thinking about the future...

This school year is a big one for us: our last year of grad school!! Thomas has big plans to defend his dissertation in May and graduate with his Ph.D. in August 2015. One or both of us has been in school for so long that it's hard to believe the end is in sight!

With that end will come a new beginning for us, but we have no idea where that new beginning will be just yet. Most likely we will be in Knoxville for another year after Thomas graduates, but he has been starting the search for postdocs and jobs to apply for. They are all extremely competitive and the chances of his getting one are slim; still, it's fun to think about where we could end up. So far he is planning to apply for postdocs at the following four places:

• Dartmouth. He's actually applying to 2 different postdocs there. I so love the idea of living in a small New England town, especially since Hanover was recently rated one of the best places to live in America. Plus that's a part of the country I haven't seen much of, and I would love to have a chance to travel in that area. We would be only 2 hours from Boston and only 3 from Montreal! 
• The University of Illinois. My dad got his Ph.D. there, so that would be a really neat connection to have. I already know I love the Midwest and--huge, huge plus--we would be all of 4 hours from Kirksville!!! Close enough we could go home just for a weekend. After four years of living 12 hours away, I can't express what that would mean to us. And we'd be just 2 hours from Chicago, which would give us all kinds of opportunities for things to see and do.
• The University of Michigan. I honestly don't know that much about Ann Arbor, but some poking around on the internet has led me to believe it's a pretty cool place. And I know they have both a Trader Joe's and a Great Harvest, so I'm pretty sure I could live there quite happily for some time.
• Cambridge. Wow, would that be amazing. Logistically it would be more difficult than anywhere else, but it would also be a dream come true to live in England.

If any relevant job openings come along this year, there'll be more potential places to daydream about living. Like I said, though, far and away the most likely scenario is that Thomas will get a lectureship at UT and we will be here for a sixth year. Knoxville has the not-to-be-taken-for-granted advantage of NO PACKING or good-byes just yet, so we will be perfectly content with that option as well!