Christmas cards

My mom asked me to make our family's Christmas card. Here it is. :)

My mom wanted something from me in the lab....so there's that cute picture. Woohoo.

I'm SO glad to be home. I needed a break from Provo. :)

Oh, way to go Cougar football!!!!

Off to dinner with the fam. :)

reading days.

It's a reading day. So naturally I am getting distracted from studying! Maegan showed me this AWESOME video of a little girl telling the story of Jonah. So, I thought I'd share it with you wonderful blog readers. Check it out HERE.

Down, down, DOWN into the sea! :) (that was my favorite part)

And now, back to learning inverted triads.

studying.

a week and a half til finals. bleh.

still two tests BEFORE finals.

Look at this gadget:

I think I need one of these. They're $118.00!!

Check it out here.

thanksgiving

After SEVEN hours in the car to get to Provo this evening, I am very grateful. (For those who don't know, the drive usually takes 3.5 hours) I am grateful because of these reasons:

1. Even though I had to swerve to avoid the truck and trailer, I managed to stay on the road.
2. Even though he didn't stay on the road, everyone was okay. The trailer just flipped.
3. I can now say I can drive in the snow.
4. I had good company in the car.
5. We met some nice people in Fillmore where we stopped for a bathroom break, with about 60 other cars.
6. I got to spend the weekend with my immediate family as well as extended family.
7. Ping pong tournament, frisbee, around-the-world ping pong, powergrid, harry potter, playing with kids, and food, food, food.
8. My roommates just made it back so we're all alive.

I'm glad to be safe and sound and am now going to bed.

Oh! Congrats to Kelsi and Emil and congrats to Tara and Trav!! :D

sore muscles.

You know when you have really sore muscles, but you aren't too upset about it because they are sore from doing something you love? That's how I am right now. I played almost 6 hours of ultimate frisbee yesterday. It was the league tournament. It was awesome. I love ultimate. It's such a great sport. I love it when you fake then sprint, leaving your defender in the dust, being set up perfectly for the frisbee. I love faking up, then sprinting toward the end zone, hearing someone yell, "UP!" and catching it in the end zone. Those don't happen often for me, but when they do, it is the greatest thing ever. I just love ultimate.

After the day of tournament in 40º partially snowing weather, I was FREEZING and sore. So, my roommates and I watched Toy Story 3! I love that movie. I think it's because I grew up with the Toy Story movies. The first one came out when I was about Andy's age in the movie, and the last one, where Andy goes to college was only two years after I went to college. So great. And now, I'm procrastinating my paper for English.

Weekends are my favorite.

my life, in picture form.

My life as of late:

Rachelle and I attempted to go to True Blue Football back in October. It was very rainy and cold, and we decided not to wait in the incredibly long line while the officials decided if it was okay for us to go in since there was lightning.

We went to the Cornbelly's corn maze! (minus Ashlie, who's taking the picture) It was super fun. There are better pictures but I haven't gotten them from Allie yet.

Girls night = lots of crazy pictures.

Halloween costume #1: hippie, barbie, and pippy longstocking.

This was for our ward dance party, it was SO fun!

Halloween costume #2: The road and road kill cat.

And finally, the popcorn adventure of Monday night. The finished product.

Hanna and I attempting to take a picture with the finished product. Self-portrait, obviously.

Shaking the popcorn covering it with peanut buttery-honey goodness.

Pouring the deliciousness. (Yes, I realize these are in backwards order, I don't know why that happens.)

Anyway, that is my life as of the last couple months. I finally uploaded pictures. This weekend will be pretty awesome. Basketball game, ultimate frisbee tournament, and playing tennis. Oh, and of course, procrastinating homework. :)

I am tired.

I am tired.

Tired of giving 150% and having it shoved back in my face saying, "Sorry Maren, you're still not good enough."

Tired of spending a very large chunk of time studying for a test.

Tired of spending Friday night in the testing center taking said test.

Tired of thinking I know 85% of the answers on this test as I am taking it.

Tired of looking at the blasted testing center screen and seeing that, evidently, that was not the case.

Tired of feeling completely worthless because, for some reason, I can't get above a C on a test in this freaking class.

I'm just tired.

Sometimes, when people tell you that you can't do something, it motivates you to try harder. Like, for instance, when Dr. Wilcox informed me that I would never succeed in the field of Genetics. It just made me want to prove him wrong. (which I do everyday when I walk past him in the hall at work) But, when you work your BUTTOCKS off, understand EVERYTHING, take a test and think you did decently, and then you see the score and it's CRAP. What is wrong with me. I hate this man's tests. He is out to trick you. Bah.

I apologize for the extreme frustration and negativity.

well hello november!

What happened to October? It is gone. November has arrived (almost). One step closer to THANKSGIVING! I am so very excited for Thanksgiving break. I need a break from this school and town. Happy Halloween!

I have a new car!!! 2003 Subaru Forester. It is wonderful. I am so glad the bank finally came through and I get my car.

I have discovered that I love to dance. It may be surprising to those who knew me in high school as a complete wall flower when it came to dancing. But, earlier this summer I jumped over a wall at some point and I have lost that shy-ness. Now I'm just all out crazy, all the time. Haha, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

I don't enjoy dressing up for Halloween. But, somehow this year I dressed up twice. Once as Pippy Longstocking. The other time as the road. It was pretty cool. Some friends and I dressed in all black and put yellow duct tape stripes down the side of us and put various road signs and toy cars on our clothes. Lizzy was roadkill, and we also had a few pedestrians. It was great fun.

Life is pretty wonderful.

My family is watching home videos right now, which makes me supremely jealous.

the perfect weekend.

• carving pumpkins
• frozen yogurt
• dance party (2)
• ultimate frisbee
• ultimate frisbee in the rain
• winning ultimate frisbee
• football game in the rain
• BYU football WINNING
• "psych"
• rain
• playing the violin
• church
• pie
• "The Karate Kid"
• splashing in puddles
• realizing Sunday night at 10:30 pm all the homework you still have to do
• not caring. :)

when it rains, it pours.

