The Most Wonderful Day of the Year

Yesterday, Bethany's 3rd birthday, was officially the most looked forward to and wonderful day of the year (at least it was in her eyes). I can't believe that she is three already! How did this happen? My dad noticed the other day that it is strange that I will remember the most about Bethany while Bethany will remember the least about me. I remember holding her just minutes after she was born, I remember her first smile, her first word, when she started moving around, when she took her first steps, her first "I love you" and the first time she said my name. That's more than I can say for any of my other siblings and yet, Bethany will likely not remember any of that. It is kind of sad, but since I do remember it so well, I will have some great stories to share with her someday! Like the story of her third birthday.

We've been hearing about it for months. No joke, since September... maybe October at the very latest! It's been a long time! She knew that her birthday was right before Christmas but after we got a tree. And she has been telling everyone, her friends, my friends, relatives, neighbors, people at the store, and everyone in between.

Basically this is what we (and everyone else) has heard for three months:
"My birffday is comin up! YEssss! It IS!! Im gonna be Freeee!(three) YESSSS! I AM!!! I wanna pink pony!!! AND A CAKE! YEsss! I DO! I want a pink pony cake! I love pink..."

Th silly birthday girl didn't go to sleep until close to midnight on the 19th... I think she was excited, just a little bit. I wasn't with her for most of the day, but got home from running errands and babysitting in time for a special dinner, cake, and presents.

I love how enthusiastically she opened her gifts. Every gift was met with an "I LOOOOVE THIS!!!!", a kiss, and a hug (for the gift, not the giver ;) She got a pink sparkly kitty, a pink pony, a princess doll, princess bubbles, a few other pink things, and two peas in a pod... which was BY FAR her favorite gift. It was twin baby dolls in a pea pod. She instantly (like .0000001 seconds after she opened it) yelled, "IT'S HENRY AND OLIVER!!!!"

She carried around all of her gifts in a big pile last night. So cute!! She adores my friends, especially Adela and Hannah. Every time my laptop is open she asks if they're on Skype. So last night they Skyped her for her birthday. She was a little bit distracted but it was the perfect ending to her long awaited day.

Today she has been asking everyone to play with her and each one of us has spent a good deal of time playing with her and her little toys. More sweet memories, even if I'm the only one that will treasure them!

(my pictures are refusing to upload because blogger is being mean...)

Semester 1

The question "So, how's college" has replaced this summer's popular question "Where are you going to school?" Well to answer the new question, college is: time, money, laughter, brain power, pain, success, good experiences, new friends, horrific exams, strange professors and so much more. So it is both good and bad... there are definitely ups and downs to it!

I am a week away from the end of my first semester and still struggling with asking myself what I'm even doing here. I took two general ed classes and two career focused classes. One was an intro to education (teaching) and the other was a photography class. I was pretty sure at the halfway point of this semester that I'd be going into teaching. But as the class has continued I've been more and more uncomfortable with it. I like the teaching aspect of it, but not all the other (mostly legal) stuff that comes along for the ride. And while the photography class was fun and I really got a lot out of it, I still see it as a hobby and not necessarily a potential career for me. However, I'd like to put more time into developing what I've started here and see where it takes me. 

I've now finished three of my four classes for this semester but have decided not to sign up for classes next semester. I'm going to take a break and work full time (time to do a job search!!!) while I consider and pray about what to do next. If I'm going to continue my education I want to have a goal and a set plan. Floating about LCC isn't working. 

Also, stepping back has made me realize that I already have several projects started that need some attention. One of which is my cattle farm. I have eight (soon to be thirteen) Black Angus cows that I need to find a home for... previous arrangements are no longer available and it's time to take the responsibility of caring and providing for my little herd. I'm considering the Beef Management program at MSU but we'll see. It is a huge area where I'm being grown in my faith right now as I have to remember that God's plan for me is better than mine. 

The best parts of this semester was riding with Mo and Nate to LCC every Monday and Wednesday and having lunch with Callie every Wednesday. I'm going to miss the crazy conversations I had with the Dufrins in the car and the obnoxious laugh attacks Callie and I suffered while in the library. I did enjoy my classes for the most part. Especially the in classroom ones (the online ones were super messed up due to LCC's lack of organizational ability), but my favorite part was the real talks and lame jokes that took place between classes and during transportation. I'm gonna miss it.

Adventure is out there...

Laughter is Good Medicine!

This week is going to be rough... 2 tests, 3 finals, and a final photography project are standing between me and Christmas break. So today I armed myself with laughter which, as I recently wrote about in an essay, has actually been proven to have healing abilities. And since I know I'm not the only one with a few stressful weeks ahead of me, I figured I'd share the joy.

Note of caution: You likely will not enjoy these humorous things as much as I did. I tend to find random things abnormally hysterical, but if you snicker or even simply crack a smile, then I have succeeded! 

We'll start off slow with some Pinterest finds that I thought were quite funny...

Went to the moon, took 5 photos. Went to the bathroom, took 37 photos.

So close!

"You know, that doesn't really hurt..."

Oh good! Finally I've found quality, cheap, boneless bananas!"

Some Christmas songs.... do not make me joy filled.

And now we'll move into everyday life with some images that still make me smile.

This is how we warm up our cold laffy taffys during our epic lunches in the car... (or in this case the big blue twelve-passenger van. The mini van was slightly broken and I didn't want to drive it all over the place so last week I picked up Moriah and Nate in the giant van. We barely fit into the parking ramp and Nate was severely mortified and traumatized by the whole experience while Mo and I just laughed ourselves silly at the faces everyone gave us as we drove by.)

While reading her book, Nate realized that when Mo held it just right it looked like she had the face of the author... so great :)

Of course Henry always makes me smile :)

And since our tree is somewhat um... not, its um... well, anyways.... I've adopted the Patterson's tree now. Which is real (Cooper and Jones cut it down themselves) and has beautiful clear lights! :D 

I introduced Colette to the weirdness that is skyping with Adela and Cody. She said afterwards, "They're SO great!" Yes, yes indeed... good times!

For a full out extensive laughing fit, check out Olan Rogers on YouTube... great quotes and epic stories :)

Happy MONDAY! And may final exams not rob you of joy...