Every 6 months...

So it seems like every 6 months, I remember I have a blog. Well, here is a minor update on everything:

• Proposed to Liz last weekend. We are really excited about everything coming up in the next few months in terms of planning and celebrating. We hope to have a wedding date situated by Christmas -- I have no idea what she has in her head for a timeframe.
• Vegas was amazing and I cannot wait to go back. I lost a few bucks, but drank my fair share at the tables, ate some great food, and saw some fantastic sites. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up there around Spring Break season.
• No word on possible moves or career transitions yet. I am anxious to move on to another challenge and hear if that change involves a change in location. I hope to get into a more focused, time critical role to balance my current experience pertaining to year-long project work and breadth of knowledge. I hope to eventually land a management position to utilize my interpersonal and leadership skills (I am well aware this reads as stilted).

Overall, my life is great and I cannot be happier with where I am and who I have met and associated with along the way. Sometimes, it seems like there are not enough hours in the day, but that is the way I have always situated myself. There are some people who I desperately need to call back / text back / etc. when I get a chance and I hope to do so sometime this week.

Eventually, I will slow down to enjoy the ride; however, I am enjoying it just fine at this pace.

I just set a reminder for me to post in 2 weeks. Hopefully I will be able to keep my own promise.

So, about that blogging...

So I just realized that the link to my LinkedIn, Facebook, and all other social media are pointed toward this well-outdated blog. I think it is time to throw some updates on here and hope that the habit sticks.

Facts

• Still in Fairfax, VA and loving it. The job is going very well and I seem to be getting a lot more autonomy in my work, something that I have always strove for and enjoyed. In terms of travel, I have been to Baton Rouge so many times that I have become the unofficial authority on all things Cajun. I may be able to head to France once or twice soon; too early to tell though.

• The real world is really fun. It is so nice not to have to pull all-nighters, pound coffee in the Diner, or think about classes and homework 24/7. You have money to go out, have a few drinks, get loose, and enjoy the weekends. Speaking of, the pong table and cornhole set have done us well so far this summer, even though the pong table is close to end-of-life.

• My brother graduates from Penn State this weekend. Steve is perhaps the hardest worker I know, but not only that... I think he is the hardest worker anyone I know knows. The graduation, as well as the various recognition he has gotten recently, is well-deserved. I am very proud and excited for him to take on Hotlanta and Emory in the fall.

It is an exciting time in an exciting city. I don't know where I will be or what I will be doing in 6 months, but all I know is I will be having fun, living life, and, perhaps, blogging more frequently.

Changes

Today, the movers came to take all of my stuff into storage for Fairfax. My room is empty and all I have right now are some clothes for my Mexico trip with Liz and her family (June 3-10), my laptop, and toiletries. This should be fun. I am extremely excited for the next couple weeks. I start my job on the 16th. I will be working in the Abnormal Errors Detection group. I really do not know what all that entails, but it sounds like a great job for me.

I am hoping that in the next year, I can get myself situated to start working on an MBA, an engineering-related Master's degree, or both. I really want to further my education, but found a terrific job and couldn't stand the thought of another 4-5 years just taking classes and working on a huge dissertation. Maybe eventually I will go back and get a PhD, but that will not be for a while. For right now, I am just going to try to do the best that I can at work, see about these opportunities, and plan accordingly.

It is pretty hard for me to figure out my emotions through this entire process, because there are so many. One minute, I will be excited; the next sad; the next scared. I am trying to act like a tough guy through all of it, mostly because I don't know how to react to this kind of feeling. All I know right now is that I have had a ton of great times in the past and I anticipate many more in the future.

Thesis in T-12 Days

Okay, so I really need to factor sleep into my life. I overslept a racketball class... again. I went to bed around 6 last night... again. The interesting thing about this is the fact that I was working on my thesis the entire time, something I don't think I have procrastinated on at all. Well, luckily for me, it is almost completed (seriously this time) and ready for primary readings. I would love to get this out to Matsoukas tomorrow so that I have a full week of edits before submission on 4/28.

Blue/White Weekend is going to be a mess. There are so many alums coming in that are just fantastic. There is no way I am getting anything done from tomorrow night until late Sunday night. I currently have 21 pages of thesis done. The rest will be a lot of graphics and not a lot of writing. I think it will be around 60 pages start to finish when I am done. It will be cool to have something bound and up in the stacks forever. Hopefully some of this research will get published somewhere in a few years.

Back to the grind. Really glad I started blogging again.

First Post

I am really excited about the coming weeks. With my new job assured and my thesis due date coming closer, I have begun thinking about the future and what it brings. One of the major things I have experienced is the way in which focus can change over time. I am not nearly as focused on learning as I have been in the past - probably a consequence of 170 credits of work and a secured future. It is weird that when this year started, I was thinking about getting my PhD. Now I can't even focus on the 13.5 credits I have.

Right now, I have finished playing some online poker and working on some control homework. I am pretty beat, but cannot fall asleep. Weird. I need to get a lot done on my thesis tomorrow in order to enjoy the next few days. I may try to stay up all night to do so, but I would rather not. The magic/appeal of the all-nighter has come and gone over these past couple years. April 28th cannot come soon enough.

I am going to try to fall asleep again. I miss blogging a lot. It always gave me a few minutes to organize myself and collect my thoughts. Hopefully I will be able to utilize it in the future to do the same.