Catching Up

So I know I haven't written on here in a very long time. There is no particular reason for this, other than the fact that a whole lot of stuff is up in the air right now, so trying to sort that out has occupied a larger portion of my attention than normal.
Valerie's job with AmeriCorps was officially over on July 31st, and my assistantship with the University of Florida is officially over on Friday. While Val received a certificate of completion, I am not quite at that point with graduate school. In other words, for whatever thousand reasons, I am not done! AHHH!!!!! Boy what a trial graduate school has been huh? I have completed all my requirements except for finishing my thesis. My new plan is to find a job that I can support my family with, and I will work on writing my thesis when I am not at work. The good news is that my dad has given me a great example of working on graduate school while also working even more than full time. This behavior, however, will end as soon as I get my degree.

So I have applied and interviewed for quite a few jobs, and the good news is that I have gotten a decent amount of practice with interviewing. The bad news is that there is a lot of competition for jobs right now...you know..."the economy." So, I am still looking for openings, and have a job that will buy us some time until a better one comes along.

In other news, Valerie is 19 weeks tomorrow!!!, which means we find out Friday if we are having a little Ethan or a little Valerie!!! I am about as excited as I have ever been.
With Valerie being half way through her pregnancy, we have spent the last week or so nesting (with me being the assistant nester). This has been really exciting, and it is such a neat thing to watch a mom-to-be during this time. I will admit, though, that sometimes it seems like a looming train on its way to town, and its half way here, and there is no stopping it!!! I can't imagine how our lives will change, especially my still-pretty-self-centered lifestyle. Recently my friend Devon got married, and his comment about how things change when you get married was, "I never imagined how much I was going to have to suck it up." Which is to say, grin and bear it. I imagine this is something that being a father will entail, but I am also extremely excited to love our children.

I will hopefully start writing much more often again. Keep checking back, and feel free to leave comments!
Go USA.