Life lately

This spring has been filled with an expected busy season of sports and academic endeavors for Amelia and John. First up, a fun last season for John playing flag football. John had enjoyed being part of the Cantrell Armstrong Elementary team for the past three years. 

The photo below is over-exposed, but you can see John running in the purple shorts in the background, carrying the football in his right hand.

And below, trying to intercept a pass thrown by the other team's quarterback.

Next up, baseball! We were lucky to get John included on a chamber ball team with teammates from John's elementary school, kind-of at the last minute. While John has had a lot of exposure with baseball over the years, he has decided that baseball is more of a secondary sport rather than his first choice (which is basketball). So having the chance to play on a competitive team with friends from school, without the commitment and high cost of a club baseball team, has been really fun for John and our family this season.John at bat below...

And pitching! John has enjoyed trying his hand pitching (first time!) with this team. 

And basketball! Always basketball. John loves this sport amongst all others, and he has enjoyed playing with the Hurricanes this spring on the tournament teams (4th and 5th grade tournament teams).

And now news regarding Amelia. This past spring Amelia took part in the Duke Talent Identification Program (a.k.a., Duke TIP), which is a nationwide talent search for kids that are interested in pursuing academics at an accelerated rate. Amelia took the ACT exam in February, and based on her score she qualified for enrollment in the Duke TIP programs. This past weekend Amelia participated in the medal ceremony, which was held at the University of North Texas nearby in Denton, Texas (a suburb of Dallas). Amelia can be seen walking across the stage below in the bright pink top.

At home afterwards, with her medal of recognition. Amelia is excited about spending three weeks in July attending one of the Duke TIP summer programs for middle school students, where she will study "Speculative Fiction: Reading and Writing about Alternative Worlds" at Trinity University in San Antonio.

Three weeks of school left! The end of the school year will be here before we know it. Lots of good times ahead, including John's "graduation" from elementary school.

The path

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. – Proverbs 16:9

As all of you know, for the past eleven years I have been working as a university professor. This academic career path began in the summer of 2000 when I made the decision to quit my job and return to school to pursue a Ph.D. in Accounting. With Scott’s support (we were engaged at the time and were married the next year), we moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina so that I could begin my graduate program. The next five years were full of challenging course work that made significant demands on my (moderate, for the Ph.D. world) intellectual capabilities and allowed me to explore the teaching and research sides of an academic career. The goal at the end of my training was to pursue a tenure-track position as an accounting professor at a research-oriented university. So in spring of 2005 I was thrilled to accept an offer to join the faculty of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. We were both very excited because moving to Dallas was a good fit for Scott’s career given the numerous opportunities for tax consulting work in this large city.

On the career side, the next seven years were filled with routine tasks of academic life. I taught a handful of classes each year, interacted with fellow colleagues, and pursued my research interests with the goal of publishing academic studies in the top academic accounting journals. I had some success with research - my dissertation got published in a top accounting journal, great! I also learned that I was a good teacher, and more importantly, that I love teaching and working with serious-minded students. On the personal side, I was a young mother with pre-school (and then elementary-age) children, and wife to a husband with a very demanding career in the client service industry. Scott and I were busy and career-driven, grateful for our family and for our relatively easy way of life in Dallas. Our kids were growing up well, and we created many good family memories in between all of our work obligations. We bought a home about a mile away from the SMU campus and about five miles from Scott’s office, which allowed us both to spend a minimal amount of time spent driving and commuting around. I felt like I had a good amount of “work/family balance” (whatever that means). I was glad that my flexible professor work schedule accommodated our family’s lifestyle.

But my efforts weren’t “enough” for my career. The funny thing about being a tenure-track faculty member at a research-oriented university is that your evaluations are based largely on your research accomplishments (about 75% weight), with minor weighting on the teaching. So I started to learn that the thing I was better at – teaching – was not valued at the institution I was a member of. Ultimately my contract was going to expire at SMU in the next two years because I didn’t meet the research standards, and since Scott and I didn’t want to leave Dallas I started looking for another job at a local university.

In spring of 2012 I felt I found a good match at Texas Christian University, located in Fort Worth, Texas (about 40 miles from our home in Dallas). I accepted a position for a tenure-track position as an accounting professor - again. The professional evaluations of progress towards tenure at TCU were slightly less tilted towards the research side (maybe 60/40, rather than 75/25), so I thought this might be a better fit for me. I thought this would be a fresh start, per se, to try again at the “traditional” academic path.

