Nuts are for squirrels

This week and last week has been insane. Past weekend I had the women in my research pyshology class over for a good old fashioned pajama party, only about 8 of us total. We ate awesome guacamole, salsa, chocolate fondu with lots of fruit, pot stickers, veggies, pretzels, hummus and pita chips (which if you haven't tried the parmesan and herb ones, they are amazing!!), apple pie (hehe) with ice cream, and then of course some champagne and margaritas!! oh oh and mozzarella sticks! lol

We had an awesome time eating and watching Labyrinth...you know that movie with a young sarah connelly and david bowie......AHHHH

During all this time I've also been just getting work done for school. I need to decided a project idea for my thesis (still not completely sure) and start implementing it. In the next week and a half before Thanksgiving I have two presentations to give, a 12 paper to write, another presentation on statistics to develop, and an introduction to begin for the HOPE publication (5-6 pages)...just the intro! lol....

Have had a cold most of this time, but I'm pretty sure it's the stress and weather. I'm really excited to go home for Thanksgiving and "relax" a bit shopping and eating! I'll probably still be working on things for classes but it will be worth it.

Good times! I'll post some pictures in the near future. Tomorrow, I am excited beyond all excitement to be getting a massage from at a massage school, 37 dollars for a whole hour!! I need it so badly and am thrilled. Then tomorrow night taking Laura out for dinner because it's her birthday!!! WOOT WOOT

Movie Season

All the new movie trailers have me really excited for free time. Here is my "want-to-see" list for this season....so far:

OCTOBER:

Blindness

http://www.blindness-themovie.com/

The Secret Life of Bees

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thesecretlifeofbees/

W.

http://wthefilm.com/

Changeling

http://www.changelingmovie.net/

Splinter

http://www.thesplintermovie.com/

NOVEMBER:

Twilight

http://twilightthemovie.com/

DECEMBER:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

http://www.benjaminbutton.com/

FEBRUARY:

Push

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/push/

Sick

I am sick with a cold/throat thing; really hoping it's not anything like strep throat. Unfortunately, it's going around the psychology department, and in particular the people in my classes. And since those are the people I spend my time with, of course my immune system couldn't keep up (stupid immune system). Anyway I'm loading up on vitamin C and vitamins in general and trying to stay away from anything too heavy or dairy...bleh.

On Monday Erin and I had a meeting with Dr. Mance about our joint publication (she is advising us) and the timeline for getting it finished. Because of how busy we are we only planned it out about half way and decided to review it later if necessary. Currently concept paper due monday -- including what we're studying, what analyses we're using, how we're using them, what implications does it hold for the future, what gap in literature are we filling, and why why why....lol.

I'll post the hypothesis we're analysing as soon as we narrow it down some, currently it's a bit vague/general.

Now sleep, sleep is a good thing.

Murder Mystery and Mayhem !!!

It's been very hectic this week, just with classes and trying to get everything situated. All was good until about Thursday when I realized I still needed an outfit for Saturday night's birthday party. Murder Mystery and Mayhem parties are themed and you spend a good portion of the night talking to others trying to figure out who the murderer is, like in Clue.

Well, my character was Veronica Lake from the 40s and 50s. First issue, I didn't know what people in the 40s and 50s wore....second issue, where to find an outfit in DC for under 4o bucks from that era....and thirdly which shoes??!! Which of course was the main part, because shoes are amazing.....yes yes I have a shoe problem, but on the upside I always have the right shoes (until I don't and have to go shopping!!!)

Ok so back on topic...I had to be Veronica Lake, she was the one that coined the peekaboo hair style. I ended up doing a non-curled version because hot rollers are not my thing, and were not cooperating in the least. Plus my hair is short so I was out of luck.

As far as the outfit goes...Erin, Katie, and I went shopping on Friday in Georgetown but totally failed to find a single thing. Ended up eating Johnny Rockets and going home empty handed. But it was okay!! Because I had a little black dress (yes, every woman should have one) and a green shrug I received from my friend Courtney in Chicago. I had no clue where I was going to wear it when I got it for my birthday, and now I know! It was great, the perfect outfit. Anyway pics...

