Jeopardy!

I love Jeopardy! 

This probably stems from my love for trivia. I'm into game shows that actually require thought, love the road-warrior trivia at 4pm on Candy 95 every day, and love when I get to watch Jeopardy and test my knowledge. Trivia is fun. 

I've always wanted to be on Jeopardy even though I know I'd get whipped (unless all the topics are about books, movies, or music...I always rock those categories). To help make this dream come true, and since I wasn't doing anything else in January (ha ha ha), I decided to sign up for the online Jeopardy contestant test. I had no idea what to expect, and I have to say, I was pretty disappointed with out anti-climatic it was.

I signed up, and they gave me a date and time. I logged on to take the test and was given 15 seconds to read each clue and type in my answer. There were 50 questions on the test that ranged from modern literature to history to capitals and countries. Basically, just like the show. There were only two questions I could not answer at all. For the other 48, I could give a fair-try answer. I feel confident in my answers to about half of the questions. Hmmm....now, it's a waiting game, but I'm not holding my breath. Apparently from here, "they" take all the people who "passed" (they don't tell you if you passed or failed) the test and randomly select some people to come in for auditions. After that, you might get selected to be on the show. If you aren't contacted within a year, you know you didn't get selected. I'm pretty sure I'm in that bunch, but at least I can say I tried.

And, I will still watch the show. And keep track of my own score. And get really excited when I earn more than $10,000. :) 

Mom, my liver!

I have learned more about doggy livers than I ever thought possible. 

It all began when I took Jack in for his semi-annual check-up in November. He has one of these check-ups every May and November. The vets give him whatever shots he needs and do a full exam with blood tests and such. We've never had a problem, until now. In November, his liver enzyme levels were a bit high. Not too high to cause serious alarm, but high enough to stop and go "hmm...what is up with that?". 

The vet recommended we just wait it out and come back in a month to check again. December comes along and we march back into the vet's office for testing, and the enzyme levels have dropped significantly. They still aren't in the normal range but far lower than before. Good news! However, the vet suggests we come back again in a month just to be sure. January comes and we head back to the vet once again. This time, the poor baby's liver enzymes are back up. Not what they were the first time but almost. Ugh! Again, the vet reassures me that it is not a mega problem, but since his enzyme levels are not stabilizing, we should take some action. 

At that time, the vet put Jack on a prescription medicine (that isn't cheap) to regulate his liver enzyme levels. Basically, the vet thinks he may have an infection and the liver is having trouble healing itself. If the medicine works, fantastic! If it doesn't, we have to do more testing to figure out what is wrong. We return to the vet in March to see how the medicine did. 

From all of my independent research, I have learned that almost anything from an infection to disease to diet to stress can cause problems with the liver. I fully recognize and suspect that the stress of grad school (prelims, dissertation, classes...yada, yada, yada) is causing Jack's problems. I actually explained to the vet what I do and asked if that could be causing stress, and she gave me a noncommittal answer. We will see. 

Here's to hoping we can figure out the poor baby's problem and get him back to perfect health! I should also note, his behavior has not changed and is as Jack-like as ever, so at least that is a good thing! :) 

Oh, hey Prelims!

January. The January. The month I have been waiting for for a long time.

Why, you ask? 

January is the month that I scheduled for my preliminary exams (also called prelims) for my doctorate. Eeek!

What does that mean, exactly? 

I've explained it briefly before, but basically, before a doctoral student can begin working on his/her dissertation (the final step to earning a Ph.D.), the student must take exams. These exams are different for every single Ph.D., every single university, and every single department within a university. For my department, there are really no rules. I have four committee members who can ask me questions. For 2-3 weeks, there is a window of time known as the "written portion". During this time, any or all of my committee members can send me a question to answer (usually in the form of a literature review) or they can ask me to come take a sit-down exam. Once I complete the written portion of my exams, I am asked to come in for part two, an oral exam with my committee. In both parts, the committee can ask me anything I should have learned in my doctoral studies, anything that is happening in education, anything they want me to know...basically, anything.

