Organic Domain

Recent happenings, in photos

2008-02-14T07:58:00.010-06:00

My classmates and I took advantage of the Society for Neuroscience meeting being in San Diego and headed off to the Zoo in Balboa park the day before everything sciency got started. My favorite part: riding the "Skyfari" ... it's like a ski-lift that takes you diagonally from the large cats to the macaques all the way across the zoo.

We also began what we hope to become an annual tradition of a bracketed checkers tournament during Thanksgiving at the Buffingtons'. Grandpa Fennel and Jesse were by far the most fierce competitors.

We thought about using this picture on our Christmas cards but then thought better of it. We love having such a fun grocery store in HEB which is just a mile away and carries all sorts of unique items ... like a Heineken pony keg!

Did you know that Phillips 66 was the first to make commercial aviation fuel and still hosts a majority of the market today?

One of our best friends, Alan, is not only one class away from being an aeronautical engineer, but he is also a pilot! Jesse arranged with Alan for him to take me up on my first private flight - it was so exciting, I can't wait to head up in the skies again!

We have one very happy little doggy.

So, things are very well here at 2106 and Jesse & I are actually celebrating our 4th anniversary from our very first date in 2004 today (2/14/08).

Love.

From 22 down to 18

2007-10-16T22:03:00.001-05:00

GO HOGS! Copper's not at all surprised/bothered about the 3-3 record the Razorbacks have racked up so far this year (much different from the humans in this household) and still sports the cardinal & white each Saturday (as do we, though with a little less hope than before!).

In addition, Copper's "blue socks" as Jesse calls them are a result of losing his 6, yes 6, dew claws today. His back feet had 2 dew claws on each foot, which is odd but not too rare apparently. Very special we think. He's a mutant but we love him!

Jesse has headed down to the cape again to prepare for the upcoming shuttle launch - he was really made for this and it is exciting to watch him be stretched and rise to new challenges. I am so thankful for him, he's a great husband and friend.

Cutie in Oklahoma

2007-10-06T21:00:00.000-05:00

We (the Kaufman family) lost a good friend last Thanksgiving, our cocker-spaniel Pepper who had been with us since I was a little girl. He was a wonderful dog.

After about a year without puppy obligations, my parents have taken on another precious project, "Oliver". He's SO cute, full of energy, and loves to chew more than any puppy I've ever known. Sure, they all chew, but this guy chews on everything, everyone, all the time. He's a busy guy.

Copper and I were lucky enough to have a week off from BCM and were able to run up to visit the folks in OK while Jesse worked, worked, and worked preparing for the next shuttle flight coming up at the end of the month. The dogs had a great time together and it was great to get to spend a significant amount of time with both of my parents.

Growing, leaping, and bounding!

2007-09-26T13:30:00.001-05:00

Copper is growing to be more and more companion-like and affectionate everyday. We find it really cute that his favorite toys are a rubber double-helix and a bucky-ball - I guess he's really getting into studying for neuroscience with me! Great dog.

KSC Trip

2007-09-26T13:23:00.000-05:00

In early August, we had a great time travelling down to Florida - I was able to visit Jesse over one weekend while he was on business for STS-118. Not only did we get to tour KSC, we also had the chance to kayak through the Florida mangroves and pet manitees. Very cool!

Cruzin'

2007-09-03T22:27:00.000-05:00

Big cities seem to afford certain opportunities that aren't so readily available in smaller towns. We are certainly thankful to be a part of such enterprises as NASA and BCM, but in addition to these, rolling around town in a 32-foot hummerzine isn't so bad either. Extravagant, sure, but border-line reasonable when split up among 18!

One of our best friends, Mark (whom Jesse lived with during his first 2 times here in Houston), just turned 30 a week ago this Saturday, so Laurie, my running partner and closest girl-friend here in Houston, organized an extravagant event to celebrate at his favorite spots all over the town.

Rocket scientists really know how to party! What a night.

Our life in Houston is really exciting and fulfilling - we are becoming part of a great church, we love our jobs (although they are demanding so much!), and are enjoying getting to know our new friends better and better ... yet, the start of football season just reminded me how much I miss Fayetteville.

As mentioned, Jesse & I are attending an awesome church in Friendswood where God is moving - that's super exciting. However, we greatly miss our wonderful church in Fayetteville, The Grove Church ... it is an amazing body of Christ that is steadfast at pursuing truth and living the mission to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. Even though we are attempting to embody the mobilizing vision, really trying to live the call to go out to the unreached (specifically the scientific community here in Houston), it's so hard to be away from the people we love.

