Bring on 2009...After Reflecting on 2008!

Through the years I have learned that reflecting on where you have been and life's blessings is an honorable way to ring in a new year. This past year has been quite a ride...yet, I would not choose to live my life any differently.

Top 10 Memorable Moments of 2008:
1.) Rang in 2008 in the cozy village of Aveiro, Portugal (see photo) as I packed up to move to Oslo, Norway for the last semester of my European Master's degree program (where I got (temporarily) married to my thesis.)
2.) Skied Zermatt, Switzerland and skied across the border to Italy for some ambrosial minestrone soup.
3.) Voted in the FIRST global primary in Oslo, Norway. How cool is that?
4.) Received a PhD offer to the University of Georgia which led to an Easter trip to Georgia for a campus visit and a quick trip home to Colorado. Accepted the offer and completed the first semester of PhD life. Woohoo!
5.) Ate my way through the beautiful Paris, France and took the train to Strasbourg, France where I attended a conference at the Council of Europe.
6.) After divorcing my thesis, I threw on my travel shoes, drank beer and ate chocolate in Belgium with my dear friend Marijke.
7.) Traveled Morocco where we made our way through the Atlas mountains, boarded down the sand dunes, rock-climbed, and got a stomach bug (Fred) that would stay with me for months to come...
8.) Traveled Eastern European (Slovenia, Hungary, Czech, Austria) with my cousin and went on many adventures...naked saunas, canyoning, and yoga in the Julian Alps.
9.) Namaste! After returning to the motherland (USA) in June I lived in a yoga ashram in Colorado, attained a yoga teaching certification, and began teaching at Rubbersoul in Athens, Georgia in the fall.
10.) Historic presidential election...all I have to say is OBAMALISCIOUS!

EPIC Ski Adventure!

Since my brother and I no longer live in Colorado, we were hungry for time in the snowy Rocky Mountains. So, the family rented a mountain condo in Winterpark, Colorado for quality family time in the evening and serious ski madness during the day.

The snow gods were very good to us, as we got over 10 inches of champagne powder...ski heaven! There is no feeling in the world that equates to flying through powder down the mountain steeps. The evenings were filled with hot-tubbin', games (charades and spoons), excellent cuisine, and plenty of Irish cream, and wine.

Reflections of PhD Life & Things I Adore!

Even though I still had a concluding paragraph to write for my final paper of the semester, I boarded the plane--departing to Denver--with a warm smile not only on my face but also in my heart. To say this semester kicked my butt would be a gross understatement. Readjusting to life in the U.S., in no other place than the conservative South, was a challenge. Not to mention that I was thrown into the rigorous life as a PhD student, where reading 500 pages of literature and writing 20 pages in one week is completely normal. Despite the competition, bastion of male dominance, and intense socialization; I am alive and kicking! You know...challenges in life make you cherish the things you love the most: skiing, family, friends, laughing, yoga, wine, and an international perspective. And, the next three weeks will be all about those things I adore the most.

Here are a few things I love about Christmas at my parents house...Raven (the queen kitty), Christmas cookies (frosting them with dad & eating them with the family (my brother is the cookie monster on the left!)

Holiday Cheers in the Midst of Finals!

A Saturday night holiday party, hosted by the platonic cohabitants of Hill Street, took me away from my books and computer for a much needed break from finals. This party was the annual event that all of my PhD colleagues raved about and now I can officially say...I know why! Potluck style, everyone brought their finest cuisine, and the open bar was oozing with the sweet nectar of alcohol. In addition to good food, drinks, and company, the white elephant gifts and "your best festive holiday outfit" supplemented the overall party atmosphere. Even though I had a few pangs of guilt ('OMG, I should be at home typing right now'), it was the best night in the history of my time in Athens, Georgia. Everyone was in high spirits, and the stress of finals was almost forgotten...until those pangs came back. Damn!

You know times are tough when you receive an email like this...

