Long time no see...

It has truly been too long. For several reasons. For you short attention span folk, here is the play-by-play:

Grad school is taking over my life.
Sara had a baby. His name is Porter.
Meghan and I went to a music festival.
I went back to work. It's turning out to be fowl.
Auburn Football sucks. No one was surprised.
I went to my first conference. I didn't fit in.
I am in over my head with my research.
Did I mention Sara had a baby and that he is perfect?

Take a look yourself:

This child has some serious long, blonde hair...

As we all expected, Sara doesn't even look like she had a child. She is actually smaller if that was even possible.

I will have to say, Porter Ross Heatherly has truly changed my life. He already thinks I am the coolest aunt. But let's be real, duh, of course I am. Due to school and work, I haven't gotten to spend as much time as I would like with him but I am adjusting to change that.

Meghan and I went to the Southern Ground Music and Food Festival in downtown Nashville a few weekends ago. Although we did not taste any of the food, the music was OUTSTANDING! Here are just a few bands we got to see:

The Lumineers
Dugas
Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros
David Gray
Sheryl Crow
Greg Allman
The Zac Brown Band
John Mayer
Amos Lee

The Lumineeers:

Edward Sharpe (yes, he looks homeless...):

Zac Brown:

To say the least, it was an awesome weekend. Mainly because I got to spend it with this one..

You all are welcome for the laugh because Meghan is going to kill me.

I went back to work to design a custom home in Tallassee, AL. The family is great and I am happy to be working with them. However, other problems have sucked the luster from my first architect gig. I am hoping to figure out some logistics and gain back the luster. Everyone cross your fingers for me.

If anyone didn't hear, Auburn Football sucks. Big balls. No one here should be surprised. I most certainly was not. Meghan and I suffered through the Arkansas game. We promptly went to Moe's BBQ after to lick our wounds. If the Vandy game was not in Nashville, it would have been my first and last game. No worries, I am talking to my people about getting together the buyout money. In the mean time, I will be taking a pause from grad school to fill in as head coach.

I went to my first conference. I didn't fit in. I should get use to them though if I want to follow through with my career plans. Which brings me to my next point, I start job interviews Oct. 25th. So keep those fingers crossed.

Did you remember that I turn 24 tomorrow? My birthday this year is conveniently 10-11-12.... good luck or bad?

This years birthday will be celebrated with The Avett Brothers and Cass in Tuscaloosa. My wonderful father got us tickets. I will then celebrate with my family on Sunday by taking Gade Clay to the pumpkin patch and dinner at the farm. I call that a successful birthday.

Duff, grab your coat. We are going out.

Show Me the Money

Friday was perhaps the most interesting class I have ever participated in. Mainly because Professor Holley started the class with this:

Do you see what is in his hand? No, ladies and gentlemen, that is not monopoly money. Prof. Holley made the mistake of saying he got it from his safe and naturally all the guys in the room said some variation of "saving it for the Cheetah Room?". We were all players in the "Let's Make a Deal" game; specifically, the construction game. That big stack of money was proportionally distributed between the 12 of us with the bank getting the largest chunk of course...

The game definitely kept our attention and taught us a few things about where the money goes during a construction project and a few things about our classmates... specifically about our Indian classmate...

Kislay did not want to give up any of his dollar bills and was extremely pissed that he was given the smallest amount to begin with. He even tried to haggle with Prof. Holley to keep half a dollar during the game. We all had too much fun with the exercise. I think Prof. Holley will consider using monopoly money next time. We are all still wondering why he had so many $1 bills in his safe...

I have taken over McWhorter School of Building Science's Facebook and Twitter pages. You can like us at www.facebook.com/auburnbuildingscience or follow us at @AUBldgScience. Thanks for making me look good to my Professor!

Labor Day

So, for the first time in about five years, I went on a family vacation. Again, dad was more giddy than a two year old with a Pez dispenser....

