The Cute Couple

Wedding bells are a'ring'in for my cousin and my cool soon-to-be cousin! This past Friday night, it was almost midnight and my phone rang. It was my cousin Annie so I said aloud, "She must've gotten engaged!" I was right. She called to tell me the good news and asked me who won the pool. My mom had guessed the closest date!
and a little bit of trivia: Jared went to OC with me - he was a biology major. Small world.
Aren't they cute!?

More Graduation Fun!

I found some more pics in easy access! These are Mom's pics.
One of my favorites is Case clapping for his Mommy - or at least I think he was.
The friends we are standing with are Stewart and Ashley. He was Josh's workout partner at OSU, and we all had fun hanging out in Stillwater. We miss them!

Graduation

These are the pictures I got from my aunt. I might post some more, but I'm not optimistic since I'm already playing catch-up! Ha!
I graduated in July and since there is no ceremony in the summer, I decided to walk in December. I didn't know if it was going to be worth walking. I knew I wanted to walk since I had finally finished. I'm so glad I did! Even though I had officially been done since July, it was amazing to be hooded. I was excited and very happy. What made it even more special was all the family that came to see me. I'm thankful for all the support I get from family - through school and after school! I don't think I could have survived grad school without Family.

Fam starts to arrive...

So in December, we had A LOT of family visit for my graduation - it was great! Here is my first entry about that weekend. When my Kansas fam arrived, my parents were already here. My two aunts and my Mamaw joined us. This is what usually occurs when the Wood women get together:
1. Hugging and kissing
2. Opening of presents...there's always something to celebrate....this time it was my aunts' birthdays and my Mamaw's birthday so we had a mini present party...oh, and we opened up some Christmas housewarming gifts as well.
3. Shopping...my Kansas fam don't have big stores where they live (like Target) so we usually find a reason to visit one. Hence, my Aunt Sissie took a picture out in front of one.
4. Operation: Party Event - this time it was my graduation party. Sometimes it's a wedding. Whatever the event, they come out great because you have 4 Wood Women coming up with some great ideas! Usually, the great ideas get bigger with each one. Next on the list - my cousin Annie's wedding.

It's Like a Puzzle...

That's what a registrar told me when I asked about trying to fit all these students into different classes...
This week has been crazy for the chem class I'm teaching. We underestimated how many students needed the class so we didn't know we needed 2 sections of lab. Trying to schedule a new lab section after the semester has already started (and all students have their schedules already) is hard work. Actually, I just come up with the times I'm free, and my poor registrar has to try to fit my students into the lab. Juggling classes. Exchanging this class for this class. Changing this time to this time. I realized today that I couldn't have been a registrar...I never really liked puzzles either. Maybe that was a sign.

How To Know If You Are a Mean Teacher...

This semester I'm teaching General Chemistry I. This is an interesting course. All science majors have to take it, but the people that take it are still early in their academic career. Students are not for sure if this the major for them. So many times, gen chem is used to "weed" the non-so-serious students out. As a result, even though it is a major's course, there can still be some whining and groaning. I haven't had any yet, well, no whining yet, but I have had some groaning already.
The last 3 days have inspired my new quiz. Take it if you are wondering if you are a mean teacher:
1. Do you make your students memorize information that could just be looked up in a simple text book or on Wikipedia?
2. Do your students need to come to class to learn the material instead of just being able to read and learn from the text book? (or again from the Wiki Wiki gods)?
3. Do you make your students during a black-out migrate to the windows so you can still lecture?
If you answer "YES" to any of these questions, you just might be a mean teacher! : )

It's Happening

Anyone who reads my blog know about the theme of Science Nerdiness. Sometimes I share my observations. Sometimes I share my personal experiences. A common concern of mine is that I am getting sucked into this world.
So on my last day of my first semester of being a Chemistry professor, I had OC graduation. That morning, Josh had to leave early so Case and I had just awoken when he left. After I got to school and saw myself in the mirror and realized I didn't match. I was wearing brown slacks and a black shirt. It was very clashy. I had my questions that morning when I got dressed but convinced myself that I matched. So as I usually do when something funny or questioning occurs during my day, I texted my friend April, "I'm wearing brown slacks and a black shirt - I don't match! Josh left early today and he wasn't around to tell me if I matched." She responded, "You have to have Josh tell you if you match?"
Exactly.
I think my matching ability has gotten worse. I blame the science nerdom that I am a part of. I texted Josh, "I don't match today because you weren't there to tell me if I match!"
He responded, "It's happening."

Christmas Pictures are Difficult Now

Over Thanksgiving, we decided to employ my mom-in-law and her camera for our Christmas photo. We have done this before when we first got our dog Newman. Getting a baby to look and smile is harder than taking a picture with a wiggling puppy. Here are some of our attempts:

Josh said that this one looked like Case and me were BOTH HIS kids.

Josh isn't looking (we gave up on getting Case to look).

Now I'm doing the Mom-thing: I think Casen had something in his hair.

The close-2nd.

THE 2008 Christmas Picture.

Thanksgiving

Here are pictures from our Thanksgiving. We had a busy week with Thanksgiving and two birthdays. We celebrated Jessi's birthday I think on Thanksgiving (it's all a blur now haha) then Jaci's 1st Birthday on Saturday (pictures to come!). A few explanations:
1. Josh was going to shave his head so he figured Tana would like to do it. Did she ever!
2. That green-slug-looking thing on Case's face was a green bean. I know nasty-looking, but I love his face in the picture.
3. Thanksgiving dinner converted Casen to table food. He loved that turkey. Ever since then, he's been a good eater of solids.
4. Right before we left for Thanksgiving, I cleaned our fridge. Case was right in the middle of that mess actually crawling into the fridge. Needless to say, he was THRILLED when his Mamaw let him play in her fridge pulling things out.