laura_co

Mexico Pics

2008-05-06T21:35:42Z

I was just looking through some pictures from Juarez, Mexico on facebook and I decided to post some here. They're in no particular order; I took most of them (except for the ones of me, of course) on Devin's old SLR. I really miss having my Rebel and I wish I used it more when I did have it. One day I will buy one for myself.

This is a picture inside the window of a school we visited. This is my favorite out of all of them.

Random window. I love rusty old things.

This is our group on the bus (the bus was pink on the outside).

More weird texture related pictures. I like this one, too.

We visited the health clinic (someone with us actually had to make use of it) and right next door was a basketball court.

Some of us played a pickup game with the local kids. It's awesome how easy it can be to cross cultural and language barriers.

Swings next to the basketball court

Two old ladies I caught crossing the street :o)

This is Chewy, the Mexican worker who helped us build our house. He was teaching us how to dance.

Our Lady of Guadeloupe inside the library at the school we visited (same as the first picture).

I found it ironic that the fire extinguisher wasn't there.

Here's our whole group together. I'm the dork in the bright green shirt in the front row.

Some of the local boys. They were our boyfriends for the week :o)

On our way out of Juarez

Even though it's blurry I'm glad I caught this one. These women are so beautiful.

Happy travels!

It's a long wait to get over the bridge to America. A lot longer than the drive into Mexico.

This is the compound where we stayed.

A little boy who lived nearby the site we were working at

And the neighbor's pit bull. Most of the dogs were pretty emaciated and mangy (or dead).

A little hat on the ground

laura_co @ 2008-04-21T14:47:00

2008-04-21T20:51:00Z

I'll try to post more pictures and such, you know, update more than once a month, lol. Here's a gratuitously ridiculous picture for your general enjoyment.

This was when I procrastinated revising my paper and Kris came and fed me with cheesy gordita crunches. What more could a girl ask for?

_l

epic FAIL.

2008-03-19T03:51:34Z

I find it a bit humorous how I log onto LJ just about every day, and yet the last time I updated here was over two months ago. My photo idea has been an epic FAIL, even though I joined two photography communities in order to inspire me to post more. I must be more attentive here.

Anyway, some things have happened since the last time I updated:

-Dick Schrock came, and I understood what he was talking about! It was pretty exciting.
-I gave and passed my literature seminar. So glad that's over.
-I discovered the joy that is Classico's Vodka Sauce and Tracie's secret recipe for making the best mac and cheese in the entire world
-I happened to fetch myself a handsome young boyfriend (the most exciting part about life recently!)
-the 'rents are coming to visit for Easter (which means I should probably clean the house, huh?)

That is my list of wonderful updates. I'll try to be better about it, but it'll probably fail.

..I wonder how many people even read this who aren't my mom or friends of my other LJ account..

_l

It's been a while, huh?

2008-01-16T19:36:21Z

Hey everyone. It's been a long time since my last post. CO is still doing well, I am still doing well. At the beginning of this month I was stressed beyond my limits, and now deadlines have seemed to relax themselves, and in turn, relaxed me. That is fabulous.

Anyway, my main reason for writing today is I got a new digital camera for Christmas! I'm hoping to take at least one picture a week and post it here, just so I can be a little more attentive to anyone who still reads this. And I would begin today, except for the fact that I forgot my USB chord. So perhaps sometime later in the week.

Anyway, until later.

_laura in CO

:o))))))

2007-10-03T21:48:29Z

OMG, Smashing Pumpkins were AMAZING--the best concert I've ever and will ever see. I really want to see them again in concert.

In other news, I purchased some 52mm filter-type close-up lenses (+1, +2, +4 and macro) that fit on my new 52mm lens that my parents sent my way. So now I can take some neat close-up shots. If I get around to scanning, I'll post some of the pictures I've taken around CO and then you can be jealous of how beautiful it is here.

_l

Super cool chemistry nerd news

2007-08-21T01:12:13Z

I just found out today that Richard Schrock of MIT is coming to CSU to give a talk! He's a Nobel laureate and pretty much a rock star in chemistry. Super sweet! I'll probably get to go out to lunch with him :o)

_l

hey...updating...