We left saturday morning after Alana and Clay announced they can't ride in the car together for that long. We are still making fun of them. After four hours, two stops and enough pre-madonna comments from Austin, Madison and Alana, we made it to Destin where the weather was gorgeous. We spent two great days despite Alana and Clay whining about how hungry they are ALL the time. It was nice to spend a weekend with just Dad, Alana, Madison, Clay, Austin & Gade Clay. We have not had this opportunity in a long time. I think I may have converted everyone on two daily routines of mine: Emergen-C and Momma Mocha's coffee. I would call that a successful weekend. Maybe on the next family beach trip we can drag Aunt Kathy and Uncle Gary along with us.

Here are some pics from the weekend:

I was glad to spend some quality time with this Tooty Ruby....

We think she may have gotten her bottom from Meme.... Poor child.

I am continually shocked at the quality of pictures I get from my camera. It could be the subject tho.. Yes we let Gade Clay run around naked.... get over it.

We caught her dipping crackers in her baby pool before eating them... hmmm salty....

Whatever Bubba does, Gade does....

Waiting on Bubba to come back..

As you can tell, I was very content in my chair with book and camera. It still shocks me how much Gade Clay looks like Alana and the women in my dad's family. Clark genes trump Mintz genes. Boom.

10 Things I love about Gade Clay:

10. The way she stares down Alana when she is getting on to her. The look says "I really don't care what you say". Its hilarious.
9. She pulls out her hair bow every chance she gets. I think she gets that from me.
8. She screams for no reason. I think she is just reminding everyone she is still there.
7. Her giggle when Clay is tickling her. It is precious.
6. She is super snuggly in the mornings.
5. She carries a nay nay everywhere just like me.
4. Her piercing blue eyes. They remind me of my dad's eyes.
3. She is madly in love with Austin. To the point of screaming at Clay when they rough house.
2. Gade Clay will pucker those lips up faster than you can say "give me a kiss" and don't think you will get away with just one kiss...
1. She looks just like Alana. I hope she turns out just like Alana too.

Until next time...

Long Time No See....

Have you all missed me yet? I imagine that my followers has significantly decreased since I am no longer traveling Europe nor am I posting every day. I am going to try and keep up with the blog a little better than I have been for the past two months.

So what have I been doing? Well, it is this little thing called grad school (I am getting a masters degree in Integrated Design and Construction in case it slipped your mind). Let me give you the run down:

Graduate from undergrad

Start grad school

Get GTA assignment

Start getting school assignments

Everything starts to go down hill....

I have been super busy to say the least. I was lucky enough to get a Graduate Teaching Assistantship for school which practically pays me to get my masters. My GTA professors are Prof. Farrow and Prof. Kramer. Farrow has been one of my favorite teachers in BSci since I took his steel structures class. He is simply the best all around guy we have in our department. Prof. Kramer went to Europe with me and I am happy to get the chance to stick with him. He is a pretty laid back guy. 

Since starting grad school I have added two more desks, a file cabinet, key to the Gorrie Center and studio box and key to my list of things to keep up with. I have an office desk in Gorrie in the GTA office and a studio desk in Dudley in our studio/conference space/ping pong table area. I haven't quite moved in completely but I am hoping to get that settled this weekend.

Here are some pics from grad school thus far...

Kislay has become our token Indian clown to say the very least....

You don't look too sure about that Holley...

I have taken on the challenge of our HD Scanning operation this year and we are truly kicking off our efforts with a scan of Jordan-Hare next wednesday. Dad is more giddy than a two year old with a Pez dispenser. Hopefully I will catch some good "pre home game" pics for you all.

Until next time..... keep it loose, keep it tight.

Graduation Day

Well... After four years, a victory lap and studying abroad in Europe, I can finally say that I am an Auburn University graduate with my Bachelors of Science in Building Construction! The past five years have been such a whirl wind filled with so many memories that seem like yesterday on a good day and decades ago on a not so good day. I want to take this moment to stop and thank a few people who helped me along the way:

First and foremost, my Dad. When writing the acknowledgments for my thesis paper, I took about half a day to finally put together the right words:

"I would like to show my upmost gratitude and thanks to my best friend, my dad. Without his continual support and love, this thesis and graduation from Auburn University could have not been possible. Thank you for always supporting me in my academic and career ambitions. I can only contribute my success to having the perfect example of hard work and integrity. He has been behind me every step of the way."