For many students, this process is really daunting and scary. There are horror stories from graduate students who do not sleep during their exams, gain or lose lots of weight, become Gollum-esque. Basically, they are scary. However, I have felt surprisingly well-prepared and unintimidated by the process so far. I trust my committee and feel strongly about my dissertation topic. Thankfully, my committee has tailored my questions to my dissertation, so it is all completely applicable. Cool!

I prepared a bunch at the end of last semester by doing literature searches to gather articles and books I thought would be useful. I also worked my tail off in December to complete as many writing projects as I could before January hit. I did a pretty darn good job at that and feel like I sailed through prelims. Lucky me! I worked for about 6 days total, 8-12 hours each day, reading and writing my answers to my questions, then I was done. I sent off my responses and have been using the remainder of my "writing window" time to read more articles and books in preparation for the oral exam (which is on January 27th). It has been mostly unstressful  and relaxed. I feel a bit spoiled.

I am so excited that this part of the process is almost complete. I am finishing up my last ever semester of coursework and will be preparing my dissertation proposal for late Spring. Once that is complete, my last two hurdles are to write my dissertation and get a job! :) I cannot believe this journey is coming to its final chapter...but I am more excited than ever to see where it takes me! 

Book #1 of 2014

My first book of 2014 is read! It took me about a week into the month to actually finish reading anything because this year has already started off with a bang!

I actually began reading this book in late December, but then set it aside to start my prelims, and picked it back up a few days ago. I really, really liked it and now know what all the fuss was about.

Book #1 of 2014 - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

This book has been on my reading list for a long time. The Goodreads reviews are pretty positive and it has been on the best-seller lists for a while. After reading it, I see what everyone was talking about - I loved it! It's definitely up there as one of those books I am really happy I read. 

The story is about a young shepherd boy who one day meets a king who tells him to journey to see the pyramids because it his is "Personal Legend". The boy then uproots his life and sets off on a journey that will change him as he grows into manhood. He makes twists and turns and meets many interesting people along the way. He is challenged and faces many obstacles, some that he overcomes and some that he does not.

The book is very folk-tale-ish, which I love, and the entire story is a metaphor for life. Just a few of the life lessons in this story revolve around chasing your dreams, finding true happiness, and persevering even when things don't go as you planned. I really like books that make me think and have beautiful language. Two quotes from this book that I will remember for a long time to come are: 

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."

"Love is the force that transforms and improves the Soul of the World."

Sometimes, when I have put off reading a book for a long time, I feel like God pushes me to read a certain tale. This is one of those tales. The book was not as action-packed as I expected but had beautiful prose and reiterated one of the most important lessons of life - do not give up on your dreams and do not be afraid of failure. How wonderful.

Book #1 down, 47 more to go to my goal! Happy Reading! 

Diving into Nonfiction

I'm a fiction reader. 

I don't like nonfiction.

It's boring.

Why then have I begun 2014 reading nonfiction books? And, why am I enjoying them? Your guess is probably as good as mine, though, I think my preliminary exams could be partially to blame. In graduate school, as a student reaches the end of course work, the student must take exams. Every department, college, and university has different names for these; my department chooses to call them "Preliminary Exams" despite their coming at the end of the degree. I guess, they are preliminary to writing a dissertation. If the student does not pass these exams, the student doesn't get to write a dissertation, and bad things happen. I'm not worried about these exams as I feel confident and know that they are helping me organize my thoughts about my dissertation, but they are tedious, long, and require a great deal of reading and writing.

Back to my original premise - I think my prelims are to blame for my sudden interest in nonfiction. Maybe my brain is stuck in research mode and can't take fantasy and adventure right now. In the past few days, I have read three nonfiction books and have set aside several others to begin as soon as I can. Hmmm...I doubt this will last so I will take advantage of it now!

What I've been reading in nonfiction??...

99 Problems But a Baby Ain't One

This book is written by a twenty-something blogger, and the book follows blog-format, which really actually annoyed me. However, I found the content of the book fascinating. This twenty-something learns she has ovarian cancer and must undergo surgery. The surgery takes away her ability to have children naturally. As a twenty-something who hopes to have children one day, I cannot imagine something that terrible happening. The book follows her journey through discovering she has cancer and having surgery, rediscovering she has cancer and having more surgery, and adopting her daughter. 

