long overdue - finishing out 2013

I guess it's official...we fail at blogging.  We haven't put up an update since this summer!  

To be fair, a lot has happened that has kept us busy.  And, now that Rebekah's walking, we just don't seem to have a chance to sit down at the computer anymore (and when we do, she instantly walks up and says, "my turn!").  

But, nevertheless, we've been remiss with keeping up with our announcements.  Consider this our "catch up post" to help us close out 2014...

Summer

We very much enjoyed our trip to California for my graduation.  We loved going back to Yosemite and Napa Valley and seeing several of our friends.  Rebekah was a real trooper on the trip - all that time in the car driving out there, and she still was full of smiles.

 

Yosemite was beautiful.  We were only able to spend a few hours there, but it was well worth it, even if it was unseasonably chilly.  

 

My parents (aka. Granny and Pappy) joined us on the trip.  Her dad kept telling everyone that he saw, "My daughter's getting a Ph.D.!"  I found it a bit embarrassing, but it's great to know that he is proud.  We enjoyed all of the time we got to spend with them.

After we returned to Texas, we wished we were in California - it was soooo hot!  We took Rebekah to the local splash park on numerous occasions.  She enjoyed it for the fun - we enjoyed it to cool ourselves off.

Can you believe how big she's getting?  And look at that blond hair!

 

A huge (meaning really, really, really, really, really, really large!) classic car show came to town over the summer, so Rebekah and I took Nathan there to check things out.  We spent several hours - there were literally hundreds of cars.  I got a bad sunburn, but Rebekah just turned golden.  One more way she's just like her daddy.

6th Anniversary

We celebrated our 6th anniversary twice!  The 6th anniversary is traditionally the iron anniversary, so we had both been on the lookout for "iron" gift ideas since early summer.  Nathan found an absolute winner - a wine glass chandelier!

He bought it right when it found it, but had to give it to me early in order to make sure it worked before his ability to return it expired.  So, we had our first anniversary celebration in July.  I went out shopping while Nathan installed my surprise - I loved it!  Then, we all went out to eat to celebrate the day.

We celebrated on our actual anniversary as well by taking a family selfie. :)

We had a cast iron dinner of chili, cornbread, and pazookie to complete our "iron" celebration.  And I gave Nathan a few things, one of which was the book As Iron Sharpens Iron by Howard and William Hendricks.

Nathan had picked up some wine called "Irony" to add to the celebration, but ironically we couldn't drink it.  Why?  We found out just a few days before our anniversary that we were expecting another child.  So, we put the Irony back into the pantry and enjoyed some wine glasses full of RC Cola instead.

Note: We unfortunately lost that pregnancy at 11 weeks in early October.    


We continued our anniversary celebration with a trip to Oklahoma City.  We dropped Rebekah off with Nathan's parents and spent a day on the town. :)  We first stopped by Pops, an awesome gas station on Route 66 featuring every kind of soda you could imagine.  I got a caramel butterscotch root beer, and Nathan got a chocolate soda.

We ate a delicious lunch at Hideaway Pizza - fried mushrooms, salad, and the most delicious meat-lovers pizza ever!

We spent the rest of the day on our "Christmas List" date, where we walk around the mall talking about what kinds of things we are interested in.  After the date, each of us writes the other's Christmas list based off of the ideas we got.  It's great because by the time Christmas rolls around, we don't remember anything that we mentioned liking, so everything is still a surprise.  Nathan loved this blue t-shirt...guess what he ended up getting for Christmas several months later!

Speaking of Dates...

We've struggled to keep up with regular dates, but we have had a few creative ones!  One night, we had a "blackout date". :)  We turned off all things electronic - laptop, television, lights...even the kitchen appliances!  We pretended we were having a blackout!  We lit all the candles that we owned and played board games while we had some great conversation.

For another date, I bought a groupon for ice skating, and Nathan reluctantly went along with it.

Halloween Happenings

We love the month of October for all of the festive fall events that go on.  A plant nursery opened up just up the road from us and hosted a fall festival for children.  Even though it was a frigid, rainy day, we took Rebekah to enjoy decorating a pumpkin and planting her own pansy.  She loved walking around among the plants and pumpkins, and as long as no strangers looked at her, she was all smiles.

Rebekah and Nathan both dressed up for Halloween.  Nathan made a minion costume (from Despicable Me) to wear to work.  He's wearing my pajama top and overalls, and he made the eyepiece out of his underwear.  Classy. :)

Rebekah loves bumblebees, so me and my mom made Rebekah a bumblebee costume.

