sweet home alabama

Home! I’m home! I knew that I missed Alabama and the South, but I didn’t know I would miss it this much. I was pretty much going 90 mph once I got out of Nashville because I was just so ready to get home.

Since I have been home, I have had a pretty awesome time. I got to see my sisters and a few of my close friends on Friday night. We went to Al’s, which I have been CRAVING since October, when I first experience Cleveland nightlife (went to B-sides, left at 2AM, NEEDED Al’s since 2AM is the best time for Al’s…but not in Cleveland). On Saturday, one of my friends got married, and I got to see all of my church friends. Also, I took one of my really good friends as a date, so we got even more playing time, and we pretty much owned the dance floor with our sweet dance moves.

On Sunday, I got to go to church for the first time in months. I haven’t gone to church in Cleveland, mostly because I feel like I don’t have time to look for a church service to attend. I also haven’t gone to church in Cleveland because I feel really attached to First Church, and part of me feels like I won’t find that sort of fellowship in any other church. I guess I will try looking next semester, when I don’t have a Saturday lab. 

Anyways, I want to keep talking about church a little bit. I feel like it is very hard to keep your faith in a scientific community. Most people don’t believe in any sort of religious being or identify with any faith. This isn’t something that makes me want to turn away from the sciences; rather, I am totally okay with being around people who have different beliefs and ideologies. I like getting to learn about what other people think. I like getting new perspectives. I feel like it helps me to be a more understanding and accepting person, and it makes me appreciate my faith so much more. I wasn’t really ready for how much it would impact me when I got back into a community of shared faiths…it makes me realize that my faith and going to church is something that is really important to me. It helps me find my footing when things are rough. It gives me a group of people to connect with when things are good or bad. I love saying “Thanks be to God” after someone reads a passage of scripture. I love the feel of the hymnal in my hand. I love the ritual of communion and the community that it builds. It’s just good. 

So yeah. Church. So good. 

After church I got to be reunited with my true love SALSARITA’S and my bess frannn. When we went inside, the manager was helping serve in the line, and I pretty much gushed to him about how much I was ready for some Salsarita’s and how Chipotle couldn’t hold a candle to Salsarita’s fresh cantina. SO GOOD. 

I also saw one of my sisters in BSC’s production of Spring Awakening. Guys, let me tell you. That show was awesome. Go out and see it now. Also, I know I am biased, but my sister is one of the most talented people I know. After the show, the three of us had a pretty sweet cryfest in the lobby…I think it was because we were overwhelmed from the show and also because we were all reunited. Again. SO GOOD.

I got to see a lot of my friends at Friend Thanksgiving…things got pretty buckwild at one point, so it was awesome.

Now I get to see some family members today on real Thanksgiving. I feel like I should make some sort of post about things that I am thankful for, but really, I am thankful for a lot of things every day. Like my education, my friends, my family, my access to food and clean water, my apartment, my car… So on days like Thanksgiving, I can’t narrow it down because I am thankful for so many things every single day!

Hocking Hills is hocking awesome.

It seems that the last time I updated you guys on what was going on, I had just got back from a camping trip. Well...here is another one.

This past weekend, a group of students from my Aquatic Resources class took the Bio Van aka Party Bus down to Hocking Hills State Park in southeastern Ohio. This was the same place where we did some collecting a couple of weekends ago, but this time we actually camped in the park. While we where there, we got to go to some pretty neat places and we found some pretty awesome things. We found a lot of salamanders and algae at Ash Cave and Old Man's Cave and saw some amazing views at Conkles Hollow.

The creek that flowed down to Old Man's Cave, I think.

The crew of awesomeness

Eurycea cirrigera

View from the Rim Trail at Conkles Hollow

Ash Cave

Desmognathus fuscus

Awesome people.

I know, I know...I posted pictures of salamanders last time, but I think they are AWESOME so yeah. Don't lie and say they aren't cool. You know they are.

At night, the professor that went with us cooked some delicious food. I'm so used to eating out of a box whenever I go camping, but I definitely won't say no to the potato-egg-mushroom-onion-pepper concoction that we had for breakfast. I would probably eat that every day if I could.

And I probably can, because I have been trying to work on my cooking skills. My roommate cooks a lot, so I try to watch what she does and learn about what she makes. Sometimes I will even look up a recipe online or in her cookbook. I know it sounds stupid (like I should have known this already) but with a cookbook, you can make anything! I can make home foods! So exciting! It's nothing too special, but I think my list of foods I can make is getting longer... now I just need a husband to cook for! (jk...that is definitely a falsehood.) Just so you know I'm not lying, here is a list:

--Stir fry (usually with chicken, but I am pretty positive I can make it with any meat)
--Chicken and Swiss Bake
--French Toast Casserole
--jambalaya (from a box, but whatever, it is still delicious)
--Italian baked noodle thing that Ali taught me about
--buffalo chicken
--Mawpuh Chili
--Mawpuh cheese dip
--Brownies (again, from a box, but they are too delicious not to mention)

YES. That is pretty satisfactory right there. I have also perfected my scrambled eggs, thanks to the teachings of the Camp Fletcher cooking staff.

Stay tuned for more adventures...Halloween is coming up, and this year, I am pretty sure I have a decent costume idea. there will definitely be pictures!

Catchin' dem manders.