2007-08-19T05:33:41Z

Yeah, about that. It's been a while, I know. Do you like the new icon? My hair is about that long now. Might need a trim sometime soon, if I ever remember to get around to it, lol. Here are the most exciting things in my life right now in list form:

- I bought tickets to go see the Smashing Pumpkins at Red Rocks, Sept 30th!! I'm suped. It's a life goal of mine to see them in concert. I got their new CD and they sound a lot like Billy Corgan's (technically) fourth band more than they do true SP, but I like the music nonetheless.

- I purchased a new camera at a yard sale for the bank-breaking price of $2, $1 of which was spent on two boxes of flash bulbs. It's a Kodak Brownie Starmite II. I bought it before I knew the film for it would be twice as much as I paid for the camera. It's fun, anyway. I can't get the flash to work yet and I'm not sure that I'm winding the film far enough when I take pictures, but we'll have to see once I develop it. 127 film, if you ever feel the need to be nice and send me some :o)

- I'm learning guitar and hope to purchase one of my own. I'm getting pretty good at it, except I have a difficult time trying to make a strumming pattern while singing. When I chew gum at the same time, all disaster breaks loose.

- School starts Monday. I am not looking forward to it. I've been enjoying my time over the summer. The concept of teaching and grading papers is not appealing to me at the moment. ugh.

- that's all folks. Time for me to go home and go to bed!!

_l

New Addy

2007-07-01T18:11:27Z

Hey folks,

Just wanted to update you with the new address:

2918 Fauborough Ct
Fort Collins, CO 80525

Feel free to send me lots of fun things if you so desire.

_l

Just thought I'd share:

2007-06-07T21:23:11Z

I signed a lease for a new house today!!!!!!!

I have a place to live for at least a year! wahoo!

_l

Sorry about the delay..

2007-05-23T04:37:24Z

Wow, has it been a while! I'm not as good about updating my journal as I had hoped. Like maybe every three months, lol. I will give you a short synopsis of how my semester went, the good and the bad:

The Good:

- I passed my second cume, also inorganic/materials. That's good for me because it means I can choose either inorganic or materials for my next three :o)
- Teaching went rather well. Only one person out of about 70 didn't like me, which is the same as last semester. So, overall I think I did pretty well.
- I enjoyed lots of parties at our house this semester (with two awesome roommates). Luckily our house was virtually soundproof, otherwise I think the neighbors would have hated us severely.
- I went to Mexico and built some houses. It was a lot of fun and I got closer to some people I knew, and met some new people as well. Came home with a nasty case of bronchitis, but it was all worth it in the end.
- Research is off and running. I am starting to get into the groove of things. I had a mini freak-out moment where I was wondering what the crap I was doing in grad school, and I felt crazy until I realized that everyone freaks out about grad school about once a week. Grad school isn't supposed to be fun! Everyone hates it but they go through it because it's worth the hard work. Not that it's terrible, there are things that I do enjoy about it. It's just really intimidating.

The Bad:

- Yeah, a girl backed into my car and somehow I had to foot the bill for it. Thanks, insurance company, for letting people defraud the system on my dime. Lesson learned: always call the cops, never trust anyone and have an insurance copay of less than $1000 if you ever want to see your money again.
- The people who owned our house moved back into it on May 16th. And we still have yet to find a place to live, but prospects are looking good. There seems to be a few reasonably priced, non-trashed places near campus still around. Luckily I have friends who let me sublease their apartment.
- Someone walked off with my digital Rebel. I made a police report a week ago Saturday, but I haven't heard back. Which means it's probably not at a pawn shop anymore if it ever was and I probably won't ever see it again. Luckily, I still have my 35mm with the telephoto lens, but that means I can only take long-distance 35mm photos now. I am most sad about this loss, because I keep seeing things I want to take pictures of and then I remember that I can't, because someone took my camera from my own home while I was there. Lesson learned again: never trust anyone, even if you open your home to them.

So it has been a very good semester, albeit expensive. But that's what it means to be on your own--to live through great experiences and bad ones, too, all the while learning who you are and how to survive. I'm doing all right out here, I really do love CO. It's the right place for me to be right now.

