Liz's 2012

The years seem like they're flying by these days! I can't help but feel a little pensive as we send out the old year and welcome a new one. How will I remember this one?

2012 was a year of science!

I had two papers published this year! I am the first author on both and they will be the first 2/3rds of my dissertation. 

2012 was the year I completed my comprehensive exam for my PhD!

Completing the written portion was probably the most stressful month of my life, and completing the two hour oral portion was probably the best feeling EVER.

2012 was a year of travel!

SEATTLE with Diane to see our dear friends John and Rosemary sealed in the temple!

ST GEORGE and VEGAS with Steph and Kelli for my birthday! This one was a mystery until we were in the car on the way there.

SAN DIEGO with my lab to present at a conference.

BEAR LAKE with William, Mitch, and Alyssa for some intense four-wheeling and jet skiing.

SAN ANTONIO to see Jenny, Jonathan, James, and Ella!! This included a night camping on a beautiful beach...such a sweet visit.

HELSINKI, FINLAND with Mom and Dad! It was my first time out of the US and a wonderful place to see my Papa for the first time in a year (Mom traveled with me since she came home for Grandma's funeral).

A brief but exciting layover in MOSCOW, RUSSIA!

And a fantastic 3 weeks in NOVOSIBIRSK, KRASNOYARSK, TOMSK, and BARNAUL, RUSSIA with my amazing parents! There are no words to describe how incredible this experience was.

And lastly, DISNEYLAND with Steph and Marissa! This one was also a surprise! They didn't tell me where we were going until we were about to enter security at the airport. I am so lucky.

2012 was the year I lost Grandma Glenn.

I'm so grateful I know I will get her back someday!

2012 was the year of Darrell!

I was the lucky girl who got to date this guy and thus catch my first fish, go to my first RSL game, discover the exciting world of podcasts and homemade salsa, and experience all kinds of other adventures.

2012 was the year I became the activities cochair in my ward!

This has been a lot of work, but I have had so much fun and made so many wonderful friends! I've also learned how to feed 150 at a time and how to grill the perfect hot dog.

2012 was a year of some firsts!

First time dying my hair.

First time being a soccer coach.

First time running a half marathon without really training.

2012 was the year I got to team-teach PDBio 120 at BYU!

Loved. Every. Minute.

2012 was the year Annie, Abby, Ryan, and I bonded! A lot.

Holidays, birthdays, random hang-outs, the good times never end. Ron sure is a champ to put up with 3 girls all the time.

2012 was the only entire year I was Josh-less.

Man I miss this guy.

What's coming up in 2013? I will get 2 new nephews. Josh will come home. I will graduate with a PhD. I will get a real grown-up job teaching college (hopefully). I will likely move. Seems kind of intense eh? I guess I'll git 'er done the same way I did 2012, one beautiful day at a time!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

looking forward to...

I always blog about things AFTER they happen...but turns out being excited about them BEFOREHAND is the best part :) so here's what's up next in the exciting life of liz:

(1) FINALLY starting the last chunk of my dissertation...photographing the cytoskeleton! excited for cool pictures...perhaps tomorrow will be my maiden experiment :)

(2) STEPH'S BIRTHDAY on friday! i may or may not have an adventure planned for us to do before the dance party that night..

(3) my first big ward activity in my new calling on SATURDAY.

(4) BEAR LAKE with friends in two weeks!

(5) the hobbler HALF MARATHON on july 7th...just signed up today! excited to run with my brother ryan.

(6) earning a little extra cash by HOUSE-SITTING for my professor during the month of july... not to mention bonding with his bird, kiwi, who is basically like a toddler.

(7) my trip to san antonio on the weekend of august 3 to see JENNY and JONATHAN and JAMES and ELLA :) spontaneously bought my ticket today!

(8) three weeks in russia starting the very next weekend! can't wait to be with my dear MOM and DAD again :)

love the anticipation.



A random thought to tag on the end of a random blog post:

Both a recent relief society lesson and a chat with a friend last night have had me thinking recently: what really brings happiness? Often, we think of some future event that will finally make us happy, but happiness can only be found now. What we imagine in the future is always rosier than the reality we currently face, but all phases of life have their ups and downs, their joys and their challenges. It's up to us to BECOME a happy person despite situations or circumstances. We need to actively CREATE happiness now instead of waiting for happiness to just HAPPEN. Anyway, I realized that the key to all of this, for me at least, is PEOPLE. It's all about relationships. My relationship with Christ is my truest source of happiness, but this should be a pattern for relationships with other people as well. I'm always happiest when I'm close to others...not just doing things with them but getting to know who they really are and sharing each others' lives. Focusing outward, on others, has always brought me joy. When I get caught up in selfishness, I'm never content. So here's a shout out to all of the people in my life: you are my happiness :)

ps - I'm so mad...I thought I included pictures of a big group photo of high school people and one of lab friends, but I didn't realize I forgot until the collage was made and I was too lazy to start over. So  just know I love you :)

stream of consciousness...

