Do you have the look?

Have you ever wanted to be a model, but didn't know how to get discovered? There is this worldwide beauty contest at "Look of the Year". You submit a photo online and then the world can vote for you to win the prize ($10k!). If you are interested, click "look of the year" above and you can do the following:

1) submit your photo

2) browse the photos and vote for who you think "has the look"

3) learn more about the contest

Happy photoing!

I don't know if I will submit a photo, but I've posted the most "modely" picture I have of myself right now in this post, just for fun!

My New Opportunities

As I recently mentioned, I'm doing a lot of different things these days to earn money. One is working with Bloggerwave (my friend Sarah Mudd turned me onto this). Bloggerwave provides jobs to bloggers - it could be trying a new product, etc - and then you blog about it for cash. Sort of like getting paid to do a review of something.

Bloggerwave will soon be the largest blog advertising media in Europe - and maybe the states! Stay posted for information from me regarding this company and other opportunities!

For more information, check out the link below:



You'll hear more from me soon about this experience!

Last Post - moving you to the new blog

Well friends, The time has come (as the walrus says) to move you to a new blog. Yes, its true. And its happening now, because I think I'm done tweaking the new one for now. Love to have any feedback on the new blog if you want.

Please redirect yourself, your links, any RSS feeds you have set up (like Google Reader), and any bookmarks to the new blog:

http://tiffslifenow.blogspot.com

And thanks for your interest in my life!

Love, Tiff

Trying new things

Hi Friends,

Here I am in Phoenix Arizona. Soon I will be posting about the summer bible study my mom and I are taking, as well as some activities we've been doing around here.

I'm also going to start posting about some products for a company called "Bloggerwave" - Its sort of like being a shopper and referral artist through my blog all in one, and its a way for me to make some money this summer. Add that to my half.com listings ($45 to date!), and some occasional babysitting, hopefully I can make some money this summer after all!!

Will post soon - this weekend we are headed to Laughlin, NV to visit my grandparents. There are bound to be post-worthy stories!

Love, Tiff

You'd think I have more time to update... but read here and enter to win a Kitchenaid Mixer!

Hi Friends,

I will indeed try to get a real post up soon... but there isn't much going on.

So in the meantime, check out this link and enter to win a new Kitchenaid Mixer!

http://ribbonrockstarhairbows.blogspot.com/2008/06/lets-mix-it-up-kitchenaid-giveaway.html

And on a separate note... other people's blogs look so much better than mine (the one linked above is one of them)! I may spend some time learning how to do html and making my blog cooler, for the next phase of blog-dom.

Love, Tiff

Latest

Well friends, soon a blog change will be coming, its true. Some of you have asked. :) The new blog is not in effect yet, but will be "tiff's life now" instead of "tiff's life in...." - it was just too hard with my apparent geographical ADD to keep on switching them when I moved. The new blog will be up and running soon - I just want to make it look perfect while I have time.

Today my mom and I went to Ikea. We went to the mall yesterday. We are on a fact finding mission to see what kind of decorating I want to do in the new studio apartment. I am officially approved for a studio in on campus housing. Its little.... less than 400 sq. ft., but I'm excited. I've attached some pics here of what we saw today that may come in handy.

I love Ikea. Although the store in Phoenix doesn't have the model apartments that are really small (in Round Rock, TX, they have these great little apartments (700 and 400 feet square) that help you see how you can live well in that space. We still managed to find some great ideas, and hopefully won't have to spend too much to make it work.

I'm going to get a loft bed, because I can put my desk below it. Its silver, so it goes with my desk. We saw it in person today with a little desktop addition (which looked like my actual desk) and a computer on it, and it looked really good! Yay!

The table below attaches to a wall, and then folds out. I didn't post that pic, but you get the idea - it is a great space saver!Lastly, for now, I am going to hang a wire and hang a sheer-ish panel from it, on hooks, so that I can have a "bedroom" when I want to, and separate my office and bedroom from the little living space. Its mostly visual, but I am almost more excited about this part than the bed (and I'm really happy about the bed, because I wasn't sure how I was going to use my space effectively. The first picture below is the hardward for the curtain. Then one of the examples of a curtain we liked is below that.

OK, its late. I'm going to bed! Good night!

p.s. I'll post the floor plan of the "example" apartment, soon, too. :)

Graduation Week #2

Here is the second mini photo album of graduation photos. These are all taken on graduation day! :)

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

Just under two years ago I sold over 1/2 my stuff at an amazing, God-blessed garage sale, and traveled to Waco, Tx to begin my master's study. My mom came with me and we packed my little tan protege to the gills, and some friends who were moving to San Antonio let me piggy back some of my stuff on their truck - so that I could have a bed, etc. I didn't know my roommate, Sarah, we had spoken about three times on the phone and that was it. I just knew I would be able to see the Fergasons more often and that Sarah and I seemed compatible.

Now here I am again. My furniture is packed in the truck. I'm sleeping on a mattress on the floor, on a sleeping bag. I'm about to make a long drive tomorrow, and I don't really know what the future holds for me. Its all speculation and expectation.

So I have a few quote for me, and for my friends who read this blog. As encouragement.

The first is a paraphrase of Thomas Campbell: "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to leave"

I like to think that its better to say "see you later" or, as the hymn says, "God be with you till we meet again" - there is something good about expectation and knowing that there will be a time when we will meet again... even if that time is not until we get to heaven. There is a time coming. We will remember each other.

The last is a quote from a carving on the Pacific Coast Trail. It's one that i love, but that I had forgotten in my mind. My heart had not forgotten it though, and when Matt discovered it in my high school creative writing manuscript, I felt like it was right for this time in my life, again.
It is a quote by Rene Daumal:
"You cannot stay on the summit forever; You have to come down again; So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know."

This experience has sometimes been summit, sometimes valley, and it has often been work - climbing to either location. I am grateful for knowing that I have a God who walks beside me; I am grateful for knowing that even as our journey is individual, we have companions who walk along with us at different points. I am grateful for the reminder that I can still conduct myself in light of the experience here at Baylor. And I intend to do so.

I love Baylor. Thanks for all the great memories, Waco. Despite what I thought at the beginning... I will miss you.

Graduation Week #1

Hi Friends,

Here is the first group of pictures from my last week in Waco. Some friends and I went to a Rangers game on Wednesday, on Thursday my family and Sarah's went to dinner together, and then on Friday we had our "hooding ceremony."

