Is there a doctor in the house?

It's official. My husband/best friend is now Dr. Craig Owen (though he'd prefer it if no one called him that)! He says that he is not the useful kind of doctor (i.e. medical doctor).

He was hooded at WSU's commencement ceremony a little over a week ago, and has completed the requirements for a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering. I feel like that does make him a pretty useful kind of doctor.

Exciting Life Updates

   
     The past few days have been crazy exciting! On Thursday, Craig passed his Ph.D. defense. This a huge deal. It basically means he is finished with school! He turned in his completed dissertation last Friday, so as long as it gets accepted (which it most definitely will) he will be Dr. Craig!

     What's just as exciting: He is currently at a job interview. The company flew him down and is paying for all expenses. From what we can tell, it could be an amazing opportunity!

My 10 favorite things about Pullman

     I came here for graduate school, and during my move I was already telling my dad about where I wanted to live next. I never intended to stay long, but it's been almost 4 years since I moved here. My only reason for staying has been to support Craig through his PhD.

     I wanted to to acknowledge 10 positives about living in Pullman, WA.

Resilience in Scientific Research

Lab-coat selfie!

     I've had a rough few months. Since August, my employment status has gone from employed in an awesome and challenging job, to struggling to hold on to a part-time job, and now to laid-off. Basically, the department I work for had mismanaged funds before hiring me, and did not realize that they did not have enough funding to support my position long-term. This is a super bummer because I really liked my job and my boss.

Grad School Finish Line

I am finally getting a real taste of graduate school. The gritty, no-time-to shower and too-tired-to-cook-dinner life. It's actually not so bad. Mainly because I know it has to end soon (I defend Dec. 14!). It's been sad because I am not getting to spend as much time with Craig because I have been going in to work on the weekends and after dinner.

Race For A Soldier 2015 Recap

     I haven't written for a awhile. This is mainly due to 2 reasons: the crazy amount of stress being in my last semester of graduate school and a lingering cold. The last month basically has been write, write, write, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep...zzzzzzzzzzz
 
     Despite all this, I had a ton of fun at the Race For a Soldier last weekend in Gig Harbor, WA.

What did I even do all week?... Work?

     Finally! My research project has begun to succeed: this week my DNA extractions worked.

Below is an image from an email I sent to myself. It's probably garbled-ey-gook to everyone but what it basically means is that I was finally able to extract quality DNA from a fungus that I want to obtain a whole genome sequence from. Exciting, no?

A runner's approach to life's challenges (grad school)

            I am currently working on earning a Masters degree in Plant Pathology. For a while now I have not felt like I've been making much progress on my research project.  I have technically passed all other course requirements and am just waiting on my thesis and defense to graduate.

The lab I where I do my research. I am sitting at the bench (notice I am missing the bottom half of my body haha). 

           

       

No running!

      

     Last Tuesday night, I was able to go for a 1.6 mile run at my normal pace. At the end of the run, I was ecstatic. I was back to myself! Yay!

     The next day, however, I definitely regretted it. I came home after class, had some mixed vegetables and brussel sprouts for lunch, and within an hour, the pain in my abdomen was extreme. I went to the Dr. that afternoon, and basically she told me to cool it with the vegetables (fiber) and exercise (both running and long walks) until my body fully recovered. She told me to eat plain foods and rest.