Frozen Tundra

Bags packed. Arrive at airport. Pass through security. Board plane 1. Taxi to the runway. Take off. Land in Cleveland. Run up and down stair for some exercise. Find next terminal. Board plane 2. Wait in line at runway. Make small talk with chatty business man. Grab book and ipod. Take off. Land in Milwaukee. Find baggage pickup. Call Jason and Dad. Direct them to pick up area. Stand outside. FREEZE. Go back inside and wait. Get a call from Jason. Go back outside. Wave them down. Run into road. Shove my bags in car. Take off for Dad's House. Winter jacket and heat on high. Pull in garage. Let Annie out of her kennel. Jason hold onto Annie. I come out of car. Annie goes crazy. Annie tackle Megan. Welcome back to the frozen tundra.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that woman can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts her, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is her dog. A woman's dog stands by her in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. She will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only she may be near her master's side. She will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; she will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. She guards the sleep of her pauper master is if she where a princess. When all other friends desert, she remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, she is as constant in her love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. -Senator George Vest (1870)

Dogs are our link to paradise. -Milan Kudera

 Gma has made me breakfast twice already :)  I'm pretty sure I could have her breakfast every single morning but I'd have to run and climb like there's no tomorrow. But hey, it's worth it. The Monday after I came back, I went to Madison to visit those peeps and relieve them from studying too hard for finals. I went climbing with Aaron at Boulder's Climbing Gym, went out for dinner at a really good Thai place, watched a movie or two, drank some Spotted Cow (yum yum), got made pancakes for breakfast and then got out of everyone's hair so they could go back to the harsh reality of finals week. Then Wednesday, I made cookies and bread with Gma, ran a few errands for mother, and went to see Catching Fire. Friday, I went to work with mother to help purge files and archived old paperwork. Just for that, I got free lunch at Funky Bean :)

I miss my southern friends sooooooo much!! It's just not the same without Megan and Emma and all my climbing friends :/  Also, when we got that nice winter storm of 7 inches, Raleigh was in the high 70s. WHY?!

If at all there is any conversion, 
it should be from misery to happiness, 
from defilement to purity, 
from bondage to liberation, 
from ignorance to enlightenment. 

~ S. N. Goenka ~

By the way, Anna will be here in 

5 and 6 hours!!!

Wisconsin Here I Come!

Well do you do folks? This chica is now 1/4 of the way done with her graduate career!! That is, for this degree anyways :)  Can't really complain - exams were easy peasy, classes a joke, and research messing up my sleep schedule! Haha, just kidding - I love my research so I will gladly wake up at odd hours to drive Highway 64 for 116 miles!!  BEST NEWS EVER!! I finally finished collecting this year's data. After running 172 aflatoxin and fumonisin toxin assays, running a few more because of my fabulous human error, and making more dilutions than I wanted...I have a beautiful excel spread sheet.

Tomorrow at 2:30 I will no longer be in NC. I will be on my way to Wisconsin. Dad and Kiddo will be at Milwaukee to pick me up! As I already told Kiddo - you better have my real winter jacket and the truck like a sauna because we all know it's not bitterly cold in Raleigh! Oh, and they better bring Annie along because I miss my dog more than anything. So now comes the fun part, figuring out what I need to bring with me to Wisconsin...yay!

Tonight I'm going climbing again and by climbing I mean doing one or two climbs and then belaying because my hands are torn to bits. I went climbing for the past three days, have been working on some cool traverse bouldering problems, a few overhangs, and that darn 5.11 I'm still projecting!!  Tonight, my dear ones, is the night I send that 5.11 and put that one behind me!

So yup, that's that. I'm going to go into research and make sure everything looks how it should before I start the fabulous chore of packing!! Bye for now.

Well That Went Well

Hey hey y'all! I survived my first semester as a graduate student - well mostly. Two finals and this PlantPath Girl is one semester closer to graduation! So yeah, there's that. What else? QuickTox is the best invention ever because I can run like 100 samples in a day! I only have 60 more plots to QuickTox and then comes the fun part: analyzing data.

Take a seat. Relax your feet. Just watch the Sun. A job well done.

So y'all know that I went to Gaffney, South Carolina with my dear friend Megan Sexton for Thanksgiving. Her family is just the sweetest. Her daddy is a good cook too :)  Have no fear, there was plenty of vegetarian options available for me. Her momma took great care of me, I loved playing with all the pooches, and even read the first Hunger Games book! We did some Christmas shopping with her momma and decorated their home. Then we went to her sister Lauren's house and watched the terrible Badger game and the Clemson vs Carolina game (big rivalry) with Lauren and her husband. We had dinner at Red Bowl - loved the veggie and fried rice so much I devoured the whole thing. Megan's dog, Drake, was even a sweet little guy and slept on my lap for part of the way home. So precious!