More pics to come!

Love, Tiff

Today's the day!!!

Its getting sad around here. We packed for a number of hours yesterday and my stuff is mostly packed, but not totally. We are going to pack again today. Last night Sarah's parents came into town for graduation and our families had dinner together at Ninfa's. It was the first time they had met and it was really fun. Even more fun, the staff of my church (including David Crowder and his wife) showed up and as we left, Barb went and got a pic with David - it made her day! :)

Sarah's hooding "Convocation" is this afternoon, and my hooding and dinner celebration is this evening. My aunts leave Seattle in about 20 minutes and will get to Waco by 4-ish.

I am working on our gifts for the faculty and trying to figure out what we really have left to do today. Its hard to pack and know we aren't putting it into the trailer for two more days. Its also hard because some of it is going into the house in Phx, and the rest into storage, but in storage its in two categories - UCLA, and long-term. Yuk.

Ok, this post feels kind of boring, but informative. Pray for us as we pack and enjoy family and say good bye. I'll post again, probably when I'm back in Phx.

Cohort Photos

Also, we had a "cohort photo shoot" a couple weeks ago - here are some of the results. We are giving one of the pics to our professors at our hooding ceremony. :)

me and my friend, Candice.

the girls of the 2008 cohort - i love this pic!

my study group - we've been together for two years and are pretty glad about it!

"Sing!" faces.... this is the photo we are giving to our professors. :)

Goodbyes (part 2)

God provides in a timely manner. I think that means that just when you need it, it is provided. That has happened a few times for me lately. Additionally, God provides generally. Which I think means that when He is behind the provision, your mind will be blown. This has also happened to me a lot recently.
For graduation, my friends John and Karen gave me a new car. They gave me the last car (blue saturn, pictured here) but were afraid it wasn't going to make it to LA, so they prayed specifically for a car in good shape with low miles (60k), and that was inexpensive (under $2,500). And the Lord provided. I am now the proud owner of a 1996 Oldsmobile Ciera, and I am really excited about it. (see picture here).
They couldn't bring it to me when they came up for their visit, because it needed to get some work done, so John and I (and Andi and Jared) met today in Austin to do a "car swap" - it was really fun to spend a bit of time with them, and get to hear the stories of this car. The Lord's generousity continues to amaze me, especially when I see it in my friends. I want to evidence that kind of giving in my life, too.
Some other friends of mine recently gave me a gift for graduation, and that gift will perfectly cover my rent for June and July (I leave in May, but still have to pay my 1/2 of the lease). I was nervous about how I was going to afford it, but it was really neat to see God's provision through their gift. Again, I want to evidence this kind of giving in my life.
So, after a marathon of updates, I am headed to bed. I need to get up in the AM and write like crazy, so I can be done with this paper! See pics and captions below of car experience!

The old car, which Sarah named "Jasper" - it had some flaws, but it was a great car for two years! And it was free, so I was doubly grateful. :)

John and Jared at the Starbucks. J just turned 6 and he's kind of a stinker whenever cameras are around. Actually... he's been that way since he was little - he loves to be funny.

Me and my peaches. I can't believe I'm going to be gone for a while and miss seeing her!

The new car! It is a little "pimpin'" but great! Its dark wine colored, with maroon interior. Its a LOT bigger than the old car, which is great as I prepare to move. :) Right now I'm calling her the "Red Raider" but I might let Sarah name her if I decide I don't like it. For now... I do. It reminds me of the Protege, which the football guys called the "Brown Bomber"

I called up some friends and said, "let me pick you up in my new wheels and we'll go have ice cream!" Here we are afterward, posing with the new auto. Hooray!

Goodbyes (part 1)

The Fergasons came up to Waco to celebrate mine and Sarah's graduations. It was so fun to have them here. I got to tour them around campus and show them where I take classes and where I work. We also went to the Bear Habitat, where Lady was just coming in from her walk and so we go to see her go into her side for a little, then open the gate with her nose and head in for a nap with her sister, Joy, who was already asleep in her den.

I thought this picture was really amusing, because trying to get all three of these kids to smile at the same time is like trying to herd cats.

Here are Andilyn and I at Chili's in Waco, for our big graduation dinner. John and Karen treated us, and they got to meet Myles, Sarah's boyfriend. This was a really fun time. Also, John regaled me with the story of my new car (see next post) and why it didn't make the trip to Waco with the family. That night the kids stayed overnight at our apartment (all except little Drex, who stayed with mom and dad at the Super 8). They stayed in Sarah's room, which was a great boon for me. :) We stayed up late watching Jonah: the Veggietales Movie, and had biscuits for breakfast. Then the family went with me to UBC, which was fun. Afterward, we had hoped to picnic in Cameron park, but the weather was bad, so we relaxed at the apartment instead. It was a great weekend.

Later, we all said goodbye, and I started crying, then we all started crying. Even knowing that we were going to see each other soon, and knowing that I might even get to visit in the summer, was not enough to make us forget that this season of being so close together, of getting to be a part of the lives of the kids on a regular basis, etc, was coming to an end. It has been a great two years in that respect. John and Karen's home has been a place of respite and safety for me as I struggled in this community and with the workload. I am grateful for their love and hospitality, for the same from Dorothy and Nick, who often felt like back up parents since mine were far away, and for the friendships I made in San Antonio over these last two years. I will look forward to my future visits.

While the formal cohort goodbyes are coming this Friday, this is a photo from our "Cohort Hootenany" - our last official Cohort party. It was both fun and bittersweet to be celebrating one last time with this group of friends. I look forward to our future times together at conferences and reunions.

Brief update: One week till graduation!

Its been crazy times, and I'm falling into old habits of not updating. I think I'll need to set a goal for myself of updating once per week from now until September (when I will likely get a new blog because of my new location...). That would be better, I figure, for those of you who might still be reading this blog - despite its lack of postings this year.

(here's what really weird, though, I thought I had posted once since the last post.... don't know where that post went)

Well, its one week until graduation officially.

