One Less Than Thirty

Just moments ago (at 7:45 p.m.) I officially turned 29 years old. Wow, I can't believe I am one year away from 30. I am reminded of when my niece was born in 1994. I was just 15 years old, and as I was holding her I said, "Man, when she is my age, I'll be 30." That time is just around the corner.

But, I must say, I have had an eventful and wonderful birthday. With all of the cards, phone calls, emails, MySpace and Facebook posts, I have really noticed how many people care about me. It has been wonderful! I even received a surprise phone call this morning from an old friend who I have not talked to in months. Thanks for the call, Brandon. It was great to hear from you.

Lee and I went out to eat at Scholar's Inn tonight. We spent our wedding night at the Scholar's Inn bed and breakfast. On our one year anniversary, we relived our experience. We hadn't been there since, and neither of us have ever eaten dinner there because it is quite expensive. We, of course, ordered the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, which seems to be our favorite wherever we go. This one was definitely the cheesiest we've ever had. Lee ordered the very pricey filet mignon, and I had the portobello mushroom ravioli. Both were delicious! It was quite yummy, and obviously something we never get to do.

Today, I also had some drama. It wouldn't be like me to go without drama on any given day, and this day was no different. I cashed a check today, and as I was putting my driver's license back in my wallet, I noticed something. My driver's license expired today!!! AAAHHH!!!! So, there I went, making an emergency trip to the BMV. I was actually in and out within 15 minutes. The BMV has really improved since this past summer when they had all of their issues. However, I still have to go back within the next 30 days. I never updated my license address when we bought the house, and I didn't have address verification on me today. So, they let me renew it anyway, and I can go back within 30 days and update the address for free.

Tomorrow night, my sister and I are going to see Evita at the IU Auditorium. I always try to see at least one show a season, and this year the show fell near my birthday. She is spending the night at our place, which she has never done. In fact, I don't think she's been at our house since August or so. It should be a fun girls night!

Thanks again to all who sent me birthday wishes. I appreciate all of you, and you helped make my day special.

Lunar Eclipse (Penny Moon)

In honor of my niece's love of astronomy and just seeing cool things in general, we took a video of the lunar eclipse. We also got to look at it through our telescope. Of course, it was much prettier in person, but you can sort of get the effect (minus the orange penny-like color). Hope you enjoy if you didn't get to see it!

6 Years Ago...............

............Lee and I moved in together - on Valentine's weekend. Looking back, we both agree we were young and stupid. We had only known each other 3 months, and I was moving to a place I had never lived - in fact, I had only visited it a handful of times. We had nothing when we started out together. I moved up to Bloomington without a job. Lee was making $9 an hour and supporting the both of us. We didn't have a bed. We ate Hamburger Helper every night because it was cheap. But, things worked out and we've made a nice life for ourselves. I would forbid my children to do the same because I wouldn't want them to have to struggle, but Lee and I grew stronger through all of the hardships.

This Valentine's Day we tried something new. We went out to eat at a Japanese restaurant - Domo Steak & Sushi. Lee had never tried Japanese before, and I had only had it one other time over a year ago. It was yummy! I had sushi and Lee had steak teriyaki. It was a nice night for the two of us.

This weekend Taylor came to visit for the first time since New Year's. It had been quite a while, and we all missed each other a lot! We spent a lot of time with family, and the weekend went by much quicker than we thought it would. If everything works out, she should be back in Indiana in a few months. We can't wait!

Lee's business is also doing very well. He landed a big transfer job with the Kelley School of Business MBA Program. Check out his blog (http://magic.rox.com) for more information. I'm so proud of him and his progress and dedication!!!!

Well, that is the latest update. Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Personal Updates

So, it has been quite a while since I wrote something substantial. I thought I would give it a try and give you some updates.

At the beginning of January, I started my final class and final semester of graduate school. It has been a long four years, and I cannot wait until May. The class I am taking is my Capstone class, and I like it a lot. I am working on planning a get-together for my graduation, but Bloomington becomes absolutely crazy on graduation weekend. I am in talks with a few restaurants, but we will see what happens.

I have been getting more involved in the HESA (higher education and student affairs) program this semester. I am a member of IUSPA Journal Review Board. Each year the IUSPA (IU Student Personnel Association) publishes a peer-reviewed journal to allow master's students, doctoral students, and alums the chance to get published. We had 14 submissions this year for about 4-6 slots. The topics have been very interesting, and it has gotten me interested in research writing, but right now I do not have plans to go ahead and get my Ph.D.

I am also working on getting my own paper published. Last semester my class partner and I wrote a paper on colleges going SAT optional in their admissions standards. We focused on the qualitative research; while another group focused on the quantitative research. Our professor is going to work with both groups to get our papers published as one in a national journal. This could be a long process, so I will keep you updated.

In December, I interviewed and was offered another position at IU in the Jacobs School of Music as the Associate Director of Admissions & Financial Aid. I ended up turning the position down because I just didn't feel as though it was a good fit for me at this time in my life.

I have been pretty busy at my current job because we are in the midst of admissions season. I started in February last year and missed most of this fun :-), but it has been pretty interesting to see how another department attacks admissions. I was very used to how the MBA program did things since I worked there for 4 1/2 years, but I am always learning new things.

Lee has also been doing some painting. He was off of work this past Monday and said he was going to do something to surprise me. I was a little concerned especially after he gave me a hint that he was doing "something" to the house. When I got home, I found out he had spent the whole day painting our hallway. I haven't been able to hang pictures/things on my walls since before we moved in June 2006. We knew when we bought our house that we were going to remove all of the wallpaper and paint, so we didn't want to put up things just to take them back down. We worked on our two red walls before Thanksgiving, but we hadn't painted anything new since then. Knowing that I missed having my pictures up, he painted the hallway, and this week, we bought the rest of the paint for the living room and foyer. I hope to have my pictures up soon.

I have also been working hard at creating an alumni website for my high school class. Right now, it looks as though it is going to be a MySpace page that I will give all of my ex-classmates access to so they can add pictures and blogs. I hope to have that completed by the end of the month. I volunteered myself to start this back in September after our reunion, but I am only now getting around to doing it. But since I actually started on it, I have made good progress.

Finally, we found out that Taylor will hopefully be moving home sooner than we thought. Apparently her stepdad has put in a request to be medically discharged from the military on his doctor's request. If everything works out, she should be back in Indiana before the summer. We don't know where they will end up for sure - Indianapolis, Bloomington, Greene County - but Lee and I both agree that anywhere in southern or central Indiana is better than Tennessee. I'll keep you updated on that too.

Well, that is the latest news from our neck of the woods. I'll try to keep you updated as things change, which they always do.