Breathe in. Breathe out. Beauty in. Badness out.

Oh by the way, I saw the world's biggest butt. Have a picture.

Just kidding! It's a peach watertower in Gaffney, SC.

Let's see...nothing else really cracking over here. Just waiting to get lunch at Jasmin and then probably finish reading the Hunger Games trilogy. Besides that I've just been climbing away. My flight home is in 9 days and Anna will be here in 24 more days. Excitement all around!!

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." -Thich Nhat Hanh

End of Semester

Guess who's done grinding all 172 plots of corn?! Hint - it's the girl writing the blog. Now just perform QuickTox on the remaining plots for aflatoxin and fumonisin and this girl is on the road to writing a paper! Oh the joys of being a graduate student.

“I tell you, deep inside you is a fountain of bliss, a fountain of joy. Deep inside your center core is truth, light, love, there is no guilt there, there is no fear there. Psychologists have never looked deep enough.” -Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

This is what makes driving 4 hours a day for research worth it all...even if it means I'm stuck in traffic for miles on end.

So let's see. I go climbing 4 or 5 days a week at TRC, go to the excruciatingly boring lectures, and quantify levels of toxin production! I'm noticing a huge improvement in my climbing abilities :)  I was at a plateau for a few weeks and it was getting really frustrating to have burning and aching muscles but not getting any better!! 5.9 and easier 5.10 are comfortable and a "feel-good" climb. There is a 5.11 I've been working on and I'm so close to getting it clean. I've discovered that I enjoy overhangs - which is a great ab workout in case if you were wondering. The 5.11 I'm working on has quite the overhang. I'll post a picture so y'all can see what I'm talking about.  I've also been working on bouldering and learning different climbing techniques. You know, it's not like I'm addicted or anything.

Follow the yellow holds and that's the 5.11 I need to conquer!

By the way, I have 7 more days of class. No big deal - ending Dec 5 and only 2 finals - neither are cumulative. But guess what's even better!? Since I couldn't afford to fly home for Thanksgiving, my dearest friend Megan invited me to her family's Thanksgiving so I wasn't spending my break alone in Raleigh. So next Wednesday I'll be on my way to Gaffney, South Carolina! I'm so excited!!

Farmers feed you three times a day. When is the last time you thanked a farmer for keeping you alive?

Open your eyes to see the beauty. Beauty is more than meets the eye you say. Then you aren't truly opening your eyes.

Now that I think about it, I've done a lot of traveling this year. I had two big vacations and three mini ones. First Guatemala - miss you guys soooo much!! Then a hop and a skip to see Anna (and Zac) in England!! Then my mini recruitment weekend in North Cackalacky! Then actually moving to Carolina de Norte - and spending a few days in the Outer Banks with the fam. How could y'all forget about my awesome climbing trip with Aaron to The Red?! Finally, heading even further south to South Cackalacky with Megan. Should I count my trip back to Wisconsin later this winter?

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Best news is yet to come. I fly back to Wisco in 20 days. But the best of the best news: 

ANNA WILL BE HERE IN ONLY 35 DAYS!!!!!!!

#climbingproblems

"Refilled chalk. Room now looks like I'm a crack dealer." -Dane Everitt #climbingproblems

\

After showing off my beautifully callused hands: "You're going to need to marry a mountain man." -Megan Sexton  #climbingproblems

"Well I used to have pretty hands!" -some girl at the wall  #climbingproblems

"Just stand up and grab the jug. Oh wait, you can't reach it." -Tall Man  #shortgirlclimbingproblems

 
Me: "Where did you put your hands?" Aaron: "I did a hand jam in that crack on the right side." "Yeah, the crack is too big for my hand."  #climbingproblems

Finding out the climb you just fell a million times on was a 5.7 not the 5.11 you made it out to be in your head.  #climbingproblems

After a long night at the climbing wall: "Hey Megan, can you staple this for me?" Why? Because my forearms are still on fire?  #climbingproblems

 
As I'm climbing a chimney, I fall and scrape off some elbow and knee skin. I start climbing again only to drop my chalk bag. Really?  #climbingproblems

 
"Dane, how does that crack look to your left?" "It looks like nothing." "It looks good from down here!"  #climbingproblems

 
"Tyler, can you show me how to do this climb?" "Yeah sure!" *does the climb* "Umm...can you do it again but use your feet this time?"  #climbingproblems

Must Climb: Acadia National Park

Being addicted to rock climbing and having too much schoolwork and research to actually go rock climbing...  #climbingproblems

Keep Calm and QuickTox On

Guess who's all done husking and shelling?! THIS GIRL!! It's very exciting. Now all I have to do is grind about 600 samples and run aflatoxin and fumonisin QuickTox assays on each! No big deal or anything right? On the bright side, I can now work inside and not freeze my fingers off in the morning

Perfect

 Alrighty! I've been doing quite a bit of climbing - I'll be getting a membership at the local climbing gym tonight :)  That way I don't need to pay a ridiculous amount of money or use my friends guest passes every time! Plus, I'm really sick of climbing the same routes every time at the wall on campus. Problem solved - I'm going to TRC tonight!