In the last month or so, I have not only made a few major life decisions, but also completed (virtually) all of my coursework to make me a "Master." :) For our Capstone course, we each had to give a 30-minute presentation response to a case study (that was provided to us earlier this semester) and then be prepared to answer about 15 minutes of direct questioning. If I can get my presentation to post, then I will put it on the site. In the meantime, its enough to know that it was about free speech, sexual harassment and use of pornography on state university computers. I was really proud of the presentation I put together; I thought it turned out really well and though the question portion was difficult, I felt good about it all.

In fact... it so happened that our entire cohort passed their cases on the FIRST TRY! It is the first time this has happened since the program started doing case study finals and so we were really proud of the entire group! There was a ton of celebrating that night. :)

After that, we had two finals and one (optional) paper. Our Law final was in two parts - the first was a grueling vocabulary test where I handwrote almost eight complete pages of definitions to 40 law terms. The second part happened last Tuesday and it was about 50 true/false questions and then we had to choose 10 of 13 cases and write about them, including: principals, major issue, ultimate decision of the court, and implications for higher ed. administrators. That was another almost 10 full pages of writing - yikes!

The next day was our Stats final. We had a few really fun study sessions, including one in the library that was really productive. The test was still pretty hard, but it all turned out OK, I finished the final feeling pretty confident. Ultimately, I ended up with an A in Statistics, which is C-R-A-Z-Y!!!! WOOHOO!! Back at the midterm, when I couldn't figure out probability and thought I would never understand what we were doing in stats, I would never have thought an A was possible. I'm pretty happy. :)

So, I could be done right now as we speak... but I'm not because I decided to complete the optional Law paper. In order to get an A in Law, we have to write a research paper on an issue in higher education with legal implications. I am writing on spirituality and the growing emphasis in higher ed, and the possible legal ramifications. Right now I'm almost half way through this little paper. I'm hoping to have it finished by tomorrow! Then I'll be done for the school year!

I've had to work a little bit this week, while serving on a search committee for a Coordinator position in my office. I'll work on Monday from about 8:45 - 4pm and then go to a lunch at my office on Tuesday. That will be my last days.

There are a lot of endings these days. A lot of goodbyes. Frank Shushok always reminds us that "Every entry is an exit" or to put it as the song goes "every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." I love beginnings, and so I don't mind endings, but it is sure hard to say goodbye to good friends and good experiences.

In the next post I'll put up a couple pics and some notes about recent goodbyes. :)

Decisions.....

Hi Friends and Family!


It has been busy times lately. Decisions being made, homework being done and traveling. I checked my own blog recently and realized that I posted on the 29th about upcoming decisions, and then did not actually post the decision! :O


On the 31st, I was offered a campus interview at a college I really like on the West Coast. But as he was offering me the interview, I felt like I should say "no" because I had already made up my mind.... so after thinking about it that afternoon in stats, I declined the campus interview and acknowledged to myself........

I am going to UCLA!

School starts September 22nd! I'm not sure when I'll be moving yet, because it depends on a lot of factors - like if I have some kind of job and what that job is. I'm applying for a few house director positions (sorority "house mom"-type jobs), and that would be the ideal scenario for me this year. I'm also looking for some "GSR" (graduate student researcher) positions which would help pay for my fees and provide me valuable research experience.

I am excited for this next step in my life - I'm not sure where this road is leading, but I know for sure that I am making a good decision. I am looking forward (so looking forward) to living on the west coast again - I have missed low humidity, seasons and "west coast thinking." I have especially missed being closer to my family.

Depending on what kind of job I get for the fall, and when it starts, I may or may not get a job over the summer. If I don't have a job, I'll be more able to travel. If I have to work, then y'all may just have to come visit me in sunny (hot... but dry heat!) phoenix.

Thanks for y'alls support and encouragement in this experience!

p.s. I'm going from Blue/Yellow at NAU to Green/Gold (technically) at Greenville to Green/Gold Bears at Baylor to Blue/Yellow Bears at UCLA - weird!

latest prayer requests (3/29)

If you are the praying type, please see below my prayer requests for this season. I would be greatful for any prayers you offer on my behalf. Blessings to you! This is a transcript of an email I sent to my prayer team recently. Love, Tiffani

Hello friends,

March. Wow. What a whirlwind of activity. I feel as though I am being swept along by a force not my own toward graduation. It a little unfortunate, because there is a lot to do before the semester ends.

I think I have made my decision about UCLA. I am waiting until I have one more conversation with a dean here at Baylor before I make a decision, I'm expecting the Lord to confirm what I have heard from two other counselors. In the meantime, I will wait to announce until then. Its difficult, because I want to wait until I have all the possible information - and that just isn't goin to be possible until after the deadline, so my decision will be made with the best information I can get in the short time left to me. Please continue to pray for me as I make this decision - that I would have discernment, and hear God speak.

In the desert wanderings, the Lord preserved the Israelite's clothing and shoes for 40 years. I often think of this miracle and of God's faithfulness. I sometimes wonder at what point their clothes and shoes did start to wear out - were the shoes just starting to fall apart in the last few months? Did this signal to the Israelites that their wandering was almost over? Did their shoes and clothes last in perfect condition until they crossed over into the promised land and then it all spontaneously combusted? Well, I am thinking about these things today, because I have seen God's faithfulness in so many things (especially in regard to provision of finances, etc, and the ability to live happily on very little) - but I am also starting to see the "wearing out" of some of these things as I approach this newest promised land: graduation.

Various things around me are wearing out - my sonic care toothbrush (which I purchased before heading to Greenville 5 yrs ago) will no longer hold a charge. Its ironic because I haven't had dental these last two years, but I will either this summer or fall, and I credit the Soniccare with my lack of cavities since arriving in Greenville. My car (which was a tremendous gift when I arrived in Waco) is starting to show signs of wear; for example, the driver door is acting kind of funny, the dashboard crack is bigger, etc. My finances are getting low and I believe will just sweep me into Phoenix after graduation. There are others, but I will leave them for now. Please pray that the Lord would continue to sustain me in all areas as I come to the end of this wandering.

All these things are reminders that this season of desert wandering is about to be over. Even as I battle anxiety about if my "clothes and shoes" will keep until I reach the land of promise, and as I praise the Lord for his faithfulness in this season, I am filled with great joy and sadness about the end of this season. These two years have been hard for me in all dimensions: emotionally, intellectually, physically, spiritually (especially), and financially - that knowing its almost over brings me great joy and gratitude to the Lord. But they have also been years that I found areas of great interest and excitement, met knew friends, deepened old friendships, and learned a lot about myself.

