In March, I was accepted to the GSLIS program, and an imminent end to our five year long distance relationship loomed. In the spring, Joe worked as a Graduate Assistant and took history classes and I toiled away at Von Maur as a copywriter. At the beginning of June, I moved in with Joe to a stuffy, ill-lit, dishwasherless apartment in Urbana and started the GSLIS program.
Over the summer, we had crushing amounts of free time. I was reading a book a day; our xbox was on almost all the time, either playing games (Lego Harry Potter for me, Call of Duty for Joe) or streaming Netflix and 'legally' downloaded videos; we stayed on the internet for absolutely HOURS at time. I also took two summer classes and worked a temporary job at Macy's; Joe had an internship at the McLean County Historical Museum. At the start of fall semester, I was hired at two places: the Illini Union Bookstore and the Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship (aka CIRSS), and Joe went back to work and school at Illinois State.
Since then, I've worked at those two jobs, doing transcription and special projects at CIRSS and working in sales, receiving, and gift wrap at the IUB. I also took four classes over fall semester. Joe's position as a Graduate Assistant in the Illinois State department of History has been renewed through next May, and his side job as an Illini sports blogger has grown. His site, Hail to the Orange, hosts a weekly podcast and Joe's particularly humorous take on the big and small in Illini sports. His position there has led to participation in conferences and media events in Indianapolis and Chicago and to media passes for all of the home games. His blog paychecks have even funded our honeymoon savings account!
At the beginning of August, we moved in to our current two-bedroom apartment. It's about two miles from campus, so I can't walk to class; I usually drive to a distant parking lot and ride the shuttle buses into campus. Joe still commutes to Bloomington for classes and his work as a GA, a trip he usually makes three times per week.
Wedding planning continues to be nightmarishly stressful, time-consuming, difficult, and altogether unpleasant, but the task marches on.
Next semester, I'll be working exclusively at CIRSS as an office manager and Joe will continue as a GA. We'll both be done with school - probably forever! - in May, and we'll be moving to wherever one of us finds a job. We're really excited to see where that will be :)
