25 out of 25, baby!!!

I am writing this blog from my brand new, beautiful, red laptop while watching tv and sitting on the couch. Life doesn't get better than this. :) Also, i just got an email from my professor and I got a 100% on my mid term from monday. This is crazy. I guess I am doing something right in this PhD program. Anyway, I am off to relax a bit before hitting the sack and starting another day.

P.S.-Please comment. I love hearing what you all think. Miss you all.

Let's play catch up

So, we spent last week celebrating Michael's amazing accomplishment. I am still so very proud of him. We went out to dinner on Wednesday to celebrate and we also met up with my parents on Friday to celebrate. My parents took us to dinner at this really great Asian fusion place in Dallas. It was very delicious. They had sushi, asian, and thai food all mixed together. It was wonderful. Well, I spent a good chunk of saturday studying for my midterm and then we spent some time shopping for some more stuff to decorate the house. We also went to a friend's birthday party on Saturday night. It was a nice time. It is one of the Repiratory Therapist's at work. We had a good time hanging out and chatting it up with some new friends. Sunday, I did a bit more studying, but we spent most of the day decorating the house, which might I say looks quite great. I am very happy with the way it is all turning out. Michael and Gabe worked really hard putting up shelves and wall hangings from the ceiling. It looked like very hard work. Thanks so much, guys.

I had my midterm on Monday and I think it went well. I should get the grade back in a few days. I just found out today that I don't have either of my classes next week, since both my professors are out of town at conferences. Also, my paper that was due on monday is not due the following monday. Yeah for that. I still plan to get it done this weekend because I have an assignment due in my other class that I have to work on next weekend. Anyway, all that to say, the PhD program is still going well. Keeping me busy, but going well. I also got to buy my first new computer. We bought a Dell laptop. The computer and the mouse are red. How cute is that? :) It came in the mail today and I cant wait to get home to open it. I think this will be so helpful to be able to take to class and stuff. I am really looking forward to using it.

Well, we are planning a party for the weekend of Nov. 3 and 4. since we have been able to spend some time decorating the house, we are ready to throw a housewarming party. I think it will be tons of fun. other than that, all is good over here.

One more thing, I just wanted to send a shout out to Michael for getting the oil changed in my car for me. He had to wait almost an hour and half. I can definitley do this myself, but it is so nice to have such a wonderful husband who will help me out with that kind of stuff. Thanks so much, hon.

Yeah for Michael

Well, I get on here and brag about myself, now I get to brag about my husband. :) Michael passed his CCRN test yesterday. Not only did he pass, but he passed with flying colors. He is officially a Certified Critical Care Nurse. He has been working really hard to prepare for this test and his hard work has definitely paid off. Now, he has to finish is PALS certification this week, which is not quite as challenging, then turn in his apps and wait. He won't hear anything about CRNA school until February, but the hard part is definitely over. Anyway, just wanted to let you all know how crazy smart my husband is. :)

oh, the weekend, how I love thee...

well, it is sunday evening and I have had a nice weekend. It feels as if anytime that is not dedicated to studying is good time. no matter what it is i am doing, such as cooking, cleaning, organizing the house, laundry, etc. is great as long as it is not studying. well, being in phd school definitely puts the rest of life in perspective. :)

anyway, I spent most of the morning cleaning and putting away all the new dishes and other extras we bought at ikea, cooking some jambalaya in our new crock pot, doing laundry, and picking up the house. then, i spent the rest of the day studying. from what i can smell, i think the jambalaya is going to taste quite good. we bought some great spices when we were in new orleans, so hopefully that will add a nice kick. as for the studying, well i got a lot done, but i still haven't really studied from my midterm or started my next paper. now, the midterm is not until next monday and the paper is not due until the week after that, but i should definitely get started on those. I have decided on what theory i will be using for my paper and I have also put together all my study materials for the midterm. I got an agenda ready for my meeting with Dr. Black on tuesday. she is the professor that has very similar interests as me, so I am hoping the meeting goes well. anyway, all in all, i got a lot done. I think i need to make sure and spend some time not studying so i don't get burnt out too quick. :)

friday, michael and i went to piranha for a nice dinner. it was tons of fun. it was so nice just to be able to sit and talk together without worrying about getting something else done. then, we met up with gabe and talked research for a few hours. it was pretty cool to get other people's opinions about my research ideas. yesterday, michael, gabe, and i went to ikea which was a good time. i really love that place. we bought some fabric panels that we are going to hang behind our tv as decoration. i think it is going to look way cool. then, we went to the angelica and saw the darjeeling limited. i really enjoyed it. it is a movie about 3 brothers and their journey of reuniting and letting go of the past. I thought it was really thought provoking.

This week, michael has is CCRN test and his PALS certification class, so send him smart thoughts, so he will do well. He has been working hard on getting his applications together and studying. we are just a crazy studying couple. I wonder if we will ever be done with school. anyway, only time will tell.

well, i am not really looking forward to another week starting, but that is the way the world works. you just keep going. I already feel like i need another vacation. how sad is that? i think our next short trip should be a camping trip so we can just get away from it all. what do you think? well, i hope you all had great weekends. here's to another week.