Rewind, repeat, I did the same thing at TCU for four years that I had done at SMU for seven years prior. Except now I had to factor in a one-hour one-way commute (up to two-hours each way on bad traffic days) on the days I went to Fort Worth. I only travelled to Fort Worth on the days I taught classes or had meetings with students (about 3 days a week, on average). I also enjoyed working from home on the days I didn’t have to commute, and I tricked myself into believing that this arrangement was rewarding.

But again I learned that my efforts on the career side weren’t “enough”. While my teaching ratings were well above average, the academic papers I published while I was a faculty member at TCU weren’t judged to be of the quality required for a successful tenure case. So at the end of my 11-year journey down the traditional tenure-track route, I was very frustrated with the very high and seemingly unattainable research standards deemed acceptable to earn tenure. I was beyond emotionally ready to pursue an alternative. From a practical perspective, I needed to find something different if I wanted to continue to work in the Dallas area. Scott and I decided that we weren’t interested in moving away from Dallas given our family’s quality of life here and the rewards for Scott’s career.

So I contacted the Dallas-area universities and inquired about teaching-oriented positions. I knew I was done pursuing academic research as part of my career. I explained my situation to the accounting department leaders at The University of Texas at Dallas and SMU and expressed interested in joining their faculties. Neither school had a job posting at the time, but both schools seemed enthusiastic about potentially having a position open up in the next few years that would be a good fit for my experience and areas of interest. So I resigned myself to wait patiently for a more local position to open up. In the meantime I could still work at TCU for a while longer under my current contract.

Fast forward to a random Friday in February of this year when I was working at home on class preparation tasks. I checked email after taking a break to prepare my lunch and I saw a message in my inbox from the SMU accounting department chairman. He was writing to tell me that the Dean had recently approved a full-time teaching position and he wanted to ask if I was interested in returning to SMU in this role. This message was unexpected, but seemed to be good news. After inquiring further about the details of the position and conducting several telephone conversations to determine if this was a good fit for me, I replied yes and gladly accepted a job offer for a full-time teaching position at SMU.

The classes that I will teach at SMU match my experience and interest, and the number of classes and timing is very reasonable for the compensation provided under the contract. More importantly, I am looking towards a future career with a more reasonable family/work life balance schedule. I never thought that driving all the way to Fort Worth several times each week would be so taxing (both on me personally and on our family in general), and I am thrilled to think that the crazy commute will be over soon. Scott seems to be pretty relieved about the new SMU arrangement as well, since my stress about commuting to Fort Worth and my cranky mood on bad traffic days was taxing on him as well as the rest of the family. On the professional side, I am very excited about being able to focus on teaching almost 100% of the time. I feel most engaged with academic life when I am in the classroom or meeting with students in my office one-on-one.

The purpose behind this post is partly to share news of my journey with friends and family, but more importantly to share the larger realization that this experience has given me. Several times throughout this long journey I have had to search deep to try and figure out what actions I should take when I was most frustrated. I did not ask myself what I really wanted to do and instead I chose what I “should do”. At times I prayed to God for patience while waiting for plans to evolve, but I tried to take more control over the situation than was feasible. And even though I felt like I was “in control” of my career path, forging forward with the research/teaching “balance”, I really don’t think that this is the case. I really wasn’t being honest with myself most of the time, nor was I really thinking about the fact that the “path” is not within my control.

For me, the bigger picture is that God has a plan for all of us, and that His plan gets executed rather than the plan we think we have in mind. God’s plan for us is not always what we want (or what we think we want – e.g., tenure and a research-oriented career, in my case), nor does His timing necessarily coincide with when we think things should happen in our lives. I think that God’s plan for me all along has been that I should teach and serve as a counselor/guide for college-aged students, because this is where He has graced me with ability and interest. Maybe the reason I tried to continue along the “traditional” academic route for so long was so that He could teach me this lesson, or so that I could learn this about myself. Maybe the reason I tried to continue that route was because I was stubborn and thought that I really was in control, when in reality I know that He is in control.

And really the even greater thought behind all this is that it’s not about God having a career path outlined for me, but more that if I follow God’s desire for me to act in His image, the rest will all work out according to His wishes. He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:8

For the past two years I have served as a member of the Confirmation teaching team at our church. I am one of four parents who volunteer to work together to lead the Confirmation class of 6^th graders who are searching to understand whether they want to become members of our church. One of the more significant lessons that we teach the kids is that God has a plan for all of us, and ultimately His greatest desire is for us to serve Him in this chosen capacity and with the kindness and behavior of a Christian. So what is ironic is that I teach this lesson to kids and I do believe it academically, but yet it has taken me this long – 11 years! – to really feel the powerful effect of this lesson in my own life.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. – Romans 12:2

Baseball, Beach, and Busch Gardens!

