Greg's Big Day

Finally! After a year and a half of hard work, Greg was able to breathe easy this week. On Friday, May 21st, he presented his research and conducted his defense immediately afterward. As everyone expected, the entire ordeal went smoothly and he passed! Greg's presentation was in front of 15 or so fellow grad students, researchers, and faculty members (as well as yours truly). The defense itself was behind closed doors with only those faculty members serving on his graduate committee. Now that he defended successfully, Greg has been working on some changes to his thesis before submitting his final draft to the graduate school. He won't technically graduate until August, but we celebrated anyway!

Before the big presentation.


Whew... After the presentation! :)


The WSU Cougar



Graduate!

Now that we have THAT checked off the list, Greg and I have been concentrating on selling and packing all we own to make the return trip to WV. We'll be starting our cross-country drive (our 4th in 18 months!!) this coming Friday afternoon after I leave work. Destination Glenville. See you all soon!

Bloomsday & More!

Whew, that was quite a hiatus from the blog. Since returning from our Canada trip, Greg and I have been on the go non-stop it seems. So many things have happened in that amount of time that I'm sure I'll forget lots!

Greg had the opportunity to spend a few days in Seattle at the end of March. He attended a symposium with some other grad students and professors, and got to do a little sightseeing. Here's a shot of the Space Needle from the car. :) He also visited the first-ever Starbucks and "experienced" a fresh seafood dinner (everything was mixed up and just dumped directly onto the table).


First ever Starbucks!

Fresh fish market in Seattle

Fellow grad students



In March, I got to spend a few days visiting home and helping with all-things-wedding. I'm not allowed to post the pictures though, as I've been sworn to secrecy until July 10th. :) But I enjoyed the visit.

It's now official... Greg and I will be heading back to West Virginia (permanently) at the end of May. Greg is putting the finishing touches on his thesis and presentation as we speak (or at least he's supposed to be!). I will be leaving my job at the University of Idaho on May 28th, and will be joining the business faculty at Glenville State College in the fall. Exciting and stressful times!

Last weekend, Shannon and I headed to Spokane for a final "hurrah" before we leave. We had a great time shopping (too much), eating (too much), and running (not enough)! Spokane plays host to the annual Lilac Festival Bloomsday Run, a 12K (7.46 mile) run that begins and ends in downtown Spokane and boasts nearly 50,000 particpants!! 50,000! My goal was to be in the top 40,000 finishers. :) Shannon and I actually did much better than that. I placed 6,887th place!! Woo, hoo... who ever thought that I'd be proud to announce I finished in 6,887th place?? I made sure to wear my bright yellow West Virginia shirt during the race, hoping to get on the news for coming all the way from WV. Didn't work. There are a few pictures of me online (although you better break out your magnifying glass) here: http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?eventid=62142&bib=11935. The third picture is a pretty good one of Shannon and I crossing the finish line. And the sixth picture shows me mid-race. Here are a few pictures that I took during the run...

Participants were encouraged to wear extra clothes and then toss them in the trees and on the sidewalks once the race started. Volunteers then collected the clothes to donate to charity.

Still half asleep...

Look at all the people! This is just part of the "green" starting group. There were 10 or 12 different starting groups.

Part of the "green" starting group.

Almost to the start line! This race used RFID tags on each runner's shoe - your individual time started when you crossed the start line and stopped when you crossed the finish line. Pretty cool!

There were people all along the route cheering and providing entertainment. This church had a priest waving and a choir singing!

This band fired up a rendition of "Hey, Good Lookin'" just as Shannon and I approached! Coincidence???

Look at the mass of people that are already to the top of the hill in the distance. The group of people behind us was even bigger. A few miles after this point, you could look down on this stretch of road and still see people chugging along.

Greg and I have lots of work and not much time for play in these next three weeks. We'll try to post if we can!