1. An opportunity taken! I might well be certifiably insane, but I just committed to my first NaNoWriMo endeavor! NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month. Over the course of the next month I will be attempting to write a novel of, at least, 50,000 words...because a full time job, two grad classes, and handmade holiday gifts wasn't enough to occupy my time for the month of November. Even if I don't reach the 50,000 words in the end, I'm excited to try! Keep an eye out for updates on my progress. And feel free to send some encouraging words my way along this journey!
2. Working with supportive people who will do their best to accommodate anything you need...even when you ask at the last minute! I have two papers due in the next two weeks that are based on interviewing people outside of my family. I had been so preoccupied with the two separate group projects that we just finished this past Monday, I had forgotten to really give interviewees serious thought three weeks ago, when I should have been arranging this. So with the first paper due this coming Monday, I asked Sue, one of my directors, if I could interview her, knowing that she was crazy busy, but also knowing that if she could squeeze me in, she would! I'm thankful for her willingness to sit down with me and I'm thankful for her time!
3. My iPad. Reason number 5,837 that I'm thankful for my iPad: I knew that I wanted to use a voice recorder during the interview that I conducted over lunch...and I have a recorder in my desk drawer....but I couldn't remember if it needed batteries or not. So I picked up my fully charged iPad and downloaded a great, free voice recorder app, AudioMemos, that worked perfectly!
4. Josie, for being brave enough to be my first interviewee! I am so glad that she was willing to let me interview her. It allowed me to focus on the assignments without having to worry about nerves or second guessing myself, because we were friends.
5. Using kitten bath time as time out! I give the cats a bath when they are being really bad...I mean dart out the front door bad, or jump across an innocent bystander on the couch while playing and use their face as a springboard bad. They get a real water and shampoo bath (not the premoistened towelettes bath), towel dried, and then wrapped up and held until dry enough to not shiver outside the blanket. They get clean, get punished, and chill out in the process...all without harboring any resentment for the forced cuddling.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
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Halloween, 2012 - JJ
1. Schedule flexibility at work. It's nice to be able to come and go as I need to without being questioned or checked up on.
2. Netflix, for having the entire series of Alias available. I LOVE this show. I can't stop watching it!
3. Salted caramel sauce in my coffee. How did I live without this stuff before? I am officially addicted!
4. Halloween. Even though we're not dressing up, it's still a lot of fun to eat candy and watch scary movies. :)
5. Last, but definitely not least: Ripley had her first accident free day yesterday!!! So exciting!!! And she's sleeping in her crate for 8 hours straight, and hasn't cried when we put her in there at night for the last two days. So much progress!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
October 30th - Heather
1. The winter coat in my trunk. I know it's an odd place to keep a winter coat....but man that wind was cold today! I was glad that I only had to shiver over to my car to grab my coat.
2. Thankful for the stickers on my car...they led to a new friend today. As I pulled into a parking space at the grad center the young woman in the car next to me noticed my UTEP stickers and asked me if that was where I went to school...who knew I would find another Miner all the way up here in Wisconsin?!
3. The Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership conference that I was able to attend at the end of last week. It happened to be on our campus this year and I was fortunate enough to be able to go. It was really the first kind of women's leadership event I had ever been to. It was an interesting group of women and just a great vibe! Very empowering!
4. Watching Alice and Edward curl up and sleep on the corner of my bed....they really are just too cute!
5. That last night's group presentation for class went so well. With two group presentations back to back for the two different classes I'm taking, I'm exhausted. But on the next major assignments I go!
2. Thankful for the stickers on my car...they led to a new friend today. As I pulled into a parking space at the grad center the young woman in the car next to me noticed my UTEP stickers and asked me if that was where I went to school...who knew I would find another Miner all the way up here in Wisconsin?!
3. The Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership conference that I was able to attend at the end of last week. It happened to be on our campus this year and I was fortunate enough to be able to go. It was really the first kind of women's leadership event I had ever been to. It was an interesting group of women and just a great vibe! Very empowering!
4. Watching Alice and Edward curl up and sleep on the corner of my bed....they really are just too cute!
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| Alice is just over 3 months, and Edward is just over a year old! |
Monday, October 29, 2012
October 29th, 2012 - JJ
1. All of the amazing food Derick cooked for me on Saturday. He made me a surprise romantic dinner while taking care of Ripley so that I could relax. Started with a black cherry chipotle margarita and sausage stuffed mushrooms. Main course was shepherd's pie, which is one of my all time favorite foods! Dessert was decadent: browned butter and pumpkin cupcakes with salted caramel buttercream frosting. Amazing! I can't wait to go home for lunch in a few hours to eat the left overs! I am very thankful that Derick made such delicious food, and that he chose foods that I love and ended up eating quite a few vegetables in the process.
