We've Graduated Before, Today we're Doing it Again

This time three years ago we graduated as undergrads together. Tomorrow we'll once again don cap and gown (unofficially - we decided not to walk, It felt kind of silly since we don't have anyone attending) and experience a little deja vu, this time becoming graduate graduates!

I am excited to celebrate being done school with my honey all weekend long. But I am most excited about seeing my husband a little more regularly now that we are finally finished. Last semester I ate, drank, and slept my thesis, with little time for anything else. And Ryan has worked beyond hard to finish his degree while working 45-50 hour work weeks and completing an internship. He is a total superhero!

Congratulations my sweetie-pie, can you believe we actually did it? I never doubted you for a second.

Last day doing student things

I have turned in my final paper.

Taken my last exam.

Presented my final presentation.

Submitted my thesis for printing and binding.

Signed my last form and attended my last meeting.

I have defended and I have passed.

And it all feels like such a relief.

So how did I spend my first official day being done?
At school of course.
Just savoring all that school-ness without any of the anxiety.
A novel feeling indeed!
I met my husband for our old on-campus favorite, the marvin joe.
(warm asiago bread, garlic butter, tomatoes, vinegar, and a slice of provolone, toasted)
Sold back our old textbooks.
And turned in what could potentially be my very last paper. Ever.

It feels completely amazing, but also a little sad.

Because I love school.

To the point that I may have even gotten a little teary walking through old main yesterday.

That old brick building in which I have attended most of my classes.
I'm excited to be done but that doesn't mean I won't miss it.

disaster averted!

This is the remains of my usb drive. 

The one that was almost smashed to death mid-thesis writing.

It wasn't even my fault, it was all ryan.

There I was, minding my own business, when a surprise tickle attack (meant to lighten the mood) startled me, sending my laptop flying to the ground and smooching the inserted usb drive in the process. Can you tell how it was bent at a near 90 degree angle?
The plastic exterior was smashed leaving just this metal skeleton.

After finally prying it loose from the computer, it seemed that there would be no saving it.

Nothing was working as it should.

Luckily the perpetrator was also the amazing hero of this disaster.

Ryan knew a guy that soldered together some of those itty bitty metal clasps making it good as new (insert huge sigh of relief here).

Now it only looks broken, but is completely functional.

Phew! Disaster averted!

Thesis my life.

This is where I have been holed up for the past two weeks. 

Living, eating, drinking, sleeping, & breathing my thesis.

I am graduating graduate school this semester & I still feel this way:

"You get to graduate school and suddenly you are not the smartest person in the class anymore, You're surrounded by really smart people. This can be a shattering experience for entering grad students as they try to find their place... many grad students have a persistent feeling that they are hiding the shameful secret of how unutterably stupid they are. They feel like everybody else is smart, and they are the only dumb one in class. Often students live in fear of being found out - a common nightmare is that someday the admissions committee is going to realize they sent the wrong letter, that they were admitted by accident."

So I recognize that:

I was rarely the smartest person in class.

 I'm not entirely unutterably stupid.

I feel like an impostor & it's nice to know I'm not alone.

Hopefully I can walk away with my degree,

 before anybody figures it out.

Busy is about the right word.

This past week I have:

Written 50 pages of final papers.

Finished spring semester.

Celebrated graduation with friends.

Helped other friends move.

Made & Mailed Mother's Day packages.

Purchased 11 pallets.

Began "project front patio".

&

Started summer semester.

All in one little week.

Can you understand why this blog has not been a priority?

(Also, can we please agree on a better replacement for the word blog?)

Writers Cramp.

I've got it, but it's in my brain.

All 80 pages of my final writing assignments just happen to be due these final two weeks of the semester.

So far I've turned in 30 pages.

That means only about 50 left to go.

Don't worry, I've got a good start on it.

If a good start means 18 pages.

It doesn't help that this:

 is exactly how the editing process goes every time I turn in a revision for editing.

Wish this girl some luck!

And sleep.

Both are sorely needed.

Blog Worthy

There is a lot going on over here.

But most of my bid'ness involves reading, writing, and attending class.

And i love that. (i really really do!)

But it's not really bloggy kind of stuff.

