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So this is just a quick post to share the video I made of our vacation and share a Flickr link to photos from the lake trip. Our vacation was at Lake Oroville in California.

We had a lot of fun! My sister and her boyfriend were able to show up a few days into the trip. My brother wasn’t able to come We have another big vacation in August though and he should be able to make it to that!

Enjoy!

Flickr

So it has once again been too long since my last blog post. This past month has been pretty busy. So the 2 of you who read my blog, I’m sorry :/

I am now pretty much finished with the school year. I have a few more labs to grade and a “final” to attend at a nearby bar. Yes, you read that correctly, instead of a final, our class will be hanging out at a bar. My professor’s email informing us of this was so awesome, that I just have to share it with you:

Folks,
We will have our last presentation Wednesday. I will also return some homework and the midterm, and make some comments on the latter. Then we will do evaluations.
My habit of long standing is to retire to a nearby bar for a little socializing in lieu of a final exam. This is a celebration of the completion of two quarters of hard work learning about automata. I see no reason to break this tradition, but if you have objections, now is the time to air them. In the absence of such objections, I propose we meet at Jordan’s at 6:30 on Monday, the day of our scheduled final exam. (The final is scheduled at 2, but that’s too early to drink beer, and [name removed] said she had a final at 4.) Kindly let me (and everyone else) know if you’d like to make other arrangements.

Is that not the most awesome thing ever? Even better was that in the next class I got my take-home exam back with a grade of 85/85!! I about had a heart attack trying to contain my excitement.

Much of the free time I’ve actually had to spend away from school has been at The iPhone Blog. I have recently started writing reviews for them as well as moderating their forums. I have a lot of fun doing this and love the group of guys that run the site. TiPb also had a video contest recently and I won! I spent quite a bit of time making this video and was so excited to win! I really wasn’t expecting to.

Chocolate Puddie Pie

A recent “hobby” I have started is baking. I have long wanted to bake for my husband but never really have. So I bought a Williams-Sonoma Pie & Tart cookbook and have baked 4 pies: banana cream, chocolate silk, cinnamon apple crumb, and chocolate pudding pie with cookie crumb crust. All of them came out wonderfully except for the chocolate silk. I think it actually came out ok, the recipe was just way too rich for Dave’s or my liking. I’m quite proud of myself for sucessfully making all 4 of these pies because food preparation has never been one of my strong suits. I’m the girl that took 3 boxes of Mac & Cheese to get it right. I may not be able to cook, but I’m discovering that I can bake! This makes me happy. I feel like a better wife after each pie I make!

Dave and I will be driving back to CA soon. In fact, we’re beginning our journey on June 3rd, my birthday. Kind of a lame birthday, huh? I figure it’ll be fine, I’ll make it fun. I’m planning to make a mini travel vlog out of it. Also, Sims 3 will be out for both Mac and iPhone, so I will have plenty to keep me busy during the drive We’re planning to make a slight detour through 4 corners just for the heck of it. I know it’s not something that exciting, but what the heck, why not check it out?

Well, it’s 2am, so I’m going to bed! More blogging to come!

Don’t you love how elegantly I always end my blog posts?

…that I don’t what to get my PhD.

When I first decided that I wanted to major in mathematics, the goal was to get a master’s degree and teach at the junior college level. I did very well as an undergrad and received a lot of encouragement from professors to shoot for the PhD. I was never really enthusiastic about the idea since another one of my life goals is to be done having kids before I’m 30. But as my husband showed interest in grad school (in math) as well, I started to play with the idea. When it came time for grad school applications, I only applied to 4 schools and only 1 of them was for a PhD program. I decided if we both got into the PhD program, then I would give it a shot. Well, we did!

I am now nearing the end of my first year in grad school. It has been a great year and I’m enjoying it. However, I just don’t think I want to go all the way. My school specializes in analysis and algebra and I’m not particularly “excited” about either one of them. I feel as though that is a definite sign to not spend 4 years of my life researching in those areas. I honestly don’t think I’ll enjoy it.

I’ve never been too thrilled with the idea of research in the first place. It’s not what I enjoy. I just want to teach. What makes me want to get a PhD is so that I can teach the “fun” upper division courses. At the junior college level, the highest level mathematics course I’ll ever get to teach is multivariable calculus.

After some serious thinking over the past couple weeks, I think it will be worth it (for me) to end my education at the master’s degree. The only con I see is not teaching upper division classes. But there are many pros:

1. I won’t be spending 4 years of my life researching something I’m not passionate about.
2. We won’t being raising a family and going to grad school at the same time (only Dave will be).  Also, we wouldn’t have to try to time pregnancies so that I deliver in the summer.
3. I won’t be 29 years old when I finish; I’ll be 25.
4. I’ll be doing what I love in a little over a year.
5. I won’t have to study for months and months to hopefully pass the qualifying exams.
6. I’ll be able to afford a Mini Cooper sooner! =D (threw that one in for fun)

I haven’t made any definite decisions, but I’m pretty sure I’m gonna stop at the master’s. I won’t be disappointed in myself.

