Thanksgiving Break!

Its almost Thanksgiving, and I am dying to go home. Dying! Thankfully, we will be headed to Atlanta in two days time! This year is extra special, as my Gran will be here. Super Gran is awesome… she will be 80 in February, and still makes the Trans-Atlantic trip a couple of times a year! She has always asked us about our Christmas trees, etc. but is a creature of habit and does not like to be away from home during the holidays. This is understandable, as only one of her children (two if you count dad) and three of her grandchildren (well, now five if you count Jordan and Pam) live in the US. A couple of years ago, I started bugging her about coming out in November. She could come for Thanksgiving (clearly not something we celebrate in the UK), spend mum and Craig’s birthdays with them (November 21 and 28, respectively), and we would even put up our trees early for her to see them. Well last year, it worked! It was particularly nice that last year was a “Cormack Thanksgiving Year” for us; we got to celebrate Gran’s first Thanksgiving with her! This year is a “Patton Thanksgiving Year.” BUT my sweet dad (and mum, of course) decided to fly us down for the break!

We are going to have such a busy time and will be spending lots of time with both families. We will leave Pittsburgh Tuesday evening (we do not have classes on Wednesday) and mum (and probably Gran, who arrives in Atlanta tomorrow) will pick us up from the airport. We will spend Tuesday evening and Wednesday with my family. I missed mum’s birthday (yesterday), but I hope we can go to dinner to celebrate her birthday with her. Wednesday, we will probably go shopping for bridesmaid’s dresses. Pam, Craig’s (my brother) sweet fiancé, has decided that she would pick a colour swatch from David’s Bridal and let each of her bridesmaids select their own dress (stipulations being colour and length). So, we thought it would be fun if we could all go dress shopping together while Gran is here! Hopefully, Pam and Bronda will be able to come with us… I want Pam to have “right of refusal” on each dress.

Later on Wednesday, we will head out to Covington to see Jordan’s family. I am not sure what time, as Jordan and I are pretty impatient when it comes to traffic, and you KNOW what Thanksgiving eve traffic is like. My assumption is that we will wait until about 8pm to make the drive to Covington in order to avoid the traffic. We will spend Thanksgiving Day at the Patton’s and I think everyone will be there (at least at some point – Kristen and James arrive at lunchtime). We will stay in Covington until Jordan wakes up on Friday (or early afternoon, if Jordan wakes up early).

Friday, I am trying to get time with my sweet friend Kristin. One of my best friends from college, she is now working for the Department of State in DC! It seems like we only manage to get together when we are both in Atlanta, but that is okay… we do try and pretty frequently get to talk. What is nice about our friendship is that despite the fact that we are both so busy, and often go weeks (or even months last time!) without getting to talk, we always pick up right where we left off. I am hoping that she will be bringing her puppy (Gus) home with her and we can go for a “play date” with Gus and Bailey at the dog park! Kristin was also one of my few friends to make it to Aberdeen for my wedding. My Gran LOVES here (as well as all my other friends that she met at the wedding)… it would be such a treat if Gran could see Kristin too! If this doesn’t work out, we will at least both be in town for part of Christmas Break.

The rest of Friday will be more family time; Craig’s birthday is on Saturday, so my assumption is that we will celebrate Craig’s birthday on Friday, given Saturday’s happenings. Which brings me to Saturday: Georgia Tech vs. UGA football! This is always fun (yes, even when our team blew chunks); this time will be even more special, as all nine – yes nine—of us will be at the game! Mum and Dad, Jordan and I, Craig and Pam, Rachel and Tyler, and Super Gran! It is an evening game (8pm), so we will actually have a lot of time during the day to hang out (perhaps do some more Christmas shopping). We return to Pittsburgh Sunday evening.

I am ignoring the elephant in the room. Schoolwork. Groan. It is that dreaded time of the year when everything is due. In top of my typical work-load (of reading and discussing), I have the following requirements: Democratic Theory Paper and Oral Exam, EU Paper, Comparative Politics exam, and Methods Paper, Presentation and Exam. Without giving too much away, lets just say that I am far from prepared. Rather than blogging, I should be preparing for the week. I am going to have to bring some work home with me over the break, although it is not clear when I will have time to do this! Oh well, c’est la vie.

Documenting the Last Three Months

Here are the pictures I promised in my last post.