The fun times continued on Thursday and Friday of Spring Break. Mom and dad got us tickets for the Thursday Orioles game against the Yankees. What a beautiful day for a ball game!

We enjoyed our on-field passes which got us up close and personal with the players during batting practice.

It's a shame mom and dad can't get us good tickets for the game. Just kidding, the view can't get much better than this! We enjoyed the game and had fun visiting behind the scenes in the ticket booth on our way of the stadium.

After the game ended and mom and dad finished work for the day, we all met up on Siesta Key. I love our annual tradition of visiting this pristine, gorgeous beach. Lovely happy hour views!

On Friday morning we checked out of our Sarasota hotel and drove an hour north to Tampa for a fun day at Busch Gardens, where we enjoyed lots of animals and rides.

I don't remember visiting the interactive tiger area before, which was quite interesting. You could walk in glass-walled tunnels between two separate tiger observation areas. We happened to time our visit to this exhibit perfectly since this white tiger, who appeared agitated, was walking fiercely around the pen and growling occasionally.

This is a cool photo showing the giraffes grazing the African animals area (we were on the train ride that encloses the wild animals section of the park) with the modern roller coasters in the background. I am timid when it comes to rides so I wanted nothing to do with those crazy roller coasters!

John told me to take a picture of the "lazy kangaroos - especially the fat one sleeping on his back against the wall".

This garden area was filled with beautiful, decorative topiaries on hand for the Food and Wine Festival that is held at the park on weekends. 

We loved the water rides the most. We enjoyed the log flume ride (grandpa, grandma and Amelia are in the boat above). we all got soaked on the Congo River Rapids (we had so much fun we rode it twice!) and the Tidal Wave.

The Sky Ride was closed most of the day due to windy conditions, but it opened just as we were leaving the park. We finally got to see the elephants that had been in hiding before. One last peaceful ride across the African plains to wrap up our fun day! I have so many great memories of visiting Busch Gardens as a kid, and I enjoy experiencing things all over again with grandparents and Amelia and John.

First days in Sarasota

The kids and I spent part of our spring break last week in Sarasota.  The purpose of the trip was to spend time with my parents, and in doing so we enjoyed many glorious days in the Florida sunshine. We arrived in Tampa mid-morning on Tuesday, picked up our rental car, and headed south towards Sarasota. My dad recommended that we stop in Apollo Beach to visit the manatee sanctuary near the coastal Tampa Electric Plant. When I did my research in advance of the trip, I learned that during the cooler months (late fall, winter, early spring) the manatees congregate in the harbor near the power plant because of the warmer water generated by the plant. The power plant has capitalized on this phenomenon and has provided a nice viewing area for the public to see the manatees and other shore animals up close.

Of course I neglected to photograph the manatees themselves, but this picture shows some of the fish we saw in the shallow waters as we walked across the boardwalk on the shore. We saw a dozen manatees, fish, a stingray, and even a crab. We also saw pelicans and other birds hovering above the water along the shoreline.

I found a tiki-hut at a nearby marina for lunch. Coming from land-locked Texas, enjoying this lovely view for a casual weekday lunch was delightful (and my fresh grilled grouper sandwich was amazing!). After lunch we drove the rest of the way to Sarasota.

After a fun evening socializing with mom and dad in Sarasota, we opted for a family excursion Wednesday morning. We went on a kayak tour of the bay off of Lido Beach.

We met our tour guide, Chris, and the rest of the group at a state park on Lido beach around 9:00am. The setting was beautiful. Chris had the kayaks waiting for us near water's edge, so after a brief instruction period we all loaded into the kayaks and began our journey. I love this adorable photo of my dad and Amelia in their tandem kayak. I was with John in a separate tandem kayak. Unfortuantely, my mom had to work on Wednesday and was not able to join us.

We paddled across the channel, and with the fierce winds this was really hard! At first, kayaking along water's edge near the mangroves was peaceful and pretty easy. But once we got out into the channel, my arms were burning! Once we got across to the other side we were rewarded with close views of the waterfront homes. We also saw many birds, including pelicans, blue herons, and dozens of cormorants, a bird species that swam next to our kayaks on the water and repeatedly dove underneath them looking for fish.

After paddling back across the channel (full disclosure - the wind and even stronger waves were so tough that Chris the guide had to help "tow" our tandem kayak across - but still I gave it my all and my arms burned even more!), we enjoyed the rest of the morning amongst the mangroves. This time we got to paddle through the mangrove tunnels, which was a really peaceful, lovely experience. The channels within the mangroves were just narrow enough for one kayak so we journeyed single-file in a line through the space. We saw a great white egret and several crabs (on the mangrove roots). I had trouble navigating the channels and taking photos at the same time, so this is the only decent photo I have from the mangroves.