When I picked up my hood, cap and gown this week I could not stop giggling. It was so exciting to think that it was almost here and that this was like the evidence that the promise is going to be fulfilled! But then it adds stress thinking that there are only a few weeks left before I have to have my case study (our big final project) complete and that I still have to do statistics and complete a statistics final, write a law paper, read a ton of chapters, and write a law paper, and complete a paper on improving higher education access for transfer students (by this Wednesday). Please pray that I would be diligent, focused and sharp over these next days. Pray that I would use my time wisely and balance my relationships and personal time with my need for studying.

Thanks for your faithfulness in praying for me. I am grateful.

Brad Pitt

(the above picture is courtest of: http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/02/28/brad-pitt-tree-of-life/)

It would be weird to start a post with "Brad Pitt" except we saw him today at the Texas State Capital!

My cohort had a field trip today to Austin, to visit the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (in the AM) and the Director of Research for the Speaker of the House (in the PM). In between we had lunch at a great place near the Capital called "Serranos."

Anyway, when our van got to the capital we walked over and while we were trying to figure out how to get in, some guy with a walkie talkie asked us to walk away a bit, about 20 feet from the entrance. We weren't sure what was going on, but soon a couple people and some sheriff's deputies were walking into the building. Katie T. said she thought one of them looked like a movie star, but I poo-pooed her. Well, I was wrong. We found out immediately after that, that it was Brad Pitt.

Brad (as I call him, though I don't know him...) is in Austin right now filming a movie called, "Tree of Life" and apparently part of it takes place at the state capital. When we got inside we got to stand around (because we had to - they wouldn't let us walk through until they were done with their shots, but overall the crew was polite) and watch them shoot the scenes which mostly looked like Brad walking - we couldn't see them filming any dialogue.

It will be interesting to see what those shots look like when the film comes out.

Later we got into our meeting and Al asked me to round up the girls (who were using the rest room) and Carrie and I got stuck as they were filming in the hallway right outside our meeting. That was fun because we got to see him even closer. But alas, no photos (well, we are working on one, but it remains to be seen if we can get it to look good) and no interactions other than watching. Interesting, though! What a fun day!

p.s. They were also filming in Smithville, TX, which was also the location for Hope Floats (I just found that out yesterday)

Less than 50 days to go....

I did a number of things yesterday and today in preparation for graduation and moving.

1) I moved my music from my desktop to my laptop.

2) I formatted my problematic external hard drive which will serve as my back up and is also moving all this material back and forth between computers (formatting a disk like that is particularly troublesome for me... "what if there is something on it that isn't on both computers?!" but I just did it! woo hoo!

3) I checked out about 12 books from the library to help me with my case study and my paper on access and transfer student pathways. I cannot find anything on technology and students for my law paper - its making me pull my hair out, but I've decided to drop it until after April 25th at this point. This was all frustrating (the legwork to check out books is kind of time consuming and questionably helpful) but exciting!

4) And most importantly..... I picked up my graduation regalia. Yes, that is right... I got my cap, gown and HOOD!! WOOHOO!!!! Those of you who know me well will appreciate this story:

My friend Kathryn (heretofore known as KW) and I head over to the Alumni center for the "Graduate Bear Faire" (why the extra "e" on the end of Faire? no idea) and first we (really, I) accidentally skip the line, thinking that the first line we've encountered is for diploma frames... it wasn't... and some girl cleared her throat at KW who grabbed me and we took our appropriate place in line. KW noticed coffee over in a corner, so she jumps out of line to get coffee and we are going to switch places and hold our place in line and both have coffee... great plan, except KW ends up talking to a student and I get swept away into the line.

A woman says to me, "Cap and Gown?" and I'm doubly confused because clearly we are all in line for a cap and gown (later a friend tells me she just bought a hood because she won't be at big graduation and then I understood better...). When I say, "yes, cap and gown" she says, "Undergraduate or graduate" in a moment of craziness, because I really don't look like an undergrad - but BLESS HER, it was a treat to think that to someone I still looked 22. :)

I answer, "Graduate" and we go through the rigamarole of my height and getting the right gown and tassle (black) and hood (blue velvet for the school of Ed and yellow and green on the inside for Baylor U.) and she hands it all to me.

All of a sudden I realize that I am going to graduate with a Master's degree in 50 days. 50 days! And I am holding the proof of it in my hand! Those of you who know me well, understand when I say that I start beaming - I can't not smile - I'm trying to be serious and "whatever" about it, like the undergrads, but I can't - so I shout to try and get Kathryn's attention because I didn't realize they were going to GIVE it to us that day! I thought it was going to be ordered or something - I had no idea - and I'm freaking out. I pay the lady, who doesn't notice I am grinning like a fool and about to start giggling, and head over to Kathryn.

Kathryn sees my face and says, "Did they give it to you?" and as I reply, SHE starts to beam, too, and then we both start giggling as if you told us we were about to have a one-on-one with Patrick Dempsey AND George Clooney!! Seriously, we might have been the two most joyful people in the entire room - it was hilarious, we couldn't stop taking our hoods out of the bag (still in their plastic) and looking at them - smiling like fools. When we checked our names off the registrars list and headed outside, we could not wait to take them out and have Kathryn model the hood for us!

When I got home I put whole deal up on my closet door as inspiration, and I took a few photos, so that you (the viewer at home) could see it. Come May, I'll take a photo IN the regalia, for those of you who can't make it to graduation.

See below for photos with my comments. :) Blessings to you all!

Here it is (above), cap, gown ("master's gown" with special weird long sleeves), hood (yay!), tassel. The tassel has a little Baylor seal on it instead of "08" or something like that, and the zipper pull of the robe is a little Baylor seal (see below).

The hood, up close, in all its fantastic-ness.

Photos from Easter Weekend (part 2)

Sarah - the resident queen of egg dyeing, the kids this year just did solid colors, but Sarah created a four-colored egg
On Easter, a picture of Nick with all his grandkids. Taking this photo (and the others) was a hilarious endeavor and the one above is one of the best results.
Drex with his new helmet - he was adorable, after he was done using it, he reached for the top of the pillar to put it away - so cute.
Jared - being goofy as usual, with his very stickered egg, and Sarah, egg-dyeing queen.
Ryan digging into his Easter basket

Photos from Easter Weekend (part 1)

I traveled to Dallas mid-week (early in the AM) to have breakfast with three of my favorite Greenville Lady Panthers! I picked up Murph, Erin, and Michelle and we drove to a nearby Denny's to enjoy each other's company! It was great to get caught up, even though it was way (!) too short.