_l

yess!

2007-02-23T16:51:26Z

I found out this week that I passed my first cume! I got 163/200 points--and it was a materials one, too. I'm super excited :o) Unfortunately for me, the first Saturday in March comes a lot quicker b/c February is so short. I'm hoping to pass this one, too. It would totally rock if I did.

I had a good birthday, too :o) If you're on facebook you can see my party pictures. We know how to live it up at 1625 Tanglewood.

that's all for now.
_l

MO Theory.. again.

2007-01-30T22:38:55Z

So I found out today that, once again, I will be learning, and more importantly be graded on, molecular orbital theory. Did I mention that I hate MO theory? Because I hate MO theory.

I think in chemistry hell, Satan makes chemists do MO theory for the rest of eternity.

sigh.

_l

Hi again

2007-01-13T21:55:52Z

Hey. I have some pictures of my house and everything but the computers here on campus don't let me upload them. So I'll get them up once I feel like tackling the task.

I got some new glasses (finally). They're Vogue :o)

They look even better on my face. I'll eventually put of a picture of that, too.

Sorry for the lack of posting (I seem to appologize for that often..) But that's all I have for now.

_l

Christmas :o)

2006-12-26T22:11:59Z

Christmas time is here! I got an awesome digital camera for Christmas that goes with my Rebel lenses. I am super duper happy. Now I can post more pictures!

Just thought I'd share the joy. Merry Christmas everyone!

Oh, and on the PS, I totally got A's in both my classes this semester. Sweet!

_l

Magnetic anisotropy...

2006-12-13T09:07:27Z

It's nearly 2am Wednesday morning and I'm finishing up a final presentation that I have to give for my Electronic Materials class at 4pm. To my credit, I did start this presentation earlier than usual. It has just taken me an extraordinary amount of time for me to understand the material that I'm presenting on. I'm presenting on a spintronics concept. Very simply put, spintronics is electronics using magnetic materials and magnetic fields to manipulate current. I would like to point out that physics is probably one of my least favorite subjects because it just doesn't click with me. However, spintronics is mostly physics based. To make matters worse, it deals with two of my least favorite physics subjects: circuitry and magnetic fields. My article is even out of the Applied Physics Letters. I totally did myself in :o)

I do have to admit, the topic is pretty interesting, albeit difficult for me to understand completely. This brings me to the reason why I was updating in the first place: magnetic anisotropy.

Don't know what it is? That's just it. It's part of that vague, smart-sounding science lingo that you use when you can't think of the answer to a test question and you want a shot at partial credit or if you really want to impress people at a party. Science types understand it for the most part, but does anyone know what it is exactly?

I can tell you, because now I know.

But I won't because my brain is pretty much done for tonight. After my presentation, I have a 1000-word paper left to write on the presentation (which should be cake now that I've written my presentation), and a rediculous amount of grading to finish by Thursday. Add to that moving into the new house. I will be very busy for the next couple of days.

Goodnight(morning?) all.
_l

laura_co @ 2006-12-02T10:02:00

2006-12-02T17:02:45Z

Phew! I just got finished with taking the first cumulative exam that I passed in. It's my last freebie, and hopefully I passed it. I don't really have a good feel for it since the topic and questions were pretty vague, but hopefully I did OK. And if not, then I bumped the curve down for some of the second-years who are approaching the end of their cume time. I'm crossing my fingers; it'd be nice to pass this one so I only have to worry about four more.

In other news, I signed my lease yesterday, so now I have keys to the kingdom! I'm incredibly excited. Soon I move in, and then I don't have to live in a little studio apt. anymore! Totally awesome.

But now it's time to go home and maybe take a nap. Sleep would be fantastic right about now.

_l

laura_co @ 2006-11-29T12:11:00

2006-11-29T19:11:34Z

Yay! The house situation is settled. There was some confusion with the original house I posted about--two people were looking for renters and the other people won out on the lease. We were super bummed out because it was such a good deal, but we kept on looking. We saw some pretty neat houses for too much money, some pretty crappy houses also for too much money, and we were all but frustrated until we came upon 1625 Tanglewood Dr.

