so this is happening

Dr. Pulsipher, coming at you April 21st, 2017. 

warning sign

We have been having such the best time with Aaron's parents and sister this week. I'll probably write up one of those itinerary posts sometime that everyone loves to write but hates to read, so too bad for all of you!

We just got back from seeing Coldplay and srsly guys, it's like I'm 13 years old and and fangirling. Majorly.

i <3 chris martin!!!! xoxoxox

That was really the main point of this post. The end.

!!!!!!!!!!!

nerdy incoherence

YOU GUYS.

Avatar: Legend of Korra. I can't even. I just...

General Iroh! Lin's bending!
CAN WE PLEASE GET KORRA INTO THE AVATAR STATE ALREADY?


Please tell me you are freaking out too.

lots of exclamation marks

I'm really proud of myself because I planted some carrot seeds in my baby garden, and now there are carrot sprouts! A lot of them! (in the shape of a z because I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to gardening) Also, my cherry tomato plant has a little green tomato on it. The miracle of life! This almost makes up for the fact that all four of my basil plants are dying a slow, fungal death. 

Speaking of the miracle of life, my sister-in-law had her baby last night, so now I'm a double aunt! My other sister-in-law was texting Aaron and me photos in the middle of the night, and I didn't really know what was going on until I woke up and looked at my phone. What a great way to start your morning, am I right? 

While I'm sharing good news, here's some more! Not only am I going to Utah for Memorial Day weekend to see my sister Becky off before she leaves for her mission in Carlsbad, CA, but I get to stick around for a couple of weeks and do some chemistry at BYU (provided that the samples we're making right now are good samples...eek). I'm not totally sure how I'm going to get liters of buffer plus protein samples on the plane, but I'll figure it out. 

This means: Utah friends, I want to play with you! Parents, I'm moving back in! Kneaders, I'm coming!

the end.

we we we so excited. we so excited.

The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra trailer!!!

Nerd!

Excited!

Still no release date.

But excited!

jeffy got called on a mission!

My little brother Jeff opened his mission call this morning, right when the mailman delivered it (little fricker, didn't even wait for a mass of people to congregate around him for a dramatic opening!) And he is going to be spending the next two years of his life preaching the Gospel to the people of.....

drumroll please.....



..............




..........................




PARIS, FRANCE!!!!!!

We are so, so, so, so, so, so excited for him! Paris is where my mom served her mission back in the day, so it's pretty cool that my brother gets to go to the same place. Plus we all know I'm a major francophile, so I couldn't be happier for him. When he gets back we'll have to have a triple French conversation of me + my mom + Jeff! Except by that time I will have forgotten everything while Jeff will be completely fluent. Oh well, c'est la vie, n'est-ce pas? Anyway, happy feelings all around here. He is going to be an awesome missionary!

we'll be spending the next 4+ years of our lives in...

in case you have problems reading backwards (what the heck photobooth?), those shirts say PENN!!!!

We're sending in an apartment application tomorrow (hello $1600 rent, ouch) and we'll be moving out the second week of July. So! This means I must play with all of you before I leave!

I've already started planning our touristy east coast travels. In Philadelphia we must visit Independence Hall and see the Liberty Bell, go to the Rodin museum, and the Philadelphia art museum. I also want to drive out to Gettysburg. And Amish country! And Hershey, PA! Train tickets to New York, DC, and Boston are not too pricey, so there's another few trips! (this also means that you all need to come visit us in Philly and sleep on our really comfortable couch so that you can experience all of this cultural goodness too)

Any tips for things to do in any of those four cities? Restaurants, museums, etc?

Also, we'll be driving across the country moving all of our stuff, and I want to plan some strategic stops along the way. I'd like to stop in Nauvoo, Chicago, and maybe Kirtland. We'll need to stop somewhere between here and Nauvoo, however, and I just can't seem to find anything interesting. Any ideas? Favorite midwest cities? Is there anything in Nebraska?
How many times do you get to drive across the country, ya know? I want to make this awesome before we're $60,000 in debt and up to our necks in school and don't have time for this sort of adventuring anymore.

Any advice would be much appreciated. :)

maybe the city of brotherly love?

This is what I found in my inbox this morning:


Dear Katherine,

It is my great pleasure to inform you that you have been admitted to Penn's PhD program in Chemistry for the Fall 2011 semester.  We receive many highly qualified candidates and feel that your academic interests and achievements are an excellent fit for Penn Chemistry. 


I'm just happy that all the time and money I spent on applications (and suffering through GREs) was not wasted. Now all we have to do is wait for Aaron to hear back from them!!

go getta

Today I am feeling awesome because

1) Yesterday I got 100% on the multiple choice portion of my math test

2) Today I got an email with the following,

"Dear Katherine:
 Congratulations! It is a pleasure to inform you that Washington University in Saint Louis is extending you an offer of admission to the Ph.D. graduate program in the Department of Chemistry."

YEAH!!! Now I don't have to sit at home and get an office job and bake cookies and take piano lessons to keep myself busy while Aaron's in med school. I can get myself a dang PhD!!!!

:D

frosty

How about seven days, huh?

Can you believe that?

Finals suck, but life is beautiful.

tights

11 days...can you believe it?

Me neither.

photo by Nickell

you have stolen my heart

Hey, whadddaya know, I'm marrying this cute boy in two months from today.

Woooo!!!!!

"behind the scenes with chemistry!!!"

Wouldn't you know, this week is National Chemistry Week. 

