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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Oh hi!

Jeez I haven't even written here since I got a dog, moved to a new house (and by new, I mean a 1950's rental), and passed my comprehensive exams.

I guess I'm feeling the need to give a little thought to 2014.  2013 had a lot of good times and important milestones, but it was so much like, "head down and keep moving forward."  A year of transitions.  Thomas took a leap of faith and quit his band directing job.  I took my last classes ever and passed comps (and boy couldn't that have been a dozen blog posts...very stressful, but I made it through.)  That means it's dissertation time for me.  Thomas and I moved in, and it's going well.  The transition took a while though...I think we only recently got into the swing of things.

Right after we moved in and unpacked, we took turns having pneumonia for 8 weeks, then I dove head first into studying and freaking out over comps.  I was a total maniac. After the written exams, I waited for 3 weeks to get the results, but my classmates and I went straight into prepping for the oral exam, which happened right before Thanksgiving.  Passed that and am finally feeling normal again.  My classmates who had to do rewrites have all passed by this point, which is great.  Comps are a crapshoot, and we could never be sure what they wanted from us.

It feels like I didn't make any real progress in personal goals this year.  I HAVE gotten better at everyday vegan cooking, and hope to continue incorporating more and more of that in the coming year.  I have become a big fan of Lindsay Nixon at happyherbivore.com and learned a lot about cooking without oil.  I dig it.

This last month since comps ended, I have been exercising a lot, walking, cooking.  Will carry that into the new year for sure.  Thomas got me a kettlebell, tennis racket, and swim goggles for Christmas, so we have some fun fitness stuff to do.  We really just want to start getting off our butts more.  Less beer, less TV, more fresh air and movement.

While 2013 was a year of moving-right-along types of change, 2014 promises bigger, even more life changing transitions.  Graduation, for one!  Yep, at this very moment I should probably be working on my dissertation and getting the heck out of school.  August at the soonest, but December graduation is most likely.

And Thomas and I have a fun new CRAZY journey on the horizon sometime in 2014.  I will post about that when it's 100% final.  Right now, it's only 97% final.  Let's just say his leap of faith quitting teaching has paid off in a way that's I think will benefit both our careers big-time.  No babies or bells!  Get your minds out of the gutter, people!!  ;)

The word for 2014 is COURAGE.  I didn't pick a word for 2013, but if I had, it might've been PERSISTENCE.  And now's the time for courage.  Courage to take advantage of the opportunities that last year's persistence brought about.  Courage to take risks (YOLO!)  Courage to go after dreams.  Courage to love fearlessly amidst crazy life transitions and uncertain futures.   Courage to tackle faith and politics, where I've perched happily on the fence for several years.  Courage to change.

Happy new year, mostly to myself, since that's why I write in the first place.  I wish me and anyone who happens to read this peace with the events of 2013 and happiness and courage in 2014.  Much love!

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