Well, It's been quite a while since our last post. I'm sure we'll have a lot more to write about when we start our cross-country move. But for now, just a few things to report.
We have an apartment waiting for us in Nashville. It's a newly remodeled townhouse in a suburb called Bellevue. It feels really great to have a place to stay waiting for us when we get there! We've pretty much picked our moving date also. Heather's last day of work will be Friday, July 24th. We will probably get a moving truck on Monday the 27th, pack everything that morning, and head for Walla Walla!
I am graduating from Western this next weekend! I have one final tomorrow (Monday) morning and I'll be finished! It feels like Mom and Dad dropped me off in my dorm just a year or so ago. Time is starting to fly! Yikes! We are planning on having a big crew up to Bellingham for the festivities. It'll be more people in our little apartment than there ever should be, but it will be a great time! Aside from the reunion, it will be one of the last times we'll get to see everyone before we move.
Oh, we almost forgot to add...we got a dog today! Mom, Dad, we know. Our friends Seth and Emily called us a few days ago. They have a friend who is an older lady with three dogs. Apparently her allergies are kicking up to the maximum and she needed to get rid of her dogs ASAP. Long story short, we ended up with a 4 year-old purebred Welsh Corgi, for FREE!!! Seth and Emily are going to take care of him until we can come pick him up. We decided to give him a new name (his old name was scrappy). His name is Draco (pronounced Dray-Co). I have a few pictures of him on my cell phone but I couldn't get them onto my computer for this post. I'm sure most of you will see him soon!
So that's mostly what we know for now. We're looking forward to seeing most of you this next weekend here in Bellingham! Until next time...
Love, Tim & Heather
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Easter!
Hello all! We miss you all so much today! This is our first major holiday without other family, but we've managed to make it a pretty good one. Yesterday we had a full-fledged Easter egg hunt (Davis style) complete with clues leading to a DVD at the end. Heather got shoes instead of a DVD...Heather style.
Here's all of our loot! We are now officially swimming in candy. God help us.
After our great egg hunts, we sat down and watched Ratatouille and went out to dinner. A fun start to a great weekend! This morning we went to church. As per usual at any church it was more than packed! We went to the early service to try to dodge some of the crowds. We got home a little before 10 and got to work on a great Easter dinner. On the menu: ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, and deviled eggs.
Here are a few highlights.
The final product...
Here's a picture of a re-created cartoon from one of Tim's professors.
Brown Bunny -
"I can't feel my butt!"
White Bunny -
"What? I can't hear you!"
Here's all of our loot! We are now officially swimming in candy. God help us.
After our great egg hunts, we sat down and watched Ratatouille and went out to dinner. A fun start to a great weekend! This morning we went to church. As per usual at any church it was more than packed! We went to the early service to try to dodge some of the crowds. We got home a little before 10 and got to work on a great Easter dinner. On the menu: ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, and deviled eggs.
Here are a few highlights.
The final product...
Here's a picture of a re-created cartoon from one of Tim's professors.
Brown Bunny -
"I can't feel my butt!"
White Bunny -
"What? I can't hear you!"
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Scratch THAT...GO COMMODORES!!!!
UPDATE!!! So most of you have heard the great news already. This morning I was on the phone with Vanderbilt and they offered me a very generous tuition scholarship package that we can't refuse! So this coming fall, Heather and I will be living in Nashville, TN and I will be a 1st year Au.D. student at Vanderbilt University! YAHOO!!! We are so thankful for the opportunities ahead of us and are really excited to explore a different part of the country.
Yes, we will be much farther from home, but we are hoping that this will be an enriching time for the two of us as we grow closer together through this huge transition. We will have opportunities to explore parts of the South and East coast that we may never have the chance to visit otherwise. Don't get me wrong...we will miss home like crazy! We may even doubt our decision from time to time. But we feel strongly that Vanderbilt is where we should go. And don't forget, we aren't moving for several months yet. We'll be making at least a few trips home in the mean time and we'll see many of you in June for my graduation.
We can't wait to get this quarter over with, get the move over with, and settle in to our new home and a new adventure!
So much more to come!!
Yes, we will be much farther from home, but we are hoping that this will be an enriching time for the two of us as we grow closer together through this huge transition. We will have opportunities to explore parts of the South and East coast that we may never have the chance to visit otherwise. Don't get me wrong...we will miss home like crazy! We may even doubt our decision from time to time. But we feel strongly that Vanderbilt is where we should go. And don't forget, we aren't moving for several months yet. We'll be making at least a few trips home in the mean time and we'll see many of you in June for my graduation.
We can't wait to get this quarter over with, get the move over with, and settle in to our new home and a new adventure!
So much more to come!!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Go Commodores?
Yesterday, I got back to Bellingham after an exciting trip to Nashville to visit Vanderbilt University. Truth be told, the trip was probably more about visiting the city in general to get a feel for the neighborhoods, the housing markets, and the downtown life. I spent one day apartment hunting and I found several decent places.
Friday morning was my visit to the clinic. It didn't take long to see why this program has been ranked #1 in the nation since 2004. Their facilities and faculty are industry leaders! There are far too many details to list here. Lets just say that I was VERY impressed with their program. I felt very comfortable there and think that I would really enjoy going there! They were able to offer me a decent amount of financial aid while I was there. Unfortunately, The original cost of tuition is so high that even with their current offer, I wouldn't be able to justify going there. I told the graduate program director about my situation and he was very responsive. I'm going to be talking with him on the phone this week and he may be able to revise their offer! If we can get to the next level of financial award, we are thinking that we will accept!