Erin and Julie
Me and Michelle
On Easter weekend in San Antonio, Andilin took us all on a nature hike together in the back "woods" behind her house. She was a great little nature teacher - but mostly was pointing out trash along the trail instead of pointing out the names of vegetation and animals.
On Friday, Sarah and I took Andi to her horse riding lessons. It was really neat to see her up on the horse so confidently. Here she is above, trotting on her regular mount, Top Gun.
Here is our precious little Drex, worn out after running around the trampoline later in the afternoon.

Photos from Boston and UCLA

Me and my hotel roommate, Kat Reed, who is the Coordinator for Greek Life at BU. Because I was really sick, I was so grateful to have her as a roommate, and to have a bed to myself!

Me, on the first morning of the "Placement Exchange" - in my "business casual" outfit. I changed later for an interview.
Here we are outside of the Old North Church - don't believe the smiles, we were freezing, wet and tired of walking in the rain... but we were having a good time just making memories!
It was fun to be at the oldest park in baseball... even if I'm not really a Red Sox fan (only because I will always be a Mariner fan!).
Part of the UCLA campus. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful campus. To the right of this photo is a tall rolling hill - and there were students out studying - it was a perfect spring day!

Updates following Boston and UCLA

(started on Thursday, March 13th)
Well, I'm back from my travels. I still have a cold - which is a bummer. I got it right after my parents left and right before I left for Boston. I may stop into the Dr. tomorrow just to see if there is any way to get rid of it faster. Already, it's kept me from going to Bearobics since I've been back. Boo!

What a fun and full week I had! We left Waco at 4:45 am last Wednesday (the 5th) and headed up to Dallas. It was really fun to travel all together. Once in Boston, we checked in at the hotel and then headed to eat. Thursday started the marathon interview experience. After checking in and attending an orientation, we started the process of sending out our resumes to various schools, hoping for interviews. I went to Boston with two interviews scheduled, and after dropping off a few resumes for mostly resident director positions, I added one interview to my schedule. The interviews went well, and I was really encouraged by them... even though I was pretty congested and sick.

(at this point, I was down for the count for the entire weekend, so I didn't get to finish my initial post, nor the follow up…. But I am feeling better now, and am back to blogging as a form of procrastination! date: 3/24/08)
I was able to tour around Boston on Saturday - and though it was rainy (!!!) it was really neat to get out and see some places I had previously only heard of, including Paul Revere's House, Old North Church, the Freedom Trail and Harvard (!). We had a fun time despite the weather and enjoyed each other's company! On Sunday, I went with a few friends to Fenway Park - it was a tour offered by the conference and we got to tour the inside, including the press box. Great fun! Our tour guide was crazy and we loved him!

After leaving Fenway and walking back to the hotel, we had just enough time for a quick lunch before I had to finish getting packed and hop a cab to the airport and head west.

It was pretty neat to see the Atlantic AND the Pacific in one week! When we were in Boston, it kind of weirded me out, because the sun was rising over the ocean instead of setting - I couldn't get my bearings. Thankfully on Tuesday, I got a glimpse of the Pacific and the sun was in its proper place again. :)

My visit to UCLA was fun and informative. I met a lot of great people and got a lot of questions answered, and got a lot more questions to ask. I'm working on that right now.

I'm still not sure what my future holds, but I'm grateful to know that God's will is not a little tiny path, but rather a bigger picture. I'm glad to know that my calling it to influence college students, and that there are a lot of ways I can do it.

That's it for now. At some point I have to get back to homework, so I'm going to act like I might start at 9pm. Or… I might make a phone call. :)

Blessings, friends.

Three days to NASPA... its a marathon of activity!

Well, my parents have been here this weekend and it was a GREAT visit (they leave tomorrow - Monday - morning early)!!!!!!! They got in around 1am on Friday night/Saturday morning and we spent a really relaxing but fun weekend together.
On Friday, I sat on a panel for the prospective students of the Student Affairs program here at Baylor (my program). My folks sat in and observed the panel, met a few of my colleagues and enjoyed Dr. Pepper floats. We walked back through campus to the apartment and hung out the rest of the afternoon. Once Sarah got home she and I went to vote (early voting in TX); and then we went with my parents to Buzzard Billys - which turned out to be a cajun-style restaurant. It recently moved to this restaurant right on the Brazos river; we sat on the back patio right over the river and really enjoyed our time together. I was thrilled to get to have a dish with crawfish! After dinner, the four of us headed back to the apt. and played a game of Settlers of Catan. Joel and Jessica came by and chatted for a bit, too.
Saturday, we had breakfast and ran a few errands (buying a suitcase, printing resumes, etc), and then relaxed back at the house - i.e. played a game of Settlers! That evening we went to Rudy's for dinner and then to All-University Sing! It was a great night! The acts were really "on" and it was fun to see how they had changed their acts since the week before. ADPi didn't make it to Pigskin Revue, and that was disappointing, but they put on a great show and I was so proud of them all!!!
Sunday, we met up and headed to UBC for church. It was a great surprise to read in the bulletin that Gideon Tsang was going to bring the sermon and that the Crowder Band is back in town. There was more excitement that morning at church, with the return of an old friend, Missy Davis (Baylor SAA master's grad) and another old friend who at this point will remain anonymous at her request. I'll try and post about it soon. But the most important part is that I screamed out loud, because I was so excited to see her - and it brought joy to my heart. After church we went home, at up the leftovers and then headed to Jones theater on the Baylor campus to see "Bye Bye Birdie" with Kathryn. We LOVED it! The cast did a fantastic job and the music was great. Mom, dad and I headed to Health Camp afterward (and most of you know that isn't really healthy), came home and I spent the evening studying stats for our midterm tomorrow.
Its almost time for me to go to bed, so I'll just give a quick rundown of my next week or so and you'll understand if my blogging is sporadic.... (per normal, right?)
Monday - bfast with M and D, Statistics Midterm, Law studying
Tuesday - Law Midterm, Tunnel of Oppression facilitating
Wednesday - early early travel to DFW to catch a flight to Boston, MA
Thursday through Sunday - The Placement Exchange (job placement part of NASPA) in Boston
Sunday - leave Boston for DFW and then LA
Monday-Tuesday - UCLA Open House for prospective PhD students.
Tuesday - leave LA for DFW and Waco....

