Accepted.

I'm in!

I heard last week that I have been accepted to the program at Austin Peay State University for a MA in English! Woo! I met with a professor yesterday and it definitely got me excited to head back to school.

I have also applied for a graduate assistantship which would pay for school and provide a monthly stipend. While this program isn't particularly expensive, it would be SO awesome to get that too! That would provide a job and cover the costs of the program- perfect! I'm really hoping that works out. I got a call about an assistantship in another department, and while that would be awesome too, it dealt primarily with statistics which would probably end up making me hate work... so that was a no go. It was exciting to get a call for that, and I'm hoping to get a call for the Language and Literature assistantship sometime!

The really exciting thing is that after one year of this program I would qualify to be an adjunct professor at the University- HOLY CRAP! That just gets me all kinds of nerdy and excited. The more I learn about this program, the more excited I get. I'm glad, because for a while I felt like maybe I was going to be disappointed with it, but after the meeting yesterday and realizing that this degree WILL have value, I'm pretty psyssed (as Kelley would say... pronounced sighssed).

So that is the update on me. I am keeping busy here while Matthew works. My garden has produced some banana peppers and is working on a bell pepper which I am pretty excited about. Dutch is a maniac but also very sweet. I walk or run or something every morning with friends in the neighborhood and am loving feeling like I actually live in a neighborhood for the first time... ever!

The departure date may be pushed back for Matthew's plane. As of now it is scheduled for July 8, but will probably get bumped... still no confirmation. We are enjoying our time and hoping that Matthew will be working less during the days tomorrow and next week if that is an issue.

Fourth of July should be fun here- apparently the post has a huge celebration complete with Air Assault guys (dudes that repel from helicopters) and all, so that will be neat. We are making ribs and margaritas and having some friends over. We wish we could have you ALL over!

And speaking of having people over... anyone want to come visit??? I know, I know, flights are so dang expensive it hardly seems possible to go ANYWHERE, I hear you. But hey, if you come here I will feed you good food, and I will take you to Nashville, and I will show you my life here... good offer, eh? Plus, the cherry on top is the post below... the little Dutch boy awaiting your arrival! So there's my plea- come visit! Even if you can't get here while Matthew is gone, plan to come see us when he's back! We'll be here for a few years but we want to see you all SOON! I should be coming to Utah sometime in the next few months, and if nothing else I'll be there around Christmas. It's looking like Denver for Thanksgiving, or perhaps Virginia... we'll see!

Anyway, this was a weird rambly post, but you've got a basic update. Hope YOU are all doing well. We'll keep you posted on the deployment, though I won't be posting the exact date on here until he is gone because that is a security risk. I'll do my best to e-mail that info when it comes time, and I'm sure you'll hear from me afterwards.

Check out my links- I've got two new additions-- Jesse and Leslie Cragwall. Jesse is in Kuwait now and will be heading to Iraq soon. He is e-mailing Leslie blog posts and it might be interesting for you all to read his chronicles of his experience. Alright. Off to get some stuff done, but keep in touch, and I'll probably resurface a bit better over the next while, and particularly once Matthew is gone. Gotta soak him up while I've got him!

C

PS> We are still planning to take a trip to Vegas in March, 09. We hope you'll start saving up to join us!