Of course next on the list is Alana. It takes an unbelievable amount of strength and love to be not only a sister but also a mother and a best friend all in one. The continued roles you fulfill go above and beyond what any other human could contribute to my life. To top it off, you do it with such grace and with little acknowledgement from most of us. You and Dad have been, by far, the greatest influences on my life.

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Gary, you both have always been such a huge part of my life. Over the years, I have come to find that for me, being truly at home is when our whole family is at the farm. I honestly think that would be the case no matter where you lived. Having said that, you are not allowed to move out of Alpine for any reason whatsoever. Thank you both for being constant sources of love and encouragement in everything I do.

Madison, Laura, Meghan, Mimi, Papa, Harv, The Mama, Simone, Cass, Bailee and Jillian: Some people always say they are "stuck with their family". Thankfully, God "stuck" me with all the right ones. I love you all and can't thank you enough for what each of you contribute to my life.

If I took the time to name everyone here, you all might be stuck reading my blog for days. I have taken the time to write everyone who has made this big step special and I hope you all know that no amount of words could thank you enough. A lot of people have told me what a huge personal accomplishment this is and for me, that is simply not the case. This is a huge accomplishment for everyone who helped get me here and I could not have done it without each and every one of you. I truly took you all across stage with me and I plan to do it again next August with my Masters.

War Eagle!

Photo Bomb

Last week I contacted Aubie to get on his schedule to take graduation pictures. I know you all are excited that I actually let someone take my picture. It turned out to be a pretty fun photo session and thanks to Laura, I got really great pictures of this milestone. 

We started out at J&M Bookstore with one of my favorite Auburn signs:

We headed to the AU sign next where fortunately we ran in to very few people wanting pictures with Aubie:

Then of course we hit Samford lawn where we got one of my favorite pics. I am sure you all can guess which one:

Last, we went to the corner of Thach and College to get Samford in the background. The entire photo shoot naturally turned in to a looney tunes cartoon with awkward poses:

And what else do you expect from Aubie pictures other than a photo bomb?

All in all, we got some really great pictures and this has to be my favorite serious one:

A special thanks goes to Aubie the Tiger, Mr. Mike, Martin and Laura for helping me get this all together and making it a fun photo shoot. I appreciate the Aubie Family for working me in their busy summer schedule! Saturday is the big day so, tomorrow is full of activities to prepare for the event. There will be more pictures to come from graduation and my party, I promise (only because Laura is a mad woman with a camera)!

Weagle, Weagle

Just a few days away...

Well, it is official... I will be graduating Saturday! I completed my thesis last week and presented on Monday. I think I am more excited that I made an A on my thesis than I am about graduating. The whole dressing up underneath a black robe to walk across stage in front of too many people is not really my thing. Alana, do not worry, I promise to smile.

I officially went back to work today and naturally it was frustrating. I had to remove a fiberglass shower unit from a house with five cats. Everyone knows I am allergic to cats. So, not only was I sneezing from the cats but, my entire body was itching from the fiberglass dust I created. I took a ridiculously cold shower and the itching finally stopped. Next on the work list is yet another set of concrete countertops. This set will be pretty unique with rounded edges, abstract coloring and a couple of inlays. Every time I start another countertop, my level of frustration always takes a peak right before the pour. Once cured, I get to work out that anger with the polisher and the finished product makes it all worth while. The entire process is very labor intensive but it is that look of utter satisfaction on the client's face that keeps me coming back for more.

Duff and I have officially moved in to our new house. He is loving the roommates way too much if you ask me. If you all thought he was spoiled before.... He has recently learned to jump on the couch which is awesome! However, the nice pillows Missy bought for the couch had to go because Duff thought the tassels were chew toys. Duff is really enjoying so much space to roam and always having someone at home. I am pretty sure the dang dog will be the most rotten dog in about two weeks so let me apologize in advance.

It is that time for me to decide what I am going to do next year after grad school. Any suggestions? No Dad, I am not coming to work for you. Next suggestion.

Alana has been staying with me this week since work has been crazy. She is going to kill me for the next few sentences. First, Alana lets Duff sleep with her. Second, she begs me to sleep with her every night. Are we still 5 years old? I have loved having Alana in town and that is the only time I am going to admit that.

Well, Saturday is the big day. Cross your fingers that I don't trip!

Keep it loose, keep it tight.