The Best Years of Our Lives

.... Which is what I was always told would be high school. That was false.

For a little while, the best years of my life were college.

Then 2011 happened, and I'm pretty sure that it's been the best year for almost every single person I know. (Myself included)
I could list them all, but that would be ridiculously boring for my dedicated and loyal readers, plus it's a bit "why everyone else is having a better year than you"-ish, don't you agree?

Just an overview, though....

I will have been a bridesmaid/maid of honor in 4 weddings by year end. As far as I can remember. I may have lost count, because sometimes my brain tells me 5. But I might be secretly living out my own wedding on occasion in my own little fantasy land, so I'm pretty sure it's 4 real weddings.

Miss Rachel got married in February of this year.
Miss Angelica got married in April.
My sister will say her nuptual vows in November.
Miss Meredith will vow matrimonial happiness and loyalty in December.

(Yup, it's 4. Which means I've officially caught wedding fever. Sorry. I'm human. With 2 X chromosomes. It happens.)

At my last count 750, a whole bunch of people I grew up with or have known since it was socially uncomfortable to be pregnant have had or are having babies.

(I don't have baby fever. I still see LOTS of dollar signs and poo when I hear the word "baby" or "pregnant". It's a panic attack inducing word.)

However, this post isn't about me.

Anymore.

I guess. ::sigh::

Miss Rachel got a blog when she popped had little Molly, so it's only fair that Miss Meredith gets a blog because she's getting married.

And moved far away from the great nation state of Texas.

In November, I was text messaging regularly with Meredith because I had done this really brave thing and gave online dating a shot. And I managed to meet a man I really liked, and clicked with right away, and of course I had to tell some all of my girls about him, because well, it was my turn to meet a man that was good, dammit.

Back to Meredith.

Anyways, because Meredith saw me being brave, she decided that if I could do it she can. Then she almost chickened out, but I told her not to, and so she joined the big internet dating world too.

Then she sent me some text messages about not wanting to go meet this guy (or two, I can't remember) she had been talking to, but I told her (nicely) to put her big girl panties on because she could be missing out on her soulmate if she bailed.

And I was right. Ha! HAHA! I wiiin. Wiiiiiiiinnnnnnniiiiiiing.

Long story short, Meredith had some really long day dates with Chris, and made him drive an hour to see her, because she's worth it (which I'm also going to claim credit of teaching her by way of "good dating rules"), and it kind of went like this:

Chris asks Meredith to be his girlfriend.
Meredith says no, citing some silly reason of it being too soon.
Meredith changes her mind roughly three days later (not typical at all......) and decides that what other people think doesn't matter and says yes.
Mushy Mushy Romance stuff
Someone says they love the other first.
The other reciprocates said feeling.
Chris gets into grad school on another planet in Michigan
Meredith panics calmly devises a solution.
Chris plans a solution all on his own.
Meredith picks up on said solution and starts pre-planning.

Chris proposes to Meredith in some sneaky yet horribly mushy and disgusting romantic way.
Meredith says yes.

Meredith makes phone calls.

Facebook statuses change.

The Earth celebrates and floods Meredith's facebook wall (and maybe Chris's, but I don't know) with congratulations and good tidings.

I buy another bridesmaid dress that I will be dying attening Cross Fit classes to look good in. (Cause pictures are forever, y'all.)

I receive a save the date in the mail (even though I have a mental rolodex, I still appreciate the memo. And have a slight tinge of misery that my mental rolodex will not last forever.)

I check out Meredith and Chris's wedding webpage, because I should  be doing research and scientific article reading for a book project, but a 25 page paper on algae eyespots seemed daunting after reading 3 other papers.

And if you wish to check out the happy couple's very cute and witty webpage, I've linked it above, but it can be found here:

Meredith and Chris, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G


Much love and congratulations to the both of you!

PS: And thank you, Meredith, for not making me buy a dress made out of satin that cost $200 which I will wear once and may or may not have a marsupial pouch in the front which as much as I love you I will torment you for the rest of our lives for ::coughAngelicacough::.

