3 Days of Celebration in the Mountain State

Image via Charleston Gazette;
http://www.wvgazette.com

I hope everyone's last minute Christmas related errands, preparations, and plans are coming together! My husband and I are packed and ready to head to the snowy West Virginia mountains for Christmas; we will be hittin' I-77 and I-79 bright and early tomorrow morning.  This evening, he and I are having dinner and watching Black Swan as a little way to celebrate his 29th birthday (which is tomorrow! Thisclose to being a Christmas baby!) 

My husband's Birthday kicks off Christmas festivities with our families in a big way. His family and my mom and step-dad will gather together tomorrow evening at my in-laws' house, where we will all officially celebrate his birthday and the big new J-O-B!  We are so excited to head to WV and see everyone - the past couple of months have been a whirlwind with the job market thing going on, so it's going to be so nice to celebrate the present and the future, and of course, breathe a collective sigh of relief!

I'll be busy with family gatherings at various houses on Christmas Eve, opening gifts at my in-laws on Christmas morning, and spending Christmas day at my mom's house (dinner! And she made those thumbprint cookies, HOLLA!!!) I'm planning to head to church w/my mom on Sunday before heading back to Athens.  When the hubs and I return to our Ohio home on Sunday, we'll exchange gifts - it's a great way to end the weekend!  We've had the same Christmas routine for the past five years, and it seems to work out really well for us.  I'm sure our routine will change a bit next year, since we will be living in NY (YAY!) so I'm going to try to enjoy this year as much as I possibly can.

Next week, I'll begin shamelessly plugging my new blog.  I will be posting here until New Year's Eve, but then the Days in the Life of a Grad Student's Wife will come to an end.  A Day in the Life of a Professor's Wife will begin, and I hope you will join me!  If you like, head on over now to follow via Google Friend Connect, email, Facebook, and Twitter.  All is ready to go on January 1st, 2011!  I can't wait to share my new journey with you all!

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I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! I'm going to give blogging a break for a few days, as I'm sure most of you are, too. I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your families, and I look forward to reading your Christmas recap posts on Monday!

I'm Thankful for... (Day 3)

the fam.

My mom, my brother, my step-dad, my in-laws... I'm thankful for all of 'em!

When I married my husband, I got a couple of extra cool grandparents - L & J are pretty awesome and make an extra special effort to keep up with all the grandkids' whereabouts - which is pretty much almost impossible these days. They are loving, caring, and FUNNY. My father-in-law, mother-in-law, and sassy-sis-in-law are just plain GREAT.  They always have my back - they're a protective group of peeps that support, spoil, love, and care to no end. And they love the Marshall Thundering Herd, too! My F-in-L and M-in-L both serve their local community by volunteering a crap ton for various organizations, festivals, and local schools.  My sass-in-law goes to Marshall - yes, she carried on the tradition!  She's super mega smarter than me, but I still love her. I think we all have a silent agreement that she's definitely the genius of the family. 

My mom and step-dad are the most gentle people I know. Step-Dad loves college football, and is a huge Nebraska fan (of course, he roots for Marshall and the Ohio Bobcats, too - he's bound by the whole step-dad thing.) He's a great cook and makes the best pasta salad and baked steak in the world - seriously! Mom is a Home & Garden Party/antique addict, so you never know whether the chair in the corner is for real or just decoration. The last time I visited, she'd added a 11 ft. barn ladder in the dining room as decoration.  There it was, leaned against the wall, and I'm like... "where does that go to?" She also has a collection of antique pitch forks, scythes, and other "items" that look like they came straight off the set of SAW, which she has managed to stylishly arrange in a fabulous wall grouping.  My future children are going to have to be really careful at grandma's house!

The one thing I like about my brother and his wife most is how cool they are when we visit.  We only see each other a few times a year, but there's never a big production about how long it's been since we've seen each other, or a big hug and sob fest goodbye when we part ways. We pick up right where we left off before, and it feels like we haven't seen each other in 6 days, rather than 6 months.  Hellos and goodbyes can make me uncomfortable if there's a lot of emotion involved, but i never have to worry about that with those two - they're just cool about things.  