The owners just recently moved back to the UK, and they're renting out the house until June when they plan on selling the place. The best part? It's not being rented for profit. So we get a beautiful house for a really good price--less than what I pay per month at my current apartment, including utilities. I never imagined that I could afford to live in a place so nice while in college.

Click here to see my new house!!

And if you have the inclination to send me things, please do:

1625 Tanglewood Dr
Fort Collins, CO 80525

Oh, I'm so excited!
_l

laura_co @ 2006-11-17T12:12:00

2006-11-17T19:12:37Z

Hello,

As always, it's been all too long since I've written. I hope you haven't missed me too much. There hasn't been a whole lot going on out of the ordinary go to class, teach, do homework, do laundry, clean, grocery shop excitement that is my every week. I can hardly believe the semester is almost over. I've survived so far (mostly). My recent adventures in converting Word documents to PDFs hasn't been too pleasant. I must say that both Macs and Adobe are the bain of my existence right now. But I suppose if that's my biggest issue, I'm doing all right.

I'm a little sad that I can't make it out to RI for Thanksgiving. I'll be spending the holiday with Monica as we borrow her friend's family while she's in Germany. At least I'll have someone's family to celebrate it with, even if it's not my own. The living situation may change as well, but I'll let you know more about that when the details unfold a bit.

Off to get some nourishment. Mmm, food.

_l

Wedding!

2006-10-18T18:28:48Z

Hello LJ world,

I'm super excited because this week, my sister is getting married! I think I've told just about everyone I know, including my students (who say congratulations, btw). It's hard for me to believe that my very own sister will be walking down the aisle on Saturday afternoon, but I am so happy for her and for Brian. And also because I've never stood up in a wedding before. Very, very exciting.

Because I went away on a retreat last weekend and I'll be in RI this weekend, my free time has been pretty hectic. Between grading, homework and another Inorganic Synthesis exam on Monday, I'm up to my eyeballs in work. I have aquired a new distaste for molecular orbital diagrams. You'll notice in that link I gave you that there's pretty two-atom (homonuclear) MO diagrams, while the ones I've been working on are the "six atoms/ligands to one or more metal centers" MO diagrams.
Apparently I didn't really understand them the first time around, and the second time around isn't looking much better. I think it'll eventually click in my brain..somehow. Chemicals are so complicated.

phew. Enough for now. Time to go to class and teach.
_l

Hello to all

2006-10-08T19:13:51Z

Hey folks,

Sorry that it's been a while between updates. I've been keeping busy with teaching and correcting and homework. Last night, Shannon and I made it to the CSU club hockey game vs Utah State. Although the ice rink wasn't exactly NCAA standard, I was pleasantly surprised by the level of play. I've definitely seen much worse play from some NCAA teams I've seen back east. Unfortunately, CSU was robbed. The final score was 6-5 Utah, but we scored more non-powerplay goals, one of which the Utah goalie let stroll into the net. Utah got lucky when the ref called one of our perfectly good goals as a penalty instead. Just like the refs to mess up a perfectly good game of hockey.

The cumulative exam was this Saturday, but I decided not to take it. I still have my freebies, so I'm not too worried about it.

Not much else after that. Until later,

_l

laura_co @ 2006-09-29T12:41:00

2006-09-29T18:55:24Z

I'd like to inform you all that I got a 71 on my Inorganic Synthesis exam!

Don't worry, that's a good thing--the class average was 62.7, which means anything 70 and above is an A (in Grad school they curve to a B- because that's what we need to pass, and also because the classes are wicked hard). Next Saturday I have cumulative exams. Cumes are subject tests written by the professors that you have to pass as one of the qualifications for a PhD. I have to pass 5 out of 12, and this semester I get 2 freebies that don't count if I don't pass but count if I do. There was rumor of the department doing away with cumes, but unfortunately they're not applying it to my class.