Do you ever feel like this?

Today, I do. This day has not been very nice to me. Because:

• I didn't get enough sleep because I stayed up studying physiology.
• I don't really understand the new ochem stuff.
• I spent two more hours studying physiology.
• I went to physiology class, and didn't understand it one bit.
• At work, my PCR was crap. And it took FOREVER to run the gel because there was a newbie.
• The bank is retarded. Seriously.
• I basically failed the physiology test I stayed up studying for in the first place.

Silver lining: I have cool friends. And I'm about to go play my violin, which is always a good thing.

pretty, pretty princess

Tonight, I won a game of "Pretty, pretty princess." I played with my cousin Joleen, my other cousin Angela, and her daughters Katia and Hadley. It was very fun. This was after a delicious meal made by Josh. (Angela's husband).

And now for another BUSY week. Full of school, two tests, activities, work, and more school. I hope I survive. I'm sure I will. More people engaged this week, several more married. It would please us if the people living above us were a little more quiet at night. And, today I had a sugar overload.

But, life is beautiful. :)

This is me, in my princess-winning attire. Sorry you can't see the awesome crown very well.

Everyone, keep smilin' :)

things on my mind.

because we're talking about the brain and nervous system in physiology. crazy how that thing works.

because I have to sometimes remind myself to smile.

because my ORCA grant proposal due in 17 days.

because it is autumn!

because I bought this car. Not officially yet, but almost officially. I am so excited.

famous.

My arm is famous. My whole self was famous on channel 2 news a few weeks ago. Now my arm is famous on channel 4 news! Dr. Kauwe is a professor that shares our lab. He recently has discovered a mutation in a gene that causes alzheimer's. So, all the Utah news stations have been coming to cover the story. And they want legit-looking footage, so they film us working. It's a party. Haha. Click here if you want to see the video from channel 4.

My life is pretty normal. Go to class, go to work, study, eat, study, sleep, run, play tennis, or frisbee occasionally, and study some more. Whoo. Happy Homecoming! Maybe the football game will not be a massacre tomorrow. I hope so.

Now, what to make for dinner?

Happy Birthday Hanna!!!

Twenty-one years ago, the Cranney family changed forever. Hanna was born! Yay! This is our third year living together. I'm not sure why she keeps putting up with me. ;)

Things you may not know about this awesome girl:

• her favorite colors are blue and purple.
• she LOVES Boise State football.
• she is an AMAZING artist.
• she loves music.
• she has a large music collection. (which I frequently steal from)
• she likes converse shoes.
• her hair is always gorgeous and perfectly straight.
• she loves Zumba
• she likes milk way more than any normal person
• she loves psych and monk.
• she hates Mondays and Thursdays
• she hates chemistry.
• she could be a model.
• she can dance.
• her middle name is the same as mine
• she is fun to watch movies with.
• she is a nutritional science major but luckily still loves to eat sugary food with me
• she occasionally laughs in her sleep.
• when she gets hyper, it's really funny.
• she is an all around amazing person. :)

Boise State-colored cupcakes that I made!

Happy Birthday Hanna! :)

THIS woman inspires me.

to do list.

• study for physiology test (what I should be doing NOW)
• write ORCA grant proposal
• study for Stats test
• memorize D&C section headings
• make Ochem flashcards
• do Ochem problem set
• do Ochem chapter problems
• read Ochem
• begin to pray about Ochem test
• research protein synthesis mechanisms
• think about grad school and internships
• read physiology
• read papers about anomuran crabs
• take antibiotic
• eat
• sleep

that's all I can remember for now. BUT, I actually enjoy every single thing on this list. Well, I don't really enjoy taking antibiotics since they make me a little loopy, but I do enjoy that they are slowly making me not sick. Life is amazing. Seriously, have you ever realized what your body does?!

Little known fact of the day: your body only stores 30-60 seconds of ATP (the thing that gives your cells energy to work). That means, at any second, you are a minute away from dying if your mitochondrial processes stop working. Makes you rethink the "live every moment" philosophy. CRAZY!

I love life. :]

fridays!

Fridays are great. They are the start of the weekend which makes me incredibly happy.

Last Friday, Hanna, Kendra, and I went to a Nik Day and Benton Paul free concert outside on the roof of a parking garage. It was so much fun!

Benton Paul

Nik Day

Kendra, me, and Hanna

Today's exciting Friday plans? movies, chicken noodle soup, and lots of coughing. Being sick is no bueno.

a sunday full of important people.

Today was regional conference at the Marriot Center. The loaded program included President Snow (of the Seventy), President Packer, Elder Holland, and Sister Beck. It was so great. We learned about remembering, being better, having faith, and that these men we look up to have a great sense of humor. It was so awesome.

Then, the US Open final got postponed til tomorrow because of rain. :(

Then, we had a CES fireside that Hanna and I watched on tv at home. It was an interesting one. Elder Scott talked about marriage and his wife who passed away fifteen years ago. He told us that he felt sorry for those who hadn't had the opportunity to get married yet. Haha, I guess that means an apostle feels sorry for me... Here at BYU we've been having marriage thrown in our faces a lot more than normal. The devotional by President Samuelson mentioned marriage, my bishop is continuously plugging marriage and how we need to step it up, and now, Elder Scott. Woohoo for marriage!

And the rest of my Sunday was spent with Hanna, another important person. We sat and ate an entire bag of peanut butter m&ms and did homework. And randomly discussed life and our mutual fear of having children.

Sundays are grand.


I stole this picture off a friend's blog and it pretty much sums up how I feel about life right now. :)

it must be love.

tennis is passion. I absolutely love this sport. And I absolutely love the US Open. Such a rush.

Check this out.

I love it.

baby Kennedee!

One of my very best friends had a baby girl a couple weeks ago!! I got to see her when I was home, she was 5 days old and so stinkin' cute! I'm so happy for Amber and Kaden and their beautiful daughter. It's so crazy that this girl I used to play barbies with as a 6-year old now has her own little girl.