YIKES. Wish me luck. Pray for me. Blessings on you!

Countdowns

9 minutes until I am leaving to go do my law reading.

I was thinking today about countdowns. I love them. I love being able to plan ahead to something. 80 days until graduation (hooding). 22 days until Greenville College Softball gets to play some spring ball in Texas. 9 days until I leave for Boston. And now 7 minutes until I am leaving my apartment.

The problem with countdowns is that it makes me feel like there is always pressure on me to get a certain amount of things done prior to the deadline - whatever that deadline is. Right now, I have three days until my parents arrive in Texas. I am psyched about their upcoming arrival, but as I think about how I'm going to get all my work done, the pressure increases.

Then I think about how I have 9 days until I should have interviews scheduled at NASPA (right now I only have one - which is great, but do I want more? I don't know - I only have 9 days). And I only have about 14 days until I leave from Boston for LA (hopefully) and meet the people at UCLA. And I probably only have about 20 days until I have to make a decision about my future.

Yikes.

Well for now, I like to think that have a certain (undefined) number of days until I get to Heaven, and I get to be there forever. In hindsight, most of these countdowns will look pretty insignificant.

I'll try to remember that next week in my statistics midterm....

The Joy of Webcam Communication

Am I the luckiest girl or what?! Here is a screen shot of what my mom and I look like about twice a week, when we get to chat on Skype. Its free and we get to use our video phones. I am always relaxing on a couch or bed, and she is always in front of the computer at home – playing video poker or solitaire. It's pretty fun. I took a better picture of her – its posted below, along with a picture of what I try to look like to her – I keep trying not to look at her video, but instead look at the camera, so that its like I'm looking at her.

Mom – what a cutie!

Me… the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, they say. J

ALSO – I have learned a lot of cool stuff lately about Microsoft Office 2007 (some of it from my friend Melissa – check out her blog: http://mel-dyes-her-hair.blogspot.com/). One of the neatest things is this program called "One Note" – I saw Mel using it and was intrigued – its basically a "paper" filing and note system that you can just use on your computer – you type instead of writing (unless you have a notepad that you can use a stylus on). One other thing it allows you to do is take really quick screen shots of whatever you want (example: the skype pic above) and it pastes it automatically into OneNote – where you can make notes about it, etc. It's a pretty neat program! Anyway, tonight I wanted to get that shot, so I clipped into OneNote and now here I am. The next step was that I was trying to get it onto my blogger, but I couldn't figure out how…. SO – I was in OneNote with my clipping and when I right mouse clicked it, it said "Blog this" and so I clicked that…. Lo and behold, it threw me into Word 07, where it hooked me up with my blogger account and let me put in pics and everything. Hooray!

Well, I should be reading or doing laundry right now, so I'd better at least go change my sheets and get my laundry ready for the AM – and get into bed. I hope you give these functions a try (Office 2007 stuff) and that you also check out Mel's blog – she always has new stuff to say and things to discuss. Blessings, friend.

Postscript: I did have some problems after all... the photos that were in my original blog in MS Word did not upload to the blog. Something about where they were stored. I"m trying to figure it out still, but if there is no screen shot at the top... that is why. :)

contemplations

Well, its 9:30 on Monday night. I have not finished my law reading for class tomorrow at 1pm and have barely started my reading for capstone class on Wed. We have about 100 pages to read for that class and a quiz. yuk.

So it probably doesn't make much sense that I'm writing on the blog instead of reading, but two things:
1) I'm trying to be more "in the moment" about my decisions.
2) I want to keep those of you who were faithful readers-when-I-updated-frequently-but-may have-stopped-even-looking-to-see-if-I-have-updated friends guessing and interested. :) More than that, I want to really keep you up to date on my life.

I have created an outline of things I want to talk about tonight. I know I won't get to all of them by my self-imposed deadline, but perhaps they will come up again in future posts:
1) PhD stuff
2) Job stuff
3) School stuff
4) TV, and other technology

First things first.... I have been admitted to UCLA - to the Higher Education and Organizational Change PhD program in the School of Education (http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/oss/programs.html, http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/oss/heoc.html). WOW. It is a pretty compelling offer. The professor that would be my advisor, Dr. Linda Sax, called me to tell me just over a week ago. I was in shock and thus unable to post about it for you. I am waiting to make my decision until I can go out to LA and visit the school and the professors there. The paperwork has not arrived yet in the mail and so I feel like I am in a holding pattern - people here want to know what I'm going to do... and so do I.... others feel like the decision is already made - why WOULDN'T I want to go to UCLA and do this? it would be crazy not to - but I'm trying this new thing where I follow my heart (I used to do this much better than I do now).

So... stay tuned for updates on this process. You will know when I do.

In the meantime, I have been job searching. I have applied for about 5 jobs. There are a couple that I would really like to do, but haven't heard back yet regarding even phone interviews.... bummer. I know that it is sort of hit and miss, but because there is one job in particular that I have wanted since Christmas and I applied a couple weeks ago (right before I found out about UCLA, actually) and haven't heard it makes me nervous!

I'm also trying a new thing where I trust God better, so I'm being patient and believing in God's faithfulness.

School stuff has been crazy lately. So much work - way more than we've had before it seems like. I think that I often feel that way near the beginning of the semester, but this semester it is like we are on a roller coaster toward graduation and the brakes are broken... it is a fast moving train toward May 16th and its crazy! Less than 90 days until graduation. And only two weeks until we all get our best clothes packed up and head to Boston for NASPA. I'm excited that I may not have many interviews for that conference (I am officially only applying to jobs I really really want, because of the great UCLA offer) and I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends, learning a bit, and touring the historic city of Boston. Today we got a note saying we could tour Fenway park for $12 - awesome!!

Last thing for tonight (I have 6 minutes). I've been contemplating giving up recreational TV for Lent. I don't give up something for Lent every year. Its not a part of my background and so sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't, and I feel OK about it. Well, this year Ash Wednesday came around and it was busy and roller coaster-y and my ability to contemplate life was at a minimum, so I did not give anything up. I'd rather not give something up than commit to something without thinking and not be really committed to it.

