December: Finishing What We Started

December is here! For better or worse, we've made it to the end of the year. I remember thinking that 2017 was tumultuous, but I guess it was just a warm up for 2018. Some really wonderful things have happened, like I got to start my first full time job after earning my Ph.D., but there have been some heartbreaks as well. Glad to have made it to this point. I'm ready to celebrate Christmas and welcome in 2019. Below is the image we used for our family Christmas card. Merry Christmas!

I finished my grading today! Grades for all 82 students went into the final grade book. It always feels slightly unnerving to submit grades at the end of the semester-- so final! But I do feel good to officially have the fall semester behind me, as well as the spring semester to look forward to. For final projects my students submitted a variety of work. In my Business & Technical Writing course the students submitted final portfolios, as well as did presentations on the practicum work they had done over the semester. In my Advanced Writing course my students also submitted portfolios and presented on their writing identities. I appreciated their introspection and willingness to share.

My College Writing courses ended with final reflection letters. For most of the students in those two course sections this was their first semester in college, and overall, they did really well. They talked about engagement in the course, learning to overcome preconceived notions or concerns, and about conducting reviews of the peer's work and the way that had helped them grow. One comment in particular that meant a lot to me was from a quiet student who had told me mid-semester that she would be transferring to a community college closer to home at the break. In her letter, she wrote:

I really appreciated this comment because this student wasn't trying to earn a better grade or future approval. She just wanted to let me know this before the end of their time at Olivet, and I really appreciated it. It's comments and reflections like that that inspire me to keep working hard and appreciating my job. 

Outside of the classroom I've attended five of ten holiday parties/events/gatherings for the year. So far, I've enjoyed them all. One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is the baking and food preparation! I've done a gluten free vanilla noel cake, a cheese and cracker Christmas tree board, and gluten free cookies: strawberry thumbprint and chocolate ginger. 

This week has been particularly festive. On the last day of finals Wade came down to IL, and we went to see John Legend in Chicago! If attending his concert isn't the highlight of my Christmas season I will be surprised. We saw A Legendary Christmas Tour at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. It was a chilly, rainy night, but John Legend's singing was warm and rich-- I think like what butter would sound like. It was a wonderful night, and he sang both Christmas songs and a lot of his classics. 

This upcoming week we will attend Wade's holiday party and bring our gluten free version of Mary Berry's Bakewell Tart recipe for a tart competition (first attempt posted below). Here's hoping! My extended family will come into town this weekend and next week, and we will celebrate the holiday together. The new year will bring both a fresh start of a new semester as well as a trip abroad. For those reasons, I will plan to post my next blog mid February with an update on all stated events! 

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year! 

A Little Late, A Little Short

Turns out, being a full time professor is a full time job! Lots of wonderful benefits come with that, but it also means less time to do blog writing, purchase flights for conferences, or work on revisions for publications. These things will all still get done, even if they come in a little later than initially planned-- much like this abbreviated blog post. Here's what's been going on this month:

1) I've loved the fall weather but now we are already into winter! The turning of the leaves, the freshness of the air, the first snowfall-- it all feels so magical.

2) I got the opportunity to help lead our annual fall women's retreat through Ridgeway Church. This year, we called it Bloom: Change Begins With Her. We had close to 50 women in attendance, and we got to host them and really enjoyed spending time together. We all were challenged to make change in our community by Marelene Sorenson, one of the founders of Zeteo Community Inc, a local organization working to fight human trafficking in Madison and provide support for women and children who are survivors of trafficking.

3) I also had the chance to go back to my MA alma mater, Illinois State University, at the beginning of this month. The current WPA, Dr. Joyce Walker, invited me and other past graduate students to come back for a one day retrospective event to talk about how we are using, adapting, and implementing the theory of Pedagogical Cultural Historical Activity Theory in our classrooms. My friend Laurenn York and I presented on the Initial Genre Assessment that we first developed while at ISU and that we both continue to use at our respective institutions. It's always really invigorating to attend these professional events, to see old colleagues and friends, and to hear about the interesting and innovative work that they are doing.

4) Work at Olivet has been busy and exciting! Two of my colleagues attended the PCHAT retrospective with me, so we've been having really cool conversations about the potential for our freshman writing program. I have been asked to lead a committee dedicated to reviewing that work and proposing pedagogical and theoretical shifts in our courses. I currently have a course load teaching about 83 students, which is a lot and definitely keeps me on my toes. I gave extra credit for students who dressed up for class on and around Halloween, and there were some great costumes! It made it really fun to go to class the week of Halloween.

