Grad School - Here I Come

In three short months, a new phase of life will begin. I thought that was started some six years ago has now merged past a thought into reality. Starting in early Aug, I will be headed to Indiana University to pursue my masters in Higher Education Student Administration. I received acceptance into the program and passed my faculty interview back in March and this week the final stage of full acceptance into the program was completed with the acceptance of a graduate assistantship in the Faculty Council Office.

The joy and excitement that I have cannot really be put into words. After visiting all three schools in late February/early March, IU is where I felt at home, and the connection to the people and the city was just amazing. It took sometime to come to fruition, but now that it has, I am very glad that this is the position that I have been offered.

I was thinking once it was all settled and I knew where I was going that life would slow down a bit. Now I look at the future and see oh so many things that have to take place between now and early Aug. It is going to be one crazy summer at least until I secure a place to live and finalize all the details about the move. The other trick will be keeping my mouth shut at work, to not blurt out that I am leaving anytime soon. I do plan on giving them more notice than 2 weeks.

There is the long awaited Grad School update. Thanks again for all the support and continued prayers are appreciated as I continue on this journey.

Alive and Kickin

Nearly 3 months have passed since I have last spoken with you guys. I know I promised to do a better job this year and have failed miserably at it. Life has been very busy to say the least.

Quick update and more to come on some subjects:
- Grad school is picking up again and I will give a full update by the end of the week so stay posted.
- Had a very busy February traveling to BGSU to IU with a pitstop in Indianaplis for a couple nights. Then it was off to work for 5 days, before heading to BSU on Fri night into late Sat. Tuesday morning, Feb 28, I caught a plane and headed to DC.
- DC/Baltimore/Annapolis/DC/Alexandria/DC/Lexington - What a trip. I got to see some old college friends as well as see some wonderful sites. More stories to come. That was the conclusion of February and start of March.
- Staying actively involved with the Church group. We had successful transition of officers in early March and I have stepped down to member-at-large for as long as I am in town.
- Work has finally slowed down after the insane start to the new year though there is still tons to do and to clean up. Hopefully we will get a lot accomplish in the next couple of weeks.
- Autocross/Solo season has started and I am having a blast. More to come on that as well.
- Christmas can finally be declared put away :-)
- Easter weekend was a lovely one and great time to catch up with old friends as well as family. Laura, my big sis in Phi Mu, was married on Holy Saturday in Paducah oddly enough (where she too is from). More to come on that as well.

There is the quick synopsis of life for now. I so will try to update on all the stories that I sort of hinted at but did not finish very very soon.

Grad School Update #2

Here is the latest on grad school applications.

Bowling Green State University
Completed
Passed Round 1
Interviews in Mid-February

Indiana University
Should be completed, but haven't received word of completion yet.
Scheduled for interviews in Mid-February after BGSU

Ball State University
Completed application today. Transcripts still have to be sent.

That is it for now. So wish me luck in a few weeks and please pray for me as I travel to BGSU and IU and back home.

Bluegrass Region Porsche Club - Rally Event

The Bluegrass Porsche Cold Rain and Snow Time-Speed Distance Rally resulted in another successful event for Female Duo. We were able to defeat the local pros/rallymasters, Lo and Phil.

Results and Comments from the Porsche Website
1st - 211
2nd - 240
3rd - 495
4th - 690
5th - 801

Five teams enjoyed great weather and good roads on January 15th for the PCA road rally. As always each team had their own story to tell: 10-mph locals who finally turned off, dogs who were reluctant to move from the road, bathroom breaks while "on the clock" and the frantic effort to make up the lost time, the inevitable friction between driver and navigator. After 80 miles of wandering through Scott County, three pages of instructions, and four checkpoints, the SCCA teams once again showed that beginners' luck doesn't exist in rallying.
At least the PCA teams drove nicer cars. Congratulations to Ken and Lee, first-timers who finished 3rd overall in Ken's 911. New members and also first-timers George and Deanne in their Boxster S didn't score as well but had lots of fun anyway. Each point is one one-hundredth of a minute, so the winners drove 80 miles in 2.5 hours and changed speeds 23 times, with a total error of 3.5 minutes.
There are currently no other PCA rallies scheduled, but Phil is planning an SCCA rally for March or April which will be open to PCA members.

