The Final Chapter

I'm well into my last semester of graduate school.  It's still pretty hard to believe.  The other day I mentioned speech I had given on the Apple cult.  I told Robert I gave the speech last spring, and he didn't believe me at first.  He thought it was just last semester.  It's crazy to think of how much has happened since this time last year.  Let's take a look back:

• Graduated college
• Started graduate school
• I finished my first semester of grad school
• I got a new car
• Robert spent two and a half weeks in Africa
• Robert go a new car
• I finished my second semester of grad school
• We got engaged
• Robert started his senior year of college
• Robert and I went to Alabama
• I finished my third semester of graduate school
• Robert and I went to Pennsylvania
• Robert and I started our last semester at SBU and Drury

I know most of those milestones have to do with school which isn't super fun, but it's still very exciting.  Obviously the most exciting part was getting engaged.  I can't believe we've been engaged for nearly six months.

Let's look forward a bit.  Here's what's happening in the next four months:

• I'll graduate from Drury
• Robert will graduate from SBU
• We'll get married
• We'll move to North Carolina
• I'll find a full-time job.  Robert will find a part-time job
• Robert will start graduate school
• Then I'll take the world's longest nap

Thinking about everything that will be happening in the next few months can certainly feel overwhelming at times.  I don't know if it's the right approach or not, but I try not to think about it much.  Well, mostly I don't think about having to find a job.  Don't get me wrong, I'm looking for jobs, but I'm really trying not to freak out about it.  I've come to terms with the fact that we might not have jobs when we move, and that's okay.  We have enough saved up to last a few months, and God always has and always will provide.

On January 19 we took Chad and Natalie out to dinner at El Rodeo to say good bye to them.  Chad and Natalie are our old married friends.  Chad and Robert met their freshman year of college.  Chad and Natalie got married in June and lived just down the street from me.  They moved to Colorado, and I know they'll do great things, but we miss them dearly. 

I'm taking three classes this semester.

1. Ethics and corporate communication - Online, 16 weeks.  Basically each week I do the reading assignment, view a PowerPoint, answer questions Dr. Gilstrap has posted on Blackboard, comment on other people's answers, find a blog post that deals with an issue we've read about that week, comment on the blogpost, take a screenshot of my comment, and post it to Blackboard.  The big project for the class is a research paper.  As part of it I have to turn in an annotated bibliography before spring break.  I had to do one of these for introduction to graduate studies in June.  I have to find 25 sources, cite them in APA, and right an abstract for each article.  After spring break I'll use those sources to right a research paper.  I'm supposed to take a case and explain why I think it is ethical or unethical by apply it to a certain ethics theory.  My plan is discuss disclosure as it relates to interpersonal communication ethics in a relationship in which one of the partners is HIV positive. 
2. Advanced organizational research - 16 weeks, seated in person.  This class is my capstone.  We have a reading assignment each week, go in for a lecture, and then actually do the thing we've just learned about.  So my project is organizational identification in a university setting.  I'll be interviewing 15+ marketing and public relations communication professionals at colleges and universities in Missouri.  I'll be looking to find how they identify with the organization and how they foster identification for others.  I'll record the interviews, transcribe them, look for themes, and type up a formal paper.  The goal is to get it published in an academic journal, but Dr. Gilstrap has informed up this is very difficult to do.  We'll see.
3. Leadership and management - Second half of the semester, 8 weeks, online and seated in person.  I don't know much about this class yet since it starts after spring break.  I do know that it's taught by Dr. Gilstrap (all three classes are with him).  I also know that when we meet it's from 5:20-9:00.  Usually classes meet from 5:20-8:00.

