One Week Without Take Out!

I know this might not be that special to some, but as of today after lunch I have officially gone 7 days without buying fast food or restaurant food. Ray and I did have pizza on Monday because we helped someone move, but we didn't pay for it so it didn't really count.

The idea behind this fast was due to the fact that as an average American we spend a ridiculous of money eating out and then we end up having to throw away food that goes bad from our frig. I heard some crazy stats that the average American eats out for almost half of their meals (I don't think I am that bad) and a average family of 4 throws out about $1000 dollars worth of groceries every year. When you start thinking that lunch on average is 5-10 dollars per person and dinner is close to 10-15 dollars per person, this really starts to add up. And I haven't even starting talking about how bad this is for your health. I am not going to stand on a pedestal and say I am never going to eat out again, that is ridiculous. But I think this is something that would help solve a couple of problems our society is having, mainly obesity and overspending/not saving.

Now eating in for every meal is not the easiest thing in the world. I would say is takes quite a bit of creativity. Ray and I figured out to make a pretty good chili a month a ago. Fish can be expensive, but it is really good for you and yummy. I bought some asparagus and that was great. Veggies are kinda hard considering Ray will barely eat any of them, except for avocados (he is officially obsessed!). Ray and I still have room to improve, maybe we could branch out to different veggies other than avocados and asparagus. We also should eat a little less frozen food, it is just so convenient for lunch and dinners where we don't want to cook. Also with frozen food it is cheaper than take out and if you are careful maybe a little better for you.

This experience was actually pretty nice. Ray and I actually sat at our dinner table two nights this week, a official record. Our bank account is also a little happier. Not sure exactly where we are going to go from here, maybe next time we'll do it for a whole month!

I PASSED!

So where am I on this wonderful Saturday morning? Stuck at the Cyclotron Institute running an experiment. I have been here since midnight and no one will be here to relieve me until about 11am. I am not sure how tired I am, but I am really glad I am taking super long runs.

Some friends came to visit us this weekend, so tonight should be fun, I just need to make it that far. This is my last shift for this 6-day beam time. It was really awesome that this beam time coincided with my prelims, NOT!

So how did my prelim go? It was one of the most horrible experiences of my life, man I really wish I had paid attention a lot more in undergrad! But the great news is I passed. The way this whole process went was first I gave a talk, then I was ask question for about a hour, and then I was asked to leave the room while they decided to pass me or not. When I left the room and started crying just a little bit, I was really mad at myself for forgetting to study certain things and I was mad that they barely asked me any questions I had studied. But, whatever that is the goal of the prelim to ask you questions you don't know the answer to. So after I left the room I sat down on the floor, calmed myself down a little bit and started talk to a post-doc that walked past me. A few minutes later Dr. Yennello walked out to tell me the good news, she said "you passed" and I don't know why but the only thing I could do was cry more! I only cried tear of joy for like 5 to 10 seconds, and she hugged me. Everything happened so fast, it really is all a blur. The rest of my committee shook my hand and that was that, then I got to run a "beam time" shift until midnight. I ended up postponing my celebration for passing my prelims for tonight because of "beam time".

The funniest this is I didn't even cry at my own wedding, but I cry at my prelims!

Life is good

Where the hell is the year going? I mean February is almost over! 1/6 of the year is practically over. I am super excited about the next month! My prelim presentation is scheduled for March 9th at 1:30, this is the second time I have had to reschedule it so it better not move again. I finally finished writing my proposal. From start to finish it only took like two week and half, which I guess isn't too bad since I am not the best writer. But once I had the proposal done making the presentation was a joke! I gave me first practice yesterday and it went pretty well, my boss doesn't even want to see another practice.

What else is happening in the month of March? Well I have a 6 day beam time starting March 7th! Ray and I and some awesome friends are going camping for 2 days starting March 18th! On March 24th I am going to California! This month is going to go by fast. And then April 3rd is going to be the one-year anniversary of adopting Murray. This day is unofficially going to be his birthday and he will be turning 3. Maybe we will have a little party and my family can come with their dog Stricker. Murray and Stricker are best buddies, it took them a little while to get along but now they play like nonstop. Sometimes I have to take Murray to Ray's parents' house because he gets to much exercise at my parents house and then he back leg start acting up.

I am really happy Ray and I adopted Murray. I swear he will always be considered our first child. He just has such a cool personality, he talks to us, and he treats his toys like there are his babies (sometimes, other times he shakes them, it look like he is trying to break their neck). He really like toys that have legs because when he shakes them the leg hit him and he thinks they are fighting back. Getting Murray is seriously one of the best decision I have made in my life, he is part of the reason why I am getting a bit more ok with living in Bryan/College Station.

So what has been going on? Mostly I have just spent most of my life for the past month preparing for my prelims. But last weekend we did go to Austin which of course was awesome. I can't believe this but we will not be going back until the camping trip in a month!

Prelims Here I Come

So anyone who has talked to me in the past month knows about what is coming up in my graduate school career. My oral prelim is officially scheduled for February 28th at 1pm! Really this prelim thing is really daunting and has a lot of different parts.

First at the end of next week I have to take an written exam on my research and the basics of my research. This part is not that bad, I just need to study and review what I already know. This is pretty much just another CUME.

A week after that I have to submit a proposal to my committee members. Before that it has to get through my boss, which is not going to be easy. He is a stickler for perfection and his expectation are very high. But it only has to be 7 to 10 page single spaced so maybe this is part is also not that bad.

Lastly I have to make a 50 minute presentation about what I plan on doing and what I have done research-wise. During this presentation my committee members can ask me any questions about any topics I bring up. This will not be simple questions, questions will be asked that are going to force me to think back to the basics. The committee members will try to find questions that I do not know the answer to. It will probably end up taking me about 2 hours to get through this 50 minute presentation.

I have about 4 and half weeks to get through all of this, so maybe this really won't be that bad and I am just freaking myself out. I can do this! I will get my Phd! And then everyone will have to refer to me as Dr. Marisa for at least a year after I defend my thesis!