Minutes Away from the Finale!

In about 1 hour, I will be standing in front of all of my colleagues here at Small Town University in Pennsylvania to defend my PhD dissertation. Needless to say, the butterflies are starting to flutter in the old stomach as I type this blog entry. Don't get me wrong, I have done this before for much more important things (like my job interview at the University of Small City NY). Nonetheless, I just want to go up there and kick some major ass! I want to try to show people that I have worked hard the past 5 years in my advisor's lab and just go out with a little bit of respect. It has certainly been a long, tiring ride. But I can now say that it has all been worth it and I am now ready to move on to the next exciting chapter in my life. Here's hoping I do well defending my research!

Just Days Away

Just 5 more days until I defend my dissertation and begin a new chapter of my life. I have been doing pretty good handling the stress and anxiety that comes with wrapping up your Ph.D. But the past couple of nights I have found it difficult to sleep. In fact, I at random times during the night will wake up and start going through my defense talk in my head for no good reason. Weird. I believe that this all started once the department sent out a reminder to everyone to attend my defense and now I actually see the flyer advertising when and where I defend. Maybe I would feel better if I did the same thing this grad student did in the comic below.......

Today I Wish I Was.....

back in Monterey, California. Last summer Sneks and I met in Monterey after she completed 3 long weeks of research in Jamaica. You can tell, look how tan she was when we first met up!! I hope she is doing well right now down in Costa Rica (damn cell phones and their inability to work in Costa Rica). I love you honey! Check out Monterey below. One week until I defend my thesis. Yey!

The lone tree off the coast of Pebble Beach in California.

Sneks and I at a conference in California. Look how tan my cutie is!!!

The rocky shores off the coast of California.

Relaxing Before the Defense Talk

I only have one solid week before I finally defend my thesis in front of my research committee, my friends and colleagues at Small Town University, PA. Naturally, this generates a good deal of stress even though much of the work is already done. I find that in preparing for this talk, I need to take frequent breaks to relax and collect my thoughts. For me, since my Sneks is currently in Costa Rica doing field research for the next 5 weeks and 5 days, I try to relax by playing my Xbox 360. One of the coolest and more entertaining games I have played both online and offline is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It is a fun game that makes me respect the men and women that serve our country even more than I did before. I can't even imagine the horrors they face on a day to day basis. Here are some screenshots from the game. I will soon be on Xbox live so if anyone has this game and wants to play, let me know!!!!

My Place

Here are the bigger, better images of my new place in NY. I can't wait to move in and enjoy NY. So far, NY has treated me quite well. Enjoy!

My dining room with the very small "mini-bar" in the backdrop.

The bedroom and the weight set.
The living room with my sister and brother-in-law's couch and my office directly behind in the corner.
The living room with the soon to be used TV stand.
The kitchen where many new recipes will be attempted.

Happy New Year!

To everyone that reads this blog and who I did not already talk to in 2008, I would like to say HAPPY NEW YEAR! It is hard for me to believe that it is already January 2nd since the last time that I looked at my calendar, and for that matter my blog, it was early December. Crazy good times!


In that time, I have finished up grading for classes here at Small Town University in PA, successfully presented my research at my final committee meeting, wrapped up all experiments that are part of my thesis, submitted a manuscript that pertains to my last specific aim, submitted a copy of my thesis to all faculty members on my PhD committee and have paritally moved into my first apartment in Small City NY where I hope to start working sooner rather than later at the University of Small City, NY (I need money.....BAD!!!).

Although I am sad that I will never be able to drive in to Small Town University in PA with Sneks again, and that she will be off in Costa Rica for the next 6 weeks, I am happy to be moving on in my life and that I will always have Sneks apart of my life no matter where I go in the world. Here is a hoping that Sneks can finish here PhD in the next two years! Or sooner!!!

Check out my new pad. I hope to have everyone up at somepoint to visit. There is room for 6 people!! More pictures to come once Blogger decides to upload my awesome pictures.

My dining room next to the window.

My new bed and weight equipment in the bedroom.

A Place to Call My Own!!!

I realize that my blogging has significantly decreased since I began way back when in August (I'll let Dr. D run the stats on these figures), but I'm pretty sure the amount of school work I have been doing since then has significantly increased as well (I'm guessing a significant interaction in these stats).

Nevertheless, my life in that amount of time has been exciting while being a complete blur. One of the exciting events is having my own place and having to move in (partially) less than three weeks from now. Exciting but nerve wrecking as well. However, the place I have is really sweet and to demonstrate, check out these images of my new empty apartment in Small City, New York! When I get there, rest assured I will not forget the small town people B-man and I'll hook up the Xbox live to play Halo 3 with you Matty!!!

My dining room and a portion of my fridge/freezer.

My kitchen. Check out those black counter tops and new wood cabinets!!

No castle is complete without a throne!!

My relatively spacious living room.

My community gym. I believe my in-ground pool lies outside the windows.

The building I will be working in. I really cannot wait!

The river that is right outside of my building. It was beautiful late in the fall.....

...but I guess I'll have to get a little use to this!