The Year in Review: 2013

Remember around this time last year I told you that 2013 was going to be the Best Year Ever? Well one thing I can tell you is that I grew out of saying things like "ever." Gah, everyone, let's let that go with 2013. "I have the cutest dog ever!" "My husband is the best ever!" I am going to start hiding your Facebook posts--for-ever.  Well, maybe not that far. But I do think that people should have to say "for me" after they say "ever". Your husband may be the best ever for you but I think it's an over generalization to claim any one is really the best at anything since the beginning of time. Unless we're talking about Usain Bolt. He really is the fastest runner ever.  Although there are probably some cavemen out there that have been chased by saber-tooth tigers that wish someone had been tracking their times. They should add a "run for your life" category to the Olympics and see how the results differ.
Anyway, I'm not saying I'm not guilty of the over usage of "ever" too, but let's all agree to move past it.

Well since this is a "Year in Review" I suppose I should tell you if it was the Best Year Ever. And you know how we should do this? With a Top 13 of 2013.

1-8. The most exciting and memorable thing I did in 2013 was travel extensively.
I took many flights from OKC to Lubbock throughout the year. You just can't beat some of those Southwest deals. I also put entirely too many miles on my car driving back and forth throughout both Spring and Fall semesters. That traveling was not my cup of tea. While I immensely appreciate the blessing of attending school, that was probably the worst part of 2013.
But then there's the fun travel. I am very fortunate to be in a department which supports graduate students traveling and presenting their papers at conferences across the nation. One of which is MPSA in Chicago. I was thrilled that they accepted my paper. PaPa Lo even came and got me for a day and showed me some great parts of downtown Chicago like the top floor of the Hancock building.

And Siva got to see Chicago and we even road tripped from Lubbock to Dallas for our flights. Looking back I'm not sure that saved us any money in the end, but we had a good time seeing new things. 

First Inn N Out Burger experience for both of us. 

And then there was the time that my life dreams were fulfilled when we went to Italy (and Greece and Malta and Croatia--which we didn't realize until about 2 weeks before we left). We flew into Genoa, Italy and took a cruise around the boot. This was an incredible experience and I am so glad I shared it with Matt. It turns out he enjoys travel more than I ever expected. 

The famous aquarium in Genoa, Italy. It really was incredible. 

Dubrovnik, Croatia. 

 I have always, always wanted to see Venice and I finally did. It really was as cool as I had expected. I feel so truly blessed that I got to have this experience.

GONDOLA RIDE! GONDOLA RIDE!!!!!

Over the summer we also went to Durango, CO (and Silverton) for John and Shana's wedding. It was like out of a magazine. We had a great time and it was great to be part of their day. 

Then we went on our annual lake trip. This year we went to Broken Bow, OK. I think it is such a blessing to get that many people together for a weekend. It is a little difficult to organize, but totally worth it. I hope we do it every year for-EVER.

And then Matt and I spent a large part of the fall meeting each other at conferences and other events across the country to spend time together. First stop: Houston, TX.

Fortunately, my big (Krissy) and her husband, Scott live in Houston so we had even more incentive to go to the first game of the year down in Houston. It was a great time even if my shoe did break as I was walking into the stadium. 

Next Stop: Portland, OR.

Portland was an extremely cool city. If you haven't been, stop what you're doing and start looking up good deals now. Rent a car and drive to the coast. Just do it. Do it sometime soon. Maybe 2014??

On to: New Orleans, LA.

We had a good time, but New Orleans is also kind of nuts and smells bad.
We (OSU) also lost to WVU which was supremely irritating and I thought I was going to get kicked out of the hotel for yelling at the TV.


And then there was Nashville, TN.
My little brother Joe and I presented a sustainability paper at a conference which led me to my dissertation topic which in and of itself was a HUGE portion of my year. HUGE. Like, pathway to graduating early and changing my life huge. It was an incredible trip and I can't understate the blessing of the whole thing. Spending time with my little brother was a memory that I will never, EVER forget.

