Captain Destructo

Bella is now a bit of a chewer. We were making dinner in the kitchen one evening and found her chewing on the bottom corner of a cabinet. Luckily I think we stopped that habit. Other destructive tendencies:  if you leave out a piece of paper, she will shred it. She once ate a fitness calendar I had in a gym bag while we were at the grocery store. (This was from a few months ago--hence Shawn's shorts--although the weather is still pretty decent here in the winter).

And she certainly wears her toys into the ground. Shawn and I finally had to go through and throw out a number of her toys. Her first toy, Edward, has long been gone. Here is a picture of her with Edward II (the Christmas version). He needs to have some major surgery, or be retired as well.

We decided that if we invested in some higher quality toys perhaps we wouldn't have to wrestle stuffing from her mouth as often, so we bought her something similar to the Edwards of the past that is made of a much tougher material with reinforced stitching. She has already torn his leg off.

Weekend pics

So I have been working this week on updating my CV, which is basically an academic or research based resume. In my CV, I decided I wanted to link to my website. No, not this website. I actually work on a surprising number of sites for a person who used to be against new technology. This blog was my first attempt at one. However, it is not the only blog I work on. I write for Upstream. Upstream is a health communication blog that talks about health communication issues. It's at upstreamdownstream.org.

In addition to Upstream and this blog, I have a personal website. I got the site through the university so I could link back to the Upstream blog, but I have decided it could be valuable to add to my CV. If you want to check it out, it's jessicawilloughby.web.unc.edu. (And if you have any suggestions I am happy to hear them!)

So anyway, I have been working away at updating my CV in anticipation of (hopefully) internship opportunities for the summer. Because of this, I also updated the website. I wanted to list it and have people learn even more about me from the site if they were interested. One thing I didn't have for the site though was a decent picture to include. I wanted to have a picture of me with contact info on all the pages, but I needed a decent picture for this. So Shawn and I went out and did a mini-photo shoot on Saturday. Luckily we had sunny weather (but cold) and we took some pics at UNC so the pictures represent my current stage in life. Of course the picture I chose to use (for now) is just a head shot, so really we could have taken it in the backyard. Whoops. Here are a few of the better pics.

Shawn's work

Yesterday I talked a little about my upcoming schedule, so I thought it was only fitting today to talk a little bit about what Shawn does.

Shawn is a technical support specialist at a company called Intervolve, which is located in the building below. The building is really nice and new. They even have a covered parking garage. And the second picture there is of the side of the building, where they have a nice outdoor eating area.

So what is Intervolve? Intervolve provides a niche software product to the beverage industry. For the most part, their software is used by beer distributors. For example, beer distributors go into a store with a handheld device and survey how many cases of certain types of beer there are, where they are placed, etc. to keep track of inventory. This device uses Intervolve's software.

Shawn then provides support for the software. He really only deals with a small number of people and, therefore, a variety of problems. He is not like the support people at Best Buy or Dell, who likely interact with new customers every time. There are about 15 clients he interacts with. These people are from the IT divisions of the various beer distribution companies. This means the he is always working on different problems (granted--sometimes he gets the same thing, but quite often it is a new problem that he needs to do some investigation in to). This is great for Shawn.

Shawn has always been a problem-solver. He does it with everything. If he can't figure out a certain technology, he looks it up and researches until he understands it. If he has a problem with an engine he is installing, same thing. This job provides him with an opportunity to do that.

The one major downside to his job? The schedule. He works a 1-10 p.m. shift. It isn't ideal, and it's permanent (at least until they start hiring more people and he is able to change).

When he applied and was interviewing we honestly didn't think it would be a big deal. My schedule is really variable with school and so we still get to see each other. It's just not the ideal time. It means he gets home at about 10:30, then he wants to check email, read forums, etc. Sometimes I have him watch one of our TV shows I have recorded. This means we don't go to bed until about midnight. Which then leads to sleeping in. And before you know it he is getting ready to leave for work again.

Hopefully, since the company is doing well, they will hire new people and he will get to change shifts, but until then, this will work. At least he likes his job, the people and the company. That's a pretty good deal!

Wrapping up the break

Unfortunately, my winter break is about to end. On a positive note, however, I am very excited for the classes I am going to be taking Spring semester. Here is a brief overview of my upcoming schedule.

Tuesday and Thursday morning starting at 8 a.m. I have a statistics class. This should be good, even though being on campus by 8 means getting up pretty early to catch a 7:10 a.m. bus.

Also on Tuesdays I have an automaticity class over at Duke. What is automaticity you may be asking? I am not completely sure, which is why I am taking the class. What I do know is that it is a process that involves automatic responses, and these can sometimes impact our health. For example, a person may be so used to smoking every time he or she drinks that even though he or she has decided to quit, the action itself could be almost automatic. It should be interesting, and I think it is great that we are allowed to take classes at other universities because Duke has some amazing classes and professors.

Then I head back to UNC on Tuesday to take a Mass Communication History class. This is a required course, but it sounds like it could be pretty interesting. One of our first readings involves Princess Diana (yes, we already have assigned readings).

