Yeah for progress!

As you can see, it's been a few days since I've posted anything. I haven't been away without reason...I made some serious progress on my thesis this week. Thank goodness - because I was able to complete my literature review portion. If you are unaware of the process, a thesis is broken into portions:

1) Literature review over anything and everything in past research that has lead to the objectives of your thesis work. A literature review can range from 0 to 100 pages, most right around 20 to 50 pages of text, followed by 20 or so pages of lit. cited (bibliography) and then 0 to 10 pages of tables, charts, and figures.

2) Manuscripts which are the actual experiments you perform in school. These include materials and methods, results, discussion, and tables, charts, etc. They range from 10 to 50 pages per experiments. Since I have four experiments - I'll have somewhere between 50 and 100 pages of manuscripts.

My lit. review has been a process, taking me almost 2 full months to write. Ben wrote his much quicker - I struggled with finding motivation to get through it. All in all - I'm about 85 pages done with my thesis, just about 90 pages left! Yeah for progress!

One another note - We're off to Garden City to our friend Marisa's wedding this weekend and then home to get ready for some of Ben's family to visit next week! Be looking for upcoming pictures of our travels!

2 for a $1.00

Just for the record - garage sales are hard work. I won't be doing one again for awhile (maybe ever) I'll gladly put things into someone else's garage sale, but its not for the faint of heart. Here are the things we never thought. Things to think about before you have your own garage sale:

1) Read your farmers almanac (and check weather.com) and then throw it away and ignore the forcast. Also, ignore your weather-man wanna-be friends (and husband). No matter how nice it can be all week (80 degrees) Nebraska can unleash a fury on you in just a matter of hours. See picture at left - we spent all day doing this. It just so happens that the rain had subsided long enough for us to set outside.

2) Price things ridiculously (sp?) cheap. Nobody wants to buy a gently used bicycle for $10.00 -seriously. The cheaper you price things - the faster they come running. Ignore the fact you spent hard-earned cash on a cute top and wore it once - bargain shoppers don't care. Also - scour your house for the things you would normally just throw away and put it in the garage sale. It doesn't matter if its burnt, water-marked, or broken - give it a try. Your junk is someone else's treasure - believe me.

3) Prepare to be "gyped" and "haggled with". We spent a good half hour giving a women a bulk discount as she "shopped" only to be taken by her husband. I think that family went away with $40.00 worth of merchandise for $20.00 - he even took the desk (as a "throw-in"). I got "HAD" - big time. We had to absorb $15.00 of errors across everyone because of that one. But - what else could you do though - either you sell it or you keep it. The stuff was on the garage sale because you obviously didn't want to keep it. I just wish I didn't feel like a putz in the process. I'll remember this next time (however - if you scroll back to paragraph one - you'll see that I won't be experiencing that feeling again)

4) Ignore #3 because if you're not willing to make a deal with someone - you'll get to keep your junk. No matter what - at the end of the day - you still don't have to deal with the old, stale blankets, beer signs, or purses that crowded your closets, spare bedrooms, and painted your college dorm room walls. Put tables together that say "ALL ITEMS $0.50 - this table" makes it alot easier.

5) Know when to call it a day. There's something to say about calling it quits when no customer's visit in 30 minutes. It's much warmer inside!

6) Finally - surround yourself with good people to spend your time with in these situations. If nothing else was gained from this adventure - I got to spend time with Ben and our friends laughing at customers and watch they purchase! All in all - I'd say it was a successful day - I think Ben made $5.00 and I made $21.00. Yeah - not great, but at least we can say we tried.

So grand total - our garage sale brought in $216.00 dollars - mostly from a few keys items people can't resist: a mini-fridge, discount Mary-Kay make-up, kitchen dishes, and old candles and some wedding decorations. Not bad for a days work.

Little bits of everything

I've got lots of little tid-bits to share today...let's get started.

A) One of my oldest friends - Andrea - and I have a long history. Most of the updates from the details of our lives have been shared through our families. Mostly I get the "SCOOP" from Grandma and Grandpa, as well as my brother and she keeps updated with me through her mom. Our brothers have been best-friends ever since they could hold guns and we've were in 4-H together for 12+ years. Oh get on with it right?

