This is the program that I have been asked to join and been accepted into for this year and next year. I've spent the last few months trying to narrow down a professor to work with... I have it narrowed down to two or three now. My top choice does not have funding right now to take me on in his lab. So that leaves the other two or I could TA and get my funding that way and do research for free. So, I sort of need to be making a decision sometime soon... please, pray for wisdom. And what the paragraph below doesn't mention is that:
1. I will get my masters in one year.
2. I don't have to take the GRE.
3. I get paid salary. :D
There are other cools things about the program, but those are just the few that stick out. I might also add that I get to play with really cool stuff and work with really smart people and learn all sorts of new things. Oh, and I don't have to write a thesis if I don't want to... hmmm... But then I have to take more classes... so it is either 5 more classes and 9 hours of reseach or 8 more classes and no research.

ENME Joint B.S./M.S. Degree Program

The combined Bachelor's/Master's Degree (B.S./M.S.) Program is available only to current University of Maryland undergraduate students. The minimum requirements for acceptance into the Combined B.S./M.S. program are:

At least a 3.70 G.P.A.
No more than 30 credits of ENME courses remaining for B.S.
No more than 6 credits of CORE requirements remaining for B.S.
At least 3 letters of recommendation
An essay or statement of purpose

This is the research I am thinking about doing. It is probably my second favorite. This is a link to a blog that one of the professors runs. I am going to add it to my blog list as well, but if you want to do some really interesting reading, go here now!! heh.

Yesterday Jared and I celebrated our 29th month anniversary. I thought it was pretty neat that we celebrated our 29th month, in a February, during leap year (so it had 29 days...). It is probably just my insane love of numbers that thought that was cool. Ha.

Oh and for all of you who are married... go run up to your husband and tell him how adorable he is to you and give him a huge hug! I think one of the best things about being married is going to be the freedom to run up to my husband whenever I feel like it and give him a huge hug and tell him how handsome and attractive he is to me. I think that will be great!! So for all of you married people who have the freedom to do that now, go do it!! Living with my best friend is also another great benefit that I look forward to. *sigh* I could come up with a bunch of other things, but I have to get to class. I have been thinking lately that I would really enjoy getting to cook every night, but while I am in school I come home so tired I don't feel like doing anything. ha. Maybe... someday.

My favorite hymn of the week:

Isaac Watts meets igrace

(P.S. the verses are his, the chorus is igrace's)

(P.P.S. Michael W. Smith also sings this song, you may have heard it from him)

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My Richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride

See from His head His hands His feet
Sorrow and love mingled down
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown

Oh the wonderful cross
Bides me come and die and find
that I may truly live
Oh the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace
draw here and bless your name

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were and an off'ring far too small
Love so amazing so divine
Demands my soul my life my all

Oh the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find
that I may truly live
Oh the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace
draw here and bless your name

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Life so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul. my life, my all
and the beauty and the shame
in the glory of His name
Oh the wonderful cross

Oh the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find
that I may truly live
Oh the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace
draw here and bless your name

The GrandiHowards have to be some of the sweetest people ever.

I came down to breakfast this morning and Mary says, "Faith guess what we..."
Joe says, "no, no, no, Mary don't tell her." He looks at me. "Why do you use Dove soap?"
Me - "Ahhh, because it doesn't make my skin as dry."
Joe - "Well, you should look around upstairs and try to find a surprise for you."
Mary - "That is a much more interesting way of telling her."
Joe - "Mary insisted that we buy you something at Cosco yesterday."

So I went upstairs and looked and there is 14 bars of Dove soap. Like I could ever go through all of that in the next three months. Crazy sweet people. I love them so much!! One bar would have been enough to make me happy. :D

Hi.

I am so uncreative when school is going. I just feel like listing all the things I do each day and boring you all with the details of my life.