Country Music Hall of Fame

And yes, I jumped on the opportunity to sing on stage. 

Like Brother, Like Sister

So those were the big trips for the year. Those are really the top 8 of the year because we would be here all day if I counted that as just one thing. We all have stuff to do and I need to work on that dissertation I was telling you about. Oh, and study for comps. Can we all take a moment to say a quick silent prayer for Shanna and her upcoming comprehensive exams? It's actually really irresponsible that I am even blogging right now. See you in February after it's all over.

9. Finishing Classes

As I try to continually express, I think being in school is such a blessing. I am grateful for my education. That I can pursue it, hell, that women are no longer oppressed in that way and that women are able to achieve what ever they want, including education. It wasn't that long ago that a woman pursuing her PhD was just unheard of. Especially not a woman from a traditional upbringing in the south. I should have probably had several kids by now and waiting for when my husband gets home. I also have great resources at my institution (like an advisor who understands what the hell I am trying to do--and also redirects me when I start going down a crazy path). What I am getting at is that I am grateful for the whole thing. I am also grateful that I am no longer traveling back and forth to school because it was exhausting and I don't think great for my overall well-being. I had no routine. I missed my husband. Some days I didn't see sunlight. I drank too much aspartame. I saw this view basically all the time. Now I can look at my computer from home with my adorable dog in my lap who is apparently starving for attention.

10. This Girl Moved Back

I missed Lo so much and she finally quit that living all over creation nonsense (like I am one to talk). She is back in the great state of Oklahoma and I couldn't be happier. She is one of my most favorite human beings and I am so happy to see more of her.

Oh and she is standing in front of me in most of these pictures because we both think our left side is out best side and we are both stubborn and wont give up the left side. How anyone tolerates us, I don't know. 

11. And she got married. 

Oh Hef. Move back to Oklahoma already! It was so great to have her back for a couple of visits. We are the strangest trio of friends, but we just work. It was a high light of the fall to get to see my dear friend. 

12. My friendship with this guy grew

Siva is such a good friend. I just can't understate it. He helped me so much this year from school stuff to life advice. It has been so much fun being his friend. He also married the lovely Yamuna this year and now that she will be living with him come January I can feel better about the leaving him in Lubbock part while I stay here in OKC. I will try to visit them as often as I can. 

13. So deeply blessed and loved by God

I can't tell you how many times I felt God pushing me forward this year. He blessed me with an incredible husband who doesn't simply tolerate all of this craziness, but embraces it and supports me in ways that would have made all of this nearly impossible without him. God picked the perfect mate, not EVER, but For Me.

I did a pretty good job of avoiding work on Sundays even though some days that seemed entirely impossible. I thought, "If I give up Sunday there is no way I will accomplish this task." Every single time, not only did I accomplish it, but I thrived with what ever task I was concerned with and God proved that He is always faithful when I put my trust in Him. We had several financial benefits as well as hard ships. I was in 2 car accidents within 1 month in January. Both of which were my fault and I paid for them. I HATE to waste money. I also broke my phone and various other slip ups. We did some work on our home which were excellent improvements, but also uncovered some not so quality work of the previous owner which of course cost us more money. I hope that now I am home and we can have more routine I can better help in money management which is something I think people should continually pursue. 

I didn't really meet any fitness goals this year like I wanted (and want every year). I did discover Yoga and I love it. It really helps with a lot of upper back pain that I get from sitting in front of a computer all day paired with traveling long distances. 

 I think I became a much better academic this year. I learned SO much. 

I had to take cover for a tornado this year which was terrifying. I also witnessed so  much loss from the Moore tornado which really impacted our state. It also showed the resilience of our state, and a place I am so proud to live in. 

I got 2 B's this year. 1 I deserved and the other I didn't. I aim for the 4.0 each semester. I also learned to let it go. Some things aren't worth worrying so much over. 

