A few finished objects...

Playing catch up from all the things I've finished the past few months and haven't posted here:

A Vite Cowl for myself.
Yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande in White.
Ravelry project page here

Kindling for Trish (part of her Secret Santa presents!)

Yarn: leftover Crystal Palace Mochi Plus in colorway Fern Rainbow

Raveled Here

Calorimetry for Trish (the main part of the handmade portion of her gift)

Yarn: Crystal Palace Mochi Plus in colorway Fern Rainbow

Ravelry Project Page

Isn't she a pretty model? :)

A running hat for Brother-the-Youngest (Christmas gift)

Yarn: Berroco Vintage Chunky in colorway Cast Iron

Ravelry Project Page

Please excuse the awful quality of the photo. Cell phone and bad hotel lighting...

And of course, the biggest FO of my life (to date)! Graduation!!!

Masters in Library and Information Science, summa cum laude

Reflections

It's the end of an era. Literally.

Shortly after noon today, I submitted my very last final project for graduate school.

It's such a weird feeling. I'm done. With a Master's degree. But it hasn't fully sunk in yet. It will. Probably this weekend when I walk across that stage and receive my fake diploma, shake some important people's hands, and get my picture taken multiple times.

Wow.

I run in two polar opposite circles these days. On the one hand, it's very much expected that grad school is normal.... like it's very natural that I went on to graduate school right out of undergrad... and in a way, I feel like a quitter for not going on to get my Ph.D, or another master's degree, or... something.

On the other hand, it's a huge deal that I'm receiving my Master's, much less right after college. Being in the academic bubble for so long, I'd honestly forgotten what an accomplishment this is, because well..... it's what I've always expected from myself. I mean, I've been talking about getting a Master's degree since before college started.

And this past week, as I've completed 20 years of formal, fairly rigorous education, I've been so incredibly thankful for those who reminded me that yes, this is a Master's degree, and yes, this is really impressive.

It's been a long road these past two and a half years. Full of tears, anxiety, confusion, exhilaration, purpose, and questioning. Add in all those personal life changes, and it's been quite a ride.

Landing my first post-college, rock-your-socks-off-awesome, career-related job.
Getting married.
Quitting that fantastic job (and the heartbreak to go along with it).
Moving to a different city.
Meeting new people. Finding my place in the adult world.
Adjusting to my husband's somewhat public-eye career.
Community volunteering. Fieldwork. Comprehensive Exams.
And all those little things in-between.

But you know what? Now that I'm through, and stepping out of academia into the working world, it's been worth it. The memories and experiences, good and bad, have all helped shape me into the librarian I am today.
The librarian that will continue to encourage people to research, study, be the best scholars they can be.
The librarian who will still not-so-secretly nerd out about cataloging and metadata.
The librarian who will continue to connect people with the vast world of information and help them navigate it.

But really, I'll still be in academia. Because home is home, no matter where I am or what I'm doing.

Mondays, Lutheran Mugs, and Homework, oh my!

After a weekend that was nothing short of amazing, today is a particularly rough case of the Mondays. It's one of those Mondays that makes me want to curl up with soft, squishy knitting projects and tea, not digital libraries and metadata readings and homework assignments.

This is what my Monday looks like so far:

At least there's knitting tonight! That keeps me a little more motivated to get some homework done this afternoon! :)

And yes, that is the awesome Lutheran Mug my husband received for his birthday from brother-the-younger. I borrowed it this afternoon, since he obviously isn't using it right now.

Pictures from this weekend coming soon! For now, I'll leave you with a few photos of my gorgeous view on Saturday. Couldn't have asked for more perfect weather!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Classes have been back in session for a week, and it's been interesting getting back into the swing of things. The start of every semester always takes a while for me to get my "library brain" back and start thinking and processing like a grad student again. Although things are easier now than they were at the beginning of last week, there are still times when I find myself needing to take a break from the computer and all this reading and discussing.

