An Almost Finished Kitchen

We are closing in on the kitchen. So close. There are a few more things left to finish, and most of them do not impact the functionality of the kitchen. Well, there is the backsplash against one wall that has yet to be grouted, and that does really need to happen soon. Oh, and the trim under the cabinets would help with function so that things don't get lost in the underbelly of cabinets. But the painting, it's okay if that doesn't happen. And the hood that goes over the stove, does one really need a stove vent? We have the vent, it's just in a box in the basement. Because we literally, as of today, LITERALLY have 3 and a half weeks until Baby B arrives. And frankly, she could come any day, really, she decides. So, yeah, just trying to put the finishing touches on.

Now let me gush about what we have done in the kitchen, because we've done a lot. We knocked a wall down, we put new flooring in, we rehabilitated the wood floors that had been trapped under cheap floor tile, we got all new cabinets, we put new tile in for a backsplash, we got a dishwasher (which I say almost every day that I love and am so thankful for), we put in lights over the sink area, we finally removed all the eighties chandeliers, we up-cycled a bookcase into what we call a shelf and shoe, and we increased the storage in the kitchen even though we removed a wall of cabinets. Woohoo! Here are some pics.

Backsplash, and a view into the kitchen from the living room.

This is our "shelf and shoe." It's from an old bookcase we've had and we put it on the backside of
the cabinets by the front door so we can put our shoes there, and also any other random things
that get dumped when you come into the house. Perhaps a stroller will find a new home near here.

Our Rev-A-Shelf on the other side of the fridge is our pantry, and our new floors! Just click and go
on the install. Easy-peasy.

Welcome to Candidacy

Sorry blog, it's been a while. It's not that I haven't had things to share, it's just that the end of the semester and trying to pull everything together combined with my low energy and wanting to just watch Netflix all day has been winning out over writing. I have a big accomplishment to share, however, and I really can't let this one slide from being a blog post.

Yesterday I successfully defended my dissertation proposal! I am now officially a PhD Candidate, no longer just a student. This means I've finished all of my coursework, and can now say I'm "ABD" which is "all but dissertation." So what is a proposal? A proposal for my program is the first three chapters of my dissertation. These chapters consist of the hardest chapter to write, the first chapter, a literature review, the second chapter, and a description of how I will perform my study, or the methods chapter, the third chapter. The first chapter is the most difficult because it is essentially describing what the dissertation will be, and what the problem is that I will be addressing. You might not believe how hard it is to write a problem statement, but it is. Very hard. If there is anything I've learned from being in grad school like this, it is how to write so precisely that no one has a question about what I'm writing. The funny thing about writing with clarity and precision is that it takes three times as many words that then get removed. It's quite amazing. I've gotten used to tossing pages of words out the window during my writing process, but writing this proposal has brought it to a whole new level. I've probably tossed about 5-6,000 words, maybe more. That's about 20 double-spaced pages. My entire proposal is almost 80 pages. Ah, the process of writing. Especially chapter 1.

And this morning when I woke up I felt this great accomplishment. The sky was blue, and little Baby B was moving around like she was really excited too. There are some minor revisions I have to make with my proposal, but my entire committee signed off on it and now I can look ahead to a phase of my study where I am entirely focused on dissertation writing. I am sure that somewhere in my dissertation acknowledgements I will write that I defended my proposal at 36 weeks pregnant.