You win, Pam

I always get so depressed when my friends/family don’t blog as often as I think they should… so I guess I should do the same.

I’ve been officially on summer vacation for roughly 33 days now. And I love it SO much. But I do miss these sweet little children, and am looking forward to starting again in a couple months.

(Don’t forget to check out my First Grade Blog for some of our end of the year activities/pictures. We had a great time!)

Instead of packing up right away and heading north, I stayed in Idaho for a bit to attend a training my school district paid me for. It was well worth the money, but maybe not so much my time. I packed up my apartment and moved it all into storage for the summer. I’m looking forward to a new apartment and a fresh start when I move back.

I drove up to Canada for the summer again. It’s a lot nicer this time, since I don’t have a massive paper to write, although I still have a Canadian History class to finish. I wish that I cared/was interested in it even just a little bit, but I hate it so much. I can’t wait for it to be over.

As far as summer plans go, we have a family camping trip coming up in a couple weeks and then I’ve got a trip to visit each of my brothers and their families planned. First a visit with Warren in Olds, Jordan in Toronto, and then Ryan in Calgary. When I get back from all that travelling, I’ll only have about a week left before I head back down to Idaho. This summer is going to go by way too fast!

I’ll blog again soon when I have something more interesting/more creative/less boring to post about.

Happy Summer! :)

the end

It's finally over. 

I finished two years of work in November, but finally got to celebrate this weekend.  We had a ceremony on Friday night for just the Master and Doctorate students.  We were all "hooded" and given a little apple present.  Master's got a golden apple bell.  Very nice.  On Saturday I got to the arena at 9:00, and about 5 minutes later the fire alarm went off and we were all evacuated.  We were so lucky to be able to spend 20 minutes outside in the pouring rain.  Good thing I didn't spend time curling my hair in the morning... 

The ceremony itself was pretty boring, aside from the fact that they gave Jakob Dylan (Bob Dylan's son) an honorary doctorate.  That was kind of weird.  He performed a song for us, which was kind of cool, I guess.  The rest was long.  ISU only holds graduation once a year, so there were a lot of graduates to go through.  It took about two and a half hours for everyone to walk across the stage.  Right after the ceremony, they had a lovely luncheon for us and then we went back to Rexburg. 

It was a really nice weekend.  I'm glad my parents could be here to celebrate with me.  They have been so supportive and I am extremely grateful for them.  :) 

being "hooded"

 the beautiful colors of the master's hood.  much better than the boring, black bachelor's.

 the master's outfit also comes with "bat wings".  lovely. 

Now that it is completely over, I may wait a little while before the next degree.  Ha.  Truthfully, I don't think I would ever get a doctorate unless I was in a position to teach college.  Then I would have to consider it.  But for now, I'm going to enjoy my time doing whatever I want.  It's a good life! 

PS  My school district just decided to unfreeze our pay scale, meaning I WILL get paid more money next year for having a master's.  Woo hoo!! 

Walk Like a Man

Check out my nephew the walker.  So cute.  :) 

Day 31

A picture of yourself. 

THE END of the 31 day challenge.  And it only took me 60 days to do it.  :) 

Day 30

A picture of someone you miss.

Fourteen months ago my dad told me that eventually I would be able to look back on the situation and it wouldn't hurt anymore.  I didn't believe him then, but now I am starting to.  While I do still miss Tyler and feel sad about everything that happened, I finally think I am feeling okay with everything.  I don't have any negative feelings anymore.  Now, I am more in the stage of just missing having a companion and best friend.  It's hard not to have someone there all the time to listen to you and to build you up.  On the other hand, I've learned that I have a lot of people I can turn to and call on when I need to.  There are so many people that I'll forever be grateful for.  :) 

Day 29

A picture that can always make you smile. 

Sweet, sweet kids. 



Day 28

A picture of something you are afraid of. 

I don't have a picture, but I really love inspirational quotes/pictures like this one.  I am so afraid of change.  I have a hard time adjusting to people leaving my life, or having to do something different and difficult.  I tend to just shut down and withdraw when times get hard.  One thing I am trying to work on, is changing my attitude.  I know that a positive attitude makes these situations more bearable.  Although that is very much easier said than done, I'm working on it!  :)  {see the smiley face??}