Surviving The Econ Job Market {Part 2}

This time last month, we were packing up the car to head to Boston for the job market. I thought that was stressful, but man oh man, it was nothing compared to the four weeks of waiting we’ve experienced since then.

BTW – to catch up on the job market, read HERE and HERE.

We got home from Boston on a Monday night knowing that we shouldn’t expect any calls (for second interviews) until the following week. We were thrown for a bit of a loop when we found out that a few schools started making calls on that Thursday. From that moment on, every time the phone rang or we heard the buzz of a new e-mail, we both spazed for a couple of seconds. We were totally overreacting, I mean, it’s only the rest of our lives, right?

I watched Bridemaids last weekend and I'm on a KW kick.

So far The Professor has received calls from 7 schools to attend a fly out (what they call the second interview). The schools will fly the candidate out to the campus to meet with the faculty and students, present research, and sometimes even teach a class.

We decided to use RED STARS on the map to mark the fly outs. We’re saving silver stars for job offers and a gold star for THE ONE.

Since I've been in Pittsburgh, The Professor has been in charge of the map. Like a good blog fiancé, he kept it [mostly] up to date and sent pictures so I could post this :)

The Professor was in Michigan last week, Georgia this week, will be in Pennsylvania twice next week, and Rhode Island the week after that! #frequentflyermiles

Did I mention that right smack dab in the middle of all of those interviews I’m making him come to Pittsburgh and move me back to Kentucky? NBD. Who needs sleep?

I’m glad that all of his fly outs are close together, but I’m not looking forward to the next few weeks of waiting for job offer calls. In less than 8 weeks, we will know where our future home is going to be! I, for one, will be very glad to be finished with this whole ‘waiting thing.’ It’s entirely overrated.

Luckily, we have a few things to distract us while we wait:

1. Moving in together aka ‘finding space for all of Kim’s stuff’

2. Writing a dissertation and teaching 2 spring semester classes (him, not me)

3. Working 50+ hours a week launching a new paint brand nationwide (me, not him)

4. LAUNCHING A NEW BLOG!!! (you can guess which one of us this is)

What is your favorite airline to fly?

I always choose Southwest if I can.

On a scale of 1-10, how patient are you?

I’m a -3. 

2015 Running Goals

Run 750 miles

Starting in February…because I’ve kinda missed January…that amounts to approximately 67 miles per month or about 17 miles a week.

Run the Louisville Triple Crown

The LTC is made up of three races in March/April. The Anthem 5k, Rhodes 10k, and Papa John 10 miler.

Run the Derby Festival Half Marathon

Check out my training plan HERE.

Speedwork

Starting with half marathon training, I’m going to try to incorporate more speed workouts into my training.

Get Stronger

Thanks to The Professor, I’m going to have access to the college gym. One day a week, I’m going to head over there and incorporate some strength training into my week.

Eat Healthier/Smarter

I starting using MyFitnessPal last year and it has helped my pay closer attention to what I’m eating. I’m not giving up sweets or bread anytime soon ever, but I am going to make sure I’m getting all of the nutrients I need to stay healthy.

Read a Running Book

There are lots of great running books out there and I have read exactly ZERO of them.

Run 12 races

I’m already registered for 4 and I’m looking for 8 more. Mostly 5ks or 10k, but I’m on the lookout for a fall half marathon.

RUN MARATHON #2

This goal is totally tentative, but I’m putting it on here. I am 100% undecided on marathon #2, but it might be a fun race to train for this fall.

What are your 2015 running goals?
What is your favorite book about running?

The Gift of Time

I have a big announcement and I am so excited to tell you! 

On Saturday, I am moving to lil ole Danville. After surviving over 3 years long distance with The Professor (is his new name catching on yet?), we will FINALLY live in the same state & the same city & the same house!

I AM SO EXCITED!

The last two weeks have been a tad stressful. I had to tell my landlord I was moving out and pack up my entire apartment. I’d like to think I set a world record for the amount of stuff accumulated in a two year period. I’m not sure how this all actually fit in my one bedroom apartment, but it did. I made friends with the guy at my local U-Haul and stocked up on some packing supplies. It took me three full days, but I was able to get almost everything packed up.

