Life updates: Kids, PhD, Job Search

KIDS:
Sunday, February 8th, Reese turned 1!

We celebrated that morning with a family pancake breakfast! She delighted in being sung to.

Her birth day was filled with beautiful sunshine that we enjoyed at the park.

And the following work week I told my pump

we broke up, and it feels amazing.
Reese is still nursing in the morning, when I get her at the end of a work day, and usually once more before bedtime. It's been a positive breastfeeding experience, but I was ready to ditch that pump and at 12 months old now, her diet is expanding daily. She has been sleeping in the kids' room and through the night for the past month and a half now and that has been glorious! Especially fun when they wake up together in the mornings and have self-entertained while mom and dad pretend like we are sleeping a little longer. This is what I found last weekend when I went in.

Reese was climbing all over Heath

Heath was reading her the Frozen book and had the CD playing

They have really been great siblings for each other recently, enjoying in a lot more shared playtime. We still have to explain to Heath that Reese is younger and doesn't understand that she is 'tearing up the airport runway' or 'blocking his racetrack path.' Heath has made up more songs for Reese which she enjoys with a smile, usually a rocking back and forth and sometimes attempts to join him. Yesterday he sung to her "Reese Jean I love you, you are my best girl!" My heart melted.

J'S DISSERTATION
Jonathan is making great progress this semester! He has recently received access to the database he is using for his dissertation (a nice bonus that it is paid for through a research scholarship he received!). His dissertation is 5 chapters and he has the first two 'completed' and progress made on the third. The database will help to fill the content of the remaining chapters four and five. He will have to go before his faculty after chapter three is done and complete another passing marker before the formal defense of the whole dissertation which we expect to be late spring semester.

JOB SEARCH
With J wrapping up his PhD program, his graduate assistantship will expire this May, prompting the 'what's next?' question. Another round of a dual career search for the Manz fam! :) Our field of higher education typically posts and hires through the spring season, February- April for a first cycle of positions posted. Then there is another wave after all those people shuffle and another wave later summer. So we have been bracing ourselves for the roller coaster that is the job search. We have been thankful for the opportunities at Virginia Tech and would welcome if those opportunities for us both continued, but have to be diligent in making this dual job search a broad one nationally.

This year I've been able to co-lead a committee around our aspiration for student learning: Pursue Self-Understanding and Integrity. I was sharing with the committee that it seems a job search places you in the perfect spot to embrace this self reflection in understanding who you are, what energizes you, what you feel called to while also holding to the integrity of applying those inner answers into the roles for which you apply. It would be easy to mass produce cover letters and jump at any job that your qualifications meet, or that the salary seems appealing. I'm finding the quiet reflection time where I listen to my heart and pray for God's calling for our family leaves me in a place of peace much greater than the rat race that is anxiety inducing. It is still early in the search season, but you can hold me to keeping that perspective and not losing focus- on my faith, in my values of family and well-being.