I really wished that Heather could have gone to Nashville with me but there were several things in the way there. We are both sooo anxious to know where we will be moving so we can start making more concrete plans! We are really hoping that we'll know more on Wednesday or Thursday of this week. We will keep you posted as always!
Friday morning was my visit to the clinic. It didn't take long to see why this program has been ranked #1 in the nation since 2004. Their facilities and faculty are industry leaders! There are far too many details to list here. Lets just say that I was VERY impressed with their program. I felt very comfortable there and think that I would really enjoy going there! They were able to offer me a decent amount of financial aid while I was there. Unfortunately, The original cost of tuition is so high that even with their current offer, I wouldn't be able to justify going there. I told the graduate program director about my situation and he was very responsive. I'm going to be talking with him on the phone this week and he may be able to revise their offer! If we can get to the next level of financial award, we are thinking that we will accept!
I really wished that Heather could have gone to Nashville with me but there were several things in the way there. We are both sooo anxious to know where we will be moving so we can start making more concrete plans! We are really hoping that we'll know more on Wednesday or Thursday of this week. We will keep you posted as always!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Travel Plans
Update: I (Tim) now have some travel plans to visit Vanderbilt next week! Let me explain...
At first, my thought about the cost of Vanderbilt was "Wow. It's really expensive. And I'm only an alternate for an unknown amount of remitted tuition. Where else can I go?" I was focusing my energy on the other schools and leaving VU to marinate for a while.
Recently, I have had a strong feeling that Vanderbilt is really the place for me. I feel that I would be happiest and most successful there. So then I started thinking of ways to make things work there. Instead of simply waiting around for them to get back to me about financial aid, I decided that it would be to my advantage to invest some time and money into them in hopes that it would be returned to me. Making a trip out to Nashville to see the community, campus, and clinic should definitely send the message that I'm genuinely interested in attending, and also attach a face to the name.
I"ll be gone Wednesday through Saturday. I have half a day of tours on Friday. I'm scheduled to meet with several faculty including the graduate program chair!! I'll use the rest of the time to scour the town for apartments, hopefully get some recommendations, and see some units. I"ll have my work cut out for me, but I think that this is where we are supposed to go! So I have my reservations and we'll see what happens! We are also currently accepting donations for our grad school tuition fund! ;)
Sidenote: Even though we have not yet heard back from UMASS, Heather and I have pretty much decided not to consider going there. We have received acceptance letters from far too many schools that are oh so much closer to home.
We'll keep you posted!
At first, my thought about the cost of Vanderbilt was "Wow. It's really expensive. And I'm only an alternate for an unknown amount of remitted tuition. Where else can I go?" I was focusing my energy on the other schools and leaving VU to marinate for a while.
Recently, I have had a strong feeling that Vanderbilt is really the place for me. I feel that I would be happiest and most successful there. So then I started thinking of ways to make things work there. Instead of simply waiting around for them to get back to me about financial aid, I decided that it would be to my advantage to invest some time and money into them in hopes that it would be returned to me. Making a trip out to Nashville to see the community, campus, and clinic should definitely send the message that I'm genuinely interested in attending, and also attach a face to the name.
I"ll be gone Wednesday through Saturday. I have half a day of tours on Friday. I'm scheduled to meet with several faculty including the graduate program chair!! I'll use the rest of the time to scour the town for apartments, hopefully get some recommendations, and see some units. I"ll have my work cut out for me, but I think that this is where we are supposed to go! So I have my reservations and we'll see what happens! We are also currently accepting donations for our grad school tuition fund! ;)
Sidenote: Even though we have not yet heard back from UMASS, Heather and I have pretty much decided not to consider going there. We have received acceptance letters from far too many schools that are oh so much closer to home.
We'll keep you posted!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Update
So, we have some more news! A few days ago Tim got accepted to the University of Utah, and today he got accepted to the University of Arizona! So to recap, he has been accepted to Vanderbilt, and the Universities of Washington, Arizona, and Utah. Still no word from UMASS Amherst. It's almost more good news than we can handle! Jay Turner made a good point in a recent e-mail, "It's good to have choices, but choosing between two or more good choices can be hard." So true!
Unfortunately, we have not been offered any financial aid as of yet. We're getting the feeling that some may "become available" as it gets down to the wire. I'm sure it will be to our advantage that Tim got in to so many schools, but it's just so hard to wait without knowing!
We are still trying to sort out which schools to visit and when. We'll be sure to keep you up to date as things change!
Unfortunately, we have not been offered any financial aid as of yet. We're getting the feeling that some may "become available" as it gets down to the wire. I'm sure it will be to our advantage that Tim got in to so many schools, but it's just so hard to wait without knowing!
We are still trying to sort out which schools to visit and when. We'll be sure to keep you up to date as things change!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
It gets better!
And now there is even more news! Yesterday, Tim got accepted to the University of Washington! We are so excited about this one too. While UW was originally Tim's 2nd choice, it is a very close second to Vanderbilt right now. Primarily, the cost of tuition is the barrier. Vanderbilt charges over double what UW does per year. Our gut instinct is to go to UW unless Vanderbilt offers a significant amount of financial aid. So, Tim is going to be on the phone a lot over the next couple weeks trying to get more details about what each school is willing to offer. At this point, we are picking between UW and Vanderbilt. Even if we get accepted to other schools, we probably won't strongly consider any of them.
This is such an exciting time!
We'll be sure to keep you posted as we learn more.
This is such an exciting time!
We'll be sure to keep you posted as we learn more.
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