Sorry for the delay...

well, the end of the semester is always tons of fun. :) My classes have been keeping me quite busy. Work also hasn't given me a break either. But, that is the way it goes. anyway, I basically have 3 more class days left. One of my classes will be over next week and the other goes into the first week of May. I have a massive paper left to complete and a few smaller assignments in my other class. I also have meetings next week with each of the two professors i will be working with over the summer. it turns out that the professor that i will be doing research with has hired me as a GRA (Graduate Research Assistant) and I will be making about $15 per hour. Not bad for something i was going to do for free. :) I cannot wait for my 3 week break between this semester and summer semester. good times.

well, during my 3 week break from school, we have 2 weddings to attend, my sister's birthday, mother's day and a family trip to Vegas. should be a very fun 2 weeks. I cant wait. I am really looking forward to our trip to Vegas. I haven't been in so long.

Ok, I need some advice. Michael and I are planning a trip in August after my summer classes finish and before we both head back to school for the fall. I think Michael will basically fall off the face of the earth when he starts school, so we wanted to take one last vacation before he starts. :) We are going to visit Amarillo for a few days and maybe head up to Oklahoma to visit michael's sister and her family, then we want to take a few days on our own so we can have some alone time before the chaos begins. I would love any ideas of great travel spots. We are very flexible, very open to new ideas and love trying all kinds of fun stuff. Let me know what you all think.

Ok, so as far as TV shows go, I am so, so, so glad that Ali won the biggest loser. She is crazy great when it comes to weight loss. She is such an inspiration. She not only lost 112 pounds, but she also is really buff now. she has become an athlete. I love it. lost and grey's anatomy are starting back up now, so that is great. we are also trying to catch up on last season's battlestar gallactica so we can start watching the new shows airing now. Also, top chef is back on. I really love that show. God love the dvr. I don't even remember how i used to watch tv without it. I cant remember the last time i watched a commercial because we just get to fast forward through them all.

oh yeah, more about the bon jovi concert. It was amazing. they put on a fantastic show. their live performances are almost better than their albums. Even though they have been around for so long, the american airlines center was completely sold out and they really put on an amazing show for their fans. michael got a video on our camera of my rocking out to jbj. it was a great night. It was so worth missing class and leaving work early. if you cant take time off work and school for bon jovi, what are you going to take time off for? :)

anyway, i am off to enjoy another weekend. we are going to hang out with my parents on saturday, then a day full of paper writing on sunday. good times. have a great weekend everyone.

JBJ!!

In one word: AMAZING!!

For those of you that dont know, JBJ stands for Jon Bon Jovi. I dont have a lot of time, i will post more later, but the concert was perfect. Talk more soon.

End of the semester fun...

It is so crazy to be working and going to school. I know this is how I got my master's degree also, so I should be used to it, but it is just 2 totally different worlds. Work goes by weeks, Monday thru Friday. The weekend comes and it is supposed to be bliss. But, school goes by semesters and the weekends are full of studying. People at work talk about all the fun they will have on their vacations or at the end of the day when they are off work. In school, classmates talk about how much fun they will have during summer break or when they are not in class. It is such a unique mix of perspectives.

Anyway, life is good, busy, but good. Major news here is the Bon Jovi concert on Monday night. So, Bon Jovi is my all time favorite musician, singer, rockstar, well, basically, a legend is what he is. :) anyway, michael, my friend (jen), and I are going to see bon jovi monday night and I cannot wait!! I have already decided which outfit I am going to wear. i can not wait to rock out. All you Bon Jovi fans out there who are not going to be able to make the concert, I will be sending rocking vibes your way.

The Ipod shuffles have come in very handy. It is quite nice to be able to run without the big ipod strapped to my arm. They are so small and compact that it has really been helpful when working out. Thanks, dad, for getting us started with the first one.

Michael and I went to the Take Back the Night rally at the university yesterday. Take Back the Night is a rally that happens on college campuses every year in April (April is national sexual assault awareness month). The Take Back the Night rally is a rally that is meant for people to come together and stand up against sexual violence. This is the 2nd rally that has been put on at UTA. It wasn't as well organized as the ones in Austin (I am sure I am partial since i helped organize those :), but it is definitely a great start for UTA. I think that along with the new Sexual Assault Response Team on campus, UTA is well on its way to providing the necessary services for survivors of sexual violence. I am really looking forward to working with these new programs and possibly even collecting data from them to use in my dissertation.

I met with a professor at school who has very similar research interests as myself last week and asked her if i could work with her this summer on some research. I said I would volunteer to help out just to get my feet wet. She actually said that she has some funds available and would be willing to pay me a little. So, i get to work with her, get paid, and do research in an area of social work that is very near and dear to my heart. This might even lead to a publishable article. Good times.

Well, michael returned from amarillo safe and sound. Him and his brother had a great time backpacking. they got some great pictures. He also really enjoyed spending his last day there with his family. We are planning a trip in august to go visit everyone before michael starts his classes. I cant wait. i really miss everyone in amarillo.

Well, the next couple of weeks are basically full of a lot of studying. The end of the semester is always a very busy time of year. I am looking forward to finishing this semester. The summer will be very busy, but it will be different since i will be doing research and a teaching practicum. it wont be just regular class work.

Well, that is all i have right now.

Since we got back...

we have been quite busy. here are some of the highlights. My brother and his wife closed on a new home in Austin. They are moving in and getting settled now. We are so happy for them and can't wait to visit. We also helped one of my mom's friends, Lucy, celebrate her 60th birthday with a surprise party. It was nice to be able to help her celebrate such a special birthday. I got invited to attend an academic excellence recognition ceremony at school. I am not quite sure why i got selected, but why not. I got my nails done, which was quite nice. I don't get to pamper often. :)

Now, we are getting Michael ready to start school in August. He just ordered his new laptop computer. YEAH!! We have also filled out all our loan information. So, we are waiting on all that to come so we can decide how much we each need to take out. I have been told that the American way is to be in debt and I feel that we are definitely fulfilling that role very well. :)

We also bought an ipod shuffle. Here is the story. So, my mom and dad walk for exercise each morning. one day my dad kicked this ipod shuffle while they were walking. he almost kept walking and then realized that it may be something cool. so, he picked it up and passed it along to me. we could not use it since we did not have the charger, so we bought a shuffle for ourselves (it comes with a charger) and now we have two. :) i think they are going to be great for jogging. jogging with the big ipod strapped to my arm is not so fun. i am really looking forward to using it.

other than that, i have talked with a bunch of professors to find out which classes to take in the summer and fall. I have decided to take a teaching practicum for the summer. so i will be working with a professor helping her to teach her summer course. I will actually get to teach part of the class, help with grading and develop new lesson plans while she helps me all along the way. this is a requirement if you want to teach during your phd work. i think it will be so helpful to actually get to practice teaching with a professor before being on my own. once i finish this course, I will be able to teach bachelors level courses on my own. During the fall, i plan to take my first statistics course and a gender and society course in the sociology department. we have to take 2 courses outside the school of social work during the program, so this will be my first.

Micheal is heading to amarillo on sunday to go backpacking with his brother. I am going to spend all day sunday studying. the end of the semester is just so much fun. anyway, i am off. i will write more soon.