The end of an era

For the past 4 1/2 years, Matt has been in school. It seems odd that for all of Chloe's life to this point, her daddy has been a student.

Uprooting and moving blindly to where we then unlovingly called "Nowhere, Ohio" was simultaneously frightening and exhilaratingly exciting. We moved here with the express purpose of Matt studying and earning his phd in English at Kent State University. Now that we've been here for so long, life pre-doctoral studies (and pre-kids) seems like a distant dream.

Matt and I had no idea how much we'd actually like living in "Nowhere, Ohio". :) God has graciously given us a wonderful group of fun, encouraging and supportive friends. And we've never enjoyed and thrived in a church as much as here at Parkside. I'm afraid all future churches we attend will inevitably be compared to our fantastic experiences at Parkside.

The student chapter of our lives is now closed (until I go back for my masters that is) and it has been liberating to have Matt fully present again in our family. Of course, my husband is not the type to just sit around and be lazy with his new-found extra time (though a new baby in a few weeks will certainly fill in those leisure-time gaps). Matt is already working full steam on new projects around the house and has dreams and schemes of more.

Matt has worked tirelessly throughout the phd process and we couldn't be more proud of him! Congrats to our dear Dr. Daddy! :)