We're Expecting

For those of you who haven't heard....Dave and I are expecting a baby in early Jan. Doctor has given me a tentative due date of Jan 12 and change it if need be after my first ultra sound. I am feeling pretty good. I have to eat often and if I don't then I feel crummy. The biggest thing is that I am really tired all the time and lose energy very quickly. 

 7 weeks

8 Weeks

Graduation & Hooding

I had my hooding ceremony on June 6 and graduation on June 8. It seemed like I had been waiting forever for them to arrive. Since pictures are worth a 1,000 words I'll keep it brief and post some pictures!

What a week....

I defended my dissertation (capstone) on Wed. I had an audience of about 10 people...some friends, faculty, my committee, and my dad came. The defense went well and I have some grammatical errors to fix and I have to clarify a few things....not bad at all. After the committee met I was announced as DR. ASHLEY COSENTINO.....WOW I was not expecting that at all. I figured that part would wait until graduation. There were some extremely wonderful things said to me as well which makes the day one I will never forget.  I spent most of the night on the phone and tried to get some sleep for my big interview the next day. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not fall back to sleep. No matter what I did Thursday morning I could not focus and began feeling incredibly unprepared. On my way there I heard my motivational song on the radio so I determined I wasn't going to be a worry wart and that I knew I could do this. The interview went very well. I was there from 130-6. I met with the chair, the dean, the faculty, and the students all at separate times. I concluded by teaching for an hour on boundaries using Structural Family Systems. There is not a single thing I would change about the day. It could not have gone any better. When I left the Dr. that headed the interview process told me I was extremely organized and that I should be very proud of myself especially based on my high recommendation letters. As I left, he shook my had and told me that if he were my boss he would give me a raise. Based on that I would have to say the interview went very well. Now comes the fun part....waiting!

I can't hardly believe it...

That's it....my dissertation (Capstone). I turned it in last week....all 200 pages! I finally sat down and read the whole thing about a week ago...I almost cried. Its amazing to think that I wrote it. I feel that I have really come a long way in the past 3 years and it just amazes me. I'm not completely finished though. Next Wednesday I will present my findings to my committee and whoever feels like coming to visit (its from 3-5 pm if you are interested). They will tell me I pass, I pass but need to fix some things, or that I don't know what I'm doing. I'm betting it will be the second one. Pretty exciting and nerve wracking...but it doesn't stop there. On Thursday I have a big interview! I will be going to a school to get a tour, meet the faculty and the dean, meet with a group of students, and then teach! Yikes that's going to be an intense 48 hours. I'm feeling super excited right now. I hope I can sleep this next week! PRAYERS APPRECIATED FOR THE NEXT WEEK! I am looking forward to next weekend- being able to see family and unwind. April and May will be spent finishing up. Graduation is set for June 8 and my hooding ceremony on the 6th (anyone can attend the hooding). I plan on celebrating with my family and friends to show my appreciation for all their love and support on June 15....SAVE THE DATE!

The end of 2012

Over the past year I have thought several times about what this post would look like....this was an INCREDIBLY emotional year filed with a roller coaster of events. I am very eager to start 2013 because it will begin a new chapter in my life that I have been waiting a very long time for. There is potential for some REALLY amazing things to happen....I should obtain my doctorate, hopefully get a good job, finally be able to quit the dermatologist's office, and begin thinking about having kids...but before I get ahead of myself lets reflect on the positives of 2012....
*James played travel baseball and we went to Cooperstown in New York
*Visited New York City for the first time
*Saw Niagara Falls and ate lunch in Canada
*Went to Cedar Point (man all of that in a 2 week period!)
*I passed my comprehensive exams making me a doctoral candidate...(a VERY emotional experience that thankfully ended well)
* I completed my doctoral coursework with a 4.0
* I presented at two different conferences and one of my presentations won first place
*I had an article published in an international journal.
*James found a new hobby... paint-balling. He and Dave enjoy this time together very much
* We finally finished our basement..well I'll call it finished. Just a few loose ends to tie up
*Dave and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary
*We got a new bedroom set with a bigger bed

Christmas

Christmas this year just never felt like Christmas. I'm sure it was the combination of being super busy finishing the basement and the lack of snow. However, the lack of expectations led to a calm, go-with-the-flow holiday season. We spent the weekend before Christmas at my brothers house and celebrating my birthday. The weekend of Christmas was spent at my moms, hosting Dave's family, going to the Bruinius side and the Kamp side. It was exhausting but relaxing at the same time. It has now been a week since Christmas and it still feels as if nothing has slowed down! I'm hoping tomorrow I find the motivation to take down the Christmas decorations.

Basement finished!