I could go on and on about this year but I better move on to another project. I am having a tacky sweater party/ornament exchange tonight because we had to reschedule it due to the weather last week. I think it will be a fun way to wrap up the year. We did a lot of party planning in 2013. We have had a great time, and gosh spending time with friend is such a blessing. One day we are all going to be too busy to get together regularly and so we should cherish this time while we can. I don't mind planning the parties so much as I am tired of chasing people down to RSVP. Let's all resolve in 2014 that if we're invited to a party we are going to be the sort of people who RSVP. Maybe I'll buy a stack of etiquette books and send them to people who don't RSVP after the event. I'll let you know if my Facebook friends start declining, haha. 

So was it the best year ever? I don't know. Since I'm not sure, I don't think so. As much as 2013 had a lot of great things, it was also really hard and too stressful. It was exciting, but I think I am ready for things to slow down a bit. My view of happiness is an unpacked bag, a dog in my lap, and my husband next to me in the chair and a half. It's home cooked meals. It's a glass of wine on the patio. Maybe 2013 aged me. Actually, I'm almost certain it has. I raise my glass to you 2014, let's see what happens. Maybe you'll be the best year EVER.

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My Lubbock Life

It's been 2.5 years. This afternoon I finished my last final exam ever. It should have taken 3 years but I took an extra class each semester so I could finish early. Twas brutal. Nothing is like I pictured it when I started prepping for the GRE so I could go to school at Tech and have something to do while we spent a few years in Midland, Texas after we got married. It was the only decent school for hundreds of miles (with a PhD program) so it was the only place that I applied.  And they waived my tuition and gave me a monthly stipend to work as a teaching assistant. It seemed like a natural next step because we knew Midland would be a temporary experience because our hearts have always been in Oklahoma.  Some things are worse than I pictured and some are infinitely better. I often wonder if I knew back when I started what I know now what I would do. If I knew that this program would be so much harder than my last program, despite my last program being exactly what I wanted to do, but this program has me forcing a square peg in a round hole, would I do it again? I honestly don't know.  On one side I'm a hard head and am willing to face a challenge, but on the other the amount of time I have spent on the road and away from my family has been tough. I hope that I have adequately communicated to Matt how much I sincerely appreciate him and the sacrifices he has made so I can pursue my dreams.  Like I said, I didn't really picture it this way, and I doubt he did either. Newlyweds are supposed to spend tons of time together and fight over nothin'. They usually don't picture themselves apart for half the week. But then again, I think we have both spent this time investing in our careers and each other in a unique way.  We both work our behinds off with our jobs during the week, and then we have our time totally free for each other for the weekend, which are often 3 day weekends. There's probably not a lot of newlyweds out there that can say they spend 72 straight hours with their spouse at least twice a month.  As a result we have  invested in each other, just in a different way.  But that doesn't mean I'm not tickled to death to wake up at the same place day after day sandwiched between my  husband and my dog and it's a thousand degrees and I can't move because they're both so darn close. You probably wouldn't believe this about me but my favorite place in the world is my house. When I get to go home it's a good couple of days before I leave the house. Seriously, going to the mail box is an outing.
But as I sip on a beer (no 8:00 a.m. class tomorrow!) and relax on my bed propped up against a bunch of pillows for the last time,  I thought I would provide a little wrap-up on my life down here is West Texas.
Also- isn't Texas so weird? I live in West Texas. I live in East Texas! Oh, I'm from North Texas. Oh, my cousin lives over in hill country. Good grief. Can't we just make several states of out just this one? Then maybe we can quite talking about that redneck secede nonsense.

The Room Mate
One of my favorite people in Lubbock is my roommate Lauren. She is Lubbock born and raised. She has never been to Oklahoma which blows my mind. I met her through one  of my sorority sisters at OSU (Olivia) who worked with Lauren. We both needed a roommate and bada bing, here we are. It's a pretty sweet deal because she only has a roommate for a small amount of time and I just write her a check each month and she pays all the bills and keeps this place cute. I only have the energy to decorate one residence.

Texas Tech vs. TCU game

I get a pretty solid deal at this duplex. I really have nothing to complain about except that it's irritating to pay both a mortgage and rent at the same time. Well... I mean, I guess I personally only pay rent. But if I gotta pay rent, this place suits me just fine. We have a cute little two bed two bath duplex. This is my bathroom. I don't own anything pictured here.