Last but definitely not least is my husband.  You read enough about him to know what he's up to, but let's just say this - for one of those reading/writing/researching "professor types", he's really too cool for school.  He's not what you expect - certainly not like the English professor you may have had in college, or the sleazy ones you see in movies.  He's a stylin' little dude who has fun taste in music and movies, and probably spends too much time playing and not enough time being "scholarly" by most academics' standards. He's just plain "neat", and I'm just plain lucky. 


L-R: Grandpa L and Grandma J, F-in-Law, M-in-Law, Claire the cat, Sassy-in-Law, Charlie the kitten,
Husband, Diego the cat, Stephanie, Mom, Mac the cat, Tootsie the cat, Step-dad, Brother, sister-in-law, their cats.
All of us love the Marshall Thundering Herd; APPARENTLY WE ARE ALL CAT PEOPLE.

Tomorrow's the last day of my "I'm Thankful for" series; be sure to swing by before you fall into a Turkey Coma!

The Waiting Game

It's been two months since I blogged about the beginning stage of my husband's academic job search. It's time to blog about phase 2, which is a total killer for some as impatient as yours truly!

The hubs submitted 40+ applications via online and snail mail this fall.  OVER FORTY.  Excellent opportunities in his field came up every week, and he couldn't pass them up! He totally hit this thing hard - and with me cheering him on, we decided together that we might as well go big or go home! Energy through the roof, I'm telling you!

...

And now, we're waiting.

he's received some feedback from schools already, such as requests for more information/documentation. Which is Great! But still...

It's hard.  We wait. We wonder.  We never worry, but we wonder... where will we live this time next year?

Everyone else is wondering, too. Our families and our friends.  My co-workers. His colleagues.  We're all just one big ball of waiting excitement.  It's gotten to the point where this is affecting Christmas a great deal, because I keep wondering - will we know by then? Or will we still be waiting?  Chances are, we'll still be waiting and wondering.

This experience isn't something that anyone can fully understand unless they've lived it.  I would have to say that this is comparable to the NFL draft - I'll be waiting in the wings, willing to move wherever my husband goes, whatever "team" chooses him in the end.  Will he be a first rounder, picked in early December? Will he be a steal for some lucky school in early January? Or will he be picked late in February, after a long, pain-staking wait that will all be worth it in the end because he gets to pursue his dreams?

I don't whine or whimper to anyone.  We're alone. Me, and him.  We have our families' support, and believe me, it's amazing - but do they feel what we feel?  We are ecstatic about all of the job opportunities.  Every school, every town, every city - we're in love with all of them.  We avoid sharing the full extent of our enthusiasm with our families, because how in the world can we explain to them that we would really love to live in the cornfields? Would we be able to convince anyone, seeing as how we've lived in the Appalachian mountains our entire lives? Yeah, probably not.

My biggest fear, the one that "scares me right out of my pants"? Breaking hearts. Trying to explain to my mom why we would rather be Oklahoma Sooners than West Virginia Mountaineers. Or move to Tallahassee Florida for a temporary post-doc rather than settle down in Bowling Green, Kentucky. All of this depends on actual offers and time - both out of our control. But still, I fear a difficult decision. I accept it, though - it's all a part of the game. 

Have we had discussions about the possibility of making a hard decision? Well - yes and no.  Yes, because we've both agreed that this is probably going to end up being very difficult in the end. No, because it's impossible to plan which school he would choose seeing as how we're not far enough along in this game to know what the offers are going to be.

And so, we wait!

Headin' to WV

Happy Friday, all!  It's OCTOBER!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend planned, whether you are tailgating at the game, hanging around the house with your fam, or taking a mini-trip somewhere fun. Just a few things:

If you're going shopping, buy me something pretty.  And if you're eating out, please indulge in something rich and sugary, and think of me!

Why I like LOVE October:

And now, for my weekend plans:  I'm taking a break from the football stadium and heading to the West Virginia mountains to see my momma! We're traveling to Beckley on Saturday morning, where I plan to browse a beautiful place called Tamarack.  It's a gorgeous cultural/arts/food/crafts/shopping location where you can find all things West Virginia!