One pleasant surprise is discovering just how much I've learned through this program. Two and a half years is a long time to take online classes (especially when you're usually a full-time student), and there are days when I feel as though I haven't really learned as much as I should by this point... such is the nature of the grad student, I suppose. This week in my Digital Libraries class, we've discussed issues ranging from participatory digital libraries (and archives) to copyright issues to digitization and preservation concerns. Guess who's excited that she's already taken classes relating to these three exact things and actually feels like she has something to contribute to the conversation outside of the required readings?! This girl!

*******
Around Town this Weekend:
This weekend, D and I spent a delightful afternoon at the Cole Camp Fair. We went last year, but were so new to the area that it was all a blur. This year, we enjoyed walking around, taking in the sites, shopping at some of the cute boutiques (and found a few items to add to my fall decoration collection), wine tasting, and of course eating one of the best home cooked meals I've ever eaten at the Maple Street Cafe!

We've got tons of plans for the upcoming weekends, and I can't wait to get out and explore more of the beautiful country! Autumn is definitely my favorite season... the sites, smells, colors, and produce are some of the best. :) I'll try get a few pictures posted soon of our adventures and travels...

In the Kitchen:
Tonight I made some honey mustard glazed chicken with a crunchy coating (so yummy!), green bean casserole, and leftover pretzel rolls. I think it's about time to have an ice cream sundae to top off the evening! Hopefully I'll have a chance to get some fresh picked apples soon. I've got a recipe for crock pot applesauce I want to try, and apple pie sounds really good right about now. You know, with some ice cream on the side... Hungry yet? :)

On the Needles:
I've got a few projects I'm finishing up, and already have about 5 more in the queue, both gifts and selfish knitting. (Finished object posts coming in the near future!) Of course, ideally they'll all be completed this fall, but my knitting group is starting up a Baby Surprise Jacket knit-a-long, and I'm excited for that as well! We're starting October 1, so I'll try keep you all updated with the progress. Good thing I've only got two classes this semester so I'll have more time to knit.... wait. That's not how it works, is it? (Because guess who's also involved with three new things at church starting this fall? Yay for being busy!)

This Coming Week:
Goals for this week include: finishing a knitting project and getting it in the mail; working on my swap package for a little swap I joined on Rav; getting all my homework completed earlier in the week; getting my new power cord (I know! It's been two weeks now.... so much for 1-2 days, eh?) so I can finally use my computer again. Most of these should be pretty reasonable. I'll let you guess which one is out of my control. ;)

it's the final countdown!

Tell me.... it's stuck in your head now, too? :)

Today is my LAST first day of school for a very looooong time! Hard to believe I started graduate school two and a half years ago... soon I'll be a Master! Yippee! I'm a mixture of excited and sad though... the first day of school has been one of my favorite days of the year for a very long time. And as much as I'm sad that this is the end of an era, I'm also getting more excited each day for what adventures lie ahead! (Remind me of this on days when I'm frustrated and hurt by the job situation, ok?)

As it seems to be every year, there are quite a few knitters in my classes. This of course makes me ridiculously happy and nerdy, but I don't like being the attention-grabbing one who's all "Have you heard of Ravelry?!" I find something awkward about having these personal side conversations on our discussion forums for class, even if it is a rather informal, get-to-know-our-fellow-classmates thread. Maybe I should just forge ahead and get more people on board. :)

I'm only taking two classes this semester, but they'll be busy enough! So far they both look manageable, and combine both the theoretical and practical sides of their respective topics. I've gotten to the point in my career where I would rather do final applied projects than write research papers -- HA! I never thought the day would come when I felt that way. Maybe there's no longer as much of the historian in me as I thought.

Anyway, I ramble. D has extra meetings tonight and I'm at home eating some delicious leftover fettuccine, taking a break before plowing through some of my textbooks tonight. So far, so good. Feeling pretty on top of things and not overwhelmed. This is so unusual... I like it! :)

Ravelympics 2012!!

I am officially part of a team for Ravelympics 2012! Super excited, as this is also the first year I'm participating. Now to pick an event, pattern, and yarn and start planning!

