Wednesday, March 11, 2009

BOSTON!

so i've discovered that i love traveling and i love big cities! i don't think i'd want to live RIGHT in one for a long period of time, but i think i'd like to live NEAR one, because i just think they're so fun. last week i got to visit BOSTON for the biophysical society conference with my lab! i presented a poster of my thesis project and it went really well! lots of people stopped by and we had some really helpful discussions. it really was so fun to be able to tell people about my research and realized that i really know what i am talking about :) i also got to sit in on a bunch of talks about other people's research and get a taste of some of the exciting stuff being done! some were definitely more exciting than others, but overall i enjoyed it a lot! i actually have very few pics, but once some of the other girls share theirs with me i can post some more exciting ones.

katalyn and i at the airport waiting for the adventure to start!

layover in phoenix with cel and ashley. 4 HOUR layover :)

MY POSTER! (sadly after we laminated it, you couldn't see the skull and crossbones watermark that i used . . . but i knew it was there, and that's all that matters)

me and my team!

me and my poster! hmmm looking slightly contorted. oh well.

katalyn and i looking lovely after the fire alarm went off in the hotel at 2 am. turns out we didn't have to evacuate, but we took a picture anyway.

ashley and i showing off our matching hair. she, katalyn, and i were roommates at the hotel. good times.

matching argyle! cute outfits from our shopping spree at H&M where i got lots of cute mission clothes!


TOP TEN (or maybe more) MEMORIES FROM THE TRIP (in no particular order):

** "oh yeah, used to be a member!" (after I told the skycap at the airport that we were part of the biophysical society. you cannot truly appreciate how awesome this was without my amazing boston accent)

**our steak dinner at Morton's . . . this high class steakhouse with a verbal presentation of the menu, our awesome waiter (levi), the free creme brulee (ashley had a creme brulee every day of the trip i think), and my chocolate cake that OOZED.

**our friend christoff from germany (katalyn was very friendly)

**going to the biophysical society dance and LITERALLY starting the dance party with a good ol' west coast swing (with my buddy rustin), bonding with a lab from columbia and dancing with them for about 2 hrs, and having the time of our lives WITHOUT the free alcoholic beverages :)

**becoming masters of the boston subway. one favorite ride included a sweet street band playing "sweet home alabama" while we waited to transfer to the red line. we danced and threw them money across the train tracks. when we got on the train they said "hey! good dancing!"

**dr. bell becoming a texting fiend on the phone we gave him for christmas

**hughbert (my dad's old laptop) and how he helped me work on my thesis while i was there and how he's holding it hostage now until i go buy an ethernet cable to connect to the internet and email it to myself

**the pillow library at the seaport hotel, and how we tried every pillow they had

**how the hotel said "how can we help you ms. gibbons?" whenever our room called the front desk

**staying up til 3 am watching "titanic" on tv and finding out the next morning that the other girls' room did the same thing!

**the hotel delivering a microwave to one of our hotel rooms

**the intense toilets and how we could hear them flushing and how awesome it was

**how cold it was (ok NOT a favorite)

**the freedom trail! so fun to see the cool historical sites

**the hole in the wall italian restaurant we went to

**room service dessert (especially while we watched high school musical 3 one night with rustin)

**ashley's obsession with asking the consierge

**dr. bell's celebration in the lobby when he thought he'd figured something out about my thesis and how i proved him wrong. guess you had to be there. good times

**the ballet excursion

**presenting my poster!

**one of the girls (who shall remain unnamed) coming out of the bathroom in a towel holding up her arm looking very distressed saying, "guys, i cut my armpit!" and there was a trail of blood trickling down. haha hilarious.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

RASCAL FLATTS!!

ok, secret confession. i am addicted to country music concerts. it all started when heidi tuttle invited me to keith urban back in high school. i didn't know a ton of country then, but now country music is just part of my heart and soul :) that AMAZING concert was probably a good reason i started to love it. so far i've seen these favs in concert:

Keith Urban
with heidi, mandy, kenzie, vanessa, dani, and other high school girl friends too . . . i just can't remember who for sure!

Rascal Flatts
with abby, angie, ka, mitch, willie, heidi, kathryn, and dan! freshmen year of college. only downer was we were on practically the back row, but SO fun

Kenny Chesney
with michelle and angie. michelle was cute enough to share her birthday present with me!

Dierks Bentley
opened for kenny

Carrie Underwood
i saw her open for both kenny chesney and brad paisley.

Brad Paisley
last minute excursion with angie and our friend michelle from upstairs in wyview! we got to sit in a box for free!

Diamond Rio
date with my friend jake at the fair! small concert and so fun

Tim McGraw
went with janelle! it was going to be my last concert before the mish, but because i'm still here and leaving in april, i HAD to catch another one! hence . . .

RASCAL FLATTS AGAIN!
2 weeks ago with abby and annie! SO much more fun to see them up closer. ah it was so fun! here are some pics!
waiting for them to come out!!

rascal flatts!