                    

 

What about work, you ask? My company was pretty understanding, well…somewhat understanding… when I told them I wanted to move to Danville. They’ve agreed to let me work from home for a while so we can figure out the long-term plan. I was super pumped for three reasons:

A. Income, duh.

2.  TIME. I’ve complained once, twice, three thousand times about my current commute. You cannot even begin to imagine how excited I am about not having that hour commute twice a day!

I love my job so I’m pumped that I get to keep working. I’m also pumped that I get two hours back in my day, every single day. I’m going to do things like blog, read, run, and eat dinner at a reasonable hour each night.

III. Setting up a home office. I have been Pinteresting like crazy looking for ideas on how to setup and decorate a little workspace in our front room.

Check out these ideas that will probably never become a reality.

    

Now that the packing is done and the plans are made, I can sit back for a couple of days and relax before the big move. Stay tuned because next Monday, I’ll be blogging from Kentucky!

How many times have you moved?

- This will be move #5 for me (#3 if you don’t count to and from college).

What ideas/recommendations do you have for a home office?

5 Things Friday

I’m introducing ‘5 Things Friday’ here in my corner of the interwebs today, but just for your knowledge, this has existed out there for a few years. I have yet to figure out if there is an actual structure to this, but I’m going to put my own spin on it for now. #idontknowwhatimdoing

Here are 5 things that made my week really great:

This book: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? It was recommended after I read Tina Fey’s book and I am just now getting around to reading it. I’m about half way though and it is SO FUNNY. I haven’t seen The Mindy Project, but I should probably binge watch the first few seasons and get caught up.

Wedding Countdown: Tuesday marked 5 months until the big day.

This truck: I was stuck behind this truck in traffic for a solid 20 minutes…most of which was spent laughing. Well played, Mr. Plumber. Well played.

Blog Changes: I made the leap this week and bought a hosting account and a new domain name for the blog. There is A LOT of work to be done, but I am so excited to re-launch the blog this spring.

  

Oreos: I love red velvet...and oreos...the combination would totally rock my world. I saw a rumor on Facebook a few months ago that a Red Velvet Oreo might hit the shelves and I have been praying for it every day since! Needless to say, I was beside myself when I saw the announcement on Oreo's twitter page. I was even more excited when I WON A FREE BOX and found out I get to try them BEFORE THE REST OF THE WORLD! If these are as delicious as I hope they are, I'm going to remove everything from our wedding registry and re-register for only Red Velvet Oreos. 

Tell me things that made your week great.

Who else is excited for Red Velvet Oreos?

Half Marathon Training Plan

Right next to my wedding countdown on my phone, you will find a countdown to the KY Derby Festival Half Marathon. Only 93 days til race day!

If you’re a long time reader, you know that running is a huge part of my life. I coached cross country for a few years before I moved to Pittsburgh and in 2012, I ran every single day for a year! When I moved to Pittsburgh, running had to take a backseat to work and grad school and I was lucky if I got in one run per week.

This year, I’m making running a priority. I’m going to have a lot more time on my hands starting February 1^st and I can’t wait to use that time to wear out a few pairs of running shoes! I decided to use Hal Higdon’s Intermediate training plan for the half marathon (with a few alterations to accommodate some other races I have scheduled). It starts on February 2^nd.

I am so excited to have a plan and stick to it this spring. I'm going to have access to a track again so it should be pretty easy to get my speedwork in too!

I kick started my plan leading up to the training plan with a 5 mile run last Sunday on the treadmill and I have a 3 mile run planned for tomorrow.

Before I wrap this up: did you all see that Brooks is having a winter clearance sale? Check it out and stock up on your winter running gear. They have some great reflective stuff if you're still running in the dark after work like me :)

Enough about me - tell me about your running lately.

Are you training for a race or running just because?

What training plans have you used?

Are you a treadmill runner or outside runner in the winter?

Honeymoon or No Honeymoon?

My countdown app alerted me that there are only 152 days until our wedding! We’ve checked a few more things off of our wedding list, but we still have a lot to do…

Bridesmaids Dresses:

After some online searching and making my maid of honor try on a few (just a few!) dresses, we found the perfect one. Have I told you that our colors are navy and pink? Well, they are. I’m a big fan of lace and I’m trying to incorporate it into the wedding as many ways as possible. Our guys are wearing navy pants and a white shirt. We’re going to incorporate the pink in the flowers and bowties.