5) On the home front, my husband and I have sold our home, so we are in the process of moving out all of our things and settling into a new (albeit, temporary) space. I miss my family when I'm away at work, but I'm looking forward to the upcoming breaks to get to see my husband every day and spend more time with my adorable pups. We've loved our home and are sad to leave it, but I am happy to know that a new family will now get to make memories there.

This blog post is my 50TH POST! Thanks for reading and for your support. 

Octobering

Here we are finishing up the sixth week of the semester moving into fall break! I am excited about this fall break for a couple reasons:

1) I get two extra nights at home that I wouldn't usually get with my commute.
2) A week from today I will be helping to host our 2018 Bloom Women's Retreat. Our theme this year is "Change Begins With Her," and I'm so excited about what the weekend will look like.

Burke Administration Building

I will talk about the retreat in November, but I want to cover my first six weeks as an Assistant Professor in the Fall 2018 semester at Olivet. The first six weeks have been, in turns, a total blur, a dumpster fire, a smooth sea, a confusing maze, and an unexpected surprise. That is, to say, it has been an adjustment for sure, but it's gone well. My commute from Madison is definitely one reality that I've had to adjust to. I generally leave my house in the wee early morning hours on a Monday, and then I do the reverse drive on late Thursday evening. I work from home (and get appointments done, etc.) on Fridays. I am staying less than a half mile from my office. I have walked a few times, and it takes me  about 10 minutes from the door of my house to the door of my office, and that includes a walk across a busy intersection and walking up four steep flights of stairs. I have one long commute and then literally no commute after, so it works out.

I was excited to jump into teaching at Olivet. As I've recounted a few times now, I feel like a totally different person, and I'm for sure a totally different teacher than I was when I adjuncted two ENGL 109: College Writing I classes in the fall 2011 and spring 2012 school year. Life was very different. I had just graduated with my BA in English, Wade was finishing school, we'd just gotten married, we adopted our puppy, Finley, and we were living in a 600 sq. ft. guest house. One thing that is the same is that on the first day of school this year I wore the exact same red shoes I wore on the first day in 2011. I got those red shoes in college, I think, and I still love them. They're my first day shoes!

First Day Teaching at ONU 2011

First Day Teaching at ONU 2018

One of my favorite parts of the new gig is my office. Wade helped me get it all set up, and with a mix of Harry Potter, travel, and elephant themed decor, it feels homey and cozy to me. I like to come in, turn on my lamp, wax melter, and AC fan to get some soft light, smell, and air moving through the office as soon as I get in. It's a sweet little nook that looks out at a lovely Catholic church and over a large tree that is currently turning from green to red as we move into autumn.

I've enjoyed my classes thus far! This semester I have 84 students. That's far more students than I've ever had before. I teach these 84 students in four different courses: ENGL 109: College Writing I (two sections), ENGL 306: Advanced Writing, and ENGL 311: Business Communication & Technical Writing. I do have two teaching assistants through the English department, and they are wonderful. I could not get the grading done that I would need to without them. My students are currently working on academic proposals, documenting online processes, and reviewing food TV shows on Netflix. The variety of audiences, purposes, and genres that we explore in these various classes continues to astound me. The lived realities and experiences that these students bring with them and those that they are preparing for make these classes dynamic and exciting to teach.

To begin the year, there have been several events. After new faculty orientation, Wade came down and attended the President's Dinner with me. We also had a meeting to welcome back the majors, and that was fun to get to meet them. Getting reacquainted with Olivet's campus and culture has been somewhat odd, sometimes disappointing, but mostly exciting. I think administrators and teachers really do try to do the best they can, but I think the most refreshing part about being back at Olivet is the students. They are smart, motivated, and open. They interrogate assignments, issues, and theories with respect and an awareness of the world around them that I don't think was as tangible when I was as student. It makes interacting with them very rewarding and engaging.

The ONU English department this year is focusing on the theme: "Voice: Finding Yours, Celebrating Others." I really like this theme because it takes both individual and communal experience into account. It asks students to reflect on what it is they know, how they know, and what they want to learn in the future. In all the arguments for a liberal arts education, I think the recognition of the value of voice and experience has to be one of the most crucial to recognize. I'm glad to be in a department that values that as well.

Apart from figuring out this new teaching life, there have been a few other special moments to celebrate thus far this semester:

1) My friend, support, and writing group member, Casie Moreland, defended her thesis at Arizona State University on Wednesday, August 29th, 2018 and became DR. CASIE MORELAND. I FaceTimed into just the very first part of her defense, and even what I heard in that short snippet was so, so smart, well put together, and engaging. I'm so proud of her hard work and dedication!

