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Monday, March 19, 2012

New Year's Resolutions...Three Months Later


It’s me again,

Although this post is a little late, it still rings meaningful to me (even three months after New Year’s). I did a little reflecting on the idea of New Year’s resolutions and came up with a few of my own that I wanted to share…

Tackle a Large Portion of My Dissertation- By May of 2012 I will have almost completed all required courses in my Ph.D. in Adult Education which signifies one thing: Comprehensive Exams (comps) are looming. In my Ph.D. program, comprehensive exams basically mean the acceptance or rejection of me and my research within my current program. In my department comprehensive exams consists of 4 research-based essay questions related to my proposed dissertation topic. In general, each question will be answered in roughly 15 pages worth of writing, creating a grand total of a 60 page paper churned out in 30 days...eeek! Following the 30 days, the paper must be printed, bound, and turned into my advisory committee. Once they have read my paper, I will schedule a defense with them, which allows them the opportunity to critique, praise, and question my writing. If approved, this will allow me the opportunity to continue on in the Adult Education program, and begin the steps to start my research project. Currently I am planning on taking comps in May, and hopefully defending them in either early June or early August depending on my advisory committee’s summer schedule (keep me in your prayers). 

Remember Birthdays – This is something that I struggle with. For some reason, if I have not looked at my handy-dandy planner the day of your birthday, then chances are I probably won’t remember it. In an attempt to get better at this I am trying to concoct some sort of filing system where each friend or family has their own index card with their birthday written on it, and then behind it I can file the card I want to send them. Hopefully this will help keep me more organized and better mindful of family and friend’s birthdays.

Journal/Write Letters – I recently stumbled across a beautiful blog that celebrated a couple’s marriage and life adventures through short letters. If you get a moment check out their site: Today’s Letters. I am working to start a journal in an attempt to keep up with funny thoughts, random events, and our life in general through journaling…wish me luck!


Complete a Special Gesture/Surprise for my Husband Each Week – This is something that I am attempting so that I can show love to my husband in a special way each week. Previous surprises include a homebrew class, picnic, and fondue night.  They range from small to big, but I think the most important part of this New Year’s Resolution is remembering to show love to my husband in a unique way each week.


Even if it's a few months late, I still find the idea of bettering yourself/renewal throughout the year a powerful one...these goals help me to be mindful of this process. How are your New Year's Resolutions going?

Love and Fist Pumps,

Buck and Jenna

Tis the Season

Hello beautiful people,

I know, I know, it has been a while and as usual, I am feeling guilty about not maintaining this blog. Brace yourselves…there will be two blog posts today! As usual a lot has been happening in our world, and we couldn’t be more excited to catch you all up.


On December 1st, I started my new job as the Georgia 4-H State Office Program Assistant. I am so pumped to finally have an “adult” job, and more importantly that I have a job that allows me to continue my education. My job mainly consists of event and program support, which allows me to travel throughout the state. In the past three months I have assisted with the state livestock show, team building and leadership enhancing workshops, the state consumer judging contest, district project achievement contests, plus the dairy and horse quiz bowl competitions. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the state office and look forward to continuing my career with Georgia 4-H. 


In December we celebrated Christmas and New Year’s with our wonderful families. We spent the week before Christmas with Buck’s family and Christmas Day and weekend with mine this year (we try to flip-flop back and forth until we have kiddos), and I think that even almost two years into our marriage we each struggle with the notion of not being able to participate in holidays and traditions as we did while we were single. For the first time in his life, Buck experienced Christmas Day away from his family, which was both new and different for him. We walk a fine line in finding “fair” ways to divide up our time between our KY and GA families, but feel incredibly blessed to have people that love us from both up close and afar all the time. 

 
In addition to Christmas, we enjoyed a long weekend with Adam and Whitney (Buck’s sister and brother-in-law) for New Year’s. (Buck is blessed with such an incredibly close bond to his sister, and between the two couples, we are so fortunate to have so much in common and truly enjoy each other’s company). The weekend consisted of nothing but eating, sleeping and exploring and it couldn’t have been better. S’mores were eaten, frozen fishing occurred, and all parties participated in sleeping past 7:00 in the morning. We also enjoyed see our friends Jessie and Todd and thank them mucho for showing us around the Biltmore Estate.  Our holidays were wonderfully blessed, relaxing, and amazing…we hope yours were too!

Love and Joy,

Buck & Jenna