During mum's visit, we worked like crazy to finish the house. Here are some of the things we did:Bought and assembled this chair. I am planning to get the matching ottoman soon! We also bought and hung the curtain. This curtain covers a closet, which has no door.
Bought and assembled the butchers block, bought and hung the curtains, and bought the basket under the butchers block so that I can hide my tupperware!
We bought and hung this curtain for the dining room.
Another view of the dining room.
And another!
And here is my office/gym.
Finally, we finished the guest bedroom. Come and visit us!
Of course, we found time to eat too! This is us at Pangea, just off of Walnut Street.
On thing that I missed in my last post is that I went to see dad during the first couple of weeks of being here. He was on a business trip to Cleveland, so I drove up there (only about 2.5 hours) and had dinner with him.
Andrea, Yasemin, and I at Will's place for a "Welcome Party" for first years.
With new friends at Hemmingways.
Allison's visit and our yummy cupcakes!
Jordan's birthday and his rocky road cupcakes.
Visiting Bailey in Atlanta.
My crazy family after Craig and Pam's engagement dinner.
With Craig and Rachel at the GT-UNC game.
With classmates at the GPSA happy hour.With Vicky and Henry during their visit.
With Andrea and Yasemin at a talk by an ECJ Justice.
Cassie, Andrea, Yasemin and I at a Halloween party and Brandon and Hethba's.With mum and Rachel in Auburn.Happy hour on Yasemin's birthday!

Its been a while...

Okay, so Kristen has been getting on my case about updating this thing…. so here goes nothing! Since my last post a ton has happened (hence the lack of updates). Fasten your seat belts, this is a synopsis of our lives since August 7 (3 months)!

In the middle of August, mum came to visit us. Jordan was in orientation by this point, so mum and I had a few days together. Poor mum; she was such a trooper and helped me finish the house before my academic obligations began! With multiple trips to Ikea and Target, we finally got (and assembled) all the extra furniture we needed and finished buying and hanging curtains. Thankfully, her visit was not all work! We spent time walking around Bloomfield and Oakland, so that mum could see where we would be spending most of our time, we tried a bunch of new restaurants, and we found an outlet mall. I have since found one that I like better, but more on that later! We were so exhausted that we crashed every night, but it was so nice to have mum here!

Once mum left, the real work began! And by real work, I mean Jordan’s classes and my math boot camp (yes, math boot camp for political scientists). It sounds crazy, but I am actually thankful for math boot camp. Hear me out. Orientations are awkward: put a bunch of people (nine, in our case) in a room together, tell them a bunch of stuff that they are expected to (but largely will not) remember, and expect the people to meet each other in an artificial manner. Gross. With math boot camp, however, we (the first year cohort) were thrown into a situation where we had to get down to work and were in the situation with all of the second years, who already knew each other. Nothing unites like a common enemy. And math camp was our common enemy. Indeed, when we were thrown into the potentially awkward “meet each other” situations, we already knew each other (to some degree or another) and had at least something to talk about.

I am pleased to say that I have not met a person in the program that I dislike. There are people that I have more and less in common with, but I can more than merely “put up” with everyone I have met so far. As far as my cohort goes, there are three women who study the EU (myself, Yasemin and Andrea); the three of us clicked almost immediately. I suppose this is a good thing, since we will be spending the majority of our program together (between classes and talks). The fourth girl in our cohort, Cassie, has also become dear to us. We had a girl’s night about a month ago for the four of us, and what fun we had just sitting and chatting with wine, cookies and cupcakes! We decided that we should make an effort to do this more often, but that has proven impossible thus far given November work schedules! I digress.

Following boot camp, my real classes began. This semester, I am taking democratic Theory and Democratization, Comparative Politics, EU Politics, and Empirical Methods of Research. I have taken three of these classes before, and have been exposed to the material from all four, but it is so interesting to see how differently these courses are taught at Pittsburgh as opposed to Georgia Tech. Frankly, what I am taking away from my classes, as much as the material itself, is an idea of how I would (will) teach these classes when my turn arrives. This, to me, has been the value added of taking graduate coursework at two different schools: when I teach these classes, I hope to pull the strengths of each way of presenting the material. The challenge, however, will be avoiding a course that is ideologically, epistemologically, and methodologically incoherent; there has to be a way to do justice to these different perspectives without being incoherent… but this is a difficult balance to achieve. Perhaps the best example of this divergence is my Comparative Politics course. I have now had two such courses (at the graduate level, and one at the undergraduate level). Both (all three if we include undergraduate) of these courses were excellent courses. The core remained the same: the effects of institutions and history on domestic polities. However, where one started with the sociological bases of Comparative (Marx, Weber, and Durkheim), the other has given comparative methodology prime of place. All three components are important and, in my opinion, necessary… it simply escapes me (currently) as to how all three components can be given sufficient attention in one semester.