Aunt Aubrey, me, Mommy Amber and baby Kennedee!

adventure

Friday, August 20, 2010. I will forever remember that day. Why? Because it was the most terrifying hiking experience of my entire life. Yes, it even tops the getting stuck 75-feet in the air waiting for my dad to cut my pony tail off. Let me explain:

My family went to do a hike called “Boundary” on Kolob Mountain on Friday. We were the first of our group of hiker friends to hike this hike. So, we didn’t know exactly what was ahead of us but once the canyon fed into Kolob Creek my dad and I had done that part on another hike called “Eye of the Needle.” We got started a little late and all of us were in the canyon after the first 130ish foot rappel around 10:00, officially starting at 9:30. About eight rappels (most down waterfalls and very slippery walls) later we were out of the slot. The rappels took a little longer than expected because we could never see the bottom of the rappels so we just used our super long, two ropes tied together, 400-foot rope. Pulling this rope took FOREVER. And we did it about 6 times in the freezing cold water. My hands were turning purple and my mom couldn’t stop shivering, even in our wet suits. Anyway, we got out of the slot and began down the canyon. There must have been a VERY recent flash flood, probably less than 48 hours earlier, because there was debri everywhere. Trees, branches, bushes, shrubs, mud, mud, and more mud were all over the place. It made climbing down the canyon a little bit tricky and took us extra time. We finally got to Kolob Creek and began down THAT canyon. After about 2 hours of tripping and slipping on the unseeable rocks in the river we made it to where the “MIA” exit is. We started up. We knew it was going to be incredibly brutal and would take a good two hours. By this time it was a little before 5:00. Climbing up very steep hills with flash flood debri everywhere made it very hard to get up. We thought you could grab roots but then it ended up being completely debri and very loose. We went up a hill that was practically straight up and ended up going to nowhere. I was sitting in the dirt, holding on to a tree while my dad went to look for the trail. It was then that the thought of sleeping in the canyon first crossed my mind. My mom was right below me on a square foot of flat land and my brothers were above me on another tiny square of flatish ground. After about 40 minutes of looking for a trail that appeared to have been washed away, we prayed. The first of many, many, many prayers to be said that night. We decided to go back down the treacherous hill and see if there was another way out. We then realized we had taken the wrong way. So, as we began to go the RIGHT way we realized we may not have much daylight left, it was about 7:00. As I sat, hyperventilating, waiting for the boys to catch up from pulling a rope I knew we were going the right way. So I calmed myself down and we ventured on. Then, we found ourselves at the edge of a very steep, sandy, debri-covered almost cliff. Somehow, we were in the wrong place again. It was too dark to go turn around and find the real way. So, our only choice was for me and mom to sit and wait while the boys took turns scrambling up to attach a rope. By this time it was dark and we were relying on the light of the moon which was almost full, thank heavens. My mom only had sunglasses so she was literally blind. We climbed up wherever the rope led us because we were too afraid to let go. This led us through many bushes, resulting in severely scraped legs. Climb while holding the rope, stop for a prayer, climb, pray, climb, pray. We followed this routine for awhile until we reached flatter ground. I was so relieved!! Even if we had to spend the night in the canyon, it wouldn’t be on a cliff! If we would have had to sleep on those cliffs we would have had to tie all of us to a tree or something. We stopped to give a prayer of gratitude and then continued in what we hoped was the direction of the road. A short 15 minutes later I heard my dad and brothers say, “The road!!” I took off running and when I saw that beautiful dirt road I collapsed on my stomach and just laid there. I was SO HAPPY to see that road. After an hour-ish walk to find the car we headed back to our trailer to clean up and head home.

Later we learned that Shan had been driving around in the MIA camp looking for us after Robert had called him. Robert was at Jamaica’s house with Jeff Wilcox and him, Daniel, and Jeff were about to come looking for us. They had decided to give us 30 more minutes before calling in the authorities. We are so lucky to have such concerned friends! Thank you for all the prayers. We ended up getting back home at 1 am. 13 hours in the canyon.

Lessons learned from this experience:

• I can handle myself relatively well in extremely stressful situations.
• Heavenly Father answers our prayers and guides us.
• I love my family more than anything.

Sorry it's so long but there you go, that's what happened on August 20, 2010 for the Ettinger family.

fun.

This was the zipline into the pool we played with on Saturday. The beginning got cut off when I actually started but, oh well. It was fun!

a FANTASTIC week.

Well, dear readers, this week has been pretty fantastic. I love my life, friends, ward, work, and I am even beginning to love this town. Let me just give you a recap of this wonderful week. Hopefully you won't get too bored but I want to write it all down and since I am a terrible journal keeper I will write it here.

Sunday, August 1: We had the most incredible break the fast dinner imaginable. Navajo tacos, homemade root beer, watermelon, and extra scones with honeybutter. DELICIOUS. After break the fast some friends and I sat around talking for a good chunk of time and decided to throw a frisbee around and play some games. We played this game called telephone charades. It was hilarious. You have two teams and one team picks what the other team will act out. You then act out the thing for each individual person, passing it down, like telephone. We had some pretty awkward moments but it was great.

Monday: Work was eventful. A computer caught a little on fire and began smoking and smelled awful. That night was FHE. Evan and I had planned volleyball for our activity so we played a rousing game of sand volleyball and ate popsicles. After FHE, Rachelle, Heather, Heather, and I went running by the temple. It was great. After we ran we went to water Heather's brother's plants at his house and pick some apricots. We sat in front of his house and just looked at the beautiful temple. It was awesome- a perfect temperature and that high you get after running.

Tuesday: At work I extracted tissue from a bunch of shrimp that Heather got in the mail. It was pretty exciting. I sort of destroyed one of the guys though. :( oops. After work I went to the grocery store (I was getting incredibly low on food). And then...Super Mario on the Wii with Sarah and Rachelle. It was hilarious. We screamed, probably made ridiculous faces, and failed miserably at this game. But, it was super fun. Then, we went running again.

