Love Love Love

A few things that really make me smile....


My adorable husband: He's smart, sweet, and too cute for words. He makes me smile, makes me swoon, makes me think, takes care of me, lets me take care of him, and is so loving and affectionate. I never thought it could be like this...

Waiting for me in the woods before the wedding....

My sweet doggie Blossom! Awesome Blossom has been with me through all kinds of crazy times since 2005. She's curled up next to me and has been such a sweet and loyal dog. She's as smart as she is pretty. She does all kinds of tricks including sitting, shaking, and rolling over.
My new mother-in-law, Luann:
She's smart, sweet, funny, delightfully sarcastic, creative, and such an amazing mom. I think I hit the mother in law jackpot.

My parents who are still so in love after 28 years and who taught me so many important lessons that I plan on teaching to my own kids one day. I love them!


My brave, smart, strong little brother! He's serving our country in the US Navy and makes sacrifices all of the time! I miss him so much! He makes me laugh more than anyone on the planet and has been my best friend since I was three. He's becoming such a great man and I'm so lucky to have such a sweet brother!


My research lab family! The restaurant I work in can be a lot of fun...but it's overflowing with negative energy most of the time. At the lab, I feel smart and capable. I've learned so much and accomplished some things I never thought I would ever be able to do! I really love this place and I wish I could spend more time there! Plus, brains are cool. Working for Dr. Taub is such an honor!

At Dr. Taub's house for his Christmas party in January. His lovely wife Mildred Allen Taub is such a sweet, classy lady. Back row left to right: (Chelsey Sterling: PhD Med. Psych student ;Ameen Barghi : super smart high school student who was just accepted to UAB's early acceptance pre-med program; Tyler Rickards: PhD Med. Psych student; Mikey Graham, BSC graduate and future med student at USA or UAB, and me!)

A Year Later...

Wow! Between school, work, and spending time in the lab looking at brains, I haven't had much time to blog. Sure, I have plenty of time to blankly stare at walls and bad TV shows. But, that's because my brain is usually pretty fried by the time I actually get to sit in front of a computer and do something other than crunch numbers or look at brains. So, there is my excuse for not blogging in an ENTIRE year in a nutshell.
A year ago, Aaron and I had moved in together and had just started talking seriously about our future. Now, we're blissfully married and life together is amazing.
We had a proposal complete with an allergic reaction (Aaron+Brazil nuts=disaster), a trip to the ER, and a benadryl-induced proposal (glad that it actually counts... he was slurring pretty badly).
We had a beautiful wedding complete with a fantastic minister (who was an equally fantastic pre-marital counselor) , a beautiful string duet, 6 lovely bridesmaids, 2 sweet junior bridesmaids, 5 handsome groomsmen, two absolutely adorable ring bearers, the two prettiest little girls in the world as flower girls, an amazing band, good beer, and the most supportive and loving friends and family imaginable.






Now, I'm in my last semester of undergrad (FINALLY!) and Aaron is back in school for engineering. We're still living in this amazing loft. Aaron has gotten REALLY into mountain biking and we saved up and bought him the most kick-butt bike ever! He's hitting the trails pretty hard. I'll try to sneak a pic of him while he's in his full face mask, tights, and other cold weather gear. It's pretty entertaining.
I'm working on several neuro-imaging projects at Ed Taub's CI therapy/ neuro-rehab laboratory at UAB, prepping for the GRE, bartending at Cafe Dupont, and trying to get into PhD programs for pediatric clinical/medical psych.