UF & Gainesville Trip

It was a shame, but LeMar and Alyssa had to stay in Panama City while I took the trip to Gainesville alone. I spent Thursday afternoon looking at rental properties with a real estate agent. I saw one great option, one okay option and two non-options. We're trying not to, but we're getting attached to the great option. I hope this house is still available when we move this summer. Friday morning I visited the child care facility on campus, and I was unimpressed. We've ruled that facility out as a possibility and are looking elsewhere. I spent Friday afternoon and Saturday with the Chemistry department at UF. It was the first of two visitation weekends for potential grad students who've been offered a spot in the fall class. I was able to tour the department, socialize with current and potential grad students, meet with potential advisors, and take in the sights of the city. I went into the weekend interested in two certain professors, but I left only interested in two different ones. Over the next couple of months, I need to figure out which one I want to study under, because with my short timeline, I have to know who I'm working for and what project I'm working on as soon as I arrive. Here are a couple of pictures:

Here comes February

Again, it's been too long since I've blogged. Here's a quick overview of the events from the last two months:

Dec: I finished grad school, we took a trip to CO, we returned to FL and celebrated Christmas, I was accepted into UF Grad school for Chemistry

Jan: I rung in the new year by re-reading Harry Potter #7 (finished 2 hours into 2010), we lost a very close friend of ours to suicide, my best friend gave birth to a beautiful little girl, we tried to help my coworker out by adopting her dog but had to send the dog back because all 4 of us were exceedingly stressed, I took my first business trip since Alyssa was born, we traveled to Atlanta for friend's funeral and took the sites while we stayed there for the rest of the weekend. Whew! Now you're all caught up.

It has been very tough loosing Ryan. He was a great friend, a brilliant chemist, and an accomplished athlete and musician. I miss him very much.

Being done with my master's has been amazing. I have so much more time now which I spend with LeMar and Alyssa while they're awake or reading novels, not textbooks :), when they're asleep.

I am VERY excited for the Olympics to start in less than two weeks. I will be able to enjoy them much more this time since I don't have schoolwork that needs to be done. We are also looking forward to a trip to Gainesville to familiarize ourselves with the area and preview the Chemistry department at UF.

November's Happenings

The surgeon decided PRK was a better surgery for my eyes. Thus, I had PRK done on November 10th. PRK is the predecessor of LASIK. The biggest drawbacks of PRK over LASIK is more pain and a longer recovery. That being said, 6 months later, there is no difference between the two surgeries. Two weeks later, my vision is still blurry and sometimes my eyes ache. Even still, I am definitely happy that I had surgery.

I have about two weeks left until the end of my final semester of my first master's degree. I can't wait to be done and resume a more "normal" life having only to juggle family and work instead of family, work, and school.

We are also only 2.5 weeks away from our Colorado vacation. Even though it seems Alyssa and I just got back, I'm still very excited to return. It was a great visit in early November, but it just wasn't the same without my hubby.

I'm still hoping to get dog in the spring. My intentions are to adopt a dog from the SE GSP Rescue. Just google them and you can check out all the beautiful dogs they currently have available.

On the Horizon

I'm busy, busy, busy, so this will be a brief note. The AF has approved me for LASIK. Alyssa and I are heading to CO on Tuesday for my surgery on November 9th. LeMar is bummed he can't go; he's stuck in FL working. The AF has also agreed to send me to school full time to get another Master's degree. (I finish my current Master's this December.) This means next summer we'll be moving to a college town so I can go to school full time starting in the fall. The AF allows only 18 mo to earn a MS. Since it's such a short amount of time, we're planning to stay in Florida (UF-Gainesville) so LeMar doesn't have to re-certify for law enforcement jobs. I had been hoping to go for a PhD, but this news is still very exciting. I may be able to sweet talk them into letting me stay at school for a PhD once I get started.

Last but not least, there are two new links of pictures on the right of the page.

Hip Hop ABCs