Wednesday: Again, Wednesdays usually are pretty rough. So when I got home from work I just sat around doing nothing. But then Sarah got home and told me to come make baseball cupcakes with her and Kaden for Rachelle's birthday! They were super cute. Very squiggly baseball lines but that's okay.

Thursday: Today we got live crayfish in the mail at work. Tannen got a little too curious and decided to let it pinch his glove. Of course, it began climbing to his finger and he screamed when it pinched him. It was pretty entertaining. Thursday night we had a party for Rachelle. It was filled with games, sugar, mario, and more sugar. It was great.

Friday: I played tennis with Tannen when we ditched work today. It was awesome tennis. I won but it was great. Then we went back to work and talked about molecular phylogenies. I also had a violin lesson which reminded me of just how much I LOVE the violin and playing it. A bunch of people ate at Pizza Pie Cafe and then we went to Ironman 2 in the dollar theater. It was a great movie.

Saturday: service project, Tucanos, and a pool party with a zipline into the pool.

All in all this week was incredible. I'm terribly sorry for the incredible length of this post and probably no one will read it but that's okay! Life is good and I am incredibly lucky. :)

GFR

This past week was the every other year traditional GFR (Glassett family reunion). What is the word for every other year? Biannual? Anyway, this year was a complete success. I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with all my cousins, aunts, uncles, cousins' spouses, and their children. It was awesome. My mom did a fantastic job of putting it all together and keeping everyone happy. That's why she's pretty much the most amazing person on this planet. :) GFR was filled with catching up, eating, hiking, enjoying the cool temperatures, eating, pictures, campfire with smores, and of course, more eating. It was great. I tried to upload pictures but my computer is being quite difficult. :( So, no pictures for now.

Today, my ward went on a temple trip to the Manti, Utah temple. It was really, really cool. The temple is gorgeous and it was a really good experience. As we were standing outside waiting for the rest of our group to make it guess who walked by!? Dallin H. Oaks. Yeah, the apostle. SO cool. And later we walked right past him as we went to the baptistry entrance. I could have reached out and touched him! In the baptistry there was a Spanish branch that had brought their youth to do baptisms so some of the priesthood only spoke Spanish. A few of our group got confirmed in Spanish. It was pretty cool. We were about to leave when the temple president came down to the baptistry. My mom and told me that he lived next door to her when she was a kid so I asked him if he remembered the Glassetts and that I was Carol Sue's daughter. He was so sweet! He got really excited and gave me a giant bear hug and told me how great my grandpa was and to give my mom a hug from him. So fun. Overall, a very fabulous Saturday. Life is good. :)

dry ice day.

As many of you [few] avid readers know, I work in a research lab. It is great, I love it SO much. Best thing that has ever happened to me at college. I am so lucky to work there. I recently learned I will be published on a few papers this year! SO stoked! My favorite days in the lab are when we get shipments that have to be kept frozen so, that means DRY ICE!!!! It's amazing. We make rockets, bombs, and today we ventured outside to try and make a very large bomb. It failed miserably but, it was still fun. Dry ice is incredibly entertaining and helps me remember just why I ADORE my job. That's all. :]

being American.

Hamburgers, hot dogs, soccer games, frisbee throwing, fireworks, and camping out on the side of the road for a parade. THIS is what the fourth of July is all about. The street outside my apartment is LINED with tents, tarps, air mattresses, blankets, and tons of families. It's pretty funny. The parade starts at 9 am tomorrow and people were allowed to start staking out their territory at 3 pm today. And they were there RIGHT at 3 as I was walking to eat lasagna with my ward. Crazy, crazy, crazy. We plan on watching from our balcony or driveway. Last night some friends and I had a barbeque and watched the fireworks from Stadium of Fire and heard faint snippets of Carrie Underwood and of course, threw frisbees and played a little ultimate. :) It was super fun. It took forever to get back to our apartment because of all the traffic but it was totally worth it. I feel pretty darn lucky to live in this incredible country and am extremely grateful for all the people who have sacrificed for our freedom. Go USA!

Also! Here are a few pictures from Portland :) (Again, I have put them in backwards order, oops)

Kendra and I at Multnomah Falls outside of Portland

They were SO pretty!! We hiked to the top :)

Me and the Portland skyline, right after we visited the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

Ben and me eating Voodoo doughnuts. They were delicious!

Me and a random statue in Pioneer square.

Contrary to what these pictures seem to show, we actually did listen to the talks I just didn't take any pictures of them. It was a really fun trip!

Happy Independence Day!!

Evolution 2010.

I am ridiculously lucky. The past 5 days I have been in Portland, Oregon at the Evolution 2010 Conference. It is a conference with about 1800 evolutionary biologists who get together to talk about their research. It has been SO interesting. Most of the talks have been quite far over my head but a few I have understood and learned from. I presented my research (a phylogeny of the relationships of Anomuran crabs) at one of the poster sessions here. It was a really good learning experience and a good look into what it's like to have a PhD and research for a living. It is so so cool. I also got to explore Portland. It was so fun. Some guys from work and I hung out together and we saw a lot of the "weirdest city in America." Ben and I explored downtown a lot and saw tons of weird people. We saw Voodoo donuts complete with the delicious to the inappropriate donuts. The art museum, museum of science and industry, Powell's books (the largest independently owned bookstore), the Portland Saturday market, and lots and lots of beggars. Oh, and TONS of absolutely delicious food. It's been really, really awesome. I am SO glad I had the opportunity to come. Dr. Crandall is so awesome to have let me and the other undergrads come here and even present. I am feeling very lucky. And I am so very blessed.

summer.

