Horseback Riding!

We recently returned from spending 4 nights at Ben's parents' farm in Kentucky.  It was so great to spend time with family, eat wonderful farm-fresh food, and ride horses.  Speaking of which, here are a few pics of me, Ally, and Amelia channeling our inner equestrian spirits.  Can't wait to ride again!

 Me and Pirioso the Dutch Warmblood.  

 Ally and Hooper the Haflinger 

Amelia and Hooper

Birthday Season

It's birthday season in the Evans household once again!  Last Tuesday was Amelia's 3rd birthday and today is Ally's 6th birthday.  These girls are growing like weeds!

The Illusion of Awesomeness

It has been a really long time (like probably on the order of 2 years) since I've written a blog post that is even remotely reflective, insightful, or contemplative.  However, a recent blog post by my friend Laura (read it here) has really inspired me to write down my own thoughts about the illusion of awesomeness.

I love Facebook and Twitter.  They have allowed me to keep in touch with friends and family who don't live nearby, and they have allowed me to reconnect with friends whom I haven't seen in a while.  I also enjoy reading blogs, particularly those written by fellow moms.  However, I have had to become a bit more selective in what I read because everyone is so awesome. 

You know what I mean.  I'm talking about those pictures that people post where in the background you can see their awesomely decorated and clean house.  Or the pictures that people post where their kids are dressed in awesomely adorable outfits, winning awards at something, having an awesome time with their parents and everyone is smiley, etc.  Or the pictures people post of their awesomely cute crafty creations, edible and otherwise.  And then there are the blogs which in my opinion can be some of the biggest shows of awesomeness.  I had to stop reading a couple blogs because I started feeling a bit guilty that I didn't home-school my kids, didn't have my house organized to a tee, didn't stay at home full-time, didn't read my Bible daily or have daily quiet time, didn't cook organic scratch-made meals for my family everyday, and wasn't actively "surrendering my family planning to the Lord."  The people writing those posts seemed to have their lives so awesomely figured out, and suddenly, I found myself feeling pretty, well, not awesome.  And with social media and the internet all around us and available literally at our fingertips 24/7, it seems like these awesome people are everywhere.  But here's the thing:

No one is 100% awesome 100% of the time.

To be clear, there are people out there doing awesome things, and those awesome things should be celebrated and rewarded.  I have friends and coworkers who have and are achieving awesome things in their professional lives and I want to know about that so I can celebrate with them.  I want my friends to keep posting pictures of their kids on Facebook because their kids are cute.  I have actually appreciated seeing some of those crafty and tasty ideas online because it gave me an idea of my own, which turned out to be successful.  But what we have to remember (and as Laura so nicely stated in her post) is that all these awesome posts, pictures, and Pinterest creations are representing people at their best.  We don't see the flops, the struggles, the failures, or the mess that likely preceded (or maybe even followed) the awesome moment.  And we also have to remember that social media relationships and internet connections aren't surrogates for real relationships.  It is easy for someone to make him/herself look 100% awesome 100% of the time when they can select what they want other people to see and hide the rest behind the keyboard.  Real relationships can't involve illusions of awesomeness; they involve real human people at their best and worst and who aren't afraid to open up to each other, admit their struggles, and be vulnerable once in a while.  So here are a few (of many) ways that illustrate how:

I am not 100% awesome 100% of the time.

A couple months ago, I had one of the manuscripts from my dissertation accepted for publication in a scientific journal.  However, the acceptance came after three previous rejections from other journals.  And the other manuscript from my dissertation has been rejected at least once and is in review at another journal.  And my dissertation is now 2 years in the past.

I  am a PhD-level exercise physiologist, and so I am well aware of the fact that I should be getting at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week.  I love to run, and I even promoted my own awesomeness in my October post when I talked about my PR in the Carrboro 10K (complete with a nice action shot of me running).  That was where the awesomeness ended, because I have not gone running since sometime in January.  And before that, the last time I ran regularly was sometime in November or December.  This semester has been really busy for both Ben and me, and the winter weather we've had lately has not helped either.  I am itching to lace up my shoes and pound the pavement, but right now it's just not happening. 

I am a college professor, so I am put to the test every day when I stand up in front of my classes.  I love what I do, and I think I do it fairly well for this being only my second year as a faculty member.  But I am not awesome.  I make mistakes, I forget things, and I don't always know the answers to questions.  Of the 11 sets of course evaluations that students have filled out for my classes in these first 2 years I've been at my institution, only 2 of them are really outstanding.  The majority of them are the same as my colleagues, and some of them are (dare I say it) worse than my colleagues.

