Mid-Autumn Lowdown

Well, I'm a little over halfway through the semester and my life has been pretty crazy. 

Class is going well but keeps me busy. I have some important assignments/presentations due in the coming weeks, so I am a little stressed about them but am trying to work ahead to alleviate any last minute anxiety. I have definitely been learning a lot and am really expanding the knowledge I have for my field. 

Working in the lab has been going well. I recently met with my mentor to discuss ideas for my thesis project and am really excited for it and for the direction of our lab. I am currently working on some preliminary experiments to shape the direction of my project, as well as helping contribute to the already existing projects in our lab. 

My weekends have been much busier than I am used to as well - we have had a lot of different events to attend. We went to Disney and became Annual Passholders. It was a blast as usual. I made a last minute trip to the Midwest to visit Chris's parents, attend Homecoming/Alumni weekend, and to visit my parents and sister. We also were able to attend my good friends' wedding, which was really beautiful. Needless to say, I haven't had too much time to relax and have had to work hard to catch up and get reorganized. 

With all of the traveling and activities, it has been very difficult to keep up with eating right and exercising, but I am not becoming discouraged. I have lost 10 lbs since the beginning of August, and that keeps me motivated to keep going. Plus, I still have the Ride to Defeat ALS coming up! Chris has joined my team, so we will be riding 25 miles together on November 8 to raise money for this great cause. I would like to again thank all who have donated. I still need $50 to participate and Chris needs $80, so any additional support would be greatly appreciated! Our team website is http://web.alsa.org/site/TR/Rides/Florida?team_id=310443&pg=team&fr_id=10501. There is also an option to donate by check if you do not feel comfortable making payments online. Please follow the directions on the website or contact me directly if you need assistance. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Our current bible study is fantastic. We are reading The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst and it has been amazing so far. We are exploring how to make the best decisions in our lives. Very eye-opening and very relevant. 

Besides a couple more busy weekends with Halloween parties and such, I will be kicking it into high gear for work and class until I get to take a break for Christmas. Knowing that I will get to spend time with my family gives me the motivation to work extra hard to accomplish my goals. Also, good news - my sister's flight is booked and she'll get to visit me too! I'm already looking forward to it. 

That's all I have for this update. I'll leave you with my current mantra, "You are confined only by the walls you build yourself." 

Thanks so much for your support! God bless. 

1st Year Complete

It is hard to believe I have already accomplished an entire year of graduate school. It has definitely been a roller coaster ride, but I have grown so much in the last year. My fall courses have started and so far they are great. One class is a very in-depth discussion-based course on various topics within the cardiovascular field and the other is a prep course for my qualifying exams (which I hope to take next year). I have been working very hard in the lab (with some very long days) but I am really excited to take off with experiments and development of my project. Things are really starting to come together in my brain, and that is a great feeling.

In my last post, I mentioned I was trying to get back to a healthier version of me. Well I really committed and must say that I am pleased with my progress so far. I have been keeping track of everything I eat in the MyFitnessPal app (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/) and it has really helped me stay focused and be intentional about what I eat. It is a really great app and I highly recommend it. It has a very large database of food and a bar code scanner that will just load the nutritional information into the app for you. It allows you to pick your own goals and keep track of not only what you eat, but also your weight and exercise. Although it is sometimes very difficult to get exercise in due to work, I don't let missing a day (or two or five) bring me down. I don't look at it as starting over - life happens and that is okay. I just fit in exercise when I can. Some weeks I can work out every day, and some maybe just one day. I've already lost 7lbs, which is really encouraging. I am beginning to feel much stronger physically and mentally. I have also signed up to participate in the 2014 Ride to Defeat ALS in Tampa on November 8th. It is a 25 mile bike ride and I need to raise at least $250 to participate. I am over halfway there so far, but still need to raise a bit more. If you would like to support me, you can go to my personal fundraising page at http://web.alsa.org/goto/jmeeg. Thank you so much for those who have already shown their support!

The summer bible study I was co-leading went pretty well. I am really excited to start our new study next week. I am so grateful for the time I have been able to share with the ladies in our group and am looking forward to our continued growth, getting closer to each other and to God. I have never met such an encouraging, motivating, and strong group of women, and am so blessed to be a part of it.