Hotel:

We have a lot of guests coming in from out of town for the wedding so we wanted to get a block of rooms downtown near our hotel venue. As I started calling around, I learned that our wedding is the same weekend as Comic Con in Louisville (why me??). Luckily, I was able to get a block of rooms at the hotel right next door to our venue. We are pumped because it will be very easy for our guests to walk to the hotel after the reception and not have to worry about cabs/driving/etc. Justin & I decided to stay at the hotel that night too. Fun fact: My parents stayed at the same hotel the night of their wedding.

 Save-the-Dates:

It took me forever to put together our Save-the-dates. Mostly because I didn’t have time, but kind of because I couldn’t figure out what site to order them from. I landed on minted.com and I could not be happier with how they turned out. The customer service was fantastic and the designer was able to customize our piece exactly how I wanted it. I highly recommend minted.com if you’re looking to order invites or anything else.

At this point, we have most of the big things checked off the list. I think the last big decision is whether or not to take a honeymoon. We’ve spent a lot of time looking, but haven’t made the commitment yet.

Did you go on a honeymoon?

Where did you go?

Did you use a travel agent/company or plan your own trip?

Book List 2014

I’m posting a little late today, but I’m really trying to stick to my goal of three posts per week.

One of the things I'm most excited about, now that I’m graduated and have all of this free time on my hands, is reading for fun. I am a total book worm. It’s not unusual for me to finish a book in one day. I am the type of person who gets totally involved in the story and connects with a character and can’t put a book down until it ends.

I like all types of books, but there is a definite trend in my reading habits. I lean more towards fiction, and mostly mysteries. I buy 95% of my books on Amazon and read them on my Kindle so it was interesting to look back at what I read in 2014. You can tell that I used books as an escape from work and class because there is not one “serious” book on the list!

Clearly, I like any books that are part of a series. Mostly because I connect with the characters and want their stories to continue FOREVER.

I actually would not recommend the Hannah Swenson books. There are 18 books (and a few specials) in the series. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich and had high hopes that this series would be similar. It didn’t even come close. The first book was good, and I hoped that as I kept reading, the series would get better. I ended up bailing after book 8. What is cool though, is that there are tons of dessert recipes scattered throughout the books and I’ve actually made a couple of them!

One of those books (I’ll let you guess which one) was a gift to my brother & sister-in-law when my nephew was born, but I read it before I gave it to them so I counted it :) If you have a baby, or have a friend getting ready to have a baby, buy this book. It is hysterical.

I won’t give you full reviews on the other books, but if you haven’t read Bossy Pants or Gone Girl, drop what you are doing and go read them RIGHT NOW. They are both fantastic. I’d also recommend the Divergent series. I am super impressed that the author wrote the first book during her senior year of college! I spent my senior year studying, going to basketball games, and drinking beer.  I’ve written about the Stephanie Plum series on here before and I feel like I should write about it again! Janet Evanovich is a fantastic writer and I cannot get enough of her books. There are 21 books in her Stephanie Plum series, but I promise you it is worth the commitment to read them all!

What books have you read lately?

What book recommendations do you have for me in 2015?

- Seriously. Any genre of books! I need recommendations.

A Little Q&A on Invisilign

Remember when I said I’d be back soon to talk more about Invisilign? Yea, well, I hope you weren’t holding your breath… I’m basically an Invisilign genius at this point (10 months into treatment), so I thought I’d share some answers to (what I would assume are) frequently asked Invisilign questions.

Q:  Just how invisible are these “invisible trays (aka aligners)?”

A:  Not at all invisible. They are clear and everyone you meet will know you’re wearing them. Most people will be nice enough not to ask you about them though. Compared to metal braces, sure, they’re invisible…

Q:  How much does Invisilign cost?

A: About the same amount as regular braces. Most places will charge you around $5,000. I have pretty great insurance and adult orthodontics is covered so that helped bring down the cost for me. The cost is the same regardless of your treatment time. Warning – the initial cost doesn’t include the retainer (but more on that later).

Q. How long does the Invisilign treatment take?

A: It really does vary person to person depending on the amount of movement your teeth need. I thought my treatment was going to take 10 months, but it will actually be about 14 months when it’s all said and done.

Q: How many hours a day do you have to wear the aligners?

A: My orthodontist recommend 20 hours per day. Pretty much only enough time to take them out for meals. I don’t wear mine when I run any distance longer than 5 miles because I like to use fuel or drink Gatorade. The great thing about Invisilign is that if you don’t get your full 20 hours in, you can take the time onto the end! A prime example or this for me was Thanksgiving. I took my aligners out when we sat down for lunch and didn’t put them back in until that night. I added an extra day to that set of trays and didn’t have any problems.