Speaking of game-day, I loved the energy on campus during football weekends. Those were precious times. Of course, I found a lot of joy in dawning Felix Jones's jersey once again on Saturday ... winter, spring, and summer is far too long of a stretch for not wearing a UA football jersey! It may be a bit controversial, but we're actually going to end up cheering for UT this weekend, as UA gets ready for Alabama the following weekend.

If there is one thing I miss the most, it is the random walks I used to squeeze into the hour or two between classes just in order to be with the Lord for a little while. I would walk from the university out onto Center, up around the square, across College and finally loop through the historic district off Dickson before returning. I have yet to find a perfect path in Houston, but I know it's here somewhere. I just need to look around the corner, I'm sure. Oh to be to be in Fayetteville, just for an hour or two!

All my love, to everyone who happens to breeze over these words.

- Shelly

New Cu pictures!

2007-08-14T21:47:00.001-05:00

My brain!

2007-07-19T17:11:00.000-05:00

An interesting opportunity came my way this past Wednesday. Our group, the De Biasi group at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), does a lot of really cool research all focused around the neurobiology of addiction. The lab is divided into 2 distinct sorts of studies - molecular & behavioral. As a chemist, I love working on the molecular side of things! Others observe the behavior and neurobiology of mice while on addictive drugs. This research is all leading to future applications to humans - which is where we're headed now.

The Human Neuroimaging Laboratory (HNL) at BCM has a 3 Tesla magnet (wow!) they use to perform the most high-quality MRI imaging in research today. As you can see from the picture, I got to be a test-subject this week! It just really amazes me that man has been able to design such incredible technology! God is so good giving us just the right minds at just the right time. Fascinating.

Copper's here!

2007-07-16T21:51:00.001-05:00

Long awaited photos ...

2007-06-30T18:51:00.000-05:00

It's been almost 6 months from the day of the wedding - time is flying!!! Sorry that it took so long to post some pictures on the blog ... thanks for the forgiveness!

We love being in Houston; however, we still miss our friends in and familiarity with Fayetteville. It seems as if once you begin to get comfortable, it is time to move on to new and exciting challenges. It is truly a blessing to be moving on together!

We will be starting our new positions a week from Monday and are really excited to begin our respective projects and to catch up with colleagues from last summer.

There is always room at the Buffington casa - never hesitate to call if you're in the Houston area!

Love,
Jesse & Shelly

Applying for graduation & a new arrival

2006-10-09T22:07:00.000-05:00

Today I climbed to the top floor of Old Main in order to apply for graduation in the Spring! It was really a non-event, but exciting none-the-less. I can hardly believe how fast everything has gone and is presently going. I've loved my time at the U of A, can't imagine having any minute gone differently than it has.

The Grove, Chemistry & Biochemistry, enjoying brisk mornings with various running partners, falling in love, growing in community, playing bass, everything's been such a blast! Thank you Lord!

I couldn't help but consider the irony in paying to apply for graduation. Did they not get that money over the 4-years I've (well, scholarships) have been paying the university for an education? Anyway, what's an extra $25, to them? To me, it could mean a tank of gas, 1/3 the price of an hour on a jet ski at Clear Lake, 4 orders of lettuce wraps from PF Chang's, etc.

Speaking of PF Chang's ... NW Arkansas finally has one! All the Arkansayans, at least a lot, have not clue as to what this funny chinese name is all about; I just hope they get to try the lettuce wraps, because they're incredible. Actually, they are just about as incredibly hard to make as they are incredibly delicious ... I think there are approximately 30 ingredients involved in the recipe.

Jesse's & my favorite place to sit in Pei Wei (the "iformal" fast version of PF Chang's) is at the bar where we can watch the cooks work their magic on the woks. Fire flashes up many times during our meal, and we think it's mostly for the cook's enjoyment and show, but that may just be the secret to excellent Asian cooking. Being able to watch this skill is certainly something Pei Wei offers that PF Chang's regrettably does not. Our Pei Wei friends are Alan & Jenny - we all love it!

It's nice to have the company in the area! We'll have to make it up to Rogers, soon - anyone interested?

October

2006-10-08T14:59:00.000-05:00

Fall is by far my favorite season: I love the color palette of the leaves, the chilly nights and perfect running-temperature days, college football (GO HOGS!!!), beginning to anticipate the holidays, having an excuse to light up the fire place, cooking home-made stew and biscuits, hiking, taking walks around downtown Fayetteville, little-league soccer games, everything - wow ... this is the most wonderful time of year!

Jesse & I went home to visit my family this weekend, and I loved it (however, it always seems just a little too short and I am pondering whether it is because all of the incredible memories or because of everything left to be done).

