Kevin and Heather Burns

It's been a while...

2009-04-04T07:45:00.009-05:00

It's been quite a while since I have posted here because since the last post, quite a lot of exciting things have happened:

1) My mentor and I went our separate ways- he went to Indiana, I finished my 2nd Master's in Biochemistry in Oklahoma

2) I found a great job in Forensic Sciences in Alabama which is getting my foot in the door to bigger and better things (although I had to leave the great buddies in Oklahoma)

3) After having been in Alabama for 6 months, my wife gave birth to a gorgeous daughter named Kendal Lynn

It's official...

2008-04-24T11:52:00.004-05:00

As the title states, it is now official that my PhD mentor has accepted a position at the University of Indiana in Blooomington. This means that as soon as I pass my qualifying exam, I will be on my way to Indiana for about 3 years. I will officially transfer my standing as an OU student to the more prestigious Indiana University which is ranked incredibly high in biology and chemistry.

It's really sad to have to move even further away from family, everyone in Arkansas, and the good friends we've made here in Oklahoma. More than likely this will be the end for good of our residence in Oklahoma because the only reason for being here now is my school. Feels like the end of an era, similar to that of moving away from Arkansas.

On the other hand, moving around and living in new areas is in itself really exciting. We will have a chance to experience a new place for a few years and then move on. After a visit to Indianapolis and Bloomington a few weeks ago, I have discovered that the area in which I will be living is incredibly similar to the Arkadelphia/ Hot Springs area as far as trees and hills which will make it feel a little more like home.

The IU campus has been dropped in the middle of the woods so getting from building to building involves incredible senery. The other good news is that there is a little snow in the winter with no ice and temperatures get up to a "whooping 90 degrees" in the summer (as a Bloomington resident put it).

The move will take place sometime this summer, mid to late July so we have a lot of hard work ahead of us in selling our house, finding a house in Indiana, packing, finding Heather a job so she can keep supporting me, and figuring out what we are going to do with our zoo.

Arena Football

2008-04-09T12:57:00.017-05:00

I've always asked myself, "How in the world can Arena Football actually be fun?" Well last Saturday (April 5th), Heather and I got to find out. We went to an Oklahoma City Yard Dawgs game in which they played the Arkansas Twisters.

We went to the game with several other couples which added to the enjoyment:

Jacob and Jen:

Chris and Jessica:

Never in my life have I ever found such a collection of mullets and rednecks. The intimacy of the arena allowed all of them to converse across the field to each other while the game was ongoing, and this, I found, is why arena football is fun: hearing drunk rednecks heckle each other's mullet.

Crunch Time

2008-03-01T22:35:00.002-06:00

Like the title states, it's crunch time. This new month will be by far the most stressful and busiest since I started grad school, and for those that know me, know that stress is usually a fleeting thought. I have finished my first abstract and poster for presentation at a virology and nanotechnology meeting next week, my first to be presenting at. But before that happens, I have a huge presentation in front of most of the Biochem faculty and students. March 21st is the due date for my written general exam (the 25 page grant) after which I will find out if I passed and get to defend it orally, getting nailed by question after question for 3 hours. If I don't pass, I'm kicked out of school, so this is kind of important. In between the written and oral, I have a competition presentation which I have to present my poster and be judged for travel awards. Once this month is over, if I pass, I can somewhat relax and just work in the lab. If I fail, well then I have to look for a job. No pressure.

Brrr

2008-01-22T09:57:00.001-06:00

It's cold.

General Exam

2008-01-17T11:42:00.000-06:00

I am now neck deep in my General Exam. In order to continue on as a graduate student in biochemistry, each student is required to pick a question, out of a list of questions posed by all of the biochemistry faculty members, on a topic that you pretty much know nothing about. The whole exam is the actual research into the topic and how you are going to answer the question.

The written part of the exam is a "grant proposal" on how you are going to answer the question which usually ends up being 20-30 pages in length. The oral part of the exam is a three hour defense of what you proposed in your grant in front of a biochemistry committee where they question and question and question and question to make sure you know everything in the world.

My question is:
Some important proteins are secreted by eukaryotic cells without any involvement by the Golgi. Mammalian keratinocytes are unique in storing prodigious quantities of preformed IL-1a that has no signal peptide and does not access the Golgi secretion pathway. Recent studies of mouse keratinocytes and epidermis indicate that IL-1a is secreted all the time by mouse keratinocytes in conjuection with IL1 receptor inhibitor protein (IL-1ra) which is secreted normally through the Golgi. IL-1ra blocks IL-1a binding and activation of IL-1 type I receptors on essentially all body cells, including keratinocytes. In keratinocytes, the counter-regulated secretion of IL-1a by IL-1ra may facilitae immediate repsonses to enivronmental tissue damage and mechanical stress.