On Friday, I went out to Lonerider Bar for my friend's 29th birthday (way to make me feel like a child!). Later that night, Emma and I met up with Megan and went to one of her church friend's house for games, movies, and junk food. Needless to say, I had quite a bit of fun! This weekend, my friend Emma and I went to the Handmade Market in downtown. It was so cool and crafty! I got a lot of gifts for my family and friends there (plus a few for myself). We went to a few other art/vintage stores and a Tibetan one. We grabbed a late lunch at Raleigh Times Bar which I highly recommend if you're ever in Raleigh!! It was a blast!

So yeah, that's the life as a graduate student. Research, boring classes, run, climb, eat, sleep, wake up early, research. Have some photos :)

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. -Dale Carnegie

If you wanna fly, you have to give up the shit that weighs you down. -Toni Morrison

Love Affair

Guys and gals, I have something very serious I need to tell y'all. I'm having an affair. I mean I love Aspergillus and everything but yesterday I spent all day and all night with a virus! Oh I know, I'm a terrible human being! How could I ever cheat on my beloved Aspergillus? Wait, it's because there is this terrible class called 501 that has a virology section in it that had an exam this morning! Don't worry Aspergillus, I promise to never betray you in such a way ever again! Can you possibly forgive my horrendous act and take me back?

Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because in will int the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness. -Thomas Jeferson

I've been living a farm on the days I don't have classes. What a better way to spend my day than driving across the state to husk and shell corn (and then proceed to spill it all over the truck) and then drive back across the state! It's not as romantic as you may think - driving into the sunrise hurts the eyes and riding off into the sunset that's glaring off of cars going 10mph in a 70mph. I promise you, it only sounds cute but it's really not. Honestly, I love working on the farm - I would really like to be a permanent farm hand out there! So yeah, I'll pile up the picks below so you can see the process I go through everyday out on the farm :)

Live a good and honorable life, then when you get older and think back you can enjoy it a second time.
-Words of Wisdom from a Farmer

Yeah, so running and climbing are dominating my life (when I'm done on my dates with Aspergillus that is). The leaves are changing color finally so I'm going to go to a few parks this weekend and douse myself in nature. My friend also informed me he's going back to Red River Gorge this weekend - you know, not jealous or anything. It's like putting a steak in front of a vegetarian; not tempting at all. I really really really need to get my climbing friends to go on weekend expeditions with me! Bring your girlfriends, I don't care, I just want to climb! Bring little blondie who doesn't want to get dirt under her nails - I just want to climb! Bring miss city slicker who is afraid of a cricket - I just want to climb!! Look what you turned me into Aaron...

Words that soak into your ears are whispered and not yelled. -Wise Old Farmer

Well, this plant geek needs to do her online class and then start the job search! Hopefully Northern California, Oregon, and/or Washington are looking for a super smart plant pathologist that is an expert in crop consulting and best management practices. Hey guess what! I just so happen to be studying the exact same thing! Wow - it's like a photobiont/symbiont match!! I'm glad all y'all put up with my geekiness :D

Essentially, all life depends upon the soil ... There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together. - Charles E. Kellogg

By the way, I won't be making it to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. Have no worries, Christmas is shortly after and I'll be attending that as long as I don't die of liver cirrhosis from aflatoxin! I wish I could say I was kidding - if you want to know all about aflatoxin just google search it! Please don't eat any of corn that looks like any of the pictures I post :)

172 bags of corn, 9288 ears of corn coming right up! 

Toy Numero Uno!

Toy Numero Dos! I can back trucks up like a pro!

Husking, shelling, and weighing station

Heft bag onto table, write down plot number (Fung 204), empty bag onto table and begin husking.

Throw husks into garbage.

Separate into insect damage (top left), fungal (bottom left), and disgustingly healthy. Count the amount of insect and disease and the total amount of ears. Record in scientific notebook appropriately.

Get those ears shelled. Ears go in on the top, kernels out the bottom, and cob out the side.

Next step: Weigh that shit and record. It's a very scientific process.

Load all the bags into the truck, haul over to the lab, run a moisture test on it!