Other than my every day life, some exciting things are coming up. Chris and I are hosting a very good friend of ours next week and then we get to join our other close friends at Disney next weekend! Also, my parents have booked their flights to visit for Christmas and I couldn't be more excited. Fingers crossed my sister gets to join them! Chris's parents will also be visiting around the same time. I absolutely cannot wait. It is going to be such an amazing time. I have a lot to get done before then, though. Please pray for me to stay focused and motivated!

Well I need to wrap it up so I can get ready for work (yes-on a Saturday). As always, thanks to all my life supporters. I clearly have the best family and friends.

I'll end this one with my latest motto quoted from William Shakespeare: "Though she be but little, she is fierce."

Short Mid-Summer Update

It has been really nice not having to worry about classes this summer. I've been able to relax and refresh, spend time with family and friends, and work on getting healthier. I have been working in the lab full time, learning techniques and reading a lot of scientific publications and background information. I'm slowly beginning to formulate ideas for a potential project with my mentor. It is getting pretty exciting to be able to move forward, but I still have a ton of work to do. I traveled up north to see my family recently and to attend my grandfather's memorial service. The service and being able to see everyone was really nice. I have been eating healthier and exercising regularly, and am starting to feel much better. My young women's group has been going really well-it has been great spending time with other ladies of faith and "doing life" together. This may be the shortest post I've ever written. I guess that's what summer is all about.

When There is No Peril in the Fight, There is No Glory in the Triumph

The quote that I have chosen to title this post is said to have come from Pierre Corneille, a French dramatist in the 1600s. It fits perfectly with the idea that when we struggle to obtain what we want to achieve, it feels like such a bigger victory because of what we have gone through to get there. With that said, I am pleased to share that I have survived my first year of graduate school (academically, anyway). I took my last exams this past week and will now be focusing on research full-time. I will be using this summer to learn and develop an expertise for laboratory techniques, as well as grow as a scientific thinker. I also hope to begin progress toward ideas for a potential thesis project. Although taking a summer off would be wonderful, I am really excited to plunge into research, and I will really enjoy not having to use all of my free time to study!

Chris and I have an exciting month ahead of us. Between going to Disney and having a number of visitors, we are going to be quite busy. It is going to be pretty hectic, but we love being able to see our family and friends. I will also be co-leading the study for our young women's group and couldn't be more thrilled. I am really excited to get back to meeting with these ladies every week. We really lift each other up. I'm also looking forward to getting back to working out. An injury and exams threw off my whole schedule and I will feel so much better when I get back to being healthy. I may even read for pleasure this summer...I know-crazy thought.

I know this is a pretty short post, but I'm just so glad to get a break from school! Plus, school pretty much consumed my life for the past few weeks so not much happened. My cousin did get to visit for a weekend so we could celebrate our birthdays and we had a blast. Relay for Life was very successful-thank you for all of the kind donations. It was definitely an event to remember and between the 100 teams that participated, over $60,000 was raised for cancer research and support.

Thank you so much for supporting and believing in me. I cannot express enough how awesome it is to be able to rely on so many people for encouragement and prayers. It means so much to me. Thanks for reading!

Mid-semester Check-in

Things sure have been crazy around here lately. Just finished round two of three of exams. I can see the end! As usual, I have been crazy busy with classes but learning so much. I have been getting some hands-on experience in my lab as well which is really exciting. I can't wait until I'm done with classes and can just focus on my research! I will be discussing potential projects with my boss soon and am really looking forward to experiencing the whole process.

Although school takes up the majority of my time, I have done a lot of fun things in the past couple months.

I joined a young women's life group that meets every week and absolutely love it! We have some amazing discussions and really lift each other up.

I have been actively participating in our student organization including our Relay for Life team. We have been holding fundraisers and the event is only two weeks away! (If you are interested in donating to my personal page please go here: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=56887&pg=personal&px=35558130. Every dollar goes to cancer research and support! I'll be walking for my grandpa.) I've also been playing on our intramural soccer team and helping plan a lot of fun activities for current and potential colleagues.

I went to Disney! We made an adult trip with our friends from Chicago and had an amazing time! We met a lot of different characters, rode fun rides, and ate way too much food. We're really looking forward to going again in May.

We have also had visitors! We had a few friends from up north visit us for a fun night out and I visited my aunt and cousin in Tarpon Springs last weekend. It was so great catching up.

I've been getting back into running lately (slowly but surely) and ran my first 5k in quite a while last weekend - the Electrodash. It went much better than I expected and I was under my goal for time. I'm planning on running my next race in May.

