Dont blink here is the Alamo...I almost walked by it. I guess when you spend sometime in Europe nothing really compares to there historical sites (that sounds so snotty), but honestly its really hard to be blown away by architecture or these parts of our history when you have been to the Colosseum etc.
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| YAY!!! Found some froyo! |
It was a nice day and I can see why people love this area. If I could do this all over again, I definitely would have lived downtown! I also learned another wardrobe lesson, do not wear new boots for the first time when you know you will be walking a lot (Col and Sha I know I should have learned my lesson at Country Fest).
When I was living in Salt Lake City I found a love for Carl's Jr., an obsession with their teriyaki pineapple burger.
I ate it probably every night and lost about 25 lbs seriously thats being conservative. How? I dont know how but I did.
And here I have fell in love with Del Taco, it is SO FREAKIN GOOD! There beer battered fish tacos are out of this world! In college because I was a science major with pre-med I had to take a lot of courses about the human body as well as nutrition courses. So I know that this stuff is bad for you, but its fast and tastes incredible so if I am actually losing weight how bad can it really be?
BAD BAD BAD
We hired a new post-doc at our company and he presented his thesis that in lame mans words was about the effect of fat on your health. Have you ever heard of people being "skinny-fat" its a really disgusting term some guys use to describe girls who are skinny but not toned. Well that's what he was talking about doesnt matter if your a size 0 or 12 if you have an abundance of adipose tissue, especially in the stomach area, it can cause serious health issues, and make you more susceptible to cancer, diabetes (obvi), heart disease and a slew of others. He addressed the hot topic last year of brown adipose tissue being beneficial to your health, which is semi true but you cant really control how your body absorbs, digests, and disperses the fat.
I, like a whole bunch of women are so siked when we drop a pant size but if you are doing it by eating unhealthy you might as well have stayed the size you were before (not talking about obese people). He had proven statistics that if you are going to carry stomach weight, which is usually adipose (fat) then you are harming your body as much as an alcoholic or smoker.
So now more then ever when I put things into my mouth I think about how long do I want to live, and is it worth it. Sounds dramatic but its so true. You have to live too and I love love love food and most of the time its bad things like Doritos and kit kats so I have made a rule I can eat 3 meals out of the week of whatever I want, and the rest are high protein, fiber, and greens. Does it always taste amazing, no but it makes those tacos taste even better knowing that I have worked for them. I also cut down on diet coke to 5 a week from, well I am too embarrassed to say. I am trying to not preach because trust me I am not a dieter but you are doing some harm, whether you can physically can tell or not. Thank you LifeTime Fitness for your all organic premade meals:
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| Play on chix cordon bleu |
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| These are amazing and taste like Baby Ruths |
The gym and I have had a love hate relationship, I hate going and love leaving sore and tired. I cant really say I mastered total conditioning class, but I did survive. I became slightly obsessed with the gym because what else am I going to do? I religiously went to spin, yoga, and total conditioning. I found myself at times talking back to the teachers because I was so competitive and sometimes could not keep up, "you can do anything for 60 seconds" "why dont you do it instead of walking around" and I definitely said "are you serious" and " Ill show you my sun salutation" a bunch of times. These classes were no joke and they killed me every night. But I am by far in the best shape of my life. Am I thinner? I have no idea I stopped weighing myself and just went by how I felt. Can I run a marathon now? No, but I can spin the shit out of a bike, do lunges and plyos for a whole hour, and I can do the side crane pose which are all things I couldnt do before.
Soooo, I am finally out of here and its definitely bitter sweet. If my job didnt move to San Antonio the decision to leave my job would have been a lot harder. I (hopefully dont offend people) do not like San Antonio. I just never felt safe EVER, except for when I am at work because we have high security. I am not a very paranoid person, but I feel like a lot people are always under the influence and it can be extremely obnoxious when you are trying to get groceries or just pump gas. I definitely dont have a problem if you want to get high or day drink but dont come out in public and be annoying or make people feel uncomfortable. AND DONT BRING YOUR KIDS WITH YOU!
I cant really describe how I feel unsafe I mean I have lived in some sketchy areas in Boston and never felt like this. I just dont like standing in line at a gas station worried that someone is going to loose their shit or pull a gun and that is a constant feeling. Its also disheartening to see parents whos kids are not even dressed properly purchasing cigarettes and large amounts of alcohol, or people reeking of booze and getting in their car and driving. I was even worried about packing my car the night before in case someone breaks in. So to say the least I would never live here again...thats the sweet part about leaving.