Here are the other PlantPath Girls in my year in the department. Leah, me, Megan Sexton, Emily, Emma

Love from the farm!

Red River Gorge(ous)

Hey y'all! I'm back from the mountains and reality sucks. My break from the city was not long enough!! Anyways, this week ought to be enough to make me disappear into Nature again for a few days. Exams, field work, long drives, and trying to function like a normal person in reality...ugh. Can I please please please go back to Red River Gorge?! The 7 hour drive is worth it.

Yeah, I was here!!

My friend Aaron met me at Red River Gorge for a long weekend adventure. It was so freaking awesome to meet up with a friend I hadn't seen for almost 5 months! Plus he had the vast majority of camping and climbing gear. Anyways, our weekend consisted of climbing, hiking, starting a fire, pitching tents, packing backpacks full of gear, and climbing. Pretty boring huh?

Miguel's Pizza and Rock Climbing

  First destination - Animal Crackers Wall. There were some 5.7 and 5.8 climbs (ones that I can do fairly easily) and a 5.10a climb. My climbing partner didn't bother to tell me that I was climbing a 5.10a - the very top of my ability with some struggling - until I finished. But after I learned that I just conquered that wall with only 2 slip-ups, I felt like queen of the rock. What's even better is that the view from the top of the climb was gorgeous! Haha, get it? 

Animal Crackers Wall

So we did a bunch of climbing the first day, mainly Aaron lead climbing and I followed to clean up the gear, (Animal Crackers and The Boneyard walls) and then hiked out to Indian Creek and set up camp by a creek. The next day we hiked to Gray's Arch (see photo below). Then we did trad climbing at Fortress Wall. Aaron stuck gear into the rock, set up an anchor thing, then I went up to gather the gear. We climbed Snake (5.8) and another one I can't remember.

Lead Climbing - when they climb up, clip into hooks with draws and continue to the top. Then they send up a second person (top roping) to clean up the draws! It was a lot of fun - next skill I need to learn: LEAD CLIMBING!!

Gray's Arch

 The last day we did a multi-pitch climb. I can say with 100% confidence that was my favorite climb we did! We climbed Jungle Beat at Military Wall (5.9+) which turned out be at the upper limit for both of us. Aaron lead and place the gear. Then he built an anchor and belayed me from up above as I climbed and collected the gear. Then we managed to get me clipped into the anchor, transfer me the rope, re-rack the gear onto him, get him off of the anchor, and he start climbing again. And repeat a few more times. It was a 4-pitch climb and it was awesome! I gashed my knee and left some elbow skin on the rock but we made it to the top!! Making it to the top is such a rush - maybe that's the adrenaline junkie in me talking but it's an amazing feeling!!

Climber 1 climbs up, sticks pro strategically, gets to the top of the pitch, sets, anchor, belays climber 2. Climber 2 collects the placed pro and gets up to climber 1. Climber 2 gets into the anchor, climber 1 re-racks the gear onto themselves, gets off the anchor as climber 2 belays them up to the next pitch. Repeat until you get to the top.

This guy is about to place a cam into that crack...

A nut in the crack with a draw connecting it to the rope.

Then the example of me...the cleaner. I got heavier as I climbed as I was accumulating the gear Aaron placed. Aaron got lighter as he climbed but he had the pressure of placing pro strategically so if either of us fell the pro would catch us. No pressure or anything right?

 Basically, Red River Gorge was way more than I thought it would be. Needless to say, if someone called up and said, "Hey! Want to go climbing at RRG this weekend?" I would have no issue saying YES! I'll even ditch my paper and research for another weekend at the Red. So yeah, have some pictures of mine! The above ones aren't mine but show the beauty of RRG :)

Aaron was lead climbing - you can kind of see where he clipped in. I'm on the ground in the middle lead belaying him

View from Animal Crackers Wall over Muir Valley

Not quite sure who he is but this is what we were doing :)

This was the 5.10a I did unknowingly but now I know I can do that difficult of a climb!

View on our way to Gray's Arch

Have I told you that this place is absolutely gorgeous? Pun intended.

Not really knowing or caring what day or time it is, is super refreshing. Just climb and hike and life is good!

Rocks are kind of cool. They put some serious competition on plants!

Beginning of Jungle Beat - the 5.9+ trad climb we did on our last day!!

Intimidating looking climb: CHECK. Intimidating actually climbing it: CHECK. The rush after climbing this: PRICELESS.

KY/VA border - best nature retreat since I've moved to NC!! Can I please go back? Like right now?

Thanks for reading this guys!! I hope y'all can tell how much fun I had at RRG and how beautiful this place is. Even if y'all don't climb, this is a great place to hike and get your Nature-fill. Don't be surprised if I go back here soon :)