We took her to a pumpkin patch to pick out her very own pumpkin.  She wanted to pick up everything she saw, but fortunately they were a bit too heavy for her.

We got Rebekah involved with the pumpkin carving this year.  She didn't want to actually touch the pumpkin, but she did help Dad remove the seeds with a spoon.

This year's pumpkin decoration...Mickey and Minnie!  As always, Nathan did a great job with the design.

The Holidays

We spent Thanksgiving in Omaha, Nebraska with my family.  It was amazing - we spent most of our time in a one-bedroom apartment - my sister, our brother-in-law, my parents, grandmother, and us - all 8 of us in a one-bedroom apartment....and nobody got hurt!

my sister Elizabeth, her husband Ande, and my parents Dolly and Wayne

We brought my sister back to Texas with us for a week-long visit.  While she was here, we enlisted her photography skills...isn't this one cute!

and this one of Rebekah and her "best friend" Dora...

and this other cute one of Rebekah!  Let's face it - we know who the star of the family is! :)

Unfortunately my sister's stay was cut a bit short by the crazy ice storm that pelted Dallas at the beginning of December.  We got 6 inches of solid ice!  We were stuck at home for a good 4 days (thankfully, I had done some grocery shopping in advance).  During that time, Rebekah enjoyed sledding (or "boating" according to her) down the driveway.

My birthday celebrations were also disrupted by the ice.  We had planned on going to a concert a church the day before and then going out to eat after church on the day of.  Nathan was going to make me a big birthday dinner and cake that night.  Instead, the concert got canceled, church got canceled, and we couldn't even get down our driveway to go out to eat (I doubt any restaurants were open anyway). 

Nathan then gave me one of the most thoughtful birthday presents ever.  Since he knows how important birthdays are to me, he bundled up, put on his huge overnight hiking backpack, and actually hiked across the ice to the grocery store several blocks (and across a major road) away!  He returned with all the ingredients for dinner stuffed in that backpack, including a half gallon of ice cream.  He then made me a delicious dinner of chicken fried chicken, fried okra, salad, and sweet potato biscuits.  For dessert, we had a warm, fudge-filled cake and ice cream.

During the weeks leading to Christmas, Rebekah and I enjoyed our time together, shopping for Daddy's presents and decorating the house. She learned to watercolor for the first time...

...and she also took up cooking!  While I prepare the meal, she enjoys "cooking" with her bowl of cornmeal alongside me.  It's one of her new favorite hobbies.

On Nathan's birthday, I took him to see the new Hobbit movie in the theater and then we enjoyed a fun dinner at one of our favorite places, Cowboy Chicken.  When we got home, he opened presents after blowing out the candles on a Mississippi Mud Cake.

The next morning, we celebrated Christmas morning at our house.  It was important to me that we have Christmas at home, but we were going to be traveling over the holidays.  So, on December 21, we woke up to presents under the tree! 

Rebekah was pretty funny - she was more excited about the raisins that she found in her stocking than any other gift that she got.  She didn't even want to open presents...she just wanted to eat raisins!

After our Christmas morning at home, we headed to Nathan's parents' house in Oklahoma to celebrate Nathan's birthday with his family.  One of their traditions is to decorate the Christmas tree on his birthday.  Rebekah got to put on the candy canes...she took that job very seriously.

On Christmas Eve, we headed to Kansas to visit my family for Christmas. 

Nathan and I have been very intentional about trying to figure out how to make Christmas less about presents and more about Jesus.  I'm sure I'll do a more detailed post about that some other time (maybe next Christmas), but one way we changed things up this year is by having a birthday party for Jesus.  Instead of the focus being Santa and the gifts he left, we talked to Rebekah about Jesus and how we would be celebrating his birthday.  She loves, loves, loves birthdays and birthday parties, so she was very excited.  On Christmas morning, when she walked into the living room, she found the room filled with birthday balloons!

Haha...she loved the balloons so much that it actually took until 7:30pm to finish opening the presents...she just wasn't interested (which, I guess, is exactly what we wanted!).

After our Christmas dinner, instead of just grabbing dessert and going to sit on the sofa, we all sat down at the table to continue the birthday festivities.  We had made birthday cookies for Jesus, put candles in the pies, and wore party hats!

After singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blowing out the candles, we enjoyed our desserts.

Somebody really enjoyed hers!

We ended up celebrating Christmas two more times - once at Nathan's grandmother's house and again at Nathan's parents house.  By the end of our trip, Rebekah got pretty good at opening presents.