The bitter is I love my job (insert mouth drop from my family and Craig who I complain to about it) but all in all I really lucked out working for a lab with such great people. Its really uncommon to like everyone you work with. I am the only female under my boss, it was a little intimidating at first but it has given me confidence to walk into a room of educated men and be able to give my input. To have people of this caliber come to me for help or insight is ridiculous and it feels like if B.Spears were to come up and ask me how to twirl.
Like me? Your the smart one? You have been twirling for years, and have had way more school for twirling then the years I have been alive (insert horn I am tooting). Anyways, its pretty flattering. So I am going to miss them a lot.
So, I hired someone to take my place, and he has been working and learning for about 2 weeks now so its freed me up to play some final pranks on my co-workers. Hmmm Josh your bringing your left over wedding cake from the wedding you didnt have to the thanksgiving company lunch?
By the end of the week there were so many congrats on there I would die everytime I checked. And then I decided to sign up Mingkui to bring some hot pockets, swear to God I walked into his office this morning googling hotpockets.
Oh you guys want me to share some of my chocolates that Ruth brought me back from Vienna okay, sure a white chocolate eraser you will get.
The bitterest part is going to be saying goodbye to my boss. She took a huge risk hiring me for a position I had little experience in, the research I knew, but I had little experience with coordinating a lab, grants, budgeting, editing manuscripts, etc. I was a fish out of water, and she took me in and she taught me me so much, more then all my education and 3 years of prior work. Her approach to research is one of a kind, she has a M.D. and Ph.D. describing it as "I have a scientist on one shoulder and a doctor on the other, every experiment we preform it has to be executed as a scientist, and examined by a doctor. The Doctor has to ask how is this going to help people, is this going to be beneficial to saving lives."
The research field is both inspiring and depressing. A crap ton of money is given to Principal Investigators by the government and people like Bill Gates ( I have been on a project yet that he hasnt funded), and they are suppose to use it to find a cure/vaccine. But it is a competitive field for publishing your work, and I think sometimes they forget about what the big picture is, they just want to have the featured article in Science or Nature, and that is the depressing part. I have heard stories of people going to extreme lengths to steal ideas. There will be millions give to one PI working on the same project as another PI given millions only miles apart, and whoever publishes first is the "winner" it's disappointing that egos get in the way of collaborations. Its stupid. I think that this should be regulated, funding is being cut and the government is in some serious debt so why not force PI's to work together. Competition does spark motivation, but if you cant be motivated by dying kids in Africa then maybe you should become a professor, and then maybe we will find a cure for cancer and AIDS.
That felt good.
Anyways, my boss is all about collaborations if she has an idea and knows someone else that can execute then end half then she reaches out and teams up. She wants to find a cure, and that is what has been driving her for the past 30 years. Does she want to win the Nobel, of course but is she going to harbor her findings to do so, no way.
The best part about working for Ruth is that she cares about all of the people in her lab. She wants them to succeed, sometimes even more then herself. We are her family, and her life is HIV. It is beyond moving to work for her. Kids should be looking up to her instead of twerking miley. And I LOVEEEEEEEEE the fact that she is a WOMEN pioneering and relentless. So I finally asked her the question everyone asks me when I tell them I work in HIV research:
"Will there ever be a cure"
"I am not sure if there will be one in my lifetime, but on the path to finding a cure other diseases and illnesses will be cured through our research, and with the declining numbers in HIV transmission these might be even more beneficial for the population."
I will always be thankful for Ruth and her entire lab. And I will be screaming/cheering at the TV when she walks across the stage to receive that Nobel!
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| lets me honest I wont look like that lol |
Even though my parents graciously offered to fly me back and ship my car, I decided to drive. One more road trip with the mini. She's got a new pair of rear shoes, and has had a fab makeover oil change. This is her last journey, I have put 150,000 miles on her and I couldnt let her do it alone on the back of a truck bed. We are going a different route home, the fastest way possible.
I am beyond excited to get home, mostly to kiss, spoil, and babysit my Isla
to see friends and my family!!!!! So excited that my aunt Janet is flying in from Alaska for Thanksgiving, and I cant wait to have my Nana's turkey. I have a bunch of wedding appointments and it will be nice to have everything finalized before finally heading to AUSTRIA!
If I could do it all over again would I choose to come out here? I would because even thought at times I felt like I was loosing my mind here it was worth it to help out my lab, because their research is far beyond me having a couple lemons thrown at my face. It also helped me realize that these little excursions I think are a good idea arent really that exciting if I dont have my family or Craig.
Huge thank you to Craig for all the support you have given me, I wouldnt have lasted without you!
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and you experience some extreme turkey coma.
See you in Austria (Gina get the rodels ready, Meg book your flight, Elle get those snowpants packed, and Craig pick me up some Milka!)!!!!!!!!!!!!
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