I got an excellent surprise that first week of class. A dear friend, Allison, with whom I worked as the European Union Center of Excellence at Georgia Tech, is a flight attendant. I got a random call Wednesday evening (September 2) asking: “What are you doing on Friday?” Sweet Allison took the first flight out of Atlanta on Friday morning and came to spend the day with me on her way to Hawaii! Actually, not really on the way to Hawaii, she flew from Atlanta to Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh to Atlanta, Atlanta to Los Angeles (where she spent the day with another friend), Los Angeles to Honolulu, and (I think) Honolulu to Kauai(?). What a fun day we had! It was a beautiful early fall day, so she got a great view of the city when we came over the bridge. We walked over to Walnut Street for lunch and a little shopping. We found a cute cupcake book, which Allison wanted to buy for me as a housewarming gift. We later made cupcakes (from the book), walked around Oakland, and went to Happy Hour with the department. We finished off the evening with dinner at an Italian in Bloomfield. Allison’s flight out was super early (like, 6 am). This less-than-24-hour-long-visit was such a sweet surprise!

Fast forward to late September (and fill in the space with “I read non-stop and took occasional breaks to watch Yellow Jacket football and go to happy hour with my friends”). For Jordan’s birthday I made rocky road cupcakes, we ordered in, and watched X-Men. For anyone who knows me, this is a BFD… I can hardly sit through a movie… never mind an action movie!

Jordan and I flew home to Atlanta (thanks to dad!) to attend an engagement dinner for Craig (my brother) and Pam. What an excellent night! Both families were in full attendance. Mum and dad, Jordan and I, Craig and Pam, and Rachel (my sister) and Tyler (her boyfriend) on Craig’s side. On Pam’s side Bronda (her mum) and Mike (here dad) and Daniel (her brother) and Carmen (his then girlfriend, now fiancé). We had an awesome (as always) dinner at Grace, gave them gifts, and just hung out. Backing up a couple of days, we flew to Atlanta Thursday night, I had a hair appointment with Julie Friday morning, mum and I went to the outlets Friday afternoon, and dinner for Craig and Pam was Friday night. Saturday, we drove down town to watch the Yellow Jackets manhandle UNC. It was so nice to be back at Bobby Dodd Stadium and Historic Grant Field! After dinner, Jordan and I drove out to Covington and spent the evening with Jordan’s parents. We stayed in Covington that night and celebrated Jordan’s birthday with his mum and dad the next day.

October was mental. Primarily, Yasemin and I decided to take a short course (half the credits of a standard course) offered by the EUCE. I am so glad that I took this course, it was on the EU’s emerging global authority and we were exposed to Asian perceptions of the EU, ESDP missions, and sample research of US perceptions on the EU. Frankly, I did not have time to do the work for an extra course, but it was totally worth it. The course was taught by a visiting professor, Dr. Martin Holland, who is an EU scholar and Monnet Chair from Canterbury, New Zealand.

On top of the short course, Vicky and Henry (Jordan’s parents) planned a trip to see us to coincide with Vicky’s birthday and Jordan’s fall break (let’s be clear, by fall break I mean nothing was different… he still had his usual meetings, etc.) We had a brilliant time with Vicky and Henry. We had dinner in Bloomfield on Friday night. Saturday, we got a late start (slept in a little, had coffee, etc.). Vicky and I headed to the other outlet mall (told you I would get there!) in Washington, which was awesome, to get some Christmas shopping done – a very successful trip! Jordan and Henry stayed at home, had lunch, went to the bakery to get breakfast for the next day, and watch the Georgia game. When Vicky and I arrived home, we watched the Tech game and then headed to McCormick and Schmick’s (Vicky and Henry’s favorite restaurant) for dinner. Sunday, we tried a new church, showed Vicky and Henry around Oakland (primarily CMU) and had lunch on Walnut Street before whisking them off to the airport. A full-but-fun weekend!

