Welcome Mason!

Last night Chase's Aunt had a baby! Very happy! His name is Mason Jude and he's healthy and his Mommy is recovering nicely! I love that Mason was born the same year Chase and I are getting married-- we'll always remember how old he is! :) His dad, Byron, was a smiley happy Daddy and Chase and I are so proud of them and are excited to be part of Mason's life!

Iowa is treating me well... I have been working on my thesis, planning some wedding stuff, and watching lots of Storage Wars. Not the most exciting summer ever, but I am so thankful to be here with Chase and his family.

We think we might have found an apartment. The only thing we don't like about it is the lack of washer and drier, but they do have them in the building... as long as I don't have to go to a laundry mat! Never a good option. I am excited to actually get the apartment leased and move in and start nesting. I am on the hunt for a circle dining room table made of wood. I want to sand it down and paint it a happy fun color! Or do something cool like that. I am so excited to nest. Hahah.

Thesis writing is slow sometimes, but its happening. A little over a month until my final draft is due to my advisor. I am feeling pretty confident. Except that I still haven't received the final "go ahead" from the Human Subject Review Board so I am stressing a little bit about my final chapter which is primarily based upon interviews.  Yesterday was a great breakthrough day. I crafted my thesis statement/research question for the chapter about Big Love and Sister Wives. It just might include some Marxist theory.... :) Can't avoid it!

Wedding stuff is going amazingly. Sometimes it feels like I am on a WEtv or TLC show where someone plans a lavish wedding and I get to just show up and be pretty. My Mom is an awesome wedding planner. I love it- she'll call me and say " I am going to do XYZ, is that okay?" The answer is always  "Yes" She's got such great ideas. She's very good at wedding planning!

I will head home August 30 after Chase finishes taking the Bar Exam. I will spend the next three days closing up shop in bowling green and trying to eat all of the food in my pantry! I am a little worried about getting all of my stuff to Iowa. I think it will all fit in my car... but we'll see. I might send a big box of clothes home to my parents -- the stuff I need to live in Jacksonville.

I -so far- am not planning to work while at my parents. Just focus on finishing my thesis, making stuff for the wedding, and finally getting to take a break. I wish I could have substituted but the red tape to be able to do so is kind of intense and won't work with my schedule. Grr. That would have been nice money. It makes me crazy that I'm licensed to TEACH in the state, but I can't substitute. Blech. If any one in Jacksonville knows of some work that you think would be great for a slightly brain dead graduate school student let me know. :)

This morning Chase and I will be re-visiting Hope Lutheran Church in West Des Moines. Its big and has lots of minsitries and lots of opportunities. Seems to be the church that Chase and I like the most- we've tried a couple and just didn't find the right fit.  Iowa is a political hot bed right now. Candidates are popping up everywhere. And two of the church's we visited were hosting Michelle Bauchmann. She's not our favorite... and so that helped make some of the decisions easier. We'll hear the head pastor today at Hope Lutheran and we're excited to see how we like him!

Then after church its back to Drake Law library. I am hoping to get a better grasp on the Gramsci theories I am using. We'll see if I have the gumption to make that happen!

So I am terribly wanting a Pumpernickel Bagel with cream cheese and tomato. From Bruegger's Bagels... please. Sorry I dont have any photos to upload today. They would be kind of dull... lots of photos of me reading books and watching Big Love. Yep.

Breaking Bad comes on again tonight. Love Love Love it. Cannot wait to see what is going to happen!

Iowan Independance!

Yesterday was an amazing Independence Day!

Things in Iowa have been great. I have been working on my thesis and loving my Chaser and the rest of the McCools. I am so glad to be here in Iowa rather than alone in Ohio. Its nice to just have people in the house and people to eat dinner with, and just being not alone. Plus I like these guys.

The weather has been beautiful and that is a really great bonus.

Wedding planning is going well, I am very bored with blogging right now! :) So know that life is good and all is well. I am a happy girl.

Monday Musings During Hoarders 8.0

Well technically I am watching the Bachelorette for about 11 more minutes then I'll start flipping back and forth between the two.