It has arrived. finally. But, I've decided that summer is not the same without the red rocks, boiling temperatures, frequent frisbee and frasketball games, and late night games of St. George. This summer will be strangely different than last. But it will still be good. :) I'm beginning to find new friends in my ward and Spring term classes are almost over. (Hallelujah). I dropped my all summer term classes except for violin lessons and will just be working a lot and enjoying summer. Sam's wedding is in two weeks and Evolution 2010 in Oregon is in three. CRAZY. Time definitely needs to slow down again. Yesterday I signed up to be a part of a world-record breaking water balloon fight in July. Maybe being in this college town for 11 more months straight won't be so bad. This week has been slow. I can't believe it is only Wednesday. Monday was busy with work, violin lesson, classes, fhe, tennis, homework, and looking at Sam's awesome bridals. Tuesday was work from 8-5, a review from 5-7, and homework from 7-10, finishing the night with an episode of Psych. Tuesday also contained a large tower of pipet boxes at work made by Ben. It was taller than me! We also got to read some letters from the cute sixth graders who came on a field trip a few months ago. And today is Wednesday. Somehow Wednesdays are always the worst. Freshman year Sam and I bought a large bag of peanut butter M&Ms every Wednesday and devoured them. I could use some today. I went to work at 8, class at 12-2, went to practice violin but there were no practice rooms so instead I am blogging while waiting for my 3-5:30 class. I probably should go to the grocery store sometime today too. Well, now that I've shared my whole week and you people probably couldn't care less. Here is a quote for the week:

It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. … If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers. Gordon B. Hinckley

The next time I get around to posting will probably be about Sam and Jason's wedding. So crazy. But SO exciting! :)

mowing the lawn.

St. George. The most beautiful place on this planet. I came home for my brothers' high school graduation. (crazy, I know) Today is GORGEOUS. It is sunny, about 80º, and not too windy. I asked my mom weeks ago if I could mow the lawn when I was home. I LOVE to mow the lawn. There's something about smelling the freshly cut grass mixed with a slight smell of gasoline while pushing the mower in the beating sun that I absolutely love. Maybe it's because it reminds me of summer. Or those days my mom would be mowing the lawn while us kids pulled our bag of weeds for the day (although I hated those days). Or maybe it's just having a lawn to mow and being in a real house instead of an apartment. Regardless, it is awesome. Speaking of awesome things...check out this website: www.1000awesomethings.com. It's pretty cool. Tonight, my family and I are going to ride down Zion Canyon by moonlight on bikes. I'm stoked. We're going to ride up and wait until the shuttles are all done for the night and ride back down under the full moon. I'll post pictures. :) Life is beautiful, especially here in St. George.

relatives.

Today I had the wonderful privilege to go to my cousin's house and play with her kids and eat dinner. We were at Angela and Josh's house with their four kids (Anders, Fischer, Katia, and Hadley), Joleen (my other cousin, Angela's sister), and Uncle Joel and Aunt Becky (Angela and Joleen's parents). We had an eventful afternoon filled with bikes, scooters, roller blades, pretend roller coasters and horses, a few minor injuries, and lots of little kid voices. It was a blast. We then enjoyed a divine meal made by Josh and Angela and this INCREDIBLE desert that I don't know what it is called but it was delicious. After dinner we played charades with scripture stories where we acted like a variety of prophets, animals, warriors, water, and other earth elements. All in all, a wonderful Sunday. This Friday is Kate's dance recital so I will be going to watch her and other small girls dance to songs along with the theme of "Princesses."

I realized it's been awhile since I have blogged. My life consists of the following things: class, work, homework, ultimate frisbee league, tennis, sleeping, eating, and other random activities. I think that spring has finally arrived for good in this town and I couldn't be happier. Life is good. Full of new experiences and wonderful moments.

MY DAD IS AN IRONMAN!!!!

WOW. SUCH an incredible day on Saturday. My dad completed his goal of becoming an Ironman!!!!!!!! I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO proud of him! Eight years after his initial attempt at an Ironman (it was cut short because of weather and water problems) he DID IT!!! He swam 2.4 miles, biked 112, and ran 26.2 in under 15 hours! It was such an incredible experience to be able to watch him achieve his goal. We started the day by waking up at 3:40 AM and leaving for the lake at 4:15. Once we were at the lake we learned what we would be doing as volunteers and then hung out until the 6:45 pro start time. We talked to the girl who ended up getting FIRST PLACE! She was so calm it was crazy! We realized she was a pro but I never thought she would be the first place just chillin, putting on her sunscreen in the bathroom. We watched the swim start which was way cool. Lots of little orange and yellow bobbing heads in the water. Then my mom, aunt, cousin, and I moved to our station to help with the transition. We pointed the athletes in the direction of their bikes and helped them with gloves and stuff because they were too cold to do it themselves in some cases. We yelled SO loud for my dad and Russ and Heidi. (After some anxiety cutting it close to the deadline). We watched as two athletes were literally cut off feet before the bike out because it was 9:35 and they were DQ-ed. It was so devastating. After we finished with the bikes and they opened the road up again we went home for a quick shower and lunch. Then we ventured to the bike course to find dad again! We saw him several times and screamed for him and the other athletes. We waited to see Russ and Heidi but learned they didn't make the first time cut off for the bike. We followed dad to Diagonal street where we saw him on his bike and then about twenty minutes later he came running by, starting the marathon. We followed him and saw him a few times more before mom, Teala, Robin, and I had to be at the finish line to volunteer. It was really cool to be a "finish line catcher." We were in charge of catching the athletes and helping them walk to get their medal, water, t-shirt, hat, remove their chip, get a finisher picture, and finally get them to the massage and food. It was cool to hear about the race from so many people. EVERYONE said it was the hardest Ironman they have ever done. Even harder than Kona which is rumored to be the hardest. Even the athletes who had done 16 Ironmans said this took the cake. They also commented on how well organized and supported St. George Ironman was. GO ST GEORGE! We had the most volunteers of all Ironman races! Over 4300. Crazy! This is definitely something I would do again. We waited for a text from my brothers who were down the road to say that dad was almost here. I was SO anxious. Then I saw him. Running down the chute. And I SCREAMED. I was SO happy, relieved, excited, proud, and any other emotion you can think of to see him cross that finish line and hear the announcer say, "Locke Ettinger, YOU are an Ironman!" It was incredible. My dad is seriously AMAZING and is definitely my hero. I am so glad he got to complete his goal! Two days later and still absolutely no voice left but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. GO DAD!!!