Since there are a lot of professors that study reptiles and amphibians, as well as a lot of students in these professors' labs, we sort of our own little club, known as Herp Group. (We got herps, anyone?) This past weekend, the Herp Group took a little trip to southeast Ohio for an informal herpetelogical symposium. It was pretty awesome because we got to hear a lot of other professors and grad students from other schools discuss their research. From mapping out the phylogeny of turtles to examining the territoriality in salamanders, I really learned a lot. 

This trip also involved camping. I wanted to use my trusty hammock, but the trees in the yard we were staying in were pretty sparse, so I used a tent. The first night got really cold, but I had on like three shirts and two pairs of pants.

We had social gathering after the symposium, so I got some much needed bonding time with my lab mates, and I made some new friends. I am definitely becoming more comfortable with myself...The Laugh got to the point where people in my lab began commenting on it. Say what you will, but I always feel that this is a good sign haha!

A girl at this particular party was discussing "y'all" and southern accents. I felt that I needed to be in on this conversation, since I have a ridiculous amount of Southern/Alabama/Texas pride now that I live in Ohio. This was a bad idea because I just ended up pissed. She said hated "y'all" and that she would use a Southern accent when she was waiting tables in Texas because people "thought it was cute." She said she was originally from a city where people are very forward and in your face and abrasive and that the girls from Texas (her experience of the South) were all very timid and didn't stand up for what they felt. I tried to respect her opinion, but honestly, I couldn't. I know plenty of women in the South that are "abrasive" and "in your face"...ever been in the middle of an SEC football debate/game? Also, Texas is not a good representation of "the South." I don't count Texas as the South. It's its own state and region. YEAH TEXAS BITCHEZ. Most of the women I know are very adamant about their stances on all topics, and they will confront you about it. If anything, I would say that "knowing your place" is a better phrase than "not standing up for your feelings." The people I know just know when to pick their battles. Basically, I felt awfully abrasive right then and about put my Alabama-clay-stained foot through her face.

But yeah, just sharing.

We also went hiking during this adventure...we found quite a few salamander species, so it was pretty awesome. 

Plethodon cinerus 

(red-backed salamander)

Eurycea cirrigea

(Southern two-lined salamander) 

Plethodon glutinosus

(Northern slimy salamander) 

Desmognathus fuscus

(Dusky salamander) 

I hope you learned some things from this post. Such as the scientific names of these salamanders.

Hey y'all.

Well, since most of my friends that I follow are on Blogspot, I guess it's about time I make the switch. I told my family and friends back home I would start a blog so they could stay updated on my life, so here it is! (Don't worry Tumblr...I'll be back!)

A little bit about where my life is going right now. In the spring of 2010, I finished my undergrad at Birmingham-Southern College with a BS in Biology. Over the next year, I completed my student teaching at a local middle school and high school. In January 2011, I was fortunate enough to be hired at a private school in Birmingham, where I had my own science classroom full of my very own tenth graders.While I loved every second I spent with these kids (I cried several times during my last week), I knew that my time was short lived, as I had already decided to start a masters program in Cleveland, OH. I spent that summer working as a camp counselor at a camp just outside of Birmingham. This camp was a place that, last year, helped me to realize what I love in my life, and it became one of the experiences that I held on to over the year. It was a bittersweet time, since I knew this would be my last time at Camp for a while. I made a lot of new friends there this summer, and I had the time of my life teaching kids how to canoe and how to work together as a team.

But of course, July came to an end, and after spending a few weeks in wonderful Birmingham, I packed up my trusty Jetta, ate one last meal at Los Amigos, said "see ya later" to all my friends, and drove on up to Cleveland. I got a little stir crazy in the car about midway through (would I ever make it out of Kentucky??), but Ohio was there soon enough, and before I knew it, I was driving through my new neighborhood.

I got everything set up, though I slept on an air mattress for a couple weeks, and I am still waiting on a few pieces of furniture. But I have all the necessities, so it's all good. But, not gonna lie, I am really ready for a dresser, because right now all my clothes are in piles on the floor. I am ready for some organization!!

Classes got started pretty soon after that. If you are not interested in hearing about this, then this is the point where you stop reading the blog....because I'm in grad school. And classes are what I do. Just FYI. I am taking....

Advanced Ecology (lots of papers to read, lots of presentations! Learning a lot about experimental design)
Aquatic Resources (labs are all in the field, so this means I spend my Saturday mornings wading through ponds collecting algae or seining for fish aka AWESOMENESS)
Biology Seminar (speakers from the community come talk about their research. Get to meet some pretty awesome people here.)
Anatomy and Physiology (not really taking this, but I am the graduate assistant for this lab. So I still get to do some teaching, which is great.)

You will get to hear a lot more about those, don't worry. I also have the research component of my Masters. Right now I am reading a lot of primary literature, but once I get started writing my proposal, I think I will be ready to share with the world what I am doing.

As for the people, my adviser is awesome, the professors are super cool, and the friends I have made are pretty fun. My roommate and I hosted a taco party (complete with paper mustaches) last weekend, which I feel like was pretty much a huge hit. While I don't feel like I have that much of a Southern accent, most people here say I do, which I understand. I definitely feel it whenever I say "y'all!" But I am proud of my Alabama/Texas roots, so I just own it!

So that's a little of what's going on in my life right now. Hopefully I will remember to use this thing, so I can keep those that are interested in my Cleveland life updated. Enjoy!

Bye y'all!