2) On that very same day, also the day I started classes, I got an email with an acceptance for two items for the 2019 Conference on College Composition and Communication. I've been to several Cs conferences, and I was so glad to be invited back to this one. The conference is in Pittsburgh, PA this year, and I'm really looking forward to presenting my own work on a panel presentation as well as serving as a committee member for a feminist workshop.

3) My yittle sister stick turned 28! We are now only one year apart which means that my thirtieth birthday must be just right around the corner. I was actually pretty sick from catching the ONU Virus of 2018 that ran rampant across campus about week three, but we went out for a delicious dinner of mussels and frites at Sardine in Madison and celebrated her birthday.

4) This summer I was invited to participate in an event at my MA institution, Illinois State University. As a theoretical framework, the ISU WPA, Dr. Joyce Walker, has championed the pedagogical use of Cultural Historical Activity Theory in the Writing Program. The event in November is a CHAT Retrospective on how alumni from the program have used the theory since leaving ISU. I will be presenting and reconnecting with friends, and I'm looking forward to it!

One of my favorite parts of this past week was how I opened class. I know it can be tricky to be just a few days before a break but still at school. Inspired by The Good Place: The Podcast, I asked my students at the beginning of every class: "What's good?" I told them what was good in my life was that my puppy, Finley, turned seven this week. Since we first brought him home to Bourbonnais, I was glad to celebrate his birthday there as well. My students responded with wonderful responses. Things like, good sleep, boxed water, times with missed family and friends, engagements, and live music. Let's all remember to take the time to celebrate what's good. 

A[nother] New Year

Image from Pinterest

My first post of the year was called "A New Year," as I'm sure many of you remember 😉

January 1st does certainly mark the turnover of a new calendar year, there is always something refreshing and exciting about the turnover from August to September. But as other bloggers have said, there is just something about September 1st that feels "new yeary," especially for those who are on or somehow connected to traditional school calendars. Also, September is the month in which autumn officially begins, and that is by far my favorite season. Personally, I'd like to say that September 1st feels like a good time to declare a new year in my little family. In August 2017 my husband was called away for a two and a half week Army training and then days later for a short hurricane relief deployment. Between that time and now we've faced a lot of hurdles, some of which I have documented here, and I'm really ready for that "year" to be over.

So, here we go. September 1st(ish)! A new start of a new year in a new place! I will detail my first month as an Assistant Professor at Olivet in October, but in this blog post I'd like to go over my last month of summer fun and then the preparation (ahem, or lack of) that I did leading up to the start of the fall 2018 semester.

Personal: Durango Vacation

To round out the summer, Wade and I spent two weeks in beautiful Durango, CO. This was our fourth time there in the same number of years, and we always really enjoy ourselves in this lovely mountain town. We stay at my Grandpa's condo near Purgatory Resort, and we like to venture into town as well as by and through the gorgeous natural landscapes. One of my favorite views in all of the world is Haviland Lake. It's not far off the main road down the mountain, but the accessibility in such a serene setting is one of my very favorite things about it. The lake sits peacefully in the San Juan National Forest at the base of the San Juan Mountains. The lake is no more than two miles up the road from the condo, so we make sure to visit it every time we go.

Haviland Lake January 2016

Haviland Lake August 2018

In addition to visiting the lake we also ate out at a lot of fun places and had delicious food like a spicy tuna sushi burrito, a chocolate crepe, vegetable curry, and galub jamun. We celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary in Durango, and we ate sushi and seafood ramen and a raspberry sorbet dessert. We also did a couple hikes while we were in the area, but there were a few areas blocked off due to mudslides that occurred shortly before we arrived. A forest fire called the 416 fire burned through almost 55,000 acres of the San Juan National Forest for two months before we arrived. Due to the massive burn areas, rains that fell after caused major flooding and mudslides in the town. We saw remnants of the mudslides, and thus the fire, in the blocked off hiking areas and roads under repair. Durango is a resilient town, though, and the people seemed strong. 

A couple other special things that we did while we were in the area were spending a day at the spa, and Wade got a new tattoo on his right forearm. For our anniversary gift to one another we decided to do a spa day. We had been to The Woodhouse Day Spa in Durango when we went there for the fourth of July weekend in 2015, so we decided to go back. It is a luxurious, relaxing place, and we love spending time in the thick white robes, sauna, steam shower, and quiet room overlooking the river even before getting our spa treatments. As a special gift partly from both of our parents, Wade enjoyed a Swedish massage, and I got a warm agave nectar pedicure. Both were very relaxing.