just smeared a bug across my computer screen :(

steph's fan is blowing in the next room... it's getting HOT at night... summer :)

michael buble is wooing me as usual

a clean room makes everything happy

finished reading "blink" tonight... now i keep studying everyone's facial expressions to read their minds and wondering what everyone's first impression of me is... short? nerdy?

tonight i will dream of sPLA2, patman, phospholipid tails, and finishing my paper this week

it's hard to remember to clock in and out after you've been on salary for 8 months

reading emails from jenny makes me miss my little ones and wish i could give them a squeeze

why do i stay up so late? i blame it on my mother's genes

speaking of mumsy and popsicle, getting excited for siberia in august! :)

randoms

(1) I PASSED MY COMPREHENSIVE EXAM!!! basically this means my coursework is complete and i am officially a PhD candidate! sounds official eh? so now i only have my dissertation left to complete. psh that will be cake ;) currently, writing this paper takes up most of my day...

“MOLECULAR DETAILS OF MEMBRANE FLUIDITY CHANGES DURING APOPTOSIS AND RELATIONSHIP TO PHOSPHOLIPASE A₂ ACTIVITY”

Gibbons E, Pickett KG, Streeter MC, Warcup AO, Nelson J, Judd AM, Bell JD

(2) with the semester over I get to do research full time for the summer! i'm super lucky because i got a fellowship with the BYU Cancer Research Center....so they basically pay me more money than i would usually make to do the same research i would have done anyway! lucky me. (oh and they took me out to lunch at la jolla groves in the Riverwoods...BEST. SALMON. EVER....oh and the bathrooms were pretty shnazzy as well...bonus)

(3) I may or may not have tripped on like 3 chairs at once the other day while i was all alone in the lab. i may or may not have fallen HARD CORE all the way to the ground, right on my knee. i may or may not have a huge black bruise on that knee.

(4) my bro-in-law ryan and i decided which half marathon we're going to do this summer! the hobbler half marathon (no pun intended) is 12 weeks away so this was my first week of training! I've run 3 out of 4 days this week so i'm feeling pretty heroic. saturday  i'm running a 5k with steph in payson for her school so hopefully i can beat my sad rex lee run 5k time from march. (sidenote: it's super depressing to start running again after you've been slacking. hopefully my body will forgive my recent neglect)

(5) so i get asthma when i'm running...but the more i run the better it gets and it usually only lasts about 1 mile. who cares though...the funny part is what i think about when i'm running with asthma, all i can picture is a diagram dr. judd drew me of a glob of mucous in my airways hanging there making it harder for me to exhale. we called it the loogie explanation and got a good laugh out of it (because i wondered why mucous in the airway wouldn't prevent inhalation as much as exhalation ... turns out there's this thing called gravity making the loogie hang the way it does). disgusting i know. sorry about that. i may or may not have drawn this on the board during my final review for the physiology lab i TA. good times.

(6) one of the highlights of this week:

we got to meet the Guschins! they are my parents' good friends in Novosibirsk and were visiting the United States from Russia for their daughter's graduation. we had such a fun visit with them...they were so kind. it made me happy to feel a little more connected to my parents since they seem a world away. it made it more real that they're actually in Russia. a favorite quote from Brother Guschin: "your father IS russian...he is a russian man." :) so proud of my jukie and pops.

(7) When i was growing up, my mom would always make the 4 girls matching Easter dresses. they were usually the same pattern but different colors. it seems like annie was always blue, jenny always pink, and then abby and i were purple, yellow, or green or something. we were pretty cute. if i had old pictures on my laptop i'd put one on for your viewing pleasure. since i DON'T...here's one from THIS year :) some things never change...

(8) did i mention i bought a fedora? sometimes i'm random like that.

(9) i finally applied for my passport so i can go to Russia in August!! SO EXCITED.

(10) so i was just looking up something on Craig's List...and thought this was funny/weird. sorely tempted though. enjoy...

FREE PHYSICAL LABOR

My name is Mike and I'm looking to do some physical labor for anybody who needs it. Why am I offering this? Lifting weights is incredibly boring! I'd much rather help somebody move a bunch of bricks, dig a hold, pull some weeds/plants etc. The catch is it's gotta be something that will give me a good sweat so I can get a work out. I'm 6'3" and a big strong guy, so give me something difficult! I need to do this! Give me a call anytime, leave a message if I'm not there. I teach piano so that's the recorded message you'll hear when you call. Thanks!

gov't...you're off the hook

so back in december, i received this little postcard in the mail...a little postcard that said i had to pay TWO HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS to renew my car registration.  as a car owner of only one year, i was not expecting this :( i spent a good hour ranting to annie about how dumb it was... "what do they use the money for anyway???"