I’ve also been toying with the idea of working for the goverment. Having a job at the NSA just seems so cool. They are the number 1 employer of mathemticians. I think I would really enjoy that type of work. However, I do not want to live in D.C. NSA has a division here in Denver, so if there’s an opening when I graduate, I might just have to apply!

On Thursday, Denver (and most of Colorado) was hit with a Blizzard. All the schools shut down, so I also had my first snow day

My husband was supposed to teach a class at 8a and didn’t realize school was canceled. He found it odd that the building was locked, but just let himself him. He went to class and wrote all his intro stuff on the board. While waiting for students to arrive, he checked his email: “The University of Denver will be closed today due to high expected snowfall”. He got home around 8:30a and I flew out of bed with excitement of the news! But then I couldn’t help but laugh at him when I checked my phone.

The University had sent a text message and left a voice mail in addition to the email. You see, my husband and I are always arguing (playfully, kinda) about how he never has his phone with him, or it’s off, or it’s lost, etc. If I didn’t make him, he wouldn’t even have a phone. Well, since he ignores his phone, he wasted his time going to school that morning and I got a good laugh

I know that this blizzard was mild as far as blizzards are concerned, but I was amazed by it. Remember, I’ve lived on the cenral coast of California all my life, I’m still getting used to snow in general, let alone blizzards!

Well, Ally absolutely loves the snow and she couldn’t get enough of it. She’d be out there shivering but still not want to come inside; She just continued to wag her little nub and look at me with that happy little face. Epsilon, on the other hand, found Thursday to be a rather terrible day. He was cold and miserable. Since he’s so little, it was very difficult to find places for him to go to the bathroom without him drowning in snow.

Anyway, here’s a video I put together of our blizzard experiences. Enjoy! (yes, I know I’m a dork).

I had some good ol’ wholesome fun for Spring Break this year. My family and a friend came to visit from Fri-Mon and we hung out in downtown Denver, went snowboarding, and chilled at my apartment. Wed-Fri, my husband and I visited a friend in Kansas City, the first time either of us have visited KC.

Dave and I at Loveland

Snowboarding was a lot of fun. We went to Loveland Ski Resort in Colorado. The only other time I have snowboarded was about 7 years ago when I was in high school. Needless to say, I wasn’t that great when we went on Saturday but I had a blast! I must say though, I think I’m some what of a natural. I’ve never taken lessons or anything, and by the end of the day I was transitioning from healside to toeside (and vice versa) quite well! And no, I didn’t spend any time on the bunny hill. But I did stay on the green slopes!

MU vs. CLEM

Now is when I confess that the first time I ever heard of March Madness was a few weeks ago. Well, we didn’t realize that the games were happening at the Sprint Center in Kansas City when we planned our trip. It never fails that we plan to go somewhere when it’s going to be extra busy! Parking was horrendous, but we were able to get into the game for only 20 bucks a piece! I love basketball, but my favorite part of the game was watching the cheerleaders for Morgan State. Those girls were amazing!!! They were so good, that they got cheered for each time they did a little routine.

We also went to a Cabela’s for the first time. WOW! That store is incredible. There’s an “aquariam” of fish that you would catch, and real (dead) animals that have been stuffed (or whatever) and placed all over the store! I was in awe. I had NO idea how HUGE a moose was!!! Seriously, I just thought they were a little bigger than a deer.

A scene from Cabela's

So yeah, Spring Break was fun! Just wanted to share!

There a some things that people say regarding Epsilon, my Yorkshire terrier, that really piss me off. Here’s the top 3…

Epsilon - Yorkshire Terrier

Look at the little rat! – Excuse me, no! He is not a rat! Just because he’s only 3 pounds doesn’t mean he’s not a dog. If you got to know him you’d realize he has quite the attitude and has the same qualities your “big dog” has. I didn’t call your 100 pound 3rd grader a whale, so don’t call my dog a rat!

My dog could eat him in one bite! – Have you not heard about small dogs being killed by larger dogs? You may not be trying to be insensitive, but you should seriously think before you speak. ESPECIALLY if you KNOW me and that I have had a yorkie killed by another dog. Thanks for reminding me of that absolutely horrific day.

Oh, so you’re one of those (when seeing Epsilon in a sweater) – Yes, actually, I am one of those pet parents who care about the well being of my dog. You see, yorkies have actual hair, not fur. This means that they get cold/hot very easily. Quit being so damn judgemental.

