Jen Russum

So most of you know I am getting my PhD {in English, in case you were wondering}. I want to be a professor and getting the ol' PhD is really the only way to go about it. I am in my second year of what will probably be a six year endeavor.


But before you convince yourself that I am all smarty pants and driven and scholarly and all that jazz, let me tell you that truth...

I am a bad graduate student.

I mean, I am good at "doing school." I can write well, I'm not afraid to speak up in class, I always meet deadlines {although I can procrastinate with the best of them}, I am a fairly confident and innovative teacher, but when it comes to grad school, I really just feel like a big fat faker most of the time.

See, in graduate school we are supposed to read all the time. When we finish our assigned reading, we are supposed to read other scholarly articles for fun. During summer break we are supposed to brush up on our Aristotle and return to school in the fall with fresh, new ideas that no one has ever thought of before, and should probably have a draft of a paper that is almost ready for publication. Ooops. Maybe I chose the wrong profession. I don't read scholarly articles for fun; instead, I anxiously await summer break so I can catch up on my Real Simple magazines.


Today in a meeting, one of my classmates started talking about a concept he is working on with mapping. The problem he sees is that when we make maps {of any sort - not just geographical} they are static. They don't show movement or changes over time. If too many things change, you just have to make a brand new map to account for it, so he is trying to think of ways we can make non-static {moving} maps in academia. I spent the next five minutes thinking about the Marauder's Map from Harry Potter {the one that shows where people are moving all over Hogwarts} and decided that a Harry Potter allusion would be a most excellent introduction to the mapping article that this classmate will probably be publishing next year after he brushes up on his Aristotle over summer vacation. Harry Potter is my Aristotle.

So there it is. I am a bad grad, but I'm okay with it. I will keep faking it each and every day... and maybe, someday, I, too, will publish a paper with Harry Potter introduction. I can only hope...

xoxo,
Jen

Glorious weekend. One of my best friends {since 4th grade!} came into town with her husband. Sometimes I get a little stressed with all the visitors we have, but not this time. There is nothing like face-to-face time with a soul mate friend. I've realized since coming to Arizona that I miss these types of friendships. I have met some amazing women here and I love them, but most of my girlfriends are more couple-friends. Like... I am paired with Micah and we go on double dates with other couples. And I am completely blessed by that, but sometimes it's nice to have some girl time with someone who knows me like a sister. And that is exactly what I had this weekend!!!

I haven't had time to edit the pics from the fancy cam, but here are some pics from Saturday. We hiked Camelback, although we probably looked for parking for longer than we actually hiked, but that's what you get on an 80 degree Saturday in February. Hoorah! We finished off our night with some amazing Cabernet glazed burgers and a round of Settlers...


And here are some other lovely moments from the past week...

I feel like I am on a theme of “both” lately. As Christians, we so often try to divide and compartmentalize things… For example, am I supposed to save money or give money away? The answer is probably both. If you are a parent, one of your commitments to your family should be to save money for emergencies, for the future, etc. But as a Christian, you are also called to give a portion of your money back to God and be generous with those around you. You are called to BOTH save and give.

If you are new around here, welcome to a keyword analysis. Every now and then I like to look at the words people are typing into search engines that somehow lead them to my blog. Most of the time they are super normal, like "AZ Russums" or "newlywed date ideas" or stuff of that nature... but sometimes they are completely ridiculous/hilarious. Here are a few of my favorites lately...



Kohl Cords – Technically, I think it’s Kohl’s cords and more specifically I hope you are talking about the Lauren Conrad Skinny Cord, because that is one fabulous pant. So fabulous, in fact, that I now have two pairs – one in rust and one in gray. Sometimes it’s hard for me to wear any other pants but these.

You might remember about a month ago when I wrote this post? If you are new to my journey, here is the long story short. About a year ago, I felt like I needed to make a change. I was one semester into my PhD program in literature and suddenly God started opening doors for me in another field. It's a different branch in our English department called Rhetoric, Composition and Linguistics. This was completely surprising for me - a long time British literature lover {nerdy, I know}... but it all made sense. Switching programs would allow me to pursue a really awesome research project. It would allow me to teach a greater variety of classes in the future. It would give me a better chance of getting published. And it would make me far more likely to get a job after I graduate. Win/win/win/win. Thus started a year long journey of figuring out what it would take to switch programs. I learned I would have to reapply and had just missed the application deadline for last year. I took a leap of faith and started taking classes and working on my research {studying mommy bloggers!}, even though I hadn't officially been accepted to the new program yet.

About a month ago, I finally finished and submitted my application with lots of prayer and hope. And last week I finally got the answer. I'm in! I am seriously praising God right now!



And the moment I got the news, I felt a great weight lifted from my shoulders. I hadn't realized how stressful it was for me to bridge two programs and take classes for each, not knowing what the result of this application would be. But no more of that heavy feeling anymore!

Not much will change, honestly. I will stay in the same office, teach the same classes, continue working with the same teachers that have been helping me with my research already. But now it's all official. I can finally choose the committee that will oversee my dissertation. I can finally choose a specific dissertation topic. Life is good and I feel like I am right where God wants me. My grad school journey has been crazy, but I know that God has been directing my steps along the way. Thank you for your prayers, friends!

xoxo,
Jen

I feel like this week has been crazy busy on the Internet. I wanted to do a quick recap to make sure you didn't miss anything {and to keep it all straight in my head as well!}.

+ I am currently giving away a large ad space in two AMAZING giveaways over at Finding Beauty in the Ordinary and Small Bird Studio!


+ I am running my own giveaway to win a digital scrapbooking program. It will be open through Tuesday!



+ I guest posted my tips on how to sell your gently used clothing for cash over on This Camera Tells My Story.

+ I know Valentine's Day is over, but if you haven't read my love story with Micah, you can read it here.

+ I am trying to use Bloglovin' more; you can find me here.

+ I am doing Fat Mum Slim's February Photo Challenge. Follow jenrussum on Instagram!



And enough about me. Here are some other things I'm loving this week:

+ My friend made a Pinterest for men called Manteresting!

+ Have you seen The Letter 4 blog organization tips?

+ I made Ruthie Hart's Chicken Enchilada Pasta this week and I don't regret it one bit!

+ This is my favorite blog in the world. Here and here are two reasons why. Convicting, yet overflowing with grace.

xoxo,
Jen