Utilize what is known about non-Golgi-mediated secretion mechanism to design experiments that may elucidate pathways involved in the storage and counter-regulated secretion of IL-1a by keratinocytes and other cells.

By the way: It's great to have such an amazing wife that puts up with me through this and actually tells me not to do house chores when I should be working on this. It's probably because she thinks once I'm called "Dr" I'll really be making the big bucks...oh how wrong she is...

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-12-27T18:42:00.001-06:00

Cruise / Christmas 2007

2007-12-27T09:08:00.000-06:00

Well, I am now officially back to the real world. The cruise around the Caribbean and Christmas in Texarkana are now over and the unpacking, rearranging, cleaning, and studying have been resumed.

Cruise:
The cruise sailing out of Miami was great: incredible food and incredible relaxation. For anyone who has been on a cruise, most of them have a "Love and Marriage" game show where they have three couples (newlyweds, middle (10-20 yrs married) and older), that answer questions while the significant other is off-stage, and then the significant other has to come back onstage and match the answers. Well, Heather and I were chosen by the audience to go up on stage and be the newlywed couple. Believe it or not, we answered the most questions correctly; however, the middle couple (married 10 years) won by answering the bonus question correctly putting them 5 points ahead of us. The old couple (married 61 years) was hilarious. I do have video that I can post as soon as I figure out how. I got to play in a limit hold-em game in which I did pretty decent, but just reaffirmed my dislike of the limit game as opposed to no-limit.

Christmas:
After the cruise, Heather and I drove to Texarkana after flying into Dallas from Miami. (Four hours in the Miami airport the weekend before Christmas is not fun). Santa Claus actually found Heather at our house and left her a few presents, only a few since she has not been good this past year. Everyone was there: Dad, Mom, Clay, Emily and her fiance Michael, and Heather and myself. Heather and I lucked out because we knew that the first Christmas married would be difficult in deciding which family to go with. We got to spend "Christmas" with her family on the cruise and actual Christmas with my family, so it all worked out.

The best news from Christmas is that Dad got a huge, brand new grill from Santa. I know you are all wondering with a new grill, what's going to happen with the old one? Well, I'll tell you. I get the grill!!!! Now I can feel like a real man. I hope all of you has a blessed Christmas as well and enjoy the new year.

Well I guess I better get back to reading for my general exam for school.

Almost Cruise Day 2:

2007-12-17T08:48:00.000-06:00

Once again, at 10 am Miami time, I am up and ready to take on the world while my counterpart is wasting the day away with sleep...I mean, it's only sleep. How can one person need that much sleep, it is quite unbelievable. The good news is, the hotel had orange juice this morning, unlike yesterday, and I was able to partake in its sweet goodness. The other good news is that after a bout with the ivory throne, I am able to say I have emerged victorious. Last Tuesday we engaged in a war, but over the past week, I have grown stronger and can say that I have won this battle. I'm sure there will be more tiffs to come, but like this time, I'm sure I can overcome.

We are checking out of the hotel in 2 hours and being shuttled to the port so that we can get on the boat, and the Morgan family is still sleeping.....How can you be sleeping at a time like this?? We are about to get out to sea, away from school and work, and they can still sleep?? I'm ready to get on the boat and disappear from the rest of the family. Too much time in a small closed in area leads to, let's just say, the need to separate for a little while.

WAIT!?!?!?! What is this??? My wife is actually awake now?? Unbelievable. Oh, no she's not up, still in bed now with the TV on and if I'm not mistaken has rolled back over...typical.

Almost Cruise Day 1:

2007-12-16T08:48:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, I recently got married on November 3rd. Due to school conflicts (i.e. me having to be there), there was no real "honeymoon" or much time away. Heather's brother is leaving in several weeks off to basic training and wanted a big "leaving/graduation/birthday" celebration and a cruise was decided on. Lucky enough (or unlucky enough if you knew the family) I am now included in that so here we are, my wife and I, off to set sail with Captain Jack Sparrow.

That being said, I am sitting in my hotel room in Miami (a day before boarding the boat) waiting on the wife and the rest of her family (except for her dad) to get out of bed. I know, I know....it's only 10 am Miami time and it's sleepy time, but I come from a family (well at least 4 out of 5 of us....sister not including) that is up with the roosters and the sun. Her family believes that lunch is the first meal of the day. So here I am, fed with continental breakfast, waiting on them.

So what do I do?? I decide to follow in Preacher Wright's footsteps and create a blog so that the rest of you guys can suffer through this as well. As for "wisdom" right now, I don't have much, but stay tuned for some great things to come.