Spring Break!!!

Oh, I love Spring.  AND, I love it even more when the University decided to give all the employees the day off today for Spring Break!  The rain that was here this morning is clearing up, the sun is starting to shine, and the sky is turning blue.  Hopefully, it will be a beautiful day!  :)  This morning, I got up bright and early to have breakfast with my friend, Brian.  He is leaving on Wednesday to hike the Appalachian Trail (from Georgia to Maine), and will be gone until September.  I am so so so proud of him, but nervous at the same time!  He is hiking over 2100 miles!!!!!!!  It was so great to be able to spend some quality time with him (although it was a very quick visit), and I can't wait to see him when he returns!

Wednesday is my last day at RISE (and it's only a half day), so I have been busy tying up the loose ends that I need to get done before I go.  I won't start my new job until April 6, so I am definitely looking forward to some time off.  David came up with the idea that we go on an extended weekend get-away while we could both take the time off--I couldn't be more excited!!  We are still trying to plan things, but it looks like we will be renting a house for a few days in Gulf Shores.  We plan on taking the doggies, relaxing, playing on the beach, grilling out, and just spending some time together.  I love that he came up with this idea, and already started the process of getting the schedule set!  He is such a sweet hubby.  :)

I am one step closer to graduation after this week: I sent in a paper that I wrote to an academic journal, which is one of the requirements to be able to start working on my dissertation.  The next step is sitting for the comprehensive exams (a test over EVERYTHING I have learned in school), and I plan on taking those in the next couple of weeks.  It looks like I am on track to graduate August 15, 2009...just 4 days before Baby Bledsoe is due to arrive!

There hasn't been much else really going on around here.  David has been working REALLY hard on the house: front door is painted, new mailbox, new storm door, new floor in the kitchen, living room painted...wow!  We plan on FINALLY cleaning out the attic and lots of other junk, as well as our garage and storage unit to free up some space.  I guess you could say that we are in the middle of Spring cleaning (not my favorite part of Spring)!