I passed!

Well, for those of you I spoke to earlier, you know that I passed my proposal defense/meeting. Sad to say however, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. My advisor confided that it was the toughest proposal meeting she had ever been in. Wow! That says a lot, especially if you know her. It is difficult for me to say how it went without disclosing too much that is better left unsaid. As a friend of mine noted, you would be surprised who would cause you the most trouble and who would go up to bat for you in times of need. I definitely had it tough, but as my mom said, if I get through this, I can get through anything. I really hope that my dissertation defense doesn't take 4 or 5 hours considering this one took over 2. I truly thank you for all of your prayers, believe me when I say if it wasn't for the Man Upstairs, I would have been in serious trouble. On a lighter note, I totally aced my stats questions which I was more stressed out about. So now I am officially a doctoral candidate. I would like to mention the level of stress that surrounded this meeting result in my most wonderful husband waiting for me at Cheddar's with my traditional Diet Coke and a Watermelon Martini waiting for me. What more could I ask for? And I have to mention that watching my nephew dance to Curious George early in the morning did bring a smile to my face. Thanks wuchis!
A special thanks goes out to all of you that talked to me right after and consoled my frustrations! You guys rock!
I can do all things through God who strengthens me. Whoever said that was smart... ;)

Well this is it...

Alright guys and gals...this is it. A few more hours and I God willingingly will be a doctoral candidate. My proposal meeting is in T minus 90 minutes. I have to say...I am a bit nervous...but when this is all said and done, I will be happier because of it. If by chance you read this before noon today, I ask for your prayers, it doesn't have to be long, just an Our Father or Hail Mary should do the trick. Love you guys!

Coming back to the world

Thanksgiving was blissful for the Kuhns' this year. This is the first time Jesse and I have been able to spend it together since he used to always work Thursday brunch at the restaurant. We had a lovely Thanksgiving lunch at the Stephenson's place. We hadn't seen them in a long time and it was refreshing to see old faces. Jesse and I then drove about an hour to Enrique and Vero's (my bro's and sis' in law's) to meet the entire family waiting for us (although Roxanna was missing). We both love spending time with family and this gave us a perfect break from the world in College Station. My mom and I woke up at 2:00 a.m. on Black Friday to go to Best Buy and hopefully buy 2 camcorders (one for my brother and one for us) a camera, and accessories. It was craaaazzy! There were 230 people ahead of us already! We did get our camcorders and camera, but missed some of our accessories for they were all sold out. Kudos to my mom for being the courageous one to go with me.

We also witnessed the glorious win of the Aggies over the t-sips. Whoop! I can't explain the Kodak moment when the Aggies scored, and my brothers and Jesse stood up very excitedly and gave each other a group hug so as to not wake up my napping nephew and mom. Vero and I just giggled as the boys rejoiced.

My wonderful husband drove into College Station on Saturday to go to work and drove back to Houston when he was done. After some Hacky Sack Championships, we sat around and told old stories of growing up. Jesse and I had planned on driving back to College Station that night, but as we were about to leave, we decided to postpone our return until Sunday morning at 6:30 a.m. because he was due at work at 9:00 a.m. What a hard working man! He even came home at 4 and brought me a rose right before we went to mass together. What a perfect way to end a wonderful weekend!

Well now the weekend is over....back to the real world of homework, jobs, and responsibilities. I have my proposal meeting on Tuesday at 10 am...wish me luck. I have to present my dissertation proposal in front of four professors so they can critique me. Fun. After Tuesday, i will feel much more relieved. I am currently awaiting phone calls from internship sites for interviews. They have until the 15th of December to notify me. It is now time for me to go to sleep. It has been a long day and will be an even longer day tomorrow as I have to polish my presentation and know my stats for Tuesday. Please pray for me...as with everything...only with god can I pull this through.

I passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I opened my email today and I received this email:

Your mark for the written prelim from me is PASS. Please forward to your chair(s).

Ahhhhhh!!! Thanks be to God!!!! My dad has some very special gifts. His prayers are and have always been very powerful! Thanks to all those who prayed for me! God knows, how difficult this was!

