Long Weekend

It's kind of strange to have a day off after the first week of school, but I sure am thankful for the long weekend. We don't have any big plans, but I'm hoping to get ahead on classwork and lesson plans (I've been feeling a little behind, and I don't like that at all). As far as school goes, my 101 classes continue to get better, although there's still room from improvement. It's been interesting to see how different the two sections are. So far, one has been much more willing to discuss the texts than the other. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised on Wednesday by the quiet class. Our reading for the weekend was really different from the others so far, and maybe they just needed something different to get their attention. I've just finished grading the first set of homework journals (400 word responses to the readings or a question from me). They were great! I can tell some students have weaknesses with editing or organization, but the ideas are coming across, and they've been very honest with me. It's interesting that some feel very confident about the class while others are worried. It'll be very interesting to see how they all do on the first essay, which is a major part of their final grade. In fact, I'm looking forward to getting through that first unit, too, just to have one under my belt!

As far as the classes I'm taking go, the decision in the Linguistics/Preceptorship conflict has fallen to the 3 of us affected. We've got two choices: enroll in Ling 201, an undergrad class that uses the same book and covers similar material; or stay enrolled in Ling 500, miss all the Thursday classes, and be responsible on our own to stay caught up. It's a big decision that we're all struggling with. On one hand, we have an option that's easier, but may not prepare us as well for the rest of our program, and won't be as interesting or challenging. On the other hand, we have the class we're supposed to be taking, with a great professor, but a lot of independent responsibility since we will miss half of the classes. I don't know if it's wise to jump into that in my first semester of grad school. So, the two others dealing with this issue and I have decided that whatever we do, we will all do. At least then we have each other's support. We're going to talk it over today and decide. Whatever we choose, we're stuck with; hopefully we'll make the best choice.

Mark and I also visited another church this morning. It's our favorite so far! We went to the college service at First Southern Baptist. This college service had more people in it than half the churches we've visited. The worship was great, the teaching was pretty good, and we liked the feel of the crowd. There seemed to be several married couples there, and they have a married student small group that we plan to try out. They have a lot of activities going on outside of the service, too. We haven't decided what to do next week yet, but I think we'll go back to this church before we settle on anything.

Quick Update

It seems we're in the middle of another monsoon storm, so I'll have to make this quick (don't want the computer plugged in if the power goes out again). Thankfully, the first week of school is almost over. The good news is that the classes I taught on Wednesday went SO much better than Monday. I felt better prepared and more confident, probably because I knew what to expect. It was also good to start getting to know the students better and find out about their ideas about the course. I had a couple talk to me after class, and expect things to keep getting better as we get to know each other and I get some more experience. On Wednesday I had them write and talk about their relationship with reading and writing. Several guys in one group, while I was observing them, said "I hate writing" but one said, very quickly, after that, "but I like you." So he was probably just trying to make sure he didn't get in trouble for being honest, but it was still nice.

I'm still waiting on a solution to the issues with my linguistics class, but my other graduate class, Methods of TESOL, was fantastic. I'm really going to be learning a lot, plus having many opportunities to get involved at CESL, which I'm looking forward to. It's really good to have something besides Eng 101 to focus my attention on.

The thunder is still going, so I'm going to have to wrap it up here...

Busy Days

Over the weekend, we went to a party for each of our departments. Saturday night, we went to the EL/L party at the program director's house. It was nice to meet some second year EL/L students and to introduce Mark to the other GATs he's been hearing about. On Sunday night, we went to Mark's percussion professor's house for the studio party. It was my turn to meet the people he's been talking about. It's nice to have faces to go with names, and since I plan to be on campus a lot more than I ever was during undergrad, I think it's likely that I'll get to know Mark's friends more, too. His professor's house was pretty incredible, so it was cool to see it. (And encouraging--if he can afford it, and Mark wants a job like his...) We also tried another church on Sunday. It's really close to us, which is great, and we loved the worship time but weren't sure about the teaching. So, our search will continue next weekend.

