Here we go again...

So I accepted a visiting position. On the other side of the country...which if you consider it, is really par for the course. With the exception of our sojourns in CA and OR all of my moves have been across the country.

In style--luxury rental

Thus begins my 8th trip across the USA. And somehow we have managed to find a different route and plan a trip that brings us to places we haven't yet been. This is my and Joe's 3rd trip together and this time, we're taking it slow and doing it in style (I get some of my expenses covered on this trip...).

So we're hitting the national parks--basically anything that gets thrown in our way on the middle route that we feel comfortable spending less than a day exploring.

Yesterday we began. It was beautiful. East and then South. We hit an amazingly bad (but everybody okay--pictures forthcoming) accident on our way into NV. Which meant 3 hours watching a couple of semi trucks being cleared from the 2 lane road and an amazing thunderstorm ricocheting around us. We also played some backgammon and chatted with the folks around us.

But today was the real treat. We're staying in the park and the lodge has wifi so I will share a pano from our hike today:

Bryce Canyon Amphitheater

On a hot day

A sleepy sunny Saturday afternoon:

Submission!

 

 

Out and About

One of the critical ways that Joe and I both stayed sane while I finished the dissertation and defense was by getting outside as much as possible. We hiked and backpacked when I felt confident that leaving the wifi signal was possible. Right before Memorial Day we hit the Butte.

Having a Butte on the Butte

Candidate no more

After six years of the hardest academic work I have ever had to do, I am pleased to call myself Dr.

I feel as though things have building to this moment since I arrived on campus in 2008. I watched a number of students defend before me, always with a knot in my stomach and at least half as nervous as they must have been. What I know now, after standing in that spot myself, is that you really do become the expert.

I  have just a few minor edits to make the document ready for final submission and then, that is it.

That is it.

That is it.

I now have a new answer to 'the' question: I am an Assistant Professor.

Milestones

I've been joking for the past few weeks that I'm getting my PhD in three parts. The first part, ceremonial, graduation. The second part, mandatory, the defense. The third part, official, the piece of paper.

That said, I received my ceremonial PhD two weeks ago and it was every bit of the amount of amazing you'd expect. I turned in my dissertation a few days later and I'm now preparing the defense.

Graduating was incredible though. Getting hooded by my advisor, having many of my parents in attendance, seeing Joe in the crowd. It really did make me feel a sense of accomplishment, even though I still have to defend my dissertation before I can be formally called "Dr."

A few short days later Joe and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. This one feels like less of an accomplishment and more of a reality check--has it really been that long since we put rings on each others fingers? 14 years together...

Also, because my family is amazing I put them to work while they were in town and we now have a beautiful new fence:

Before

After

So as my Dad kept saying this was one of two 'da-fences' in my life...onwards to the next dafence...in the meantime we're doing a little hiking and checking on on the whole soccer bit that's been happening right now.

First wildfire of the season

...ahead of schedule

Taking in the view

The view from the hotel room

Around this time every year I disappear off to the annual meeting of my discipline to go mix with a whole host of different people. Last year I made my way back from field work via this conference and it was a bit daunting, but a good way to hit the ground running on my dissertation upon my return.

This year it was necessary for me to be there to present work from the dissertation, but I find that being at these meetings is a roller coaster of ego boosts and bruises. What I mostly looked forward to was connecting with my colleagues who I hadn't seen since last year, and possibly drinking in some better weather (not quite literally, but I did enjoy a couple of cold ones at that little green gazebo thing which was conveniently between the convention center and the hotel).  After snow and leaving in freezing weather, Portland (where I made my flight connection) seemed balmy and basically anything that followed became tropical.

It was really quite lovely while we were in Florida and though I am usually a diligent attendee at these conferences, I did find one morning to sneak away...









We had a few perks from holding our meeting at the convention center, which included free trolley rides up and down the main stretch and discounted tickets to local spots. I took advantage of the reduced price of aquarium tickets. It was me and another colleague and about a million school groups, but it was lovely.

As seen in the exhibit hall

Cruise

Trolley to the aquarium

 

The obligatory duck photo for a UO duck

Can you spot the flamingo?

Not exactly sure what this guy was doing in a aquarium...

I love these guys because they always look like they're smiling

Swimming with the sharks

Flamingos again

It was pretty incredible to watch these flamingos take flight and swoop around the enclosure. We also were delighted by the scuba divers (above) swimming with the sharks. The gal in the tank had a microphone and was answering the questions from the kids on the other side of the glass, all the while sharks were swimming around.

Quite possibly my favorite to watch.

Lego surroundings

In case you missed it in the last photo.

Dory amongst the clown fish

total fail.

How I feel after being at the conference

No joke.

This was my first real winter with snow on the west coast (plenty of east coast winters). Last year by the time I returned home from the field (almost May) the tulips and daffodils had already put in their appearance.

04.01.2014 - 6:30am

As a result, I don't have an institutional memory for whether or not snow in April is usual. I was excited for snow having spent the last holiday in a hammock. But it has snowed every day for the past week and somehow, it unnerves me to see the first spring blooms bearing the weight of an inch or more of snow.

03.30.2014 - 4:30pm

Of course it does this overnight and in the early morning and my best guess is that today, per usual, the sun will come out --"fooled you"-- and it will all melt away before midday.

***Update***
3 inches later, I can't help but think to myself that this is a very elaborate joke...

04.01.2014 - 12:00pm

Does that translate?

Spring is here and you can see for sure in this video I took this morning.

It is technically spring break, although these things don't register with me much this year, given that my fellowship makes allows me to write everyday. I did take a week off though and we retreated to a much colder clime where we overloaded on seafood, walked on frozen lakes, and surveyed the local beer scene. I'm supremely grateful to have been able to take the time out and skip this coast for the other. And only slightly perturbed to come home to similar if not less humid temperatures.

Sunset over the frozen lake

twin lobsters

from the 'freeport' area

On our way out through 'Bahstan'

It's been awhile since I spent any length of time on the east coast and it took me some time to adjust again to the New England accent. In fact, more than once I was consumed by laughter. I managed to stifle such outbursts when servers explained what we could expect from hoppy beers...I told them we hailed from the pacific northwest...

bring it on.

The cats are trying to help

Pocket assists with my methodology chapter.

whilst searching for skis

All I wanted was to find a deal on ski/boot rentals.

I never knew Oregon was spelled that way...fail