Chicken payback, bakery house

Soon I'll be heading out to Lancaster to visit Britt and Jess! I can't wait! :) Hopefully this thunderstorm rolls on by quickly though, cause I really don't feel like driving all the way to Lancaster in the rain. :p

On another note, if you want a good laugh, google "the chicken payback song" and watch this song/music video... it's crazy but really funny. It definitely brings a smile if you're having a bad day! Or even if you're having a good day, for that matter.... :)

One more note- I just had a delicious cupcake today compliments of our summer intern... she got it at this adorable bakery in Bryn Mawr called the Bakery House.... so good. Not that I need to know anymore places that sell delicious desserts! :D

Not so lonely anymore

Earlier this month I was whining about being lonely. It was true, I was lonely. Sometimes I still am. But to be honest, I haven't been going out of my way to make friends lately, or even catch up with my old friends. I realized I needed to rectify that. So this weekend, I was going to go to a singles picnic at my Church, to meet new people, but my friends Kayte and Jason (from Church) asked me if I could help two girls from the Church move instead. So I did, and I had a lot of fun. It was nicer than the picnic really, because I was in a smaller group and not so overwhelmed. It was basically me, Kayte, Jason, Phil, Josh, Jackie and Leah (the girls moving), Terrence, Susannah, and Celeste. Besides for having a fun day, I was invited to the Tuesday night care group in Media. I currently attend the Monday night Newtown Square group, and while I love it, I decided to check out the Tuesday one to get to know some more people. Plus I wasn't do anything tonight anyway. So that should be fun.

Another thing I'm looking forward to is this weekend- Britt has a rare saturday off (wow!) so I'll be in Lancaster to hang out with her, and on Saturday, we're also meeting up with my former roommate Jess. Double yay! I'm really looking forward to it- Friday can't come soon enough! :)

Saidi stage dance, The Proposal

I really had a great time at my bellydance class Friday night with Sahra Saeeda. The class I took was focusing on Saidi stage dance. The Said (pronounced Sah-eed) is a region of Egypt. Anyway, I loved it. I am better at Saidi stage dance than regular Egyptian style bellydance. This is probably becuase the movements are more masculinized for the stage. Therefore I don't have to focus on these special, intricate movements so much that are more common to Egyptian style bellydance. It kind of felt like Egyptian style line dancing, in a strange way. And since I have country line danced since eighth grade, it was easy for me to catch on and follow the movements. Also, Sahra was an excellent instructor. She explained things very well and was easy to follow. As much as I enjoyed Jehan's class back in April, I liked this class a little better because I got more out of it. If Sahra comes to Ardmore again, I'm DEFINITELY taking more classes! :)

Yesterday I had to drive back to my parents house to pick up my car, which had been getting work done. So my mom and I went to the movies and saw The Proposal. My whole family are huge Sandra Bullock fans, and this was great. It was cute and funny, we really liked it. I recommend it!

Heart Surgery, bellydance with Sahra Saeeda

So I am now officially performing open heart surgery on mice. It's pretty awesome, really. It's amazing to have their chest cracked open a bit and seeing their tiny little hearts beating away. It just cements the miracle of life for me. The life on this earth is put together in such an amazing, perfect way. As a biologist, everywhere I turn I see the fingerprints of God. I just don't understand how people can believe in macroevolution.

I was nervous because yesterday, I performed the surgery in front of the LIMR vet, so we could get full approval for the procedure. My hands were shaking at first, but as soon as I made the first incision, I was good. The surgery went so well! And the mouse patient, I am so happy to say, came out perfectly. I was a little worried late yesterday because when I checked him before I left, he was trembling and shaking really badly because he was so cold. A lot of mice actually die not from the actual surgery, but from hypothermia resulting from the surgery (decreased blood flow, anesthesia, pain reliever drugs, all can lower body temp). I warmed the little guy in my hands for a while, and then put him back in a cage with his other brothers, instead of letting him in a cage by himself. I was a little concerned that they'd run all over him, but since he was awake and alert, just cold, I figured this would be better. Their body heat would keep him warm and that was the important thing. I was ecstatic when I checked the cage this morning- not only was he still alive, but he was doing so well, I couldn't even distinguish him from his cage mates! I had to actually pick them up and look for the suture to find the little guy I performed the surgery on. So that was nice to see him doing well.