I was most interested in the adoption part of the story. While I am fairly certain I will be able to have my own children in the future (I'm going to try, anyway), adoption has always been something I have considered. Even as a young child, I thought about how I would adopt children as an adult. The author discusses the intricacies and hassle of going through the adoption process, the heartbreak at coming close but getting turned down in the eleventh hour, and finally, getting to meet her daughter. For a genuine, real perspective on such tough issues by someone who is close to my age, I definitely enjoyed this book.

Do Babies Matter? Gender and Family in the Ivory Tower

Alright, I could swear there is not a common thread here, but then I would be lying. This book also has to do with babies...but in academia. My life passion and dream has been to become a professor. I want to teach future teachers so that generations of children will get high quality instruction. I want to conduct research so that I can help dissect and improve upon issues in the contemporary education system. I want to make the future better. Unfortunately, my other passion in life is having my own family and raising children. While I have always known I would be older when this happens, as I get closer and closer to my thirties, this dream becomes more real. More unfortunately, having children and a family, plus being a woman, is hard in academia.

This book reports the findings of a large-scale research study focusing on family formation (both marriage and child-bearing) in academia. The book is broken down into the major parts of a professor's life: graduate school, early career, making tenure, and promoting to full professor. I fully intend to pursue each of these aspects of my career. The data in this book, though, is frightening. The numbers don't look good and do not paint a welcoming picture for women wanting a family. In the majority of the results, women who pursue family often do so at the sacrifice of their career. Many do not make tenure and go on to teach at smaller institutions. While there is nothing wrong with this if it is your goal, if you want to teach at a research-university, this is a problem. Despite the negative findings and doomed conclusion for women in academia, I am still hopeful that I will be able to do both. After all, I don't plan to accept a position that won't allow me a chance to have my own family. 

Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion

This book is about how to communicate. My dad gave it to me a little over a year ago when I was complaining about how difficult it is to work with people. I believe I was really complaining about all the miscommunication issues that occur in my work. He thought I would find this book useful. The author lays out a process for how to communicate with people effectively. He gives some really good strategies and uses a little bit of research, but mostly anecdotes, to hone his points. While there were some nice take-aways from this book, most of them were things I have already learned how to do through experience and great mentors. Overall, I didn't learn a great deal that was new. However, I do think it is an interesting read that can be knocked out in just a few hours. 

Maybe 2014 will also be my year to give nonfiction a chance.

:)

2013 Highlights by the Month

2013 was a crazy, fun, and adventurous year. 

Here are my top moments of 2013 by month. Some months, it was really hard to pick only one thing, and some months, I had to stretch a little. Enjoy!

January - Spa Day with Mom

January is a weird month in my life. It includes the tail end of the holiday break, which is usually relaxing and enjoyable. Then, school begins and life gets crazy. January is a bit bi-polar. However, January includes my mom's birthday and Jack Jack's birthday. My mom is one of my best friends, and I love spending time with her, so for her birthday I planned a spa day for the two of us. My mom had never been to a spa before, and I had been once before. I scheduled massages, facials, and pedicures for the two of us. We had an absolute blast on a relaxing day. In fact, it was so fun, we've decided to make it a yearly tradition for her birthday and are going again this year! Whoop!

February - Southwest Educational Research Association Conference in San Antonio

This was my first year to get to attend this conference, which is a small, graduate student-oriented conference. The whole purpose of SERA is to allow graduate students a chance to present their research in a small, non-threatening environment. The conference was in San Antonio (which is my favorite major city in Texas) so getting there was not a big deal. I only gave one presentation but enjoyed getting to meet graduate students from other universities. We walked around the River Walk, ate good food, listened to presentations, and had a great time. This is one of my favorite conferences, and I'm so excited to return this year. Even better, the 2014 SERA conference is in NOLA! :)

March - Intervention and Arizona

Ok, I'm cheating a little. March was one of those months that was hard to pick just one thing that was wonderful. First of all, March marked the beginning of an intervention study I was working on with third-graders. I was one of the intervention teachers and got to start visiting the kiddos and implementing the intervention in March. Here, I fell in love with our little babies that were part of the study and was reminded daily how much I love teaching.

