Mommy and me

I love my mom. She's always been there for me. As I grow older, I've come to appreciate her more and more. She's Wonder Woman. She raised me as a single parent, while going to school and working.

This is our birthday month and it's special because our birthdays are one day apart. We get to celebrate together each year. Thank you mom, for everything you've done for me! I love you!

Gonna be walking on this beach in four days!!!!!! CAN'T WAIT!

Puppy Love

I love that Buddy dog!

The Prayer

"The Prayer"

I pray You'll be our eyes,

and watch us where we go,

and help us to be wise,

in times that we don't know.

Let this be our prayer,

when we lose our way.

Lead us to a place,

guide us with Your grace,

to a place where we'll be safe.

Rapid Methods

Every summer, there is a Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology Conference in Manhattan, KS. I LOVE IT! I have been going to it and helping out with the lab-based portion for six years now.

Not only does everyone learn a lot, but it's a really great place to network and make new friends. Most of us come back every year and it is like a big reunion. After a full day of micro, we head to the hotel bar for some drinks and fun! This is a pic of us goofballing it up! Good times, good people, lots of fun!

I don't want to miss a moment.

I don't want to miss a thing.

Timmer and his Mini Me

Tim and his nephew Wyatt hamming it up for the camera!

Location: Sedgwick County Zoo

Love this guy. Love this puppy. Love the chick who took this picture. :)

Stormy

I love a good storm!

Home

There's no place like home...

Twas a busy day in the lab...

Artist at work

K-Money is an artist....design, photography...you name it! She's got the gift!

Love is in the air!

Congrats on your engagement Casey and Melissa!

Moving along

Unlatch those chains,

I want to pass through.

Where will I go,

what will I do?

Around the next bend,

what's up ahead?

Calm or rough waters,

which will I tread?

For now I will dream,

of what's coming my way.

Love, laughter, happiness,

enjoying each day!

Husky

Someday, I would like a husky puppy! I have always loved them! I would love to play in the snow with one and take it on walks. They are really beautiful dogs and I love their eyes! Someday...

Baby Gray

Oh Tyke, you are such a terror! You get into everything and you are the destructor! You know what though???? I absolutely adore you!

Hope!

I took this picture while driving home from work one day. This rainbow was HUGE, and I know you cannot tell by this pic, but it was a full rainbow. Very cool! When I see a rainbow, I think about God's Promise...a promise of hope! I picked this for my entry tonight because I am feeling very hopeful about the future! I am SO happy right now and I am really looking forward to living life and having lots of fun with family and friends! Thank you to all of you who have been there for me! I really appreciate and love you all more than you will ever know! I am very blessed to have such wonderful people in my life!

Michael and I...eat your heart out girls!

Michael Buble and I "have a thing going on". Basically, I love him....he has the BEST voice. My mom and I went to his concert last October and it was AMAZING! No lip synching going on there! Although I love everything he sings, my favorite songs are "Lost", "Home" and "Moondance". If he ever has a concert in the near vicinity again....I will be there!

My Buffy

The wedding months are upon us and as they approach, I am reminded of the wedding of my dear friend Buffy! It was last July 5th, 2008 at the KSU Alumni Center....the perfect setting! Buffy and I went to grad school together and both worked in the lab at KSU. She is a great friend and we had lots of fun together, whether it was plating samples, having fun at Rapid Methods, or enduring the dreaded Stats 703 class. I owe Buffy big! She came to the lab at 4am to help me smoke jerky for my thesis project. That is dedication! I love you Buff! Thank you so much for being there for me and for being such a wonderful friend!

Happy Cinco De Mayo

This one's for you!

Fun at Cargill

We like to have a LOT of fun at Cargill. We even have a fun team, which I am blessed to be President of! I love it! Each month, we have a different fun activity. We usually couple these with a charity, so we can have fun and give back to our community at the same time. This particular picture is from last December when we had the "Peppermint Pie in the Face" activity. We had everyone vote for which manager they would most like to throw a pie at. They voted with money and whoever got the highest amount had to face the music...or the pie in this case! LOL. This month for Cinco De Mayo, we are having the Cargill First Annual Salsa Bowl Competition. I really enjoy all of these activities and am thankful that I work at such a "fun" place!

Grandpa Paul

My dad grew up never knowing his real father. When I was 16, we decided to track him down. With the help of some relatives in Kentucky, we were able to determine his name and address. I decided to write him a letter explaining that I thought I was his granddaughter and that my dad and I would like to get to know him.

Months later, I received a phone call from Paul Vickers, my grandpa. The voice on the other end of the line was so familiar that I actually thought it was my dad at first. That was 10 years ago now, and since then, we have all become quite close.

