Where has all the time gone?

Last weekend was jam packed with "firsts."

On Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early to go down to the lab and feed my crabs. And by bright and early I mean 5am. Yeah, I know. Ew. You might ask, "Why so early?" Well, the answer is Vancouver. A group of 5 of us decided to head up to Vancouver to celebrate one of the research group's experiment being completed. We had to catch a train at 9:21am in Mount Vernon, which is about 40 minutes from here. We wanted to arrive at the train station around 8:45. We had to leave at 8, which meant that I had to be at the lab at 6 to feed my crab babies. We got to the station just fine and had a nice train ride. It was the first time that I have ridden a train (that I remember). It seems like a great, but time consuming, way to travel.

We spent the day in Vancouver checking out the Vancouver Aquarium (another first for one girl in our group who had never been to an aquarium before!), navigating the bus system, and having fun! However, the trip was short lived. We spent the night in a hotel and boarded a 6:40am train back to Mount Vernon. It was pretty tough to get up early for that one.

Once we got back to Shannon Point, some people from the Canada trip and some who were at Shannon Point got ready to go to Friday Harbor. There is a ferry terminal just around the corner from Shannon Point, so we walked to that and took the ferry over to the San Juan Islands. It was my first ever ferry ride.

Friday Harbor was great! It is so beautiful there. We got some lunch first and then we went to the Whale Museum. Even though it was really cool, it was also kind of depressing to learn about the history of whaling and using whales for entertainment value. Then we got some home made ice cream, which cheered me up. :)

I was only able to spend a few hours in Friday Harbor because I had to get back to the lab to feed my crabs for the day. So, Shad and I headed back on a late afternoon ferry. When we arrived in Anacortes, we didn't really feel like walking back to Shannon Point on the road, because it is very hilly and tiring, so instead we decided to try the beach, which is quite easy to walk at low tide. Unfortunately for us, it was high tide! But it was ok. There was some splashing and crawling and stumbling - it was an adventure.

We got back to Shannon Point and, even though I was basically falling asleep on my feet, I had to go and feed my crabs. I kept myself alert by listening to Elvis. :)

Just as I was finishing up in the lab, I got a text from the other group that we left in Friday Harbor that their ferry was almost back and I drove over to get them using Sarah's car.

Even though I was dead tired, it was a great weekend and I'm really glad we did everything that we did. I am realizing more and more each day that there is only a limited amount of time left for me here - I come home in ~2.5 weeks! I feel like it is a rush to the finish line now, as I try to wrap up all my experiments, prepare a presentation, and write a paper, all while trying to spend time doing fun things with friends! I must admit though - I am excited to go home. I miss my family and the familiar surroundings. I also miss driving! I didn't realize how much I would miss that. I'm also anxious to get my wound taken care of when I return. I'll see my surgeon soon after I get back and we're hoping to come up with a plan that will permanently fix it, since nothing has worked thus far.

Thanks so much for reading - I hope you enjoyed it. To all of you who have prayed for my wound I say thank you and please continue!

P.S. MAJOR praise report: My dad got a job!!! If you know anything about this situation, you know that it had been a long time coming. And with the circumstances around the interview, type of position, etc. he should not have gotten the job, so we know that it was God's doing. Yay!