Also in March, I got to visit my bestie and her husband in Arizona. I love visiting Arizona because I miss my bestie all the time. We ate good food, shopped, and went to a Diamondbacks game. It was so nice to take a break from life and just be with people that I love so much. 

April - American Educational Research Association in San Francisco 

I was given the wonderful opportunity to attend the largest education-based conference in the country last April. This is "THE" conference for education research with anyone who is anyone presenting and in attendance. This past year, the conference was in San Francisco. I was not a presenter but just attending was a great experience. Before the conference actually began, my bestie and her husband surprised me by showing up! I was floored and loved getting to explore the city with them. We went to Napa Valley and enjoyed wine tasting, then walked around San Francisco enjoying the sights. At the actual conference, I got to see some of my research heroes present and attended several receptions where I got to eat good food, drink fabulous wine, and rub shoulders with important people. This year, the conference is in Philadelphia, and I am presenting work! So exciting. 

May - Road Trips with Friends

May is always a crazy month for me. My sister's birthday, one of my childhood best friend's birthday, mother's day, my dad's birthday, and my parents' wedding anniversary are all in May. It's nuts. This May, I enjoyed all of those celebrations, but also got to plan two great road trips with friends. My two best childhood friends and I decided to go to Houston and Corpus Christi for Memorial Day. We wanted to go to the beach and just enjoy ourselves and that is what we did. We had a blast! What more can you ask for: seafood, the beach, and great friends. The last weekend in May, I finally made a trip to Dallas to visit my best friend and her husband. I hadn't seen my best friend since her wedding the November before so this trip was long overdue. We had a great time just enjoying each others' company with no rush or obligation to do a lot of stuff. We were college roommates, and I often miss our days of living together. 

June - Summer Fredericksburg Trip

My family really wanted to go on a vacation this summer, but my work and school schedule just didn't allow for it. We decided to do something low-key and planned a weekend camping trip in Fredericksburg. I love Fredericksburg! Wineries, cute little shops, peaches, wooded areas, rolling hills. All of it makes my heart sing. We only stayed three days, but enjoyed walking around the shops, tasting fun wines, and cooking all of our food on a grill outside. It was a tranquil weekend away, and I have been dying to go back to Fredericksburg ever since.

July - 98 degrees, New Kids on the Block, and Boyz 2 Men

I am a child of the 90s. I love boy bands. My iTunes are still filled with the Backstreet Boys, 98 degrees, and N'Sync among others. This past summer, my bestie surprised me with tickets to see three popular boy bands from my childhood in Phoenix! Obviously, I had to go. Not only did I get to see a great concert and have a really fun girls' night with my bestie and some friends, but I got to go to Arizona again. The concert was amazing, and the memories from that evening are irreplaceable. 

August - My "Golden" Birthday

2013 marked my "golden" birthday (the birthday where you turn the same age as the date of your birth). I didn't plan anything extravagant for this birthday, but it was wonderful all the same. I was spoiled shamelessly by my friends and family and reminded that I am truly loved and appreciated. My family was in Colorado for their annual hunting trip, so they were MIA, but my mom had preplanned for a cake and flowers to be delivered to me. The cake was perfect. When I was about 9-years-old, I attended a birthday party in which the birthday girl had requested a strawberry cake. I did not like strawberry cake, but luckily, the mom had planned ahead and also made a yellow cinnamon cake with chocolate fudge icing. I have dreamed about this cake for years, but never got it again. My mom had called a bakery in town and asked them to make this cake special for me. It was delicious! I got to enjoy a birthday dinner with my grandmother and aunt, and two birthday dinners with friends. I'm spoiled. 

September - Alabama vs. Texas A&M

The historic Alabama vs. Texas A&M game that A&M won in Tuscaloosa just so happened to be the date of my best friend's wedding. Needless to say, I did not get to watch the game. Because of our fantastic win, the game this past year was hyped up like crazy. My best friend, bestie, and their husbands all came down for the big game. I literally had my favorite and the most special people to me together at once, and I could not have been happier. While we didn't win the game, I was just so happy to get to see everyone. And, we've built some new friend traditions as well.

