A Year in Photos

As I recollect on my life this past year, I have come to one conclusion: 2009 was definitely the BIGGEST year of my life. Wow.

January:

I spent the end of 2008 and early 2009 in sunny California with my friend and roommate, Kerianna. I had amazing times with her family and still miss her, as she is on her mission til July 2010.

February:

Along with saying goodbye to Kerianna for her mission, I spent a majority of this month interviewing at graduate schools. For my own sake I am glad that I didn't keep track of how

many flights I was on during all of 2009... Is there such a thing as too much air time? Shown below: One of my favorite shots from Brown University.

March:

Undoubtedly the "BIGGEST" month of the year. Baby Alyssa was born (so cute!), Matt and Deedee were married in the Logan Temple, Mom and Dad officially got divorced and I picked Case Western Reserve as my graduate school! Clearly...not enough pictures to show the fun that occurred this month!

April/May:

A "breather"... I found an apt. to live in my first year in Cleveland and said goodbye to family and friends in Utah. Sold my beloved yellow jeep wrangler for a white toyota corolla. While I graduated in Dec. 2008, I picked up the official "degree" through the right of passage this month too.

June/July:

Made the big move to Cleveland. Started work in the lab under the mentorship of Dr. Jeff Capadona. Learned how to overcome my "fear" of working with animals. Started exploring Cleveland.

August:

Quick trip back out to Utah to see Mom get re-married to Jim! :) Started my official graduate work at Case Western. (I feel so old!)

September:

I became a graduate student! Data included!

October:

Played Mad Scientist and survived through Halloween. Clearly...only cheap grad students use lab gear for their costumes...

November:

Made a trip out to see Dad at his new place in New Hampshire. First time ever visiting New England. All I can say is: "Holy Hills Batman!" Further, I enjoyed my first "concert"...like EVER. Glorious Gary Allan. (and Jack Ingram...and Eli Young Band)... :o)

December:

WICKED!!!! I finally saw a musical LIVE! It was amazing. Cleveland actually has art. And real night life. And then of course, I made it full circle ending up back in Utah to spend time with friends and family.

....Here's hoping for a less stressful year in 2010!

Christmas in Utah!

I made the trip back from Cleveland to have a 2 week visit with my fellow Utah peeps! What should be waiting for me at the airport but a "Welcome Home Brigade". When I got there, everyone asked me where I served my mission. (Only in Utah....). :)

What trip home would be complete without a stop at Temple Square. Divinely inspired, the place was covered with red and white lights. Below: Matt and I showing off the red tree. (Note: This does not compare to the awesomeness at Temple Square last year. We are missing 2 of the original 4.)

For those of you who know me a little, it probably doesn't surprise you that I won't back down from a dare. Matt: "It would be great if you would just shove this whipped cream in your mouth." Me: "Okay. Just don't get it on my shirt." Below is the result.

Another goal of the trip home was to get an amazing photo of my mom and stepdad Jim. Needless to say, I think that I succeeded.

The cooking crew. College kids can do one thing well, all huddle in the kitchen and pray that something they throw together in the bowl will have an appealing taste. :)

New Year's celebrations to follow... :)

A snapshot of what I do...well, kind of.

I have become a "professional" brain surgeon over the course of the summer here at graduate school. Well, not really....but at least that is something cool to add to the resume, right?

We study the immune response to microelectrodes (that are inserted into the brain). Below is one of my favorite images that I have taken of the biological response to these probes. Gotta love the pretty pictures.

I present my research for the first time this Thursday. Which makes me beg the question: HAVE I REALLY SURVIVING IN CLEVELAND 4 MONTHS NOW? WOW!

A Free Stamp

Life in the "Cleve" is going great! I have had some chances to go and see the town with other members of the single's branch (church peeps) out here. Here are some shots from recent adventures.

We recently did "The Amazing Race - Cleveland" for Family home evening. Task #1: Find the Rock and Roll Musuem and get your groove on. Our song: 'Going to the chapel'.

Task #2: Pose in front of Severance Hall. (ie. the hall that the Cleveland Orchestra plays at).

Task #3: Find the "Free Stamp". Why people in Cleveland call this art is beyond me!

5 girls in a car can lead to interesting times. We were driving to the stake tubing activity about 2 hours away. If I was a pedo-phobe this might have been an issue.

Meagan and I waiting in line for Transformers 2. Despite massive amounts of humidity...I somehow still manage to keep my hair fairly straight...

New digs...

Well I have officially survived my first week in Cleveland. The new job is great! I am very excited to start working! My training will be done next week and then I can begin surgeries and such. Which the inner nerd in me is really starting to get excited about.

For now, here are some pictures of the new abode:

All the furniture (except the bed) I scored for free! I would say I didn't do too bad!

I love my new bed spread! It is so fun! And the bed I bought is SO SOFT! I love it!

I guess it is finally official...

And then there was a graduate school!

Well... I have officially decided on a graduate school! I will be going to:

CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY



I am super excited. It will be a lot of fun. The university is located right on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is a fun college area--but very different from anything in this part of the United States.

Further, I have decided on a professor to work with and will be starting my research work June 8th. His name is Jeff Capadona. Check out this link: http://www.devicelink.com/mpmn/archive/08/05/002.html It will give you a basic idea of what he is trying to do. Or you could just google his name too...

In general, I will be working on generating polymers to improve device compatibility of electrode arrays. (ie. arrays that are inserted into the brain to allow a way for scientists to translate thought into motion (for people with strokes and such)). I am WAY excited about this project. It is almost the perfect project to match my interests. Further, the professor is very personable and I see myself having a good relationship with him throughout the duration on my Ph.D.

I will most likely be moving to Ohio the first weekend of June... Scary... But so exciting! So if you are around me and want to see me before I leave...you have about a month and a half!