So I was going to leave you with this part and save the best for last, but for anyone that only skims and doesn't read the bottom part, here is the best part. I really enjoyed this reading from Spurgeon's Morning and Evening a few days ago. It was made all the better by the song at the end. It is a great hymn that I have had the chance to sing three times already this semester!! I have sung the old version at Mrs. Howard's church and the new version at RUF. Either one is awesome and you should find it somewhere and listen to it. It is my hymn of the semester so far. heh. So it was awesome to have this in my devotions one evening. It made me smile. I've never noticed the song in there before. Good stuff. :)

“There is therefore now no condemnation.”
Romans 8:1
Come, my soul, think thou of this. Believing in Jesus, thou art actually and effectually cleared from guilt; thou art led out of thy prison. Thou art no more in fetters as a bond-slave; thou art delivered now from the bondage of the law; thou art freed from sin, and canst walk at large as a freeman; thy Saviour’s blood has procured thy full discharge. Thou hast a right now to approach thy Father’s throne. No flames of vengeance are there to scare thee now; no fiery sword; justice cannot smite the innocent. Thy disabilities are taken away: thou wast once unable to see thy Father’s face: thou canst see it now. Thou couldst not speak with him: but now thou hast access with boldness. Once there was a fear of hell upon thee; but thou hast no fear of it now, for how can there be punishment for the guiltless? He who believeth is not condemned, and cannot be punished. And more than all, the privileges thou mightst have enjoyed, if thou hadst never sinned, are thine now that thou art justified. All the blessings which thou wouldst have had if thou hadst kept the law, and more, are thine, because Christ has kept it for thee. All the love and the acceptance which perfect obedience could have obtained of God, belong to thee, because Christ was perfectly obedient on thy behalf, and hath imputed all his merits to thy account, that thou mightst be exceeding rich through him, who for thy sake became exceeding poor. Oh! how great the debt of love and gratitude thou owest to thy Saviour!

“A debtor to mercy alone,
Of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear with thy righteousness on,
My person and offerings to bring:
The terrors of law and of God,
With me can have nothing to do;
My Saviour’s obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.”

Yesterday and today I spend all my free hours tracking down where I could get 1) blueprints to the freshman dorms and 2) the figures to how much water they each use. Now why would I want to know that you ask...? Well, I have this paper due on Monday that needs both of those things. I can't write it without the information found in both of these things. So, today at 3:45 I finally got directed to the blueprint archives building (which is in this weird creepy little run down building on like a random part of the campus). I arrived at 3:50 (you say, this is nice... well, not really because you see parking is free at four, you have to pay at 3:50, if you can find a free meter). I found a free meter and paid and walked to the building. This place was crazy. It was a room full of flatfiles. And each flatfile was STUFFED with every drawing that had ever been made of every building on campus. It sort of looked like this picture below. The right hand set would have another row behind them facing the other way that you could walk around in the middle of the room. On the far right was two copiers, a scanner, two desks, and a few tables to spread drawings out on.


And none of them matched, just like in this picture. So I thumbed through they files looking for plumbing diagrams from three of the freshman dorms AND I found them. Each of them was eight pages long. So 3*8=24. I thought for sure that it was going to cost me a fortune to get these copied and I would be stuck in this little messy office for hours copying down the figures I needed. But when I asked the girl working there she told me I could copy up to 25 pages for free. YES!!! So I did. And I am very happy. You can ask Jared because I called him afterward talking a mile a minute like I do when I am really really really excited about something.

These drawings are so neat too. They are all really old and hand drawn. They are beautiful. Engineering used to be such an art. I'm sort of sad that we don't get to learn how to draft and draw such awesome blueprints. Computers have taken away the beauty of blueprints. They all look roughly the same now. I know, it is easier and all, but it just looks so much cooler this way.

So, I still have to track down the water data, but I am halfway there. I've been through 11 different people so far in tracking the water data. I think I may go visit the office of something in person tomorrow if I can track down who would keep such records... And I get to come home this weekend for the women's retreat (where I am rooming with my mother and second mother!!! They are so sweet to include me).

Oh, and I have decided that I like vegetable spaghetti better then meated spaghetti. I like it with zucchini in it. Yum yum yum.

And one more last thing: this bridge in Dubai is going to be neat. Sorry for the vast number of photos. They are all stuck together and I don't feel like editing them. I really only wanted the top one. Oh well.