Another special thing that we did while in Durango was Wade got his third tattoo. Again, we had been to this business before, namely when we got our matching arrow/cross tattoos to commemorate our ten years together when we went to Durango for the new years weekend in 2016. We went back to Your Flesh Tattoo & Piercing, and Wade worked with the artist Brian Hutflies to make his design come to life. Wade got this tattoo done in honor of his older brother Matt who passed away on June 1st of this year. Wade explained that he got the tattoo done in memory of how much his brother loved both to bike and the diner that he managed and planned one day to take over. Matt's passing has been difficult, especially as it was so unexpected, and I'm glad that Wade took this step to commemorate not only Matt's passing but his life.

Our time in Durango was really sweet, and I'm glad we went. We drove there and back, so it was quite a long trip, but we actually enjoyed that as well. The Harry Potter audio books got us through. We finished up Order of the Phoenix and moved on to Half-Blood Prince before we got home. On the way out to Durango we stopped in both Lincoln, NE and Denver, CO. On the way back we made one stop in a small town in Nebraska for one night.

Professional: Semester Preparation

One of the major projects that I worked on this summer was the revise and resubmit that I received from an article manuscript that I submitted to the online journal Peitho: A Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition. I originally submitted the manuscript back in 2015, and I had sent in a second draft since then, but this third revision was long overdue. I did, with the help of a mentor, Maureen, and my writing group, finally send it back in, and just today I received another revise and resubmit! The work the editors are asking me to do is more re framing and clarification. I hope to be able to do that in the next month or so and send it back once more. This publishing work is not for the faint of heart! I think once I have completed this manuscript I will turn my attention to some of the data that I collected from my students' work and draft an article manuscript discussing some of my findings.

Along with this article revision, I have spent much of my working time this summer (when I wasn't traveling, helping family, or recovering from my surgery) putting together my classes for the fall. I will be teaching two sections of College Writing 1, Advanced Writing, and Business Writing and Technical Communication. While in CO I put together syllabi for all four of the courses, and I am glad to at least have that much done, even if there is still much more to get done before classes start.

I will include links to my course syllabi here. I think it is good to have record of these documents, as well as be willing to share them. Whenever I make new syllabi for new institutions I try to include components of the institution in the document themselves. In this case, I've used the Olivet colors of purple and gold throughout the pages, as well as put the logo on the top right corners:

• Advanced Writing Syllabi
• College Writing One Syllabi
• Business Writing & Technical Communication Syllabi

In addition to syllabi writing I've been putting together project descriptions, responding to emails, and getting aquatinted with the Olivet system. Many hours of work are very little seen in these beginning stages of projects, but I am excited nonetheless to jump in! As I've prepared for this year, I've taken the aesthetic, spirit, and words of my Harry Potter house (which I sorted into on Pottermore) to heart! I'm prepared with my golden accents, my mindset of hard work and patience, and even printed a beautiful Hufflepuff poster to hang in my office. Here's to a wonderful new year!

Image from Etsy

Hufflepuff Scarf from Amazon

Poster from Etsy

Instructor Introduction Two

SLIDESHOW LINK

Seven Years!

This month's post is a personal one, as today my husband Wade and I are celebrating seven years of marriage! As I said in my last post, this summer has been tough, and there isn't really any part of it that has gone to plan. In addition to the difficulties mentioned, I also had to cancel a trip to Denver for a girl cousin's weekend because I hadn't recovered enough from my gallbladder surgery to make the trip. All that being said, I'm excited to celebrate this milestone in my marriage and reflect a little over the past several years, specifically on our amazing wedding weekend. Get ready for lots of photos and a walk down memory lane! 

Engagement photo by Michael Anderson & invite design by Jerry Scheller

Wade and I met for the first time in the fall of 2001 at a youth group meeting. I was wearing a black, pleather jacket and Wade was wearing a red, Adidas sweatshirt. Our middle school selves were not super impressed with the other. We were in the same class of 30 students starting our freshman year of high school, and we actually became friends through a mutual friend group in the fall of 2004, our sophomore year. The beginning of our dating relationship started about a year later when Wade asked me to be his date for our junior year homecoming in November of 2005. He officially asked me to be his girlfriend on January 2nd, 2006. Aside from one short break, we dated throughout high school at Abundant Life Christian School and college at Olivet Nazarene University, and he proposed to me the spring semester of our senior year of college on February 11th, 2011. We had been dating just over five years at that point, and then just over five months later (about ten years after we met), we were married!