On Saturday, I attended my first field trip during my years at the U of A - my dad accompanied me to the Tulsa Zoo in order to observe the primates. This semester, I am taking an honors colloquium class called "Primate Behavioral Ecology" and I have been surprised at how much I enjoy the course. My awesome community group, of course, had to pray for me concerning a REALLY tough paper (timing wise) I had to complete in there, and that was a blessing, too! We were certainly made for community.

We're having a lot of fun planning out everything for the wedding etc. Brett & Elise Harkey are going to be meeting with us for marriage counseling, so that should be really awesome. Jesse & my friendship is growing so close, it's amazing. Can't wait to see everyone in January!

Grad. school applications are due in January also, but I'm trying to get those in by next week or so. Can't wait to get positive paperwork back on all of that, but I don't think that will come until Spring ... so I'll just have to be trusting the Lord concerning that - awesome, he's faithful. Why can that be so easy to forget?

Biking sounds like a great afternoon activity. Sorry for the major delay in updating this page!!! More soon.

Much love.

Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors

2006-05-07T23:02:00.000-05:00

This summer, I'll be working in the Neuroscience Department at Baylor College of Medicine. The project involves the neurobiology of addiction (specifically the nervous system's response to nicotine and subsequent withdrawl syndrome)! Very cool - I just can't wait to get down to Houston. I know I'm going to miss my precious friends here in Fayetteville, but am quite ready for a new adventure, you know.

Very exciting. I've always wanted to be a Texas resident; who wouldn't want to be from a state that everyone there loves being from? Makes sense to me.

Beauty in St. Louis

2006-04-18T08:11:00.000-05:00

These were taken at the St. Louis Botanical Gardens when Jesse and I were visiting our good friends Nathan and Gayle who work at Boeing. We were able to just kick back and have a wonderful weekend. So fun!

En route to Houston

2006-03-07T22:12:00.000-06:00

I got a job offer, my first in Houston, today from the director of the Student Medical and Research Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine. VERY EXCITING! Actually, I applied to 4 positions in Houston this summer (3 at the Texas Medical Center alone) and the first I've heard from Houston was today's wonderful news!

Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is definitely my top pick of the 4 schools in Houston ... so this is a true blessing - schools 1 & 2 on my list for summer programs have accepted me! NYU School of Medicine's Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences sent me an invitation to join their efforts this summer, also. Too bad I am localized and not in a superposition of states - it may be kind of hectic, but could be a lot of fun, I believe.

I could hardly wait to call Jesse after his aerospace propolsion class to tell him our great news - we went out on the town ... at least up to the Spanish Bakery (La Panaderia Aranyas) in Springdale in order to get some treats for poker night with the guys (the Hot Pocket poker club).

Very fun. Have I mentioned that God has been showing us a lot of favor recently? He is so good. So good.

Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!

2006-03-05T07:48:00.000-06:00

We are engaged! As of 9:00ish on February 24th, 2005, Jesse and I have become an official pair. The road to marriage began a long time ago when we first started dating and could sense the Lord really blessing us in our invovlement with each other. We cannot wait to talk to each one of you more about all that God is doing in our life together!

Love,

Jesse & Shelly

Snow is Falling ...

2006-01-10T07:57:00.000-06:00

on Bartlesville this morning - it is a beautiful site. We (mom, Jesse, & I) are headed off to Detroit this afternoon to attend the Detroit Auto Show industry preview days tomorrow afternoon. Very exciting. We are even getting together with some very good friends from college, Nathan & Gayle, who now both work for Boeing in St. Louis; we are very lucky to get to spend some down-time with them!

Break has been very good, very long, quite relaxing, yet pretty productive. Houston, Fayetteville, Bartlesville, Booneville, Nashville, Detroit - lots of travelling! I'll try to host some pictures soon.

I hope everyone is well & I can't wait to get back to life in Fayetteville.

Ran the Rock

2005-12-29T17:20:00.000-06:00

Gu Man! (check out gusports)

Laurie & I after the race.

(Not your most beautiful moment, yet glorious!)

Keep update for Houston Full 2008.

Anti-Cancer Smart Bomb

2005-12-29T17:07:00.000-06:00

Update: answer to a long-awaited question from many blogs ago ... here's what I sent to UT Medical Branch:
Investigators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently reported novel chemotherapeutic technology in the form of an anti-cancer nanocell.1 The cross-discipline research effort focused on designing a nanoparticle to provide “improved therapeutic index with reduced toxicity.” The delivery system overcomes challenges encountered in anti-angiogenetic chemotherapy approaches. Physiochemical analysis of the system revealed quick deployment of the anti-angiogenesis agent followed by prolonged discharge of the cytotoxic agent. In vivo trials show promising activity. This integrative approach combines cancer biology, pharmacology, and engineering. The multi-discipline effort toward anti-cancer therapies promotes collaboration among the biochemical sciences and encourages my pursuit of an M.D./Ph.D.

