Is it really almost November?!

Wow, time sure has been flying by! Somehow it is almost November, which means fall is almost over, and Wisconsin is about to be buried in a yet to be determined amount of ice and snow... oh winter. Lots has been happening with Tim and I since I last posted, and things are going to continue to be busy for a little while... at least until all my graduate school applications are in!

In preparation for our wedding, Tim and I finally got engagement photos taken! They are not online yet, but once they are I will be sure to post the link so everyone can view them. We took them at the Memorial Union Terrace (classic Madison location, and it's also important to Tim and I because it's part of the university and it's where we got engaged ;o) !). Our photographer seems very nice, and I'm excited to see how the pictures turned out!

We also finally got to go see the Wisconsin Badgers football team play! It was exciting until we were losing, and then we lost, and then it was disappointing. Luckily the first loss we saw was to Penn State, who is now one of the best teams in the country (makes it a little easier to cope with). The second time we got to see the Badgers they also lost, to Ohio State, but this time we forgot to bring our defense... it was not a good game to watch, and we left after the third quarter. I bet Tim could give a better recap of all the things that went wrong, so if you want more details you'll have to ask him! We won't get to see them play again for a couple weeks, but hopefully next time it will be better!

Tim has been working at the Wisconsin State Journal primarily at nights answering the phones when the coaches call in scores after matches/games/meets, but he was also given an opportunity to cover all of the state tournaments for high school tennis. This has kept him pretty busy over the last couple of weeks, spending most of the day at a tournament, coming home and pounding out an article, and then doing it again the next day. He's gotten to see some of the coaches and athletes he used to work with when he was in Lake Geneva, so it's been exciting for him to cover the events and see some of his past acquaintences! Tennis finally came to an end yesterday though, so he's not sure what he will be covering for the next season yet. Tim also have some exciting news, and he got a job working at Dicks Sporting Goods! Although it's not his dream job, it is a job he can work just during the day so his nights can stay open to cover sports and work at the Wisconsin State Journal. It will be low stress (for the most part) and will help pay the bills.

Tim having a job also means we can start looking for a puppy! Tim and I have been talking about getting a dog for over a year, so we are very excited to start looking and preparing! We are not sure what kind of dog we are going to get yet, because we have decided we are going to get one from one of the local shelters. We would like a dog about 30 pounds as an adult, so nothing too big or too small! I'll write more when we make a little more progress ;o)

As for me, I have been working on applying to Ph.D. programs. Lately I've been working on my personal statement, which is basically a summary of why they should except me over another candidate. It's basically a way to tell them about myself, grab their attention, and give me a little personality over the cut and dry academic record from college. It's been a little tough, but I'm getting a lot of good people to help me out. I've also started to ask people for recommendations, which include higher ups that I work with. It's good to have strong recommendations, especially from people within the field you plan on applying, so I'm hoping a strong personal statement and good recommendations will help me out a lot. I also recently became a published author! I will try to post a link, but I can't remember what it is right now! Applications for graduate school are due December 1 at the earliest, so I'm hoping to have them ready by mid-November (before Thanksgiving at least). Hopefully it all goes well!

Well that's the update for now. Hopefully I will be more prepared next time and I can get pictures uploaded too! I hope everyone else is doing well too!