Grad School Update

Yes I am still working on applying for grad school for the Fall of 2006. I am pleased to say that I have finally submitted applications to both Indiana University and Bowling Green State University. These are my top 2 choices and I am looking into which other schools I want to apply to.

Interview sessions for both schools occur in mid-February so I have a lot to do between now and then to get ready.

Thanks for all of your support and prayers. I will keep you posted on the pursuit of my masters in Higher Education Student Administration or College Student Personnel.

Look back at 2005

As New Years Day comes to a close, its time to reflect on the year past. I know for one that you guys did not hear from me a whole lot this past year especially as of late. So I am probably lucky if anyone is actually still reading my blog and interested to hear what is going on. But thats okay I will share for those out there still listening.

2005
Prayers and Praises
- Would like to remember my uncle Dale, who passed from this life to eternal life, in June.
- For my aunt Debbie as she continues her battle with breast cancer.
- For all my friends and family who got married or enaged in 2005.
- For all my friends and family who received new children into their lives in 2005, and are expectant of 2006 babies.
- Thanks for a successful year of YAACK and may the new year bring new energy.
- As I discerned to pursue a career in higher education and for the continued application and interview process.

What Happened
- I did get to enjoy the sites and surroundings of New York city, including a Yankees vs Cubs game.
- Was chosen to participate in the Alpha ODK CLT2 program
- Successful ODK Province X Conference and Academic Year for Province X
- First canoeing trip, and hopefully not the last. Though I hope to have more water next time, and maybe be in better shape.
- Didnt make it through the holidays without getting sick unfortunately. Maybe the holidays during the first half of the year where better than the last half. Nothing like being sick for each major holiday.
- My car is now 3 years old and approaching 84000 miles.
- Failed on 90% of my goals for 2005. We will have to see what we can do for 2006.
- Had a mole removed from my right cheek, receiving 17 stitches to close it up. It is healing just fine and was not cancerous.
- Did succeed in putting up my Christmas Tree and getting out my Christmas decorations.
- Georgetown College played UK for the first time since 1938 and resulted in a respectable game.

Purchases/Gifts
- Finally got a new printer, which is wonderful. It been put to a lot of use as of late.
- Dad decided I needed to move into the digital world so I received a digital camera for Christmas. (I have no clue what I am doing) And yes I still have my 35 mm camera and using it :-)
- Working DVD player without the sound system (DVD player received last Christmas has broken again and currently has my Harry Potter movie)
- New Speakers for my computer
- Down Comforter for my bed (very nice and warm)
- USB 2.0 PCI card

What didnt Happen
- Didnt make it to a St Louis Cardinals game in the old stadium
- Didnt move to Louisville to some peoples happiness and others sadness
- Didnt make it to a Reds game either
- Didnt complete all my grad applications like planned

There is the quick overview. I will try my best to write more in the New Year.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all!

I hope everyone had or has a safe trip to there Christmas destination. I am writing from drizzly but warm Paducah. The trip up this morning/afternoon was nice though a bit rainy from E-Town to Beaver Dam.

One quick update from me before I sign off this Christmas Eve, the first application has been completed and mailed. I have received initial correspondence back from Indiana University with additional items to be completed, but things are at least starting to move in the right direction.

Continue to have a safe and Merry Christmas. I will keep you posted on the happenings for Grad school.

New Printer - On the Way

Yes after discussing purchasing an all-in-one printer off in on for who knows how long. I finally have one on the way to me as we speak with a Thanksgiving Special from Circuit City. We were actually able to take advantage of the over half off deal online, which was good because the store was out by 5:30 am today. (PS I was not at Circuit City at 5:30 am, though my father did head out.)

HP Photosmart 2610 - All-in-One Printer

Once, I test it out. I will post a review.

**Anyone purchased a PCI USB 2.0 multi-port, which they liked or disliked? I believe that will be my next computer purchase.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!
Hope travels have been safe and continue to be safe.

I have made it safely to Paducah to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with my family. At this point not sure what day I am heading back, but possibly Saturday evening.

