published...

i can now add author to my list of accomplishments. my grad school paper is finally getting published! it's in the american society of mechanical engineers journal of manufacturing science and engineering. click here for the citation. the funniest thing is that they sell it for $25 per copy. if you actually want to read it, you'll have to subscribe to asme or pay up! :)

things to be happy about

for my final meeting (read party) with my supervision group from school, we were asked to bring a gift that symbolizes a wish that we have for our fellow counselors as we leave each other. i decided on a little book that a counselor at my internship shared with me called 14,000 things to be happy about. go to the website and click on the "happy house" to get a short list of items from the book (changes every time you refresh). the book is literally a list of 14,000 quaint and wonderful items that make the author (and people she knows) happy. or, as she describes it "the little things that make life worth living." here i should point out the perspective that chris challenged me with: the list may not include the most important thing - Jesus! i can't say for sure since i haven't read the whole book. nevertheless, it has inspired me to start my own list of simple pleasures - all of which are blessings from God. these are a few of my favorite things:

• having something good to say and saying it
• sunday afternoon naps
• color
• tea, iced or hot
  
• handwritten letters
• lit candles
• new friends that feel like old friends
  
• precision of language

i told chris that if he made his own happy list, the doppler effect would definitely be included! probably hot gas paths, too.

a glimpse into the future

so, as chris mentioned last weekend we went to greenville. it really felt like a sneak peek into our lives as of may '08. for one, we searched for apartments, which took us all over town. i'm definitely excited at the prospect of more home for our buck (or less buck for a similar home!). at the ge prom, i got to meet a lot of chris' coworkers and their spouses. some were super-friendly and wanted to make plans to hang out once we get there. on sunday, we visited a church in taylors (a suburb) where my pastor from my old church in augusta now preaches. we didn't see a lot of young couples there, but we also didn't go to sunday school or the contemporary service. and there are plenty of other churches closer to greenville we can try. it's definitely difficult starting over after living in atlanta for nearly 6 years. i feel in a weird position here in atlanta, knowing that we're about to transition and not wanting to get too comfortable or too involved where we're at. at the same time, i want to make the most of the last 3 months we have here! it's a conflicting feeling, but it reminds me of how God places us in certain situations as certain times for His purposes - and often blesses us through it (cf. story of esther). i find myself having to put my faith in Him more through this time of change.

speaking of the future, i've got all my application materials in to clemson! after i graduate from my counseling program in may, i'll have to take some additional classes once we move to sc due to different state licensure requirements. i'm not thrilled about going back to school right after graduation (rather anticlimactic), but i'm trying to look at it as a chance to meet friends and make some job contacts. chris is being a great sport about giving a portion of his paycheck to a rival university!