Realizations Become Resolutions

My life in the last few weeks have been riddled with realizations both good and bad. I want to share these with you and put forth a couple that I want to turn into resolutions. They are in no particular order (of time or importance) and I hope you'll bear with me as I ramble and try to get my thoughts onto "paper."

I have a wonderful family. I have seen so much love and support from my family that I can't even begin to list it all. A few examples include:

• My parents willing to look after my children week after week while I attend classes.
• My children crying/calling me in the middle of the night showing me how much they need my love and support.
• My sister and her kids willing to look after my children when my parents can't or when I need time alone or with my husband.
• My sister sending me a note telling me how much I help her when she's the one helping me.
• My mother-in-law calling to see how things are going and invite us over for dinner.
• My husband getting up when he doesn't sleep well just so I can sleep in on a Saturday.
• My father-in-law sending small notes in response to these blog posts to let us know he loves us and thinks of us.

I have wonderful friends. Following closely behind my family in the love and support department are the friends I've found (or have found me). One prime example is the friend who, before any offer of returning the favor or compensation, agreed whole-heartedly to watching the kids the once a month my parents aren't able to. Another is the friend who bugs me about going to volleyball. She claims it's because she needs to go, but I'm sure she's just giving me an excuse since it's really me that needs the exercise (she's on her feet a lot at work). :)

I spend WAY too much time online... specifically on Facebook. This one has been a while in coming. A few weeks ago our Bishop (the religious leader of our local congregation) passed along a lesson regarding spending too much wasted time in the clutches of technology. This lesson gave me pause, but I kept telling myself I was okay and that I just needed to cut back a little. Then came the realization that as much as my computer was on, it had been a few weeks since I'd last even glanced at any of the blogs from family and friends that I'd followed so faithfully and even longer since I'd updated my own since I'd been doing mini-blogging on Facebook. I'd partially admitted it to myself (and my sister) the other day when I told her I needed to unplug my network card to force myself to study for my CS 149 exam (can't study without the computer, but the temptation of getting online was... great). The hammer fell today as I read of a dear friend (my niece) who had gone cold-turkey on Facebook as part of an effort to get her life back under control (though there is really no such thing as control in our own lives since all we can do is take one day at a time, handle what we can, and leave to Christ those things we can't). I resolve to spend a lot less time wasting away on Facebook. I won't be off completely, but I'm going to limit the time I spend on there and try hard to ignore the hydras that get away, the mice that do or do not steal my cheese, the treasure that is hidden in the swamp, and the orders piling up in my cafe.

I'm smart. I have yet to determine if this is a good realization or a bad one. It's good because it means that I can usually grasp concepts pretty quickly and do well in my studies. It's good because it means that I can apply my intelligence in ways that will benefit my family, friends, and others that I love. It's not so good because it means that I don't have to work as hard to learn things so my study habits are appalling and it's easy for me to justify wasting time since I don't have to spend as much time studying... which eventually leads to other duties around the house being neglected as well. It's also bad because Dan is smart and our genes have combined to give us VERY smart kids.... sigh.

Budgetting is hard. With the recent remodel of our bathroom, our savings have disappeared and between Christmas and other "necessities" we're realizing how far we've strayed from our budget. This is less of a realiztion and more of a resolution to get back on track. I'm terrible at the couponing that my nieces do so well so I'll have to rely on self-discipline to try and get us through.

I think the time I've spent on this has just about used up my online time, but I think it was worth it. Even if the only person who reads this is myself. Sometimes it requires taking it out of our heads and putting it in "writing" to admit things. And having resolutions on "paper" helps you to set goals and succeed.

HUGS to all of you who've gotten this far. Know that I love you for your support (even if it's just "listening" to me).

Happy New Year You!

December 2009

There are so many things going on that it's hard to put it all down in words. It's been a while since I've updated you on my school stuff so I'll start there. I'll then fill you in on the rest of the family.