One Last Thing

This is just too cute not to share.  Rebekah got her first haircut over the holidays!  Here's the before picture...

Aaaaand, here's the "look what my mom just did to me!" picture...

In my defense, the phone rang right as I took the first cut, and she moved her head.  Fortunately, Granny was there to fix it.

And the beautiful after photo!

So that's pretty much it.  That's what we've been up to in the past six months.  In many ways, it's been a very difficult time period, with the loss of a baby, some financial difficulty, and lots of stuff not working out as planned.  But in many more ways, it's been so, so blessed.  We're thankful for all that God has done in, for, and through us, and we look forward to seeing what He's got in store in 2014.  No matter what, we'll keep walking with Him!

The End :)

announcing dr. kristin!

Well, folks, I did it.  I finally graduated!  God is so amazing.  I had only 6 weeks to edit over 200 pages of dissertation, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do it.  I took it to the Lord and had some of the very best prayer time of my life.  God is able...period.  He accomplished what I couldn't.  I remember staring at some of the paragraphs that somehow made it to my computer screen and just marveling at the words written there.  I couldn't have thought of that on my own!

By the end of May, I had the signatures of every member of my dissertation committee.  It was such a great feeling (and a bit anticlimactic) to go to California and actually put on that cap and gown and bring this journey to a close. 

With Ellen Hartigan-O'Connor, the dissertation committee member who hooded me at graduation.

Graduation was interesting.  All of us graduates had to stand outside in our caps and gowns in the 90 degree heat for an hour before the ceremony.  I had cute hair before I got there...promise!  My major advisor was out of town, so I was fortunate enough to have had another dissertation committee present to hood me.  She put in a lot of work on my dissertation, so it seemed fitting that she was there.

From what I hear, Rebekah handled the ceremony pretty well!  Nathan spent the majority of the time walking her around, and she gave a lot of applause to the theater majors (apparently, she didn't see the need to applaud me :).  She entertained those in nearby seats with her renditions of "The More We Get Together" and other songs.

We had a pretty bad graduation speaker, which is how it should be, I guess.  I don't know that I've ever attended a graduation with a good speaker.  This guy's thesis was "I am awesome.  Be just like me."  Good message for the masses.

Getting hooded was pretty funny.  My professor's sole job was to hand my hood to some other "professional hooder" (actually, I really don't know who he was).  He practically gagged me putting the thing around my neck, but at least he didn't knock my hat off.

So what's next?  Well, I've really been feeling called toward Christian education, specifically at the high school level.  I've realized that I love being a mother and a wife and want a position that will allow me to put those things first (university positions would require well more than 40 hours a week).  We are also fortunate that we live near several private Christian high schools.  God has placed in my life a lot of individuals affiliated with those schools, and by the time I graduated, I was pretty sure that's where He wanted me to land.

I interviewed with one particular school that is just 10 minutes from our home.  It's an amazing school, and I enjoyed the interviews very much...all eight hours of them!  I didn't get the position this year because they needed someone with a bit more secondary-level teaching experience.  But the door there is still wide open!  The principal and I had a great conversation, and he promised to "hunt me down" next year.  He has a particular vision for his history program that I am uniquely qualified to fill, and I strongly believe that God has a place for me at this school in the near future.

Until then, I'm going to start working on my teaching certification.  Isn't it ironic that I'm qualified to teach 19-year-olds - and have, in fact, taught college students for 3 years - yet I'm not qualified to teach 17-year-olds? :)  It will be good, though.  I'm looking forward to more learning, to feeling more prepared to enter the high school environment, and for all of the extra time that this will give me with Rebekah in the coming year.

I figured I should close out this post by thanking some people.  Like my husband and daughter, who put up with me and my work for so long.  And my parents, who've always supported me and who have never hid the fact that they are so, so proud.  It feels good to make your parents proud.

Me with Mom and Dad - they made the trip out to California to see me graduate!

And my advisor, Alan, who really helped carry this project along from start to finish.  He might not smile much for photos, but he sure was great to work with. :)

My dissertation advisor, Alan Taylor.

And to close, I thought I'd copy the acknowledgments from my dissertation itself.  Hopefully, I didn't leave anyone off.

I’m grateful to many people for their help, encouragement, and generosity as they walked alongside me in my academic journey.  Although a simple “thanks” seems so small compared to the tremendous support that they provided me, I’m honored to be able to express my gratitude publicly and permanently.