I recently found out she got engaged -- VERY EXCITING RIGHT? So I was thinking okay, it happened sometime in the previous week. Seems logical Grandma/pa and Lisa would have spoken at coffee one morning. NOPE not in Gaylord, it doesn't take long the for the phone tree to kick into action and nearly everyone (all 89-100 residents) know the scoop in 45 minutes or so! Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't trade where I grew up for anything, but Andrea hadn't even had a chance to call anyone before we found out at 9 a.m. the following morning.

Anyway, Congratulations ANDREA AND LANCE! They will be getting married at around home (I assuming) on Sept. 5th of 2009. So here's happy planning to you!

B) It's closing in on May (graduation) and I couldn't be prouder of my little brother. He and his girlfriend, Gretchen made it through what I consider the toughest test of a relationship. He started college last year at Butler Community College while Gretchen finished her senior year at Hays High School. Now most couples won't be able to survive the distance and temptations, but these two did. I am extremely proud of both of them - its a true test of character. I love Gretchen, she's been a blessing to my brother (who had never dated publically before her) as well as our family.

She has become a serrogate sister to Kait (my youngest sister) and she loves teaching Kait cheerleading and helping my family out around the farm. I think it's about 2.5 years they've been together. This picture is from her senior prom, aren't they gorgeous together! So, here's to the two of you and hopefully many more memories to be made!

C) Finally, wish us luck tomorrow - we're having our first garage sale. Normally I am a big "HAND-IT DOWN" person either opting for giving items to family/friends or donating to the Salvation Army - but I thought I'd test my luck at a garage sale. So I found some consigners, we set a date - and I've been stressing out. How funny is it that a little event like a garage sale could stress someone out. The weather, neighors, advertising, etc. really get to me.....I think I have to learn to be less controlling and a little more laid-back like Ben. He's much less worried about this than me - mostly because his plans include drinking summer beer in a lawn chair while watching me run a garage sale. I think I deserve 35% commission right? I'll work on it.

Have a great weekend everybody! Get some sun - hasn't this weather been beautiful? I know our grill has been getting a workout!

Newest addition

In the process of growing up, one tends to acquire things. In our life this past few years - we've (mostly Ben) have started to buy outright or partner with my brother Grady in different livestock ventures. Posted below is the newest member of the Godsey/Williams' livestock venture. She's a crossbred gilt from the Steve Cobb family's 2nd sale.

She's out of Enterprise on a ARK New Kid sow. We're pretty excited to see how she looks in person!

I'm sure in the next few months as we transition into our new "ADULT" life together, we'll be making many of these purchases in our effort to "PUT DOWN SOME ROOTS".

Although we don't have any pictures of lambs, Ben's been anxious about starting a small flock that look something like this one. This is one of the lambs offered in the Diamond W Club Lamb sale back in March. He's probably one of the most unique lambs I've seen in awhile. It will definitely be fun to keep track of this guy!

My two cents on reality TV!

It's interesting at our house, in terms of nightly entertainment. We definitely have a schedule to follow and thanks to our DVR we can enjoy our shows without pesky interuptions from the 20 million "Bump it", "Nutra-system" and "Weight Watchers" and "Pro-Active" commercials. Don't get me wrong, I'm up for self - improvement but you really start to question your self-worth seeing everyone with better hair, skin, and body than yourself. Thank goodness I rediscovered my bike and the tanning bed this week! One step at a time people!

However, that is not the topic of my post today. Entertainment, rather is something I would like to share with someone, and that someone is you. You could probably say I'm the most a-typical American Idol fan on the planet. I have watched the show "religiously" for the past three or four seasons now (especially since we invested in our DVR) but have yet to cast a single vote. "Why?" you say, let me explain: 1) We have decided against the use of text messaging in the Williams' household (if people really want to speak to us - you gotta call. Mass text messages are for wimps!) 2) The rest of my life as a person does not rest upon the next American Idol. Alas, I can't go to bed on Tuesday nights without my American Idol fix!

However in this season I have yet to stay in a single contestants band-wagon for more than 2 weeks until now. I have decided to publically announce my loyalty to Kris Allen (seriously, clink on this link for the "To Make you Feel my Love" studio version from country week). Not a front runner I am well aware, but I honestly do not find the constant screaming antics by Adam Lambert appealing and Danny Gokey just isn't tripping my trigger anymore. However there are a few things I find intriguing about him.