This is blurry but this is my room. It's so bright. It's a happy place. It's really a collection of stuff that probably belongs in a garage sale (except my furniture. Apparently that's a family heirloom and was Matt's as a child). And former roommate Abbey, if you're asking yourself: Is that the bedspread I gave you a hundred years ago? Yes, yes it is. I also didn't originally own any of the things in this room. It was all given to me. 

And you might say, wow Shanna, that's a lot of hair products! What you should say is: Wow Shanna, that's a lot of 95% empty hair products! 

I have essentially conditioned myself to sincerely miss home by having almost exclusively reject items at school. My makeup that I have here is so absurd that I saw my reflection in a window yesterday and I didn't recognize myself. 

And then there's school. I am not sure where my first day at Tech school picture is. Surely it's somewhere, right? 

Well here's year 2 and year 3.

And I really need to make something clear. Graduate school and college are two completely different animals. College is a ridiculous amount of fun paired with some classes and some studying. I even say that as a person who simultaneously had 4 jobs in college.  Those were the best days of my life! Graduate school... whew. It's tough.  I mean, the flexibility of the schedule is amazing and a good reason to get into this profession. But then there's a whole lotta 16 hour days back to back to back to make up for when you had the flexible schedule you enjoyed. Or didn't enjoy, you just have a deadline. Deadlines every where. As I was finishing my awful final I got an email about a proposal for my dissertation that is now due at the beginning of next week.  I totally get why it is due, but I am considering this blog post my vacation.  Actually, I'm taking the next couple of days off, and then I'm back to it again.  Things aren't so bad. The hours are usually worth it because I mostly love my job. Just don't ask me during finals week. 

One thing that keeps me from having too much guilt about being away from home is that this is my view. Every. Stinkin. Day. All. Day. Well, with less sushi. I put in a secondary screen down in the lab. You have no idea what this crappy secondary screen means to me. I got it from surplus. It has an enormous scratch or residue from a sticker or something. It doesn't matter. It's so helpful.


As a result of living in Lubbock I got the wonderful privilege of serving as the Social and Panhellenic Advisor to the Alpha Delta Pi chapter at Texas Tech University. I have learned so much through this experience and met some amazing wonderful women.  I have laughed so hard with these girls (there's about 200 not pictured) and they simultaneously make me feel young and old. I'm really sad to not be their advisor anymore. I'm going to go ahead and say that I am until the first because it makes me feel better and I'm not good with change.

It is also because of this organization that I run an annual 5K to support their fundraising efforts for the Ronald McDonald House. 

And then there's this guy:

This is my best bud Siva. When I enrolled in the program at Tech I had no idea that I would develop a friend like him.  He is from southern India and he refers to America has heaven.  He is so kind and generous and never says "no" which I try really hard not to take advantage of. Hey Siva, I know you're in the middle of something, will you go with me to get a tea? Sure. Hey buddy, I'm stuck in Oklahoma, can you cover my class on Tuesday? No problem. Hey! You got an apartment close to campus and don't have a car... can I use your parking pass? Yes, What is your plate number?
And before you say, well Shanna, that sure sounds like you might border taking advantage. Well if we're Facebook friends you have probably seen my album "Siva's American Firsts" which represents my efforts to show him as many American experiences that I can possibly provide him. I think I have probably had more fun with it than he has. We just treat each other this way because we are just great friends.
Right now he is in India with his wife (who will be here soon!) and knowing that I am moving back to Oklahoma and he will be able to spend endless time with his new bride is completely wonderful, but also a little sad.  There have been so many late nights in the lab where we have drawn our theories on the chalk board and talked out our variables and whether or not we "get" each other (it's better for your friends to tell you lightly that your theories have flaws rather than get crushed by your professor).  We have walked to the student union a hundred times to get a tea.  Taco Tuesday at Rosa's? Count us in.  Siva is just a great human and I am going to miss him to pieces.  We are going our own way and it is so for the best, and I will always cherish him and our friendship as a wonderful memory.  Lauren and Siva are the two people that I see myself being friends with forever.  We may struggle to get together, but every now and then we will find a way.
That's one of the good things about academia-- there's lots of conferences all over creation so we will just have to agree to present a paper at the same one and we can all spend time together. And with Lauren, I'm going to get that girl to Oklahoma one way or another.