I try to keep my house mostly uncluttered, but it is not terribly clean.  I don't remember when I last swept my kitchen floor.  We do clean the main living areas when we have people coming over, but the bedrooms are another story.  I do not have an eye for interior design.  Most of our furniture is second-hand that we've acquired over the years, so a lot of it doesn't match.  And since we have a 5 year old and a 2 year old, it is usually covered with fingerprints, crumbs, and stains of various sorts.

And then there are my kids.  The girls are great with each other.  They play together and love on each other dearly.  But they also fight with each other, cry, yell, scream, pout, disobey, say unkind words to each other and to me, and act like babies.  They are usually well-behaved in public and at other people's houses, but there have been times when that hasn't been the case (and of course, it's when we're the only ones with kids in tow).  But they are kids, and that is what kids do from time to time.  Last Saturday in Target was one of those times.

Point being, life is not always awesome.  But it's not supposed to be either, and that's okay.  Let's all be okay with not being 100% awesome 100% of the time.  Let's stop chasing the illusion of awesomeness. 

Concerned Ally

The back story:  A couple weeks ago, Ben went to Baltimore for a conference.  He left on a Saturday and came back on Monday.  The following is an exchange between Ally and me.

Ally:  "Mom, is anyone going to come and help you while Daddy is away?  I'm a little worried that you're not going to be able to watch me and Amelia by yourself."
Me (out loud):  "Nope, it's just going to be the three of us."
Me (in my head):  "Um, should I be worried?"

In all fairness, the last time Ben went to a conference was last May when he was in Australia for a week.  For that, my parents did come and stay with us.  Life with kids...it keeps you on your toes!

Still running

Two weeks ago, I ran my first race in 4 years-the Carrboro 10K (it's been a little busy around here since 2010!). It was a great morning to be out pounding the pavement with a few hundred of my fellow runners.  I was quite pleased with my result; I ran my fastest 10K yet (sub-8:00 mile pace) and placed 6th in my age group.  One day though, I intend to make it into the top 3! 

First day of kindergarten!

Today was the day!  Ally started real school and had a blast.  Can't wait to see what this year will bring!  Go Ally Go!

Ally turns 5!

Yesterday was Ally's 5th birthday!  Do I seriously have a five year old?!  I guess I do!  Happy birthday to my sweet, smart, and funny rising kindergartener!

He got tenure and promotion!

Okay, this post is about a month overdue, but if you look at the description of our ensemble, you'll see that Dr. Ben is now an associate professor of physics.  Why you ask?  Well, that is because he was granted tenure and promotion to associate professor of physics!  The new title doesn't officially kick in until the Fall semester, but whatever, I'm updating it on the blog.  Congratulations to my super smart and handsome hubby on this amazing professional achievement!

Amelia turns two!

Amelia is two years old!  She has settled into the twos rather nicely.  Good thing she is a cute one!  Happy birthday, Little Pumpkin!

Preachin' it

As said by Ally while playing with her new magnetic Easter figure set:
"Do not pick these flowers.  For THESE are the FLOWERS of the LORD."

Preach it, girl.

More snow!

No kidding; we had about 6 or so inches last week!  Second snow fall this winter!  But in typical NC weather fashion, most of it has thawed and temps are heading into the 60s this week.  In any case, here are my little snow angels.

Snow!

Finally, the first real accumulation of snow since probably 2010!  Ally and Amelia had a great time, until they got too cold that is.  Ben fashioned a sled out of a cardboard box and off we went!  Here are some pics to recap the experience. 

Amelia's first sentence

Amelia loves to brush her teeth.  I think it is because she sees the rest of us doing it.  That, and her toothpaste tastes good.  Amelia's vocabulary has really taken off, both with English and Spanish.  Most of the time she mixes them together.  Case in point:  after brushing teeth last night, I told her that we were all done.  As we made our way back downstairs, she said, "No mas brushing teeth." (No more brushing teeth)  I said, "Hey Amelia, that's your first real sentence!"  Pretty fun!

Life got really busy really fast

I kind of almost forgot I had a blog!  That is how busy things have been.  We are about 4 weeks into the Fall semester and things just hit the ground running.  It is amazing how we can go from the quiet of summer to the rush of the semester in the blink of an eye.  Ben and I are both teaching substantial course loads, so between prepping classes, teaching classes, grading for said classes, and meeting with students, we have become a bit detached from the real world.  Oh yeah, and did I mention we have 2 young kids?!  That definitely adds a little spice to life!