The first week of October is American Craft Week, so there's sure to be a ton of special displays, presentations, and new items in the store. As you all know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month - and Tamarack is taking part in raising awareness. I'm looking forward to seeing the "world's longest pink ribbon scarf", which is draped throughout the concourse of the building. You can learn more about Tamarack here, and read more about the world's longest pink ribbon scarf here!

My husband and I both need some quality family time before taking on the remainder of this month.  October is going to be fun but busy - my husband will be mailing out 30+ job applications to various schools across the country (from Portland, Oregon to New York and everywhere above, below, and in between!), we have plenty of football games to attend, there's a trip to Louisville, KY stuck in there somewhere, and HELLO?!? - it's Halloween time! I love it!

Have a great weekend, my friends! And enjoy those Pumpkin Pie Blizzards from DQ!

The Academic Job Market... it ain't like a trip to the supermarket!

And so...it begins.

Assistant Professors are needed starting in the 2011 academic year... at so many schools, in so many locations across the country.  My husband and I - well, we're caught in a whirlwind! 

I have so much confidence in him, and know that he will land a great job - he has done so many great things throughout the long process of graduate studies, and I know he will be an asset to a very lucky college or university. I know he can fit in anywhere, private or public, big or small, and I know he will continue to succeed.  Of course, as his wife, I'm obligated to be his biggest fan.

Options are starting to fly in from all geographic regions. When a new one is posted, we talk about it realistically- what it would be like to live in that location, how the job call suits his experience and research, what might be there for me as far as graduate school or a career is concerned... and then, we add it to "the list". The list of definitely's, maybe's, and last resorts.  Really, it's in our hands - at least, at first. All of the schools he sends an application to will be possibilities for us.

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We have supportive families, but they have a limited understanding of how challenging this situation really is for us. Most people, with the exception of those who are already immersed in academia, don't thoroughly understand this experience (and it's effing crazy as a spouse, let me tell you!) The most important factor in this job market 'adventure' is that my husband acquires a job that will enable him to utilize all of the knowledge, experience, research goals, and ideas he's gained and developed over the past five years.  Being a professor doesn't stop at teaching - academia is a unique world, and I've learned just by being a bystander that it's competitive as heck.  Publications, Presentations -the two big P's.   In addition to a fantastic job opportunity, finding a place where we can have fun,  and really enjoy our lives is important.  Maybe we'll settle there, maybe we won't.  Maybe we'll raise children there, maybe it'll be somewhere else.  Where will I fit in? Where can I find a great job, too?  Yes, we miss our loved ones. But the road home isn't going to disappear. We want a life full of excitement, travel, new experiences, challenges, and goals (yeah, try saying that at the Thanksgiving dinner table in rural West Virginia. It goes over really well!)

At this point, it's entirely up to us - more so my husband, since he's the job seeker.  Together, we decide what could be best for us, he will complete the application process for each school.  But when I drop those applications off to the post master, mailed via priority mail, insured and with a tracking number, it's completely out of our hands.  We will wait... for the phone to ring.  Side note:  any predictions on how much money I'll spend on postage this year?

The next phase of the academic job market will occur later this fall. And you can best bet, I will be blogging about what i've playfully named "the waiting game" - so stay tuned!

A weekend in the steel city!

The coolest spur-of-the-moment thing happened this weekend! About ten minutes after I posted the "I love Football" piece on Friday, I was invited to this weekend's Pittsburgh Steelers v. Detroit Lions preseason game! My husband's aunt & uncle asked us to drive up and join them in a private box for the game - which i've completely totally never done and more than likely will never ever get the opportunity to do again!  His family is so awesome, I will never be able to thank them enough.  I ate great food, picked up some fun Steelers gear for friends, and had a super time visiting with the fam ! My husband and I had to borrow Steelers jerseys from the fam because our closets are full of Patriots gear, but hey - we had to experience the whole deal Steeler-fan style! And now, it's time to share the good time with ya'll!

Hillbilly in the Steel City!

Outside the suite - WHOA... gotta take a photo! ALWAYS w/the thumbs up

I always wondered what it looked like inside the boxes!
LOTS of great drinks and delicious grub!