Q: What are attachments?

A: Attachments are small tooth colored bumps that are glued to your teeth and are guaranteed to freak out your significant other when he/she goes in for a smooch. Their purpose is to help move your teeth into place. The aligners are built with bumps to fit your attachments and pull your teeth. Truthfully, you hardly notice them. I had mine glued on during our engagement pictures and you cannot tell (I did take my aligners out for the photo shoot though).

I don't have a good picture of my attachements so you'll have to google one!

Q: How painful is it?

A: It depends. The Boy considers me to be a bit of a wuss when it comes to pain and I survived. My orthodontist recommended that I always put in a new set of trays at night right before I went to bed. Your mouth will be sore the first day you have a new set of trays in, but you’ll survive. I always made sure to pack soup for lunch on that first day because no way was I chomping on a carrot!

Q: Can you eat with your aligners in?

A: No. This is actually became a fantastic diet mechanism…especially in meetings at work! Since I didn’t want to awkwardly remove my “teeth” in front of my boss, I had to steer clear of treats. I do have some fantastically awkward stories of situations where I’ve been out to eat and realized that, as the food was being delivered, my “teeth” were still in. I was super embarrassed the first time, but I got over that quickly. I’m not the first person who’s had to remove an aligner/retainer to eat!

Q: Can you drink with your aligners in?

A: Yes – but use a straw! Those clear plastic trays can very easily be dyed the color of your Gatorade! TRUST ME ON THIS ONE. I spent more money on straws during my treatment than I have my entire life!

Q:  Do you have to brush and floss before you put your trays back in?

A: According to my dentist – yes. Food can get trapped between your teeth and your trays and that’s how cavities are born. I went out 10 months ago and bought a toothbrush and toothpaste to keep at my desk for an after lunch brush….

That picture was taken yesterday…

I did not even come close to listening to this rule. I’m a pro at taking a nice swoosh of whatever beverage I’m drinking after lunch to clear any residue and then I pop those bad boys back in my mouth. We’re all busy…do what you can…and always take your dentist’s advice over mine.

Q: How do you clean your aligners?

A: Just like dentures :) Seriously – my orthodontist told me I could skip the “special Invisilign cleaning solution” and head down to Walgreens for some Efferdent tablets. I soak mine for an hour a day. I also brush them twice a day with this awesome mini-toothbrush thingy that my mom gave me. I also carry mints…because by day 14 those puppies can be smelling a little weird…

 

Q: Will I have to wear a retainer?

A: Yes. Yes you will...but probably only at night. Your teeth can continue to move for all of your adult life. If you want to take full advantage of that $5K you spent, you better wear your retainers!

Q: Will my friends and family make fun of me?

A: Yes – they will. My teeth and I have been at the receiving end of jokes MANY times in the last 10 months. It’s a good thing I love those goons!

What Other Invisilign Questions Do You Have? 

Blog Goals for 2015

This week I have been blogging for FOUR years! That's a long time :) I started this blog as a New Year's resolution but I never set any goals or expectations for this little online journal. That's essentially why I started it - to be a journal. I decided that 2015 will be the year that I take my little corner of the internet to the next level. Here are some of the things I have planned for 2015.

1. Update About Me page
I last updated this page in 2012 - yikes! A lot has changed in my life since then and I know I need to get this updated as I begin to network in the blogosphere.

2. Publish 3 posts per week
My posting has been sporadic (at best) these last four years. I would love to be able to post every day, but right now I think that 3 posts is more realistic for me.

3. Create a social presence for the blog
I recently created a Facebook page for KUWK but I'd like to start a Twitter and Instagram account. I'm currently using my personal accounts to promote my posts which I don't want to continue long term. I also want to learn more about using Google+, Pinterest, and other outlets to promote the blog.

4. Increase readership
I'm averaging 50 pages views per post and I would love to see that increase in 2015. This is a big goal with lots of parts! It ties closely with Goal 5 (Grow Relationships) and I know there is a lot of work to do to make this happen. I also want to have a better understanding of my blog analytics this year.

5. Grow online relationships
I consider myself a blog stalker at this point. I read a lot of blogs, but I don't do a lot of commenting/interacting. I plan to be more proactive about commenting and getting to know my fellow bloggers this year.