I'm planning on challenging myself... but not quite sure how yet. Looking forward to the challenge regardless. Stay tuned for more details, and I'll definitely be doing some updates during the Olympics/Ravelympics later this summer.

For now, I continue dashing to the finish line for the semester. By Sunday night, all projects will be completed and submitted... and summer break will officially begin!


Note: Since this post has been published, Ravelympics has been re-named to Ravellenic Games 2012. Despite the controversy, I'm still excited to participate and hoping it will be a challenging and rewarding time!

Wednesday night

Peppermint tea and cataloging. Perfect.

In which there is light at the end of the graduate tunnel!

Today, I registered for the next round of grad classes. The LAST round of grad classes! That's right, friends, come December, I'm done. :D (And believe me, I'm so ready to be done.) Passing the Proficiency Exam was the last huge hurdle toward graduation, and now all that's left between me and the glasses-on-a-chain library degree is finishing out my credit hours (or, as the case may be, exceeding them because I find it impossible to pick just one more class to take).

So, as it stands, I will be taking Metadata and Digital Libraries next fall. These are both classes that I've been interested in partially from personal interests and partially from past work experiences (a huge thanks to the St. Louis Fed for introducing me to the back end of digital libraries and the wonderfulness they contain!). They're also both very popular classes in my program, and I'm very thankful to have secured a spot in both for my last semester. As they're both forward-looking classes in terms of the future of the profession, it seems fitting that I'm leaving the program on such a note, and I have suspicions that these two classes will be particularly helpful no matter where I find employment, be it libraries, archives, or anywhere else the Lord places me in the coming years.

And as I was reflecting on the past two years of this program on my drive home this afternoon, it really sunk in just how many changes I've been through in these two short years. My first public sector job in a place I never imagined myself (and wound up loving it), marriage, a new (much smaller) town, new friends and family, and multiple new vocations.... it's exhausting just thinking about it, but so rewarding at the same time. And even though I still remain worried about finding a job (you know, because we all think we need the perfect job right out of school, even though it rarely works out that way) in my chosen profession, I need to remember that it's not what I choose, but what God has already prepared for me to do.

"Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. ... So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God."
- 1 Corinthians 7:17, 24

Dilemmas

After this semester, I have one class left to take to fulfill my credit requirements.

I was just browsing the draft schedule for Fall semester. There are FOUR classes I want to take (well, three and a half.... one I'm on the fence about)...


Hm....

Processing . . . Overload

My brain is currently experiencing an overload of discussion post readings. Please stand by while we reboot the system.

Week 1: Review

The first week of classes has more or less come and gone... One of my classes actually runs Weds-Tues, so it's nice to have readings and assignments spread out more throughout the week. However, that means (unless I'm super organized), I'll be working on homework most weekends. Not my ideal way to spend the semester, but if it must be done... so be it.
I'm currently working on my bibliography for my cataloging class. We have to pick, among other genres, a cooking or home economics book. Deciding which of the two- easy. I'm picking knitting of course! But which knitting book? That's an entirely different problem... albeit a very good problem to have.

The semester doesn't look like it will be super challenging, which is good. At least no more challenging than normal. :) However, I am registered for comps, so... talk to me after that. I'm sure those 2.5 weeks might be a bit highly stressful! Fieldwork takes up 3 mornings a week, but there's no readings or other assignments due with that, except for the occasional discussion post. Which means, so far, I've felt like I've had a bit more "me" time than normal. And by "me" time, I mean time to cook, pick up around the apartment.... all those good housewifely duties I've come to know over the past 7 months. Sadly I didn't get any more knitting done outside of our weekly Knit Night. But that's ok. This week's definitely been busy enough as it is!

I'm facing the knitting deadline here as my friend's baby is due soon! I've really got to get that blanket finished up. My knitting friends agree that I can totally leave a few inches off the length of the blanket. Good thing, since I was planning on doing that anyway. :) I'm planning on taking some time for myself this evening and really focusing on it. If all goes as planned, I'm hoping to have it finished within a week!