This past term at CNM was the heaviest term I've had yet. I had four classes which were all in the class room. (The details can be found in a previous blog posting.) Well those classes all ran through the 10th with finals for two of the classes the following week. So as of last Thursday, I am done with Fall 2009. Grades have been posted and I managed to get a 4.0 GPA which puts my cumulative GPA at 3.96. I'm relieved.

Registering for Spring 2010 at CNM was a bit of a hassle. My father and step-mother have been wonderful about watching the kids while I've been at school, but their schedules only allow for certain class times. The classes I need to take in order to get into Anderson School of Management (ASM) refused to line up with that schedule. What does this mean? Of the four classes I'm taking, three of them are online classes (Microeconomics, Logic and Critical Thinking, and Intro to Socialogy), and the one class I'm taking face to face (Intro to Anthropology) is during a time that I will need to find alternative child care once a month or miss that class period entirely. I am registered, however, and anxious to get started on January 12th. Well... mostly I'm just anxious to get it over with since all of these classes are for requirements and not for personal interest. On a side note, I've recently found out that one of the classes (Logic and Critical Thinking) is not required as I have already fulfilled the requirement with a transferred credit, so I have the option to drop it or change it to something else if I so choose. I haven't yet decided what I want to do.

In addition, I've been working on getting myself admitted to UNM so that I can work on a bachelor's degree. One of the requirements for admission to ASM at UNM is a computer science class that focuses on learning the Microsoft Office software in relation to business. While I've taken this class before it was almost 10 years ago and no longer counts towards admission. I'm left with the choice of taking it again or taking a waiver exam. The difficulty lies in the fact that if I fail the waiver exam I must take the class. Since I want to try to start Anderson in the Fall that means I have to take the exam with enough time to take the class if needed. This one test is the reason why I've been working on getting myself admitted to UNM for Spring 2010. Finally after admission paperwork, changing admission semester, meeting with advisors, an orientation meeting, meeting with yet another advisor, and pulling my hair out over what other classes do and do not apply (see above paragraph), I'm registered to take the waiver exam on January 12th. Wait.... but that's the day I start Spring term for CNM!!! And, wouldn't you know it, it just happens to end at the exact time my only face-to-face class begins.... sigh.

So three weeks between terms and I'll be using it to study for the waiver exam. Thank heavens Dan has time off between Christmas and New Years. Which brings me to the next subject. Christmas is this Friday. It's been fun having a big kid for a husband who loves the excitement of gift giving, but it's been even more fun having two smaller kids who are starting to understand a little more about Christmas (or at least understand the anticipation). I'll have to post pictures on Saturday. (Someone email me to remind me.) Schooling has made it a little hard to get some of the things done that I would have liked to get ready (baking, putting up lights and decorations, etc), but we have a tree up and decorated and we cut some snowflakes to tape in the window so I'm happy. And almost every day we watch one or another of the Christmas movies we own. Last night we had a Christmas themed dinner at my parent's house. It was a lot of fun having so much family, that I don't get to see on a regular basis, together. I think this year will be great :)

"But I want pictures now!!"

Fine, but they're not the pictures you're expecting. We  recently spotted a hole in our bathroom wall. Water damage was the last thing we could afford, but it coincided with a bathroom project we've been talking about so we decided to look into it. Dan's physical problems make it hard for him to lift his feet very far off the ground. This makes getting into the tub/shower hard each morning. We had discussed getting rid of the tub (the kids have one in their bathroom so we don't need one in ours) and turning it into just a shower. After having a couple of companies in to bid on the project we decided to go with ReBath of New Mexico because they wouldn't have to jackhammer the drain to move it and could get the project done in only 2 days instead of 2 weeks. The results are amazing. Click here to see the rest of the pictures.

I'm not even sure what else to tell you. Dan's work let go of more people which makes us a little nervous, but he still has a job and now has the ability to do work from home if his back makes it necessary. It's so fun to hear some of the things the kids say. They're imaginations are crazy. Just the other day Valerie exclaimed to Gabriel, "I freeze you with hot dogs!" We're still not sure what this means or where it came from, but it's led to some fun conversations in the car as we freeze each other with various food items.