Temporal targeting of tumor cells and neovasculature with a nonscale delivery system. Sengupta, S; Eavarone, D.; Capila, I; Zhao, G.; Watson, N.; Kiziltepe, T.; Sasisekharan, R. Nature 2005, 436, 568-572.

Carbon Nanotubes

2005-12-29T17:00:00.000-06:00

I had the chance, as I've mentioned, to visit many friends while in Houston, which was quite a blessing. One I visited is a very old friend from elementary through High School days who is majoring in Chemistry & Chemical Engineering at Rice University. His research group is focused on nanotechnology. Here is a beautiful computer model of what they are working on.

Houston's where it's at

2005-12-16T18:05:00.000-06:00

It's a been a while ... quite a few miles actually. Anyway - the Dallas White Rock Marathon was great! Laurie and I ran the whole thing side by side, it was between 40 and 60 the entire run, and Jesse and my parents were there at mile 6, 9, and 13 to cheer us on.

We ran the half in 1:53 (pictures here) and were quite pleased with that sub-9 pace. We've even made sworn oaths to run the Houston full in January of 2008. Very cool - it's great to have a running partner like Laurie. Thank you to all of my other runing partners (though we don't run together, you're all still right there in every step) - Jessica, Lyle, Amy, Jay, Melissa ... you guys are the best.

So Texas is doing this really cool thing - it's called "Marathons of Texas" and the deal is that if you run the 1/2 or full Dallas White Rock, Houston Chevron, and Freescale of Austin then you become a member of the "elite" Texas Marathon Crew. This is the inaugural year and I don't know if we'll actually be able to pull off joining this year, but as a future-Texan (thing's seem to be going this way!) I'm really excited about it.

Lots of wonderful things have been happenning lately ... I got nominated by the university for the Barry M. Goldwater scholarship which is a really big deal in the scientific research arena, especially when searching for grad. school positions. This is 15K ... crazy, eh?

I'm applying to several summer undergraduate research programs here in the Houston area including ones at the Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center (Medical school), University of Texas Medical Branch, Rice University, and at the University of Houston. If there are 3 things that Houston is pretty good at, it's oil, biomedical research, and space science. Perfect.

So my favorite people, besides those of you living in Fayetteville and my family in Bartlesville (then Mary Austin in Stillwater, and maybe a couple other of you), live in Houston. It's great. I've been able to hook up with several of my best friends from growing up this week - so awesome. Not only does one of my top 5 favorite peers from Bartlesville Schooling days go to Rice and study chemistry & chemical engineering, my best friend from jr. high's family now lives in Katy (we're meeting her at IKEA tomorrow - so fun!), and my best friend (next to Whitney) since freshman year at the U of A plays drums at a church in the Woodlands. What a wonderful location.

Tip: If you're looking for any old best friends, I've had a lot of luck in Houston.

Jesse and I are heading back up north on Sunday - we'll be doing the whole driving around NE Oklahoma and NW Arkansas throughout break. I'll be at Passion 06 with Whitney and Amy and then Jesse and I are travelling with my parents up to the Detroit Auto Show in early January to look at all the fancy new and concept model cars. Brrr.

Merry Christmas to all - I love you guys.

Osage Hills Adventure

2005-11-27T22:15:00.000-06:00

Mis padres.

Y mi amor.

Check it out ...

2005-11-21T17:21:00.000-06:00

My friends Laurie and Melissa and I are running the Dallas White Rock 1/2 Marathon on Dec. 11th. So fun ... we are really looking forward to hanging out with each other and Drew, Jeff, and Jesse.

Run the Rock

Pause?

2005-11-20T10:20:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I keep checking to see if there is a pause button in life. It's always quite a shock when you travel, get sick, or someone dies that the world does not stop and grieve, rejoice, what have you, alongside. It is in a true and rare friend that you will find this solace. I love you Amy & Whitney.

It's easy to see something you don't understand in a negative light ... such as those convictions/callings, etc. which prompt you to ask "God, why are you so slow?" and "What's going on here?"

So often, I feel as if I really need to know the answer RIGHT NOW, but that's really not the case. Very few life things must be acted upon immediately, poorly appropriated urgency can be a nasty vice.

