Ph.D. Celebration #5

This week I decided to celebrate by way of my cat, Thomas. He's stuck in there with me through this whole graduate school thing. He sleeps next to me while I work at the computer, he snuggles with me when I'm sick. He's been a real trooper. So this week I bought him this...

At first wasn't sure about it so I showed him how it worked (yes, that's right. I got on the floor and drank out of the frog fountain). And immediately he started using it! I think he likes it!

What I'm Listening to This Week...

This week, I'm loving Mozart. I mean, I love him most all weeks (unless being forced to analyze him), but especially this week. So I thought I'd share a few thoughts.

This piece, Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K 62,2 was written in 1791. It was one of Mozart's final completed works before dying in December of that same year. It has three movements (this is the second, the Adagio (slow).

I typically think of fast, technically difficult "show off" type pieces when I think of Mozart and this is simply just beautiful. I could listen to this all day.

Mozart only lived to be thirty-five. Can you imagine how much more vast his musical output would have been if he had lived even just one more decade?

Ph.D. Celebration #4

Four weeks down, still a few too many to go! Last night, I planned to stay in and study but when my good friends Lindsay and Camillo called to invite me over, I couldn't resist. Camillo is from Chile and yesterday was their Independence Day. So a few of us went over, had some wonderful traditional Chilean cuisine and great conversation.

It's moments like these that I know there are many aspects of Tucson that I will miss. I've been blessed to become close to several friends here. But I also know that Tucson is not where my road ends. In my celebration this week, I'm reminded that I need to celebrate these friends as much as possible before I leave!

Have a blessed week!

Ph.D. Celebration #3

Here we are, the end of the third week of the school year! I will admit, I did not accomplish much....but I survived and that's what counts right? As many of you may know, I'm an avid follower of Michael Buble (I don't know how to put an accent on my blog). I literally own every song he's ever recorded. When I put my iPod on shuffle, a large percent of music is Michael. I found out yesterday that his new single came out this week. So I decided my celebration would be the $1.29 purchase of his new song. It's not my favorite song he's ever written, but I still love it! Enjoy!

See you next week!

Ph.D. Celebration #2

It was slightly more difficult to celebrate the completion of this week because it ended with my being VERY behind in my school work (already!). I injured my knee and am looking to have to get surgery in the not-so-distant future. This week was filled with doctor appointments, lots of slow moving, ice, and frustration. And not much school work. But a week is a week, right? And I survived...barely. So to celebrate, Austin and I headed up to Mt. Lemmon and enjoyed the 72 degree weather and temporarily forgot we lived in the desert, that is until we drove back down to the 102 degree Tucson temp! For even just a few hours, it was the perfect getaway!