And now on to class *WOOT WOOT* and a meeting....wait, scratch that and reverse it. hehe

October....already?

Picture!! (Erin on the left, me middle, and Sarah right)

Erin and I are working together to get a publication out; we have very similar interests and are becoming fast friends. It's awesome meeting new people!

I suddenly realized yesterday that it's October!! How crazy is that, time goes by wayyy too fast. I'm sorry it's taken a bit to update this time; I was studying for an exam that I had yesterday and making sure I was completely caught up in reading. Now I just have the grant reading to do for Dr. Mance and I'll be officially on the right time frame; I am not allowed to fall behind ever! Which reminds me...I'm officially working on two publications as the second author for Dr. Mance andddddd!!!!!! she's allowing this girl Erin and I to work together on a publication of

OUR OWN!! I'm so excited.

Still debating whether I'll have the time to work with Dr. Kearns on a study he's trying to reproduce with pigeons and short term memory. And I'm definitely working under Dr. Fantie on my thesis. BUSY BUSY...

Anyway here are some pictures I've been promising you all for a while:

Our Apartment building from the back (which is actually the front). It's eleven stories, and we're on the second....but our windows are on the other side, sorry.

Our kitchen! It looks small, and well, it is small, but it works just fine for two people. That's Laura at the stove.

Our apartment living room from a corner. The tv and Laura's door is on the right, and my room's door is on the left where you can't see. The doors you can see go to the front door and the laundry..hehe

This is a picture of part of the campus, including one of the buildings I have class in.

This is Hurst Hall, I have research psychology methods in this building...in the basement. But they are all beautiful buildings.

Pictures from James' graduation!! I ran across when unloading my camera..hehe

Improv Everywhere

So I heard about this through a friend. Thinking about being in one of them, they do improv events all the time. Check out the website by clicking on the title...this is my favorite.

Weekend Getaway

Sooo picture from that Meet and Greet night at Rumors with my 2010 Psychology MA class (we are so tiny) It's kinda blurry, I'm working on getting a better picture up soon. From the left -- Adrienne, Ali, Erin, Darcy, Amy, Jill, Katie, Sarah, Saundra, Patrick, Brandis, Vera, and ME!

There are about 3 missing from that picture, I believe.

Anyway, this weekend I was in Indy doing an impromptu birthday visit to my mom. Came in on Friday at about 5pm and went straight to dinner at La Hacienda (with live music from middle-age rockers, it was kick-butt wicked) then on to see the movie "The Women" - the third remake!!

First was in 1939, then one named 'The Opposite Sex' in 1956, now this one with an awesome female cast. It proved to be a great remake. My mom and I laughed to the point of almost peeing multiple times, eww gross. It had sad moments but for the most part was great and truly showed the ups and downs of life and dealing.

Then on Saturday my mom, James, and I hit the DSW shoe sale for her birthday gift. She got these snazzy ballet flats and a pair of soft spot clogs; they are so awesome I also got a pair. If you've never worn a softspots shoe you are seriously missing out. They feel like you're wearing just socks when you're actually wearing heels!!

Then on to cheesecake factory for delicious-can-only-eat-half-a-piece cheesecake which gave us the energy to go to Kohl's and shop some more. I got a new purse and earrings there and replaced my wallet that has seen it's last dollar.

Oh, and I also got a pair of strappy white heels. Did I mention I have a shoe problem?? I do, there it's admitted now. hehe

Finally finished off the night with dinner at MacCalister's with Samara and Leila mostly talking about wedding stuff (Samara is getting married for anyone who doesn't know) She has picked a date, which is helpful for Leila and I to plan the bachelorette party and wedding shower, whoohoo for fun times. We are wearing fern colored dresses, although the guys are being stubborn about wearing champagne so I think Samara is trying to get them to agree on something besides blue...lol.

