Wisconsin or Bust

While we have been anticipating Aaron's graduation for some time now, that hasn't helped him decide what exactly he wants to do for a career.  We have toyed with teaching, research, venture capital, international vs. stateside, etc.  If there is anything I've learned of the last few years it would be that having a plan is great, but being able to change that plan important too. (As I write that, I realize that it sounds simple but it has been incredibly hard for me to learn.) We decided to teach at a university while Aaron looks for a post-doc.  A post-doc is a 2 to 3 year research intensive stay with a university.  It is meant to prepare individuals for a job in academia by gaining experience of the grant writing process and publication of results.  In order for Aaron to teach/research at a large (research) university, he needs to complete a post-doc.  So we started sending out applications and slowly started hearing back.  I must say that I was surprised by the toughness of the job market.  Aaron sent out 60+ applications, got 6 phone interviews, and 3 of those turned into offers. He accepted a 1-2 year visiting professorship in Stevens Point WI.  The other two offers were in Ashville NC (so hard to turn this one down) and Tulsa OK.  The deciding factor was that Stevens Point was just a visiting professorship and the other two were tenure track positions.  Aaron didn't feel good about taking a long term position knowing that our plan was to leave after a year. So April 1, 2013 we moved out of our house in Logan and moved in with my parent in Brigham City.  Aaron wasn't done with his dissertation yet so he continued to commute to Logan while I enjoyed playing with Max. 

For whatever reason we decided to move only what would fit in Stan the Van and our car.  I was doubtful that we could fit everything I wanted but all the years of Aaron playing Tetris paid off and I was able to bring most of it. 

 

I wish we had a better picture of the inside but we were even able to bring our couch! 

So Aaron turned in his dissertation on Aug 17, and we left for Wisconsin on the 19th. 

We drove through Wyoming and it was a whole lot of this....

After what seemed like an eternity, we started to see this!  That's right my friends, those are trees and whatever the geographical feature between hills and mountains are called.  That is if you can see past the blurry bugs on my windshield.

That's right - South Dakota!

We decided that the chance of us coming back through South Dakota might be slim - plus I needed a break - so we stopped at Mt. Rushmore.  I'm a fan.

The van did great.  Aaron was so concerned that something was going to fall off, we had 7 tie down on our mattress alone, that he was constantly making sure everything was secure.  While at times I may have thought that he over did it, I am incredibly grateful that nothing fell off and that we didn't have any car problems - feeling very blessed.




We drove 7 hours the first day, 11 hours the second day, and 4 hours the third day.  On day 2, after about 10.5 hours I was done, and by done I mean DONE.  Aaron and I had walkie-talkies and he later told me that around this time I started to get a little snippy.  This exchange may or may not have happened....

Me: (telling Aaron some observation that I think is funny - thinking back on it, it did not merit a response)
Aaron: (no reply)
Me: hey can you hear me?
Aaron:(no reply)
Me: HEY
Aaron: Yea
Me: Can't you hear me?
Aaron: Yea
Me: Then why didn't you answer?
Aaron: uh...
Me: Are you even listening to me?
Aaron: (Pause) I'm thinking we should find somewhere to stop for the night.

Now just so you realize how great my husband is, he drove the entire 22 hours with his window down and no air conditioning and let me have the air conditioned car - #bestwifeaward.  Also, the van is not a quiet ride and he had to try and listen to my continuous ramblings. In short, finding somewhere to sleep that night was the right decision and as you can see from the picture below I was much cheerier the following morning. It is truly amazing how drastically sleep (and food) can swing my moods. 

We arrived at Stevens Point on Aug 21, 2013 and I will post pictures of our apartment soon.  Needless to say I was so relieved when we pulled into town.  It has been a bit of an adjustment for us but we are learning to love it.  Here's to making Wisconsin feel like home.

Dr. Davis

Can I get a "What - What" for this guy? Aaron is now officially Aaron Patrick Davis, PhD. Wahoo!

The last few months have been a wee bit stressful and if Aaron had any weight to lose I'm sure he would have lost it.  Having gone through the process of a defense and thesis for my masters degree I thought I knew what was ahead of him but let me state for the record that getting a PhD is a million times harder than getting a masters.

 Here are a few stats about his process:

Time taken to completion: 6 years
Length of dissertation: 183 pages
Title of dissertation: Apoptotic and Epigenetic Inducement of Embryo Failure Following Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer. 
Number of times said dissertation was revised: 7
Total number of all-nighters pulled: 15ish
Number of all-nighters pulled just during dissertation process: 8
Longest stretch of time without sleep: 46 hours
Number of cow embryos used: 5 million(ish)

Needless to say, I am pretty proud of him and incredibly glad that he is done.

PS - Since she will never see this page this shout out goes to the karma of the universe but a HUGE thank you to Dr. Abby Benninghoff.  Your support and guidance is greatly appreciated and a significant factor in Aaron's success.  Seriously...thank you.