For those of you who know my musical tastes, I'm a sucker for a hopeless romantic sound. You know the kind, the male singer who pines til the end of time for a specific someone special. You give me a little Matt Nathanson or John Mayer and I'm in heaven. That said, watching Kris Allen and how he swoons for his wife and his soft melodic versions of everything he sings sends my heart fluttering. That's probably why I ended up marrying Ben in the first place, he's the hopeless romantic type and that balances out my constant need to be "seranaded" for lack of a better word.

Watch out, I'm sending your head spinning for a second, on another "PURE TALENT" note I've been loosely following other reality TV dream maker TV shows and although I'm not into the Making the Band or Dancing with the Stars - I am including the link to one of the latest BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT contestant's audition. This little boy is AMAZING and I can't believe we have people who walk this earth with voices that unbelievable. Watch this, and you'll agree: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVU4IkzMNIo.

Thank goodness for reality TV and DVR otherwise I'd be spending time watching WWE Raw, Baseball (don't get me wrong, a little goes a long way), and the Outdoor Channel with my husband!

Another one bites the dust! Congratulations!

So we've been patiently waiting for the all inclusive "FACEBOOK ANNOUNCEMENT" of our friends Brett and Karen's engagement - but alas, they are slow pokes. You know its not official until its posted on facebook! Anyway - we (mostly me) are SO SO SO VERY EXCITED for them, so CONGRATULATIONS! Brett - you couldn't have found a better girl to get hitched too! and Karen - good luck, you'll have your hands full I'm sure! (Here's where I would insert a winking emoto-con in an email)!

So lets count, from those crazy judging friendships we keep, lets revisit the list:

Mark, Cody, Ben, Jaymelynn, Wes, Austin, Emilie, and Brett - check, check, check, etc.

Now that leaves:
Lance, Crystal, Christi, Adam, and John -unless someone's eloped to Vegas that we haven't accounted for in the previous category! Just remember, we need an excuse to get together every year for the next five to ten years - so plan accordingly!

We are very excited to be planning trips to Kansas in the fall (Wes and Shawna), Pennsylvania in the spring (Austin and Emilie) and Alabama sometime in the near future (Brett and Karen of course). And of course, once we hear when Jaymelynn's Kansas reception is....you can bet we'll be there too!

I would publically show my excitement for Austin and Emilie's wedding put our friend Crystal already beat me to the punch! Such a great page Crystal!

Anyway - here's to another Happy Marriage! We're closing in on our one year anniversary (I know, such a milestone right?) and we couldn't be more excited for our future (and those who've been such great friends along the way!)!

P.S. Karen thanks for the picture I stole from facebook of you too, it's one of my favorites! Happy planning girlfriend!

Get to the livin' part of life...

Hello all! I guess you could say we jumped on the bandwagon and created a blog for ourselves. The thing is - I'm not that good at all this technology stuff - I'm going to make an effort to figure it out, it could be beneficial someday! Anyway - I think this is something for Ben and I to do together and let our families know what we've been up too!

Today was a big day for us - Ben officially defended his master's thesis on E. Coli interventions in very small slaughter facilities. I'm very proud of him, he's got a long road ahead of him to get things done for graduation in May, but we're heading in the right direction.

Myself on the other hand am struggling to get my thesis completed. It has taken twice as long to write as I anticipated, however - I think I am on track to graduate in August! Very close to the 1/2-way point! I am sure no one every claimed a graduate degree was easy - or everyone would have one!

We're headed to Manhattan tomorrow - Ben was asked to judge lamb showmanship at the Little American Royal at K-State. We are looking forward to a brief trip down (we haven't been there since our wedding) - to see old friends, grab lunch in Aggieville, and then head home!

I'm sure the face of our page will change over the next few days, weeks, and months as I (I should say "we" but Ben has already assured me that I will be doing the typing) get the hang of this blogging thing! Have patience and keep checking back!

P.S. I successfully posted a picture to our blog......it's one of the more recent one's from Matt and Lyndsey's wedding back in November!