So I was sitting in my 2 o'clock class and listening to the professor lecture about boolean algebra and exclusive or and nor and nand gates. It was all nice and exciting, but I kept thinking about how I was going to miss that dress rehearsal because of this stupid meeting on Friday morning that I had to stay in College Park for. It was really bothering me because it made me sad and I know it was disappointing to Jared. So about half way through class the idea pops into my head, hey, why don't you drive home tonight, pick up Jared in Centerville and then the ride isn't as boring and go to his play tonight. So I called my dependable mother; I always call her in matters such as coming home because she always says yes. ha. So that is what I did. I went home for the dress rehearsal; no change of clothes or anything. Just me and a few schoolbooks and a box of frosted mini wheats.

* I left school at 3:20 pm.
* Picked Jared up at 4:30 pm at the Queenstown Outlets (where he gave me a dark chocolate Harry and Dave's chocolate bar... oh yum!!).
* Dropped Jared off at 5:40 pm.
* Got home at 6 pm.
* Ate dinner and talked to my family until 7:15 pm.
* Left for the play at 7:30 pm.
* Watched the play from 8 - 10:15 pm.
* Got home again and did my homework from 10:30 - 12:30 am.
* Went to bed at 1 am.
* My alarm went off at 5:45 am.
* Took a shower until 6:00 am.
* I arrived at Chicken Man to meet Jared at 6:30 am.
* He arrived at 6:40 am.
* I dropped him off in Centerville at 7:50 am.
* Parked in College Park at 8:50 am.
* Went to my meeting from 9:00 - 11:40 am.
* Drove to the Howards packed my bags for the weekend.

I have class now and then I am leaving for home again at 3 pm. So that was my last 24 hours. How were yours? Oh, and Charlie's Aunt is hilarious!! Matt is the strangest, but yet funniest old woman you will see in a long while. Buy your tickets today and go see the show. It is worth the drive. Of course when part of the drive is with someone you really like, then it makes it all the better. It was so much easier getting up this morning really early and with no sleep knowing that I was going to see Jared in a few minutes!

And I am having Chipotle for lunch today!! What a great day. You can't get much better then Chipotle, home, Jared, my family, and Charlie's Aunt all in one day.

Just in case you weren't planning on coming to Charlie's Aunt... This picture alone should make you want to come. I found this online today. :D I laughed outloud. This is amazing!

And if Matt in a dress isn't enough for some of you... Jared is wearing a tux! And boy does he look incredibly handsome!! However, in honor of Valentine's Day, let me declare that he is all mine and you all can't have him. And I can say that today because I can be all sappy on valentine's day. :D Too bad I haven't spent any of our three valentine's days together. Poor Jared. Someday maybe... ANYHOW, GO SEE THE PLAY!! It will be amazing.

New travel destination thanks to the grandihowards - The Canadian Rockies, especially Banff and Jasper. Man, oh man. They showed me photos tonight from their trip. AMAZING! The water is turquoise and the mountains are amazing and there are all these waterfalls everywhere. Isn't it wonderful how God created the world in so many different forms and colors? They were showing me pictures and I couldn't believe some of them were real. It is incredible. I just need to get my passport now so I can start traveling to some of these wonderful places.

This is the first picture that I found. There are better ones. The Howards have better ones. But I have homework to finish so I grabbed this one.

For Mrs. Huntington:

I found these on Washington Post's website.
Annie and Anna could come up some time and take pictures of it, but they probably find trees pretty boring. heh.

Grandipop is in the middle of this photo. Doesn't he have a great smile? I love that face. He is great. It is a whole lot of fun living with the Howards. Oh and that reminds me, I need to pick him up a copy of the diamondback so he can do the crossword puzzle. I always almost forget and have to walk back to engineering and get him one. heh. Anyhow, I included this picture because I love when Joe laughs like this and you all need to experience it sometime. :D

So, say you have class at 2 on Fridays. Also, say that one of your good friends has had a rough work week and has been sick and not feeling so great. Now say he is working in Centreville, Md (no, not CentERville, Md because that is near Rockville Md and is much closer to me). You google or mapquest or yahoo map the trip and it is only 1 hour and 11 minutes. Next you think about how much you hate driving. But you decide that when you wake up on Friday morning you are going to drive down and surprise this friend and eat lunch with him at 11:30. Then when you wake up it is raining, but not really that hard, so you decide to make the trip. The way down is pretty nice, just a little misty, but the way back is awful and it starts pouring and is windy. Would you still take the trip? Was I crazy to take this trip down to Centreville? heh.