Hopefully next week will feel more "normal" and like I've got this routine down.

Happy New Year!

Today marks the Year of the Dragon! Brings back so many memories of China 2009.

Today is also the first day of classes for the new semester. I'm taking Cataloging & Classification, as well as Archival Outreach. I'm also completing my fieldwork/practicum this semester....

Which starts today as well. Nervously excited for that. Not quite sure what projects I'll be working on this semester, but I'm looking forward to the experience and hoping it will be mutually beneficial! Here's praying....

Also for some reason or another, my blog seems to be getting a bunch of spam hits..... not quite sure why people (robots?) are linking from a "dental implants" site..... hmmmmmm....

Because Apparently I Enjoy Making Lists...

It's finals week. FINALLY. I'm so ready for the week to be over, but dreading all the work that still needs to be finished. Such is life. And as stressful as grad school may be, as much as I feel I'm neglecting other aspects of my life, I'm really blessed to have the opportunity to work on this degree- even if from a distance. Although I've decided my next degree (you know.... whenever that may be!) will not be online. I'm not so sure I can do this whole online thing all over again. A class or two if required? Sure. But an entire master's degree? No thank you.

So, in an effort to procrastinate on the impending mountain of doom final projects and exams, I have created another to do list. Deadline? Christmas.

• Legal Final Exam
• Preservation Evaluation
• Reference Final Exam
• Order Christmas cards
• Decorate apartment for Christmas- the tree's already up, but the rest of the decorations? Not so much. Yet.
• Finish Christmas shopping- aka figure out what to give my husband for Christmas
• Finish Christmas knitting- brother-the-younger's neck warmer and mittens, mostly
• Plan Christmas meals/festivities
• Pumpkin Baking. From the Great Pumpkin Adventure 2011.

That's all I can think of right now, although knowing me, I'm already working on a list of craft projects/reading materials to plow through over break.

But for now... it's back to the books. [Or, websites as the case may be.]

Dear Library Catalog,

When I give you limits, PLEASE USE THEM.

No love,
Frustrated Library Student Trying to Finish Projects

And in the end... it'll all get done...

I've been meaning to post, but we're in the last two weeks of school and suddenly everything seemed to happen. Papers and projects due every 4 days, the ensuing complimentary breakdown, my phone took a bath (and still needs replacing... whenever I can find time- ha!), you know, the usual end of the year stress.

Here's a run-down of everything that's due before the end of the semester:

• Legal Quiz 4
• Preservation Essay & Annotated Bibliography
• Legal Final Project - Licensing Agreement Analysis (WHEE! Finished a good 10 or so hours before the deadline.... feels good to finally have it done, but now I'm nervous about the feedback...)
• Government Info & Statistics Questions
• Pathfinder
• Legal Final
• Reference Final
• Preservation Evaluation

Plus, all the usual weekly assignments and posting requirements. It's definitely seeming more manageable than two weeks ago, and we even had time to put up our first Christmas tree last night! Now if I can just get through the rest of these assignments, I'll be able to finish decorating for Christmas and planning our meals!

I've got a long list of things I want to accomplish over break and I can't wait to start! Knitting, sewing (!), baking, reading FOR FUN! It's going to be a wonderful, wonderful month. :)

This week...

296 total pages to read for ONE CLASS this week. (What? Really? Break can not come fast enough!)
40 pages for another.
2 court cases and accompanying materials for the third.

Additionally, working on various term papers and projects due beginning immediately after Thanksgiving.

Oh, and on top of that? I've forsaken all other Christmas knitting and decided that I need to make a blanket for a shower at the beginning of December. Yup. I'm taking on the challenge of knitting a blanket in less than a month. Crazy much? I think so. (Hey. At least I got through the border last night and can start the pattern body today! And it's a pretty purple color... whee!)

Looks like it's going to be a very. busy. week.

Focusing...

I'm feeling pretty good about the end of the semester. Not only is it in sight (finally!), but I'm pleased with my grades so far, I feel I'm grasping the material reasonably well, and my paper/project topics are finally established. Time to start hunting down resources, I suppose.


