Life Update & A Special Legacy

Hey, everyone!

I'm sorry I've been MIA this week. You may have seen stuff about Oroville Dam and its damaged spillway(s) in the news recently. Well, my town is downriver from the dam, and there has basically been an evacuation order (downgraded to an advisory) in effect for the entire past week, just in case the (already full) river breeches the levees and causes a massive flood. I haven't been able to go to work because all the schools are closed, and it's been a really stressful week. The storm system this weekend is only putting more pressure on the issue, but the updates this morning seem to be good ones. So I'm trying to catch up on some posts until they possibly tell us we need to get out!

Update out of the way, this mani and this post are very special to me. My academic advisor from college recently and suddenly passed away. We were very close, since I was one of only two graduating chem majors in my graduating year, and he was simply put the most lovely and genuine gentleman I have ever met. I will tell you more about him in this post, but this mani is what I wore to his "celebration of life" service. Please keep reading for more!

For this tribute design, I wanted to use black and gold - classy colors, because this man was so incredibly classy! I used Essie Good as Gold and Wet n Wild Black Creme. I went for a chemistry theme, obviously, since he helped me more than I can say in my journey to get a B.S. in Chemistry. For the images that I stamped I used the stamping plates Vivid Lacquer VL017 and hēhē 095.  

On my index and pinky fingers, I stamped  portions of the periodic table using Good as Gold over Black Creme. On my ring finger, I stamped three benzene rings using Black Creme. My advisor was one of the ones who encouraged me to join the chem/biochem club Tribenzene, of which I eventually became Co-President and helped run our incredibly successful snack bar. On my middle finger, I stamped a phenol ring. Why does phenol remind me of him? Because he would always talk about his love of "red wi... I mean, 'water.'" It was no secret that my advisor was a fan of red wine, but he always liked to pretend that wine was inappropriate to talk about with students, and would play it off as "Ah, yes, a big delicious glass of... 'water.'" So again, why phenol? Various phenols are what give red wine its mouthfeel, its unique characteristics of flavor and bouquet! And finally, I stamped dopamine onto my thumb. Dopamine is commonly referred to as the hormone that makes you happy. And while it a bit more complicated than that, my advisor definitely made me happy without fail. Whenever he saw me in the hall of the Chem Department, he would flash me a wink, a smile, and a peace sign, and say "Hey, Millie, how's it going?" in that wonderful think Chilean accent of his.

Materials Used

Wet n Wild Black Creme

Essie Good as Gold

Stamping plate VL017

Stamping plate hēhē 095

The sudden death of somebody you care about is never something that is easy to deal with. Over the last few weeks, my thoughts have constantly gone back to my dear advisor and the impact he has had on me. How kind and soft-spoken he was, how professional and incredibly intelligent he was, and yet he could definitely be a goofball at times (like lovingly calling his wife his "roommate"). He was an inspiration to everyone whose lives he touched, and he brightened the world beyond measure. And I will do my best to carry on his incredible legacy. I know this was a long and emotional post, but thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read my thoughts.