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

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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!