Updates

Well it has definitely been awhile. I sure have been busy over the past few months with life issues and school.  Lets start from the top.

-Since mid-February school has consumed most of my life. With the exception of Fridays, Saturdays, and most of last week, I have spent about 6-10 hours per night on homework in addition to school and 10 hours of work every week. This doesn't even include the days on the weekend when I have been called in for snow removal on campus. The extra money is nice, but the work... well not so much.

-In addition, on February 26th, 2013 tragedy struck as the life of my close friend and colleague Nico Osorio came to a tragic end. This was very difficult to deal with, and I still am dealing with this loss. The Monday following his death, I had gone to his funeral with a group of my friends who also were his. This was a sad event, but I believe it did help out as I was able to grieve with others who knew him well. The worst part about this was that I had thought he committed suicide; however, I found out this weekend that he actually had a seizure. While this doesn't take away from the pain that he's gone, it does give me some closure to know that he didn't die by choice but rather by chance. I'm still hurting emotionally from his loss and it's going to hurt for awhile. That's all I have to say about that.

-On a bit of positive news, I'm an uncle for the 3rd time as my new nephew Mack entered this world on March 6th. He's been having some trouble with his O2 levels and with eating so he is still in the hospital. But, we're all hopeful and praying that he'll get better and he has been getting better. It's looking like he'll soon be out, and the family's still praying for that.

-Last week I found out I was accepted to the NAPIRE program in Costa Rica and will be living in Costa Rica for 2 months over the summer. This is excellent news since I had missed some other application deadlines and wasn't too hopeful of getting this one. I also get to spend 2 months studying biodiversity in the tropics! So exciting.

That's about it. Otherwise, I'm just looking forward to Spring Break.