And now I should study for the Stats exam that's on Wednesday so I'll update soon with more pics, promise.

Daily Craziness

So today was nuts. Started it off with waking up to Laura in the kitchen making coffee...AT 4:30am!!!! She was up because she needed to complete a memo for her boss, or something. Didn't really fall asleep after that, so read for fun instead woot woot. Then at 8am had to drive Laura to Georgetown for a class that was rescheduled at that very inconvenient time. She would have driven herself, but I had a dentist appt. at 9:30 and needed to car to get to it.

Anyway...then I proceeded to get lost going back to the apartment because from 7am to 9am you can't make any left turns off of the road I was on. Of course, that was the direction I needed to go, and when I finally turned and got going the right direction I was in the middle of nowhere. Took me an hour and a half to figure out how to get back the direction I needed to go, and I managed to walk into the dentist appt. only 2 minutes late.

Dentist was an emergency of course; I needed a filling replaced that had fallen out on Sunday. He was awesome though, and only charged me half the actual price he usual charges because I paid with cash. Again, greatness!

THEN.....Went to class; that was calm. Had a meeting afterwards with Dr. Bryan Fantie. This is the professor I may be working on my thesis with (now) because the person I originally wanted is not available. He is great though; he is willing to work with me and make sure I am working on a research project I find interesting and have the opportunity to work on numerous other projects to get experience. After my meeting with Dr. Fantie I had a meeting with Dr. Kearns about SA (Self-administration) techniques. He is going to show me how to perform brain surgery on rats, and apparatus connection techniques. It's invaluable experience, so I'm thrilled he's willing to teach me.(That's Dr. Fantie in the red shirt, in the picture)

And now I'm craving pizza so we're going to Ledo's Pizza down the street. It's slowly working it's way to becoming one of my top pizza places. Yum Yum they're white pizza is delicious.

PICS!!! But not of DC, sorry....