Yikes its been nearly a Month

Not only has it been about a month since I have updated my blog, it probably has been that long since I have read any of yours. So I am sorry for that. I hope everyone is still doing well.

Life has been extremely busy for me.

October actually was full of nice relaxing weekends though a lot of preparations.

Spent one weekend in Lebanon, KY on Retreat with fellow YAACK members. We had a wonderful time out in nature away from the daily events of life. All went well and completed one more thing on my long list of things to do.

The following weekend was the annual Jaguar Rally for Area 51 of the Jaguar Club. GE, my rally driver, and I participated in the 2 day event in Louisville, KY. We had a wonderful time driving around Oldham and Spencer Counties. The only non-Jaguar team completed first overall for both events. Results can be found on the Jaguar Rally website under Cat's Meow and Cat's Pause events.

The following weekend was Georgetown College's Homecoming, which was a wonderful time to meet up with some folks, I havent seen in years. Always an enjoyable time to say hi to old friends, and see their spouses and children. I am definitely getting old as so many of those who I graduated with or went to school with now have a couple children.

The first week of November was another filled week with Thursday being both a wonderful day and tough day. For the past year, I had been debating whether or not to get a decent size mole removed from my right cheek. The mole has been there all of my life and in recent years was getting infected and growing a bit. Having family history of melanoma, I decided it was best to go ahead and remove it than keep it until it did become cancerous. So Thursday morning, a friend took me to the plastic surgeon. I had debated whether or not to be put under but everyone at YAACK the night before said that it really wasnt that bad. Well I dont know that I will believe them again next time. Maybe its not too bad if its not on your face but it was not an enjoyable experience at all. The local anesthetic shots were very painful, but thanks to my friend, I was able to make it through. When I left I had 17 stitches in my cheek, with a nice bandage over top of it. The following Tuesday, stitches were taken out and steri-strips put on. We still have to see how much scarring that I will have.

Of course, the big event in November was the Georgetown vs UK basketball game on Nov 9. It was a great exhibition of Georgetown College pride in Rupp Arena, as well as a well played and respectable game by the Tigers. I look forward to more match ups between the two schools. The crowd was quite amazing and you definitely could turn around without bumping into someone from Georgetown College. The crowd was scattered with 'ACTUAL' Orange, and I believe even more scattered with Georgetown Alumns afraid to visibly show their Tiger pride over thier UK Blue. Georgetown fans in ways would have loved to seen a victory over the UK Wildcats, but many of us attend with the desire for a respectably played game though a UK win. As our UK pride, truely wouldnt want to see the CATS loose in an exhbition game, even to our Alma Mater.

Last Saturday was another Rally event, this time taken place in Lexington and sponsored by CKRSCCA. The event was well attended by 9 teams, and allowed GE and I to take on our true competitors in CKR, whom some seemed to be hiding from us. It was a day fun filled with friendly competition. GE and I had a great event, as for once we did not miss or make a wrong turn. We had only one big mistake and that was following the interval mileages and not the official mileages. As the interval mileages were incorrect and landed us an extra minute behind on leg 2. Thankful it was not enough of an error to push us out of 1st place overall.

The Miata Team of GE and I completed the year with:
3 - 1st Place Finishes
1 - 2nd Place Finish

Enjoyed another UK game on Monday, which was not as good of a performance as I would have liked to have seen. The real test will be this coming Monday against Iowa in the conclusion of the Guardian Classic in Kansas City.

The conclusion of this week put me under the weather with strep so not a whole lot happening except for going to work and coming home and resting. Sorry for the long post. We will see if I get better at posting more frequently.

No Lights No Heat No Electricity :-(

I come home from a long weekend in Louisville to my comfy apartment and take a nap. A couple hours later, I hear the fire alarm beeping, as if the battery is low. Confused, I go check it out but cant see anything as its getting dark outside and is all cloudy. Flip goes the switch, no light. Flip another switch, no light. Oh no, now what. Flashlights, where are they, not where they are suppose to be unfortunately, but I was able to fuddle through the box from last weekend and find one of them.

