On Monday I was pretty bummed because I finally heard that I didn't get the big fellowship that I applied for way back in November. I did get an honorable mention, which is better than last year, and I have one more year of eligibility to apply. The reviewers seemed impressed and interested with my research proposal, but 2 out of 3 said that I should be doing more publishing. Uh, hello, I'm only in my first year! It's pretty crazy how competitive science is getting. It used to be that you just needed to have good grades/GRE scores and some research experience to get one of them. Maybe/hopefully I can get that paper I worked on some at the field station published by next winter, or at least "in press," but I don't know that my situation will be so much different next time around :/

I stopped moping about it yesterday, though. At least most other things in life are going well. I do have a term paper to write by next Thursday, which I've only today started gathering articles for, but it's related to my research so I have somewhat of an idea what I want to write. And the weather is suddenly summerlike (high of 81 yesterday!), so that has me feeling more positive, too.

This Friday is the house inspection, where we'll be accompanying the inspector for three hours as he examines every detail of the house. It'll be only the second time we've been inside, although we've done several stalkeresque drive-bys :) I'll try to remember to bring my camera along. Once my term paper is turned in, maybe I'll celebrate next Friday by going wedding dress shopping. Having no classes on Fridays is a glorious thing.