My Lubbock Life ~ Vida Bonita

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.