Today was our first day of class. Mark had a meeting in the morning and one class in the afternoon. I taught my two sections of English 101. I felt like it went okay, although it could have been better (it also could have been worse). The students seem fine so far, but I was definitely nervous going in and I'm afraid they could tell--especially in the first class. I also thought I had plenty planned, but went through it much faster than I expected and ended up letting them go pretty early. Of course, no one complained about that, but I certainly can't make a habit of it. I expect Wednesday to go better--I should be over the worst of my nerves; and they have homework, so I feel like I can expect more from them. (I sure do hope they do their homework!) I guess it'll just take some time to get a feel for how long things take and how manage the class time. I know I rushed through a few things--I kept thinking "go slower!" I need to learn to be comfortable with some silence after asking questions, to give people a chance to respond. Well, I think I should try not to over-analyze it. I probably need to tweak my lesson plans for Wednesday, and otherwise just keep at it till the class goes the way I'd like it to.

Tomorrow I get to go to my first class. (Actually two, because they are still trying to work out a solution to the Linguistics/Preceptorship conflict.) I'm looking forward to putting some focus back on my primary reason for being here and having something to think about besides English 101!

A Glossary

I've realized that everywhere you go there is a new vocabulary. (I know this is how my replacement at Hoffmantown felt, too...) It seems like during the last two weeks, I have learned a ton of new abbreviations and acronyms. But, even writing this blog, it's clear why people use so many--it's too much work to type it out every time! So, to assist my faithful readers, I have decided to compile a short glossary. This will allow me to use the terminology at will; and hopefully, you'll still know what I'm talking about. Here goes:

CCIT--The name of the building where my 'office' is.
CESL--Center for English as a Second Language. UA's on-campus Intensive English Program (IEP). I hope to work as a tutor here to gain extra ESL experience. I can also do an internship at CESL during my last semester.
COH--College of Humanities. The English Department is part of this College.
D2L--Desire to Learn. UAs online course management system. (Like WebCT at UNM.) As an instructor, I can set up a grade book in D2L which will do all of my calculations. I'm looking forward to using that feature!
EL/L--English Language/Linguistics program. One of four programs within the English Department. My degree is a part of this program.
GAT--Graduate Assistant in Teaching. My official title at UA.
TEAD--I can't remember (or find) what the letters stand for. Faculty advisors for GATs in the Writing Program. My advisor is D.R.
MAESL--Masters of Arts in English as a Second Language. The name of my degree.
ML--Modern Languages. Short for the Modern Languages Building, where, happily, my two English 101 classes meet. Also the home of the English Department, the Writing Program, and my GAT mailbox.
SLAT--Second Language Acquisition and Teaching. The name of the PhD program I would enter if we stay in Tucson.
TESOL--Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. A widespread name for my discipline. Also the name of the professional organization (in that case, T stands for Teachers).
UA or U of A--the University of Arizona.
WIRe--Writing Instructors' Resources. A great website with helpful sample assignments, articles, and general instructions for GATs.

Other news:
I gave Mark a haircut for the first time yesterday. His mom always did it before, but obviously, I had to take over now. It made me a little nervous, but I think it looks okay. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it, though, since he likes to keep his hair short.

Some thoughts on academia

Before we moved to Tucson, I began to realize that I had been living quite a sheltered life, especially for the last year while I was working full time at Hoffmantown. Of course, I couldn't have asked for better co-workers. And I did enjoy being around people who shared the majority of my convictions. Even while I was at UNM, my job (and of course my family) still provided a haven. Well, it's become very clear that I was right about my new environment. Don't get me wrong, everyone I've met so far has been very nice. I've really enjoyed getting to know my fellow GATs and the faculty. It's great to have some new friends already, and since we are in the same discipline, we do have a lot in common. There are lots of things to talk about and so on. But, I'm definitely in the middle of a liberal department where my worldview will be uncommon and frequently challenged. And, I realize that it's good for me--I anticipate having lots of opportunities to discuss my beliefs and convictions. Also lots of opportunities to take another look at what I believe so I can explain/defend it better. I don't know if that really makes sense...but academia is definitely a different environment. (And also one that I enjoy--I have been looking forward to going back to school for a while.)

Another thing I thought I would miss about my old job was all the free food. Actually, my eating habits went down the drain the last month in ABQ because everyone was taking us out and I was eating a lot of going-away desserts, so I thought it would probably be good to have less food temptation. As it turns out, though, I got free lunch yesterday after the graduate college orientation, and another free lunch today during the writing program orientation. I'm assuming I shouldn't get used to it, though.

