Happy Birthday!

I love you Paul!

This Is What Happy Is

Happy is when this comes in the mail, FINALLY!

She/He/It Lives!

This isn't an exact picture of my car, but it was the best I could find at the moment (i.e. googling). YOU GUYS! My car is RUNNING - do you know the last time that happened? Yep, about 6 months ago. My father-in-law just called my husband and said he finished it today and drove it around and it is running well. I cannot tell you how excited I am. He said he just needs to check the timing and patch up a small oil leak with some cement stuff (car terminology) and it'll be BETTER than it ever has been. I'm worried that I've spoken too soon and will regret it, but I had to take the chance to share my excitement. Yay for awesome fathers-in-law!

That stupid envelope

So I know a bunch of you who read my blog already heard this story today, but I've gotta get it out one more time because I'm hoping that writing it will make me feel better. On Mondays I get to meet with a group of my peers to discuss our internships that we've been placed at for our practicum. During the meeting today, another group member was "multi-tasking" and opening her mail (yes, actual letters), paying bills, etc.. She started to get very excited and said she had opened a letter from the University of Utah; it was an acceptance letter for the Social Work graduate program.

I was pretty sure I didn't want to start grad school this fall and would defer to next year if I got accepted, until I saw her open that envelope. I literally felt sick; I could not (and still cannot) believe how much I wished it were me opening that envelope and finding an acceptance letter inside. I want to have the choice to either start this Fall or defer to next year, but I don't want to have that choice be made for me, which is what will happen if I don't get accepted.

So, I nonchalantly glanced at the envelope (okay, multiple times) and saw that the postmark date on the envelope was January 23rd. I know how the grad school system works, and I know they send the letters to their "first picks" first, give them two weeks to respond, then send letters to the next list of applicants and go on until all the spots are filled. This HAS to mean that I wasn't on that "first picks" list and really, I wish I had never seen that envelope today because I would still be happily content with waiting to just "see what happens."

The anticipation may just kill me!

Lemon Cookies

1 lemon cake mix
1/3 c. real butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. lemon flavoring

Mix ingredients together. Chill dough for at least one hour. Form dough into balls & roll generously in powdered sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

3 Things

I can't seem to remember who I heard this from, but I want to say that it was a teacher I had last semester. He mentioned that every night before he and his wife go to bed, each of them takes a turn to name 3 things they are grateful for. I really loved this idea because I know that sometimes, if I've had a hard day, I tend to focus on all the wrong things rather than the things that went well throughout the day. This is a practice that I feel would really bring perspective at the end of every day, no matter the day's events. I have since tried to make this a routine thing within my own home. In all fairness, Paul & I have only actually made this "3 things" happen a few times since I've heard about it, but I want to make this something that we talk about every single night. Today, I'm grateful for: 1. Family 2. The ability I have to be an influence for good on others' lives 3. My calling in Young Women's.

Weekend Project

After I got home from class on Saturday, my awesome family came over to help me get started on painting. We were able to get the bedroom and bathroom done. I'm hoping to finish the rest of the house soon! We planned to get a little more done than we did, but we had a freakish accident in the bathroom involving a broken water valve and TONS of water spraying all over the WET, freshly painted walls that splattered watered down paint onto the ceiling. Oh, and did I mention the pool of water covering the entire bathroom floor, and me scrambling to get the water off of the floor and into the tub, while trying to use every towel in my house to keep the water from running onto the carpet? All while my Dad and brother tried to get the water to shut off? Ha ha, what a day. Thanks for the help, family! I love the new look.