The original music to this video was MUCH better. But now YouTube and even Facebook are cracking down on copywrite infringement.

Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: This is a bit of a rant and not very interesting… continue reading at  your own risk.

I generally have a happy, good life. But these past few days have been torture for me . I have had some good times too, but over all… bad. I’m sad and bored as I type this.

I procrastinated all last week and had a lot of work to do on Monday for an assignment that was due. I woke up at 8a and spent 8 hours working on that assignment to turn it in by 4p. Turns out he gave us an extra day anyway. But I didn’t eat at all during those 8 hours and barely squeezed in a shower. I had class from 4p-8p and felt like I was about to die by the time I got home. I was so tired and hungry and in a horrible mood.

Tuesdays I have to be at school at 8a to teach a business calculus lab. I was tired and passion-ridden as a result of the previous day. I always feel bad when I don’t give my all to my students. At least most of them finished early. After this, I had to start studying for my exam in Automata for Wednesday, then head off to our Mathletes basketball game at 7p. The game was actually fun. I was extra aggressive because of my mood, but I also missed like 80 shots. So that was a bummer. After the game, the team always goes out for drinks and food. We chose a bar that was doing trivia and we won a pitcher of beer! I drank a little too much that night.

I woke up on Wednesday with a headache and began more last minute studying for my test. When test time came, I spent 45 minutes getting nowhere on one of the 4 questions. So I was feeling pretty low when I turned it in. But then I went to where all my friends were… wait… what’s that?… there was a BACK SIDE to this exam?! WTF? But there was like 6 inches of space at the bottom of the page… WHY DIDN’T HE FILL UP THE FIRST PAGE BEFORE USING THE BACK PAGE?! So there was actually 7 questions to the exam… I answered 3. I was able to hold in the tears until I got home. It turns out that at least 2 other people didn’t see the back page either. That makes 3 out of 8 students… hopefully he realizes it’s not entirely our fault?…

Now it’s Thursday. Another day I have to be at school at 8a. But on Thursdays I don’t go home til 6p. Long day for me. Teaching lab went ok,; so that’s good. It’s just so nice outside that I want to be out there! I’m in my office hours right now. I normally grade labs during this time, but I forgot the answer key. So that’s a bummer. Now I’ll have to grade over the weekend. Not fun.

I haven’t had a chance to work-out this week either… so I feel fat.

My Ring

So I recently got my wedding/engagement rings repaired and buffed. They’re super pretty and my diamond looks extra big now! Yay! Anyway, having been thinking about my ring lately, I remembered an event that happened a little over a year ago and thought it would make a wonderful blog post.

My husband and I lived in Rohnert Park, CA at the time and we were getting ready to drive to Salinas, CA for my uncles wedding re-dedication ceremony thing. It’s about a 3 hour drive and we were planning to stay the weekend with my parents. Well, my two dogs get really excited when we go on trips. They know they’re going when they see me pack their bag. They start running around the apartment playing, growling, howling, and crying. It’s quite a show.

Well, the dogs are always the last to go into the car and at this point Ally, my mini schnauzer, was jumping up all over the place in excitement. She’s like a little kid bouncing up and down yelling “don’t forget about me!”

Back up for a second. I should give you a little info about my ring. It’s a solitaire with a very high setting. There is just about as much space under the diamond as the diamond is tall. It makes for light creating beautiful brilliance, as well as giving plenty of space for things (like teeth) to get under.

Ally - Miniature Schnauzer

As you’ve probably just figured out, during Ally’s episode she jumped up on me and just happened to get her little tooth hooked under my diamond! I immediately looked at my ring then went strait for Ally’s mouth. I pried it open and searched in there for a few minutes with no luck. My husband and I searched the carpet within an 8 foot radius of the incident… still no luck.

We concluded she swallowed it! Wow, first my ring gets destroyed and now I have to search dog poop to get my diamond back! We did figure out a nice clean searching method though.

How to retrieve diamond from dog poop:

1. Purchase appropriately sized zip-lock bags.
2. “Wear” zip-lock bag inside out.
3. Pick up poop.
4. Zip-lock the poop in.
5. Smash up poop while it’s in the bag.
6. If diamond is found, bring it to the top, near seal.
7. Push the rest of the poop to the bottom of bag.
8. Rub diamond with bag until as much poop as possible is removed.
9. Fill a glass with hot water.
10. Open baggy right above diamond.
11. Drop diamond into water filled glass.
12. Let diamond soak.
13. Throw away poop filled bag.

It took Ally 3 DAYS to finally poop out my diamond! I have never been so excited about dog poop in my life!

In conclusion, 3 days of agony, stress, poop and $200 later. I had a beautiful diamond ring back on my finger and the ability to brag that MY DOG POOPS DIAMONDS!

Does yours?