So when trying to load my camera's pictures, I happened onto graduation pictures. I thought I'd share them just for the heck of it.

~~~~~

This is Laura and I right before the graduation ceremony out on our back porch, at the old apartment. (We kinda miss our pseudo backyard)

This is my dad and I at Panera Bread (the second best sandwich place next to MacCalister's due to their greek salads) Notice my nicely straightened hair...hehe....took me wayyyy too long to do, and yet somehow I do it almost 3 times a week now.

Gram and I during the Religious Studies Honors Ceremony; my parents, gram, and James got to meet my teachers and other Honors Students. They gave us our stoles for GPA and such, and presented papers that were well-marked or published. I got one in the Religious Studies annual competition -- 3rd place, woot woot. It was on the divergence of Medicine and Religion. (Probably only fascinating to me...hehe)

My family standing in the dedication chapel after the Religious Studies Ceremony, we had a great time; I'm so glad they all were there.

My family and I after the Big LONGGGGG Graduation Ceremony. I was so windy we were having trouble holding our hair and clothes long enough for a picture. I lost my cap at least 4 times and had to take off my shoes to stay balanced in the wind.

My mom and dad, and I braving the wind in the parking lot for a graduation picture. I had the realization from this picture that both my parents have grey hair, and I love it. I absolutely love the fact that my parents are older and wiser and still looking good!!

And finally a pic, also in the wind although trying to hide behind a tree, with my dad and gram. I"m holding onto my clothes...lol

Red Underwear

Yes, that's right. After years and years of doing my own laundry I managed to finally turn a whole load of white into pinks. The culprit....a red pair of underwear. The greatest part of this story is that I have washed the same red pair many many times before and never had that happen; who knows what I did wrong this time. But lucky for me, and Laura my roommate, I now have a bunch of pink underwear and she now has two pairs of pink socks. Woohoo! Did I mention neither one of us likes pink?

Beyond that, I have taken some pictures and will post them as soon as possible. Some of my apartment, school, and a meet and greet thing I went to on Friday night. All the people in my program, minus one who couldn't make it, went out for a happy hour get together at a place called "Rumors." It's in Dupont. (Yes, by Dupont Circle, which even walking I managed to get lost on for 45 minutes) Our numbers have dropped since orientation, we now only have two guys...and about 15 women. We originally had 20 in the program. It's an intense program so I hope the rest of us stick it out. So far getting close to everyone is really helping that possibility. We all feel like we can depend on each other somewhat to keep each other on track.

I am still looking for a thesis advisor; it's a lot harder than you'd think when your interests are specialized. But I have time, and I am seriously talking to a woman named Caroline Weissbrod -- she works in child clinical psychology, so it would be a perfect match as an advisor. I am doing research currently under Dr. Mance, but currently she is not allowed by the university to take on thesis students because of funding. Hopefully if Dr. Weissbrod doesn't take me, Dr. Mance will get the okay in the future. Both work in stress and coping with a focus on children and adolescents, which is exactly where I want to be to prepare for child advocacy and child psychology.

And I just realized it is almost ONE in the afternoon and I still haven't showered and got moving. Must do that and get some more laundry done.

Pictures to come, I promise!!

Q and A

So Aunt Rita wanted to know what it's like living in DC with elections looming. Basically, it's the same as everywhere else. Except!! When you're eating in an everyday restaurant and see a heavy politician! It's like seeing a celebrity...lol....you have to call the people you know and then ponder what/who they may have been talking about. My school has speeches and conferences going on pretty constantly right now because it's one of the biggest academic arenas in the area. I plan on getting into one or two of those; I'm sure it will get crazier the closer it comes to election.

Not sure on who's republican, democratic, or independent in my readers, but I'm an Obama gal right now. And I can't believe that McCain picked the governor from Alaska. I believe it was a poor choice, that he was hoping would bring Clinton supporters over to the republican ticket. Unfortunately for him, I think it just insults those democratic Clinton supporters, and confuses those Republican supporters who wanted experience (as she's 2 years Obama's junior, and not nearly as many years in service).

First Week Done

WOOHOO (screaming football game yell) It was awesome; the first week that is. I'm taking Psychological Research, Behavioral Neuroscience of Addiction, and Statistics. Already tons of reading, but it's wicked awesome reading (only things I'm fascinated by which always makes things more interesting). First day was mostly a debate about the ethical or unethical nature of using animals such as rats for research. Not the happy go lucky research, but rather the inject them with cocaine type research. Was interesting, and great to get in a class with people who are all different with different interests, yet all very similar in passion. Second day followed the theme with a debate about the definition of addiction (aka is it a brain disease, does it exist at all, a purely mental existence, etc, etc). That same day was also statistics, which I've had two classes in already so it was quite boring...but at least it's only once a week and I'm done with it after this semester. (silly required for all classes)

