It's Official!

I have a job! I have accepted a faculty position at Oregon State University. That's right folks - I am a Beaver!

I am so excited. It is a phenomenal opportunity. But for right now I am hunting a place to live, booking packers/ movers, and handling all of the other paperwork that comes with a job in academia. I know it sounds like a rocking good time, but....not so much.

A few things you must know about me. First, I am a North Carolinian ("We're the red and white from State...") and that is where the family still lives. Second, I have been working on a PhD at the University of Missouri for the last 3 years (loving every minute of it and meeting some of the best people on the planet). So, I am in fact doing the least logical thing most people could think of before leaving Missouri to begin a job on the West coast - I am going to visit the family in North Carolina. It is only a mere 2900 miles between the two. See the map below if you missed 4th grade and are unsure of the locations to which I am referring. Missouri is one of those square states in the middle.

While I am home I am going to celebrate a belated Father's Day, wish my nephew a belated birthday, eat my way through a 4th of July cookout or two, visit friends I haven't seen in years, enjoy the final days of blissfully lazy unemployment, and then road trip my way across the US. Don't worry - there will be photos!

The idea is that this blog will be a place to post pictures, retell stories, make lists (because that is what an ISTJ with a TypeA personality likes to do) and generally stay connected to friends and family. Perhaps there is a way to install a gadget to keep a count of the number of times Oregonians ask "Where are you from?" after hearing the Southern accent.

This is going to be fun!