Then I realized that the power was out throughout the complex. Great!! now what, should I pack up and head back to Louisville, which I had just left about 4 hrs earlier? Should I just hang out and hope that it comes back before its too late?

I decided the latter because I still need to get things done here and it seemed a bit silly to drive back to Louisville, where I had just left. So I lit a few candles and talked to some friends, until finally about 9 pm the power came back on. Now I guess, I better get to work on cleaning and such.

Tim Tam - Trivia

What is a Tim Tam?
Tim Tam is a chocolate filled and covered biscuit (cookies in the US) produced by Arnott's.

Did you know that Tim Tam's have a connection to Kentucky?
"Tim Tams were first launched in 1963. They were named after a horse that ran in the Kentucky Derby in 1958. A member of the Arnott family, Ross Arnott, attended the race day and decided ‘Tim Tam’ was the perfect name for the new biscuit he was about to launch."

How do you best eat a Tim Tam? No other way but by the Tim Tam slam.
- Take a small bite from one corner of the Tim Tam
- Flip the Tim Tam to the bottom and take a small bite out of the opposite corner.
- Insert one bitten corner of the biscuit into your favorite cup of tea, coffee, or hot chocolate.
- Put the opposite bitten corner in your mouth and suck the liquid through the biscuit until you start to feel the biscuit falling apart.
- At that time, slam the whole biscuit into your mouth and enjoy your Tim Tam :-)


"There are eight current delicious varieties of Tim Tams: Original, Chewy Caramel, Mocha, Double Coat and Classic Dark Chocolate, Special Edition Tim Tam Hazelnut, Limited Edition White Chocolate and new Special Edition Chewy Choc Fudge.""

Ash, I definitely have to order a package of the White Chocolate to join my Dark Chocolate.

Biscuit Trivia from Arnott's

"
* 69% of Australians like sharing their Tim Tams with their friends.

* Although 40% of people also hide their Tim Tams from their friends and family.

* 66% of people like eating Tim Tams while watching TV at night.

* 3% of people eat Tim Tams in the bath.

* 80% of people store their Tim Tams in the fridge so they are crisp and cool.
"

I'm definitely part of the 40% who like to hide their Tim Tams.
Might have to try Tim Tam's in the fridge.

***All quotes from the Arnott's Website linked in the title.

Australia Past

This past week, I was able to enjoy some time with a group of individuals from my trip to Australia. JM and I were able to meet up with the Bryant's from Perth, Australia. PB was the minister at the church in which JM and I served for 2 months in the Summer of 1999 or Winter of 1999 in Australia. It was great to remember the times that we spent in Australia and to hear how all the people where doing half way across the world.

I ask for prayers for the church that they will understand the direction of the church and continue to spread God's word to those that they interact with on a consistent basis.

With the cool weather here in Central KY, I partaked in another remembrance of Australia this evening. Thanks to Ash who found Tim Tams online, I enjoyed a couple Tim Tam Slams with my hot chocolate this evening. (Info about Tim Tams in next post.)

PS Ash I might need to see about getting some more. Do you have plans on purchasing some more anytime soon? Let me know.

Fixed Computer

Thanks to my friend M. I again have a working computer. Maybe it was last weekend or the weekend prior when my computer decided to totally quit working. The trick of unplugging everything and plugging it back in no longer helped get it going again.

So last week, we started diagnosing the issue and luckily was able to get it to boot up again with a different video card. Thing was once, we got the new card in, the drivers wouldnt install. So M, volunteered to take it home and reinstall windows and see if that would resolve the issues and load the drivers appropriately.

Thankfully all worked accordingly, so instead of purchasing a new computer, I am only out a small bit of money for a new video card. Overall I needed a new video card anyway, if I was ever to purchase or receive an LCD/Flat Screen monitor. Now Im fully equipped and awaiting that gift :-)

Plus now I can actually spend money on a new printer. Anybody got any thoughts on all-in-one printers.

Now its back to reinstalling all of the software onto my computer. Thanks again M :-)

NO - WOW

Yes all of my dear friends would rejoice to know for once, I have actually said NO to an invitation to be part of the elected body of an organization.

