Life Lately

Hello? Hello out there! Figured I should stop by since we're almost halfway through February. How did that happen, by the way? 

Here are a few updates on me since I haven't blogged in like, a month. Woops...

Teaching
I have been teaching my first class this semester and it has been going really well. The class is Crime & Justice Policy and it is mostly upperclassmen. The students are really awesome and definitely can get into the class discussions, which is great. Their first exam was today and the grades turned out pretty well so I'm happy! The next unit is talking about courts and corrections, so I'm excited to delve into an area that I'm more passionate about. Also, it takes SO long to prep for one 75-min class (at least 1.5/2 days). SO much respect and gratitude for those who teach all day!

Dissertation
I defended my proposal last week and got the green light to go ahead with the analysis! Now I'm working on that aspect. I need to defend by late March, which means I have to have it to my committee by early March. So basically I have about a month to do my analyses, write up the results, and write up the discussion/conclusion chapter. Bring it on.

At my proposal defense. Hello Powerpoint.

House
So we're officially in the 'pending' stage of buying our first home! I can't wait to go into more details, but that will have to wait until we close at the end of this month. It happened way faster than we expected but God's has very clearly guided us through this whole process and (hopefully) buying this specific home.

Miscellaneous Points

•  Super bowl. We made amazing deep dish pizza, completely homemade. Matt gets all the credit for the crust and he did a great job!

• I miss running. I was recently diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in my right foot so I've been trying to do my stretches multiple times every day. I have been able to run a little bit, but no more than 2 miles. Hopefully I can start building up the mileage again soon because the weather has been amazing lately here in Texas.
• Valentine's Day is upon us and instead of going out as is the stereotypical thing, we are going to stay at home. We're planning on slow roasting lamb shanks and maybe going out for dessert afterwards. It will be my first time cooking with lamb, so I hope it goes well!

I'm sure there are other things, but that sums up a lot of the big stuff. Figured I would at least put this out there so no one thought I had stopped blogging completely!