Sarah's Blog

Confessions of an Online Shopaholic

SarahG — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:40:00 GMT

I am officially saying goodbye to my online shopping days. For the past few weeks, I've been purchasing clothes online with special coupon codes and deals. I actually got the idea from my boyfriend who pretty much monitors slickdeals.com daily. You can find some really good sales on the site, and he's had a lot of success with past purchases. So of course I had to take a look and try to find some special offers for some of my favorite stores. Now, I've never shopped much online in the past, except for textbooks and electronics. I'm kind of picky about clothing and how things fit, so I'm skeptical about buying something when I haven't tried it on. But since I found some pretty good sales, I decided it was worth a shot.

The result? Well, let's just say I was reminded of why I always try things on before buying haha. Most of the clothes were either too big, too small, awkward fitting, or not nearly as cute as they seemed in the picture. So I have to mail different items back from different orders, which has been a bit of an annoying fiasco, in addition to forfeiting return fees and shipping and handling charges. I did decide to keep two bathing suits that I love, so the experience wasn't a complete failure. As for online shopping in the future, however, I think I'll stick to books and electronics haha.

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Summer get-together: lab style!

SarahG — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:41:00 GMT

If you've read some of my previous blogs, you probably already know that I'm a member of Dr. Bohannon's psychology research lab. I've written about various conferences in different cities and all of the fun stuff we get to do as a result of our hard work. Well, not only do we meet up for travel and such, but we also have group meetings right here in Indy. Dr. Bohannon's house is only a couple of minutes away from campus, and he often invites us over to discuss research over meals. (Yes, he cooks for us!)

Yesterday afternoon us "labies" who are living at or near Butler this summer got together at Dr. Bohannon's for a grill-out. While he made us burgers, potatoes, and corn we discussed progress since APS and new directions in research. Some of the members are developing new studies for the Fall, and are trying to prepare everything over break. I got to tell everyone about how my study is going so far and share the preliminary results I've already found in my data set. One of the things I like most about being in Bohannon's lab is that although we each get to run our own studies and work as first authors, we still have the support and help of the rest of the lab. We run ideas across each other and offer advice when necessary. It's the best of both worlds really - you get the firsthand experience without being left entirely on your own. Of course, it also looks awesome on grad school apps!

As for my BSI study this summer, it is going very well! It's hard to believe I'm already in week seven though... only two real weeks left of research before presentations have to be made. This week is the last week I'm collecting data, and next week I'll have to score all of the protocols, enter data, and analyze it to look for significant results. It's been a lot of work this summer, but completely worth it! I'll have a head start on collecting data in the fall, so that I'll be able to jump right back in during the first week of school. It's a good thing too... I have a feeling we'll all be back on campus for the fall semester before we know it!

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Living for the Weekend

SarahG — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:48:00 GMT

It's finally Friday! Almost time to put research aside for a few days to simply enjoy the summer. Tonight I'm going out to eat with my family for my Dad's birthday. It's nice that Butler is close enough to home that I can meet up with everyone for occasions such as this. New Pal is only about a half-hour outside of Indianapolis, so a short drive is all it takes for me to get from home to school, and back again. My brother, Matt, even lives in downtown Indy; he's a third year at IU Medical School. So we're all still together, for now at least, and I have to appreciate it while I can! I know some people think that going to college so close to home might burden or hamper the "college experience". This has definitely not been the case for me! I love being able to go home whenever I want, or have my parents bring me anything I may have forgotten or need. Plus, I get to see them for birthdays and holidays, which are always fun!

Tomorrow my Mom and I are taking a shopping day! My boyfriend's birthday is coming up so she's going to help me pick out some things for him! Of course, I always end up shopping for myself as well... I'm a bit of a shopaholic... but we won't get into that right now haha. We're going to the Edinburgh Premium Outlets, an outdoor shopping complex near Franklin, IN. The mall has really nice stores, plus we'll get to stroll outside in the sun between shops! What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

So that's basically my weekend in a nutshell... now just a few more hours of work before I can sit back and enjoy it all! :)

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Midsummer: the aftermath

SarahG — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:56:00 GMT

As predicted, I had a fantastic weekend with all of my friends for Midsummer! Several of my sisters came back for the event, happily crowding my poor apartment that has been lonely ever since my roommate went to Russia. It was really nice having my place as home base, a luxury none of us got to experience last year. When we weren't hanging out or getting ready at my apartment, we were soaking up the sun, going out to eat, celebrating my friend's birthday, or catching up with other friends. I loved seeing everyone back on campus and am definitely sad the weekend is over... but now it's back to research for the upcoming week. At least I'm not alone in this apartment too much longer... my roommate comes back this weekend!

