At Long Last...

Thanks to an incredible outpouring of support from heaven and earth over the past 5 years (much of it in the past 6 months), I have finally graduated!!

Photos from undergrad graduation

I've been waiting to share the news, because it finally became official on my student record last night, as I saw this when I logged in this morning to check my status:

DEGREES AWARDED - BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY           
--------------------------------------------------------------
DEGREE             :  BS                    
DATE RECEIVED      :  Aug 2005              
SCHOOL             :  Family Life           
MAJOR              :  Marriage, Family, & Human
                  Development
HONORS             :  Magna Cum Laude             
HONORS             :  University Honors with Thesis
GPA                :  3.92           
--------------------------------------------------------------
DEGREE             :  MS                    
DATE RECEIVED      :  Dec 2010              
SCHOOL             :  Family Life           
MAJOR              :  Marriage & Family Therapy
GPA                :  3.80            
THESIS             :  The Relation of the Expression of
                  Offense to Forgiving

HOORAY!!! I have finished the race! It has been a long, arduous process. We have moved 7 times since I started my degree, Brian earned 2 Masters degrees himself, and I've had 2 babies. I've had to navigate way too many sticky situations to list here, situations that had me in tears and almost throwing in the towel. Although it has been a character-building, enriching experience overall, if anyone were to ask my advice I'd have to strongly encourage them to finish up the student phase of their life before moving on.

I am deeply appreciative of the privilege of gaining an education; of the opportunity to develop new skills, work ethic, and endurance; of learning to rely on my family and friends for support (especially with childcare); and of working with my amazingly gifted and charitable professor, Dr. Mark Butler.

To sum up my appreciation, I'd like to share with you the Acknowledgments page of my thesis:

I owe my deepest gratitude to numerous associates, friends, and family members who have supported me during my journey as a graduate student. To friends who have cheered me on, prayed for me, and helped with childcare, I thank you for the integral role you have played in my completion of this degree.

To the faculty and secretary of the department of Marriage and Family Therapy, for the forbearance and generosity you have shown me as student on a non-traditional trajectory. I thank you for continually extending the opportunity to complete my work.

To Dr. Mark Butler, for ceaseless support and encouragement over the past eight years as I have worked as your teaching assistant and graduate student. The absolute positive regard and faith that you have always conveyed to me as a scholar, clinician, and associate have been central to my progress. I am humbled and forever changed as a person because of the privilege of working under your guidance.

I also express my profound appreciation to my family for their understanding and zealous support. To my loving mother and father whose enthusiasm for my education has been inspiring and contagious. To my dear eternal companion Brian, for your confidence in my abilities and tolerance for the imbalance in our lives over the past few months, and to my precious sons Felix and Ezra for your sweet temperaments and unconditional love. You, family, are my deepest source of joy, and the inspiration for my efforts to meaningfully contribute to this field.

Finally, I am everlastingly indebted to my Father in Heaven for the opportunity He has given me to grow in light and truth, and for the privilege of taking part in a small portion of His work by strengthening marriages and families.

:)

Busy, Odd Day. Or, The Little Car that Couldn't

I could tell last night when I was folding this week's laundry that I had had a pretty easy week: the only clothes that came through of mine were 3 pairs of pj pants, 3 sweatshirts, and 3 pairs of fuzzy socks. And that's pretty much an accurate snapshot of what I looked like M-Th.

So today is Supermom day: I started off with my first ever yoga class at General Mills at 7am. I am totally converted. I already am totally in love with yoga! Since it wasn't a beginner's class, I was worried I would feel weak and inflexible, but I actually didn't feel too out of place. (Guess my daily grind as a mom keeps me in decent shape...) I was even able to do most of the advanced variations of the poses, like the crow pose!