I guess this is another control issue ... as I was originally beginning to type what is above I ended up typing this section first. The only place there is a pause button that I'm really familiar with is on the remote control. It's funny because you have to surrender control of life as you're going full speed - it seems like a scary turn over, but it's the most peaceful thing you'll ever find.

Force = mass x acceleration due to gravity

2005-11-15T12:34:00.000-06:00

It feels as if I constantly have some very heavy book in my backpack ... sometimes more than one, which can get kind of painful occasionally. Why can't they just make them in little snip its, or computer files. Then we could all just have paper-thin laptops with a digital version of every text book we need for the semester.

Of course this may cut out work for some menial jobs, but hey ... let's all try to be more productive so that trade and specialization will continue to increase rather than fall into being stagnant.

That may be kind of a high horse ... well, the point was, my backpack, whether toting Physical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, or Molecular Biology, is heavy. Everyday.

Strangely, it makes me really happy to understand all this great knowledge.

University of Texas Medical Branch

2005-11-14T15:42:00.000-06:00

UTMB is the University of Texas's biomedical research institution located in Galveston. This must be an excellent instittution, I'm going on reputation as I do not know anyone personally who works, goes to, or talks about UTMB, but their summer program URL indicates excellence in the field.

As I was skimming their application for a 2006 summer undergraduate research position, I came across the two essay topics, one of which really intrigued me.

The question read as follows: "Please describe what you consider the most significant scientific advance you have read or heard about in the last year. (No longer than 100 words.)*"

Now that's a fine question ... but the first time I read it I thought that it asked for "the most significant scientific advice you have read" in the last year, and my thoughts began to run with that.

I now realize that that's not the question and I'm going to have to come up with something a little less inspirational and a little more technical and cutting edge, but I figured that I would share what I think to be the best piece of scientific advice right here.
(They're really missing out ... maybe they'll see the blog ... right.)

"Know how to solve every problem that has been solved."
- Richard Feynman

I came across this quote in Stephen Hawking's Universe in a Nutshell and believe it to be the best advice on science I've ever heard. If one were truly familiar with the solution to each problem even in their own discipline, then great scientific breakthroughs would truly abound, once we all got out of school at 60, but you know, relatively speaking, those final 10 years that we actually got out and did something may be more productive than those we could have just shooting in the dark.

Of course, this is why you specialize, but still - wouldn't it be something to know how to solve every problem that's been solved?

Good advice, Dr. Feynam.

On Exciting Things

2005-11-07T18:53:00.000-06:00

If someone were to ask me to recommend an exciting piece of literature that really made an impact on me I would have no doubt about my answer.

Although I might begin to recall many fantastic imaginative images and feelings such as the terror and awe evoked from being trapped on a small escape boat with a hyena, an orang-utan, a zebra, and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger and think to myself, "well, that really would get the nerves going (Life of Pi), nothing quite compares to books for the common scientist-man on Theoretical Physics.

So with high acclaim, I suggest a reading of Stephen Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell and Richard Feynman's What Do You Care What Other People Think?.

Beyond human relationships, there is nothing better than expanding your mind, the way you view things, how you process information ... I even put running outside in October behind this.
- Of course this pursuit can make even more profound the deepest of friendships.

So go ... go buy a house in Charleston place and set out two rocking chairs. Invite a close friend over nightly, just go ahead and marry your best friend, either way, rock the nights away in your lovely chairs beneath the spinning fan, listen to 40's mousic, sip Chardonnay or hot coacoa, as the season allows, talk, read, debate, love.

This is living.

words, words, words

2005-11-07T12:05:00.000-06:00

In order to expiate the debacle of the word a day thing this past weekend I will attempt to be more assidious this week so that our knowledge of vocabulary may asymptotically approach its apogee.

2005-11-03T09:32:00.000-06:00

Loving the Giver

2005-11-02T22:57:00.000-06:00

Word of the day:

ephemeral
Pronunciation: ef-em-ur-ul
Function: adj.
1. brief; fleeting

Today as I was running ... gorgeous, wonderful, no hindrances, just pure kinetic motion & clear thoughts ... I began to think about how beautiful all the trees were and began to warmly soak in the the descending rays of sunshine fading quickly into the horizon. I also like to do this little spread your arms out as far as possible as if trying to reach around something that's just too big - it's a wonderful way to enjoy your form.

Then I began thinking about something I had read earlier in the day from John Piper. He was talking about how we are naturally conditioned to love the gifts (nature, etc.) rather than the giver - but this makes no sense when we take a step back.

What to-be bride would prize her beautiful diamond ring perfectly cut to shine like no other over the person of her betrothed - the man who has been continually cut and shaped for her, the one she has been cut and shaped for? (Currently I am reminded of Lewis's lecture which contains the small phrase "the blows of his chisel that hurt us so much are the very blows" that carve the masterpiece.)

