iPost

This is our maiden post from our brand new shiny MacBook!!!

With the two of us going to Georgia this summer for a research internship, Stephanie will be doing some courses through BYU's independent study program. Even now during the semester, it would be nice to have a computer of our own, but during the summer is will be a necessity. The fact that we got a pretty fat tax return this March didn't hurt, either!

A day or two after we made the initial purchase, I received a phone call from Zion's Bank regarding "some recent account activity."  A bit nervous, I returned their call to see what the problem was.  They informed me that a hold had been placed on our account due to some abnormal activity with Apple Computers.  Relieved, I confirmed the validity of the purchases and they rescinded the hold on our account.  Hey, at least Zion's Bank hasn't forgotten who keeps them in business!

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day has been the highlight of our busy week. We decided to have all green food for supper. I made sure we got our veggies, protein, dairy, fruit, and starch. For our vegetable we had broccoli, for fruit we had green melon Jello with bananas in it. Our starch was mashed potatoes gone green. The best part of our meal was the protein and dairy--GREEN EGGS AND HAM (with cheese on top)! It was fun to cook, and it was fun to eat. It was definitely a good distraction from our normal routine.

As far as the rest of the week is concerned, we were pretty busy with exams. We've been looking forward to this weekend. Not only will we be celebrating Easter, but we will be with family witnessing the blessing of our newest nephew, Jacob Benjamin Poulsen. To see pictures, check out Juli and Ben's blog!

Who Let the Dawgs Out?

It's been a while since we have written. We've just come to the conclusion that "we're busy" is not only an excuse, but will probably be our way of life for as long as we're in college!

There have been some exciting developments recently. The most exciting news is that we will be going to the University of Georgia for the summer. I was accepted for a 3-month research internship in genomics and computational biology. Not only is this going to be great experience for my educational and career prospects, but Stephanie and I are ecstatic to go back east.

The internship contract provided on-campus housing for me, but they agreed to give us our own room so that Stephanie could come along. She will be taking classes through Independent Study and working while we are there. However, Athens is only 90 minutes away from Augusta, so we will definitely be making a few visits to our old stomping grounds.

Wednesday night we managed to attend the annual BYU Honors symposium. There were great breakout sessions, nice food, and wonderful keynote addresses. Elder Bruce D. Porter of the Seventy and his wife (both BYU Honors graduates) spoke, and there was a wonderful spirit there, both a spirit of intellect and faith. Opportunities like this make a BYU education unique.

Last weekend I had the chance to go down to the Mojave desert with my genetics lab class. We spent Friday night on a ranch, and then spent a few hours Saturday collecting plant samples to bring back to the lab and analyze. On the way home, we stopped at the Mountain Meadows Massacre memorial for lunch. Overall, it was a wonderful trip.

We're busy, but we're having a great time in school. We love you all, and we hope you have a great week!

Weekend to the Rescue

This week has been pretty hectic (what's new, huh). We have had tests, projects, and work assignments that have spread us quite thin. In addition to that, one or the other of us were sick throughout the whole week, making it harder to keep going. The warm weather at the end of the week was wonderful, if only in raising our spirits. Thank goodness for the weekend.

Mom and Laura came down to Provo to visit us. We went out for dinner, after which we attended a BYU volleyball game. BYU's has had an outstanding team for years, and last night was no exception as we swept Pacific 3 games to none. It was just as fun to sit, talk, sing, and cheer with Mom and Laura as it was to watch the game.