I am really grateful to Brian who's willing to head in a bit later to work on Fridays for the next few months so that I can bring some balance back into my life, now that I'm not running outside regularly. I am looking forward to stretching, toning, and balancing my way to a better life. :)

Later in the morning, the boys and I braved the -20* (yes, NEG 20, eek) weather to head to Ezra's 2-yr well child exam. Another visit that confirmed I'm raising linebackers with big heads: both my boys are in the 75%ile for weight and head, with Felix in the 10%ile for height, and Ezra in the 25%ile for height. (For the record: Felix: 38 lbs, 38" tall, 20.25" head. Stats from 4-yr check-up a month ago. Ezra: 30 lbs, 33.5" tall, 19.5" head).

But hey, they're happy, healthy, intelligent, active linebackers--and they completely win over my heart every single day. Love my boyzzzz. :D

So this is where my day got odd. I drove out of the parking lot, and was about a block down the road when suddenly I heard my car alarm go off. (This is all the more odd because I barely remembered I had a car alarm. The battery died in my remote like 3 years ago, and after trying unsuccessfully to replace it I just took the remote off my keychain and figured anyone who went to the trouble of stealing my car could just have it. It would help me get a minivan sooner, right? Plus, I think the false alarm rate on car alarms is something like 99.97%, so its probably not the biggest deterrent to a would-be criminal. But I digress.)

Anyhow, so all of the lights in and outside of my car start flashing, so I shut my car off when I reach a stop sign. What's going on??! Then my car won't turn back on, and the engine won't even crank! Ahh! Why didn't we renew AAA this year! I'm stranded! I'm going to die in like 15minutes, it's SO STINKIN' COLD OUT!

So after like 10 minutes of panicking, trying to start my car, and trying to answer Felix's questions without showing my frustration, I finally remember to take a deep breath and say a prayer. I'm at a fairly busy four-way stop, and I'm getting a little annoyed by the dirty looks from other drivers who I guess assume I'm doing this on purpose?! (But it made me think that I'm often guilty too of not having as much empathy as I should for people who I perceive as being "in my way"...)

So just then this kind man and woman pull up and offer to help me push my car around the corner onto the less-busy road. After trying to figure out what to do next, they notice I have two little guys in the backseat, who are now crying because of the cold. They offer to drive me somewhere to call for a tow truck or ride, and then they offer to drive me home if its anywhere nearby. So, generally I wouldn't accept offers like that from total strangers, but... they were an answer to prayer, it was abominably cold out, I got the "trustworthy" vibe from them, and did I mention we opted out of AAA for the first time in our married life? So I didn't really know who to call anyhow.

So Mr. & Ms. Good Samaritan drove us home, and I was so grateful for it!

After getting home, I remembered that I was going to stop at the store and pick up some staples we were out of. So I decided instead to make a batch of whole wheat bread and 2 doz whole wheat tortillas. Now if I only had a cow, some chickens, and an orchard and vegetable garden that produced throughout the winter, I'd be set.

So, the icing on the cake of this busy, odd day is that tonight Brian and I have an appointment with someone that has to do with something I've been excited about for a little while now, but that I'll have to post about later.

How's that for a mind-boggling cliffhanger?

Admission of Guilt

Absentee blogger.

Guilty as charged.

My reason? We lost our camera back in... September? And we still haven't bought a new one. I have no idea why really. Actually, that's not true, I know exactly why. We get paralyzed when a decision involves both money and consumer products with lots of choices. We are perfectionists who are utterly terrified of buyer's remorse, and of not getting the absolute best thing at the absolute best price. So we just put off making purchases for a long, long time. We have a long history of it. That's another blog post altogether though.

But a camera is a necessity, and I feel horrible about not having taken pictures of anything in our lives for the past 4 months. That's ridiculous. Plus there's the secondary effect of not having done as much, because we don't have a need to do something to take pictures of. You know?

You know?

No, you all aren't incapacitated by such trivial matters. And I, too, need to overcome my fears and apathy and jump back on the photo-snapping, mommy-blogging train.

All ABOARD!!!!!!!!


Wow, Laura. Just wow.