If you were to give up one thing, the ring or the man, obviously the ring must go. There is no gift without the giver. It is our duty and greatest fulfillment to fall in love with the giver and appropriately prize his gifts.

Neat thoughts.

God is SO faithful ... I wrote a couple days ago questioning whether I could trust Him. I can, I do, I will - He leads me to still waters and refreshes my soul, sweetness springs within and out through each part of me.

Trust Him - He has done great things for us.

Intransigent

2005-11-01T15:30:00.000-06:00

i-n-t-r-a-n-s-i-g-e-n-t

defintion: the quality of refusing to compromise.

To use it in a sentence ... Pertaining to any major decisions in my life, I hope to be intransigent.

*just to explain the nature of this strange new format here, a friend and I have begun to review for the GRE and this is a fun way to learn vocab ... now we can all be very scholarly in our conversations

2005-11-01T09:12:00.000-06:00

Every girl needs a dad like Joe Kaufman. He is constant encouragement, a good man with an excellent reputation, wise, gentle, a leader, a newly avid outdoorsman (cool, eh?), and so much more. I love you dad!

2005-11-01T08:54:00.000-06:00

Lovely.

Blueberries with the Chancellor

2005-11-01T08:39:00.000-06:00

At least that's what I'm hoping for. Blueberries would make a much needed addition to the whole "balanced breakfast" thing - lots of great color!

The following is a little unbelievable ...

Mid-last week I got a personal e-mail from the associate dean of the Honors College here at the U of A inviting me to attend a breakfast with the chancellor and a small group of other students which is being held so that the chancellor can touch base with the students' concerns. That's really neat - I wish he would have breakfast with students every Wednesday, everybody needs to eat breakfast with the chancellor. (I hope he's a blueberry fan, too!)

So anyway ... that's tomorrow morning and I'm really looking forward to it. Following that we're hosting some first graders over at the chemical engineering department and are going to be making liquid nitrogen ice cream - isn't that amazing!

Liquid nitrogen is so cold that it will immediately freeze anything and we're going to use it to make ice cream - it evaporates really quick so there's no chemical consequence besides the temperature change.

Science is cool!!! Pretty cool I guess, well, you know.

Shauna ... I think we need to work on tracking down that Bill Ny guy.

Walking the Perimeter

2005-10-31T22:57:00.000-06:00

Tonight I just keep thinking of all sorts of questions ... questions I fully know the answers to and even am beginning to understand a few of the reasons behind them, yet still I am so hesitant to act on these truths.

Have you ever wrestled with God? Will he let you win? I don't want him to let me win - I want him to pin me to the mat ... hold down my hands so that I can no longer rely on my own strength. Everything's so crazy right now, yet I'm finding joy and hope in little things like a painted horizon, dinner with Whitney, brisk early morning runs, etc. Nothing compares to the greatness of knowing Him - it's how the song goes, it's what scripture sings.

Who is this man Jesus? Why me - how do I do that, what do I do next? Can I trust Him? Can I trust him?

I want to.

40 miles

2005-10-24T21:56:00.000-05:00

So ... I ran 6.5 miles (roundtrip - I forget whether that's one word or two) over to the most beautiful neighborhood in Fayetteville - it's called Charleston Place, appropriately, because all the houses are those long, beautiful southern aboads with entry-level porches rounding the welcoming sides and 2nd story porches above the etnryway with a black fan that spins above the rocking chairs of two very old friends.

It's quite a lovely place, especially at night when the warm yellow lights are on through the venetian blinds. You drive by these people's houses, are inspired their patriotism displayed by the perfectly draped American flags, and just kind of wish you could live in one of these houses, too. Honestly, I would love to have a house like that, in a cute little neighborhood that has tons of little houses just like those: each one just unique enough so that you can love your own home and think the neighbors have great taste, too, and still be really glad that the one you own is actually yours. Charleston Place is one of those neighborhoods that makes an ideal life, ideal in the "American Dream" sense, come to the forefront of the imagine, it becomes just about tangible - so much so that you long for it, that even being in the vicinity of Charleston Place makes it seem as if you've almost arrived.

Hmm ...

God' s kind of been challenging me today concerning my outlook on what the "big plan" really is. Somehow, I come around to thinking so egocentrically and wonder how God and ministry, etc., are going to fit into my "big plan" and how I am actively trying to fit them into my "big plan" while totally overlooking the most obvious error here: my little plan fits into God's big plan, not vice versa. I love that! There is so much freedom and relief of worry when you consider that you really don't have to make the plans at all - He is faithful - but I'm still learning to trust Him.