I got a 15

I cant write much, i am super busy at work today, but i wanted to say that i got a 15 out of 15 on my first phd paper. YEAH!! how exciting? anyway, i just wanted to get on here and brag a bit. thanks for all the support.

Pampering is oh so nice

Well, this weekend wasn't that bad at all. Now, I did miss Michael a lot, but it was nice to have some "me " time and definitely to catch up on some studying. so, the massage was great. It was very relaxing and it felt really good to have her work on my shoulders and neck, which is where i keep most of my stress. Also, the pedicure/manicure was great. I got a nice red on my toes and a french manicure. how cute is that?

The rest of the weekend was pretty good also. I got dinner with mom and dad on Friday night, which was a lot of fun. we met at the galleria and had dinner at cafe de lux. the galleria was packed even on friday night. it was a lot of fun to catch up with them. i spend most of saturday pampering myself, which was great. i spent most of sunday studying and cleaning house. It was a very relaxing, stress free weekend, which was great.

well, back to the grind today. michael gets home soon. From what he said, it sounds like mary's wedding and reception were great. He didnt get to go camping since the canyon was closed due to bad weather, but it sounds like he had a great time catching up on some family time.

Well, i have class tonight and i am hoping that we get our paper back so i can see how i am doing before my midterm next week. also, I had a meeting with a professor last week and it seems we have very similar interests. She said that maybe we can revamp her master's thesis and publish it together. She did a program evaluation on a sexual assault prevention program on a college campus. She said it was a very amateur paper, so hopefully we can make it better together. Also, there is a new sexual assault response and prevention program being started at UTA, so I am hoping to become more involved in that in the hopes that it will lead to my dissertation. I have already spoken with the director of that program (who is also a PhD) and she said she would love to collaborate. I might even ask her to be on my dissertation committee since you have to have someone from outside the school of social work also. Anyway, things seem to be falling into place. I know I am adding more work on myself early in the game, but i think it will pay off in the future if i can get things set up now. well, i am off. have a great week, everyone.

10 %, baby

So, as some of you know, I have been a part of Weight Watchers for a while now. This past tuesday, I hit my 10% goal. That means I have lost 10% of my starting weight. YEAH!! It has been quite a process, but I am so happy. i have been working so hard at it, especially now that school has started and i have been so busy. I feel much healthier and am ready to continue losing weight until i get to a healthy weight again. Weight Watchers even gives you this cool key chain when you get your 10% goal. I love it. Also, one of my coworkers is going to join the meetings at work with me. I am so excited.

well, i wanted to reward myself for such an accomplishment, so i decided to schedule my first real massage ever. I got a massage once when i worked as a camp counselor for being counselor of the month, but it was by a girl who was working on becoming a massage therapist, so it was just ok. I scheduled my massage for this saturday, i think i might also get a pedicure. i am already feeling overwhelmed with the pampering. as most of you know, I dont pamper myself often. I am really looking forward to it. I will let you know how the massage goes.

Ok, michael left this morning for amarillo. I feel so silly for saying that i am going to miss him. he is only going to be gone until monday, but i think this is the longest we have been apart since we got married. :( awww, dont you feel sad for me. :) just teasing. I am definitely going to miss him, but i think it will be very helpful to have some "me" time and to catch up on some studying and things around the house. anyway, i do wish that i could've have gone to amarillo to spend some time with his family, enjoy his sis's wedding, and go camping, but it just didn't work out this time. but, since we have decided to spend the rest of our lives together :), i am sure we will plan another trip. anyway, i am off.

A Marathon

So, last week after work and definitely this past weekend were full of fun paper writing activities. I spent most of the weekend working on my literature review. It was a challenging and time consuming paper, but I think I did alright. we will find out when i get the grade. :) anyway, my parents also came to visit on Sunday. it was really nice to see them and to get a short break from paper writing. they also brought us some amazingly delicious homemade food. thanks mom and dad.

well, tonight in class, we have a debate presentation. I don't think it will be that bad. It will actually be nice to just listen to other students talk and hopefully we can get out early. I feel ready for my part of the presentation. i don't want this to sound arrogant or anything, but some of the students in my phd class are way behind the curve. some of them turned in 8 page papers (mine was 23 pages) and a few didn't even have their papers done on time. that is crazy to me. how are you going to turn in the first paper assignment in a phd program late? Crazy stuff. anyway, our professors keep saying that this is a phd program, so we should expect it to be quite challenging. I tend to agree with them. if getting a phd was easy, then everyone would do it. anyway, all this to say, I hope i am doing ok. It is definitely a lot of work and time, but i think it will work out.

Michael is heading to Amarillo for his sister's wedding this weekend. he is leaving on Thursday and wont be back until monday. he and dustin are going to do some backpacking also. I am jealous, i wish i could go. I would love to see his family, but i just don't have enough time off at work and i have way to much to do as far as studying goes.

well, i don't really have much else to say. I think my brain is a bit fried from this weekend. :) anyway, hope you are all well. i will post more soon.