And now here we are, November. The first weekend in November marked Auburn’s homecoming. My dad had bought club-seating tickets and rented a suite for himself and my mum, only to realize that he had business obligations in Arizona. Score one for me… in his place, dad flew me down to Atlanta, where mum picked me up, and we drove to Auburn with Bailey to see Rachel. The first night, we had dinner with Jan and Ailsa. This is a strange-but-true story. When Rachel was going through rush, we were all happy to hear that she liked (and kept getting invited back to) Pi Beta Phi. You see, several of Craig’s friends from high school are/were Pi Phi’s at Auburn, Craig had attended a couple of events with Pi Phi… basically, we felt that they were a “known quantity.” Bid day (families are invited to share this day with their daughter/sister), we were all told about this other Scottish girl in Pi Phi. This was exciting to us, but we didn’t get to meet this mystery girl that day. Fast forward to Pi Phi family weekend (March 2009) and we (mum, dad, and I) had the opportunity to meet this girl and her parents. Turns out they are from Inch (not too far from Aberdeen!) And there you have it, two Scottish girls the same age, with similar pasts (moved to the US about the same time for their dads’ businesses), end up in the same sorority in BFE (Auburn), Alabama. Needless to say, we got along well with Ailsa’s parents (two Scottish families and alcohol… go figure). Fast forward to this November, and you have five Scottish women having dinner together in Auburn.

Friday, mum and I went shopping in Auburn. Rachel was planning to come with us, but she was not feeling well and decided to sleep so that she could feel better for the game on Saturday. Craig and Pam drove down from Atlanta, came to dinner with us that evening, and stayed in the suite with us. They got up and left early Saturday morning so that Craig could attend the Georgia Tech-Wake Forrest game (which was too close for my liking). Mum and I started getting ready for the game and Rachel ultimately decided not to go. We felt so bad, but, after a visit to the Dr. on Monday, we found that she had bronchitis. Good call on not going to the game. Thankfully, but not surprisingly, Auburn won (and virtually doubled Furman’s score). Mum and I grabbed Bailey and ventured to Toomer’s Corner. I will post pictures later, but Google it: Auburn students, alumni, and fans toilet paper the trees on this corner after a win! What a cool experience! We then snuck Bailey up to the suite where Rachel and I watched the Tech game and took a nap.

So there you have it. Three months boiled down to a not-so-short blog post! All my pictures from these events are on Facebook, but my next plan is to post a handful here.

No promises, but I at least intend to be better about updating this thing!!

Love,

Sarah

Almost Two Weeks In

Well, we have been in Pittsburgh almost two weeks. We have spent the majority of our time getting our belongings unpacked and getting the house comfortable. I have posted several pictures on Facebook and will post a couple below. At this point (going from room to room, starting from the entrance), my office/gym is almost complete (I just have to get a unit to put my weights on), the dining room is almost complete (we have ordered another unit and, once that arrives, we will be able to finish that room), our guest bathroom is complete and the kitchen it complete except for curtains. On the second floor, our bedroom is complete (except for that we want a new stand for the TV -- the current stand will go to my office/gym for my weights), our bathroom is complete, our living room is complete, our dressing room is complete and Jordan's office is almost complete (just a few more boxes to go). On the third floor, we have done nothing on the guest bedroom. We need to re-assemble the bed and purchase a new baseboard.

Jordan has really adapted to some of the "housekeeping" things that would have been done by maintenance at Tenth and Home. Primarily, he has installed two AC units on his own! It is strange not to have central air, but Jordan's configuration makes it feel like we still have it! He has really paid attention to where the units need to be installed and how the doors and fans in the main rooms need to be set in order to maximize the efficacy of the units.

We are settling in nicely. We certainly miss our friends and family. Craig and Pam got engaged last weekend in Las Vegas and I really hate that I have not been able to see and hug them since. However, my dad was in Cleveland, OH last week on business. I drove there (about 2.5 hours) to have dinner with him; this certainly helped the feeling of isolation. In addition, Jordan and I would really like to get a pet; we are not going to move forward with this yet as we do not receive Jordan's first stipend until the end of September (read: borrowing a LOT of money from my parents until we get paid!)

I am now registered for classes; I took a trip to campus last week to register. In addition, I have been assigned my first PGH Kaplan class! This assignment will begin in mid September. Jordan's orientations start next week, and my math "boot camp" begins in about 10 days. I just hope that we have the house ready before then!

We Have Arrived!

After a long and exhausting week, we have arrived in Pittsburgh! We have our keys, and are waiting for Pizza to arrive for us at the hotel. This optimism, however, is premature; it has been one heck of a week.