SWIM-2.4 miles

BIKE- 112 miles

RUN-26.2 miles

IRONMAN!!

ultimate frisbee

I just love ultimate. I joined an ultimate league and today was our first game! Regardless of the bitter cold and SNOW it was absolutely INCREDIBLE. Several awesome dives, crazy catches, and intense defensive plays took place. It was a really, really close game but we ended up winning 13-11! It was awesome. I threw one of our points after I BARELY caught a throw the wind got the better of. It was epic. I am currently on a bit of an ultimate high. (like a runner's high, only better) and am just in love with the game. So, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to my amazing friends who introduced me to this amazing game. My team will ROCK. Joining this league was the best decision I've made for the summer so far. Ultimate frisbee is in a word...ultimate.

moving

I was supremely ready to get out of my old apartment but, I hate moving. It is such a pain in the butt. But, now it's over and I don't have to move again for a year. And I love my new apartment. I was wary at first but I think I am going to love it here! This is the first time I've lived with all completely new roommates. When I was feeling a little nervous my mom told me it was like the violin camp I went to in the mountains in Idaho in 2005. I didn't know a SINGLE person and I was going to be camping in cabins and playing my violin with these people. I was sick the night before because I was so nervous but, it turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of my musical life. And, this is going to turn out to be awesome too. Even though I will most definitely miss my old roommates it's not like I'll never see them :) So, here's to new experiences! Bring on the classes.

the happiest place on earth.

Disneyland makes me giddy. I just love that place. I just returned from an excursion to this wonderful place. My favorite ride is Indiana Jones, by far. I LOVE that ride! It was a super fun trip with my two brothers, Jocelyn, and Skyler. Go team. We drove on Thursday, went to downtown disney that night (highlight: Lego store!) and then went to bed to prepare for our excellent adventure in the happiest place on earth the next day. We got to the park at 8:00 AM and stayed until 11:00 PM (Jocelyn and Skyler stayed til 12 but I was WAY too tired). It was awesome. Then, today we went to the beach and found starfish, HUNDREDS of crabs, anemones (you were right Jocelyn), lots of little digging clams, and saw dolphins jumping! I love the beach. Following the beach we began our long drive home. It was an AWESOME trip!!

the beach with my two favorite boys! :)

DISNEYLAND!!!!

Goofy gave me a high four! (he only has four fingers)

look at Jocelyn's face. epic.

BUZZ!

this is me.

Random adventures are the best ever. Here are a collection of pictures from the past week when all of us probably should have been studying. But, you won't remember the tests you fail, only the people you avoided studying with. Okay...so they put them in backwards order but oh well I'm too brain dead to figure out why.

Cheesy smiles. Our specialty.

Releasing our wishes into space written on balloons

The cute picture.

And....the even MORE cute picture.

BUBBLES!!

we love to swing!

planning surprises.

Have you ever surprised someone? It is the best, EVER. I had a surprise birthday party when I turned twelve (or was it thirteen?) where my friends all showed up for breakfast before school and we then walked to school in a very large parade of girls. I was also surprise-kidnapped on my 18th birthday out of the park by three of my friends and driven to another friend's house with a beanie over my head, laying in the back seat of a car, listening to Mo-Tab. I have been surprised on numerous other occasions that didn't involve my birthday. But, being surprised is not nearly as fun as surprising someone else. It is super fun to plan a surprise and watch the person wait and wait and wait and wait and wait, practically going crazy. I am currently helping plan a surprise for my roommate Jocelyn's birthday. It is going to be AMAZING!!!!! I am a little jealous of her boyfriend's supreme plans because they are seriously THAT awesome. Props to Skyler. Surprises are beautiful. And....FINALS ARE OVER!!!! Hallelujah.

the sun

I am a sun-loving kind of girl. I love doing things outside and get stir crazy very quickly if I'm inside too long. My favorite activities in life all happen outside. Aside from school, lab work, board games, and movie watching (all of which I enjoy immensely) everything else I love is outside. Yesterday evening was wonderful. I got home and went running and ended up in the park where the ward was having a closing social-type thing. I threw around a frisbee for about forty minutes then we got enough people to play 4-on-4 ultimate. It has been ENTIRELY too long since I played ultimate. It is an incredible sport. One point my teammate went to throw it to me near the endzone and he threw it quite a ways over my head so I was sprinting for it as it got closer and closer to the needles of a pine tree. About a foot or two above the ground I snagged it amongst the pine branches. It was awesome. There is something satisfying about accomplishing something that no one expected you to do. Earning my place as a decent ultimate player we continued to play a marvelous game. The sun is amazing. Without it life itself could not happen here on this awesome little globe we call Earth. I am SO glad the sun has decided to show it's smiling face and I hope it stays for a long time. I can't handle any more snow.

ice cream cake.

Look for the silver lining. The light at the end of the tunnel. The rainbow after a rain storm. My day has been looooooong. But, in the middle of it at 3:00 in room 601 of the Widtsoe building there was my silver lining, sitting on the table begging me to eat it. It was the most amazing ice cream cake I have ever seen in my entire life. A thick layer of brownie-ish cake on the bottom then a thin layer of chocolate fudge frosting then another deliciously thick layer of mint chocolate chip ice cream. The whole thing was about six inches tall and although it was impossibly hard to cut it was absolutely delicious. The reason for this gift from heaven? Her name is Maegan. She is the lab manager of Dr. Crandall's lab. Today was the last lab meeting of the semester and we were celebrating. About two months ago Maegan told me she made an ice cream cake over the weekend. I informed her that I was incredibly impressed and jokingly said I would like one for myself. She asked when my birthday was and after I told her she informed me she would make one for the last lab meeting. I honestly didn't expect her to remember. But, Maegan the amazing came through and made a delicious cake for all of us to eat. We were celebrating a number of things in lab meeting today including: Dave's wedding at the end of the month, Dohyup's wedding at the end of the month, Jesse's baby is due at the end of the month, my birthday, the end of the semester, Jeff going to WashU and will be the only BYU grad in the bioinformatics program, and the fact that we are all pretty much amazing.