Enough rambling for now. If I think of anything else to add I'll put it in a new post.

Fall Term Update

It's been a while since I've written so I thought I'd fill you all in on what's been going on.

Valerie is showing a very artistic side lately. Just about anything liquid becomes something she can spill, paint, or play with. She loves to sing as well. She'll frequently make up her own songs as we drive along in the car. She also loves animals and babies her stuffed animals while ignoring her baby dolls. Up until recently we've managed to avoid the princess stage, but when she received a Barbie nightdress as a hand-me-down from a neighbor it quickly became her favorite pajamas and the Barbie and Disney Princess revolution began. She still likes green and blue better than pink, but who knows how long that will last :)

Gabriel is learning fast. While I'm at class he'll work on a Preschool workbook with my dad (or sister depending on who's in town). He's fascinated with cars too. It started with the Disney/Pixar movie, but Dan recently found him a Hot Wheels movie and mini-series that he loves as well. He's also into the new Speed Racer cartoon (Valerie likes this one too). He loves to pull out his toy cars, pretend they are characters from the movies, crash them together, and "boom them up." His most recent "boom" came this past Sunday when he jumped onto the couch (as usual), smacked his head into the corner of the end table (not as usual), and put a hole into it (definitely not usual). So Sunday morning was spent in the emergency room. Finally, he's not as fond of vegetables as Valerie is, but he loves apples. My father recently brought some apples back from Dixon and Gabe's been loving it. Even more now that Dan has tried out caramel apples (which wasn't very successful).

Dan has decided to try out a side business. It started as an idea to make custom ball-tops for video game joy-sticks using resin. He's been thinking of ways to expand the resin business into other areas such as beads, models, and other things. He's purchased most of the supplies, but time and health have made it slow going. Hopefully he'll get a chance this weekend to try and get things going. As for work, things have been getting more stressful. He's been given the opportunity to do "billable" work which would bring in extra on his paycheck, but the companies have been so wishy-washy about it, that it's more stress than it may be worth. The added work from recent cutbacks has made things more stressful as well. He's been considering a career / employment change, but that's on hold with the economy as bad as it is.

Three weeks ago I started my third term at CNM. Since I'm working on my UNM pre-requisites, this term is less about accounting and more about general education classes. My schedule is Tues and Thurs from 9am - 1:15pm and Tues from 6:00pm - 8:50pm. The 9am class is the second half of my Accounting 1 class and I'm still up in the air about whether I like it or not. The teacher has been teaching for a while, but in some ways it seems like he's trying out new things on us and isn't sure of how it should all work. My 10:30am class is my Technical Writing english class which focuses on writing in the workplace. I'm beginning to wish I'd taken this class online as the teacher spends most of the class going over the book practically point by point which I could have easily accomplished on my own. In her defense, it is a new book so she's still feeling her way along, but it doesn't stop me from almost falling asleep a few times. At 12pm, I have my Macroeconomics class which I'm really enjoying. I wasn't originally registered in this class, but after looking at Ratemyprofessors.com, I rearranged my classes to try and get into this one (and ended up losing my Sociology class in the process). The teacher makes the subject interesting and helps me understand things very well. When I take Microeconomics next term I intend to try and get the same teacher. My last class is the Tues night Chem Lab. I took Chemistry almost 15 years ago at BYU, but the credit transferred and allowed me to take the lab without having to retake the class. I'm hoping that I'm not shooting myself in the foot with it because it's been so long, but so far I'm doing okay.

Other than classes, I've been recently working on getting the kids (and myself) out and about more. Monday and Wednesday afternoons there's a flexible volleyball game going on at our church that's open to pretty much anyone. Usually there are also enough kids there to keep my kids entertained as well. Occationally the game pauses while tiffs are settled, but for the most part they keep each other occupied. I've actually managed to drop a pant size because of it too :)

Sorry about the length, but I wanted to get you all up to date.