Here they are singing "my wish" (we videoed it for you mom! love you!)

(note to self: don't ever sing at a concert while videoing because you're louder than the actual performers)


hmmm i was going to upload another video, but it's just taking too long . . . BORING. maybe another day. anyway i love that i got to go to my last country concert for 18 months with abby and annie! GOOD TIMES! ah yay for life and yay for being a secret cowgirl :)

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

ah life . . .

well, my poster is all finished, printed, laminated, rolled up, and tucked into its cardboard tube! (speaking of . . . dr bell, jen, and i fashioned an awesome carrying contraption for our 3 posters out of duct tape! maybe i'll have to take a picture of it.) my poster is officially cool. it has a black background with a skull and crossbones as a watermark (since my thesis is all about death). now that that's done, i'm ready to head to boston for a week! yay for conferences and presenting data!

with that done, i officially started writing my THESIS today! i have 9 pages of a rough draft (only because i can use lots of stuff from my prospectus . . . but still 9 pages sounds impressive right?) i just did the math and realized that with all the deadlines, etc, the LATEST i can finish my thesis is march 31. that's not much time . . . i'm kind of freaking out, but kind of not. i think if i work hard i can do it! i can do it right?

well when i'm not thinking about my thesis, i'm thinking about my MISSION! and now that i went shopping for clothes last saturday (a very successful trip!), i feel like i will actually be ready to go! i'm getting really excited :) the nearness of april 15 hasn't totally sunk it yet though, since i have SO much to get done before then. i'm sure it will fly by!

and when i'm not thinking about the mission, i'm thinking about how i'm going to RASCAL FLATTS tomorrow!!! ah i can't wait. nothing like a good country concert :) probably one of my favorite things.

well those are my musings about life. now i'm off to work on my thesis for a bit longer before i go home. i think i will have to have some broccoli for dinner. i'm craving broccoli.

the UCUR . . .

so last friday i got to drive an 8 passenger van with people from my lab to westminster for the utah conference of undergraduate research. not gonna lie, it was pretty sweet. wish i had a picture of li'l ol' me driving that huge vehicle, but here's a couple pics!


a few of the non-presenters aka moral support

brett and steve . . . priceless

yup i'm hardcore
(secret confession, i cropped the ground out of this picture so you would all think i was up high)

the whole gang!

theo's new habitat . . .


flower decoration thingy: $8
10 gallon tank: $12
seeing theo so happy: priceless :)

best walmart trip at midnight that sam and i ever decided to make.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

sad story . . .

so about an hour ago, i decided to eat my delicious, juicy tangelo that i brought to work. i was try to peel it by pulling off that huge knobby thingy that happens to be on tangelos, and since my fingernails are really short it was hard. so i dug in what little nails i had and it kind of pulled my nail away from my skin and i started bleeding! i bled because of a tangelo! sad story huh?

ps i just finished my poster that i'm presenting in boston and i'm pretty excited about it :)

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!

can you believe it? my little dude is turning SEVENTEEN today! well, not so little considering he passed me in height about twelve inches ago :) anyway, i hope you had a happy day josh and i wish i could be there! i love you so much and am SO proud of the studly guy you have become :) keep up the good work my friend.

we celebrated this past weekend because we were ALL home. it was so happy.

i love reunionizing . . .

i got to see so many old friends this weekend! we had a friend bridal shower for michelle on saturday and i was so happy so many came! this pic was taken after a lot of people had already left, but i still love it. it was so great to see you all!!! oh and the boy is michelle's fun fiance taylor :) what a champ to come meet us all. congrats you two! next time i see you will probably be at your WEDDING. c-r-a-z-y.

the gambler in me :)

well i had to post pics of my favorite night, POKER NIGHT!! i wasn't so great last time, but i have to say that i'm improving :) last week i was down to only THREE caramel kisses (the lowest value we had) and i built it back up to come in third place! not to brag or anything, but i got a flush and a straight in two consecutive hands. yup i think i'm ready to go to vegas this weekend ;) hehe
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! Chris, Austin and YOURS TRULY :)

couldn't have done it without anne marie's moral support! she was smart and ate her chocolate instead!

glenn family fun . . .

we've had so many good times with my mom's side of the family recently that i had to post some pics! first off, my grandma's birthday back in january! we partied at don and rachelle's, and even though we were missing some people, we had a darn good time arm/leg wrestling and just chatting. happy birthday gwamma gwenny! (i'm debating about posting any of the leg wrestling videos, but i'm too tired, so maybe another time)



this past weekend we had a glenn family bridal shower for michelle! we had a blast eating food and watching chick flick clips! i didn't take many pics but here they are!
little james was a champ and roughed it as the only boy in attendance :)

last night jamie drove to provo to take us byu girls out to dinner! she's the sweetest. we had an AMAZING dinner at PF Chang's complete with lettuce wraps, the wall of chocolate, a marriage proposal a couple of tables over, and a proposal for abby from our waiter! :)

i love all you glenn people!