Today on my run, I came across Root Elementary's marquis (markee, marquee, marqui, uh) which was advertising the upcoming "3rd Grade Muscial" ... yes, muscial not musical. I noticed this pretty quick and thought that the most civil thing to do would be to simply switch the c and the i (of course I did have to go through a quick debate as to whether they really meant muscial, but I have a decent vocabulary and that's not an entry in my dictionary, so I thought that in context, it had to have been just a slip of the pen when someone was puting the sign up). The sign's locked ... it's locked, well I guess that makes sense, I've seen a lot of vandalism done to signs like that, but when someone really wants to help and can't, it can be a little frustrating. Thus, if I am to live in Fayetteville someday and am blessed with an amazing husband and adorable children, I've made a note not to send them to Root (shaky foundation, perhaps). - It's pretty amusing, really.

*dictionary.com says there is no such thing as muscial - they may be doing revolutionary things overthere at Root and the public just has no idea what they're up to ... but that's just the optimist in me!

Good night.

Oh yeah ... 40 miles - I want to run a total of 40 miles this week - I'm at 12.5 and 2 days of 7 have passed. Four tomorrow morning with Laurie will leave only 23.5 for W, R, F, & S. Doable, doable.

Heart, Mind, Soul ... & Sunglasses

2005-10-21T00:27:00.000-05:00

We've been studying James in our community group over this semester and tonight we got to chapter 3 versus 13-18 which deals with the disparity between heavenly and earthly wisdom.

Having a philosopher as discussion leader, inevitably, we wandered into territory addressing the classic debate "what is the heart?" Mike had a great point concerning how imperitive it is that we as Christians know how we define the heart, mind, and soul since the greatest command is loving God with your heart, loving Him with your mind, and loving Him with your soul.

So here we go ...

Going backwards ... the soul (which I keep typing as "sould" for some reason) is the piece that keeps the heart, mind, and spirit in harmony and is the essence of the person. Each soul (I did it again) has a body that eventually dies and releases the soul (which is eternal) - it is our personality, our reasoning capabilities, that which allows us to love ... which gets around to the three components.

The spirit is actually the simplest (to put into definition terms - however, since this is literally God living in us, then it is also the most complex - crazy how He tends to do this) of the three: either it's dead or alive, and can only be awakened by its creator through the power of His Spirit - it is the Spirit of God living inside man.

I view the mind as really the entryway to our whole being - it is the tool that processes everything we hear, see, and experience. The mind has valuable reasoning capability and is the house of creativity allowing for the contribution of logical thought to those matters which demand clarity of expression or further development/articulation of reality.

The heart (this is really rough here ... but worth writing out I think) is that foundation of truths that you really believe at your core: those you've gathered over a whole lifetime of joy, of grief, love - those truths which govern your illicited primary response to actions/opportunities and wind up evoking an emotion which can yield a good/bad response depending on the state of your heart.

I'm just blown away at how Christ's death on the cross really makes us whole - gives us the ability to be like Christ in our inner persons through the gift of the Spirit that lives inside us as some sort of regulatory mechanism guiding our mind through complex reasoning and somewhat deciphering mysteries of the heart (which I am so far from understanding).

James is so encouraging, yet overwhelmingly challenging because he tells us that we really can be like Christ - what a message - the realization as we get closer and closer to just how far we are from Him brings us closer ... yeah.

Amazing grace.

* Sunglasses: Well ... on to something completely non-deep, I was running around Lake Fayetteville (it was so gorgeous!) today and saw a tree with some sunglasses on about 6' up - it was a great joy to see that smiling tree around mile 5! Magical.

Beautifully Symmetric

2005-10-19T13:06:00.000-05:00

Earlier today, I got the pleasure to go from my Physical Chemistry class to the Chemistry & Biochemistry department building (which involves a good distance of walking, quite enjoyable on a day as beautiful as this one) with my professor, Xiaogang Peng (it's "Sho-gun," that's quite glorious in itself really - just that all those Roman letters have been transcribed to mean some significant phrase in Chinese ... life is full of metaphors and symbols - I hope to recognize them all).

We've been learning about molecular symmetry and how some electrons will not transfer between certain orbitals but others share electrons flippantly, so much so that the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (that it is impossible to determine the exact location and the exact momentum of a particle simultaneously - it just cannot be calculated with human mathematical skills) comes into play. This is quantum mechanics at its finest. Quantum has been a developing sector int he chemical and physical sciences over the past century and has provided multiple breakthroughs in novel and previously established (though not fully understood) theory.

