my life as a runner . . .

Let's be honest, I haven't always been a runner. In fact, the first time I really ran consistently was with my dear friend Diane. She and I (then Sister Bush and Sister Gibbons) started running together on the mission with the Glacier Park ward cheering us on :)

After running 4 miles with Sister Moulton and Sister Allen on preparation day!

After we got home, we ran our first 5k together on Thanksgiving!

Next stop, HALF MARATHON!!

April 16, 2011

I paid today, so I guess I better really do it now :) I've still got a long way to go, but I started training this week and I'm feeling great! I figure if my pops can run like 50 marathons, I should be able to do a half right? He's my inspiration, and Diane is the perfect person to do it with. LOVE YOU BOTH!

the DEATH CARROT!

so lots of people wonder what the heck i study all the time and what my thesis is about. (okay i'm probably flattering myself...most people don't care...but sometimes people ask! haha) anyway, that is a long explanation...but here's random sneak peek that i felt like blogging about.

so i study programmed cell death (apoptosis)...specifically cell death triggered by a certain drug: thapsigargin. it's isolated from this plant:

Thapsia garganica

it's pretty huh? ok that's totally irrelevant....anyway! thapsigargin looks like this...

even prettier huh? anyway you probably don't care...but basically, the coolest thing about this drug (besides the fact that it inhibits the endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase and floods the cytoplasm with calcium and kills the cell) is that it is nicknamed the death carrot! (apparently it was used in arabic medicine for 2000 yrs and picked up that nickname somehow) pretty sweet huh? i spend 40 hrs a week in a lab studying a death carrot. now i need to get back to filling in that big hole in my thesis... :( thank you for humoring me and letting me talk about nerdy things.