Heinz Field

 

The Chocolate Banana-bomb and Chocolate Confusion
complete with Bailey's chocolate shots - HELLO!

(As you probably guessed, dessert was my favorite part!)

Back from the Beach!

It's time for a little Myrtle Beach recap! 


The five days spent with my in-laws were super entertaining and fun - basically, we spent each morning/afternoon laying in the sun, reading, and walking along the beach, then spent each evening eating out at various restaurants, shopping around, and stopping by Krispy Kreme.  


On Monday, we:

Vacation Begins!

* left my in-laws' house in WV at 5am and ventured to Myrtle Beach, 8 hours away. I thought of some of my old Marshall college buds who are living in the Winston-Salem/Greensboro, NC area as we passed through!
* spent a little time on the beach before heading out to Angelo's Italian/Steakhouse, where I tried with all of my might to enjoy a warm, comforting bowl of fettucine alfredo while an annoyingly obnoxious family sitting at the table beside ours forced a little tiny boy with teary eyes and sunburned cheeks to finish his plate before they left. I wanted to steal him and take him away with us! 
* took a stroll on the Springmaid Pier, and saw jelly fish and a huge sea turtle lurking in the ocean - way too close to the shore for me!

I've got mad skillz.

Tuesday, I began my beach reading.  Initially I had planned to read Richard Russo's That Old Cape Magic and Jennifer Weiner's Best Friends Forever, but both were scrapped when my sis-in-law brought along Hello Kitty Must Die and Mennonite in a Little Black Dress! My original beach reads were pushed to the side, and I read the others before our vacation was over.  Hello Kitty was SO fun! Mennonite was a little slower, but enjoyable as well.
Tuesday was Crabby Mike's Seafood night and a crazy long game of putt-putt, too.  I held the lead down until about the 14th hole, then my concentration dwindled and I totally lost control my game! I did manage to make a totally random hole-in-one toward the end. Good times, Good times! We also checked out the new Boardwalk - and I finally got that airbrushed tee I've been wanting!


Wednesday evening we hit up Broadway at the Beach, where we sucked down more italian food, my husband slurped down a beverage from the awesomely fun KISS Coffeehouse, and I chowed on sugary goodness from The Fudgery.  I also hit up Christmas Mouse and Yankee Candle - where I flashed my little coupon for $1 votives and bought a ton in the new fall scents!  Maple Pancakes, Creamy Caramel, and Cinnamon Roll - need I say more? 

Kiss Coffeehouse

Christmas Mouse!

Christmas Mouse finds!

Thursday -

Forget bags - give me Coach shoes!

I scored a pretty serious sunburn on my shoulders - the UV index was about 2300, which was a little more than my SPF 30 could tolerate.  My husband and I also thought it would be a great idea to take the 4-mile hike along the shore, from the Springmaid Pier to the Second Avenue Pier during a heat advisory! In all seriousness, it wasn't that bad.  I'm crediting the Fit-Flops I've worn all year and the Vitamin water we guzzled the entire walk for my endurance. 

In the evening, we ate @ TBonz "Gill and Grill", which was totally my type of restaurant!   We also did a little outlet shopping. I spoiled myself with a new pair of Black Coach Sneakers from the Coach outlet (thanks, Mom!)  My husband and I also played dress up and found some great deals at Banana Republic.  By the end of the day, I was completely beat.  

Our last day on the beach was interrupted by a series of crazy thunderstorms, but I met up with my cousin who lives in SC, so it wasn't a wasted day at all!

  

By Saturday, I was so ready to return home - to my cat, my life in Ohio, and my blog, of course!

I read everyone's comments all week long - I couldn't reply to everyone, and didn't get a chance to check out new blogs/posts, but I'm getting caught up!  I'm glad to be back!

I hope everyone has a good week! Happy Monday... seriously!

Getting to know ME Sunday!

I'm back from vacation!  I kept up with everyone's comments this past week, but didn't get to reply to very many or visit new blogs.  I also lacked in the commenting department - and I'm so sorry! I plan to spend today getting caught up on laundry and the blogs I love to follow - don't worry, I'm still here!  I'll be posting vacation pics and recaps this week, and can't wait to share!