I am SO happy that my dad has found his father! From looks to mannerisms, they are very much alike. They talk every week and get together often. We all spent this last Thanksgiving together at their home in Mobile, Alabama.

I feel very blessed to have been given this chance to meet and get to know my grandpa. Family is very important and it is NEVER too late to foster relationships with your relatives!

Dirty Little Rat

I apologize for the poor quality of this picture....actually though....be glad it isn't that good. It's a pic of a decapitated rat! You can just barely make out its yellow chompers! This was found on my cousin Sara's front porch! Let's just hope that an animal deposited it there and not some serial killer in the making! Sara!!!! You in danger girl! I'll be sure and keep y'all updated on further mutilated animal findings. Scary!!!

My Girls

These are my girls, Kristen and Kasey (Red). I love these two! They are great friends! We always have a lot of fun and a lot of laughs when we hang out together. Although I am an only child, I feel like I have sisters and I am very thankful for this!

Sunsets

I love sunsets! I took this picture while at the beach in Sarasota last May. There is something so serene and peaceful about watching the sun go down over the ocean. It always makes me feel at ease, while at the same time...making me feel very small. The vastness of the ocean will do that to you.

Labrat!

This little guy graces the door outside our lab when we decorate for holidays. We originally got him for Halloween, but we put him out for Christmas too with little antlers! He is our "labrat"

Micro Nerd

This is an example of what I do each day at work. This happens to be an agar plate with an isogrid membrane. The little red dots in the squares are cfu's-colony forming units. Each one represents one cell of bacteria. E. coli O157:H7 happens to be the "catch of the day" on this particular plate.

My Boys

These are my cats. Tyke is on the left, Diggy on the right. They are the best cats a girl could ask for. I love them SO SO SO much! Diggy is a Siamese mix and I got him when I started graduate school in 2005. He is four years old now. He has beautiful big blue eyes. He is a sweetie and he loves to snuggle! Tyke on the other hand, is a TERROR!!! LOL! I love him though! He just gets into everything, but he is so cute! He is a year and a half old. I love these two. They are always there for me and always happy to see me when I come home!

Manic Monday

Today was crazy busy! We had a lot going on in the lab. I really love these types of days though because they just fly by so fast! I really enjoy my job and the people that I work with. We laugh a lot in the lab and just generally have a fun time. As my fellow co-worker put it..."I love this job because where else can you act like a complete TARD and have it be acceptable?" LOL...Well said! I totally agree! Plus, we get to listen to music all day every day. Gotta love that factor!

Happy Hour

I am really enjoying the warmer weather outside! It is fabulous! For the last two days at work, the lab crew has been going out for Happy Hour at Sonic. From 2-4 Sonic has half-price drinks and we all love the Diet Cherry Limeades! It is the perfect break from work! Today I enjoyed the Route 44 Bladder Buster! LOL. :)

Take me out to the ball game!

Tonight was game night. Shockers vs. Wildcats baseball style. Who won???? K-S-U Wildcats!!! Oh yes. Did I rub it in??? Definitely!

There was a beautiful sunset tonight right over Eck Stadium. I got some good pics and will be posting them very soon!!!

Cotton candy + sunflower seeds + baseball + great friends = lots of fun!!

Advice

For the past week and a half, I have been asking people to list ten pieces of advice that they have concerning life....an example would be: Never burn bridges. So far, I have gotten back at least 20 replies, so 200 little bits of wisdom. I am really enjoying reading these. There are definitely a lot of trends. The youngest person to reply is 19 and the oldest is 79.

I have not decided what to do with the replies yet. I want to do something really neat. Something inspirational! For tonight, I will leave you with my personal ten:

1. Everyone deserves respect.
2. Be kinder than necessary, you never know what silent struggles people are fighting.
3. Laugh often!
4. Always end phone conversations with your parents with, I love you.
5. Words hurt....really THINK before you say something you may come to regret.
6. Find someone who loves you for who you are, without trying to change you.
7. Forgive and let things go.
8. Sometimes, all it takes is a smile to change the entire course of someone's day.
9. Give of yourself with no strings attached.
10. Cherish your family and friends. They will be the ones to pick you up when you are at your lowest point.

Night!

Day One

So I am starting a blog!!!! I have several friends that blog and I love reading theirs. It gives me a chance to keep up with what is going on in their lives. Plus, how neat would it be to be able to look back, down the road, and reflect on things you did and memories you created along the way! I think I am really going to enjoy this!

Plus, I just ordered a USB for my camera so I can upload snapshots of life. My boys, Diggy and Tyke, somehow got ahold of my other one, so I had to pay a visit to the Nikon Store. LOL! Gotta love those catters!