Our first homecoming, first date as a couple, and engagement were all documented in my parents' front living room:

Homecoming 2005

First Date 2006

Engagement 2011

As this is our seventh wedding anniversary; though, I want to recap and remember our amazing wedding weekend! For almost the entire summer prior to our wedding Wade was in Washington for his LDAC training. That meant that not only could we not see each other for about six weeks prior to getting married, but we also couldn't talk on the phone, text, or email, either. We did send letters through the mail to one another, updating each other on our daily lives and details leading up to the wedding. In some ways it was sweet and old fashioned feeling, but in many ways it was quite difficult to be apart through that time period. The good news, though, is that he got home in time to get his suit tailored, choose our vows, and prepare for the weekend!

We chose to get married on a Friday night, and I wanted the wedding to have an "Old Time Madison" feel. I wanted black satin dresses, butler passed hors d'oeuvres, and a night of dancing. I think we and our 175 guests enjoyed all of that and more! Because of Wade's summer schedule, when we were getting married, and the fact that many family and friends came in from out of town, we decided to make a whole weekend out of our nuptials. Here's our wedding weekend! 

To make you feel a bit more like you were there, check out this playlist of songs played at our ceremony and reception. 

We began the festivities on Wednesday, August 3rd with all day bachelor/ bachelorette parties. The bachelor party actually lasted overnight as they ate, hung out, and camped at Lake Wisconsin together. My bachelorette party was thrown by my sister and a dear friend, and we had a phenomenal day. We got our nails done at 007 Nails, took a Betty Lou dinner boat cruise, had desserts and opened lingerie gifts at Brocach Irish Pub, did karaoke in a private room, then hung out downtown. It was so much fun!

The day following the parties was the day of the rehearsal. We spent the day preparing wedding favors and other details, and then we rehearsed and lived it up that night! We rehearsed the wedding ceremony at Ridgeway Church (then called Bethesda), then Wade's parents threw an awesome luau party in my parents' backyard. The luau was complete with tiki torches, leis, and a full Hawaiian spread. They hosted about 50 people at the rehearsal dinner, and it was a wonderful night. 

The next day, of course, was the wedding day!! Friday, August 5th, 2011 dawned bright, clear, and hot. Our wedding started at 6:00 PM, so we had the day to sleep in a little, get ready, and take photos with our bridal party. Before photos, Wade and I met in the sanctuary of the church for a private first look. It was just us and our wedding photographer, Lukas Keapproth. I walked up behind Wade, he turned around and saw me in my dress for the first time, and we hugged. It was the only moment in the whole day when I cried, and it was my very favorite.

Wade and I each had eight members of the bridal party on stage with us in the ceremony. In addition, we had two ushers, two bridal attendants, a flower girl, and a ring bearer. Our total party of 22 was big, but we wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Coordinated by our amazing wedding coordinator, Conni, we had the ceremony at Bethesda, then we hosted the reception at the Madison Club, the perfect venue for the theme and feel we wanted for our day. We laughed, we toasted, we ate, and we danced-- our first dance was to "Hold On" by Michael Buble. That day will forever be one of my very favorite days. Enjoy these photos from Red Wave Weddings that expertly captured some of the most special details and moments. 

The day honestly went perfectly. Though we were a bit disappointed that we didn't do a receiving line so we missed getting to say hello some guests, there is almost nothing about our wedding day that I would change. It was sweet and special and so much fun.

Both of our parents hosted a brunch for our friends and family the next morning, Saturday, August 6th, at Lake View Bakery & Deli connected to Hotel Ruby Marie where we and many of the guests stayed the night before. We opened our presents, and it was great to have the chance to spend more time with some of our guests. This was our final wedding weekend event, and it was a wonderful culmination to the festivities. We enjoyed every moment of our wedding weekend-- so much so that I want to reminisce all about it seven years later! 

We spent the next week on our honeymoon in Panama City Beach, FL enjoying the second half of our fifth year together and the beginning of our forever. 

In our seven years married, Wade and I have adopted two dogs, lived in three different states, five different houses, traveled to five different countries, and worked at least eight different jobs. To summarize a very wise (& handsome) contestant on the Bachelorette, it's not the falling in love but the staying in love that is truly the best part of life. I'm glad that 17 years ago I found someone that I could fall and stay in love with... even if I had no idea then. 

In our vows we promised this to each other: "I take you to be mine, secure in the knowledge that you will be my constant friend, my faithful partner in life, and my one true love. On this day, I affirm to you in the presence of God and these witnesses my promise to stay by your side in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, as well as through the good times and bad. I promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you to achieve your goals, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, and cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

Seven years later, I'm so glad to attest that every word was true.