I would like to be posting our Austin pics and talking about the trip - but I am actually at my office @ school, and thought I should post my progress - to keep myself motivated!
Here is the latest:
Successfully defended the research proposal December 2006
Submitted my research proposal to the IRB (Institutional Review Board) February 2007
Participated in full-board review of my research proposal March 2007
Received my letter of approval (pending revisions) from the IRB March 2007
Working on IRB revisions - currently doing this. This means I that the IRB approved what I am proposing to do for my research, but I had a few questions to address in an amended research proposal document. I *should* be able to do this quickly and send it right back to them for final approval - but it has taken some time to get everything together. In a perfect world, I will have this done tomorrow and will send it off to them.
As soon as I get my final approval letter, I can start my interviews and data collection! Very exciting for me, 'cause this means I am in the final stages of the PhD process. I am so ready to get this going :)
Where does the time go? I think we just hit the ground running the week we left to visit Austin and it has not stopped...March has come and gone, I celebrated my "39th" - bday again ( I see the wisdom in that now!) on Friday and I still hadn't finished posting about Austin.
We had the most wonderful time there! Austin was everything we thought it might be and much more! I think it is fascinating when you mention a place that you are going to visit or move to and you get one of a couple reactions: "Wow, it is such a fun city - don't forget to visit ______, ______, and ____ while you are there!" (everyone seems to have their own favorite places they recommend) - or "I used to live there and it was just wonderful - we hope to move back some day."
Friends, colleagues and faculty gave us lots of travel tips and info - I do believe we were well prepared for our trip. Our biggest regret - that we couldn't stay a whole week! There was simply too much to do in the short visit we were able to make. But we got quite a bit accomplished and for that, we are very satisified.
Helly - you were correct about the Hilton Garden Inn - that was a fabulous hotel to stay in! It was like a little home away from home for us. The room was like a small apartment, staff called us by name, we had wine/cheese option at night, a scrumptious full breakfast every morning, and can I just say, they had a great little laundry center on the premises?! It is great to get home w/clean clothes. We will stay there again, no doubt.
I mentioned in a previous post about having our toiletry items confiscated at the airport - totally my fault - I had failed to read the prohibited items notice on the Delta website. So, our first visit outside the hotel was to get what we needed, but it actually helped us find our way around the NW part of Austin. It was good to see familiar places to shop, eat ,etc - just to ease the transition of being in a new place. That feeling, however, was quickly replaced by the excitement of seeing new things and exploring.
Our first official stop: The University of Texas campus. ( I have to get the pictures uploaded to the computer and will post more soon).