ANDDDD....I got the position!!!! The position with Dr. Gishawn Mance. I'll be working on a study/publication based out of Baltimore and Chicago that looks at the effects of low-income, low-education, and low-healthcare availability to inner city drop-outs (between the ages of 14 and 20. Mostly this work will concentrate on determining if psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, etc) prevalent with these groups is mediated by hopelessness, and whether a lack of education and medical attention or awareness thereof contributes to this. I'm also interested in whether longitudinally this increases or decreases with second generation children of parents in programs of intervention.

I'm totally EXCITED!!

I'm also working on getting some pics up for you all. As soon as I do, they'll be up I promise.

Oh and the money thing worked out, after pulling "a Resa Mom thing." Which is basically when I refuse to back down and walk away when no one is giving me an answer that I really need. Generally the front desk staff in the offices get scared and defensive, but hey it's my money not theirs so it's important that I don't give up.

Hmm more to come...for now the pot roast is beeping at me!

Money

This is ridiculous!! I absolutely hate the system that colleges seem to have set up for student accounts. They lose money, they can't find money, they have no idea who their lenders are, and then they expect you to be okay with them saying it's just a fluke in the system. Well sorry, but the kind of money it takes to go to school out of state should not be subject to flukes!!

Ok, rant over. Basically the loans I have/need are not showing up in my account. I talked to the financial aid people; they said it's there and will show up next week when the IT problem is taken care of. The problem I have is that I can't apply for a loan refund until they fix that problem even though my money is there. Point being it's MINE! lol....anyway second rant over. I'm alone for the weekend because Laura went home for her mom's birthday and her anniversay. She and Brandon have been together 5.5 years! Crazy huh. And no they're not getting married for at least 2 years, but he's supposed to be asking her this spring (per the plan that I am a part of -- woot woot) She doesn't read this so it's ok!

I am still talking to one of the professors about working with her this year. She is leaving after a year but I love the work she is doing, so I'm excited just the same. I will give more info on that if it progresses. If it does I have the very real possibility of working and contributing to at least 3 different publications. AKA WOO HOO.

Finally, in this crazy time. The silly toilet clogged. Not a normal clog fixed with a plunger. Oh NO it is a crazy clog caused by our neighbors toilet! Pleasant. At least it doesn't smell..just can't use the toilet in my room for a bit. It's ok though because we have two! Yup two. It's awesome.

Ok loves ciao

Second....or maybe Third Try

OK guys. I know I basically fail at the blogging thing. But I'm doing a lot of changing right now and blogging is a goal.

So to start off. As some of you know I am attending American University in Washington, DC this fall. I am "officially" a general Pschology graduate student, but what that really means is I'm a psychology graduate with a focus in whatever I want. As those who know me well know I loveeee working with kids, so my focus is Child and Adolescent clinical psychology. I'll be working with a couple different professors and still waiting to find out if I got a position with a professor Dr. Mance who works with inner-city adolescents and cultural image and identity. I would be totally PSYCHED!!! if I got that position (hehe..pun). Three classes, which is a huge change from what I've been doing in undergrad, but the classes are significantly more involved (aka 3.5+ hours per class just for the actual class time) I have five books I'm supposed to basically memorize before next summer for the cumulative exam that allows the psych grad students to graduate. I am so excited!! It's still a bit daunting sometimes.

Last week I had orientation with the other students in my program...20 total students this year out of the total 400+ applicants, so I'm basically very very thankful for the opportunity to be at this school. The director of the program said quote: "no crying in my office at the end of this semester about not having a thesis topic picked yet......at the end of the second semester you may cry, but not until then!!" He cracked me up, he thinks he's going to be on estrogen overload with this year's class (there are only 3 guys out of the 20 of us). He also said quote: "You aren't allowed to get C's, but if you do get one C don't flip out just work on it, but you may NOT NOT NOT get two C's; if you do I have to fight to keep you in the program and two C's doesn't convince me you should be here.....three and God help you if you come to my office"

He is truly a nice guy, so hopefully I won't have to go to office about bad things.

Laura (my roommate I've had already for a year) is going to Georgetown, which is just a few blocks from my school, so we decided we should live together again. We already know how we function with each other, and have a system down and similar budget. So we moved here at the beginning at August; technically we live in Bethesda, MD but it's the south side of Bethesda right on the border of DC (literally I can walk two blocks and be in DC) It's a nice area, safe and easy to commute from. We have a grocery store across the street so shopping is easy and a great pizza place about a 8 minute walk. Biggest change...lol....they don't sell liquor in grocery stores. Neither Laura or I drink very much, but they don't even sell Mike's hard lemonade!! I mean geez o pete. I won't even tell you guys how much rent is, it still shocks me. We got furniture when we got out here, it's super comfortable and way worth the money we spent.

Hmm, I will try to get some pictures up soon of the apartment and the area around here.

And I will try very hard to actually keep this updated at least every few days (3-4) I promise!!!!


Loves
Gail