Procrastination and dissatisfaction...

Here I am on a lovely Saturday afternoon, staring blankly at a computer screen where I am "supposed to" be doing ArcGIS work for a project that I may or may not be funded for. On top of that my professor informed me yesterday that he expected me to contribute 20 hrs a week to his arsenic research project, which I had no idea about and no plans for contributing to. Oy vey.

Although I am sure there are few (if any) that actually read this blog I feel like sharing a bit of life every now and then to the outside world. First, perhaps, should be a status update.

Josh and I are living in Rapid City, SD, both attending South Dakota School of Mines & Technology as graduate students. Josh is in his second year (final semester!!!) of the atmospheric sciences program. I am in my first year of the Geological Engineering program. We moved here from Fairbanks, AK in 2009, so that Josh could attend graduate school here. For a year I worked at a variety of places, including a jewelry store, JCPenney, and a locally owned tax and accounting firm. I made a return to school largely because I was tired of working retail and IT, and longed to get back into the scientific realm. I have discovered this is poor motivation for earning a graduate degree; however, I do enjoy it more than the extreme dissatisfaction I was experiencing as an IT person at the accounting & tax firm. This last semester, I multitasked as I worked part-time at the tax firm, served as an assistant volleyball coach for Rapid City Christian, helped head up the children's ministry at church, attended school, and TA'd chemistry. This coming semester I originally planned to work part-time at the tax firm and attend school the rest of the time. It isn't looking like it will be quite that easy. The best thing that has come from attending school here is the internship that I landed with Barrick, a large international mining company. I will be in Nevada from May-August, working in a gold mine. Josh will remain in Rapid City to finish research & writing his thesis.

There is so much more to be said about struggles with academia, church, and life ... but perhaps now is not the time or the place. The best, and perhaps only, thing for me to be doing these days is spending time on my knees in prayer, bowing down and surrendering my life to a merciful God.