Summer Term Fin

Summer term officially ended on the 9th of August. I sat on pins and needles fully expecting an "A" in one class and either an "A" or "B" in the other. Imagine my surprise when I got the "A" in the one I wasn't sure about and saw a "C" in the other class. In a slight state of panic I emailed my teacher (forgetting to include my full name and the class I was in) begging for an explanation. She gently chided me for the absence of helpful information and then proceeded to tell me that it was a typo and would be corrected within a week. So I managed to finish my online only term with a 4.0 GPA.

Fall term begins August 31st, but things are changing this coming year. So far I've been looking at taking 2-3 classes a term and working towards an associates degree in accounting from CNM. After consideration I've decided it would be better to work towards a bachelor's degree from UNM. What has changed my mind?

1. Accreditation: A bachelor's degree is going to hold more weight in a business field that doesn't require any specific sort of certification (which is true of bookkeeping and basic accounting). In addition, a degree from a 4-year university will also hold more weight than one from a 2-year community college.
2. Time: At the end of June we had the wonderful opportunity of spending several days in Angel Fire, NM with my father, siblings, and their kids. Upon returning to work on the first Monday in July, Dan found that his company had had another round of lay-offs despite their assurances that the lay-offs in February were to prevent any need for any more. These new lay-offs have added to the work load of surviving employees. This combined with the possibility of additional lay-offs has made work very stressful for Dan. With this in mind I've stepped up my education to try and get my business together sooner. With that in mind I'll be taking a full load each term until graduation. This term is 13 credit hours split between 5 classes both in the classroom and online.
3. Money: While I have help with paying for school. I was looking for additional help through financial aid. Joy of joys I found that I not only qualified for financial aid, but it would cover more than just school costs which would help with financial stress here at home. Then the bombshell hit. Financial aid holds certain requirements beyond financial needs. I expected the GPA requirements. What I hadn't anticipated was that you also have to complete your degree within a certain time frame and since I'd attended courses several years ago all the credits I had (even though they weren't towards my degree) counted towards this "Maximum Time Frame." The financial aid and scholarships I was looking forward to helping me out went "POOF" on the 14th. If my research is correct, however, financial aid will once again be available to me once I enter Anderson School of Management at UNM because it's considered a graduate program even though I'm working towards a bachelor's degree. I haven't confirmed this, but I'm really hoping I'm right and I feel that it's the best course for me even if I'm wrong.

So what does this change? First of all, as I mentioned in #2, I'm going to be taking a full load starting this term. Second, since I'm working towards getting into Anderson, I need to fulfill certain requirements which means that the accounting classes will be taking a back seat to the general education classes I'm missing. I'm still taking Accounting 1B because it's the second half of a class I took in the spring, but the rest of my courses are Sociology, Economics, Chemistry, and English. My spring 2010 term will be similar, with the summer 2010 term dedicated to finishing off the accounting and business classes I'm able to transfer over. I have to be careful which classes I take because UNM will only transfer certain classes which is why I can't just take all the classes towards the associates degree and expect them to count.

So that's my school update in a rather large nutshell. I'll continue to post changes as things progress.

Garden to Life (Lesson #6)

Just like the soil, you only have so many resources to offer the things in your life. When your life gets crowded you need to thin things out (even the good things) so that the other things can grow to their best potential and you don't deplete yourself. And don't forget to enjoy the fruits of the labors you've thinned.

Garden to Life

Things I've Learned About Life From My Dad's and My Own Garden

1. With patience and work, it can produce great things.



2. If you don't give it attention it can wither and and die.



3. It's exciting to watch it grow and change.




You have to get rid of the weeds no matter how pretty they are.



Don't let it go to waste. Share whatever you don't use.

Mistborn Minis Contest

For those of you who love the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, BCSReview has a contest going on to win minis by Garden Ninja Stuidos. Check it out here: BCSReview Contest