Long time no see! It's been 5 months since I posted here, but happily I cannot chalk it up to laziness. We have been busy, busy, BUSY!
We've gone through some big changes, most notably our move to Lawrence, KS. We're all settled into our place now. Jager and Ziva have adjusted nicely (Ziva has even lost weight, as this is the first place she's lived with stairs), and I'm happy to be back. Clint is working from home and I know he loves it. It's different to have him home during the day, but I'm so proud of my little entrepreneur! The compliments he's always getting on the quality of his work and his professionalism and personality are just fantastic.
I have returned to world of academia and it is glorious! I love my classes, professors, classmates, and the general satisfaction of doing what I love. I think the world would be a much happier place if everyone was lucky enough (and driven enough) to devote their life to what they love. If you'd like a little glimpse into my schedule and class content, here it is:
Rel601, Approaches to the Study of Religion: this is my intro to graduate to study of religion, we just finished the first half of the class, which was all foundational theories of religion (Marx, Durkheim, Eliade). Now, we're getting into more modern topics of study like the relevance of religious studies and the body. There are only 4 people in my class, and it's a great prof., so discussions are always fun.
Rel550, Gender Issues in Islam: Despite my interest in the subject, I find this class terribly boring. The readings are great, but in-class is mostly powerpoints (snooze) and discussions are lacking. Bummer. On a nicer note though, the prof. is awesome. In combination with REL 601, I am writing my largest paper of the semester (and proposing for it for a conference) on the social implications of birth control in the Abbasid (medieval) period of Islam. woo hoo!
Rel 875, Loving Relationships: This is the best class I'm in right now, though I'd call it unconventional at least. It's crosslisted as Coms475, so it's full of senior communications majors. Unlike myself, most of them are on the tailend of their degrees and come on, we all know communications degrees aren't exactly hard to come by :) But it's a lot of fun, I've really bonded with my group, and the content it extraordinary. Our texts are Loving Relationships, The Art of Loving, To Love and Be Loved, and The Dance of Intimacy. These books address how to be a loving person, and build loving relationships, based on their theories. Levels of love we've addressed so far are self, community, family, commited relationships and marriage, friendship, and nature.
Rel106, Intro to Eastern Religions: This is the class I TA for. It's been really "fun" seeing emails of undergrads excuses for missing class, their constant facebooking and texting in class (which they totally think they're getting away with), and grading a boatload (buttload) of exams every few weeks. Seriously though, this funds my education, I'm working with a professor I like, and generally I find it rewarding. Pretty fun.
I have, for the most part, figured out how to balance what I call my "wifely duties" (shopping, couponing, budgeting, paying bills, cleaning, etc.) along with school and I feel a real balance and happiness in my life. The days are very routine, so it seems there's not much to update on the blog, but I will continue to do my best to update on life and share general bits of happiness.
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