Also, Mark had some 'diagnostic exams' earlier this week to determine what music history and theory classes he'd need to take. He spent a lot of time preparing for the tests, and got the results this morning when he met with his adviser. He only has to take one music history class, which will count toward his degree, and one undergrad theory class, which he expects to be very easy. The tests were pretty hard, and some of his classmates have to take two undergrad classes, so he's pretty happy with the results. He now has a little more information about what his schedule will look like, but he's still got an audition on Saturday for the large ensembles. Hopefully by tomorrow (I've been saying that for days now), I'll know what my schedule will look like, if they can resolve the conflict with the linguistics class. I guess we'll see.

Getting Organized

It feels like I'm getting settled into a routine. Of course, come Monday, when classes start, it will change again. For now, though, the first part of my day is spent in training and workshopping sessions, then I work independently on my syllabus and other school and home to-do's. When we get home, I cook dinner, then we watch the Olympics. It's good to have a routine again. And, I feel like I'm starting to feel ready to start teaching. I think my syllabus is in pretty good shape; it's due on Thursday morning. Thankfully, we just have to plan out the details of our first unit--about 5 weeks. I've already decided on topics for the final two units and chosen some of the readings, but it does seem wise to wait on putting the details together until I've had some actual classroom experience. It's hard to know if I'm assigning too much or too little homework or if I've prepared enough activities for the class...So the first unit will be a trial run in a lot of ways, but I hope the students won't know that. The way it is set up, though, with the advisor and small group to work with for support throughout the semester, will be really helpful. It's also nice to have already made friends. And I'll be seeing these people in the classes I'm taking as well as working with them as fellow English 101 teachers. I got my teaching assignments yesterday--I'll be teaching on MWF from 1-3pm (two 50 minute classes). That seems like a pretty good schedule, especially since my classes are in the same room, which is in the Modern Languages building, so that's about as convenient as it gets. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for a resolution to a scheduling conflict between the Preceptorship (mandatory weekly meeting for new GAT's) and a class required for my program. Once they figure that out, my schedule will be set. It's a lot more fluid than any schedule I've ever had, so I'm hoping to be able to take advantage of that. Anyway, I think things are coming together...Hopefully next week will go smoothly.

A Taste of Home

Yesterday I finally found the grocery store for us. We've shopped so far at Fry's (like Smith's) and Albertson's, but yesterday, I went to the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. Not only were the prices MUCH better (in fact, several things were exactly the same as in ABQ), but they sell frozen Albuquerque Tortilla Company green chile. So far, we had only been able to find canned, which is okay, but we're pretty excited that we've found the real thing now. I didn't see any red, but we use green a lot more anyway, so that's fine. Also, they match other store prices, so if I can figure out how to get the weekly ads at home, we'll be all set.

In other news, we tried another church this morning: Crossroads Community Baptist Church. It was another very small church, so everyone knew we were visitors, and they were very friendly. But, it didn't feel like the place for us, so the search continues. We've noticed a couple of other churches nearby, but it's hard to know where to go next. We're hopeful that getting involved in a Christian group on campus will help in two ways: we'll start to meet other Christians, and they may recommend churches in town. I just hope we are able to find a place we are excited about before long--I would hate to spend all semester going from one church to another.

Mark is busy today studying for his entrance exams--he takes one on music history tomorrow and one on music theory on Tuesday. After those tests, he'll be able to meet with the graduate music adviser and finalize his schedule. He's also got auditions for the large ensembles at UA on Saturday, so he'll be very busy this week. I'm going to spend some more time working on my syllabus this afternoon, and getting ready for 4 more days of training before school starts.

Power Outage

I meant to post an update yesterday, but I was feeling first like I had too much work to do, then too tired. I'm still tired--and very thankful that the training has only been 3 days this week and that we've gotten out earlier than I first expected we would. (Mark and I were up till midnight last night watching the women's all around gymnastics competition, so that didn't help either...) Anyway, the training has been going well. The details are probably pretty boring, but right now I am working on wading through the materials and beginning to draft my syllabus. I only have to put together the details of the first 5 or so weeks, but I'll probably try to do as much as I can before the semester starts. Overall, I have been very impressed by the whole orientation/training. Also, the people in the department all seem to be very helpful.

