"If Tomorrow Never Comes"

In a perfect world, I would be 5'7'', a world renowned cardiac surgeon, a mother of 3 beautiful children (one with curly red hair), and I would have tickets to see Garth Brooks in concert. But alas, the world is not perfect, I'm sure I will have cute kids (prob not with red or curly hair- I'd have no idea where they came from), I won't be a cardiac surgeon, maybe a cardiac nurse, and I have never seen my country music idol perform... ever.

I am obsessed with Garth. He couldn't be a better entertainer, and I'm not ashamed at all to tell anyone that I know all the words to the video below. When this guy "officially" comes out of retirement (instead of this one man Las Vegas business) I will be first in line to buy tickets. I would pay an exorbitant amount of money to see him, even if it meant that Santa had to skip over my house(kids) one Christmas.... not really, but maybe???

So, on this rainy Friday (oh I'm sorry, most of you are in Nashville with your pretty white snow... I strongly dislike all of you), that isn't even a real Friday considering I have to be at the hospital at 6:30 tomorrow morning. Enjoy the musical magic of Mr. Brooks and the sweet stylings of the classic 80's. Who wishes those jeans would come back in style?

Garth brooks - ain't goin' down
by rawestern

All Things Research

Within the last week, we have received the news that Matthew is going to be able to graduate with his PhD in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics on May 8th!!! Let us all breathe a long sigh of relief. We had been hoping since early fall that this would indeed be the case, but as research has its ups and downs, we weren't sure coming into this semester if it would be possible. But it is! And we will now be celebrating Matthew's hard work come to fruition in May, and watch him proudly wear those ridiculously ugly robes.

Let me take a few moments to brag on my husband... I just want everyone to know how hard he has worked the last 4 years, because he deserves a little extra dose of "well done". It is VERY rare for a student in his program to graduate in 4 years... I mean about as rare as a Republican in Congress (by the way, well done Mass). There are multiple people in his program who are working on the 5th, 6th, and yes even 7th year (Don't you think at this point, you would just throw in the towel?). Anyway... he has worked so incredibly hard these last 4 years, from challenging classes his first year (comprable to a med student's first year), writing multiple papers, articles, and book chapters, staying at the lab doing experiments until 3 or 4 in the morning, reworking experiments, and literally giving his own blood (which is apparently illegal to do...so shh!), sweat and tears (not really) into his project.

So let's talk about the next two months. In order for Matthew to graduate in May, he has to defend his dissertation publically and privately by March 26th (his is scheduled for March 22nd at 2:00). Not only that, but he has to have his >150 page dissertation finished and handed in to everyone on his committee by two weeks before his defense. Plus he still has a 3rd paper to write and submit to a scientific journal before he can finish writing his own dissertation, not to mention he still has a few experiments left that have to work to write the aforementioned 3rd paper. And then at some point, preparing his talk and studying for his private defense (where they grill him on all things research).

Needless to say, the next two months in the Hardison household are going to be less than thrilling. I am already feeling overwhelmed this semester with my toughest class load yet, while trying be a supportive wife while Matthew tackles this stressful time. I already feel guilty for taking these 20 minutes out of my own study time to post this. Basically... I cannot remember the last time we watched TV. Our poor DVR is suffering from the weight of unwatched shows. We come home, eat, and immediately study..every single night. I'm sorry American Idol, we miss you.

Silver Lining? I'm glad you asked. Once Matthew is done defending, he will be bumped up in pay from a grad student's stipend to a post doc salary... only 13,000 to 15,000 more a year... no big deal! For close friends and family, if you happen to have a day off on March 22nd, we and especially he would appreciate the support!

It will all be worth it come May, when I will proudly watch my husband become Dr. Matthew Hardison, PhD. How cool is that!?

"Let's Hear Those Sleigh Bells Ringling"

Think Fast! Here is Christmas in a nutshell!

Columbia- Hardison Family Christmas

Gearing up for White Christmas with weapon in hand... a good Diet Coke.

Dad-to-be pumped about the new video camera.

Meet Lady... Benjamin's new puppy. She has a proper Southern name.

I couldn't help myself. Kristen...I promise I will not buy the baby anymore UK gear.

Matthew's cousins McKenna and Kendall

Grandaddy Wayne rockin his sweet new hat

Aren't they just the cutest parents?! Along with Blake and Julie of course :)

Lexington- Matthew has informed me that he will post about our trips to Rupp. Therefore I only have two pics from our time in Lextown.



Nashville- Smith Family Xmas

After Harpeth Hills Christmas Eve service at Nana and Grandaddy's for our annual Christmas Eve dinner.

Matthew was super pumped about his food processor.

This was right after little Matthew opened a gift from Mom and Dad that he had already gotten from them earlier this year. I guess that's what happens when you get old :)

I finally got my wedding album!

Ashley got Macy and Lexi matching dog snuggies for xmas. Hilarious.

Freezing our bottoms off to watch the Titans get embarrassed on Christmas night.

Memphis- Christmas with my grandparents and extended family.

My baby second cousin Mia and her older sister Madison.

I LOVE my Mimi :)

And I'm of course my Papaw's favorite :)

This concludes Christmas. We had a great year getting to visit with most of our family. My motto for this Christmas was "Live it up!" considering there is a strong possibility I will work Christmas next year, and we could be living hundreds or thousands of miles away :(. Thanks to our families for allowing us to crash at your various homes for multiple days.

On a side note... My husband and I are currently doing the snow dance so we can get out of school/work tomorrow. I'm not holding my breath.

On another side note. Roll Tide!!

2010... Let It Begin!

I know, I know. I have been a blog slacker. It's so much easier to blog when I have exams and projects due. I promise I will post pictures from the holidays... at some point. But I need to unwind from our 17 day jaunt around the South in order to gear up to upload the massive amounts of pictures to the computer. As a reader, I would fully expect a recap in pictures, as opposed to a play by play of Xmas festivities. Cause, let's be honest, unless your family, you could care less about every detail of the last 2 weeks :)

We rang in the New Year by eating at Cheddars with the Allens, Joneses, and Hasselbrings. We went back to the Blake and Julie's place to play Wii and other games while waiting on the ball to drop... and we somehow ended up missing it completely. I was a complete failure and forgot to take a single picture. I'll do better next time.

While I contemplate the fact that we are now in a new decade, I look back at the 2000's... and I gotta say, now that it's all said and done...it was a pretty good 10 year stretch for me. Here are the events that transpired in the 00's: I started high school (and loved it), graduated high school and then made the 50 foot walk across the lawn to attend college, pledged, made some pretty amazing friends, spent the best summer of my college career on Quest Team, officially met my husband in '06, started dating my husband in '07, watched my best friend get married, decided I didn't want to go to PT school, got engaged Dec. 26, 2007, graduated college, got married Sept. 6, 2008, moved to Birmingham, got accepted into nursing school, started nursing school, and got our sweet Lexi pup in April of 2009.

Here is what I'm hoping the 2010's will bring: buying our first house, bringing home our 1st, 2nd, insert number, baby home, turning 30 for both of us!, getting an advanced nursing degree (whatever that may be), and hopefully finally settling down somewhere to raise a family...

But before we jump ahead 10 years, I'm much more intriqued as to what this year will bring. Most definitely graduation for both of us, becoming an aunt and uncle for the first time courtesy of J and K! (who can't wait to see how cute Baby H is gonna be!), starting big girl and big boy jobs and becoming Dinks (Double Income No Kids!), finally moving out of our pocket-sized 1 bedroom apartment, and deciding where we will be once it's all said and done here in the 'ham. Buckle up!