Oh, another amazing little pearl in my day was the shirt I wore. My incredible roommates gave it to me for my birthday. It says "LOVE" and the "O" is a heart colored like the earth with one of the little alien guys from Toy Story behind it. (Yes, I turned 20 but I'm still a kid at heart) It is AWESOME.

my mommy!

My most favoritest person in the whole wide world came to visit this weekend for my birthday! (and to visit Great Aunt Francis) My mommy! She is amazing. I love her to pieces. She is definitely a pearl of beauty in this world. Here are things I love about my mom:

• she has awesome red hair
• she is the nicest person I know, she's always thinking of others before herself
• she plays tennis like a mad woman
• she plays the violin incredibly well
• she puts up with my brothers and dad (I'm still sorry for leaving her all alone with them)
• she can sew (she made one of my prom dresses in high school)
• she is an amazing gardener
• she is the best cook on the whole entire planet
• her cookies are literally heaven on earth
• she loves me no matter what
• she came to visit me!

And the list could go on and on and on and on and on. But I have a test tomorrow that I haven't begun to study for so I will have to end it there. In a nutshell: my mom is fantastic.

random conversations.

I came to the library this morning to study for my disgusting cell biology midterm and work on the take home final. But, alas! here I am blogging instead. I had a most interesting conversation on my way to the library, as I was walking up the hill to campus. It went something like this:

Me: *huge yawn*

Some random guy probably in his late 50s, walking behind me: "Still tired, huh?"

Me: "Haha, yeah."

Guy: "You know someone doesn't think anyone's watching when they have a huge, mouth-wide open yawn without covering their mouth."

Me: "Yeah, true story."

Guy: "Kind of like picking your nose. We all do it but we just do it secretly. I've found the best place is in the elevator."

Me: "Yeah, that seems like a good place."

Guy: "No chance of getting caught. So, what are you studying?" (I was holding a stack of flashcards)

Me: "Cell biology."

Guy: "Ah, when you're studying those organelles don't forget to look at the forest."

Me: "Okay."

Guy: "When I was in a cell/development class in graduate school we had a teacher ask us why humans were made with membranous organelles and such organized structures. We all went into deep explanations when all he really wanted was for us to say, 'Because we are.'"

Then he walked into the Widtsoe and I continued to the library, with my day thoroughly brightened.

3 tennis sets.

Upon telling my mom about the horrendous three weeks ahead of me she informed me to look at it like three tennis sets...you're playing 3/5 and you have to win the first 3. Isn't she a genius? So, I am past the first game. 1-0. I took my last trip to the testing center for my microbiology class (before the final that is, and there's still an in-class test in addition to that) it was the 11th time for that class. 90% on my final "diseases of the day" quiz. Almost good enough for a compliment from the TV screen but definitely good enough for me. I get to visit the testing center two more times this week and my take-home cell bio final is due next Tuesday. Then classes end and the real finals start. Yay school! In all reality, I love school. I always have since about first grade. Granted, there was a large part of middle/high school that I was supremely bored in classes but I have always LOVED to learn. Every subject fascinates me (excluding English, sorry Jocelyn). I just absolutely love learning and increasing that jumble of knowledge up in my brain. I especially love hands on stuff. That's probably why I've always loved lab classes. They are by far my favorite. And working in a lab is the bomb. That's all for today. Hopefully by the end of the night I'll be up 2-0 and finish my physics paper.

knowledge.

One of the greatest pearls in the whole world is knowledge. And today I am especially grateful for the knowledge I have. Happy Easter! Easter has always been my favorite holiday because it is near my birthday but as I've gotten older it is still my favorite. In my mind Easter is somehow a little less commercialized that other holidays and it truly is about Jesus Christ. I had the amazing opportunity to go to watch general conference in Salt Lake City today. It was AMAZING to hear a room full of thousands of Christians sing praises of Jesus Christ in the hymn "Rejoice, the Lord is King." At the end the choir sang "He is Risen." It was incredible. The organ and hundreds of voices rang throughout the stunned hall. Today, I am grateful for the knowledge of Jesus Christ and His infinite atonement and that He lives and loves me. It's so comforting to know that there is always someone who understands everything I am going through. Happy Easter!!

kids.

Kids say the funniest things. Yesterday I helped with a field trip for sixth graders. They came to campus and did some stuff in the morning that I have no idea about but then they did three rotations of scientific things with people that work in Dr. Crandall's lab. They played "blood bingo" with slides of blood cells on microscopes, looked for insects outside, and extracted DNA from strawberries. I helped with the DNA extracting. Without fail every rotation someone asked if they could drink the mushed up, soap and isopropanol filled juice. Ew. Here's a few of my favorite comments:

• "I don't want these strawberries to go to waste!" -Little girl
• "We are aliens. But don't worry, we come in peace." -Two best friends (girls)
• "So the white stuff you see in strawberries is it's DNA, right?" -one of the chaperones. (For the record, the white stuff inside a strawberry is not it's DNA. The DNA is INSIDE the cells."
• Boy 1: "So, could we do this with people DNA?" Me: "Yup." Boy 1: "Awesome! So you can squish up a guy's finger and get the DNA out." Boy 2: "It'd probably look the same as what we have too cuz it'd be all bloody." Me: "That's disgusting. You can just use your spit." Boy 2: "Ohhh..."
• Girl: "What does DNA stand for?" Me: "Deoxyribonucleic acid." Girl: "Huh?" Boy: "something, something, something nucleic acid."
• "This stuff is leaking all over me and I'm going to get a rash!!" -A very concerned girl
• "Will it hurt it if I take a picture?" After this one about five girls took a picture of my hook with the blob of DNA at the end.