One down...one to go!!!!

So i finished my stats test today...whoop! How did I do on it? Uhhhhh. not too sure, I guess we'll find out. But I finally can rest at night at a time earlier than 4:30 am. I have a couple of days before it is crunch time once again and I have to work on my proposal powerr point and practice so that I can deliver my presentation next week. I have had to welcome my stomach pains once again whoch for those who know me, mean trouble. Oh well...I am almost done for the semester and now I sit and wait for phone calls of internship sites offering interview.
I just got a stylish black shoe for my broken toe. See pics!!! Well I am off to see happy feet and see the new Harry Potter Review!!!!!!! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

I should have listened

My husband is pretty smart...I guess I forget that at times. I taught the forms class today at the The Martial Arts Center (The Taekwondo school I work at) and afterward, I asked Jesse to hold a paddle for me to see if I could kick without hurting my toe. For those of you who don't know, Jesse and I went to Cleveland for Senior National Championships a week and a half ago. After my fight, I began limping and then found out I had fractured by pinkie toe. A little boo boo with a lot of pain. Well, I figured I could kick through the pain after not kicking for a week. Jesse's first reaction was, "Amor [that is what he always calls me] you can't kick with a broken toe". And I replied "Oh yes I can. It won't hurt too bad". Jesse's second response "Amor, you shouldn't be kicking." My response, "Oh I will be fine." *I kick and I feel a sharp pain in my toe* My response "yep I can't kick". Jesse's response, "You should trust me, I am your coach and husband." What was I thinking? I know a married him 'cause he was smart... :)

Rennaisance fun and Church

Jesse and I went to the Renaissance Festival today and had a great time. From eating Turkey Legs to seeing a renaissance wedding procession we had a great time. By the way, if you have never tasted chocolate covered frozen bananas, they are WONDERFUL! This was also a great time to spend alone. Sometimes in the craziness of life, we forget that we need to recharge our batteries. Each person has their own way of doing so.
I recharge spending some alone time with Jesse. We talked, laughed, and joked for a couple of hours. It was wonderful! How blessed am I to find such a fantabulous person to spend my life's journey with.
We then took a short drive to Tomball, where we went to church with my brother Enrique and his family. The priest gave a wonderful talk about letting God take care of your future. He told two great analogies. The first, was elderly woman being carried up and down the stairs by her son. She wasn't stong enough to walk by herself, so he helped by carrying her. Well she found it diffiuclt to place her entire trust in him, and would grip the handrail as hard as she could afraid that she would fall. Well this made it more difficult for her son who would try to convince her to let go and to trust that he wouldn't drop her. She would let him carry her for a couple of steps, and upon feeling scared, the woman would grip the handrail again. There are many times that I am too scared to just let God take care of things completely, and try to grab the handrail for fear of falling. I ignore the voice telling me that although I can't walk the steps alone, He will carry me the whole way through. Good food for thought!
The second story I related to very easily. The priest spoke of a little girl sitting on her father's lap helping to drive a tractor at the ranch. She tried hard to keep the steering wheel straight, so that she may not drive the tractor into a ditch. She held on to the steering wheel with a death grip and concentrated so that she could keep the tractor from veering. In the little girl's eyes, she was focused on the wheel and the road and couldn't see the bigger picture. As the camara zooms out, the father has a huge smile on his face with one hand around his daughter, and the other hand on the wheel, knowing without a shadow of a doubt, there is no way this tractor will get out of control. As a girl who used to sit on my dad's lap at our ranch, Santa Rosa, and drive the old beat up pick up truck very carefully with fear of totally wrecking it, I see now that I was never in any danger. Now that I am all grown up, I know still that I am in my Father's lap and He has one hand on the wheel, and He knows beyond a shadow of doubt, that my Tractor will never go into the ditch, no matter how much I fear that I will.

Finally at home...

Welcome to our space!!! Jesse and I have been married for almost 11 months and have been writing on different blogs on myspace and xanga. We have decided to join forces and write together, so that the people we care about can know what is going on in our life. Being married has allowed us to share many things...and now, a blog. So...let the writing begin!