Our journey on the water lasted almost three hours, and at the end we were tired but happy. Despite the difficult challenge of paddling across the channel twice, this was a great way to experience the water near Sarasota in a way we never have enjoyed it before. I am grateful that my dad was up for sharing this experience with us!

Kids' accomplishments

This past week was particularly eventful for Amelia and John with many school and extra-curricular activities.

Let's start with John. On Wednesday John's Hurricanes basketball team (club basketball) had their playoff games. This team consists of mostly fourth graders (only one boy is in fifth grade), but the team plays in a select fifth grade division. The level of competition in their division was pretty strong, and this year's season has gone unusually well in that the team was undefeated going into the playoffs. The boys played two games on Wednesday night, winning both, making them champions of their division. John is third from the right in the photo below.

The coolest part of John's experience with this particular Hurricanes team is that most of the team has played together for several years. This means that the boys understand and support each other extremely well, and even from my perspective I feel that all of the boys are really nice and fun to be around. It's fun for our family to be part of the Hurricanes basketball organization, with a highlight being this particular team. Congratulations to the fifth grade charcoal team for a dominant effort this season!

On Thursday evening John's school held their annual open house. Each year the kids create displays of their work to show parents. Since writing is a focus during fourth grade, John's items largely showcased writing pieces. First up, a description of what John's room says about him.

In the second piece, "A Beautiful Place", John describes how he feels on the beach.
After seven years of having at least one of our children enrolled in University Park Elementary School, this was our family's last open house at UP!

Moving on to Amelia, this year Amelia is playing clarinet in the Highland Park Middle School Honor Band. This is the most sophisticated of the bands at HPMS and we are proud of her for playing in this band as a seventh grader. On Thursday the Honor Band participated in a regional competition where the band was scored on their ability to play several prepared pieces, plus a sight-reading piece that they had to play without advance notice. The band scored the highest honor - a rating of one in both categories - which was satisfying for all the band students. Amelia has participated in early morning (i.e., get to school before 7:00am!) practices several days a week since January, so she feels that all the hard work paid off.

The band directors posted links to the recordings online. Check it out if you are interested. I have probably listened to each song about 10 times since the recordings were posted Friday - I just can't get enough! I think the last song is my favorite.

The following link will take you to the recordings of our UIL Concert.

https://drive.google.com/a/hpisd.org/folderview?id=0B6_w57MonNHuWm5BUWhtUGdicXM&usp=sharin&tid=0B6_w57MonNHubUFHUjl5Sjhha00

Password: HB2015

Family visit to Dallas

The month of February has been filled with various activities that have kept our family crazy busy. One of our first fun events in February was a visit from Laura, Jack and Henry over President's Day weekend. We spent a lot of time outside exploring Dallas while they were here.

The weather was gorgeous on Saturday afternoon so we took a trip over to Trinity Groves, which is just across the Trinity River from downtown Dallas. We all loved exploring the pedestrian path and playgrounds lining the old Continental Bridge. The Continental Bridge runs adjacent to the new Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge (the large white bridge above). Downtown Dallas is in the distance.

Throughout the weekend Henry loved being pushed on the super swing in our front yard! Henry is the only one of the four cousins that is light enough to fit on the swing at its current height. Laura and I (and Amelia too!) got in a good workout running in circles to push Henry over and over again.

On Sunday we had an eventful day - a trip for everyone to the Dallas Zoo! We were glad that John had a half day break from a busy weekend of basketball games to join us. The picture below was taken as we were riding the escalator down to the DART at Mockingbird Station. It's so easy to get to the zoo on DART, and riding the train provides plenty of fun (and interesting) people-watching opportunities.

We switched trains downtown and the boys quickly got to work exploring sculptures in a park square.

We saw tons of animals at the zoo - lions, bears, elephants, giraffes, penguins, you name it. Unfortunately I was a terrible animal photographer on this day and the only photo I captured is of this bird that we saw during the animal show.

The zoo was running a special exhibit with animals and other figures entirely constructed of Legos. This was a really cool exhibit! Next to each figure there was a sign telling you how many legos were used to make the item (most were tens to hundreds of thousands) as well as the number of man-hours to create it (most were in the hundreds of hours).Jack and Henry are the "ants" pictured below.

A bumblebee in a pansy.

Polar bear and cubs. Isn't the level of detail amazing?

We all enjoyed our visit to the zoo!

Most of all, it was great to have all weekend with Laura, Jack and Henry. Of course back at home we got in lots of game time, including cribbage and Exploding Kittens! The Wilsons are hoping to make it to Oklahoma for a visit later this spring.