October - Auburn and Kappa Delta Pi Convocation in Dallas

The only game I got to actually attend this year was the Auburn vs. Texas AM game which was the annual Maroon Out game here in Aggieland. I got to go with my bestie and her family, who have become like a second family to me. We enjoyed a fun weekend of shopping at Aggieland Outfitters, eating great food, and watching the Aggies. We toured the Bonfire Memorial which I haven't been to in years and shared many laughs. 

Also, in October, I attended the Kappa Delta Pi Convocation in Dallas. I'll admit, I did not want to go to this conference at all. I was assisting with two presentations, but October was such a busy month, I had no desire to be in Dallas. It felt like an inconvenience. I was so pleasantly surprised by the conference. It was practical, teacher-oriented, and a great networking opportunity. I think I got more connections and opportunities out of this conference than any other in my experience. I definitely was proven wrong on the value of this conference. It's so nice to be proven wrong sometimes. 

November - Thanksgiving

It sounds silly, I know, to say that Thanksgiving was the highlight of November because Thanksgiving happens every year. That being said, last Thanksgiving was TERRIBLE. About a week before Thanksgiving, my hard drive crashed on my computer, and I lost everything. I was going to be traveling to San Diego to present at my first professional conference the week after Thanksgiving and now had none of my data or my manuscript. That means last Thanksgiving was spent tirelessly scrounging to get everything finished. This Thanksgiving, I got to relax, spend time with my family, and not worry too much about work and school. It was a great breather before the end of semester stress kicked in.

December - Work Hard, Play Hard

I can't think of a better way to describe December. December is one of my favorite months of the year. I love the holidays and wish it were the holiday season all year long. But more than that, December is a fun month. The beginning of December is always really hard because I have a bunch of grading to finish, papers to write, and end-of-semester stuff to get together. Once that is completed though, I get to rest a little, take a break from work, spend time with my family, and reenergize. This December, I got to enjoy parties, end-of-semester celebrations, and an excellent Christmas. Basically, the entire second half of the month was celebrating, not worrying, and enjoying fun times and memories with people I love. If every month were like that, I'd be in Heaven. 

It was quite a year for me. I have so many great memories with friends, traveled to new places, and worked really hard. I can't wait to see what highlights 2014 will bring! 

2014 - "The Year of the Dissertation"

A new year is beginning.

Every year, I like to give the year a clever name...2012 was "The Year of Travels", 2013 was "The Year of Changes". Well, ironically, both of those names would fit 2014 perfectly as I will be traveling more than any other year of my life and going through more changes than any year. I think I will reserve all my commentary on big life changes for 2015, though, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I have decided that the most appropriate name for 2014 is "The Year of the Dissertation". 

I will actually complete writing my dissertation in early Spring of 2015, but all of the leg-work, data collection, and a major portion of the writing will take place in 2014. The timeline for this beast is as follows: Spring 2014 - run pilot study and write preliminary results, and Fall 2014 - run actual data and write as much as possible. :) I also get to begin the job search process in the fall. Most likely, the main topic of conversation for the year will be surrounding my dissertation and its state of completion. 

As with any new year, I am making several resolutions for the year. I love making resolutions because I love setting goals. Having things to strive for in the year make me happy, and I love self-improvement. I feel that there is always something that I can work on and improve. Below I have listed some of my vague but very real goals for the new year. 

Pray more, especially when I'm frustrated.

Graduate school is stressful, and I have a really bad habit of getting frustrated with people. In 2014, I want to pray more, especially when I am frustrated with someone. My hope is that by turning my frustrations to God they will not be so heavy on my heart, and I will build more tolerance for those around me. 

Get a life, Ph.D.!

This is the name of a blog I follow, but it applies to me as well. For many years, I have been completely consumed by this degree. To the point where I have neglected family, friends, hobbies, and romantic relationships. I would like to work on remedying this (as I head into the busiest of all years in grad school). I want to make more time to see the people I love, indulge in the hobbies I enjoy, and maybe even give romance a shot.

Exercise more.