So my friend, Karin, was talking to me about how she gave up recreational TV for lent - you know what I'm talking about - the "keep the TV on to be in the background" kind of TV - or worse (and more applicable for me) the "keep the TV on while I do homework" kind of TV. See, technology has seemingly invaded my life. I now own two computers and there are two TVs in our house. My roommate has her own computer and a laptop she uses from her work - that means that at any one moment in our home, we might have four computers running and two TV's on. Or one TV and a CD player. Yikes. What has happened? And I think part of my problem in getting things done for school is that I'm watching TV in the AM while I make breakfast, which turns into while I get ready, which delays getting ready, which delays homework, etc.

Here's the issue: I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can handle the quiet or the slowness of not having technology on.

So pray for me as I contemplate. Pray for me as I think of my future and what it looks like. And pray for me as I consider breaking my addiction to television, noise and technology.

And I'll be back soon with more updates. :)

"When sleep her balm denies, my heart awaking cries, 'May Jesus Christ be Praised!'"

This is the third morning in a row that I have woken prior to my alarm clock. At least an hour before my alarm clock. It is only problematic because I set my alarm about 7 hours from when I turn off my light - the minimum amount of sleep that I know still gives me enough to function at 100%..... so its the beginning of the third day where I have less than 100% value worth of sleep. Ick.

The title of this blog comes from an old Hymn that I love called, "May Jesus Christ be Praised!" It sings of the feeling that as Christians we have (or should have?) in all circumstances... including when the balm of sleep is denied to the believer. And so I praise God today that I am awake and alive, and I am grateful for an extra hour this morning - an unexpected bit of time to write in my blog, drink coffee, and think before heading to Alpha Delta Pi initiation.

By this point (6:24am) I have gotten dressed, grabbed a bag of homework and necessities and made coffee and have about 20 minutes before I have to leave for the ADPi chapter room to help get everything together for this morning's ritual and celebration.

There are so many things I need to post about:
* PhD news
* Job application status
* My life in general
* This semester and how its going

But in honor of this morning, I am going take a few minutes and write about Alpha Delta Pi! Alpha Delta Pi was the first secret society for women - it began as the Adelphean Society in 1851, later adopted the Greek letters: Alpha Delta Phi, but when it was discovered that there was a men's fraternity with the same letters, changed Phi to Pi and here we are today. Our open motto, "We Live for Each Other" we believe exemplifies the highest ideals of Christian womanhood (the sorority was founded by six christian women who were friends and classmates at Wesleyan Female College in Georgia).

My experiences in Alpha Delta Pi are numerous and varied. I was a collegian at Northern Arizona University, and it was my relationship with my Diamond Sister (ADPi does not have "big" and "little" sisters - choosing instead to have relationships which place the sisters on equal footing - not in a heirarchy. a diamond sister is a special sister who serves as a sponsor through your beginning experiences in alpha delta pi) - it was my relationship with my Diamond Sister that moved me toward a relationship with Christ. Her name is Chalea and I've told her this before, but her invitations to Campus Crusade, and the way that I could see a difference in the way she lived versus how other people lived caused me to realize that there was something missing in my life. So you can understand one of the special connections I have to ADPi.

My roommate, Terra, became a special friend to me as well. She was two years younger than me, but had some life experiences which had caused her to become a mature and thoughtful woman early. She stood by me as I made the decision to not get married to my college boyfriend - and I have always been grateful for her support through that entire experience! My other roommate, Amy, was a woman who could make me laugh and think depending on the day. I was priviledged to attend both of their weddings and joyfully watch them marry men who valued who they are as women.

Another sister, Liz, and I were good friends - I think mostly because she had tried out for Collegiate Jeopardy and I thought that was awesome. I drifted out of touch with many of my sisters but somehow Liz and I reconnected years later and found out we were both active members (and maybe both discussion group leaders) of a Bible Study Fellowship class. It was a blessing to me to have this friend from my past turn out to be a committed Christian and it deepened our bond as sisters! I was also able to travel to her wedding, which was a super fun reunion of sisters.

I had wanted to get involved with a Collegiate chapter for a number of years, but wasn't in a position to do so in Seattle (no time). And Greenville was really too far from any chapter (I thought) - plus football season kept me pretty tied down. Well, when I decided to attend Baylor I found out that they had an ADPi chapter there and was pretty excited. I thought, "maybe now I can get involved with some women and help them see the love that I have for ADPi and help them to cultivate it!"

See, the core of what Alpha Delta Pi is - which is revealed most fully during initation to our newest members - guided me through my life following my own initiation in 1994. I cannot begin to describe how our open motto: "We live for each other" and what ADPi stands for have helped me to become the woman I am today - hopefully a woman who values others, who serves others, and who tries to exemplify the highest ideals of Christian womanhood.

At Baylor, I have made so many dear friends from women who I only knew initially as sisters. Both collegiate (undergraduate) women and alumnae advisors are now in my sphere of friends who share special memories, jokes, and care for each other deeply. Danielle, Holly, Sara; Naomi, Michelle, Kristen, Alice, Bethany, Sammi, Katie, Ashley - these are only a small drop in the bucket of names - I could go on for about 200 names of women who have touched my heart! :)

As I prepare for this initiation this morning, (my second to last initiation as a member of the Zeta Chi advisor board (We will initiation 8 more women just after Easter and these will be the last until next spring)...... I am grateful to God for bringing me to Alpha Delta Pi as a junior in college. I'm grateful that I had the ability to see how our deepest shared values and meanings lined up with what it meant to be in Christ and how that helped me to become a stronger Christian and a stronger woman over the years. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to share that with women today at initiation. I am grateful that I had even two years to serve this chapter as an advisor - and no matter how much I wish it were more - I wouldn't trade these two years for anything.

To my ADPi sisters who read this blog: I love you. I live for you. Thanks for what you've added to my life.

To my friends who have not been a part of a sorority, but who I count as sisters of my heart: You have also touched my heart in many ways and I'm grateful for you.

To collegiate women who read this story and think, "I want a sisterhood like that" - then may I please encourage you to consider Alpha Delta Pi?

Blessings to you all - another update coming. But for now - Love, Tiffani

Gift Ideas

I love the "how to" wiki, and this idea is a really neat one. A person with some free time (which right now I define as many people, none of them graduate students) could make this chocolate portrait - and it seems pretty easy!