<3

New Beginnings

Matt and I moved into our new apartment this weekend, and it truly is starting to look like a home. We've got an incredible view, granite countertops, full tile baths, and a rather spacious garage (that now has a new washer/dryer set and grill in it!) Additionally, I get to come home to the man I love each and every night, and that's everything I've ever wanted, so it's like I'm living a happy little dream. (You can groan over the sap here, but I'm happy for us. So there.)

Along with the new digs come new jobs. Matt started his new job after the 4th of July holiday and I start mine on Monday the 18th. Is it strange that I have this horrible fear that I'll show up Monday morning for my brand new job and they'll tell me that they didn't actually hire me and I'm terribly mistaken? This is a constant fear I've had since basically the moment I accepted the offer. I'm not sure why. I think it has something to do with having a solid long-term career opportunity with a company I really respect, and that whole "too good to be true/ no one ever gets this lucky" kind of thing.

Back in April, after I completed my comprehensive exam for my graduate degree, one of my panel members and former professors offered me a co-authorship with him on a book about my subject matter. This all started so completely randomly, and really is kind of a strange progression of events.

I initially had a completely different panel than what I ended up with. I had asked my pharmacology (and other subjects) professor a year in advance to participate on my committee, and when it came time to own up or shut up, she shut up. Someone had made promises to too many students and not only bailed on my exam, but my friend Eva's as well. After she signed the sheet.


So I scavenged my brain for a professor whose class I did well in, who would remember me, and whose class I didn't text too much in. You know, I wanted someone who respected me. As I have a serious text message problem (that I at times attribute to work, because if I can get away with that, I would), I was rather coming up short for names. I also didn't make it a solid habit to chit-chat with my professors. Mostly because I didn't want to be that brown-nosed girl who befriends her teachers for an A. I earned my A's. Except for in Sensory Physiology. We all got A's in that class.

I had heard rumors that this professor was a good one to have on your panel because he let you pick your topic. I wanted to pick vision/the eye, because while everyone else does hearing/the ear, this was complicated for me. (seriously, all those ions moving back and forth... and counter clockwise/clockwise motion.... and the cochlea. I just didn't want to pick a topic on which I knew my professor had based his entire tenure on. Call me what you will.) Anyways, picking Dr. R for my exam was kind of a last-minute move on my part, because I knew that neurology is NOT my forte, and that for all true and realistic purposes, I should have failed his class, but I needed a professor and desperate times call for desperate measures.

Dr. R graciously accepted his position on my committee, and also agreed to be the chairperson. Then in an interesting twist of events, when he asked me my topic, and I mentioned the eye and vision, he asked me if I'd be willing to do a special research project of sorts.

And, of course, the professor-pleaser/desperate-to-graduate person in me happily accepted this assignment.

Then I spent the next 6-8 weeks in research stress hell, and pulled off a committee exam that was one of a kind, put one of my professors to sleep, and I was the one who knew the most about the topic (which seemed to me like a 'guaranteed to pass' type of scenario). 25 research papers later, countless hours of researching and LOTS of company paper..... I received an email from Dr. R asking me if I'd be interested in turning my research topic into a book through a co-authorship with him.

Did I mention that it was always a dream of mine to be published?

I mean, sure, when I was a kid, I thought I'd be an author of the Stephen King type of notoriety. However, now that I'm an adult and book deals are only truly given out if you're an acquitted murderer or have a story about shiny vampires, I can accept that any book is better than none.

So I accepted. I figured it'd be at least a good way to keep my brain working post-grad.

What's this book about, you say?

Well, it's about algae. No, really. It's about single celled algae (the Chlamydomonas, Halobacteria, and Euglena) species, and how they process and respond to light. In a nutshell: How algae see.

Which is, I know, terribly boring to 98% of the population. And I realize that if (and that's a big if) this book really does get published, the most I could hope for is that some science teacher somewhere uses it as a teaching aid. And that I'll never make money off it.

But I'd be published.

So, I've finally acquired my UTSA access back for the library system and can resume my research on this topic.

What a busy July: two new jobs, a new apartment with my love, and beginning a book. Sweet action!