Unless you really want to hear me go on and on about the miracle that is language.

Or how incredibly fascinating and complex I think communicative behaviors really are.

And believe me I have thought about it. Gosh, I've even written about it.

But those posts sit saved, never to be published.

Because I find in everyday conversation people don't really care about the fact that every sentence longer than 20 words is in all likelihood a completely new, never-been-heard, original thought. 

(yes, even that one you just read.)

I can't help but notice that peoples eyes sort of glaze over when you start talking school stuff.

And what I find terribly fascinating and important, most people deem pretty boring.

It's sort of a conversation kill.

And so I try (I promise I try) not to let it be the center of all conversations.

And I especially try not to let it consume this blog.

I like it that way too.

Because even though I spend most of my life at work in our closet,

most of my living is spent at play right outside it.

Real life is those precious few hours I get to spend with my husband, my books, my camera.

Time spent outside or in the kitchen or curled up in my favorite chair.

Time spent with friends and neighbors and family.

Those are the things, the ones I want to remember the very most, that make it on here.

onto my own little digital diary.

It's exactly this kind of self indulgence that makes blogging so very appealing.

I get to determine the contents of my blog.
(and my life luckily enough.)

Blog worthiness is determined by how much I love a thing.

That ranks photography right up there at the top of the list.

which means a whole lot of pictures.
'Cause even though it might sound like work (okay it is work)

my camera is the first thing I grab when I have or just need a break.

It's my latest leisure activity, my hobby.

Even though the word hobby makes me cringe - it's a word a strongly dislike.

I find it annoying.

(speaking of hobbies... isn't it the strangest thing when people ask you what sorts of things you like to do? I can never think of a single thing to say!!)

But I digress. A couple of times actually.

Point is, I've been taking a lot of pictures.
So a lot of those guys will end up right here.
You've been warned.

wednesday night date night

our date nights are always on friday.

but sometimes midweek comes and we feel like it should be friday.

and this evening we were positive it should be.

our entire day was spent at the computer writing.

and besides the 15 minutes we spent eating a quick lunch in the parking lot together,

we had not seen each other at all.

and so we decided to make a friday of it!

that is we cashed in our date night (and our free meal coupon.)

it might have had a late start. (8:00 pm)

but we grabbed some costa vida and watched this:

and it made our wednesday night the best night of this week thus far!
also, i wanted to grab little ponijao of the screen and keep him.
seriously, these babies were the cutest!

Friday Night Lights

Here we are at the football game.
Watching the Aggies play the Cougars.
And miracle of miracles, we are winning!!
That's right, our sad little team, that ranked something like 127th out of 130 last year,
is finally looking at a win!
And a win like this is unprecedented.
At least since 1993, which is the last year that they beat BYU.
This according to the camera guy who's set up next to us.
It is a packed, and consequently a loud, stadium.
Which makes for an exciting game. (who knew right?)
so much so that it's half time and I have not even cracked my book open yet.
I'm so glad we came tonight!
And not just because I am capturing tons of wonderfully preppy pictures using ryan's iPhone.

can you tell that it is a tad tricky trying to capture yourselves using the iphone camera?

**post-edit: we won! we won!

a dash of chaos to keep us on our toes.

Yes, there have been times when Ryan & I hold FHE at 11:00 at night.
Times when we have not been to the grocery store in literally weeks.
Sometimes we even eat things like mac & cheese, PBJ, & cereal for dinner 3 nights in a row.
And we may at times be guilty of having loads of laundry strewn about our bedroom floor.
Occasionally I will even -unintentionally- crash on the sofa for a nap before noon.
This last week may have been host to a huge collision of all of the above sorts of disorderly living.
We're trying not to be too embarrassed about it.
.

back to school.

i have returned to school.
this time as a graduate student.
and i'd like it documented that i love it.
that i can't wait to go to class every afternoon.
that i find myself at times (over) eagerly leaning forward over my desktop.
and frequently cannot write quite fast enough to get everything i want to retain down on paper.
it's also busy. and can be difficult.
but in a really incredible awesome way.
an exciting tingly way.
and for me it only ever really feels like fall when i'm walking to and from class and purchasing new supplies.
so i love that too. the return of a season.
welcome back autumn!