Dear UGA Student:

Earlier today, the Board of Regents held a special meeting to approve further budget reductions for the University System of Georgia from 6% to 8%. As detailed in a memo from Chancellor Davis which can be viewed at

http://www.bursar.uga.edu/Feestudentletter.pdf

one of those steps was to implement for the spring 2009 semester a special additional $100 student fee to help maintain the academic quality that you demand.

This Special Spring ’09 Semester Fee of $100 will be assessed to your student account on or before December 12, 2008. Any time there is activity on a student’s account, the student is notified via e-mail that they need to review their account. All students will receive an e-mail from the student account system when the $100 fee is added to their account. When you receive this future e-mail notification, please take a moment to review your account. All payment types (check, electronic check, credit card) are available to satisfy this fee.

We regret that this notification is coming at such a late date, but the economic crisis is substantial and the budget requires this action. Please know that this fee is critically needed for us to fulfill our responsibility to provide you with academic programs of excellence and high-quality student services.

Sincerely,

Arnett C. Mace, Jr.
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

I Need to Crawl into a CAVE!

Finals have hit and for some reason I have writer's block. What the hell? Here is a sampling of the fun that awaits me...

1.) 10-12 pages on Erasmus Mundus (European scholarship and mobility program) from an institutional theory framework DUE 12/9
2.) A take home statistics exam that is guaranteed to kick my bum. DUE 12/11
3.) Up to 20 pages answering four complex questions about higher education admissions, marketing, affordability, stratification, academic freedom, and anything else under the sun. DUE 12/15

Then off to Colorado for 3 weeks!

Happy Thanksgiving from SUNNY San Diego!

My parents drove to California from Colorado to celebrate Thanksgiving with my kid brother and me. This year was special, as the past two years I was living in Europe where Thanksgiving is nothing but another work day. Therefore, the home-cooked turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green beans cooked by none other than the spectacular cook--Mama Weimer--was a long-awaited delicious meal. Not to mention, it was just simply brilliant to be in the company of my loving (and wacky...see fountain photos) family. Before eating we walked down to the beach for my last sunset. After dinner I bid my goodbyes and begrudgingly jumped onto a red-flight to Atlanta. In all of my travels, this was perhaps the first time I struggled to board the plane. If I had my druthers I would have reverted back to my childhood years and thrown myself on the floor in a wild kicking and screaming tantrum. But, tantrums at my age are a bit inappropriate. I guess it's time to go back to reality...Georgia.

To San Diego: La-La Land!

After a 4.5 hour flight to San Diego, I wasted no time and allowed vacation mode to kick in and consume my physical and mental being. Woohoo! After four months of a rather difficult transition back to the motherland (USA) coupled with the mixed emotions of PhD life…I find myself in the nurturing space of la-la land. What exactly is la-la land, you ask? Well, let me tell you…
1.) Yoga on the grassy knoll overlooking Pacific Beach (serious),
2.) Tequila, pictionary, silliness, and yoga at 2 a.m.—and a brutal hangover the next day,
3.) Soul searchin’ conversation with my little kid bro,
4.) Daily walks at 4:30 p.m. just in time to catch the Pacific Beach sunset,
5.) Hot yoga with my cousin (Corepower),
6.) Fish tacos and margaritas with my parental units and bro,
7.) No alarm clock,
8.) Contemplating where I have been and where I am going,
9.) Enjoying the eye-candy of beautiful & fit California people,
10.) And, just enjoying the moment.

No writing, no articles to read, no academic profile to sustain, just me, my heart, and a beautiful week in San Diego. Let's not talk about how I SHOULD be studying...which will make for a hellish week when I return to Georgia.

20-page Paper DONE...Time to go Hiking!

After 20 pages of blood, sweat, and tears on the cost and affordability (or lack there of) of higher education, it was time for my Adidas trainers to hit the trail. I seriously thought that paper would never end. On Sunday, my two friends from the clinical psychology department and I piled in the car and drove 1.5 hours to the Bavarian town of Helen for some hiking. We all needed a little mother nature to nurture our souls and clear our heads for the upcoming Thanksgiving break (classes are cancelled for the entire week). There was a chill in the air and most of the leaves had fallen, but the sun was shining...