Back to the discussion on route to CHBC ... we were discussing how nature has this inherent symmetry that has been one of the two major discoveries, the other being the existence of numerous constants (good for congruent calculations and observation of general equations) that enable linear (when you simpify several more complicated mathematical procedures, i.e. Taylor expansions, series, etc.) which has furthered science over the past century.

Nature's faithful execution of this magnificent order enables us to quantitize, qualify and then employ the analyses we run to better the human existance and knowledge base concerning the laws of the universe.

So many scientists are studying the character of God without even recognizing it - it's really a cool field to be in because the anaologies come so easily.

It just blows me away that the creator of mathematical organization is the same creator of the incomprehensible beauty of forests and mountains, Him who has shaped the complexity man and the mystery of love - to Him be the glory, forever and ever.

This is worship.

2005-10-18T21:46:00.000-05:00

East Indians have this really cool religious festival known as "Holi" that is celebrated annually by Hindus all over the world. I had the awesome invitation to attend a Holi party at the U of A in Spring with my research advisor Aarti. What a joyful celebration from an empty religion ... hmm. Everyone has a bag of powder-paint of different vibrant colors and the point of the game is to get your color of paint on someone before they can get it on you, while all the time wishing everyone "Happy Holi." The celebration is in honor of the new colors and warmth of Spring that is coming to renew the earth again.

When playing, it was just awesome to be laughing and running with Indians, usually quite a reserved people, who seemed fully alive. I think it could be possible to do this everyday, given without the paint ... in fact we're called to: to really wish holiness upon those we come in contact with and to do it with such an infectious joy!

I am wholly His and he is holy.
(Check out David Crowder Band's Wholly Yours on his new Collision CD, if you haven't had the chance yet.)

Happy holy.

Has it all been done?

2005-07-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

Occasionally when I speak with my mother we come around to discussing things such as how the American system of learning, inventing, etc. is different from that of the Brittish due to the atypical foundation of our country. At that time, Brittish educators were of the belief that all that was to be discovered had been and that all its present pupils could do was to engage in witty discourse concerning these developed sciences. American scientists, on the other hand, had only to go into the neighboring field, observe a novel flower, leaf, what have you, draw it, catalog it, and call it a scientific discovery.

All this to say, sometimes I just feel as if it's all been discovered, all the good jobs are taken, every sport has been mastered, each beat has been jammed to ... creative juices occasionally run low I suppose.

Today I was thinking about how I'd really like to do something great ... either life is a daring adventure or nothing at all, it goes at least something like that. However, it's really hard these days to make a brilliant discovery. Civilization has come unbelievably far - awesome, but still it makes it hard to imagine making some ground-breaking discovery.

Really, this is a great advancement in society because it eliminates distractions of considering scientific or technological advances as having arrived and places more of the emphasis of greatness on to relational pursuits. Quite an evangelisitic breakthrough.

Samuel P. Huntington, a well-known Harvard professor somewhere in the humanities, has written a book titled "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order." It's a great anthropogical, economic, geographic, all those fancy studies book covering a range of modern concerns. Well ... he claims that today's world is shifting from an allegiance to a specific country on to allegiance to a specific ethnic group.

Science continues to show God's guiding hand in his creation. He is the creator and gives creative inspiration ... and hope. These truths counter my earlier doubts and inspire me to continue on in my great adventure.

Good night.

Amy's Almost Here

2005-06-19T21:20:00.000-05:00

I just returned from an Organic Chemistry symposium up in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah. It was quite an overwhelming/adventuresome/affirming experience. It's going to be quite a journey, but I know I'm headed down the right path.

The highest mountains (which are at around 11,700') remain snow-capped even into mid-June (which is still surprising somehow even though I clearly remember my mom mentioning a childhood memory of snow in Wyoming on the 4th of July ... crazy).

Well Amy just arrived ... more later.

Waltz of the Flowers

2005-06-01T14:34:00.000-05:00

(Day 1)

It's what's playing on this rainy afternoon as I sit behind my computer which sitting in front of the window pane currently providing a light percussion accompaniment to Tchaikovky's piece. A nice addition, really.

This summer, I'm eating my breakfast cereal in Fayetteville keeping up with chemistry via research in the McIntosh lab (novel natural product synthesis - cancer research, it's an honor to be a part of this project, although that's easily forgettable around 7 on Mondays) and with Microbiology through Michael Crichton's Andromeda Strain.

Fayetteville's so different during the summer.

The rain has paused ... I don't think it really took that long to write this, no, must have been a quick shower. I'm going running.

Closing shot: check out Matt & Kerrie's new son Abraham Jackson Archer, he's awesome.