Dear Mom,

You are the best; words cannot express how grateful I am for you & how lucky I feel to be your daughter. Everything that is good about me I know comes from you. You have put up with me all these years and taught me so much.

I thought I would share with the readers of this blog a couple of my favorite lessons from over the years:

1. Always leave things nicer than you found them: you have no idea how much I love this lesson & how often I use it to judge (sorry I know I shouldn’t judge others, but cleanliness is a good judge of character) other people & when there is that potential, whether or not they are dating material…sad, yes; necessary, I think so!

2. A home cooked meal w/ the fam, beats eating out any day: I think I miss this more now because I can’t drive 30 mins to have Sunday dinner w/ the fam. Thanks for feeding me all these years & for teaching me how to cook. Without your cooking lessons through the years, I would be one of those ‘frozen stouffer hooligans’ as Selina calls them.

3. Sometimes the things you want to say don’t come out exactly the way you would have liked…so don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself: We all say stupid things, but man they are great. Here are two classics from my mom that still make us laugh.

"What's up braggy bitches?" -Mom

"What?" -Selina

"Oh, I meant baggy britches..." –Mom

“But, he LOVES me” –Me

“I’m glad somebody loves you…” –Mom

4. You are NEVER too busy to serve others: This was/is one of those unspoken lessons I learned at a very young age from my mom, it is also one of those lessons that was repeated frequently. I honestly cannot remember a time when my Mom (& Dad, shout-out to the chief!) was not willing or actively seeking an opportunity to serve others. I remember growing up (& still today) that my Mom was always crazy busy (I mean taking care of us 5 crazies was hard enough…) but there was always time to volunteer for the PTA, help clean the church, or take a plate of cookies to the new neighbors down the street.

Thanks Mom, for your amazing example and for your love.

I love you forever & ever,

~Amy Keita (I just love this pic)

I Love Fridays

Wow 2 posts in less than a week...this is pathetic.

(I figured I had a lot of scenery pics so here's a pretty cool one from a tidepool at Larrabee)

Well today has been a pretty fantastic day & here's why:

1. It's Fancy Friday (I wear a dress/skirt to school every Friday since I have so many it's a shame to only wear them on Sundays). When it's FF the day is always great.

2. It was sunny today

3. Friday Forum: free food for thought & my stomach

4. I don't have any classes

5. Got an email saying I am slated to go to San Juan, PR next year for the ASLO conference. Man I love science & all the cool places it's taking me. So free/paid trip to PR for a week next year, to present my research. So stoked even though it's 11 months away.

6. Went to happy hour, always good times

7. I was pretty productive today, one more week of classes!

Those are just a few highlights from an awesome day.

So a pretty decent day the only thing that would make it better (perfect actually) is if I could sell my contract...

But the weekend is going to be beautiful (weather-wise), so hopefully I'll get some outside runs/rides in & more potential buyers will stop by to check out the place!

Update

So I don't think anyone reads this but I figured I'd update it (I'm aiming for once a month or something). I'll update in categories that seem to be the common questions from people near & far.

The pic is from Rosario Beach, so romantic...haha

School: is crazy busy & not gonna lie, challenging at times. It's manageable though, I've come to realize that one of the main purposes of grad school is to teach you how to manage your time & fill out endless forms. I love my classes (Biological Oceanography & Larval Ecology), I'm learning so much! I'm also taking a thesis credit (thanks to MIMSUP I was able to advance to candidacy in one quarter, usually takes 2+), which means I get credit for working on my thesis.

Research: is going, but will pick up like crazy end of April-May & should stay crazy until fall. I spend two days/week out at SPMC doing 'research' and taking classes. Every time I'm down there I remember how much I love that place. I'm trying to sell my contract up here in B-ham so I can move down to SP next quarter & really focus on my research. I'm not taking any classes next quarter (thanks again to MIMSUP) just thesis credit & life will be a lot easier & cheaper if I can move down there. So pray that I can sell my contract ASAP, thanks!

Ward/Boys: Ugh, not really a fan of when the 'boy' question is asked, but I guess it has to be asked. The ward is great, I still feel a little 'old' for the ward. I put old in quotes because it's probably not the right word...I guess people are intimidated by me? which makes no sense to me but whatevs. Also something that doesn't make sense to me, I guess I'm considered 'pretty hot stuff' in the ward (HA!), no idea why boys think this...ok I have one idea, they may have found out that I don't really want an engagement ring (in all honesty I'd rather have a really nice bike or a super sweet kayak or nice new scuba gear & then get a tattoo around my left ring finger, yeah i know no tattoos, but I'm not really a fan of rings, they get in the way) and I'm not having a reception (I'll take the check & run!). So I think that's the reason I'm 'hot stuff' (HA! again). So the short of it: ward's good & boys are nice but I'm not dating anyone (no time/no real desire).

Work: Yes I do work. I am a TA for the ESCI department. This quarter I'm TAing Biostatistical Analysis ESCI 340. To be honest, I was NOT super stoked on this idea, originally I was going to TA forest & fish interactions and some sort of freshwater fish lab (I was so excited to dabble in freshwater ecology/vertebrates again), but due to scheduling, changes were made. But looking back, biostats hasn't been bad & relearning the basics is always a plus. So work is great, I don't really consider it work, it's just kind of another class. I feel very blessed to have a TAship/job where I get to learn and help students understand things & get paid, it's great.