2. That Ripley slept in her crate for almost 9 hours last night without making a single peep (except when we first put her in there, of course). Amazing!
3. That I get to see Anna this afternoon/evening for two late observations. If I have to have late observations I'm glad they're with someone awesome!
4. Scary movies and snuggling on the couch. So far we've watched The Innkeepers (awful!!) and Evil Dead (so cheesy and ridiculous). Not sure what scary movie we'll watch tonight, but we're on a mission to watch a bunch this week. :) Gotta love Halloween!!
5. Nail polish. I've still got some of the hot pink shellac on my nails from our honeymoon because I think it's crazy to pay someone to take that stuff off, so nail polish has been awesome in helping me keep it covered up until it grows out completely. Hopefully I've only got another two weeks or so until that happens.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
October 24th, 2012 - JJ
1. My parents. I talk to them almost every day and I don't know what I'd do without them. They're crazies, but they're wonderful!!
2. The warm weather we're having today. Ripley and I went for a walk at lunch time and I didn't need a sweater or a coat. It was great! I can't believe it's this warm at the end of October!
3. That I can make our new intern, Matt, laugh a lot! The other intern is pretty stoic, but Matt will burst into a fit of laughter if you get your jokes right, and I love that!
4. Franks Red Hot Sauce, especially on pizza or french fries. YUM! So glad I met Derick and Megan Mims and began to embrace spicy food!
5. My lovely Megan Noon, whose birthday is today! I am so thankful that we've kept our friendship strong over the years and that even though we've got a lot of miles between us now, we still talk all the time! Megan always makes me laugh and is always fun to be around. I just love her!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
October 23rd - Heather
1. Watching people in the car behind me squint to read my license plate cover and then watching their face when they don't get it! :) My cover says "I drive more like a Cullen than a cow" in red letters on a black metal background with red apples in the corners. Hehehehe.
2. Hearing Mariah Carey's Vision of Love and remembering that I used to be able to hit all of those high notes once upon a time...and then remembering sitting on the back of the school bus singing songs from Mariah Carey's first album all the way to school and back home in the afternoon.
3. A random text from an old friend. It's always nice to feel like no time has passed when in reality it's been years!
4. The first of two formal group presentations is about to be history! T-90 minutes!!!!
5. My newest playlist oh so cleverly named by mashing up the names of the middle and high schools that I went to: Baustin Migh! It's by far the era of music I have the most of. It's quite an ecclectic mix and I'm loving it! I mean ecclectic...the last song was Randy Travis's I Told You So and the next song is TLC's No Scrubs! Lots of musical ground to cover in the last 7 years of the century!!!!
2. Hearing Mariah Carey's Vision of Love and remembering that I used to be able to hit all of those high notes once upon a time...and then remembering sitting on the back of the school bus singing songs from Mariah Carey's first album all the way to school and back home in the afternoon.
3. A random text from an old friend. It's always nice to feel like no time has passed when in reality it's been years!
4. The first of two formal group presentations is about to be history! T-90 minutes!!!!
5. My newest playlist oh so cleverly named by mashing up the names of the middle and high schools that I went to: Baustin Migh! It's by far the era of music I have the most of. It's quite an ecclectic mix and I'm loving it! I mean ecclectic...the last song was Randy Travis's I Told You So and the next song is TLC's No Scrubs! Lots of musical ground to cover in the last 7 years of the century!!!!
October 23rd, 2012 - JJ
1. Coffee. Coffee, coffee, coffee. All the coffee in the world, and especially all the coffee in my house. Also, my "No place like home" coffee cup from Pam. Fits my homesick mood pretty well this morning.
2. That Ripley is so damn cute. Otherwise she'd have been thrown out the window days ago.
3. Our first night of no crate cries. Took us two and a half weeks to get here and I really hope we're here to stay. Those cries kill me.
4. Derick, for many reasons, but today I'm thankful that he picked out such a beautiful engagement ring. I still catch myself staring at it in awe regularly.
5. For my coworker, Jen. I get to talk to her first thing in the morning every Tuesday becuase we have a conference call together, and she always makes me smile. She's so happy and energetic, and fun loving. You can't help but be in a better mood for having talked to her.
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