I don't really think so. You only live once.

I think I would have regretted not going more than going. :) Plus, it only took an hour to get down there on the way down and it was an hour and fifteen minutes on the way back. I got back to campus at 1:40 and walked right to class with about five minutes to spare. It was kinda funny, all the accidents were on the opposite side of the road both coming and going. It was nice. I would have been in so much trouble if the accidents had happened on my side of travel.

And another thing, there is just something about coming over that bay bridge that just says HOME to me. It is a great feeling to be on the Eastern Shore. Oh and the lady at the bridge was so nice on Friday. She was actually friendly and nice (which is funny because it was all rainy and nasty outside, you'd think she'd be even grumpier than normal). Anyhow, it was a nice trip. I encourage you to do things out of the ordinary sometimes. I like adventures. It adds a little fun to life.

So I've decided that I feel sorry for people that live in dorms during college and not with great people like the Howards. Not only do they cook me meal and clean the house and buy me stuff, but they also take me really interesting places and introduce me to many neat friends of theirs, who all have very interesting stories to tell.

Today, I came home from church around 12 and Joe tells me to get ready because we are going to see the biggest White Oak in Maryland and that it is on the farm of one of his friends. So I jump in the car with Pamala, Joe, little Joe, Jasper, and Mary and we all head up to the Rockvilleish area. I am not quite sure where we ended up, we headed up 270 for a while and then ended up in the most lovely place with rolling hills and driving through small little towns with cute little general stores. We passed a lot of big farms and houses and gorgeous houses. And we came to this HUGE farm that is across the road from this mountain called Sugarloaf Mountain. The land is beautiful!! I love rolling hills and trees!!! They are so amazing. Well, anyhow, this farm is huge and amazing as well. It used to be a dairy farm and now is an orchard and a farmhouse (with a wrap around porch (I dream that someday I will own a house with a wrap around porch, or at least a pretty decent size porch in the front of the house...it is a nice dream. I also dream I live on a farm like this that tucked away in a bunch of rolling hills and ponds and trees)).

We walked down a big hill and over some water and around a few fields (where on a few other hills this man has built two guest houses for his kids when they come to stay with him - beautiful). And around into this open area with this big White Oak tree with two chairs under it and a lovely view. Man, it is was so nice. It was like one of those settings that you read about in a book where the main character goes to read or think. It was great. I can't even describe it.

So this man and his wife own this farm. He grew up in Harlem after his parents moved here from Italy (so yes, he has major personal space issues and since he went to College park, he adored me and hung on my arm and got really closed to my face and talked to me a lot). So his mom always wanted to live in the country, but she ended up dying in Harlem and never got to move to the country. So this guy got in to construction and earned a bit of money and ended up buying this farm and he named it Stella's Dream (after his mother). He was the funniest little old man. He loved to talk and he greets you with a giant hug and a kiss. It was a very entertaining day. His wife was very sweet as well. She was really laid back and nice.

So this had been family week at the Howards. I normally see a few family members here or there and not very many of them. The Howards are normally going places and visiting people. Well, in the first week that I have been here I have seen a member of every family's but the Cambridge Howards. Pamela and her two boys have been staying here all weekend (and boy is Jasper a handful). Yesterday Melinda and Kevin came for lunch. Today Vernon and Emily and their two boys came with two of Michaels boys. And tonight David is coming over for the super bowl. So Kate and Damien, you all should stop by and make my week complete (although I saw you last Sunday.... so I can just say in the last eight days instead of the last week).

So yes, I feel sorry for people that live in dorms and eat dinner food. I meet the neatest people and eat the most interesting foods. Yesterday I got to try this Greek dish and a few days ago it was Ethiopian food. And the new intern (who lives in the basement) is a vegetarian, so Joe keeps making fun of me for not eating my salads, but I tell him that John can eat them all now because he likes that sort of stuff. ha ha. Life is always an adventure around here. I am really going to miss this place when I leave. It has been a fun two years. :)

Oh and Mom and Dad, you have to come see this tree sometime this semester. Joe really wants you to. So plan to come up one of these Saturdays, please.