This Is Beautiful: Warm Weather

 I forget this every year, but it makes such a difference when it starts to warm up outside. I get to drive with the windows down, not bundle up every time I lead the house, and just soak up some sun. It fixes like the vast majority of my brain chemistry haha. Anyways we have had a few false springs, and I think we are actually in the clear now. It's so nice out!

This Is Beautiful: Done with lab work!

 Alright so I thought I was done with experiments, and then we heard back from the journal, and then I was back to doing experiments for the past month. The unfortunate part is that I didn't have my undergrads that I trained to help me so I was doing everything entirely on my own. But I wrapped it up last Friday and I'm done again! And it's far too close to me leaving for me to pick up more things on this project. So that's exciting! I can finally check this off of my to-do list for graduate school!

This Is Beautiful: Interviews

 So I haven't had much, but I've now had 2 virtual interviews, and one of those is now leading to an in person interview for a teaching position! I just got the details this week for that, and it's really exciting that I'm at least getting a few nibbles on my applications! I will get out of here and get a job haha.

This Is Beautiful: Celebrations

 I've been trying to take time to celebrate my PhD, setting up events that I just find fun and all that. And also I've had friends defending, lab mates defending, and it's an exciting time in general with the summer coming up. It's just nice to take time to celebrate our accomplishments and spend time with each other rather than constantly working and whatnot. 

This Is Beautiful: Paralympics!

 Thank goodness that there's more Olympics to be had! The Paralympics started on the 6th and we are back to watching so much of it! I hadn't watched much of the Paralympics previously so this is a lot of fun for me. I love seeing the creative ways folks can do sports. I also haven't watched much wheelchair curling and sled hockey so I'm enjoying this a lot. I hope I'm able to pay this much attention every time the Olympics/Paralympics come around.

This Is Beautiful: Soup Night!

 I'm making my friends celebrate my defense and graduation for months, and we did a soup party over the weekend! I do really enjoy cooking and I wanted to cook for folks, plus soup just seemed easier. Plus I've seen a number of soup themed events recently and it just looked like fun. So I made some vegetarian and meat soup and got some bread and cheese and had friends bring things or not. I had a lot of fun! I think sharing food is like the best way to hang out and also be socialist together. Soup night is a success!

This Is Beautiful: American Sign Museum

Last weekend we went to Cincinnati to see a concert (also celebrate defending, but that was scheduled after). I hadn't been before, and it was a lot of fun! Best part for me though was the American Sign Museum, it's a museum of just that, signs throughout history. It goes from hand painted to plastic to neon! There's even some candlelight ones we found tucked in a corner. It was honestly a perfect amount of kitsch, and small enough we went through in less than an hour. They also have demonstrations with neon which we couldn't stay for, but sounded really cool as a way to preserve the art form. Definitely would highly recommend, I love niche museums and this was a good one!

This is Beautiful: I'M A DOCTOR

 I successfully defended my PhD last week! It was a little anticlimactic since I was so well prepared and ready to just do this thing and also because my committee is awesome, but still a load off of my shoulders. I finally did the thing! It was also so nice to see everyone joining on the zoom call, in person, at the celebration afterwards, and all of the texts I've been getting non-stop. It certainly feels, well, beautiful.

This Is Beautiful: Olympics are here!

 My goal this Olympics has been to turn into an Olympics watcher, I'm putting it on in the background and I'm actually watching the dang thing this year. I'm excited! The opening ceremony was so fun, that's the part I catch every year, and I'm pumped to actually catch the rest of it. I've already enjoyed myself over the weekend with it on, and I'm only going to continue during the week. Not like I have much else going on!

This Is Beautiful: It's all coming together

 It's happening folks, I am going to actually graduate and become a doctor! I asked multiple groups of people to hold prayer circles for me to get through the week and such, but it worked and I did make it through the tough parts! Dissertation is in, paper was submitted to a preprint server, and it's going to all come together and happen. I'm so pleased, I didn't think it really would for a while there.

