Let's catch up! The Highlights.

Hello there! 

It has been NINE. YEARS. since I last posted. Just wow. 

Y'all. 

Okay. 

Where to start? 

Let's hit the highlights.

A quick run down of major life events in the last nine years... 

November 2012 - passed my comps, am officially "ABD" (all but dissertation = "PhD Candidate" = ALMOST THERE)

May 2013 - grad assistantship ended; the only thing left to do is write my dissertation and defend 

June 2013 - trip to Israel (cause that's a great idea when you're broke and have no job, right?) 

August 2013 - SSR in Montreal; my last conference in grad school 

August-December 2013 - worked four (yes, four) part time jobs while writing my dissertation, shooting for a May 2014 graduation 

October 2013 - Got [unexpectedly] pregnant (ha! take that, reproductive physiologist ;)

November 2013 to January 2014 - lots of morning/daytime/nighttime sickness; scrambling to find a house before baby comes 

January 2014 - got a full time job teaching Anatomy and Physiology at the local tech school 

February 2014 - moved into our dream home, lovingly dubbed "Stowe Manor" 

June 27, 2014 - passed my defense (!!!) 

July 13, 2014 - EK was born

I blinked. 

It's today. January 29, 2021. 

Haha

Oh, I'm not actually kidding... 

Y'all. 

When I told my Pastor we were pregnant, he looked surprised (we all were!) and then said, "well, it's going to go by fast now." 

And man, 

was he right. 

There are so many stories to tell. 

The last seven years have been grueling in ways I never imagined life would be. 

Like, life's hard. I get that. I was in grad school for my PhD for heaven's sake. I knew life wasn't going to be easy. But man. As EK has become fond of saying, "I did not see that coming." 

We have come a long, long way. 

And I know there's a long way still to go. 

There's a lot that happened between 2012 and 2014 that, looking back, I now see as God's hand, preparing me for the tough road ahead. I'm so grateful. I wouldn't have made it this far without His help and guidance each step of the way.

Here we go!