            Alan Taylor is everything any graduate student could want in an advisor and more.  His insights as a scholar are unparalleled – I believe I learned more just sitting and listening to him chat about his historical interests than I have in most formal classroom settings.  However, it was the personal attention he gave to my scholarship that I will most remember.  He always took the time to listen, provide detailed critical feedback, and more importantly, to praise profusely where praise was due.  His financial generosity sustained me at several points throughout my academic career.  For his efforts and encouragement on my behalf, I am extremely grateful.

            This project would not be nearly what it is today without the additional influence of the rest of my dissertation committee – Ellen Hartigan-O’Connor, John Smolenski, and Ari Kelman.  Ellen particularly pushed me to think more critically, read more broadly, and analyze more thoroughly.  Although I inwardly cringed whenever I would receive her overwhelming notes on each chapter, I can honestly say that I am grateful for each and every one. 

            I’m appreciative of those fellow graduate students whose friendship made my journey through graduate school a pleasant one.  Yulian Wu has been a great friend since day one.  While an excellent scholar, she also proved an excellent companion when making sugar cookies and meatloaf, and I’m grateful to her for dragging me to yoga – turns out I enjoyed it more than I thought I would!  My most enjoyable adventures as a graduate student involved Yulian – thanks for being my partner in crime!  Luci Petlack has been the best “dissertation buddy” I could have asked for.  Not only has she read every single chapter in its roughest stages, but she’s also been there to encourage, complain to, and just chat with when the words wouldn’t seem to flow.  I’m so thankful that we were able to finish our academic journey together. 

            Debbie Lyon and Ross Eikenbary are two of the hardest working staff members at UC Davis.  They go above and beyond in every way.  I’m especially appreciative of Debbie for keeping that bowl of chocolates on her desk – hard days always seemed a bit brighter after a talk with Debbie and one of those chocolates.  Outside of UC Davis, fellow scholars Joe Adelman, Steven Smith, Andrew Torget, Seth Rockman, and Seth Cotlar provided valuable insights, encouragement, and helpful aid throughout the course of my project. 

            I’m grateful to the many institutions, archives, and foundations that lent me support along my journey.  UC Davis and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation provided generous financial support.  The Gilder Lehrman Institute not only provided monetary support for my dissertation research, but they also helped start this whole process by accepting me to their first History Scholars Program while I was still an undergraduate.  To Thorin Tritter and the rest of the GL “crew” – thanks for showing me just how fun history could be.  I was honored to be a participant at the American Antiquarian Society’s summer seminar led by David Paul Nord and John Nerone on the newspaper and culture of print in the early republic.  The AAS’s Phil Lampi and Paul Erickson have provided encouragement and valuable insight.  I also appreciate the society’s generous financial help and the use of their collections in my own work.  Without the American Antiquarian Society, a history of newspapers would be a much more difficult beast to conquer.  I’m especially thankful to the Maryland Historical Society for making me feel at home during my extended stay.  Their H. Furlong Baldwin Library has been my most favorite of all, primarily due to the friendliness and helpfulness of their staff.  I’m also thankful to Columbia University, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library of Congress, the New York Historical Society, and the New York Public Library – it was an honor and pleasure to conduct research at each of these institutions.

            I would never have even considered going to graduate school in the first place if it hadn’t been for the overwhelming support and encouragement of three very special professors.  David Snead invested in my academic future from the moment I stepped into his class.  He gave me a love for the subject and encouraged me to consider a future in it.  More importantly, he showed me that you don’t have to compromise your faith or values to be a successful academic.  Christina Ashby-Martin pushed me to become my best, praising me every step of the way.  Her guidance in the world of fellowships and grants helped me secure much-needed financial resources.  And Gretchen Adams – thank you for jumping on board when this timid undergraduate came knocking at your door asking you to be her undergraduate thesis advisor.  I have never regretted my choice and am so thankful to have had your friendship and guidance along my academic path.   

            Finally, none of this would have been possible without the support, friendship, and love of my friends and family.  Katie Sluis, Kristen Queen, and Stacia Heuser – you all kept me sane, grounded, and rooted in my faith.  I’m so thankful that we’ve managed to keep up our friendships despite the miles that separate us.  Marta Bonds and Lauren Ferguson have not only been great friends but have also shown me that it can be done!  I’m so proud of you both and am excited to join your ranks.  My extended family of in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents has continually blessed me with their prayers, encouragement, and support.  I relish making them proud.

            Mom and Dad, thank you for always encouraging me to do my best at everything.  You’ve taught me many things, but your love for me is what I’ve always clung to.  Thanks for raising me to take pride in myself and my work and for loving me no matter what!  Elizabeth (aka. S.I.S.), thank you for giving me a reason to be a role model.  I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become and so honored to call you my sister.