One of the things currently bolstering my spirit are grades on two of the papers I wrote over the weekend that was The End of October. Aced both of them, and even got some encouraging words from the professors in their respective feedback. Legal prof said I answered the question on licensing "like an experienced negotiator!" SCORE. Apparently I'm good at deciphering licenses-- I'm not quite sure what that says about my legal skills, but I'm quite pleased with myself regardless.


[So much that I think I'm going to answer the licensing question for our final project. Although part of me feels like it might be the easy way out? Considering the project is due three weeks from today, I'm not so sure if any of the questions are "easy."]


Anyway. The other paper currently boosting my self-esteem is the observation paper for my Reference class. Feedback stated that I asked a particularly good question (health-related), because with those types of questions, an interview is crucial to understand the true information need. Too bad neither of my "interviews" really consisted of much other than an initial question. TOPIC WIN.


Today, I'm thankful that school doesn't seem so unbearable and that I'm actually happy with my success for once. That's always been a difficult thing for me to deal with, which I suppose will happen when you're a super-over-achiever. But there are so many things to look forward to: getting these papers and projects done in a reasonable amount of time, fieldwork next semester (hopefully!), picking new classes for next semester (Archival Outreach is being offered! Yippee!!) and the rest of my school career (not quite sure how I'm going to fit in everything I want to take with the credits I have remaining, but we'll see what happens).


And finally, in other tangentially related news, I've been forcing myself to have some downtime, which I've found to really help me stay grounded with everything going on. As a result, I've been enjoying some quality time with Big Bang Theory, knitting, and reading (for fun?! When was the last time that happened??). Even though I read the series years ago, I'm immersing myself back into the time of settling the Red River Valley, with Lauraine Snelling's Red River of the North series. Heartwarming, and full of courage, these books are a delight to read when I need a break from the heavier reading of the LIS field. (Although I must confess I'm wholeheartedly looking forward to Christmas break when I can read and knit for my own enjoyment all day long. :D)


That's all for now, as I've got a few legal issues lectures waiting in the queue.

Is it break time yet?

Well, we've arrived at that magical point in the semester where brains are officially overworked and official break is not yet in sight. I suppose you could say we're in midterms, although so far in the program, I haven't exactly had those dreaded midterm exams in my courses. But I'm definitely ready for a break.

I survived the crazy-busy weekend that was The End of October, full of three different church-related events (two of which required us to be in two places at once, always a fun game to play!), an observation paper (which required cutting out about three pages of material to comply with professor-sanctioned guidelines), a set of 20 practice questions (not difficult, but time-consuming), plus all the various and sundry housewifery that comes with the territory of a newlywed housewife.

And tonight, I spent the past 2.5 hours going over the quiz with my two lovely quiz-mates for Legal. It was a productive 2.5 hours, and I'm glad we were all able to be there, but my brain is fried. At least for tonight. I was going to at least start on my readings for Preservation after we finished, but now I'm thinking it may just be more productive for tomorrow. Although tomorrow morning will consist of a crash course on Library Confidentiality and the USA PATRIOT before our semi-weekly chat. Can you tell I'm excited? :/

Thankfully, the reading load seems to be significantly less than the past few weeks, although participating remains the same:
Reference: Two articles. Required discussion.
Preservation: Three chapters. Two articles. One exercise. One discussion post, two comments.
Legal: Three statutes. One powerpoint (and only 159 slides this time!). Two lectures. One meeting/chat.
Also on the docket for this week: Officially begin panic mode re: not yet starting term projects due in a month.

In other, more exciting news, the schedule for next semester is out! And now I get to pick classes I love at the moment, but will inevitably loathe tire of by the end of next semester. I'm planning on doing fieldwork (woot!), so I've got two spots open with four contenders. And comps? Are we brave enough to take comps?? I don't feel near ready enough now, but I think I'd rather take it during Penultimate Semester than the Semester of Cap and Gown. I'd be terribly devastated if I took it the semester of graduation, failed, and had to take another semester just to pass. Although then perhaps I'd get to take more classes I wanted to, but couldn't fit in...