I was actually very honored and touched to be asked this evening to accept a nomination for Treasurer or Secretary of the Central Kentucky Region of the Sports Car Club of America. I grateful declined in belief that I would not be able to fulfill my entire year term. I believe it would be more beneficial for someone else to hold those positions, who will be around a bit longer than I.

Plus I am truely trying to minimize my activities because of my future endeavors. I might be lost come summer or even mid-March, so if you see me wandering around and no clue whats happening. You will know why because I will be uninvolved in all of my main leadership positions.

Tagged and Answering

Okay so Ash tagged me ages ago and I actually started to reply immediately and then something came up and I never did. After seeing it again on Chris's sight, I decided that I would fulfill my tag. So here goes nothing

* 10 years ago (1995): I would be in the midst of my Senior year of high school, where I was running cross-country, joining the Academic Team for the 1st time, and playing basketball.
* 5 years ago (2000): If you look at this time of the year 5 years ago, I was a Resident Director at Georgetown College in the Phi Mu house, working as a campus safety dispatcher, and by the end of the week I would have started my first real job using my degree (as a Delphi programmer)
* Yesterday: Baking 7 1/2 dozen cookies and a batch of brownies, otherwise sleeping alot and working on my resume.
* 5 Snacks I Enjoy: Graham Crackers and Milk, (I dont keep snacks around, this is difficult) Chocolate pudding, Cheese with/without Crackers, Dark Chocolate, (I give, I usually go after a coke(pop/soda for those northerners and such) in the refrig though thats not really a snack)
* 5 Songs I Know All The Words To: I am going to have to say no songs that I know all the words too without being assisted. Actually, I change that answer. I know all the words to Happy Birthday :-)
* 5 Things I Would Do With 100 Million Dollars: Manage Wisely so that I can do more with it overtime, Go back to school for my masters, Support my family, Assist Non-Profit Organizations (Churches, Volunteer Agencies, College, Organizations which I am apart of), Set aside a college fund for my future children or for children in need.
* 5 Places I Would Run Away To: Australia, Roller Coaster Tour of the US, Camping out in the woods, Place of Solidarity, Escape from Work
* 5 Things I Would Never Wear: Thong, Revealing Swimsuit, Solid Pink Shirt or pants for that matter, tight Leather Pants
* 5 TV Shows That I Love: (today) JAG, CSI, CSI Miami, NCIS, Grey's Anatomy
* 5 Bad Habits: Getting over involved in extra activities, not flossing my teeth, hitting snooze in the morning, not watchin my health to the fullest, not working out consistently
* 5 Biggest Joys: Helping someone else, Putting a smile on another person's face, Caring for those I Love, Seeing HardWork Pay Off, One day having a family of my own
* 5 Favorite Toys: Cards, Board Games, Computer, My Car, Basketball
* 5 People Im Tagging: Since Im a slacker everyone has been tagged so I refuse to tagged anyone else.

Oh my oh my....yet another Enagement Congratulations

Maybe its my age and the age of all of my friends or maybe there is really something in the water these days.

This evening, I have received an email from my Aussie/English friend Pam, telling of her recent engagement. Along with a quick wedding, Dec 3, 2005. Anyone up for a trip to England or maybe Australia? No details have been provided just yet. Definitely would be a great birthday gift to go to Europe or back to Australia. Vacation, hmmmm.

I am starting to loose count of all the weddings that are coming along. I believe that I have 5 weddings already planned for 2006. One of which I will be a bridesmaid in. This makes I think only the 3rd invitation that I have received for 2005, though I know of another friend who got married in July. I was in one of those as well, which too was an awful quick and short engagement.

Luckily, I do look out there at all of my friends and I am not yet the only single one in the bunch, which is definitely reassuring and its great to see all of these people find their soulmate and settle down.

Prayers and Thoughts are with all of my married and engaged friends, along with all of those single friends out there. God has a plan for all of our lives and with patience, He will provide.

USNO Master Clock

I have added a new addition to the sidebar, though it seems to be acting a bit flaky at the moment. Today, as I randomly do on occassions, I went out to the USNO Naval Observatory Website to check the time. As I was looking around on the site, I came across the image source to the right, which they allow for you to put onto your website. Since my website doesn't have a lot of fun and unique things on it, I thought I would try it out.

