One Year of Blather

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thank you so much for putting up with my blathering over the internet this past year. Some people actually read this site and come back again for more! Thanks again to those of you who frequent this blog and actually comment!

It has been a year of great change for Jeff and me. I moved from a cozy existence as a grad student to an existence as a real, live professional. I uprooted us from Illinois, our home for seven years, to Tennessee, our new home. I also started making more money than I spent, which is definitely an improvement! Here is a recap of the highlights of the year:

January and February were spent working really hard on finishing up my dissertation research, teaching karate, and losing that last bit of weight. In March, I was rewarded for my hard work in two out of the three areas by reaching my weight goal and interviewing for a job (complete with car wreck), and I was punished in the karate arena by tripping over an eight-year-old.

In April, I reached Lifetime status at Weight Watchers, failed to get an offer for the job I'd interviewed for, and almost interviewed at IBM Watson. (It was rescheduled for June.)

In May, I became a brown belt and traveled to Sweden for a conference.

June (and part of July) was absolutely insane for me, as evidenced by my hectic schedule for the month. I had four interviews, defended my dissertation, and partied wildly afterwards.

Two of my interviews (1) (2) actually resulted in offers being extended. July and August were spent ruminating over the decision of which to take. With an offer like this, it's really hard to say no.

In the end, I picked the other one, and began working on September 15. I went on ahead, leaving Jeff behind, to move to Tennessee and start my new job. I learned a lot, much of it stuff that one would not expect to learn on the job (such as how to write with the non-dominant hand). I was lonely and lived in a small apartment all alone, but in October, my beloved husband finally finished up in Illinois and moved down here to be with me, and Dad, Marvis, Laura, and Anne all converged upon Oak Ridge to help me and Jeff celebrate our birthdays.

In November, Jeff and I closed on our new house, which we are still enjoying. Thanksgiving was slightly depressing but I made it. December was more fun, especially after the orthopedist fixed my elbow. We also traveled to Kentucky after Christmas to see the family on both sides.

So far the new year has been good to us, too. We defeated our evil futon frame and did various other home-improvement projects. We found a new roleplaying group to join, and that has been a lot of fun too.

This year has brought a lot of change to Jeff and me. Most of it has been for the better (although I do miss a lot of things about Urbana still). I wonder what changes the next year will bring. Thanks for taking the journey with me!