Indiana....Fin

Although I have spoken to most of those who keep up with this blog, I thought I would go ahead and make my final post on here as a student. For the record, I successfully defended my dissertation last Thursday. Apart from a few of my friends (jokingly) calling me "Doctor Bice" (which is VERY surreal, when you realize that it's suddenly true) not much is different; I'm still in a big hurry to get back to Erin and the girls, and I probbaly won't relax much until I do. As of right now, the dissertation is printed out and awaiting binding at the copiers tomorrow morning. My deposit appointment is scheduled for Thursday morning, which means that after that's done and I get the van loaded, Dad and I will be hitting the road for Houston and I will finally be saying "Sayonara" to West Lafayette.

The good news is that there will be no more of these dissertation updates, and Erin and I can get back to using this blog for what we started it for: posting pictures of the Bicelings. Erin has been keeping me informed of all the kid-related developments and I think I can guarantee plenty of good pictures coming soon (there is a 2nd birthday party scheduled for Madelyn the weekend I get into town).

I'd like to take a moment to thank many of my friends and family who have been tracking Erin, the girls, and myself throughout this process. We appreciate all the support, and we are looking forward to when we can see you all again.

One final thought: I was reminded today by one of my fellow graduate students to inform Erin that she can now be called "Mrs. Dr. Bice". I don't know if anyone actually does that anymore these days, but it probably wouldn't hurt if you called her that the next time you talk to her; she suffered through this process as much as (if not more than) I did, and deserves to have the title with her name.