Surprise!

John and I traveled to Georgia! When Amanda found out we would be living in England this year she complained, "You're always out of the country when I graduate." I was indeed studying abroad in Rome when she graduated from high school and would presumably be in England on May 9th, 2009 when she graduated from college. But I decided that even though we are moving back to Georgia very soon I would come for a short visit to surprise her and see her stand up with the rest of the College of Arts and Sciences to move her tassel.

Rather fortuitously, I am also here for Mother's Day. Thanks for birthin' me, Mom!

Yay

John turned in his paper so he is done with his second semester! Now he just has to write his thesis and he'll be LLM-ed! We are doing some more traveling to celebrate so we may be radio silent for a couple of days.

Oh, and UGA asked me if I wanted to move up the Specialist degree in Education for School Library Media and I said yes! I got into a competitive program without even applying to it. And without having any previous Education degrees. Anyway, with a little extra work this will successfully get me certified to be a Media Specialist in Georgia and may even bump me to a higher pay scale.

Back to School

I got accepted to UGA's School Library Media Certification program!

What this means is that once I have the certificate I can be a media specialist in Georgia. Which means my life plan of having a job I love but also having time for future children and storytelling is coming together. It feels good to be on track.

Life After England

As much fun as we are having here, we are having to start to plan for what we will do when we move back home. I just spent several hours completing an application to UGA. My plan is to try and find a library job, then work and take classes at the same time. I'm hoping within another year or so (from the time we get back) I will be certified to be a Media Specialist and will be able to work in schools.

I am excited about possibly going back to school, but also looking forward to working full time. And as for doing both at the same time: I've done it before and survived.

I'm also looking forward to living back in the US with John. When we were home for Christmas it was so good to see friends and family, but also a little weird for us to be without our own place. In some ways coming back to England was coming home, because this is the only home we have together. It will be a whole new adventure to move back to Georgia and have a home together in our home country.

In the mean time, we are planning lots of trips. We are making the most out of the rest of our time here!

Lazy Day

John and I went back to the Cathedral today. The building was closed yesterday when we were there because it was so late in the day. I snapped a couple more pictures of the outside but there was a charge for taking pictures inside, so you'll have to some visit if you want to see what it looks like! There are small sculptures all over the ceiling where the beams intersect. We walked up a very tight winding staircase to see a collection of items that have been used for communion and alms. Outside there is a labyrinth that was added by the queen in 2002.

We took a long nap this afternoon. I think we are both worn out from our big move and looking for a place to live. John is listening to the Georgia game on the Internet tonight.