Overall, it was extremely entertaining and a lot of fun. If you're ever interested in seeing DNA, it's super easy. Strawberries are probably the easiest and you'll get the most DNA because they are octaploid, which means they have eight copies of each chromosome. So, to extract DNA:

1. Put your fruit in a plastic ziploc bag and put about 10 mL of water in the bag (it doesn't have to be exact.)
2. Add a few drops of dishwashing soap (like Dawn). Squish up your fruit until it's mostly juice.
3. Cut a hole in the corner of your bag and pour the juice (try to not get any chunks) into a tube or cup.
4. Let isopropanol run down the side of the tube. (Don't let it drop directly on top of the juice or it will mix together)
5. The isopropanol will pull the DNA up and you will see white strands of DNA. When you pull it out it looks a little like snot. (Lovely, I know.)

So there you have it. If you ever get bored, there's something for you to do. And enjoy the kids in your life because I definitely miss seeing kids on a regular basis.

beautiful bands.

If I had a picture I would put it here. But, I don't. I forgot to email it to myself. Today, I finally finished isolating one of the five genes I'm targeting for all of my 33 samples. SUCCESS!! The bands on the gel were so beautiful, in the right place on the gel. Now, I just have to sequence them and hope there's no contamination. Ribosomal gene 16S is finished. Well, until I get another batch of extractions. But hopefully that won't be for awhile. For this set I just have to finish H3, 28S, 18S, PEPCK, and possibly CO1. No biggie, right? And probably none of you very few readers have any idea what I'm talking about. Oh, well. I seriously am that big of a nerd. And proud of it! :)

simple acts.

"We are each called to reach out to others. On rare occasions that can happen on a grand scale. But most of the time it happens in simple acts of kindness of one person to another. Those are the events that really matter." -Francis S. Collins

This coming from a man who was head of the human genome project. The sole project that completely changed the course of science and the way we think about life as a whole. This man is incredible. He's now the director of the NSF (National Science Foundation). Today's "pearl" is this quote and the simple ways people serve others. Something as simple as saying thank you. Or doing the dishes. Or holding the door open. Or saying, "You know what, you CAN do this. Go for it!" Or by simply believing in you without having to say anything at all. (P.S. I know these aren't complete sentences, bear with me). Each day is filled with opportunities to reach out to others and truly change the world.

lazy sundays.

I love Sundays. After church the day is just there to relax and enjoy a break from the busy schedule that school brings. Today was filled with many delightful little pearls. Hanna and I drew spring-y pictures with chalk on our apartment sidewalk with the chalk my mom sent me. We all ate delicious food cooked by Jocelyn, the next Julia Childs. Hanna, Joe, and I sat in the sun while doing our New Testament questions for class tomorrow. Then Joe invited us over for authentic food from Ghana with a bunch of his friends. It was DELICIOUS. And now, I'm sitting down to enjoy one of the best movies ever, "Stardust." The end to another awesome weekend that seems to have flown by entirely too fast. Someone once asked me what superpower I would want if I could have any? I said I had no idea. Her ideal superpower was to be able to control time. Genius, right? So, I've decided to steal that and have it be my new answer for ideal superpowers. But until then, I'll just live every minute for itself. :)

friends.

Friends are pearls. They come in all shapes, colors, and sizes but they are all pearls. Last night two of my friends and I went to see a high school-aged theater group put on "Les Miserables." It was AWESOME. I LOVE that play and they did such a great job. I love musical theater. Today, a bunch of my friends and I went to the Holi festival of colors at the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple. We threw colored chalk all over each other. It was a lot of fun. Without friends, life would be super boring.

Me and my awesome roommate! (aren't we just so cute?!)

my shoes. I love this picture for some reason.

Part of our group of chalk-throwers.

genetics.

Have you ever stopped to think about how that meter-long strand of DNA inside each of your cells controls pretty much everything about you? You have your physical appearance because of your DNA. The only way your body operates is by the reading of your DNA. It's pretty incredible. For me, it just proves even more that there is a God that is watching out for us and loves us. How could something so precise and perfectly compatible come together all on its own? It couldn't. One of my favorite books is "The Language of God" by Francis S. Collins. He was the head of the human genome project. He's an incredible man. Today, I studied for and took a test for my genetics class. It ended up being about 6 hours of straight genetics. And the best part? I loved every second of it. That's when you know you are in the right major. The way that life incredibly falls together is beautiful and studying that through learning genetics is fascinating.

when hard work pays off.

Yesterday and today were very long days. Yesterday I was finishing up my poster and today I presented it. But, it's a beautiful thing when hard work pays off. I felt like the poster session went really well. It was by no means perfect but it definitely was a really good experience and I learned a TON about phylogenentic analysis. It was awesome. The other posters were all really cool. I had no idea such diverse research was happening here. I mean, I knew there was a lot but there are ground-breaking things going on here! Here's a picture my awesome roommate support club took of me. Thanks for coming guys! :)

To end the day I went to a lecture by my mom's awesome tennis partner, Marilyn. She's a retired professor and was once the dean of graduate studies. She's so cute. Her lecture was really good and I went to say hi to her after which was fun. I love how she calls me 'kiddo.' Haha, she's a little grandmotherly, I love it. That's all for today. Over and out.

picture books.

Today was incredibly rough. I had class from 8-10 where the professor informed us that we were all terrible students and asked if he should just return to his office, only because we didn't understand an incredibly complicated figure in a cell biology paper. After class I went to work on my poster to present my research to find out that my data had crashed the program on the super computer and the poster printing machine was broken. After working that out I worked on the poster until physics at 12:30. Physics is hard. Enough said. Following physics I continued to work on my poster for several hours. I finally came up with an awesome title: "Dirt Diggers and Gourmet Dinners: Phylogenetic relationships of anomuran crabs (Decapoda)". Sweet, huh? Anyway, after all this I happened across this awesome picture book. It's cute :) And that my friends, is what is beautiful about today.