SIX WEEKS. The end of the semester is finally on the horizon.

I have not disappeared...

I have been so out of it lately. SO out of it. It's been about all I can do to keep up with my weekly homework, church activities, and attempting to keep my house in some sort of presentable order.

Here's a few things I've been trying to puzzle out in my own life:

- Which topic I should pursue for my Preservation research paper: photographs in archives (possibly preserving family photographs/albums as well); or preservation programs in small archives (religious archives?).

- I have food in my freezer. I have an entire pantry (well, what would be a pantry if we actually had the space for one) full of non-perishables. WHY can I never seem to come up with good, new ideas for dinner? I love cooking. Don't get me wrong. But I've definitely hit a rut here and don't know how to get out of it. (Hence having pizza for supper. Is it necessary? No. But easier than trying to figure out what to cook.) Problem #1: D and I have opposite tastes. Basically, what I like he doesn't, so on and so forth.... you get the idea. So where do I go from here?

- Why it's been so hard to get myself motivated to do my homework. I'm constantly distracted by other things (mostly internet related), and it's been really frustrating lately. Part of the reason is that I'm not overly excited about any of my classes this semester. Some are better than others, but they just haven't captured my interest like previous semesters have. I'm not used to this....... and trying to convince myself my brain isn't broken.

Things I'm currently loving about life:

- I have fall decorations up. A few vases of autumn colored florals, a cute little pumpkin crafted out of twigs, and a glittery wooden sign that says "Blessings". Fall-scented candles, and it's complete. I love autumn. It's my favorite season.

- Speaking of favorite seasons, one of the reasons I love autumn so much is because it's the beginning of SWEATER SEASON. I LOVE sweaters. So comfy, colorful, and fantastic.

- Sunday, I wound up with a little extra time, so I ventured into my kitchen and baked a crumb-top apple pie for the senior youth group meeting later that day. They loved it, and that was a welcomed confidence-booster for me. I also found myself with a little bit of the leftover pie filling, and didn't want that to go to waste. So, domestic adventurer as I am, I mixed it in with some beer bread batter and sprinkled the remaining crumb topping on top of the bread. DELICIOUS.

- I finally had a chance to get back to our local knitting night last night. It felt so nice to just get out of the house without having to worry about homework or anything else for two hours. Two hours of knitting, drinking chai tea lattes, and conversing with fellow knitters. Yay!

I suppose that's about it for now.... I really need to go for a ridiculously long walk today, preferably before supper and Bible Study tonight. Hopefully it'll help reenergize me and get me to focus a bit more on my studies this week.

Copyright & Fair Use

Among all three of the courses I'm taking this semester, I was most looking forward to my Legal Issues class. I've always been interested in copyright, but never had much opportunity to study it. (I mean, even I wasn't nerdy enough to study copyright law in my spare time...) The class, although different than what I expected, has turned out to be highly informative, and TONS of work. I almost feel like I'm in law school...

And so here we are, Fall Semester 2011, Week 2, and I'm determined to master this class, and especially the topics of copyright and fair use. I'm past the initial freaking-out-there's-too-much-information-to-absorb stage which accompanies the start of every semester. Coming from an academic/research library background, I've seen it in use already, and I know this training will come in handy down the road in my career... it's even applicable to archives! Imagine that.

One of the first things that has struck me about Copyright & Fair Use is the logic of it all... As part of the assigned readings for the first unit, I've been reviewing various different cases on the topic. At first glance, it appears like the courts can't make up their minds. This is fair use, this isn't.... no, this isn't fair use either, but that is. But applying a little critical thinking, lots of logic, and a healthy dose of morality/ethics, the decisions make sense, and are actually rather consistent.

I'm beginning to see how copyright isn't there to frustrate users and library patrons, but rather to protect them... it really all makes sense once you think about it. And now.... I should get back to those slides, lectures, videos, and cases.... because this superlibrarian-in-training has so much more to learn!