Life Keeps Getting Better and Better
Greetings from Portland! The past several days have been a total whirlwind. I've been wanting to update for a while now, but haven't had a chance until now, so here it is!
Weekend in Review: First off, we all made it to the West Coast safe and sound. Maddisyn and I flew in Thursday night / Friday morning. We then met up with Michael who was kind enough to find us some crash space at the apartment of a friend of his, which was great since we didn't need to worry about getting a motel for the night. The next day the three of us got some breakfast and headed north into Washington, and dropped Maddisyn off with her grandmother. Michael and I picked up some Legacies stuff out of storage for Josh and me, and met up with a Legacies bud (Aaron) who recently had a birthday and who we wanted to visit with. We saw the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was freaking weird, but interesting and entertaining. Saturday was a trip to Snohomish to visit Britta and her family, which was so awesome. I loved being able to visit with and the fam' (the kids were so adorable!). Chatting over wine was so wonderful. I wish I could visit more often! Sunday was a trip to Kenmore to see Torie, who I hadn't seen or visited with a ridiculously long time (mostly my own fault). It was so great visiting with her again and catching up on everything. I'd really missed our friendship, so I'm glad to working toward getting it back. All in all it was a fabulous weekend. It would have been nice to have been able to see 'Tell and Krystoffer too, but alas, things didn't pan out the way I would have liked. Sunday evening I had to head back to Oregon to take Michael back to OSU and pick Josh up at PDX. It was fantastic to see my wonderful husband again for the first time in a week.
Exciting News: I cannot even begin express just how freaking fantastic life is and how fortunate I feel right now! This year is shaping up to be the most remarkable year ever for our family! So, on Wednesday while I was home with Maddisyn, hanging out while Josh was in Chicago, I received an email from the Graduate Studies Coordinator for the Biology Department at USU. I apparently have been awarded the most honored and best fellowship offered by the College of Science. This award is a three year award that comes with all of the benefits of the departmental fellowship they initially offered me upon my acceptance into the program (no teaching responsibilities, tuition remission, health insurance, etc.), but it lasts longer (the departmental fellowship was only a one year fellowship) and the yearly stipend is nearly twice as much as that of the departmental fellowship. Of course, this negates my departmental fellowship (it will probably be awarded to another candidate), but that's fine since this one is way better and much more prestigious. The College of Science only picks one student to receive the fellowship every year, and I was it. I beat out not only biology students, but physics, chemistry / biochemstry, geology, computer science, math & statistics students. This is a huge honor; it's like being told that you're the best of the best of all incoming graduate students. It is so amazing and exciting. I have been busting at the seams ever since I heard the news! The only thing I regret was not having someone to celebrate with when I heard (Maddisyn was excited, but I don't think she understood; I think it was because Mommy was so excited). Anyway, yay! *squeal*
So, for the rest of the week I'll be Portland. Tomorrow I'm heading to Corvallis to visit Michael for lunch, and then this weekend is Legacies (which is down here in the Oregon area, I believe). So, yay for Spring Break!
I hope everyone is doing well. Much love!
.md.