well...i just finished filing my taxes...and i'm getting a refund WELL over two hundred dollars. so i decided that for now i'm a happy camper and i won't rant anymore. government, let's call it even!

so of course...me being the funny that i am...have already started plotting what to spend this unexpected money on (yes i forgot about tax refunds until today!!).  recently i have a travel bug...so i immediately began looking up prices of plane tickets to exotic places like:.san antonio (cute nephew and niece live there...oh and my amazing sister and bro-in-law), seattle (my other home), boston (my lab friends hannabeth and kelly live there! a trip there would be so fun), florida (to visit angie and preston!), washington DC (i have always wanted to go there), and new york (ditto).  Well the jury is still out on where i will go...or if i will go. or maybe i'll use the money to take roadtrips in my sweet car that can get 40 mpg on a good day.  how about a trip to oregon to see michelle and janelle (who both moved away from me...or will be in the near future) and then hit seattle while i'm in the neighborhood.  Or i could drop by california again to play with Diane and go to the BEACH.  or i could hit up colorado with abby and ryan to play rancher and ride horses.  or annie and i could take a huge roadtrip across the US just to say we did.  or steph and i could go down to st george and vegas a bajillion times when we need to escape.  or i could drive down to mexico like sara and i plotted...just to say we've left the country. OR perhaps if i found a REALLY good deal, it would be enough to get me to korea, or mongolia, or japan to see my dear mission friends.  or maybe i'll just stop by europe on my way home from visiting ma and pa in siberia. okay now i'm just dreaming...but hey since it's midnight, i feel like the world is at my fingertips!

OR maybe i'll grow up and be responsible and just save the money.... hmmm..... .....NAH!

pretty sure san antonio is at the top of the list!! i need to see my little ella bay again before she gets too big. :)

well that's enough daydreaming for one night.  another school week here i come :) most the time, i'm perfectly content traveling to the cell culture room and back!

starting 2012 off with a bang!

2012 has been so fabulous so far I think I'm setting myself up for disappointment...

EPIC new years festivities with the fam

 (these included... 2 unfinished games of acquire, little boys with the pukes, sparklers, sparkling cider, auld lang syne, and smallville!)

A last minute trip to SEATTLE with Diane to see our dear friends John and Rosemary sealed in the temple!!

(One of my most favorite experiences of my life. Thanks mom and dad for helping me get there for my birthday present!!)

I TURNED 25!!

(and had a quarter life crisis and dyed my hair darker)

Annie, Abby, and Ryan spoiled me with classic Gibbons birthday signs, mom's cake (courtesy of ryan), presents, and KOREAN FOOD! (hopefully picture to come)

I got to skype with mom and dad while they were on the trans-siberian railway in the middle of NOWHERE. yay for technology! (and then we skyped again at midnight so they could see my hair)

Steph and Kelli kidnapped me for a mystery roadtrip!

ST. GEORGE

and VEGAS

(picture to come)

PLUS LOOK AT THIS BEAUTIFUL DATA I'VE BEEN SPOILED WITH THIS WEEK:

(secret confession, there is also horrible looking data that i do not feel like sharing so you think science is all about success instead of the reality...all about failure haha)

yep, life is good. welcome 2012! 

2011...looking back :)

let's see...in 2011, I....

*started back up at BYU (after a 21 month hiatus) to finish my master's degree

*moved in with total strangers that became great friends :)

 Stephanie, Mandy, and Chelsea

*ran a 10k, 3 half marathons, and a 5k!

*flew to San Antonio to see the Bosters twice! the 2nd time around I got to meet my niece Ella Bay :)

*took a trip to Baltimore, MA with the lab to present my research

*witnessed my little brother receive his endowment in the Salt Lake Temple...first time the whole family got to go together!

*said goodbye to Josh for 2 years! lucky mexico :)

*went to Abby's graduation!

*played with the fam a lot :)

*shipped my parents off to the MTC and then to SIBERIA

*bought a laptop

*fell in love....with skype ;-)

*decided to switch to the PhD program and got accepted

*took pretty pictures of cells (at BYU and UC Irvine)

*had way too much fun in my lab

*went to a lot of free stuff with steph...

*pierced my ears!

*let go of some things :)

*passed my prospectus defense!

*moved into a cute townhouse and made some new friends!

*was reunited with mission friends (including reunions, a roadtrip back to SEATTLE, a trip to california to see Diane, skype sessions with asia, and other fun times)...

*and other dear friends!

*made a lot of mistakes, felt lonely at times, got frustrated with myself, had financial worries and learned how expensive adulthood is (but of course spent way too much money on country music on itunes), and was once again reminded life doesn't always go as planned! yet still genuinely happy. how?

*missed the parents A LOT, but grew closer as a family!

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES 2011!