This Is Beautiful: Paper to co-authors

 So the way things work in science is you write the paper, then you have to get approval from everyone whose name is on the paper, then you can send it to a journal. (Yay bureaucracy!) Anyways, I finally got it over the hurdle of sending it to co-authors this week! I had to pull the move of that we are down to the wire with deadlines on my mentor, but it got out and I honestly don't even care anymore I just want to be done. It's happening and it'll get out, and that is beautiful in the end!

This Is Beautiful: A timeline???

 Happy over 1,000 posts on this blog!

Anyways last week I met with my mentor and we actually laid out a timeline to get my manuscript out and published and out the door. I'm AMAZED I have been wanting that for so long. It feels like this will actually be happening now! I hope we're able to stick to it and get it out there, it's been so frustrating feeling like the momentum just isn't there, or that we'll say one timeline and keep pushing it back. But there's progress and movement! This might actually happen!

This Is Beautiful: New Semester

 This semester is going to be weird. Hopefully all in a good way but we'll see. I am kinda excited as this all gets up and going. I'm not teaching so my main goals are to just graduate, and I'm in a pretty good position to be graduating. Hopefully this is relaxing and primarily rejuvenating as far as semesters go. I do feel as though I oscillate wildly between "This is going to be so much" and "This will be nothing." But either way, I will be graduating and I'm looking forward to the last semester of things like my dance group and progressing more with aerial circus. It'll be a good one!

This Is Beautiful: The Blues Brothers

 I don't think I've written about it on here, which surprises me, but one of my favorite films is The Blues Brothers. I saw it initially in high school and just fell in love, I'm not sure why. I haven't seen it much since then, but I read a book on the movie (to be featured in a main post soon) and rewatched the film (also will be included in that) and it just reminded me how much I adored it. Revisiting things is so nice, I should do it more often.

This Is Beautiful: Talking About Science

 I recently did my only in-person interview for a postdoc position. It was a bit of a weird situation, I still have to apply and get into the postdoc program, but this was to chat with my potential mentor(s) (I'm trying to get a co-mentorship off the ground with this.)

I do think it went well and that these folks will be great together! And it reminded me that I do like talking about science a lot, potentially more than doing it haha. Because I definitely had a lot of fun, I just hope that the folks I talked to liked me as well.

This Is Beautiful: Yes Graduate Soon

 Hey look at this one two punch of posts, I do have a date to defend in February! I wanted to do nothing else that day I got the news. It's beautiful and we are going to get through this!

This Is Beautiful: I Might Graduate Soon?

 Well I had my most recent committee meeting a week ago, and it looks like it's finally going to happen? They said I could actually graduate next semester and get this thing done. I just have to find a date that works for everyone and make it happen! It's surreal, and maybe it'll feel more real once I know the date for sure, but I almost don't quite believe that it's happening. Idk, I hope it goes smoothly and I get some clarity so that I can calm down a bit and relax a little.

This Is Beautiful: Snow!

 We had our first snow here! It was so pretty, I unfortunately didn't have time to make a snowman but there's a few that have popped up around town. I'm not fully ready for it to be freezing, but I do love the snow! (Plus seems like it's going to get warm again later so...)

This Is Beautiful: Job Interview

 I have a job interview later today! Wish me luck, it's the first that I've gotten and I've been looking since August. (To be fair I've gotten replies outside of interviews, but this is still the first and that's exciting.) I hope it goes well, I do like the job posting quite a bit so I hope there's some good news after this.

This Is Beautiful: Halloween!

 I think I enjoy Halloween more as an adult than I did as a kid! This year my partner and I dressed in 90s fashion and put Beanie Baby tags on the animals to be Beanie Baby collectors. Then my lab had a party which was cute and I put a tag on my lab mate! It was really nice doing a low-key celebration and just being around the lab members again for a social event. It's great to have an adult fun holiday!