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Ellen, Tina, and Mindy

I think writing a book sounds like a really daunting task. Don't you have to be really good at English? Don't you need to know the right time to foreshadow? How does one know the right time to foreshadow without giving everything away? Maybe you don't need to foreshadow but you need to be an expert about something so you can teach others because if don't know something they don't know then why the heck are they reading your book in the first place?
I love to read. Correction: I love to read for recreational purposes. I typically do not care too much for the things that are assigned to me in class. I recently started a monthly book club because I have several friends that like to read and it's a good excuse to get together and drink wine. First we read Ender's Game and most recently the book choice was Mindy Kalig's "Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me?" 

While the new book choice was being made I ordered Tina Fey's "Bossypants."  So, in a couple of weeks I have plowed though two books by comedians with similar writing styles. They both give sort of a historical account of how they came to be famous, their viewpoints on issues (Fey mostly on equality especially for women, and Kalig on romance). Each of them are self-deprecating and try to convey that there is a lot of fog and mirrors behind the scenes of Hollywood glamour- especially when considering photoshoots. Speaking of which, did you see that video of the time elapse of photoshop? Did you secretly wish someone would do that to your picture? 

These books also made me think of Ellen Degeneres' book "Seriously... I'm Kidding." Her book in many ways reads like a series of my blog posts. Just complete randomness. I mean, her randomness is much more funny than mine is but all I could think was, if I honed my skills, I could totally write a book. All I would need was about 4 million more loyal blog followers so I would be famous enough to claim I had an "audience" so I could get a publisher to put it out there. There's also the issue that these individuals have "made it." I'm still trying to "make it" and what is even worse is that my version of making it really stalls at teaching environmental policy at OSU with tenure. I had no idea when I was sitting in classrooms at OSU that I would ever regard that guy at the front with extreme anxiety about public speaking as my ultimate goal. I didn't have the slightest idea how difficult it would be to be that guy. I feel like if I could give advice to my undergraduate self I would start every semester with a handshake with my professor yelling "You Did It!!!" like Buddy the elf.

Back to the topic. What do books like these say about our society? When we choose to read, this is WHAT we choose to read? I haven't even read The Great Gatsby ( I did rent the movie the other night- it was lovely).  Should we put greater emphasis on classics and scholarly literature? If it makes us happy, should we just embrace it?
I don't really know. All I do know is that if I ever write a book that isn't some form of a text book, I am totally following the model of these women. Instead of focusing on love or photo editing I'll get on environmental soap boxes like: What kind of horrible self centered human being do you have to be to litter? And Hey Cashier, I bring my own bags, sack em up and try it with a smile this time. And How to force environmental behavior on your friends and loved ones through wedding and Christmas gifts.
You'd buy it, right? Even if only to make fun of me at your book club?

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Meet You in New Orleans

So far this has been a unique semester. I have been running all over creation, even more than usual. What has been especially unique is the ways in which Matt and I have gone about spending time together. At the beginning of the month we met in Portland, OR for a Energy Policy Research Conference where I was presenting a paper. I flew in from Lubbock and he came in from OKC. There's something very lovely and romantic about not seeing your spouse for too long and having them  knock on your hotel door when you're away for work.

We had a lovely time in Portland and it is a city that I would very much like to visit again. Especially if I can remove the added stress of completing and presenting  a paper (although it's very cost effective it do it that way)

Moving along a few weeks, I hadn't seen Matt in 10 days. I can do about 4 without too much frustration. Usually those 4 days are filled with very long days of me catching up since I neglected my school work entirely over the previous weekend. After 4, I really miss my husband. Aren't married people supposed to live together? Aren't they supposed to eat dinner together and talk about their days?? Aren't they supposed to sit in the chair and a half together and hang out with their dog and watch the Breaking Bad finale together??? Hey, we all define happiness in different ways. 

