Well, Once Again, Another Long Interim...

Another semester has flown by since last I added anything on here. The Spring 2009 semester just ended and it is like a breath of fresh air. This was the busiest and most hectic last couple of weeks of any semester I've ever had. Each class had very large projects to research, write, and present. And to top it off, one of the classes added two separate papers at the last minute in addition to the term paper. Well, at any rate, the classes I had this semester were: Transitioning North Carolina Economy; Geographic Information Science and Technology; and Qualitative Research Methods. I'm also still trying to complete a paper for an independent study based on my teaching experiences from last fall. I'll present this paper at the National Conference on Geography Education, which is in San Juan, Puerto Rico this year in September. Other than that, I'll be doing a good bit of traveling this summer in addition to continuing work as a research assistant at UNC-Charlotte, preparing for comps, and trying to hone in on a dissertation topic to begin preparing a dissertation proposal.

In other events over the spring semester, I did quite a bit of hiking with friends on the weekends, typically in the mountains of western North Carolina. Also, a group of friends had an outing to a different barbecue restaurant each week around Charlotte. we did a lot of eating out at other delicious restaurants in addition to BBQ as well.

In February, I traveled to New Orleans one weekend with two other friends for Mardi Gras. In March I visited home in Birmingham for half of spring break. The last week of March was spent in and around Las Vegas, Nevada, for the annual Association of American Geographers conference. My presentation went quite well I think. Many of my friends from school were also at the conference, so it was great fun hanging out with them and exploring around the city and the surrounding region. We went to: Valley of Fire State Park, Hoover Dam, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Wupatki National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Red Rock Canyon, Zion National Park, and Los Angeles. We really packed a lot of sights in during the one week that we were out there, in addition to spending time at the conference itself. A really fun time!!
In April, I flew home to visit family during Easter weekend. That was great as well. But all of April, school-wise was hectic right up to the last minute of the semester!

I'll be in Atlanta the next two days, then will spend the weekend in Birmingham visiting family and going to a Coldplay concert on Monday.

Two weeks from now I'll be in London, England!! Although I've been there many times before, I always look forward to returning and discovering new sights within the city and in the English countryside. It will be a fun trip! Eventually, though, I would like to save up and start visiting other areas of Europe (I have been to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and northwest Germany, but that's all) where I have not traveled to before (such as countries in and around the Alps, and along the Mediterranean - those areas are very high on my list of future travels).

Shortly after returning from London in June, and working in Charlotte a few days, I'll travel to Wisconsin for one of my brother's college graduation. Then back to Charlotte for a few days of work, then fly back to Birmingham for a cousin's wedding. Then back to Charlotte for work. I do like to stay on the go, traveling, though!