The Ragas Report

Our big move: Day 1

Founders Hill had, maybe for the first time, a very large semi-truck travel down its tree lined road: our moving van! Our very nice mover/driver, Bob and his helper, Jimmy, came bright and early Thursday morning and loaded all our worldly goods. They are probably somewhere between Georgia and Illinois right about now.

As for the Ragas' clan: Matt, Clark and I set out this morning for the Windy City. We've made our first overnight stop (in Marietta, Georgia) right on time. Atlanta traffic stinks, btw! I'm getting a quick blog post out and heading to bed. Moving is exhausting!

Filed under // Big Move Gainesville

Posted by Traci Ragas

It's official!

Today was the big day! Three years (really 32 years) of hard work and Matt is now Matthew W. Ragas, Ph.D.

I couldn't be prouder! I love you, Dr. Ragas!

Filed under // Gainesville UF

Posted by Traci Ragas

Farewells...

The girls held a going away dinner for us last Wednesday night. Some secret planning happened behind the scenes right in front of my eyes, but it was all brought to life through a number of funny gifts. To try and explain them would be a little hard, but let's just say, they included a Tinkerbell doll (for my belief in the Tinkerbell effect), a promise ring (from my work wife), and a lot of laughs! Plus a beautiful cake, from Gainesville's best cake designer!

The weekend before, Matt and I also enjoyed a nice night with the Neely family. Jeff and Kendall made us an amazing dinner (steak, potatoes, and salad - this Irish girl's favorite supper). We had a little cheating (Traci) over a competitive game of Trivial Pursuit - girls vs. boys.

We had a great time at both of these dinners and will truly going miss the friends we made here in Gainesville!

Filed under // Gainesville

Posted by Traci Ragas

College Awards Banquet

Here are some pictures we took before - and at - the UF College of Journalism and Communications annual awards banquet this past week. We have less than a month left here in Gainesville before the big move. Graduation finally feels like it is right around the corner. Now if only the pollen would clear out of here, we could enjoy our last few weekends here in Gainesville a little more!

Filed under // Gainesville UF

Posted by Matt Ragas

Getting closer to graduation...

Last Tuesday we enjoyed a celebration lunch at the Paramount Grill after my dissertation defense.

Filed under // Gainesville UF

Posted by Matt Ragas

Albert and Traci

At a work event, this past weekend, I was able to knock one more thing off my To Do While We Live in Gainesville list:

Meet and a get a picture with the UF Mascot Albert!

Filed under // Gainesville UF

Posted by Traci Ragas

Our Last Gators Game

We've been meaning to post these. Probably our last Gator sporting event before the big move. We caught the Gators-Vandy game two weeks ago at the O'Dome. They didn't pull this one out, but they still squeezed into the tournament.

Filed under // Gainesville UF

Posted by Matt Ragas

Dudley Farm Donkey

We visited Dudley Farm today. Dudley Farm highlights the evolution of Florida farming from the 1850s to the mid-1940s. It is still a working farm, with originally restored buildings, and staff that still raise crops and tend to livestock. It is located just off Newberry Road in Alachua County (and not too far from our house). It always amazes us how rural things are just a few miles outside of Gainesville.

We’ve wanted to visit since we’ve lived here. The weather today was perfect (in the 60’s) and not a cloud in the sky. It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day.

The first set of pictures is with Dudley the Donkey. He was the star of our visit and we spent a majority of our time with him. Donkeys are stubborn as they say, but he came over to us eventually and even let us pet him. Then he stayed forever and looked disappointed when we left.

All in all a wonderful day! This marked off our third Florida State Park visit in Alachua County, only Paynes Prairie is left on our list.