baby seesters.

I love it when my baby sister texts me about getting asked to prom and boys, even though she's supposed to be paying attention and not texting in class.  Let me explain.  Having sisters that are 6 and 8 years younger than you can make it difficult to develop a really close relationship.  When you're in high school, they're still in elementary school and you really don't talk to them about "personal" stuff or care about what's going on in they're lives because they're playing tag and riding bikes and you're studying for AP exams and going on dates.  Because I chose to go to a college out of state and 700 miles away from home this also made it difficult to foster a relationship with my younger siblings because they were starting to like boys, wear make up and hitting puberty all while I was gone.  I remember coming home at Thanksgiving during my freshman year of college and not even recognizing Rachel (then 12) because she had grown 2 inches and lost all her baby fat (she used to be a big chunky...).  Anyway the point of this story is to say that my little sisters are growing up without me.  Getting boyfriends, making the cheerleading team (no more crazy drill team for our family!), winning basketball games etc.. So I get extra excited when they choose to share they're lives with me.  I like that my two younger sisters are becoming more open with me, telling me about boys and drama they deal with in high school and asking for my advice.  Advice which I will gladly give (even when they don't want it...) because I've made enough mistakes that someone should benefit from what I learned!

Also, in regards to my jcrew shopping.  I finally checked out with not 4, but 5 items in my shopping cart.... I couldn't resist!  Especially because I got my tax return yesterday.... Anyway I got 2 dresses, 2 tanks (one cotton, one blouse), and a necklace so I'm happy.

Tyring to decide whether I should just check out or empty 3 of the 4 items in my jcrew shopping cart right now.  I love jcrew, but I'm a student who's about to drop somewhere around $2000 on applications/MCAT for medical schools.  I guess I just answered my own question...

I really enjoyed the reading of the word by candle light and somber worship last night at Christ's Place in south Lincoln.  Pastor Rick reminded us not only of what Christ did for us, but what we did to Christ.

There's nothing like calling your ex-boyfriend to figure out the answer to a security question you made for a summer school account when y'all were still together.  Needless to say I'm locked out of "mymav" because I failed to answer my security questions correctly.  This means I can't request a transcript, and if I want to reset my expired password (which they notified by via my UTA email that I never check...) then I need to stop by the Help Desk (wherever that is...) and show them a picture of my student ID (which I never got...) in order to be able to reset my password.  Lovely.

Freaking out about the MCAT.
I'm going to ignore the fact that it's quickly approaching and I need to make a decision on when I'm going to take it and register.  Instead I'm going to continue researching the PDZ (substrate) binding domain of the E6 protein of HPV-18 that inhibits tumor suppressor proteins in somatic cells.  Why am I doing my thesis on MOFs in chemistry when I love all my biochem 435 research so much more? Oh yeah, because I'm getting paid to...
Tonight I'm just trying to remember I Chronicles 28:20 to keep my stress in check and James 1:27 to remember why the stress of pursuing medicine/public health will be worth it.

Applying to medical school = overwhelming.
it would have been nice to go to a school that didn't just prepare you to apply to one school (UNMC) especially since I would rather become a P.A. then spend another 4 years in Nebraska.  I love UNL, but Nebraska is so vanilla that once I leave, I could never return for more than a short visit.

MOFs are starting to kill me...

A glass of Chardonnay.
Maroon 5.
OPI's "Pinking of You." (my new favorite sheer pink)
Thesis?
If only the last part was done...
Here's the very first part of my introduction if you feel like reading it.  You'll probably read the first two sentences and then be bored to tears because you don't care about metal organic frameworks (MOFs)...  If I have any chemistry, or biochem majors reading my blog, you might enjoy it!