6. Learn how to create blog graphics
It seems silly, but I don't know the best resource out there to create blog graphics! I always see really neat ones on other blogs. I need to research this and learn how to make my blog graphics a bit more professional.

7. Move to self hosting
This is my biggest goal for the blog this year. I really want to move to a self hosted platform. This will entail a new look and feel for KUWK and will probably take a while to come to fruition! I'd love any insights, tips, tricks, etc on how to make this happen.

What goals do you have for your blog this year?

What are your recommendations for self hosting?

Prince Farming and Walrus Jokes

After our whirlwind trip to Boston, it was nice to be back in lil ole’ Danville. We didn’t get home until after midnight on Monday and we both had to be up and at work at 8am on Tuesday. Ugh. Since there was ZERO time to stop at the grocery, I joined Justin for lunch at the college dining hall.

It has been a LONG time since I’ve been in a dining hall. I was having flashbacks to my Freshman 15 look! I opted for the salad bar and built a crazy-awesome salad. I was surprised by the variety of greens, veggies, and dressings. Maybe if I had visited the salad bar during college I could have avoided that 15 pounds I picked up haha.

This picture does not do it justice, but it’s the only one I took. Please ignore the cheese, ranch dressing, and croutons…there are some things I just can’t move away from. Also – please send me money for a manicure! Thanks J

When The Boy got home from work, I reminded him that The Bachelor premier was this week and we settled in to make fun of the girls watch Famer Chris fall in love. Justin pretends he hates this show but I think he secretly loves it. Or maybe he just loves making fun of it! We were both big fans of Chris last season so we’re I’m we’re extra excited for Monday nights.

We didn’t realize that the premier was THREE HOURS long. Goodness ABC, some of us have to work in the morning! We poured some wine and settled in for some entertainment. Before I give you our Top 3 picks, I have to share some of The Boy’s wonderful commentary.

For example – when it finally dawned on him that “Part 1” was a red carpet countdown:

You’re kidding me right? We have to watch 48 more minutes of this? Like pre-gaming The Bachelor? Did I miss my tailgate invitation?

I have to agree with him on this one. No Chris Harrison, Nikki isn’t going to admit JP was a total butthead. Also - who gave Claire their baby??

During the million previews leading up to the rose ceremony:

Narrator: What goes terribly wrong at the rose ceremony?

The Boy: I bet one of them farted and Farmer boy can’t handle the smell.

When our gal Canada made her Walrus joke:

{Burst of laughter & spilling wine} GIVE HER ALL THE ROSES!

Note to self à learn more dirty jokes….and also how to break dance…

SO. After that three hour torture session, here are our Top 3 picks for this season:

Kim: Jade, Kaitlyn, Carly

 

Justin: Britt, Jade, Kelsey

Who are your top picks for Prince Farming?

Dirty Jokes: Funny or Not?

We Survived the Econ Job Market

I just finished a marathon in Boston. No – not the Boston Marathon (yet!), the 2014 ASSA Econ Job Market marathon. The Boy is on the Job Market this year and it has been an interesting and exciting experience. For those of you outside of the Econ world, I feel like I need to explain how the job market works.

I’m writing this post as the soon-to-be-spouse AKA an outside observer AKA not an expert on the job market or economics (although I was forced to take 2 econ classes in my MBA program haha). There are plenty of resources out there in the interwebs for information on the Econ Job Market. I hope that someday, someone might find mine useful…but these might be even more useful:

• John Crawley's Job Market Advice Paper
• Noah Smith's "How I Survived the Econ Job Market" 
• J Anthony Cookson's "Job Market Memoir"

When a PhD candidate is in the 5^th year of their program, they begin to apply for jobs. The Boy is on the academic job market but obviously economists can have jobs outside of academia as well.  The Boy applied for almost 100 jobs (you can read about that HERE). He’s a micro guy and enjoys research on environmental and education topics. Teaching is his passion and applied to smaller liberal arts schools as well as larger research institutions. The Boy landed TWENTY-FIVE interviews. TWENTY-FIVE. Considering the average is 6 or 7, I’d say that’s pretty good :)

What’s cool about this round of interviews is that they are all held in one place – this year it was Boston. The interviews take place during the 3-day AEA conference. We weren’t able to get a room at the official conference hotel (they sell out fast!), but we were about two blocks away. ADVICE: hotel location is clutch. There are 25+ conference hotels and a candidate can have interviews at any of the locations. We were lucky to be right in the mix which made it easy to get from interview to interview. We arrived in Boston a day early and took the time to map out our routes for the 3 days. We knew there were a couple of transitions that would be tight so we walked them the night before so that we would be prepared. Before we walked the route, we had a Sam Adams (Boston, duh).