My Wednesdays are pretty open except for a meeting for the UNC health communication blog I help run: upstreamdownstream.org. Check it out if you are interested in health or communication, and especially if you are interested in both. I typically post on Mondays.

Thursdays start off with another dose of stats, and then I have two methods classes. I am taking a class in designing experiments and conducting content analyses. Both of these should be really interesting and helpful, and hopefully I can get some good projects out of them.

So that is pretty much an overview of my schedule. You may have noticed that I did not mention any classes on Monday or Friday. That is because I don't have them! Although my days will be booked Tuesday and Thursday, I will have plenty of time to do my readings on Monday and Friday, and I won't even have to leave the house. :-)

Jan. 5 is my quit date

So I decided to quit biting my nails (yes, again). I have done it before, but I have never been able to maintain it for a very long period of time. However, I plan to fix that starting today. This is not a New Year's resolution, just a goal that I plan to accomplish.

Before attempting to quit, I decided to do some research on breaking bad habits in preparation. One thing I found is that it is important to set a quit date. This was really emphasized for smoking, which luckily I don't have a problem with, but studies show that people who set a quit date and publicize it are more likely to be successful.

What else makes a person more likely to be successful? The more attempts they have had. This seems a little strange to me. If they failed once why would they not fail again? Apparently people learn a little something from every failure, so the more attempts that have been made the more likely a person will be to succeed. I have that working for me too as I have attempted a number of times.

I also learned that a person should identify her triggers. Mine tend to be when my hands are free and I am doing something fairly mindless. This means reading, watching television and browsing the internet. Another problem area, however, is school work, such as while I am reading for classes. Now that I know my triggers, I am supposed to plan accordingly.

For me, I decided this means putting the gross tasting stuff on in the morning before I get on the computer and again in the afternoon when I start to watch television. Additionally, I am going to make my hands busy. I plan to start to crochet again when I watch television because it keeps the hands busy and I usually end up with some pretty nice scarves.

What do I get for accomplishing the goal of quitting? Aside from hands that aren't an embarrassment in public, better health and the feeling of pride that comes from accomplishing a goal, I get a spa day. The spa day includes a mani-pedi, and I certainly don't want to waste that by having no nails.

I will show you  my progress a bit along the way to help keep me accountable. Here is a picture of my starting point. You can see why I need to quit. It's disgusting!

More family fun

Day two of Derrick and family's visit we decided to visit the kid's museum in Raleigh. The museum is called Marbles, and we had a great time checking it out. I think places like that are so creative, and I wonder how people came up with all the ideas to create the different exhibits. There are some really creative people in the world!

There were a lot of different exhibits, including areas to build things, create crafts, and climb. There was outdoor space where the kids could dig in the dirt. There was an indoor water area where they could shoot crabs and fish down a little water slide. There was a huge pirate ship that they could climb through, raise the mast on, lower the anchor on, and jump off the plank from. There was also a room that involved tubes that could shoot balls at a variety of nets and bins, which was pretty entertaining, even for me!

Below is a map that we found in the children's museum. One interesting thing about the map is the city that they used for Washington. In case you can't see it in the picture, for some reason the city that was labeled in Washington was Forks. Maybe Twilight has really put them on the map (at least at the kid's museum). :-)

After the children's museum we headed home for naps, and then it was time for dinner. We did make-your-own-pizzas, so Shawn helped Lucian play chef. He made a very nice cheese and sausage pizza that he and his sister split. Then the adults had a variety of options including a supreme, chicken alfredo and calzones. Dinner was delicious! Another successful day here in North Carolina.

Starting the New Year off with a bang (on the Rock Band drum set of course)

To celebrate the new year, Shawn's brother Derrick, his wife Shaunna and their two adorable kids came for a visit. They actually came just before the new year, which gave us time to take in some of the sights.

We visited the Raleigh Natural History Museum New Year's Eve day. Shawn and I had been before with Arianna and Tim, but we didn't make it all the way through. We still didn't quite make it to the live butterfly exhibit because everyone was tired by the time we got to the top floor. We went floor by floor checking out the various exhibits and the kids seemed to like everything, so that was nice.

Then we headed home for the kids to take a nap. Shaunna and I went shopping while Shawn and Derrick worked on cars. After that, it was time for dinner. We had some great steaks Shawn grilled up, alfredo pasta, smashed potatoes (not quite as good as my mom's--but I try!) and salad. It was delicious!

It was then time for some entertainment. We had thought Rock Band would be a good idea. Although the kids can't really play it yet, they can help. We were right--it was a great time! We took turns singing, playing the guitars and the drums. Here are some pics from the evening.

During Rock Band, our neighbor John came over to join in the festivities. It was then time for the kids to go to bed and the adults to get ready for the countdown. We toasted the new year with some champagne, and Shawn and I used our flutes from the wedding. (I knew we could use them again!).

After that though it was pretty much time for bed. Having fun with family, and playing Rock Band together, was a great way to ring in the new year! Bring on 2011!