Extra Curricular Activities: Well I don't have too much extra time after school and TAing so this is a limited section. I started swimming with the WWU team this quarter (I swam last quarter for a couple of weeks, but CONSTANT illness kept me away from the pool). It's been so nice swimming with a team again. I wasn't planning on swimming in any meets, but I found out that since I'm on the team & paid the dues if I qualify for nationals (masters cuts, not that hard to qualify) the team pays for most of the costs to go. Nationals are in Atlanta this year & in May & I'd love to go, but it's research dependent. Anyway I'm swimming in my first meet in 6 years next month! Should be interesting.

When is your next UT visit?: Well I'll be back in Zion from March 18-March 21. I thought I'd make a quick trip home before heading to Hawaii for spring break (love that WWU has a spring break between quarters!). There is also a possibility that I will be in UT for General Conference...we'll see.

So that's an update for ya'll, probably heaps more then you wanted to read but I never post so I figured it was ok.

Year in Review:

Since I’m not very good at blogging I figured this year in review thing that has been going around was my kind of blog post.

2009

January

I spent the first week or so in the best place ever, New Zealand. It was an awesome trip & I hope to go back asap. Started my last semester of classes at BYU, bittersweet. I finished my graduate school applications and the waiting game began.

February

Started really prepping for OIMB and staying busy with school. I spent some time in California looking at schools and visiting friends.

March

BIRTHDAY MONTH!! I participated in my last BYU Luau and received some acceptance letters to graduate schools J

April

I finished classes at BYU and decided I was going to Western Washington University to pursue my Masters degree in Marine & Estuarine Science.

May

I had the opportunity to be a teaching assistant for BYUs marine biology spring term in Coos Bay, OR. This was my 2^nd time as a TA, 3^rd time out to OIMB & I loved it. We had a great group of students/TAs and it was a blast.

June

I spent all of June in Oregon as well. I miss those 5 mile round trip runs to Bastendorff Beach every morning and waking up before dawn to hit the low tide. “When it’s low, we go!”

July

After talking about it multiple times, Carly & I decided to give ourselves a graduation present and go to Hawaii. It was SO much fun & a much needed vacation! We stayed at Auntie Olly & Uncle Phil’s house in Kona and spent a few days in Laie with Uncle Eldon & Auntie Hi’i. My mom came along too & we had heaps of fun!

August

The day finally came, I graduated from BYU. I was asked to speak at convocation. Later that day we had a graduation luau at the house, full of family, friends, food, & fun!

September

Moving day!! Dad & I drove from Utah to Washington and I moved into a cute little house in Bellingham. School started & it’s been awesome!

October

I submitted my first research grant proposal. I was lucky enough to escape for a weekend and fly back to Utah for Carly’s wedding.

November

School, school, and more school. My parents were nice enough to fly my home for Thanksgiving and it was nice to spend time with them. I was accepted into the MS PHDS program which is funded by NSF and NASA. Oh and I got through all of my undergrad without it but I guess I couldn’t escape it in graduate school…I got mono

December

I made it through my first quarter of graduate school. I spent a week in San Francisco at the AGU conference, (this was part of the MS PHD program) I met so many great people. Christmas was spent at home and it was awesome!

2009 had it’s ups and downs, I am grateful for all of them and I feel so blessed to be where I am today, doing what I love. 2010 has started off well & it looks to be another crazy year! Cheers!

I <3 PNW

I moved up to Bellingham, WA this past Monday & I am falling in LOVE...

no, not with someone (don't get your hopes up people), but I'm falling in love with the Pacific Northwest all over again, I don't think I ever lost the love I have for this place, it just keeps growing the more time I spend here.

I can't even tell you how lucky I feel to be up here. It's amazing!!! It's such a beautiful place (ocean & mountains, what more can you ask for?) with wonderful people. I can't wait for classes and to start developing a thesis (nerd...duh!). Although I do miss Utah and BYU (shocking I know!) I am ready for this next step, I've waited so long for this to happen and it finally is!

I have had some free time since I've been here because classes don't start until Wednesday, so I was able to go to Shannon Point Marine Center (SPMC), in Anacortes. I spent 6 months out there for MIMSUP and I was so excited to go back. It was fun to see and talk to everyone at SPMC. After my visit there I stopped by Washington Park and met a guy from Rotorua, NZ, nice guy, we talked for a bit about NZ & the similarities to Washington (which are A LOT!).

The view from Washington Park.

On my way home I decided to take a detour to Deception Pass, just look at the pictures

The picture at the top of my page is also from Deception Pass. So that's Deception Pass, if you ever come and visit me I'll take you there (especially if you are afraid of heights).

I LOVE the house I moved into, it's so cute & my roommates are awesome (shout-out to Emily & Kim!). Here are some pictures,

don't mind the plastic over the windows, the house is in the process of being painted.

OK, I only put one picture of the house...I'll put more up later this week, once my bed arrives.

The picture above is a picture of a park about 5 minutes away from my house.

Moral of this post: I love my life right now, I probably won't be singing the same tune once classes and TA stuff start, but hopefully.

Man I love this place

Dear Blogging World,

Hi, we haven't talked in a while...sorry, I honestly think this is ridiculous but people have been asking what I have been up to, so I figured since I haven't started classes yet & I have a little bit of free time I'd give this blog a go (again...). So I don't know how long this will last but I will do my best to keep ya'll up to date on my "oh so exciting" life.

Loves,

Amy Keita

Be ready....

Amy's about to jump into the blogging world, if only for a few weeks...