time when it comes to driving. Anyone who drives has seen roadkill at some time. Even if it is in town, there are birds, dogs, and cats. I have been driving for several years and have seen a lot of different roadkill. I thought I would try to make a list of all the animals I've seen dead on the road: coyotes, birds of all kinds (pigeons, doves, turkeys, vultures, hawks, etc.), bobcats, 2 mountain lions, porcupines, skunks, armadillos, dogs, cats, cows, racoons, foxes, turtles, toads, snakes, and deer. Well, that's the list I can think of for now. Remember, I have to make driving interesting. So identifying roadkill at 70 mph is a skill I've gained. I've imagined before a world where the animals are driving and the humans are running around. Mr. Racoon has to get to work that morning. As he's driving down the road, a big human runs out in the street. The human turns and looks at the approaching car with a surprised look on his face. The human stops and starts to run back to the side of the road. Oops! Too late, Mr. Racoon accidently hit the human. There it is, lying on the side of the road. The human was trying to get home, find food, or escape a predator, but Mr. Racoon doesn't think about that. Of course I know this is a weird thought, but I'm kind of a weird person! I thought I'd post pictures of roadkill but I didn't think you would want to see that. And yes, I actually do have some pictures....Being in all types of zoology classes where we went on lots of field trips got me some roadkill pictures! Besides seeing roadkill, I have also seen lots of live animals. I've actually seen a mountain lion twice, which is rare around here. All the animals that I've seen dead, I have seen alive too.