            Nathan, I love you with all my heart.  You married me knowing full and well the academic journey I was starting, and I appreciate you sticking through it with me.  Your love, support, and knack for knocking sense into me has kept me both balanced and blessedly happy.  And Rebekah – I know you have no idea that this is what Mommy has been doing during your naptimes, but thank you for sleeping well and amusing me when you woke up.  Seeing your smile is always the highlight of my day.

            It is only appropriate that I save the most important for the end.  Heavenly Father, thank you for your constant guidance, provision, and blessing.  Thank you for leading me when I didn’t know where I was going.  You have sustained me throughout this process, and I trust completely in Your will for my future.

rebekah turns one

In February (yes, over a month ago), Rebekah turned a year old!  We're finally getting around to posting pictures of her big day.

We were fortunate to have several guests join us for our celebration.  Kristin's parents came from Kansas, Nathan's brother and his family came from Oklahoma, a few friends from church dropped by, and Kristin's sister skyped in from Nebraska.

Rebekah particularly enjoyed having a friend from the church nursery over to play. 

We did a little photo shoot of Rebekah with her newborn photo.  She's grown up so much in just one year!

She likes wearing a mixing bowl for a hat...she's her mother's daughter.

Kristin made homemade whoopie pies for dessert.  Rebekah smiled when everybody sang and when Mom and Dad helped her blow out her candle.

We didn't know whether she'd throw the whoopie pie on the floor or give it a try...she decided to be adventurous and just stuck it in her mouth.

At first she was very serious about it...several bites in and not one smile.

In the end, though, it was a winner!  She loved her first taste of chocolate.  She ate about 3/4 of the whoopie pie before looking at us and saying "all done!"

After whoopie pies, she got to open a few presents.  A friend from church handmade her an adorable elephant.

Mom and Dad got her a doll - her very first one!

The only downside to the party was the adult cake.  Kristin had envisioned a giant whoopie pie with three layers of chocolate cake, two layers of marshmallow filling, and chocolate ganache covering the top.  Once we constructed it, however, the whole thing just went sliding.  Fortunately, it tasted amazing.

The whole family on Rebekah's first birthday...

To cap off the night, Rebekah and Daddy did what they do every night - read the Bible.

january snow and smiles

It's been a while since we've posted for a very good reason...I've been working on my dissertation.  I've worked during every nap that Rebekah takes, just about every evening, and all day every Saturday while Nathan watched Rebekah.  The only days that I didn't work were Sundays.  I figure that God knew what He was doing when He made the sabbath a day of rest, and I didn't argue.  All that work finally paid off this week...

It's done!  I mailed the final, revised copy to my major professor on Monday.  So now we wait for my committee to review it.  Prayers are much appreciated that they will accept it for graduation without any additional major revisions.

We celebrated with cupcakes and a bottle of sparkling wine.  Then I cleaned out the fridge.  It's so nice to have the time to clean my house again!

So now that I'm done, I'm trying to get caught up on blogs, photos, scrapbooking, and everything else.  Here's what we missed telling you about in January...

 

Rebekah went through a "hat" phase.  She loved signing the word "hat" and saying it (she articulated it very well).  And, she loved turning any object she could find into a hat.  Above, she is wearing a banana hat. 

We also went through a period of time where she learned to pull up but then couldn't figure out how to get down.  This led to a week of no sleep for anyone.  She would pull up in her crib and then stand and cry until we came to rescue her.  Then, the minute we did, she'd pull up again.  Finally, she just wore herself out so much that she fell asleep before she could even lay down!

We had some beautiful snow in January!  It was a wonderful surprise to wake up to a winter wonderland.  I ran outside in my pajamas in order to snap this picture of our house covered in snow.  I'm glad I did - the snow all melted by lunch!

Our little gangsta' really enjoys bath times with Daddy.  And he enjoys giving her new hair styles.

We went on a lovely date to a nearby park.  We'd been having trouble thinking of date ideas recently.  We're trying to save up money to hopefully be able to go to California in June for my graduation.  As a result, we've budgeted out things like movies, restaurants, and child care.  We got creative, though.  We headed to Costco for some frozen yogurt (under $3 for the two of us) and then went to a nearby park for a walk. 

While there, we took Rebekah to feed the ducks.

We showed her how to toss the bread to the ducks.  Then we gave her some bread to throw, but she ended up eating it instead.  Silly girl.