So Matt had a conference for work coming up in New Orleans. A few months ago he asked me if I wanted to go. DO I?????? Hang out with you and get to go somewhere cool? Did you even have to ask?

Once again, I flew from Lubbock and he flew from OKC.
Once again I got there earlier than he did. I had a glass of wine and some crab and corn soup while I waited for his plane to come in (When in Rome, right? Or Nawlin's. Or Nola. Or pretty soon just "Nuh"). Another knock on the hotel room door. My love was there. 

Okay, that's enough mushy. 

We started off at the ACME Oyster House. I don't know about you but I like Oysters. They were a little pricey... but YUM! Maybe I'll learn to make them myself... 

We crashed early. I was completely worn out from a trying week. 

The next day we visited Cafe Du Monde which is something you just do when you go to Nola. You eat beignets and drink cafe au lait.  I don't make the rules, I just follow them. 

Then we went back to the hotel and changed shoes. Sperrys are not good when the humidity is 115% and you have long distances to walk.

We went to Pat O'Briens for lunch. We had Hurricanes, Red Beans and Rice, Jumbalaya and Gumbo. We're such tourists.

Notice the different shirt? I totally under packed and the sweater wasn't going to work. What was I thinking?? So we shopped. 

Matt has a motto about traveling: He'll go anywhere that he can drink the streets. 

And then we took a nice tour around the French Quarter on a wagon behind a mule named Choctaw. It was one of our weird impulse decisions that we're known for. And like always, it turned out to be really fun. 

Poor Choctaw.

There's all kinds of street performers in New Orleans. Some people do really neat things and some people do strange things and it makes you wonder why they ask for money. Well this guy was a magician. He was pretty good for a guy on the street. He asked, "Do any men have a nice thick wedding ring for my next trick? I promise you'll get it back". I looked at might like "YOU DO!" and so reluctantly, Matt hands it over. And then the wave of terror came over me. WHY AM I AN IDIOT?!?

I started calculating what I would do if he took off. I ran a 5k the other day. I could totally take him! Forget that Sangria I just had! My entire body language changed. I was nearly part of the show. I wanted him in arms reach. WHY WOULD I ENCOURAGE MY HUSBAND TO GIVE HIS RING TO A STREET PERFORMER??? ESPECIALLY ONE THAT SPECIALIZES IN ILLUSION!?!?

Stupid. Stupid. Girl. 

Fortunately after about 45 seconds of performing some trick he gave it back. It appears to be the same ring. 

There should be an app for stopping you from doing truly stupid things. "Siri, should I encourage my husband to hand over his wedding ring to ANY strangers?" Boop Boop "I don't know why you even have to ask such things. Shall I do a web search?"

As a result of our wagon ride we discovered the oldest bar in the Western Hemisphere. It used to be a place for torture, Blacksmith was a cover up. "Uh, yes sir, I'll have a Hurricane." 

Overall, we had a really nice day. It was a typical Matt and Shanna adventure, and those are my favorite. 

On Saturday we both had to work. He went to his training and I found various spots to read a book for a review that was due on Monday. 

By the grace of the Good Lord, I actually finished it. And then my teacher cut me off when I was presenting it to class. Rude. 

We had a calm evening Saturday. We did stumble upon this pair of women who were fabulous musicians who happened to be playing "House of the Rising Sun" when we approached. Twas awesome. 

Our trips have been really nice this semester. Although Portland is much cooler than New Orleans and infinitely cleaner (in nearly every way imaginable).  Tomorrow I head home for the first time in 3 weeks and I have to tell you that I couldn't be any more excited. We're going to The Lumineers concert (because Matt thinks he's a hipster) and then Friday is Heather's bachelorette party. Of course it's a busy weekend, but I'm really looking forward to being home. My bed. My house. My dog. My love. My life. 

Until next time!

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