We bought the stamps for our wedding invitations.  We're doing postcards because a. it's cheaper to mail them and b. for those of you who tend to not open mail immediately (you know who you are), you can read the invite without having to open an envelop.  We knew that postcard stamps were going up at the end of January so we waited to buy them so we wouldn't have to add on penny stamps.  We went in last week and said we'd like 145 postcard stamps.  I asked if there were cute ones like flowers or hearts.  The postmistress said there's only one type of postcard stamps.  I figured that was okay because I remembered the previous postcard stamp being a white bird with a blue background.  Semi-neutral.  She came back with Hawaiian t-shirt stamps that say "Aloha" on them.  Seriously?  First of all, we aren't going to Hawaii on our honeymoon, but I guarantee that's what several people will automatically assume.  Second, if you're only going to give America one option why not go with something a little bit more low key?  I asked if we could go to another post office or come back in a few weeks to get something different.  She said no.  It's like that at every post office, and the picture isn't changing until the price goes up again.  What are the odds?  Thankfully, I've been able to mostly just think of it as ridiculous and humorous.

Bolivar has a new doughnut shop - Sunrise Sugar Shack.  Delicious!  I went there with my former suitemate Laura, and it was great!  I got a sausage roll and a sour cream doughnut.  Since then, Robert brought me a red velvet cake doughnut, and it was great as well!  I would definitely recommend it.

I finished my winter project for school on Tuesday.  I can't remember if I told you about it or not, but it was a project for the accelerated program over January.  We didn't get any credit hours for it which is lame, but the bright side is that meant I didn't get charged for it either.  We did a organizational culture analysis/communication audit for a non-profit in Springfield.  My main part was conducting four interviews - CEO and three directors.  We also sent out an online survey to all of the employees.  Tuesday we present in front of the CEO, directors, and two Drury professors.  It went so well, and it feels great to be finished with that!

I went to Dr. Leo again on Tuesday.  I had called Friday, and the secretary said I wouldn't have to do lab work.  So what happens when I get there Tuesday?  The lab lady came in to take my blood.  I told her I wasn't supposed to get blood work down.  She told me differently.  I wouldn't have cared, but I have such a difficult time with blood work.  Apparently I'm a mess because the lab workers always say stuff like, "You have really deep veins," "Let me get some warm blankets to try to get your blood pumping," "Are you nervous?"  Well, I wasn't nervous until you pushed the needle in and out ten times.  So it only took this lady two different tries.  On the first try she pushed the needle in and out for ten minutes and didn't get anything.  She moved down a couple of inches and got blood after five minutes.  For some of you this would be a nightmare.  For me it was a miracle.  I thought I was actually supposed to see Dr. Leo but I got the physician's assistant.  She is totally fine, but I don't like thinking I'm going to see the doctor, and then not actually seeing him.  Side note:  I pay a $30 co-pay for regular doctor's visit and a $45 co-pay for specialists.  That means a $45 co-pay for Dr. Leo, but if I'm seeing someone who isn't even a doctor shouldn't my co-pay be less than $30?  Ugh.  Anyway, she said my white blood cell count has gone up which is great, but it still isn't in the "normal range."  Thankfully, it's only a tenth of a point less than the lowest part of the "normal range."  There's something else that's a little off.  I can't remember if it's my lymphocytes or monocytes, but that's nothing new.  When I first started getting frequent blood work ten components were either too high or too low, so this is definitely an improvement.  The PA told me this should be a good indicator that my iron levels are up.  Yay!  It takes a couple of days for the iron results so she just called me yesterday.  My iron counts are lower than before.  For women, normal is 65-165.  In November my count was 32.  Now it's 26.  I don't understand.  I'm upset because she got my hopes up.  I'm upset because I'm taking my medicine and trying to eat more iron-rich food.  I'm upset because the six weeks of IV treatments didn't last for long at all.  I'm upset because I have been feeling awful for the past few days so I know the test result isn't just a fluke.  I wish it was, but I've been light-headed, tired, dizzy, and out of it for about three days. 

On a much happier note I have my wedding dress fitting tomorrow.  Mom was the only one that came shopping with me back in August.  At first I thought I didn't want anyone else to see my dress until the big day, but I've decided that it would be a really cool bonding experience to have my mom, dad, and brother come with me tomorrow.  I'm so pumped!  Also, Monday afternoon my mom and I are meeting with my 18 co-hostess (!!!) to plan the details for our March 10th wedding shower.  Holla!