To kick off this week and get back to blogging, I'm participating in Mannland 5's Getting to Know YOU Sunday (of course! what else would I blog about on a Sunday?!) 

1. Do you think mustaches are sexy?
Well... hubby has one, and I've always loved it - so I guess, yes.  :)  But food stuck in a man's mustache=NOT SEXY! 

2. What's the last concert you've been to?
Adam Lambert's Glam Nation Tour!  It was FABULOUS.  I love him - such amazing talent, a perfect voice.

3  What was your favorite 80's sitcom?
Full House - or was that 90's?  

4. Were you named after anyone?
Sort of.  Dad's name was Steve, my older brother's name is Steven, and lo and behold, I became Stephanie the day I was born.

5. When you buy new clothes, do you wash before wearing?
Depends on the items.  I try to buy clothes that are not hanging on the front of the rack.  I wash underwear... don't wash anything else, really.  Ironing it off is enough hassle!

6. If you didn't blog, what would you do with your spare time?
I would read a ton more - when i started blogging a few months ago, it cut into my reading time, but that's ok - i love both!

7. What is your favorite department store?
This is difficult since I live in an area where the only department store I can regularly shop at is flipping Wal-Mart.  But my favorite places to browse online are Macy's and Target.

8. If  you were to get Laser Hair Removal..where would you get it?
Everywhere that I have to shave on a daily basis, plus my eyebrows to lessen the pluckage frequency. I would probably de-fur my arms, too!  




Have a great Sunday, everyone!  I missed blogging while on vacation (even though I pre-scheduled a few posts), but needed to give my brain a little break.  GLAD TO BE BACK! I missed you!

Another West Virginia Weekend

As usual, visiting the fam in West Virginia was a good ol' time! The hubster & I drove in on Friday evening, and I spent hours upon hours with my mother & sister in law and aunt, setting up our "yardsale" at a local community building.  We worked from 8pm until nearly midnight - I've never seen so much junk in my life!  It was a hoot, looking at each other's crap.  Good times...
Saturday morning was the actual sale, and I kicked things off with a generous sized chunk of Grandma J's homemade peanut butter candy along with a 16 oz cup of vanilla cappuccino from the local gas station - this turned me into a chatterbox, which was nice because a lot of old friends stopped by the sale to visit!  We made a little bit of $$$, and took the remainder of our junk to Goodwill.  
On the way to visit my mom and step dad, I stopped by the local visitor's center, where some of my WV wooden signs are being sold! 

This is one of the displays in the store, and the sign in the pic is a favorite among my WV peeps:

These were what my visit with mom was all about:

Some of of the BEST brownies I've ever eaten!  Nothing like a mother's touch ;)  She knows what makes her daughter the happiest! And yes, the part that's missing is what I ate within the first 20 minutes of my visit.  I proceeded to eat another row before the day was over.  And no, I did not barf up brownies all night long!  My body is used to this kind of abuse!

Sunday morning, my step dad and I did a little bird-watching - ok, not so much, but we got excited when we  saw some large birds flying high in the sky because apparently there is a bald eagle hanging out in the mountains and valleys of Webster County! He grabbed the binoculars and we watched for a little while, but no bald eagle. BUMMER.

  

Eventually, it was time to return to my in-laws house for my mother-in-law's fiesta-themed surprise birthday party!  We ate a ton of homemade Mexican dishes, and of course, i dove head first into the Reese's Peanut Butter Ice Cream and birthday cake - like, YUM!

We had to wrap things up and head back to Ohio in the afternoon.  On the trip back, we stopped at Hallmark - Ornament Premiere Weekend, HELLO!  I only picked up a few (the rest of my favorites will be sold in stores beginning in October, so this was a "light" ornament premiere shopping experience.)  

I'm glad to be back in Athens, and I'm ready to do some serious bloggin' this week! Wild and wonderful weekends in Webster County, WV are always a good time, but there's no place like my home in O-H-I-O!  

Speaking of living in Ohio, did anyone know that Cinci Bengals Wide Receiver & DWTS contestant Chad (Johnson) Ocho-Cinco has a reality dating show on VH-1?!?!?!  I'm watching now, and it is HIL-AR-I-OUS!

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! :)