If you're interested in celebrating with us nerds, why don't you stop by for a chemistry magic show running twice a night, every night this week? Tickets can be found here (they're free!). Y Chem will be selling liquid nitrogen ice cream (only $1 a cup!) before and after every show. And...if you're scientifically minded (or just like movies), Y Chem's sponsoring a professor lecture series: four twenty minute lectures each focusing on movie chemistry versus real chemistry.

3:00 -  Dr. Bates -  DNA, Dinosaurs, and Dolly the Sheep: Biochemistry
in Jurassic Park
3:35 - Dr. Patterson - Something for Nothing: Energy Sources in the
Movies and Real Life
4:00- Dr. Austin - Chemists Catching Crooks: CSI vs. Real Forensics
4:35 - Dr. Asplund - "Why no Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!":  Lasers
in the Movies

I mean, look at how cute we are. How can you resist?

(photo from last May's National Lab Day event)

hey, guess what

Aaron likes it so he put a ring on it.

And we are getting married in T = 3 months - 2 days.

As in December 20th, in the Salt Lake Temple.

(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(And I don't have a picture of the ring because my camera charger cord is MIA! :( )

This is like the biggest occasion of my life, so I feel like it deserves this awesomely expressive eloquent post. Hence the reason for it being Wednesday and us getting engaged last Saturday. And yet, I am still without something...pretty? to say.

Can I just say, this year has got to be the most emotionally challenging, crazy-directionally-changing of my whole life? Aaron and I started dating officially last winter semester, my grandma passed away in April, I accomplished two major life goals by winning in Blackpool and living in France, I quit the ballroom team, and I got engaged.

So there you go. I suppose if I don't have anything to say it's because I'm still processing.

Wow. wow. wow. 

Lyrics by Train have been running through my head (thanks to Amanda, hehe):

My feet have been on the floor
Flat like an idle singer
Remember winger
I digress
I confess you are the best thing in my life

But I'm afraid when I hear stories
About a husband and wife
There's no happy endings
No Henry Lee
But you are the greatest thing about me

[Chorus]
If it's love
And we decide that it's forever
No one else could do it better
If it's love
And we're two birds of a feather
Then the rest is just whenever
And if I'm addicted to loving you
And you're addicted to my love too
We can be them two birds of a feather
That flock together
Love, love
Got to have something to keep us together
Love, Love
That's enough for me

Took a loan on a house I own
Can't be a queen bee without a bee throne
I wanna buy ya everything
Except cologne
'cause it's poison
We can travel to Spain where the rain falls
Mainly on the plain side and sing
'cause it is we can laugh we can sing
Have ten kids and give them everything
Hold our cell phones up in the air
And just be glad we made it here alive
On a spinning ball in the middle of space
I love you from your toes to your face

[Chorus]

You can move in
I won't ask where you've been
'cause everybody has a past
When we're older
We'll do it all over again

When everybody else is getting out of bed
I'm usually getting in it
I'm not in it to win it
I'm in it for you

If it's love
And we're two birds of a feather
Then the rest is just whenever
Then the rest is just whenever

If it's love
And we decide that it's forever
No one else could do it better
And if I'm addicted to loving you
And you're addicted to my love too
We can be them two birds of a feather
That flock together
Love, love
Got to have something to keep us together
Love, love
Got to have something to keep us together
Love, love
That's enough for me

i love you from your toes to your face

This cute boy interviews at Duke, the dream med school, tomorrow.

Ahhhhhh!!! Prayers and best wishes please! :)

i forgot to mention:

The concert mentioned below is


FREE.

yessssssssss.

why do you let me stay here?

Ecoutez, mes amis.

Je vous propose:

She & Him concert

+ picnic dinner

August 26th, 7:00, Pioneer Park.
(I promise you want to come. Everyone brings a dish to share, we dress all indie, it'll be a blast!)

Because, really, who can say no to Zooey Deschanel?

Blackpool Champions!!

A huge congratulations to the standard team who managed to beat out the Chinese and take home the Blackpool trophy!! 

Tonight I'm up with the latin team as we try to do the same. Wish us luck!

bam.

I just wanted to say that I am very proud of myself for getting an article in the Daily Universe for National Lab Day, and for getting fliers taken to 15 schools in the area.

Go VP of publicity.

And I also find it highly amusing that my lab made it into the Police Beat yesterday.
(a piece of tape on top of one of our oven started smoking and a janitor saw it, freaked out, called the fire department)

Also...I leave for Europe in two weeks from tomorrow.
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Ah. Ah. Ah.
I am simultaneously ecstatic and terrified.

Before I leave, I need to:
have another India night
write up my abstract for the paper I'm writing while I'm there (although, really? making me write the abstract before I'm done with or even started the paper? That is ridiculous and counterproductive.)

If you were leaving the country for 3 months, what would you do before you leave? I feel like I need to fill up my reserve of American-ness, eat some apple pie or something.

OH! And I saw "Iron Man 2" last week, and ohmygoshIlovedit.
The cast was great. Can I just say I am so impressed with Robert Downey Jr.'s ability to make Tony Stark, who is totally selfish and self-destructive in this movie, very charming and very likable? Pure awesome. I did think Scarlett Johannson's character was sort of unnecessary besides the fact that she had a fab scene of taking out a bunch of guys.

Anyway...please excuse the randomness of this post. If you have any thoughts on Europe, my incredible accomplishments with Y Chem (ha), things to do before I go, Iron Man 2, etc, feel free to share. :)

Bonjour!

I just wanted to say that this summer I will be living here:


Welcome to Toulouse, France.
Yes please.
(!!!!!!!!!!!!!)