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.