Other than the ongoing training stuff, I think there are two interesting things to share. First, as you may have guessed, we had our first power outage on Wednesday night. There was another very impressive monsoon (I'm realizing that, as a rule, Tucson monsoons are much more severe than the ones in ABQ--longer, more widespread, more rainfall). The lights dimmed a few times, Mark and I located flashlights, and sure enough, the power went out. We were without it for almost four hours. It was okay--we read instead of watching the Olympics, but it was hard to go to sleep. By midnight when it wasn't on yet, we were getting pretty uncomfortable since the apartment was warming up and the air was so still. But thankfully, just as I was lying there trying to stay asleep even though I was waking up, getting warm, worrying about the food in the fridge, wondering if I should call the power company again, it finally came back on. In the morning, we learned that there were neighborhoods still without power. I think we can expect at least a few of these during the monsoon season. What was funny to me was that at first, I thought it was kind of exciting to have the power go out. (Though that wore off after the first hour...). But I think that must have to do with my parents making sure power outages weren't scary when we were kids. Also, maybe that's the longest one I've ever been in, so loosing power for half an hour or whatever is totally different. I do remember playing games with my sister, pretending to be in the middle of some power outage or natural disaster. Usually, we piled into the bathroom with all of our dolls and stuffed animals. (The bathroom was in the middle of the house and had no windows or exterior walls, so it was the safest. It was also carpeted, which I think made it a more comfortable place to play than it would have been otherwise). Anyway, a real four hour power outage isn't that great, but it could have been worse. We are also now better prepared for the next one--we've got batteries in our camping lantern, for better light; and Mark's battery powered fan is up and running, which should make it a little easier to sleep.

The other thing is that I spent almost three hours yesterday with the university's 24/7 computer help people. I took my laptop over because I had been having some problems with it, specifically connecting to the Internet. I got the laptop as a high school graduation gift, and used it a lot my first couple of years, but after that, for a variety of reasons, I ended up using my computer at work and Mark's desktop for most of my computer needs. So, in the spring, when we brought the laptop on one of Mark's audition trips, we couldn't get it to connect to the Internet, the keyboard and mouse were acting a little weird, etc. Thankfully, I took a tour when we visited UA, and learned that they offer all kinds of free computer help to students and staff. Turns out that my computer needed a service pack for windows and a bunch of new drivers, which took quite a long time to all install, but here I am, writing this up on my own laptop at home for the first time. For some reason, I am still having a hard time connecting to our wireless network, so I'm using another one now, but I'll probably try to call tomorrow and see if they can help with that, too. They were really friendly, patient, and helpful, in addition to being able to actually solve my problem. I think it's a really great service to offer. And, I am certainly planning to use my laptop more now, since I'll be on campus all the time, it'll be nice to have this one with me to work with at my desk or wherever I want. It's also cool to sit here on the couch and take care of things at home.

Day One

I've made it through the first day of TA training! It feels so good to have the first day jitters over with (at least until the first day of actual class...). We received a lot of information today, which is great because I had a lot of questions. Now, I have a lot of material to wade through. Today's pleasant surprise was that our program ended at noon. Only a couple days during the next week are scheduled to go past one, and I had been expecting a 9-to-5 kind of schedule. Really, I think that just means I'll have time to run errands on campus or work at home on my syllabus. It turns out that I'll have much more input in the class than I expected--there is a basic structure laid out and certain textbooks we have to use, but the specific readings, daily lesson plans, and details of each required assignment are up to me. I think that's an advantage, because it allows me to choose readings that interest me; but it will be time consuming. And it appears I basically have to plan the whole semester in a week. Thankfully, I will have plenty of support. They gave us lots of information on paper today (probably close to a hundred pages worth, plus the textbooks and extra resources online). In addition to that, we're going over important stuff as a group (that is, all 40 of the new TAs) with time each day to meet in smaller groups (which will continue throughout the semester, on a weekly basis). Right now, my small group is just the 3 other new master's students in my program (EL/L--English Language/Linguistics) and one PhD student in SLAT (Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, which is the progam I would continue in should I choose to get a PhD). In the fall, we'll be joined by the 2nd year TAs from those two programs and there will be 17 of us. Each small group meets with a professor who supervises and guides our work. Ours happens to be the director of the English 101 class, so I figure she's the real expert on how it's done. I really like her personality, too. She's definitely helped put me at ease. I think the expectations for TAs will become more clear each day, and looking over the schedule for the rest of the training has helped me feel like the things I'm nervous about will all be discussed. I made friends already with the PhD student in our group (I 'happened' to sit next to her in the large-group meeting), and am sure that I'll get to know the others very quickly. I think it'll be great to be a part of an on-campus community, which I never really was at UNM. Also, it's already become clear that graduate students are treated very differently from undergrads. It feels like there will be a lot more collaboration between us and the professors. It's more than that, but it's hard to put in to words. At any rate, I like it. Well, that's probably enough on the topic for now; those of you who want the play-by-play, just feel free to give me a call. For now, I'm going to skim some readings in my new textbooks...