As I mentioned before, I will be participating in Relay for Life in two weeks, I will be doing some community service this weekend that I am looking forward to, my cousin will be visiting over Easter weekend to celebrate our birthdays (so excited!) and then I'll be finishing up my second semester of graduate school!

Thanks for reading and for all of your support!

Night Never Had The Last Word...

...the dawn is always invincible. 

I came across this Hugh B Brown quote and thought it was quite fitting for my life, and most likely yours as well. It is such a powerful, encouraging quote. Never give up. It doesn't matter how difficult your life may be. "This too shall pass." (One of my all time favorites.) I thought I would relay some words of encouragement for you, my readers, and to remind you that you are not alone in your struggles. Also, if you are experiencing a difficult time I would have to suggest listening to Gary Allan's "Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)". Quite uplifting. And for those who take comfort in scripture: 

"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall." -Psalm 55:7

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." -1 Peter 5:4

(Sidenote: I'm always taking prayer requests-you know how to reach me!)

You may be wondering where all of this is coming from. Well, if you read my last post you know I had a pretty rough last semester. But I survived-and I want others to know they can too. Things will change with patience. They did for me. Let me elaborate...

I will start with Christmas/New Year's. Chris and I received the wonderful blessing of our parents joining us here for the holidays instead of us trying to come up with the money and time to travel home. It was actually the first time we got to spend the holidays together, and having our families with us made it even more special. I was really missing my family and getting to spend time with them gave me a lot of re-motivation.

Those of you who know me know that when I set my mind to something or make a commitment I don't give up. Last semester was so difficult I started to question whether I had made the right decisions about moving and graduate school and everything. Sometimes I guess it is good to be stubborn. At times I felt like the struggle would never end. But it did. And I'm so thankful for my persistence and faith. 

I would like to take an aside here and thank all of my supporters. I know I thanked you in my last post, but you will never know how much I appreciate having people like you on my side. I couldn't do it without you!

Back to me. Don't be mistaken. There were many positive things going on in my life during this time. I was learning many new things, becoming a stronger person, and perhaps the best thing that happened was that I relied on my faith more than anything. I feel closer to God now than ever and have learned so much about myself. (Sidenote: Take your opportunities! You won't regret it. Or maybe you will. But you won't have to wonder.) 

Anyway, what I have been getting to is that this semester has been a complete 180 so far from last semester. I feel like I can breathe. I'm taking classes that I am really interested in. I am getting more involved in things outside of class. I'm starting to feel like me again. I also have some news. As you know, I rotated through labs last semester in hopes of finding my "home". Well, I found it. I have accepted a position in a lab where I will work on my dissertation and continue the rest of my PhD training. The lab specializes in cardiovascular research. For those of you who are wondering why I went into a lab that doesn't specialize in Alzheimer's disease: long story short, the laboratory you pick (and that picks you) as a PhD student depends on many different factors. The lab I have chosen is the best fit for me. I have not given up my interest in Alzheimer's disease-I plan on becoming an expert in cardiovascular research at this time and hope to one day make a connection between cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. 

Besides class (I have a lot this semester) and acclimating to my new lab, I have been keeping myself pretty busy with getting healthy and participating in our graduate student organization. We have a lot of great social, professional, and service events coming up that require a lot of effort on everyone's part to plan and organize. One thing that we are really excited about is our Relay for Life team. Our goal is to raise $1000 for cancer research and support. The event takes place April 12. If you would like to learn more about what Relay for Life is all about, you can go here: http://www.relayforlife.org/learn/whatisrelay/index. If you would like to help us reach our goal and support a great cause you can donate on my fundraising page here: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=56887&pg=personal&px=35558130. There is an option to mail in a check if you do not feel comfortable submitting your credit/debit card information online. I will be walking for my grandfather, who recently lost his battle. 

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions. If a change is needed, why wait? Why not today? However, I am a very goal-oriented person and I hope to continue to become stronger mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I wish you the best of luck in pursuing your own hopes, dreams, goals, and resolutions. Let's raise each other up. Put up your negativity filter and surround yourself with positive influences. I personally am sick of hearing about everything wrong in the world and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Be a light in the darkness. Keep pushing. You may not be able to control your circumstances, but you can control your attitude. Treat every day like the gift that it is. Arise. Don't let the night have the last word. 

As always, thanks so much for reading. Your support is truly appreciated. God bless.