There are 100ish schools that host their interviews in “the big zoo.” Each school had a table in this huge conference room and we were given a map when we registered for the conference. I laughed at the awkwardness of it. It is so weird that you could interview with a school and a few hours later be interviewing with another school WITHIN EARSHOT of the first interview. Oh well – I guess it works!

The Boy (should I start calling him The Professor?) also had interviews at other hotels. In the other hotels, the interviews were held in the actual hotel rooms. At most places, I was able to camp out in the lobby while he interviewed. At some hotels, the lobby was PACKED with other candidates and we had to camp out in hallways. #classy

Interviews lasted an average of 30-45 minutes. This gave us 15-30 minutes to get from hotel to hotel. ADVICE: try to schedule interviews happening at the same hotel next to each other. The Boy did this and it was a lifesaver. It worked out well because he usually had a few minutes in between interviews to read his notes and prep. There were 2 interviews on Saturday that we literally had to run to. It was late in the day, we were tired, and it was snowing. I was laughing so hard, I could barely run! We were late to one of his interviews, but he called beforehand and the school was really understanding.

We were so tired at the end of each day it was all we could do to eat dinner and change into our pajamas. I am so proud of this guy – I don’t know how he survived. I was exhausted and all I had to do was keep the coffee coming and read my book :) He actually had to interview!

Our next step is to wait for flyouts. Over the next 2-3 weeks, the schools will be calling candidates for second interviews. Most schools interview 15-20 candidates in the first round and they fly their top 3 candidates out to visit the campus, meet the rest of the department, and present their research. The average number of flyouts a candidate receives is 2-3 (based on the 6-7 average first interviews). I have a feeling The Boy (The Professor?) will get more than that!

We have silver stars waiting to go on the map and are so ready to find out where we might be living next year. In the meantime, it’s back to the real world after a whirlwind “vacation.” Work for me – teaching and dissertation writing for The Boy.

Here are a few Job Market tips from the candidate himself

 (reworded and written by me):

• Be prepared for slow elevators. Interviews begin and end at the same time which means candidates are trying to enter and exit at the same time. Take the escalator if you can!
• Schedule your most important interviews earlier in the day when the interview committee {and you!} are fresh and energized.
• Take a travel buddy and make sure they have a copy of your schedule. Your brain will start to get fried and it’s nice to have someone who can get you to the next place on time.
• Have a backpack stocked with water, snacks, cell phone charger, towel, extra tie (The Boy is a spiller), etc
• Know about the people who will be interviewing you and be prepared with a list of specific questions for each school.
• Be yourself (but smooth your rough edges!). Remember that this is a match program and fitting in at the school and with the people is key to success.
• Have fun, laugh, and drink a beer at the end of the day.

Good luck to everyone on the market this year (and to everyone who is currently in the job search process).

HELLO 2015

It’s a pretty calm New Year’s Eve in the Huber/Roush house. The Boy is working on his interview prep and I’m working on the blog. Our plan is to be in bed by 9pm since we have to be up and on the road by 4am tomorrow – party animals!

Throughout the year, I felt like this day would never get here. Now that it’s December 31^st, I feel like this year has flown by, especially these last two weeks.

I graduated from Duquesne University with my MBA this month and I consider that one of my biggest accomplishments for 2014 (and pretty much ever so far!). I had lots of visitors in Pittsburgh that weekend to help me celebrate. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling of walking across that stage and getting my diploma! I was SO happy. Grad school is hard and figuring out how to wear that graduation hood on is even harder! But I am so glad I did it. I’m looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead and can’t wait to use all of the skills and knowledge I gained over the past two years.

 On December 30^th, I turned the big 2-7. I think this means that I am officially in my late 20s now (or my late 80s according to my New Year’s Eve plans). 26 was a good year, but I’m really looking forward to 27. There are a few things I want to accomplish in 2015. It seems like a good year to get married, run a marathon, move a few times…and maybe a few other things in between!

 I hope everybody had an exciting (and safe) New Year’s Eve.