The Puzzle

This has been my main project for the last week and a half or so. Since I didn't have a whole lot else to do, I was finally able to open up and work the puzzle Mark bought me for Christmas. I got him to help a little, especially today as we finished it off after lunch. I mostly enjoyed working on it, and I am glad I was able to finish it today, since my training starts tomorrow. It's been driving me crazy not being able to sit and have dinner together at the kitchen table. I've been thinking a lot about how Becca and I used to do puzzles together when we were younger. I've decided they are more fun when you've got someone to talk to while working on them. This 1000 piece one was hard, but it is cute!

Besides that, Mark thinks I should tell everyone we got gas for 3.49 today. It's by far the best price we've had in a while. Fry's, one of the grocery chains, offers .10 off per gallon with their preferred shopper card, so we took advantage of that. Hopefully, since our commute is so much shorter now, it will be September before we have to fill up again. Unfortunately, we have noticed a drop in our gas mileage since moving here. I think it's mostly the fact that all of the driving we do is in town now, compared to a lot of interstate driving in ABQ. Plus, we're putting the A/C to more use with all the heat.

Not much else happening today. Tomorrow, though, will be busy for me. The training starts at 9am, with a breakfast before hand. I'll definitely go for breakfast: free food and a chance to meet some people (finally!). I hope to have a lot more information about my teaching position by the end of the week. I'll let you know how it goes...

Sunday Adventure

Yesterday we had a very busy, very fun day. We decided last week to drive up to Casa Grande to visit Grace Baptist Church, where Erik and Stephanie (Wayne's daughter and son-in-law) are. Mark realized that we'd be most of the way to Phoenix, so we arranged to have dinner in Phoenix with my Aunt Linda and Uncle Chuck. We were gone all day, but after so many days of just hanging out around the house, it was so nice to get out. We really enjoyed visiting the church--it was pretty small, but everyone was so friendly. After being at Hoffmantown for so long, visiting small churches really is a different experience. It seems like everyone knows you're new, so they all say hi and introduce themselves, which is nice. They certainly made us feel welcome. We could also tell that the church is growing because they plan to start a second Sunday morning service in the fall. It was great to meet Erik and Stephanie. Of course, Wayne talks about them and their kids, and since I worked with Steve (Stephanie's brother), we felt like we kind of already knew them. At any rate, we had plenty to talk about. It's too bad that they are over an hour away, though, because we really enjoyed the service. But, we heard that Steve is coming out in the fall for some sporting event, so we're hoping to plan another trip up to spend more time with Erik and Stephanie and catch up with Steve. I hope it'll work out.

After church, Mark and I went to lunch, then over to the outlet malls at Casa Grande. We planned to just window shop, but we did buy a new pair of shoes for Mark. There are some fun shops there. I expect to go back another time when I actually have some spending money. We also checked out the new, giant, outdoor shopping center they're building. There, we were able to use a gift card we had for Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It was fun, but we did feel pretty tired from walking around in the heat. It's definitely hotter there (and in Phoenix) than it is in Tucson, so that gave us some good perspective.

We left the mall at about 4:30 and went on up to Phoenix. Aunt Linda is so excited to have us closer, and it's fun for me, too, to have some family near by. We visited for a while and snacked on nachos (Aunt Linda always has a tasty snack ready) and Uncle Chuck grilled some giant burgers. Then we had ice cream with homemade cookies and chocolate sauce. We were so stuffed! It was good for Mark to get to know them a little better, and I think we'll enjoy seeing them more often. Aunt Linda's son and family live in Tucson, so we hope they'll stop by and see our place next time they come down.

