Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year

I already posted something about 2009 on Facebook. 2009 was a very stressful year. It started off as a pretty good year, even though I knew one of my best friends was moving away.

Once the month of May got here, Stacey and I celebrated our 10th anniversary by spending a week in California. I learned I could totally live in San Diego! We loved LA, except the traffic on the 405. Stacey did a great job driving through LA!!

Then when we returned home from vacation we got the shocking news that my sister has colon cancer, stage III. She had her 50th birthday in February. This was hard news for my mom and the rest of us. I know personally I struggled with focusing on my job and my life at home for a few months as she started treatment because there was just so much unknown! She had her colon removed, and now, THANKS BE TO GOD, she has been healed! She has many more tests to go through, but at least the worst is over right now! Ans that is truly something to be thankful for!

My uncle, Johnny, has also been in poor health. This has been especially hard for my mom. She's the big sister, and their mother died when they were both young, so mom really played a large role in raising my uncle. He is doing much better now! He's in a nursing home, but he's definitely better than he was a few weeks back!

As for 2010, I'm not making any resolutions... I'm going to call them goals. Resolutions get broken. Goals are something to strive for. Here is my list:


#1: Vacation in the UK

#2: Spotter Training class!

#3: Participate in a few local chases to get a little experience close to home

#4: As always, lose a few pounds!!

#5: Learn, learn, learn! Learning is one of my favorite things! I'm going to learn all I can next year!

#6: Get a digital SLR camera and take some photography classes before the UK trip!

#7: Focus on the positives this year!

Happy 2010 everyone!!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Welcome!!!

I have decided to start blogging about my little adventures. First, I should tell everyone a little bit about myself. I'm a chemist who is currently in grad school for pharmaceutical regulatory affairs. Basically, it's FDA laws... That's about as simply as I can explain it! :) I am also learning all I can about meteorology, because I plan on doing some small local chases this year. One day, I'll take the plunge and head west to the Great Plains and do a large scale chase, but right now, I just want to learn all I can.

Why would I want to chase storms?? Well, first of all, I have had a fear of storms since I was a small child, but, just like many people who do chase and study storms, I turned that fear into fascination. Am I inspired by TV shows to become a chaser? Absolutely! I'm sure that influence is highly criticized, but I've been fascinated with those who call themselves storm chasers for as long as I can remember. I remember watching the special that featured Warren Faidley and countless others when I was younger. My family STILL rags me, because I was always excited for the weather report! I watched the Weather Channel for hours during hurricanes and severe weather outbreaks.

Right now, learning in my main priority. I don't want to do anything stupid. Plus, it's a subject that interests me.

What does a good science nerd do when she's out of school? Learn more science, of course!!