We've made it

In exactly 4 days and 22 hrs and 38 min, my Brenton will be receiving his diploma from the Univ. of Maryland. When we moved here 3 yrs ago, I thought this day was forever away, and now that it's this week I realize how fast that time really went.

He's a hard worker you know...The Brenton deserves 2 bachelors, one for his degree and one for getting a degree while being a dad...oh and being HAPPY to do it all! Being a husband/father/student is not easy but there are some benefits:

• You aren't worried about having to make friends at school, because guess what you got a friend waiting at home for you...oh and this friend usually has dinner waiting for you (usually is the key word) does your laundry, AND packs your lunch.
• You don't dare fail a class because that means you just wasted $500+ of YOUR money and then you are going to have to spend that dough all over again because of course you can't graduate without those credits. 
• Your spouse, who is a wee bit better at writing essays than you, is always there to look over your papers and "help"
• Using the phrase "sorry I couldn't come to class yesterday my daughter was sick" is something the teachers are easy to forgive and work around instead of the usual "I was hung over/stayed up too late playing video games" 

Okay sadly those are the only benefits to being a husband/father/student...the rest is all just really really...really really...really hard.

What's next?? Oh well more schooling of course. Off to the Masters program so that we can get that big paycheck...someday..hopefully..if what they said is true...fingers crossed.

Here we are Fall of 2009

This is what 3 years of absolute crazy does to a family...makes them love each other just that much more! 

Congratulations to The Brenton! I can't wait for my next post because it will have pictures with him in a cap and gown! I just gotta go searching for that cowbell so I can ring it so proudly when they call his name!!! 

I'm ALIVE

Testing...testing...can anyone hear me?? Does anyone care anymore? ehh I will try this anyway. Blogging just hasn't been what I could find time/mental capability to do...BUT now things are a-changin' and it's something worth trying to do!

So apparently last post was in November...wow I would like to say that LOTS has changed since then, but really not all that much has changed.

Life has been full of managing schedules. Brenton has been finishing up his last year of his bachelor's degree and when he wasn't working the 2 jobs or going to school he found time to squeeze in an internship. I worked nights and have a church calling (relief society secretary). So we were literally two ships passing in the night...but we made the short time together (literally 10 min on some days) really count.

(translation: I would quickly get out all the honey-do chores I could before he would run to his car and drive off!)

Lena has been such a trooper through our crazy schedules. She has been tortured with lots of cartoons in the morning...or maybe most of the day because mom was too tired, macaroni & cheese or cereal for all meals cause mom was too tired and...wait this sounds pretty good for a 2 yr old. But she did end up going to bed in the same clothes she wore all day (Dad!!) Apparently her clothes looked like they were pajama clothes too, even covered in dinner (DAD!!) But I am sure she didn't even care, we are blessed with such an easy going, moody, I want it my way, yelling at me with hands on the hips, that says things like "Don't hug daddy 'cause it makes me sad" daughter.

We are down to 1 month until graduation!!! I can't describe my happiness. What a great day it's going to be, I just need to find a cowbell to cheer when they call his name! Then Lena turns 3 later that week, there is going to be so much cake..I am stoked!

Ok there you have it we are alive and well..oh and potty trained! 2012 is starting to get really good!

sorry no pics..I'll get some up soon

It's time the truth comes out

I let Lena watch morning cartoons...and on some days it's well past noon before I feel like turning it off because I needed her to be quiet

I have let Lena eat candy during breakfast because 1. I wanted it out of the house faster and 2. she is so tiny that she could use some extra pounds for the winter.

I have put Lena to bed and then after her screaming for a bit I realized she didn't have anything to eat for dinner (one of my proudest moments)

In the middle of "disagreements" with The Brenton I think of snappy things to say and sometimes I say it out loud even before I finish my thought knowing it was mean and unnecessary.

I have gone to bed angry

I have cried myself to sleep

I have cried in the shower so the noise of the water would block the sound

Sometimes I look up at the airplanes flying overhead and wish I was on it flying to my family back out west

I can't take very good pictures, I don't have an eye for anything

I use all purpose flour and cook white rice because I rather it taste better then be healthier.

The only pictures I think I look good in are my wedding pictures, everything else I can and do find a flaw

I am not a creative person, most of my inspiration comes from the internet

I have to stop myself from eating my feelings on an hourly basis

I am my worst enemy

I read other blogs and sometimes feel guilty that I don't have or do what they have or do

But that is no more...

I realized that everyone has problems...EVERYONE. Even those bloggers who have thought of every craft, made every delicious baked good, and done everything that looks to be super awesome...and the more I open up about it the more I find people like me, people who are just trying to do the best they can with the hand they have been dealt.

I am grateful for my problems because according to the things I see on the news...my problems are teenie tiny on the scale of how bad things can get....nano problems if you will.

I have

this

and

this.

I have the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I have faith that with every trial I am being shaped and formed to be something greater than I could ever try to be.

I am Lena's mom and Brenton's wife I am a one of a kind

There is no mold for me to try to fit into.