So, I'm really glad yesterday worked out the way it did. Now, I've got to get ready for my training, which starts bright and early on Wednesday morning. Just two more days to relax before things will get crazy again!

BBQ

Mark's parents bought us a little charcoal grill as a housewarming gift. This was very cool as I had been thinking about buying a grill, since we now have a place to put it, but had decided it was an extra expense that wasn't really necessary. So when Mark's dad asked if we'd use one, I said definitely yes. I was a little hesitant, though, because I've never actually cooked on a grill (neither has Mark), and my dad uses electric, so I'm not at all familiar with charcoal. Well, we've had the grill for two weeks now and finally fired it up last night. They bought us charcoal, lighter fluid, matches, everything we needed. After reading the directions half a dozen times and enlisting Mark's help (just so I'd have some company and a second opinion during the experiment), we piled in the charcoal and lit it up. 30 minutes later, as promised on the packaging, we were ready to grill. I made up some hamburger patties and sure enough, they were done in the amount of time listed in the instructions. And, they were actually pretty good. So far in my experience as a cook, something usually doesn't go quite right the first time I try a new recipe or technique. When I first started cooking after Mark and I got married, this was very discouraging. Now, Mark and I just kind of know what to expect the first time around--some adjustments to make the next time. But, overall, last night's grilling experiment went really well. Of course there were a few things to change for next time: we didn't leave the cooking grate on the grill when the charcoal was heating up, so the food didn't get the tell-tale grill marks on it. We also put the cooking grate on upside down (which didn't really matter, but now that we know...). And, the burgers could have used a little more seasoning, but since I'm still restocking our fridge, I didn't have Worcestershire sauce, which I usually would have used. I've also realized that using the grill will take some planning ahead, since it takes a while for the charcoal to heat up. That's a little bit of a down side, but maybe it won't matter much once we see what our schedules will be like. They also say grilling in the summer is a good way to cook because you don't heat up the house with the oven, but here, every time you open the door, the A/C comes back on from the heat you let in, and we sure opened the door a lot last night. So I don't know if we saved any energy, but it was fun, and pretty tasty. I don't know what we'll try next on the grill--send me your favorite recipe and maybe we'll give it a try!

We got mail

There's not a whole lot going on here. But, yesterday we got a whole bunch of mail. I guess the post office had been saving some up for us until we got our keys (which took a while) and completed the little slip they left in our box. So, besides a whole bunch of bills (not terribly exciting), I got the nicest little note from some of my co-workers at Hoffmantown. They wrote and mailed it on July 25, so it took me a while to get it, but it was so fun to hear from them and know they are thinking of us. Thanks guys!

We also went to another mall yesterday (Park Place). We've decided we prefer the Tucson mall, but they are both pretty nice. There's one more we haven't seen yet. We didn't do any shopping, just walked around to check it out.

Oh--there is one more thing: the maintenance guys finally came yesterday and fixed our doors. I mentioned when we moved in that our place was a little rough around the edges. One of the problems was that the doors didn't fit properly--we either had to slam them shut (the front door) or they didn't close at all (the bathroom door). The Spanish-speaking guys spent over an hour taking almost every one of our doors off the hinges, shaving some of the door down, and putting them back up. Then they had to come back and repaint the parts they had sanded off. So that meant our front door was open that whole time, right in the middle of the afternoon. You can imagine how quickly our place heated up. But, after almost two weeks of slamming doors, we are so tickled each time we get to just close one regularly. It's amazing how much difference a little thing can make.

Monsoon

Last night we had our first major monsoon since we've been here. It rained heavily for over an hour with all kinds of thunder and lightning. When it started, we were watching a movie, so it was hard to tell just how hard it was raining. After the movie was over, I peeked through our shades for a while just watching it pour down. By the time it started to quiet down a little, I was worried that the water in our backyard would flood the house--we had probably over 2 inches puddling up back there. The weather man said Tucson had an inch during the storm, but there was definitely more than that in the yard. We couldn't see any of the lighting well because of the big tree out front, but we'd see the sky light up then hear a really loud boom of thunder. Some of it sounded very close. I've always liked watching/listening to a thunderstorm like that. (Although I was very glad to be at home when it hit, not out and about. I'm sure there was flooding on the roads.) It's been a while since I've seen one this intense. It made me think of what a powerful God we serve. Also, it reminded me of when I was younger and dad and I used to sit on the front porch at our old house and watch the rain. Sounds like there might be another big storm on the way tomorrow. Guess we'll see!