Happy Birthday Maelyn!

All dressed up for the birthday celebration

Catching some rays

Lazy Saturday afternoon

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Midsummer Weekend

SarahG — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:24:00 GMT

This weekend is one of the best weekends of the entire summer... Midsummer! It's the one time over break where everyone comes back to BU for hanging outside, playing volleyball, whiffleball, football, etc., slip'n'sliding, and other summer activities. I've been looking forward to this since the end of the school year, especially since I haven't seen most of my friends since then. Last year I came back for the event as well, but this summer it's nice that I'm actually living here; some of my sisters are even staying in my apartment with me! Tonight we're going out to dinner and tomorrow I'm sure we'll be spending all day out in the sunshine. I can't wait to see everyone, it's going to be a blast!

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Training for the 5K

SarahG — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:36:00 GMT

Every summer it seems like I come up with some new scheme for losing the weight I undoubtedly gained during the school year. (Last summer I came to the unfortunate realization that the "Freshman 15" is in fact, not an over-exaggeration.) I've tried biking, rollerblading, running on the elliptical at the gym... each activity beneficial for a while until I eventually lose interest. This summer, however, I've decided to make a change and start a running schedule. Since I currently hate running, I've chosen a training routine with the end goal of 5K, or 3.1 miles. My hope is that I'll eventually come to love the proclaimed "rush" of running and continue the habit throughout the school year. Although right now the only rush I'm feeling is soreness to my thighs, I think I might actually get used to running and stick to it with a little motivation (aka bathing suit season haha).

One cool tool I've found for running is MapMyRun.com. This site enables users to create their own routes and calculate the distance from beginning to end. Butler has several cool trails winding along the canal, on campus sidewalks, and through Holcomb Gardens that I've based my running tracks off of. I'll also be able to use the site for calculating routes while I'm home for the last month of summer. So if you want to start running, I would definitely recommend the site as a handy tool. Also - If any of you have any tricks or advice about training for a race, send them my way!

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Highschool Reunion

SarahG — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:07:00 GMT

Tonight I'm heading back to NP to hang out with some of my best friends from high school at a bonfire! Since I'm living at Butler this summer, I haven't gotten the chance to see most of them in a while so I'm really excited! We're having a little cook-out at my friend Alissa's house, and then sleeping outside in tents. I'm sure there will be plenty of food, games, and catching up that will go late into the night. (Good thing I took a nap this afternoon haha). It's always great to see my girls again and I'm glad we've been able to stay friends even through college. Should be a fun night! :)

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Weekend excursion and my close encounter with a shark

SarahG — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:41:00 GMT

Over the weekend I traveled to Cincinnati with my boyfriend, Justin, for the summer St. Jude festival in his home community. He's been going with his family since he was a little boy, so when he decided to go again this year I was happy to join! One of my best friends from Butler also lives in Cincy, and I convinced her to come with us as well! We spent Saturday night hanging out at the festival, where numerous games, rides, and food stands crowded the parking lot of his old grade school.

Neither Justin or I had any reason to rush back to Indy on Sunday, so we spent the day in Newport, KY, located just across the Kentucky River from Cincinnati. Newport on the Levee is an area on the edge of the river filled with shops, restaurants, and other attractions. We went to the aquarium first and had a lot of fun seeing the different fish, frogs, sting rays, and other water creatures - although I did get attacked by a shark! (Okay, so it was a small shark in the interaction pool and he wasn't necessarily attacking me... but his mouth was definitely aimed at my hand haha.) We also had time for a movie, Land of the Lost starring Will Ferrell, which was both stupid and funny at the same time haha. We made the trip back to BU later that night, both content and exhausted from the weekend excitement.

View of Cincy from the levee!

Justin & I

Live dive show

Cute little jellyfish

Proof of my close encounter!

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Summer slipping on by...

