A Day in the Life of a Grad Student

After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University in Geological Sciences, Landon K. Burgener continues his studies as a graduate student at BYU. Under the direction of Dr. Summer Rupper, he will research the Accumulation Patterns over West Antarctic Ice Sheet Divide, both in the field and within the parameter of satellite images and lab results. Shallow (15 m) ice cores will be collected in conjunction with UHF radar images to confirm that radar echoed returns correspond with annual layers, and/or sub-annual density changes in the near-surface snow, as determined from ice core chemistry and stable isotopes. This project will additionally improve accumulation monitoring from space-borne instruments by comparing the spatial-radar-derived-annual accumulation time series to the passive microwave time series dating back over 3 decades and covering most of Antarctica.

All of that is a fancy (and, if you're like me, incoherent) way of saying that Landon began his graduate studies yesterday, August 30, 2010. What does the life of a graduate student look like, you ask? A little like this:

He has his very own "Grad Cube." We are working on getting it a little more personalized.

He does smart-people things here in the "Climate Dynamics" lab......

 AKA "HOTH"

(This is the walk-in freezer where they will keep all of their Antarctic samples)

I'm so proud of Landon and all of the work I know he's put in to get to this point. He deserves all of the accolades and opportunities he is now receiving. It's exciting to be starting out on the path to what we both know will be a rewarding and exciting career in academics. You can do it bud!

Brothers and Sisters

Sometimes, you just need a little family-togetherness-time. Last week was one of those times. I don't have a ton of pictures, but rest assured that the Jackson clan had a lot of fun eating, laughing, teasing, shopping, sleeping, and having yet another 80s movies marathon:

We have spent the last several weeks doing all kinds of family stuff. Multiple trips to Park City, mini-golfing, baby-sitting, late night phone calls and text messages, good news, bad news, and just general bonding. It has been a really great summer.

Landon officially starts grad school in 4 days! We're looking forward to all of the amazing opportunities he'll be given this year. Life is good.

Happy Birthday, Landon!

I love Landon's birthday almost as much as I love my own. I start planning for it months in advance. I'm always trying to figure out what fun activity we can do, surprises that he won't find out about, and what gifts I will buy. I go a little crazy, but it's so much fun!

The first birthday we had together (we had been married for a little less than 2 months), I asked Landon what kind of cake he wanted. Growing up at my house, this meant what SHAPE of cake do you want. Like, a dinosaur, pirate, ninja turtle, cabbage patch doll, train...my mom could make you anything you could dream up. I always looked forward to picking out my cake. But when I asked Landon, to my surprise, he said "chocolate." So that first year, he got a boring, chocolate cake with chocolate whipped cream frosting. I slipped some dinosaur sprinkles on top, because I just couldn't stand it. :) The next year, Landon requested a chocolate strawberry cheesecake. Deliciousness. But still not a shape. Last year, I didn't ask. I just make him some sweet Star Wars cupcakes, as I was in charge of all the festivities (Ok, ok, I did ask. He got ice cream cake at a family party a few days later).

This year, I insisted that he choose not a flavor of cake (we know, we know, you like CHOCOLATE), but some cool shape that I could show off on our blog later, telling you all about my mad decorating skills. So, to be obstinate, he looked me right in the eye and said "Fine. If you can make a cake look like the NASA shuttle, I'll take it." Wow. That is not exactly what I had in mind. But I was determined that I would make it happen, so he wouldn't scoff at my insistence that cakes are more fun when they look like something. I puzzled and stressed over this for weeks. I was at a total loss. I tried to find a shuttle cake pan online, but apparently they only existed in the 1960s. I found directions to make a shuttle cake at a few websites, but honestly, they didn't really look like a space shuttle, and Landon is a stickler for realism. Finally, I came up with a genius plan. And it truly was genius, if I do say so myself. It wasn't the fanciest cake out there, it was nothing like the fondant covered cakes that I see everywhere lately, but it DID look like the NASA shuttle. So, without further ado, my masterpiece:

We invited some friends and family over to share in the goodness and play some fun games. I failed at the picture taking thing this night, but trust me, it was really fun.

Two days later, on his actual birthday, we celebrated together with presents galore. Landon won't let me show you his picture from this day, but for his 25th birthday, all he wanted was Legos. He informed me the other day that David Beckham likes Legos, so it's totally legit.

Then he got this:

I have pretty limited vacation time at this job, but Landon was feeling melancholy about Miles leaving and had been wanting to spend more time with his family. So...I took one of my days off, and we headed up to Idaho for a 4-day weekend! He loved it.

We had a blast with his family, playing games, eating good food, and then participating in an awesome Wilkes reunion. We love our family!

All in all, I think it was one of the best birthdays yet. I am so grateful to have a wonderful husband who takes care of me, knows how to have fun, and thinks families are the most important thing in the world. Happy Birthday Landon!