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Chocolate-Portrait

I also liked this one on makin a candy/chocolate bouquet:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Chocolate-Bouquet

Enjoy your "valentine's day" projects. I will be posting soon with the latest on my life. Info from UCLA PhD program expected soon, and applications to various jobs on their way out! Woo hoo! Life continues to move forward and I have stats today at 1pm.

Blessings to you!

5:30 - yuk.

Well, this semester I am for sure in graduate school. I felt like that last semester, too, but was too tired and lethargic (depressed maybe?) to really be productive about it.

Today, surrounded by a sense of urgency and some low level fear, I got up at 5:30 to work on homework for tonight's class (which is from 5-8). I had not intended to leave 1/2 my work until the DAY OF class - those of you who know me well know how much I hate doing that! :)

Last week (as I mentioned in the last post) I had a ton of ADPi stuff, and then recovery. It was so bad that I didn't get started doing my homework until Saturday and then I was so tired it was pretty hard to read the Law reading (you can imagine!). So I finished Law on Sunday after church, and tried to start on Capstone - but I wasn't moving very fast on that either. Blah, blah, blah, add in a bunch of misused time (from a homework perspective - though in reality it was good stuff - the Amazing Race finale with Kathryn, Sarah and the Schwartzs; outlet shopping with Sarah - a suit, two sweaters and new tennies!; movie with some gal pals)..... and here I am at 7:30, mostly done with my homework (one chapter and one article to go) and with very few breaks today to get it finalized.

But, I feel like I'm in grad school! I'm drinkin coffee, taking notes, checking email and facebook on my new laptop. Perhaps I should get that PhD after all! (apps are in, and I won't have any info until early Feb (UCLA) and early March (WSU))

Today I am looking forward to:
* Session with Ashley
* Coffee with Marquette
* MLK, Jr Luncheon (last year was awesome, I can only expect this year to be great, too!)
* Mtg with Lynn to discuss planning her sorority's mission trip
* Mtg with Courtney to get to know each other and talk about ADPi stuff
* Class (well, mostly I am looking forward to it!)

Tonight I vow to not do any homework (maybe).... but I have THREE chapters of stats homework to do (due Monday), three chapters of Law and one tab (due Tues) and some other reading, interviews, and resume etc due next Wed. How in the world you ask!~? So do I. Wish me luck!

Blessings on you and yours!

Photos related to January 20 post

Ringing in the new year a few days late!

Well, 2008 is already almost 3 weeks old, and so I apologize for my relative absence thus far on the blog! It was not intentional! And as you all know, if my actions met up with my intentions, I'd have posted 12 times by now!

I spent New Year's Day with my family, enjoying coffee, books and Settlers. My parents and I went up to Barnes and Noble and were able to use up my mom's gift cards! It was really fun to know that I had $25 to use toward books - I think I ended up being able to get 5 of them - HP 5, Break In (by Dick Francis - an old favorite), Little Women and two other classics that I can't remember right now. I had to leave those two behind (along with some John Piper books I got at Derek's church for $5 each!!) to save space and weight in my luggage, but I'm looking forward to reading them when I get back. It was fun to play games with the family on New Year's Eve - My mom was crowned the final "lord of catan" for 2008, and the day - with its Barnes and Noble trip, movies and snacks was really fun.

I left on the 2nd to head back to Tx. Dad and I had a nice morning together chatting in the airport and then I got picked up by Karen and the kids in San Antonio. I was only able to stay for a few days, but it was really fun to do so. I love those kids, and I am always glad to get to spend time with them, John and Karen, and Dorothy and Nick. We had a good time!

I returned on the 4th to Waco and Sarah and I were able to spend a day together before she moved down to Austin and I began sorority recruitment. I have lots of pictures to share with you in the next post. It was a really fun week of recruitment! I got to hang out with my friend Danielle, who is the recruitment advisor, I spent a lot of time with the Alpha Delta Pi women and we ended up recruiting a really incredible bunch of women! I was so proud of all the work the ladies went to to get it completed and done in a great way. I am sad that I won't be here next year to be with them again - who knows, maybe I'll find a way.

During the week, we had our first mixer of the year - it was a "basketball mixer" - and it was really fun. It was also (embarassingly) my first baylor basketball game ever! We won, and that was great, but it was also a really good event for the chapter. On Friday night, we hosted our Sisterhood Retreat: "Legends of a Hidden Sisterhood" - it was great. I was so proud of Naomi (our membership education vice president) and the way she organized it, delegated work and the work that the women came up with - it was all really creative and it was fun to be at a gymnasium with trampolines, etc! A few of us slept overnight, but most of the women left around 3am. I was pretty beat when I got home - as you can imagine - and slept away the morning at home (I got home at 8:40). Later, Sarah and I went grocery shopping and then I started reading for school. bleh. Myles came over for dinner with Sarah and I and we watched "Rushmore" - I couldn't stay awake. I'm too old to stay up till 3am, it turns out! Today was a great sunday school class and church and then relaxing until the Amazing Race finale - which was excellent! Joel, Jessica, Kathryn, Sarah and I enjoyed a potluck and then the finale together. Tomorrow, Sarah is off work and I don't have school, so we are goin up to the outlet mall in the AM to do a little shopping. I'm hoping to see a movie later in the day - but also doing a LOT of reading, too!

So, on that note... finally, on to school talk. Well, this semester should be informative, kind of fun... and maybe a lot intense. We have a ton of reading and homework for our classes this semetser. I am taking: Statistics, Higher Education and the Law, and our Capstone course. Instead of taking comps, we have to present a case study analysis for some of the faculty of our program (at the end of the semester). We present for 30 minutes and then answer questions for 15-ish. We were assigned our case studies on the first day, in expectation of our working on them all semester, while we also do our other work! A fun requirement of our Capstone course is a trip to Boston in March for the NASPA conference. NASPA is the professional organization for student personnel administrators, and I think we are all looking forward to a weeklong stay (except for the bill of how much food will cost - yikes!).

that's probably it for now. There are 116 days until I get hooded/graduate. There are 45 days until Boston. And I am working on applying for jobs while I wait to hear graduate school application results.

I will write soon! I'm going to make a quick slide show and post it in the next post!