SarahG — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:24:00 GMT

Having been back at BU for 3 weeks, I'm starting to get settled in to my daily schedule. When I'm running my study, I start the day around 7AM, test participants at 8AM, meet with my professor at 10AM, and get back to my apartment in time for lunch. I usually spend my afternoons reading previous studies and research, searching for new studies and research, preparing for the next day's experimental session, and recruiting new participants. Luckily, having my research as my "job" allows me to be flexible with planning. I try to get done with everything around 5 so I have time to work-out, make dinner, and spend the rest of the evening just relaxing and hanging out. The other night I got to watch a movie with a few of my sisters who had just moved back to Butler for the summer. It was fun because I hadn't seen them since the end of the school year, so of course we stayed up chatting all night... which in turn made it not-as-easy to wake up at 7AM the next morning haha.

It's crazy to think that BSI is already 1/3 of the way over. In 6 weeks I'll be moving back to New Pal for about a month before the fall term begins. This summer is seeming to go a LOT faster than last summer, probably because I'm back on campus and keeping myself busy. I'm already making plans for the rest of the summer as well. In July I'll be heading to Cedar Point with some of my sisters for a weekend trip, and in August I'm going to Minneapolis to visit my cousin Laurie! I'm also turning 21 in mid-August, so that will be a lot of fun! Summer will be over before I know it... but I'm okay with that. Not only is fall my favorite season, but I love coming back to school for welcome week to see everyone again!

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

There's no place like home

SarahG — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:17:00 GMT

This weekend my boyfriend, Justin, moved into his new house off-campus. At Butler you have to live on campus for your first three years, but your senior year is up to you. Three years really isn't as bad as it sounds because there are plenty of options available. Students can live in residence halls, suite-style dormitories, greek houses, or apartment complexes. Justin had been living in his fraternity house, Delt, but will now be living with a few of his brothers in a house just at the edge of campus. What's kind of funny is that even though his new house is technically "off-campus", it will be closer to his classes than his previous living arrangement.

The guys were allowed to start moving in last week, so I've been over at the house nearly every night to help with painting, carrying, arranging, and organizing. The house definitely needs some sprucing up, but it's got potential and is starting to look "homier" by the minute. All of the decorating and such has made me excited to live in a house with some friends my senior year! Although I love living in Theta and am excited to move back in this fall, it will be very cool to have a separate place to call home. We need to start looking at houses to rent in the next few months, so that will be exciting as well!

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Acrophobia: Fear of heights

SarahG — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Although calling myself an acrophobic would be somewhat of a stretch, heights aren't exactly my favorite thing in the world. I do love roller coasters, but the speed paired with the security of the cart keeps my worries at bay. High standstills, such as a "drop zone" or "power tower", are what really freak me out, and I've sworn never to ride in a hot air balloon. (Soaring that high in a tiny little basket that comes up to my waist? No, thank you!) Today I got the chance to face my acute acrophobia head-on by participating in the high ropes course at Butler. It was one of the planned activities for BSI members that are scheduled throughout the program.

The high ropes course is located in the woods surrounding Holcomb Gardens. It consists of several wooden poles which work as bases for various mid-air obstacles. Cable wires connect the poles and support participants as they make their way across different obstacles, such as wooden swings, zip-lines, rope ladders, nets, and logs. Oh yeah... and did I mention this is all about 40 feet off the ground?

I had never participated in the course before, and was excited to get started once we all geared up. However, when I reached the top of the first platform I froze. Although you're perfectly secured by the cables, ropes, and your harness, it feels like it's just you out there. Scary! After completing a few obstacles though, I was more comfortable and found the strength to conquer some I thought I couldn't even face! One of the most intimidating even turned out to be the most thrilling, a free-fall swing from the top of a platform! It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I found the courage to try! I'll definitely go back to the high ropes course every chance I get... and I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to try it. No matter how scared you may be initially, you might surprise yourself! It's a very cool way to spend a beautiful day right here on campus!

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Psychology, tourism, and having some fun!

SarahG — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:27:00 GMT

As promised, I have pictures from my trip to San Francisco this weekend! It was absolutely amazing... not only did my lab members and I get to see numerous presentations on what's hot in psychology right now, but we also had ample free time to explore the city and have some fun.