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) can be defined as a type of crystalline hybrid material that have a crystal structure which is comprised of an extended network of metal ions or small clusters connected through rigid organic spacers, known as the coordinating ligands (1-2).  When MOFs are organized into three dimensional structures, the building units coordinate together allowing for a regular pattern and therefore a network of uniform pores and channels within the framework (1).  This porous characteristic is the basis of interest in MOFs today because the available free space can be occupied by host molecules at an extremely high rate (up to 90% of the crystal volume in some cases) (1).  Such porosity of the MOF can be manipulated through the choice of organic linkers and metal coordination geometry (1).  The organic building blocks from which MOFs are constructed allow for the synthesis of an infinite number of new materials with diversity in structure and porosity (4).  Because MOFs offer the ability to absorb or store host molecules and the flexibility to accommodate different molecules through calculated manipulation, they are ideal units with which to address key applications such as hydrogen storage, enhanced catalysis, chemical/molecular sensors, drug delivery, and gas purification/gas separation to name a few (3).

One metal organic framework of particular interest is the porphyrin unit.  The porphyrin unit is considered to be quite useful because it is a rigid metalloligand that offers an additional approach to control the structure of a MOF (5).  Porphyrin based linkers are set apart from other metalloligands in that the cavity inside the porphyrin is able to adopt a variety of metal elements allowing  for additional coordination capacity with which to manipulate framework topology (6-7).  This characteristic also provides the porphyrin with the ability to self-assemble into framework architectures without relying on external connectors (8).  Another important feature of porphyrin molecules is that they contain a rigid square-planar geometry with multiple molecular recognition sites ideal for metal coordination (or hydrogen bonding) and thus contain an extensive supramolecular chemistry (8).  The specific porphyrin molecule used throughout this study is meso-tetra(carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP).

(late) Update

My entire post got deleted.  And now I don't fee like updating.
Is that how today's going to be?
Because if so I might as well drive over to Trader Joe's now and buy some wine instead of waiting till tonight.

*Small shout out to Kandice because it's her 22nd birthday!  You'll get a better shout out once I drink some wine.

Today will be busy.
I have a University Health Center Governing board meeting
an on camera interview to promote minorities in undergraduate research (for UCARE)
and a founders day dinner for a good friend's fraternity.
And it's pouring rain.
with possible snow tonight (isn't it mid april!?)
Lovely.

Oh did I mention I'm so ready to be out of this gosh darn place called Lincoln, Nebraska?
because I am...

ah. More to come, expect this post to be updated by the end of the day.

wordless wednesday: seesters

My title is deceiving today.  This post started out wordless, but I love captions too much not to use words.  So here's the family version of my spring break trip.  Also, one honorary seester and one real brother are included in this one.

Crossing the state line from east OK, on our drive back from AK where I picked up Sar from U of Ark.

Picnic at Lady Bird Johnson Lake in Austin, Texas

What!? Awesome.

Barton Springs in Austin

Sar with her "dream body" haha!

and by dream body I mean all of Kyle's guy friends and some of mine are always talking about (slash stalking on facebook) her "dream" body, and they frequently ask "So does your sis still have that rockin bod?" (no lies, those exact words...) to which I reply, yes but it's not for you.

I don't remember where this was taken, somewhere on or between South Congress Ave & 6th St in Austin.  They have guitars all made by the same artist all over the downtown area.

Out in Dallas introducing my other long lost seester to vodka tonics with lemon.

Real life.

Fake life.

Real life. And my favorite pic of the trip.  The other Sarah is an honorary seester because she's a fellow Mexi-Texi who went to UNL and I love her.  I may have to dedicate a post to my favorite Mexi-Texi's soon...

Seester + new brother

I never knew I'd end up loving Nate so much.

The.

End.

new hur.