Thursday was my birthday and, as such, I was not planning to do any work that day. This was fine, as our move was set for Saturday (lie number 1). Mum, Jordan, Rachel, Tyler and I were going to go to the botanical gardens, and later I would have dinner with everyone (except for Pam) on my side of the family. At 12:30, however, I received a call to inform me that my movers would arrive on Friday between 10 and 12. I hung up happy because we could sleep in a little... then I freaked out ("did he say TOMORROW? I was told they would be here on Saturday!!!") I called Nationwide (our relocation company) who did nothing to help rectify the situation. *NOTE* NEVER MOVE WITH NATIONWIDE* Instead of spending the afternoon at the Henry Moore exhibit, mum came and helped up frantically pack the rest of our stuff. Once packed, we went to Gwinnett Place Honda to pick up our new car. However, dad decided to add some extra features, so we left the car overnight to get additional work. That evening, Jordan and I had dinner at Grace with mum, dad, Craig (sans Pam, who was studying for exams), Rachel and Tyler. It was so good (as always)! Before dinner, we opened gifts at my parent's house; I feel so blessed to have such a loving family, they really made this birthday special, even if I did have to pack!!!

Friday, our movers arrived at 10 am and did not finish packing our possessions until about 10 pm. It was crazy how long they took; I must say, however, that they were meticulous in packing our furniture into the truck -- this I am thankful for. They are two Bosnian men who do not work for Nationwide; Nationwide contracted their company to move our things -- I am sure that Nationwide is screwing them as much as they are screwing us. One of the men said to me (in broken English) "your job order said this was supposed to be about 6500 lbs, this seems heavier than that." Great. I provided Nationwide with a list of my furniture and they estimated a weight. I was told this weight was based upon your furniture being Ashley or Havertys, and that there was no way my Target and Ikea furniture weighed that much... lie number 2. I get charged about four times the price for anything over the quoted weigh; something that was misconstrued to me when I was send the "not to exceed, binding quote" (lie number 3). Rachel and Tyler were awesome -- they spent the day sitting by the truck to make sure that nothing got stolen out of the back!!! All that aside, we were planning to have dinner with Vicky, Henry, Jonathan, Lisa, Meghan, and Tom, but we got to the Melting Pot so late that we only had about 30 minutes with the siblings and an hour with Vicky and Henry! We hate that we did not have longer with them. All this on top of no sleep for Jordan and two hours of sleep for me!

Saturday, Jordan and I slept in until around noon, after which we went downtown with mum to clean out our apartment and check out for good. We could not have finished on tie without mum's help!!! We checked out about 5pm, just in time to go back to Norcross to have dinner at J. Alexanders with mum, dad, Craig, Pam, Rachel and Tyler. After dinner, Jordan packed everything into our new Honda CRV (LOVE IT!!!). I must post some pictures of it soon!!!

Today, we got up early and left my parents house at 8:40 am. I took the first driving shift while Jordan slept. To follow our journey, look at my Twitter account (@sarahjcpatton):
9:55 AM: South Carolina
11:20 AM: North Carolina
2:00 PM: Virginia
3:40 PM: West Virginia
7:55 PM: Pennsylvania

Once in Pittsburgh, we picked up our keys and emptied our car. We then proceeded to our Hotel (Friendship Suites -- I HIGHLY recommend this place!!!) and ordered a Pizza -- which has just arrived!

Tomorrow, we receive our furniture, lets pray that unloading does not take as long as loading!!!

6 Days: Let the Panicing Commence

In six days, our movers will be here (and in Norcross, but mostly here). This move is an interesting display of Jordan and I's divergent personality traits. I am a self-described uber-planner (others have used the terms "anal-retentive" and "Hitler"); having every detail planned out is the best way for me to deal with such a life changing event. I have packed our crystal and stemware, all of my school books, all of our pleasure books, all of our DVDs, and all of Jordan's games. I have almost finished packing my clothes, our linens (bedroom and bathroom) and our dishes. I have still to tackle the kitchen, the office, the bathroom and our framed pictures. After a bubble wrap run and a couple of afternoons of non-stop packing, I think this task will be easily completed.

