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| Catching up with the Perreault Family |
Last year, after spending Christmas in Weest Palm Beach and Wellington with Greg's mom, sister and grandmother, we returned home and rang in the new year with our friend Kyle, Brenda and James McCommis. Then we headed to Boulder, Colorado for the annual religion and media conference where Greg and I both presented papers. Mine was an ethnography of an online church and Greg's was on religion in video games. We loved our little family trip and all the learning and cuisine that Boulder and Denver had to offer.
Then Greg and I both got back to work. Greg in his second semester at University of Missouri Journalism School and I in my first semester as a adjunct teaching three courses in the journalism school. We had visits from Greg's dad and his wife in January, my parents in February, and my sister Sarah in March. Evangeline spent time in her play group with friends Claire and Penny. She moved from rolling on the ground to crawling and then to pulling up.
We worked and studied hard, as Evangeline grew from a baby into a toddler. She learned how to walk at 8. 5 months just in time for our trip to Texas in May. In June we started back at work and school. i took a crisis communication class to begin my Ph D program. Greg also took on a job at Religion News Service for the summer and I worked on a book proposal for two professors at MU. We went on a lot of walks and tried to keep cool as the summer got hotter. We also hosted a foreign exchange student from Spain. With her we explored Kansas City and St. Louis. Evangeline really loved her visits from her grandma Carri in July, and Grandpa Jacques and G'ma Rachel in August.
Fall rolled around and we started another school year. Greg in his second year and I in my first year as a Ph. D. student. Evangeline was now a full-fledged toddler and into everything. We took family trips to the apple orchard, farmer's market and played in the leaves in the yard. Evangeline also celebrated her first birthday surrounded by more than 60 friends and family. Her father, grandfather, uncle and aunt made her a box castle and her grandma made her a home-made cake. Greg was able to get his 1967 Ford Mustang running again with some help from his dad and a few local mechanics. It still needs some work, but it was nice to know she can run around the block!
In November, we attended the National Communication Association Conference in Orlando and took Evangeline to the Hoop-dee-do Review and spent time with several friends and professors from Georgetown and Mizzou. We also got to see Greg's mom and our friends the Painters. Greg presented a paper on Kingdom Hearts. For Thanksgiving we stayed home, ran the Eat A lot Turkey Trot and cooked for friends who stayed in town for the holiday.
Now its Winter. We just left Missouri on Tuesday to spend our first Christmas in Texas in more than seven years, just in time to miss the first snow of the season. Last time we spent Christmas here was the year we got engaged.
We wrapped up the semester successfully. Out academic lives consist of three parts, teaching, courses and research. Greg shadowed this Fall and will teach his first large lecture class (300+ students) in the Spring. I am not teaching this year, but I managed to pass my classes and will be taking four classes in the Fall. This next semester has a reputation for being the most difficult one in my course load. Greg has several papers in the works, and I am working on a paper concerning tornado warning messages.
The next year holds a lot of excitement. I'll be attending a conference in DC in January, and Greg has at least one conference in DC in the Spring as well. We will celebrate my sister Catelyn's wedding in March and head to Florida for Spring Break and Easter. We plan to attend a few conferences over the summer as well as the Cates Family Reunion on Father's Day weekend in Arkansas. We look forward to these adventures and more and hope to see you all soon.