Other than that, things are pretty much the same every week. I teach Monday and Wednesday and correct labs the rest of the time. This Saturday a bunch of us are heading down to the seminary in Denver to hang out with the seminarians for some awesome prayer. And soon, I'll be heading home for my favorite (read: only) sister's wedding. I'm super excited about that.

Well, now it's class time, so peace outside.
_l

And she still exists!

2006-09-20T23:40:52Z

Hey folks,

Sorry for not updating in a while, life has been pretty busy around here between classes and teaching and grading, wow. It's quite a remarkable transition. Don't worry, I've been taking time to enjoy the scenery; Shannon (fellow chem major) and I went hiking up Greyrock on Saturday. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them. It was actually snowing when we got to the top and the chilly winds almost blew us off.

I'm also trying to submerge myself in the Catholic University Ministry here. It's a really nice community, and I've met some awesome people through it. I'm in a women's Bible study and I'm starting to play with Mass Chaos, the student music ministry. I'm excited to meet more people and make more friends here.

All in all, I'm doing well. No news is good news, right? I've been having a bit of trouble trying to get back into the swing of things, but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

That's all for now.
_l from the FC

laura_co @ 2006-08-26T13:21:00

2006-08-26T19:35:10Z

Hioh,

Well, I survived my first week of classes. I was admittedly nervous about returning to school. I know it hasn't been any longer than it would have been if I were still an undergrad (in fact it's shorter since UNH doesn't start until this week I think), but with the combination of a mostly chem-free last semester and the finality of graduating it feels like it's been a lot longer. My last super-intense class was advanced p-chem, almost a year ago. And as much as I tried to avoid taking p-chem ever again, I found myself revisited by Schrodinger and Heisenberg once more in both my classes. When it comes to quantum mechanics, I feel just like the cat:

That is, I'd rather have a 50/50 chance of dying in a box filled with toxic gas than have to take quantum mechanics again. Although I have to admit that Schrodinger is a pretty cool guy. After all, he was awarded the Nobel prize for killing imaginary cats (okay, maybe for a little more than that).

TAing has been okay so far, although this week was just safety so nothing too difficult. It's kind of a humbling experience knowing I'm in charge of educating 72 people. Why do you people trust me with these things? Hopefully, I can get it over and done with soon, or maybe, just maybe I'll find out that I enjoy it? Who knows. One week at a time though, right?

_l

First day of class!

2006-08-21T23:04:51Z

Hello again.

Today was my first day of classes, and also my first day as a TA. I'm teaching three sections of C 108, Fundamentals of Chemistry. It's chemistry for psych, exercise science, pre-vet (etc.) majors, which is a step above "Chemistry for Poets" and a step below C 112, regular gen chem. It's a real exercise in being comfortable with myself and my knowledge.

I'm taking two classes this semester: Inorganic Synthesis and Chemistry of Electronic Materials. I was going to audit an Organic class, but I decided not to at the last minute.

I saw Nickel Creek in concert yesterday. For free :o) They were pretty awesome.

I'm lacking in the anecdote skills right now, sorry about that. I'm a bit warn out for the day. Now it's dinner time, so that's all for now.

_l

Hey folks :o)

2006-08-14T20:40:53Z

Hey!

I've been having a pretty easy time settling into Fort Collins. Now, the reality of school is setting in. Last week, I attended the university GTA workshop. It was pretty informative. It was also lucrative to the tune of $100. I guess they had to get us there somehow :o) This week marks the beginning of orientation week for the chem department. My fine education at UNH allowed me forego the placement exams, so I get a bit of a break for half of today and all of tomorrow. It looks like I'll be taking an inorganic synthesis class and maybe an organic mechanism/structures class, but that is still debatable. Most of the classes I want to take are offered next semester or next year, so I kind of get the shaft for this semester. Lucky for me, though, I have a lighter courseload than everyone else.

Other than that, there's really nothing new, except for my escapades with trying to establish residency. It turns out the DMV here won't accept my city-issued birth certificate for some stupid reason or another, so I ordered another one online. It's surprisingly easy to order a birth certificate. It's a little sketch if you ask me. I will be extremely irate if city-certified is the only kind you can get. I will have a few choice words to have with the DMV.

All for now.
_l