Really Quick!

Really quick. I have moved out of my apartment so please do not send mail there. Instead, send it to my parents address. You can email me if you do not have that address. More to come later!!

Coming to an end...

I saw Star Trek this weekend and I wanted to let everyone know that it is by far one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. As a fan of Star Trek, I might be biased, but the story line, the action, the dialogue and the cinematography were magnificent. It is defiantly a must see!

Ok now that that is done with I can catch you up to speed with the rest of my world. I am in the middle of packing and moving me entire livelihood that I have collected over the years into Mary Beth and David's house. They have graciously allowed me to store my things over the summer and not to mention move in with them for a few weeks until I can get up to Fritch. Everything is very bittersweet and yet so hectic that I barely have time to think about anything. I found an apartment in Stillwater over the weekend so I now have a place to live come August 17th. I am excited to start a new program, but I think it will take me a while to really get into living in Oklahoma. I'm a Texan at heart and it sort of feels like a betrayal. 

Graduation is this weekend and I am excited to walk across the stage for the second time. It is a physical, tangible thing that assures me that my work is done and that I have accomplished my goal. Yet, this time graduation seems more like something to cross of the list than a spectacular event. I think I prefer this, I'm not one for big occasions. I'm mostly excited about seeing my family and showing my mom my apartment here in Waco for the first time. Ironically.

Now I must get back to packing. I will put up pictures of gradation for all to see. It will be like you were here with me all along!

I have an OSU email now!!!

jennifer.mckinney10@okstate.edu

Email me!

FYI, my Baylor email will work till about October-Novemberish....

April Fools and Life

Oh April Fools, how I love you. For the first time since I can remember I participated in April Fools. Me and my co-workers dressed up as our facilities manager, mustache and all and surprised him. Bless his heart, he is one of the few guys that works in an office with many women and all of our to-do lists. He is literally stretched in 3 different directions daily with all of the things we need done. So to show him that we appreciate him we decided to dress up like him. Mimicking is one of the best ways to show someone you like them!

Will the real Sammy please stand up? Sammy and the Sammies

So I am basically done. I am still waiting on the graduate school to give me the all clear to submit my thesis online, but essentially I am done. There is nothing at this point that will keep me from graduating. So that is very exciting. I have yet to pick up some books and start reading but I think I need to give my brain a rest before jumping back into heavy reading. So for the rest of the semester I will be working, packing, and saying goodbye to friends.

I decided on Oklahoma State University for my Ph.D. program. I am very excited and think it will be a wonderful place for me. I will move there in August and classes start August 17. But I feel good knowing I have a place to go and I have made plans! As for the summer, I am moving back home (cue dramatic music). OK before you judge, let me assure you that me and Mom have set down several ground rules in an attempt to prevent any and all unnecessary problems that might occur over the summer. Luckily I have a job lined up with the National Park Service as a guide for the Alibates Flint Quarry. I am super pumped for this. It pays well and it is my area of specialty. I couldn’t have found a better job and one so close to home. Rent free! I also talked with my grandma and she is going to let me join her quilting group. I have been wanting to start quilting for a while but I have not had the time to do anything. She knows of an easy pattern to get me started on my first quilt. I can’t wait!

As for everything else in my life, Izayah turned 2. Kris, Shawnta’l, and I drove down to Fritch and celebrated. Here are a few wonderful pictures of the boy-o:

The ginormous bubble wand I got Izayah. Oh how he loves bubbles!


I am going to Houston for Easter to spend time with some friends I haven't been able to hangout with since I started my masters. I need to spend as much time with friends before the Ph.D. program starts. I can only imagine how much work that is going to be. Oh well....

I Passed!

I passed my thesis! I defended on Monday and my entire committee signed off on the thesis. Though I passed I have still had to do a lot with the actual thesis. I put in a few correction, converted the entire document into a pdf and got several signatures on all of the forms needed for the completion of the entire process. Needless to say, it has been the most stressful week I have had in the entire thesis process. I will explain a lot more later. Right now my brain is literally oozing out of my ears.

I did want to let everyone know that I will be traveling to Oklahoma State University on Monday to check out the campus, meet with the professors and students. I am very excited! The History department has set up an entire day for me. So I will be sure to let everyone know about that too. 

Also, Tay has been with me this past week checking out Baylor and the Air Force program here. I think she has had some fun, and she got to meet lots of wonderful people. Be sure to ask her about it. It's good for her to explore her options while she makes her future plans. We are both leaving in the morning for DFW to hang out with Kris and Izayah. It's been a while since I have seen the kiddo. So I am very excited. 

Ok hope all is well on your end of the world, mine is wonderful!

And the Countdown Begins!

Ok so here it goes. I got one acceptance and one rejection letter today. As it stands:

University of Minnesota: NO

Arkansas University: Yes (No Financial Aid Package)

University of Oklahoma:?

Oklahoma State University: Yes, and they have offered full tuition waivers, an Assistantship and a Fellowship (enough money that I do not have to take a second job, or pull out loans!)

Kansas State University: Yes, and they have offered me their Chapman Fellowship of $25,000 for 4 years. I would have to pay in-state tuition and fee's with this money. But the program does not have a big emphasis on U.S. West or American Indian history.

University of Nebraska: NO

Make sure to check back. I'll update the list as soon as I get the letters in. I also did not get any financial aid package, but I was told that it would soon follow in a separate letter. That will also help determine where I go.

This also means that I need to get out of Baylor. I defend my thesis on March 16th. So it is down to the wire. As soon as the thesis is done I will be able to blog freely without worrying that I could be spending my time on my thesis.

OK! I'm going back to the thesis!

Update, March 2. Jaycie is seven today! Happy Birthday Jaycie!

Also, I will have my completed and final draft of the thesis done this Friday and delivered to all of the committee members so that they have a week with it before the defense. I bought a suit to wear, and I am super excited about wearing it. Look at the pictures below. Mary Beth also took pictures of my impromptu work station i've made for myself in the kitchen. It gives you an idea of the kind of mess I have been in for the last couple of months!

Cake

I baked a cake for the first time in... well forever. And I spent most of the time cleaning up the mess, then I did baking. I used a hand held mixer my mom gave me almost 4 years ago and boy does that thing make it interesting. My entire kitchen is splattered with red velvet dots. Jaycie and Jack loved it because they got to lick the floor, but they missed a few spots and now the bottoms of my feet look like I have chicken pox. But hopefully it was not all for nothing. I'm waiting for what little remains of the batter I put in the cake pan to cool so I can taste my treat. I'll get back to you on how it all turned out. Until then here is picture of Jack the cat.