Alicia reminded me last night of why we're friends.  I called her last night at 1am her time, all upset about, well something I should be upset about, but was trying to force myself not to be.  And she listened, and made me laugh, and gave me an update on the sweet little baby growing inside her.
Also, I FINALLY got my hair cut!  I was not too thrilled with my last cut, and I haven't gotten it cut since, oh say June of 2010!  I was in desperate need of a new do.  Thanks to Ladena at Estella A Salon, I love my new hair.  I would highly recommend her to anyone in the Lincoln/Omaha area.  She did a great job, washed, cut, and styled my hair (I love it when they style it out for you). And she only took off 2 inches, which is pretty darn good for going so long without a haircut and my hair is still down to the middle of my back so I'm happy.  She  also gave me a deep conditioning treatment that made my hair feel like silk. I am in love.  I need to get it deep conditioned more often.  Thanks to groupon, I got it all for $20.  Awesome!  OK I'm done being overly excited about my "pampering" which is actually something I should do every 6-8 weeks like a normal person.

BIG news.

Remember my best friend Alicia?  We grew up in Mansfield together and did gym together for about 5 years. Although we always went to rival schools, we were inseparable during the summer and my fondest summertime memories were always with her.  Now we live thousands of miles apart, have been friends for over 10 years, and keep in touch less often, but our friendship has only grown stronger.  She was married in October and I can now finally announce the good news... SHE'S PREGNANT!!  I could not be happier!  When she called and told me the news I started screaming and crying I was so overjoyed and she's the one who had to tell me to chill out haha!  The last few years and even the last few months have been very difficult for Alicia and I am absolutely thrilled that she is finally in a place in her life where things are going well, and joy has replaced heartache.  I am also very excited that her baby is due right around the time of my fall break next semester so you'd better believe another trip to D.C. is in order!  Either I'll see her so pregnant she can hardly stand it, I'll see the birth of her beautiful baby, or I'll visit the little newborn.  I am so excited.  I feel so incredibly blessed by my friendship with Alicia and I am so thankful to be a real part of her life despite our distance.  Please keep Alicia and her growing baby in your prayers.

Alicia and I right after I gave my speech at her wedding.  I love that this moment was captured on camera.

Now he's not my favorite, but I'm starting to like Donald Trump. (what!?)
Don't read too much into my above statement, but maybe he's smarter than I thought.

Oh, and you're welcome for the absence of an overly personal post about my skin.

Good news/Bad news?

but not the BIG news.
My hives are gone!  After jumping in the shower to wash off my skin (and hopefully whatever was causing the hives) I took an oatmeal bath and my hives were gone within a couple of hours.
Bad news.
My hives came back again today.  They arrived once again right after working out.  I'm assuming my skin is reacting to my sweat (!?) because I had NOTHING on my skin this morning when I worked out.  No lotion. No perfumes, nothing!  How is it that I've been sweating my whole dang life and now my skin wants to act like it's allergic to it?  No time for an oatmeal bath before class so I had to wear jeans and a fleece to cover my arms and legs (so everyone in my classes wouldn't be like, completely freaked out by my hyperactive basophiles) in this beautiful 65 degree weather.  Perfect.  Well now I'm in some track shorts and a white v-neck and I'm going to lay my hive covered body in the sun while I write my thesis.  At least the sun will get rid of the eczema (because why yes I still have that too!).  I hate my overly "delicate" skin.
Also, my new workout is kicking my butt.  As in I can't even walk up the 3 flights of stairs to get to my apt or sit down without seriously struggling.  Now everyone in the elevator gets to look at me like I'm a big lazy for riding up to floor 3.
Time for SUN!

April 5, 2011

I am so tired of being tired.

I'm tired of not being able to fall asleep at night.

I'm tired of breaking out in eczema like it's nobody's business.

I'm tired of breaking out in hives all over my body for no apparent reason (which happened to me today during my 5 minute (!) phone conversation with my mom, because I guess that's how long it takes for hives to develop in mass quantities..?).

Sorry for the complaints.  It's been a difficult 6 months week.

Finally going to go see the doctor on Thursday.  Hopefully something can be done about the insane reaction my body is having to all this (prolonged) stress.

BIG NEWS COMING SOON!

stop by later this week to find out what it is.