In contrast to me, Jordan feels most relaxed when he is improvising. Jordan has yet to pack his clothes and all of our electronics (a task that I do not envy, but I am sure he did not envy me when I was packing dishes and crystal either!) Jordan's approach stressing me out; it has been a good "marriage lesson" to let him pack in his time, but I have had to learn to leave him to this and trust that he will do what he is supposed to do (even if he is still packing when the movers arrive)! Maybe one day, our personalities will converge to a more central position on the planning-improvising spectrum, but for now, we continue to be polar opposites!

At this stage, we are facing all of the usual doubts: why are we doing this? Is it really worth it? Why don't we just get jobs in Atlanta and stay here! Whenever we have this conversation (which is multiple times a day), we come to the conclusion that we are only going to be in Pittsburgh five or six years, we can always leave if we HATE it, but that we think we are really going to like it. I think this is normal for life changing events.

Outside of packing, we will have a very busy week (why did I choose to move during my birthday week?!). This started on Friday, when we had to pick up my contacts and Jordan's glasses from Costco, I had my final haircut at Van Michael with Julie (she has been cutting my hair since before Jordan and I started dating -- highly recommend her to anyone looking for a new stylist!), we saw Harry Potter (FAIL: worst of the movies thus far) with my mum and sister, and had dinner at Thai Spice with my mum, dad and sister.

Yesterday, I was having trouble sleeping (I woke up at 5:15). I decided to go to the gym in Norcross, because I had some errands to do up there. I ran on the Elliptical for 30 mins, and then went to my parents house for a shower. Then my mum and I took a Pilate's class (love it!) and got pedicures. Immediately following this, I went car shopping with my dad and Derek (Jordan and I need to decide exactly what we want, and then Derek will find the best deal for us -- he is an awesome person and friend who love to help out his friends in any way he can). We spent a lot of time at a Honda dealership, and have narrowed down our choices to a Civic, an Accord and CRV. After car shopping, I drove back to Midtown where Jordan and I almost immediately got back in the car and drove to Covington to visit with Vicky and Henry, Uncle Gary and Aunt Eleanor, and Mema. In addition, Jordan wanted to give me my birthday present early so that I could use it and so that we could return it if it was not what I wanted. I LOVE it! It is a pink work out set: Pilate's Ring, Body Ball, Resistance Bands, Weights, and a DVD!

Today, we will likely just pack.

Tomorrow, Jordan has a meeting with his Master's Project Adviser (they are working on getting his project ready for publication). While he is there I will (you will never guess) pack.

Tuesday, my mum is coming over for the afternoon to help me pack the kitchen; this will be a great help! In the evening, we have our last meeting with our Community Group from Buckhead Church. We will miss this group; it has been a great experience for us, and we hope to join another small group when we are in Pittsburgh.

Wednesday, I am hoping that we will be able to test drive cars; now that I have narrowed down what I like, it is Jordan's turn to look. In addition, our i-Phones (birthday presents from each of our parents) should arrive either Wednesday or Thursday, we will have to go to AT&T in order to get them set up properly.

Thursday is my birthday! I am not sure what we will do, but I refuse to pack on this day! I would love to go to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and see the Henry Moore exhibit; his work was always a great influence on my own. That evening, we will go to dinner with my family. I have not decided where yet (perhaps Grace?), but I think everyone is going to be there (excluding, maybe, Pam -- who is nuts and taking a TON of hours this summer!)

Friday, we have nothing specific planned for the day, but Vicky and Henry are taking us to dinner for my birthday. Once again, I am not sure where, but they LOVE McCormick and Schmick's, so that could be a fun option.

Six days -- so short, but so much already planned! Hopefully, we will be packed on time, but only time will tell!!!

13 Days: Bubble Wrap Crisis

Today, I woke up later than planned (noon) and simply could not go to the gym. Instead, I spent the afternoon packing. I have now paced: my school books, our china, some crystal, my winter clothes, our kitchen linens, our pleasure books, our dvd's Jordan's xBox games, our extra towels, and our extra bed linens. I have now run out of bubble wrap, which squashes my hopes of packing my decorative plates. I guess I need to pack our extra blankets and throws and then make decision on which clothing items I will actually need (and not just want) over the next two weeks. By next Sunday, I hope to have packed all of our dishes, and be living off of paper plates and solo cups. Once I get more bubble wrap, I will start on our dishes and then move to packing all of our pictures.

Other than packing, we need to sort out our insurance situation and work on selling our car; my dad is letting us use his Envoy when we are in Pittsburgh -- we are really thankful for this!

My big goal: have sufficient packing complete so that I do not have to pack on my birthday (July 23 -- 2 days before our move)!