A Conference & a 20-page Paper!

The day after elections, I schlepped my sleepy self from bed and piled into a University of Georgia van with seven of my classmates. The euphoria from the elections was still running through my blood as we drove to Jacksonville, Florida (see photos) for the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) conference. This is an annual conference where students and faculty in the field present their work for critique and discussion. The highlight for me was meeting up with two old friends from my years in student affairs. Both of them jumped off the student affairs ship and joined the academic world just as I have...so, we had a great deal to talk about. From student affairs to the academic world is quite a change and can be quite cold, lonely, and cut-throat. I suppose I am slowly becoming socialized to this side of higher education, but truth be told...there are days when I miss the nurturing environment of student affairs. Plus, it is extremely difficult when my student affairs experience is dismissed as fluff. Nonetheless, the conference was refreshing and my friends were inspirational.

I came home just in time to slam out a 20 page paper on the debate surrounding college affordability. This was anything but an easy paper. You don't want to hear the real words I would use to describe this assignment! But, today I finally turned it in and now I am catching up on my blog and reflecting on the hellish week.

Obamaliscious!

As the polls came pouring in Tuesday night I was running back and forth from the living room, where CNN illuminated the space, to my bedroom, where my paper on the commercialization of academic research danced on my computer screen. Living in the eastern timezone proved for a long and late night...as the west coast polls did not close until 11 p.m. my time. Truth be told, I was most anxious about the Colorado polls, as that was where I voted and Colorado historically votes red. Plus, I have been the biggest skeptic about Obama taking this race...as I had lost all faith in the American people after the second Bush election. When the Colorado polls closed at 9 p.m. my time, I was glued to CNN. Colorado continued to favor Obama, and so I rallied my roommate and we quickly walked up the hill to the Georgia Theater for the Obama elections watch-party. The Theater was packed to the gill with loyal Obama supporters and the buzz in the air was electric as Obama's lead increased. Every time CNN announced another state had gone blue the crowd went wild. COLORADO BLUE! I went wild!!! I called all of my family members back in Colorado (and San Diego) and yelled with joy across the cell phone waves. A huge victory for Colorado.

In no time...this flashed across the big screen, "CNN Projection: Obama elected President!" Oh my god!! Everyone was going wild, screaming, clapping, stomping, crying, laughing, and sobbing. Such a historical moment in my life.

Election Day!

A few photos from election day in Athens, Georgia...









It was a beautiful, sunny day with colorful leaves falling from the trees.

This is one of the polling stations at 12:30 p.m. (lunchtime)...where is the line of people? Hmmmm...







Here are a few Obama supporters (see sticker on laptop) hanging out at Starbucks. Starbucks offered FREE coffee to customers who voted today.





The sun was shining...a good sign that hope prevails.

Many people were wearing these stickers today. After you vote, you get a sticker.

This is a poster of Obama on a local shop owners window.

Will the American people prove me wrong and vote for hope and change rather than resentment and arrogance? All day, my heart has been beating with fear, anxiety, and excitement. Let tonight be historic and auspicious!

Happy Halloween!

The past two years, I lived in countries that had not embraced the Americanized wacky celebration of halloween. In Portugal, we ran across a group of children throwing eggs...they thought that was scary and hence deemed it "Happy Halloween" (with a Portuguese accent). In Norway, I motivated my international friends to dress up and attend a campus Halloween party...it was quite an event for my Ethiopian friend to wear a mask. Even though I couldn't see his face, I knew he wore a BIG smile all night. This Halloween instead of dressing up I joined my professor, Dr. Slaughter, and classmate, Stephanie, in the annual trick-or-treating ritual. My professor lives in the hottest trick-or-treat neighborhood in Athens. Parents drive there children to this neighborhood and the sidewalks become a Halloween superhighway of little goblins, superheros, witches, and pumpkins. Over a 2-hour period, we sat on the porch, drank wine, and gave out about 10 bags of candy. This is Halloween in America!!