I'm really good at making and keeping New Years' Resolutions. I almost always see them through to completion. That being said, there is one exception - working out. I don't enjoy working out. I like the results of working out and the feeling I get after, but the actual process is far from enjoyable for me. In 2014, I really do want to create and stick to a workout routine. It'd be nice to get into better shape.

Besides these three vague but all too real resolutions, I want to continue working toward my life goals while upholding my morals, values, and ethics. 2014 is going to be a fantastic year! :) 

Tracey's Top Books of 2013 - Number 1

When I decided to blog about my top 10 books of 2013, I thought it would be really difficult. I was already beginning to make back-up plans for how I could get by rating 13 books or 12 books or 20 books. But, I surprised myself. It took me approximately 5.6 seconds to create my list of top 10 books. You've already gotten to see my reviews for books 10-2. In case you missed it, here is a recap so far:

10. Lexicon by Max Barry

9. Son by Lois Lowry

8. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

7. Divergent by Veronica Roth

6. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon

4. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

3. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

2. Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

I guess it is time to finally reveal Tracey's Number 1 Book of 2013. If you have talked to me in the last year, this will come as no surprise....

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

As with many of the books I read in 2013, this novel was a happy surprise. I didn't really know anything about it but the cover art intrigued me and of course, the title was brilliant. I read the dust jacket and knew I had to pick up this novel. From what I could tell, it was about a little girl in Nazi Germany - that's all I needed to know to read it. I absolutely love reading books about the Holocaust. I learned so much about the Holocaust from teaching Anne Frank to my 8th graders and became fascinated. I always want to know more about it and want to read novels that help me understand the depths of what people went through during that time. After I purchased this book, I read the reviews on Goodreads and was happy to see that it has a very high rating (4.36 out of 5 stars). When a book has over 4 stars with half a million ratings, you know it has to be good.

I began reading late in February, and was immediately hooked. The book is narrated by DEATH! That is brilliant. Who better to tell a story about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust than the being who saw the majority of it - Death. Now, Zusak could have really messed up by doing this because writing about such a terrible time in human history is a very delicate subject. Death is not malicious or rude or evil. In this novel, Death is more of a work horse who was given the unfortunate job of cleaning up the world. Death is compassionate and pities humanity. Death pities humanity. I could not get over this fact and began crying at this point in the novel. I don't think I ever stopped after that. To believe that society has become so corrupt and so evil that Death feels sorry for us is hard to swallow. Since reading this novel, I have thought about this idea over and over. It changed something inside me.

Now, as Death tells us the story of little Liesel, we get to see the tragic story of a young girl who suffers heartbreak. Death meets her three times throughout the novel and each time is painful. Liesel is our book thief who steals books and reads them with her foster father late at night. Throughout the novel, we get to see the toll the Nazis took on innocent people. Liesel's family harbors a Jew named Max and Liesel makes friends with neighbor children. The controversies surrounding religion, education, politics, and society are explored in this novel. As it is a novel about Nazi Germany, it is sad and real and does not end happily. Our narrator guides us through all of the turmoil of the country and the despair humanity brought upon itself.

While the story itself is beautiful, and I love the risks Zusak took in creating this novel, the story alone is not why it is my number 1 novel of the year. This book has made its way into my ever-growing list of all-time favorite novels. This book changed me. As I said earlier, the fact that Death pities humanity is one that I still mull over from time to time. Reading this book gave me a greater appreciation for the freedoms I have and the drive, ambition, and power to change the world for the better. More than ever, this book made me want to do something that allows me to give back to humanity. To be the "silver lining" in a sea of wicked and corruption. 

2014 Reading Goals!

Wow. 2013 was such a good year for reading. So many great novels were released, many books were turned into movies, and several of my favorite book series came to an end. I am eager and excited for the books 2014 will hold. I cannot guarantee they will be as good as the books I read in 2013, but I have high hopes. 

As 2014 is being dubbed "The Year of the Dissertation", I am not sure how many novels I will be able to read. I have decided that my goal for the year is 48. That is about 4 books a month, or one book every 7ish days. I think I can manage that while writing a dissertation and finishing this dang degree. :)

Happy Reading in 2014!