21 Days: Happy 4th

Packing at the Patton household is still going slow. I have received my dishpacks and another set of boxes, only to find that they are MUCH cheaper at Costco! Knowing that I did not buy enough initially (I have lofty goals of packing quickly and only purchasing boxes as needed), I did invest in another pack at Costco -- I may actually have enough to complete this move! I was disappointed with my dishpacks... no dividers for my stemware. However, we did find another solution (yes, at Costco, again); we are picking up wine crates from Costco and using those as stemware containers (which will subsequently go into the dishpacks. We are still in need of AT LEAST 3 more wine crates -- keep buying that wine, mum! Thus far, I have packed our crystal flutes, and all of my china (that is not saying much -- I have yet to complete my china set) -- best to start early with things that we do not use often. Next, I am going to get working on books and winter clothing -- I just need some more packing tape first (yes, my packing set from Costco did contain these, that box was heavy, however, and it is still sitting in the back of our car!

In other news, we are enjoying not having classes/work (okay, I am still teaching at Kaplan, but 2.5 hours/week is not taxing)! We have been able to take a couple of trips (which I posted about earlier), enjoy visits from out of town guests (mum's friend Beverly, who was like a second mother to me growing up, was in town for about 10 days), hang out with old friends, attend our awesome small group more regularly, be more diligent about going to the gym and just generally get more quality time together. Tonight, we are going to hang out with Henry (one of Jordan's oldest friends) and his wife, Dana for the 4th. They are a really great couple, and only wish that we could spend more time with them! Why do we have to work? This is the perfect life... except for the looming move!!!

26 Days: May the packing commence...

Jordan and I have finally come to an agreement with our land lord over the lease agreement, we have received our boxes, but for some reason, we have got no motivation to pack -- after purchasing bubble wrap today, Jordan has been enjoying playing Fallout 3 and I have invested the afternoon in watching an NCIS marathon (could I have at least procrastinated at the gym?!?!?!)! Last week, I took a few hours to weed through two drawers (that is, two of six plus a wardrobe...), but I could not bring myself to throw anything out (not even t-shirts -- how many of you have ever seen me in a t-shirt, even at the gym?); instead, I have created a "half-way-house" of clothes -- I will have to make a decision at some point, but I am loath to do so at this point! I need to finish going through my drawers and start packing things that are not essential (china, winter clothes, etc.) All in all, we have the foundation of a move, but very little in the way of execution -- if I learned anything from the recent Banta move, it was "start packing early"... here goes nothing...

Counting Down: 32 Days

It has been over a month since my last update! Since my last post, Jordan and I have been to Hilton Head with his family, we have been house hunting in Pittsburgh and have been to Destin with my mum, dad and sister!

During our trip to Pittsburgh, Jordan and I narrowed our housing selection down to two houses. If we could combine elements of the two houses, then we would have found the perfect living space. The one that we decided to go with was the largest of the properties that we viewed; we are looking forward to having the space, but this also means that our furniture will not be sufficient AND it will require more cleaning (perhaps I should ask for a Roomba for my birthday!!!) The landlord pays for water and sewage (which is standard in Pittsburgh), the property includes a washer and drier (in the unfinished basement), and we are allowed pets (if and when we choose to get one). On the bad side, it is certainly not the most attractive house that we viewed (exterior) and there is very little storage space. We are currently in the contract negotiation stage of renting this house (Thanks to Kristen, Jordan's sister for all of her help in this process!), and I hope to be able to report the successful completion of this process in the next few days!

We have so much to do between now and moving. Believe it or not, Jordan and I are both still working on our Master's Thesis/Project -- while no longer for a grade, we must push on and get these work published! When not working on our move, you can find us preparing book proposals and coding data :) ah, life in the academy!!

And so it begins...

One of the most nerve racking things about moving to Pittsburgh is the fact that we do not know the city. There are always questions as to where we should try and live, what banks exist (from our brief visit in April, it is clear that Wachovia -- our bank -- is does not!), etc. etc. etc. I have been in touch with some future classmates, as has Jordan, and we have received some very detailed and helpful information.

So far, we have narrowed down our living options to a few reputable management companies and their properties that are located in the right parts of town. We will visit each of these when we go to Pittsburgh in June (a trip that I just booked this morning). Hopefully, after this visit -- June 7 to June 9 -- we will understand the lay of the land a little better and we will have selected an apartment. I have been working on getting moving quotes and I have my choices narrowed down to two companies. In addition, we would like a more reliable car before we move away -- Jordan is spending his post-Master's time researching just the right car.