School Business

Mark and I spent most of the day yesterday at the university. We were able to get a lot done, but there seem to be quite a few things that will have to wait. Mark, for example, needs to meet with the Graduate Adviser in the music program before he can finish registering for classes. She is out of town until next week. I'm registered for my classes, but won't find out the times I'll be teaching until the end of next week. It's not a big deal to wait, but you know how I like to cross things off my list!

We also picked up our mailbox keys yesterday, so we're hoping to get our first mail in AZ today! We're expecting to get some DVDs we ordered on Netflix (thanks, Derek!).

The other exciting news is that I was notified this morning that I've been awarded a $750 scholarship from our credit union. This is one I had applied for months ago and was beginning to wonder about. Thanks to those who helped by writing letters of recommendation for me. There's one more out there I'm still waiting on, so hopefully I'll hear soon.

Church

We just got back from Crossroads--a church that meets in a movie theater. We found them through a listing of churches on the University's Graduate Christian Fellowship website. After looking at the church website, we decided to give it a try. It was a small church, but the people were very friendly. They had worship for a while then took a 10 minute fellowship break (with bagels and coffee). Then the pastor taught and we were dismissed. No Sunday school, but there are home groups during the week. The church (or should I say, movie theater) was farther away than we'd like, but they were certainly welcoming. The music was okay, but Mark would prefer something a little more polished, since he is a music guy. But, the pastor had a great sense of humor and seems to be on track theologically (as far as you can tell from one sermon, anyway). We decided to keep looking around for now, but we'd be willing to take a second look. Next Sunday, the plan is to drive up to Casa Grande (about 30 minutes north) to visit the church Wayne's son-in-law pastors. Ever since Wayne found out we'd be moving here, he's been telling us to go see Eric and Stephanie in Casa Grande. Seems like next week would be a good time to do that--we can make a day trip out of it and take our time exploring, since school won't have started yet. Anyway, it feels good to have made our first visit. We're praying it won't be long till we find the church we want to be a part of while we're here.

1st car repair

Yesterday we had our first car repair in Tucson. It figures that the day we drove out here, our Focus started making a noise. Thankfully, we were on the road with my dad, so he was able to take a look at it when we stopped halfway for gas. It was a cracked EGR tube at the exhaust manifold (interesting, I know). But, it was the kind of thing we could keep driving on for a little while without worrying about it. A few weeks before we moved I realized that leaving our hometown would mean we wouldn't know where to go for things...like car repairs. Funny we ended up needing one right off the bat. Anyway, dad called someone he knows in Tucson who recommended a place we could take it. Earlier in the week, I scheduled an appointment for Friday morning. Here's how it turned out. The good news was that they were able to weld the tube back together rather than replace it. (Read $20 vs. $80+). The bad news was that when I called to check on the car an hour after they had estimated to have it ready, I found out that the mechanic had broken another part while welding the tube. The other good news, though, is that he replaced it at his cost. So, at the very end of the day, we got our car back, minus the bad sound, and with a brand new part. All in all, I figured it was a good deal--not having a car all day wasn't too bad, since we didn't have any other major plans, and we got a free part thrown in. Also, as car repairs go, this one was cheap, so that was good too.

Other than that, things are pretty quiet here. We're unpacked, the fridge is full, and the apartment is clean. I've got the laundry going (in my own place!). But, I think it's setting in that we're out here in Tucson all alone. I know once my training and classes start, I'll be making new friends, but it is pretty strange being here at the moment, away from everyone we know and not having met anyone new yet (or having a whole lot to do). So, I'm trying to follow Mark's advice and enjoy all my free time and do things I'm always saying I don't have time to do. Like scrapbook the pictures from our vacation last summer, or work the puzzle Mark bought me for Christmas (I started that today), or watch movies, or read books. We did get public library cards and activate a gift subscription to Netflix today, so that should help keep us both entertained.

Tomorrow we'll be trying our first church in Tucson. I'll let you know how it goes.