Lots of good things are happening though.  Probably the biggest news is that Ben submitted his application for tenure and promotion a few days ago.  Decisions don't get handed down until March, but we all have really good feelings about it.  I am almost finished preparing my 2 dissertation manuscripts for journal submission.  Ally is doing great in preschool and is involved in gymnastics and soccer (the former at a gym close to our house and the latter at preschool).  Neither program has any competitions or games to participate in right now, but I think that's totally fine because it's just about fun and learning some skills.  And Amelia is toddling around, trying to do what Ally does.  Ally seems to like having an understudy, and it is pretty cute watching them chase each other around and play together.

So all in all, life is running along, and we're trying to keep up!  Happy Fall!

A funny poem

Written by Roger, my church music director, upon reflecting on his puffy face after experiencing a tooth infection:

"My face, I don't mind it
Because I'm behind it.
It's the people in front that I scare."

Another Ally sound bite

A couple days ago, Ally was asking Ben and me how people kiss. Specifically, she wanted to know how people of different heights kiss. Ben told her that the taller person usually just bends down and kisses the shorter person. That explanation seemed to satisfy her.

I was a little curious why Ally was asking about kissing so I said, "Ally, are you thinking about kissing someone?" Ally replied, "No, I'm a serious woman."

LOL :)

Happy Father's Day!

Amelia's first haircut!

Hopefully this will reduce her tangles.

Transitions and new beginnings

We are now on semester break!  All grades have been turned in, Elon's graduation was a little over a week ago, and course evaluation results have been received.  After our crazy Spring 2013 semester, Ben and I are enjoying this different speed of life.  To be clear, we do still have work to do (he has a couple summer research students and I have a couple manuscripts to submit for publication), but there is no day-to-day class prep, which makes a HUGE difference.  We were all able to get out of town for a few days last week and we are looking forward to hanging out at the Evans family farm for a few days next month.  So yes, we are in easy living mode for a while, and most definitely enjoying it.

With end of an academic year and the beginning of summer also brings about the possibility of transitions and new beginnings.  Personally, I am leaving UNC to take a 1 year adjunct position at Elon starting in the fall.  I am excited about going to work at Elon every day and getting to know the students and the department even better, but after spending 7 years at UNC, it will be a bit sad to not see those colleagues on a regular basis.  Ben will be submitting his tenure application later this summer to hopefully make the transition from assistant to associate professor in about a year.  We just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last week, so now we are transitioning to our second decade of marriage (seriously, are we really old enough to have been married for 10 years???!!!).  Ally is learning how to read and Amelia is on the verge of walking by herself.  So even our girls are embarking on transitions and new beginnings, which is a lot of fun to watch.

At the same time, we are observing our friends go through similar transitions and new beginnings.  One tough part of living in a university town is that a lot of friends come and go.  We have lived here for almost 10 years, and we have seen a lot of people move to and away from here.  This summer, two of our closest couple friends are moving away; our friends the Casads who we've known since 2006 and our friends the Hubbs-Keoghs who we've known since 1999 (we went to college together and then moved here together).  They will most certainly have huge transitions in front of them:  new cities, new jobs, new church homes, and making new friends.  For those of us back here, we must transition too, to maintaining these existing friendships long-distance and to not be afraid to go out and make new friends.  Luckily for the former, email, blogs, and Facebook make it much easier than before.

So here's to transitions and new beginnings, to the excitement of the unknown, and to staying open to new possibilities!

UNC Graduation Weekend

Last weekend was the Hooding Ceremony for all of us PhD folks who received our degrees between August 2012 and May 2013.  Additionally, my department had its spring commencement ceremony to recognize us grads from the past academic year.  Since I graduated last December, I participated in both.  The ceremonies were kind of long and my individual part was short, but my short moments were really significant to me.  The road to the PhD is not always an easy one, and sometimes it is more of an exercise of perseverance and tenacity than intelligence.  This weekend was a nice way to officially close the graduate school chapter of my life and celebrate with my family, adviser, and fellow Exercise & Sport Science grads and colleagues.

 Me and my adviser, Dr. B.  We were a team for 6 and a half years!  I am also now noticing that I am not wearing my hat 100% correctly!