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. :-)

A day in the garden

One of the great things about North Carolina: 65 degree days in mid-November.

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful day last Saturday and took Bella out to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Of course we forgot that football could be happening, and it was a game day. After sitting in traffic and watching all the tailgaters drinking beer at 10 a.m. we made it to the garden.

Bella had a great time exploring the area, and she had a few people approach her because she is adorable. Shawn and I tried to check out some different trails from the last time we came with Arianna and Tim, but there is still a lot more to see. Below are some pictures for our trip out.

(Here is what they are of: Bella walking me through the garden; this great bridge in the garden that always has so many people by it is hard to get a great picture; Bella walking much nicer for Shawn (after he made me hand over the leash when she tried to case a little girl and scared her); Shawn and Bella in the trees; and Bella, just so you can see how much bigger she has gotten).

We then went by PetSmart on the way home, and they were having Adoption Day. Although there were  a lot of cute puppies, we already have one of our own, so Bella just enjoyed playing with the other pups and got some treats to boot. She also got a nice new pet bed that she is currently snuggled up in.

Fall break--Day 4--Adventures in Durham

There wasn't as much time in Day 4 simply because Arianna and Tim headed out at 2:30 p.m. Since they had missed their flight coming here, they felt it was important to get there plenty early (even though we assured them an hour was sufficient). Since we had to take them to the airport around 12:30 and everyone here likes to sleep in, we only had a small window of time in which to explore.

We decided to check out that other university: Duke. (I know, I am supposed to be completely against them, but after viewing their campus, I don't think I can be!).

The campus itself is beautiful and looks almost like it is taken from the pages of a fairytale with quaint buildings that look like they come straight from Snow White to historic, traditional houses with pillars and brick used as academic offices that offer a lot of charm. One major feature of the Duke campus is the Chapel. We knew this going in and were fortunate enough to find it. We didn't go inside, but that is something Shawn and I will do in the future.

We then decided to check out the Sarah P. Duke gardens. I thought I had heard something about them, but I did not remember anyone mentioning that it was completely amazing! We decided to park and take a short walk though, and in our short (30 minute walk) we didn't even cover half of the garden. It is absolutely beautiful and had a number of places to take great pictures. I also couldn't get over what a great wedding venue it would be. Below are a few pictures from the trip.

(Some of these pics may even make it up as art! The scenery was just beautiful!)

After the garden, it was time to head to the airport. Shawn and I dropped Arianna and Tim off with plenty of time to catch their return flight, and we then went to do the mundane tasks that need to get completed (even over fall break). After the shopping and such we did however get a nice treat. We got to go and carve pumpkins with our neighbors and their friends. Our realtor, being the amazing person she is, had given us a carving pumpkin, so Shawn created a Mario pumpkin from that. I created a dragon in mine.

Then it was time to head home, grab some dinner, and head to puppy class. Bella was very excited to be back with her friends and performed quite well even though her training had been delayed a bit by her surgery.

Sunday was certainly a busy day for us, but it was also a great one!