Currently I am in Richmond but lets back up over the last couple of days to catch up to the present.


So classes ended. And I got to the point where the stress had me crazy. Silly crazy. You know cabin fever crazy. And then the next day I drove 11 hours to Iowa. Which is beau


yall I am too tired to type. I owe you a better post very soon.
please forgive.

Second to Last Day of Our Masters

 

This may or may not have been the same girl that put a t-shirt over her nightgown and came to class.

One day away from being done with coursework. 

ONE DAY MORE!

-cue Les Mis soundtrack-

We're all starting to lose it. The crazy grad student laugh.

Des Monies in two days. Finally.

Remember when I used to blog during Hoarders?

I am avoiding working. I am avoiding my to-do list of school stuff. Just do not want to write anything, read anything, or study anything. Kinda a problem.
So I started watch Hoarders...
So I started cleaning...
So I started packing to take stuff to Iowa.

I have OCD. Period. Fortunately my OCD is a lot more manageable than other peoples-- I am by no means complaining.

I like packing. I really like packing. I like seeing things get organized and I like seeing things in piles. I like it when things are organized by size and type.  Especially books. Really like organized books.  It also feels really good to give stuff away. Things that are in good shape but just not useful to me anymore.

I'm really excited about the next steps in my life. Moving to Des Moines and oh you know Getting Married.

I really like looking out into my apartment and seeing how stuff is starting to disappear into the corner of things packed and ready to go to Des Moines.

All because I started watching Hoarders. Its the most motivating show on television. Now only if I could find a version that could get me to write my thesis.

Sleep No More- the show and the lifestyle

Good Morning!

As I wait for the TRBC livestream to start I am going to blog, drink a cup of coffee, and listen to Studio 360. The theme is - of course - The Book of Mormon [the musical] which is up for 14 Tony Awards tonight. It is everywhere! I wish I could see it live- even though its considered the raunchiest one on Broadway. It is sold out until September. I also want to see the show that is based upon Macbeth-- called Sleep No More.

Let me quote from the S360 website...

The London-based theater company Punchdrunk has transformed 100,000 square feet of New York City warehouse space into a meticulously detailed world — a kind of Macbeth theme park with no signage or maps or instructions.  The result is part art installation, part dance performance, part giant maze: audience members are free to wander through the space and encounter performers as they pass through 100 meticulously designed rooms.

Yes Yes Yes. I would really like to get back to NYC to see a lot of shows.

But instead I am here working on my thesis. Working is a word I use cautiously. I feel like its so huge and never going to be finished. Trying to do my classwork has me tired of working once it comes time to work on the thesis. So yes... I am hoping that once classes are over I can actually want to work on the thesis.

Oh and then wedding planning. Its not happening till August. Its too beyond my priority list right now. Isn't that crazy? That my wedding doesn't rank high priority on my to-do list. That is strange to me. I am so excited for the wedding, and I have problems being excited about the planning because I feel like I should be working on other things instead-- namely school work.

So my joke has become "Is it November 1st, Yet?" because then I will be married and beginning post-graduate school life. Its a super true statement. But sad to me. This is supposed to be an exciting time and school is kind of marring it for me. Working on this feeling. Working on it.

Today I'll watch some TRBC - the sermons might be lacking but the music is so amazing- on the webcast. I have a paper to finish, six or so articles to read, a reflection to write, another book to start and then spend what might be left of the day watching "I am a Mormon" videos and analyzing how they portray womenhood. This is chapter two. I have lots to do. And I worked 6 hours yesterday. :) The plight of a graduate student. None of this is unique to me. Graduate students I assume all have had these weekends. I signed up for this, I can't complain too much.

Well loves, I have to get started. :) I covet prayers and and thoughts and cookies from The Cookie Jar. Which is a local place that delivers still warm cookies.  Seriously. I would love cookies any time of day. Hahah.

Gotta call Chaser and wake him up -- he's working like crazy too. He's really impressive- his work ethic is amazing.

Dearest Reader,
Thanks for letting me vent. This whole process is hard, and yet I really love it. Crazy.
Lauren