Back to School!

After much thought, prayer, and general "stewing" about it, I have made the decision to go back to school.  Although I accumulated exactly 100 credit hours while at BYU (more than enough to graduate, given the right combination of classes!), I am not even close to having earned a bachelor's degree in any specific field.  Now if they offered a degree for Everything but Nothing, I might be close to graduation!  

I began college in 1998 and continued until 2002, when I quit unexpectedly due to pregnancy and the challenges that naturally brings.  While at BYU I considered majoring in Music (too expected), Home Economics (too similar to stay-at-home mom), Anthropology (why, I don't know...), English/Journalism (don't like writing that much), Near Eastern Studies (too foreign), Elementary Ed (too generic), and finally I decided on Early Childhood Education.  At the time I really liked the idea of the Music/Elementary Ed double major, but that was a monstrously long and difficult major. Not a chance.

Well, it still is a monstrously long and difficult major, and yet I still like the idea of graduating in both fields!  Yes, I am returning to BYU so that I can earn a degree as an Elementary Education Music Specialist.  I hope to someday use my increased knowledge and credentials not only to teach but also to advocate the importance of music and arts in schools.  My grandmother has been a great example to me of someone who struggles against odds to advocate this great cause.  I would love to be involved in something like that, something bigger than myself.  

Incredulous as it may be, as unachievable as it seems, or as long and hard the road may be, I have come to the decision to go for it!  I hope I can do it!  Hence, I would like to invite any or all of you for your words of encouragement and wishes of perseverance, as I certainly expect to encounter the desire to quit, and the recurring feeling of incompetency!  That said, here goes (well, in January)!

If you would like, you may observe my preliminary audition video to the BYU School of Music!

Halloween Costumes

This year I decided to make Halloween costumes for the kids.  Lanie and Emmy were poodles.  Lanie was light pink with dark pink fur, and Emmy was purple with the same dark pink fur.  Luke wanted to be a character from Imagination Movers (Mover Scott, who sports long hair, a goatee, and goggles - Luke just got the outfit), which is a new show on Playhouse Disney.  I have to say it was fun to do!  

Lukers

Emmie!

Little Lanie Girl

Fall (True) Colors

About a week and a half before General Conference Josh and I decided that it was time to take a family outing up Memory Lane. In this case, up Hobble Creek Canyon, the desination of a rugged campfire & tinfoil dinner date which later became the "proposal" site. We have visited a few times since then, bringing more and more company with us each time we go. This time was the most crowded yet-- Josh, me, Luke, Lanie, and Emilie.

We built our usual campfire, log cabin style, but this year Luke got to light the matches and start the tradition. Soon we were getting out the tinfoil dinners. For Josh and I it was the standard ground beef and veggies (from our home-grown organic garden!), and for Luke, Lanie and Emmie we had top-notch frozen chicken nuggets! I also wrapped up some garlic bread and threw that in the fire too.

While dinner was cooking the kids and I went on a leaf hunt. We hiked down to the stream and up the hill and under the trees (a total of about 50 feet) and found dozens of leaves in every shade of the rainbow you can imagine exept blue. We got out the glue and cardstock and sorted them into color groups, which was lots of fun for Luke and Lanie, but Emmie kept running off to the stream or else was screaming at this point. This nature activity that I hoped would keep the kids engaged and happy for a good long while only lasted about 15-20 minutes. Luckily, pre-cooked chicken nuggets don't take long to heat over a fire!

Well, the experience was clearly going to have to make an early end, and we realized (after too many whines, soaked shoes, and outdoor potty breaks) that an actual camping trip, was not going to happen anytime soon. We managed to get some family pictures in before we left and this was my absolute favorite. It's probably one of the best and most telling pictures I've ever seen! Soon after we were all buckled in and headed for home. It was a typical family bonding fun-filled day!

Blogger Bandwagon

How can I tell if my information exchange skills are eSavvy or eObsolete? I’m referring to having the know-how with all the new technologies for faster, more succinct communication…or not. For the past few years I seemed to think that I was right on track with the rest of the techno-world, given that I was a “Texter”. I still like to roll my eyes at all those old-fashioned people who insist on using that archaic form of communication called “talking”-- well, at least when it is clearly inconvenient!

So how do you think I felt when I learned that the majority of my friends had graduated to the rank of “Blogger”? Here they are, talking and laughing amongst themselves about the latest entry that so-and-so had made about some adorably cute thing her 2 year old had said. And I’m thinking, “Huh? When did everybody jump on to this bandwagon?” Had I been so busy texting (and trying to learn text lingo like IMHO and TTYL) that I let this new trend become a trend without me? It was a heavy blow.

But instead of immediately jumping up on this “Blogger Bandwagon”, I have anxiously stewed over such issues as, “Will my life be remotely interesting to other people?”, and “How am I going to make this cuter than everyone else’s if I don’t even have a clue what I’m doing?”. Therefore, alas, I am resigned. I am compelled to be humble. I never was really eSavvy (what do those e’s and i’s stand for anyway?). I’m probably just an average texter. And I won’t have the cutest, funniest blog in the world. But I must persevere. I must climb onto this bandwagon, no matter how lofty or bumpy the ride, so that I can be numbered among the elite society of “Bloggers”.