January
A lot of emotional and mental energy was expended by Team Saunders in the month of January. Madison turned 17 at the end of the month (whoa, right?!).
February
I went to Shpongle at Minglewood. Andrew and I went to Restaurant Iris for Valentine's Day. I got sick afterward for no apparent reason and puked up my whole meal, mostly in Andrew's new car - not my finest moment.
March
Maddi and I went camping with Melody at Arkabutla Lake at the beginning of the month. We started homeschooling Madison. Andrew, Madison, and I took Clayton to the zoo and had a great time! I watched a lot of basketball during March Madness. I went to The Glitch Mob at Minglewood and hung out with my pal D.d. I started my daily photo project back again; it had been on hiatus since the end of last year. For spring break, we went to Monteagle and met Rachel and the boys. Emily and her kids came for part of the trip too. We had a great time.
April
We went to visit Kentucky at the beginning of the month. Madison did not return with us, having abruptly decided to move back to her dad's in Indiana. I went with Melissa to the Rhodes Observatory and checked out some cool astronomical sights, which was a great experience. I had never looked through a telescope before, and the views of the moon and Jupiter and its moons were amazing. I also went meteor watching with my pal Nichole on her mushroom farm in Mississippi. Aunt Sally and Uncle Billy came to visit from New York, and we all went to a Grizzlies playoff game which was really cool even though we lost. I finished my final semester of teaching.
May
Music Fest was amazing this year. There was no rain, and we kicked it with a great crew of old friends all weekend. We saw a bunch of great music and generally had an awesome time. I went meteor watching and snagged a photo of one! I had a second manuscript accepted for publication, this time to the first journal that I tried. Then I went to Portland for the annual Society of Wetland Scientists national meeting to present a poster. All my funding sources ran out of money, so since I was totally self-funded, I decided to make the most of my time in Oregon and did nothing at the conference besides my secretarial duties for the South Central Chapter and presenting my poster. The rest of the time, I went to Mount St. Helens, saw a bunch of waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge, went to the coast and saw tide pools and a Pacific sunset, and explored a bit of downtown Portland's public art. I stayed with Andrew's best friend, JP, and his girlfriend, Laurel. It was great to see JP and to get to know Laurel. I had a fabulous time. When I got back from Portland, there was a historic new meteor shower I went to check out. It wasn't spectacular, but it was cool to be a part of. Now I have a ton of work to do if I am ever going to graduate!!! I have been getting my experimental setup all together while waiting for the plants to start growing. Now that they are, it is the time for lots of action.