Here are a few pics from the conference! There were poster sessions, symposiums, and speeches given throughout each day covering almost every topic in psychology imaginable. What's cool is that there was something for everyone... neuroscience for me, along with cognitive, social, etc. Butler had six posters from Bohannon's lab in addition to other posters and presentations from other psychology students and professors!

As I mentioned above, we also were lucky enough to see famous San Francisco sights throughout the trip. We visited the Golden Gate Bridge, enjoyed fantastic dinners in Chinatown and at Fisherman's Wharf, and watched the sea lions at Pier 39. It was amazing... and worked nicely as a little incentive for working so hard during the school year!

Needless-to-say, I had a fantastic time and am grateful for the opportunity to present my research and explore a new city all in one trip. For incoming psychology majors, definitely look into joining a lab! Yes, we work extremely hard during the school year preparing and running studies, but the end result is completely worth it. And if you want to join the coolest psychology lab at BU, you know who to ask! :)

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

San Francisco, here I come!

SarahG — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:06:00 GMT

I'll be leaving my apartment bright and early tomorrow morning (6:00 AM!) to fly out to San Francisco for APS! This psychology conference will be a bit different than previous years because some members of the Butler psych department other than my particular lab are also attending! Another one of the professors, Dr. Lineweaver, is taking her lab group of students with her, and a few more professors are going as well. It will be great to have support during our presentations from the BU psych community, and also to check out what some of the other labs are researching! They'll also get to join us at dinner so that should be a lot of fun! So now I think it's time for me to pack-up and get ready for a great Memorial Day weekend out in San Francisco... then it's back to BU on Monday to continue working on my summer research! Be sure to look out for pictures when I get back!

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Back on campus!

SarahG — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:22:00 GMT

Today was the official start of the '09 Butler Summer Institute! Yesterday we moved into our apartments in the University Terrace Apartment Village, which are provided to participants free-of-charge for the 9 week program. I'm living in a two-person apartment with one of my sisters, and it's absolutely huge! I didn't really know what to expect coming in, since UT is the older apartment complex at Butler, but it's actually really nice and very roomy. The futon and television look miniscule in the giant living area, and we have so much closet/pantry space we don't even know what to do with it! It's kind of exciting living on our own... an apartment has a very different feel of freedom than a dorm room or sorority house.

To kick-off the Institute, this morning we met for breakfast before participating in a community service project. We went to the Governor's Mansion (which is only a few blocks from campus!) to work with Keeping Indianapolis Beautiful. The organization was setting up a project for the Lily Day of Service on Wednesday. We helped organize trees, bushes, and other plants that will be planted by Lily workers in various areas across Indianapolis. It was a beautiful day today, perfect for working outside! It was also cool to meet and hang out with other BSIers, since we will all be working on research projects here at Butler this summer. Everyone participating in BSI lives in UT, and tonight we have another meeting to get to know each other and learn a little bit more about the apartment complex. I'm happy that I got the chance to live here this summer, and am excited to really get started on my research tomorrow!

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!

Summer daze

SarahG — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:31:00 GMT

I've been focusing on some countdowns to get me through this terribly dull start to my summer. Let me tell you, there's not much to do in New Pal, so I have basically been spending my days sitting around, watching TV, doing laundry, sitting around more with friends, unpacking, etc. But luckily there are a few upcoming events for me to look forward to!

Two days from today I'll be moving back to Butler for the start of BSI. I'm really excited about this because some of my best friends from BU are living there this summer too! Plus it just feels like home to be back on campus. I'm also stoked to get started on my research... I mean seriously, how cool is it to get paid to live at Butler for the summer to work on something you love? The only downfall to this is missing out on spending time with my friends from home. I have a group of girlfriends that are still really close and make it worth coming back to NP for a while. The good thing is that BSI ends with a month left of summer where I'll be job-free and back to hang out with my high school friends. It's really the best of both worlds!

Second countdown: one week from this moment I'll be on a plane to San Francisco! APS, one of the psych conferences my lab attends, is being held there this year! I absolutely cannot wait... I have never been to California... EVER. These trips are always so much fun because on top of presenting the research we've been working hard on all year, we get to tour the cities and try out different restaurants and shops. The lab is like our own little family, so we have a blast no matter where we go (although California doesn't hurt haha)!

So that's my summer thus far... and it's about to get much more exciting!

Share this post: Email it! | Bookmark it! | Digg it! | Reddit! | Facebook it!