There is so much to do between now and late July that I have decided to end my employment with Banta Immigration Law earlier than planned. My last day will be May 29. It will certainly be strange, as I have spent 24 of the past 36 months working here. Truthfully, both the company and I have been lucky with our arangement -- when they needed an extra body they could call me and when I needed employment I could call them. Perhaps it is best for both parties that this crutch will be removed :)

Jordan and I are headed to Savannah/Hilton Head for Memorial Weekend. Jordan's Mema turns 80 this month, so the first port-of-call is Savannah, where there will be a big family celebration. Then we will be in Hilton Head with Jordan's immediate family until Monday (I have to work on Tuesday).

Have a safe and relaxing Memorial Weekend!

Love,

Sarah

Patton Family Update

If you have found your way here, you have likely already seen this email! For those of you who have not, here is an update on our lives over the past year:

Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues:

While I am certainly owe many of you individual emails and phone calls, I wanted to take a moment to update everyone en masse on Jordan and I's PhD decisions.

We have had a very busy academic year. I spent last summer writing a grant to establish a European Union Center of Excellence (EUCE) at Georgia Tech with four other women. We were thrilled to be selected as grant recipients, and were charged with the monumental task of realizing our three-year event schedule. To see what the EUCE has become and to learn more about past and upcoming events, please visit www.euce.gatech.edu. Over the Fall semester, I had the privilege of serving as the Center's first Graduate Research Assistant, which provided me with invaluable tools for my future career path. In addition, I returned to work at Banta Immigration Law as a Case Coordinator (Part Time July to January, Full Time February to July). I have continued to teach for Kaplan on a part time basis. Academically, I completed my coursework in December and my Thesis (Normative Power Europe: Europe's New Neighborhood and Energy Policies) in February. Jordan spent the last academic year working primarily on his masters project (a qualitative investigation of deviant behaviour on Wikipedia) as well as completing his coursework. We both graduate on May 1st at the Georgia Dome (Jordan will receive a Master of Science in Human-Computer Interaction and I in International Affairs).

We have, however, had the opportunity to travel and spend time with family throughout the past year. Since my last "state of the family" email (June 2008, I believe) we have been to the beach with my family (July 2008), I have been to Scotland (October 2008), we went on a cruise with my entire family (March 2009), and we have visited Pittsburgh (March 2009). Upcoming, we are going to London and Aberdeen in May (with BA tickets that I won -- yes won -- in a Christmas raffle -- our graduation gift a la British Airways!) and we will head to Savannah and Hilton Head with Jordan's family to celebrate his Mema's 80th Birthday (also in May).

Compounding our workload over the academic year was the monumental task of applying to PhD programs. We essentially made a list of the programs to which each of us wished to apply and filled out applications for those that happened to have a corresponding program. In the end, I applied to 16 programs and Jordan to 11. A short deviation and a word to the wise: those considering graduate school in the near future, beware. On the whole, we have been told that the economic climate has encouraged more applicants than normal AND that the academic programs can afford to accept fewer students than general. While this scenario certainly affected our applications, we are pleased to announce that we will both be attending our top choice programs in the fall of 2009. It is fair to say that Jordan had two favorite programs (Carnegie Mellon University and the University of California at Irvine), each had its strengths and either would have been a great fit: he received acceptances and generous funding packages to both, among other offers. Each of these programs have a strong focus on Online Communities, and specifically on Jordan's subject of interest -- Online Games. Among my offers was an opportunity to study at one of the strongest EU programs in the US and another to study at one of the top pure political science programs in the country (The University of Pittsburgh and Georgetown University). That being said, in August 2009, we will move to Pittsburgh where I will matriculate to the PhD Program in Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh, specifically, I will study Comparative Politics and International Relations with a geographical focus on the European Union. I am looking forward to being involved with the EUCE at Pittsburgh. Jordan will matriculate to the PhD program in Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, focusing on Massively Multi-Player Online Games. If you are interested in following our journey and acclimation to Pittsburgh, please visit our blog at sarah.jordanpatton.com (I am not sure this is running yet -- hopefully it will be on the go once Jordan's exams are over!)

Jordan and I really appreciate all of your support throughout the past year; many of you have helped us personally and professionally and we look forward to sharing our future and academic journey with you.

With Love,

Sarah