In other news, I'm attending a special bellydance class with Sahra Saeeda tonight. She's a world famous bellydancer, and it's a real privlege to be able to take a class from her. I'm excited! More info on how it went later, for now I need to get ready cause it starts in about a half hour! :)

Lonely :(

Now that Beck left for Bahrain (last Friday) I am so lonely. I realized that 50% of my friends left on that plane in Dulles.... and the other 50% is out in Lancaster, super busy with school and work. Even when I'm surrounded by hundreds of other people.... I'm still lonely. The worst kind of lonely there is.

Fun July 4th Weekend

So I had a great time this July 4th weekend, and it went by way too fast! Here's a recap:

Thursday night, Beck drove down and we had dinner at John Henry's, a cute (and very reasonably priced) pub right by my house. We accidently ordered WAY too much food. We took home half of our nacho appetizers, and half of our cheesesteak dinners. Everything was delicious, but we had no idea the portions would be that big. Later we went to blockbuster and ended up buying some movies- I bought Nick and Nora's infinite playlist, New in Town, and Bride Wars. Then we walked to the Coldstone Creamery I just discovered by my house and got some ice cream. Hard to believe, considering our dinner.... we certainly weren't winning any awards for healthy eating that night! Once we got home, we watched New in Town... a romantic comedy starring Rene Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. It was ok. The funniest part of the movie was all the Minnesota accents. Not bad though.

Friday, Beck and I awoke early and went to Saxby's coffeehouse (right on my street) for some breakfast, and then enjoyed walking the nature trail and campus area of Haverford College. Again, may I reiterate how GORGEOUS that campus is? I adore it, I'm so glad I live so close!

My mom and Britt arrived at my house around 11:30, so we all ate the leftovers from John Henry's, and then headed to the Philadelphia Premium Outlets. It was PACKED! We enjoyed walking around, and mostly window shopped. Even though they were outlets, a lot of the stores were a little pricey for us. I did pick up some cute things at Charlotte Russe, though. I love that store. On the way home, we stopped at the KOP mall and headed to our all time fav store, NY&Co. By the time we came home, we were pooped! We lazed around a bit and rested, and then Beck and I headed off to Christina's house while mom and Britt headed back home. We had a great time at Christina's. We just hung out at her and Shane's house with their friend Dana. We shared funny stories over pizza, snacks, and Sangria. It was fun.

Saturday, Beck and I got up bright and early again and headed back home. We were taking a casual family picture that morning, so we needed to be home in time to shower and get ready. All of us wore red T-shirts with jeans and sneakers. We headed over to our friend the Heinselmen's house (they have gorgeous landscaping) and my Dad set up the shots, and then my Aunt actually took the pictures. They came out so great! When I go home this weekend, I'll upload some. They turned out better than we'd hoped.

In the afternoon, my mom and I pitched a tent in our backyard. This was my idea, because 1)my mom loves camping and hasn't been in a while and 2) our house is infested with fleas thanks to our stupid Houdini cat who escapes from every flea collar we put on her. I wasn't going to get all flea-bitten while I slept!

We had a nice cookout and went swimming that day, and I built our family campfire, which we enjoyed till about 10 pm. By that time, we were all beat and decided to hit the sack. Getting to sleep was interesting though.... it's been a while since I slept in a tent, and it's a lot harder than I remembered. And the highway seemed extra loud that night. It also didn't help that the cat came meowing at the tent, and then dive bombed it, claws out, right at MY side of the tent... I almost had a heart attack! Luckily, the night was pretty eventful after that. :)

Sunday we didn't do too much... just breakfast at the Bagel Bar, and then a huge cleaning of the house. Well, mom and I did most the cleaning, Britt and Beck had to pack up all their stuff. Considering they'd been home a whole month, they had a lot to do. Plus we had tons of laundry ( to make sure no one was carrying fleas back to their respective living areas) so that took a while. The worst part of the day was saying goodbye to Beck.... she was only leaving to go to DC for the week to check in with work, but it was sad because we know that after this coming weekend, she'll be leaving for overseas again. :( I'll miss her so much. She's my best friend, and I never realize how truly lonely I am until she comes back. Thank God Britt is still here, or I'd be totally lost. It just sucks cause she's out in Lancaster and is really busy with school and work, so I don't get to see her that much anyway. She may as well be overseas, too.

Well, enough thinking about that. From the recap above, it's clear I had a super fun (yet terribly unhealthy) july 4th weekend. I can't wait for this weekend, it's our annual Pyle-Reid Family Reunion. And it's prob our last weekend with Beck before she goes overseas, so I'm going to enjoy every minute!