Not sure why its says EDT when I have it coded to show EST, but currently the time seems to be right. It shows the time and rolls for 5 secs which you can also code into it. They prefer that you keep it below 10 because they are not sure what the impact would be on their servers with a lot of load. You hit refresh on the browser and it loads and clicks off again.

I also found the following statement on the website to be quite interesting.
" A note about browsers...
The running GIF clock was developed for browsers that support
Content-type: multipart/x-mixed-replace
Netscape and Mozilla do this correctly. Internet Explorer does not."

Out with IE and in with Firefox.

Long Weekend at Work

Yes it was that time of the year again for another release before OE starts. Though after being here for a bit over a year and this being my 3rd major release, I will have to say this went the smoothest of all of them and I actually got some sleep this weekend.

It started out by attempting to sleep in on Friday morning, which did not work that well. I walked into work about 12:30 pm to start getting everything lined up for the 8 pm deploy start time. All went smoothly and I was out of the office and in the hotel by 1 am Saturday morning.

Attempting to sleep all of Saturday morning til about 9:30 am, when it would be approaching that time to prepare to go in for another long day at the office. Sleep was apparently overrated because I didnt do a whole lot of it, but thats okay. Saturday morning about 10:30, I rolled back into the office to hang out for the duration of development and user testing.

Fortunately, all went fairly smoothly with very minor hiccups, by evening I was zonked and hungry. With a little food in my tummy, I rested and enjoyed my evening. I did get some much needed sleep on Sat night.

Today, as I sat through church, it wasnt a struggle to keep my eyes open and not fall asleep, like it has been in the past. I believe I will actually get to enjoy this day. I did run into the office real quick to check on the database backups and backup drive space. Fixed the issues there and its now off to see what my friends are up to. Hopefully they will be out of church soon and free to hang out, if not I will rest and relax as I much need to do.

Another Release survived.

"Dog Days Rally"

Adrenaline rushes so many ways that you can find that adrenaline rush. Last weekend, I competed in a "Dog Days Rally" put on by the Bluegrass Region of the Porsche Club of America, along with assistance from the Bluegrass Minis and Central Kentucky Region of Sports Car Club of America.

Official Results can be found on the Porsche club link above. (Yes there is a pic of the winners and runner-ups) Thanks to a good driver, Ginny E, and decent navigating skills, Ginny and I finished 2nd out of 10 entrants with a score of 466. In which 300 was from a missed turned that landed us several minutes behind on one of the legs. Lucky for us, the max you can get on a leg is 300.

The winners, Phil and Lo, are actually national pro rallyists of past and are usually the ones putting on the events.

You ask: What is a Road Rally?

Simple Description: A road rally is an automotive event in which two people, driver and navigator, attempt to follow an unknown route and arrive at timing controls exactly on time (Unless a Monte Carlo Rally these are at unknown locations).

There are a lot of different types of road rallies. This weekends set of events were both Tulip Rallies. Tulip rallies have drawings to depict the direction which you are suppose to go while non-Tulip Rallies are worded directions (Ex/ Turn Right at the T). All speeds are below speed limit, and the rallies occur on back country roads with very little traffic for the most part. Usually, all rallies end up somewhere for dinner or lunch and last 2-4 hrs depending on the setup plus eating time.

Leebo's Description: (Fellow CKRSCCA member, pulled from LexiStreets Forum)
For those of you that have never done a rally... DO IT!!! The CKRSCCA has hosted a few over the years and they really are fun but only few participate.

Imagine this...

You're given a set of driving instructions that you have to follow to a "Tee". You're told to go 42mph on a country road for 6.7 miles then turn left. A farmer pulls in front of you doing maybe 15mph in his John Deer and you can't get around him for 4 minutes.

Pop quiz: How fast do you need to drive and for how long to catch up to where you are supposed to be?

Oh and BTW, there are hidden checkpoints so you better be back on track asap.

The rallies I've participated in are very memorable. It's not like autocrossing in the car/performance standpoint, but it's in the same neighborhood of having a good time.