we put the aw in awesome

WE PUT THE AW IN AWESOME

Sunday, February 26, 2012

New Post


I'm sorry it's been so long. I seem to have found a few extra things to do with me time lately. I'm sure it's boring to hear what school and work keeps me busy, but for records sake, here it is. I picked up a few extra shifts at the vet clinic because the girl they hired to fill in for me didn't work out. So I work there Thursday and Friday mornings and every other Saturday. This weekend I had the pleasure of "doing kennels" (meaning I feed, water, and exercise the dogs) because the girl that normally does it wanted a break. That was pretty fun. It's actually way easier to do kennels when I'm there by myself and I'm not supposed to answer the phone instead of during normal business hours when I've got all these other things to do. Besides that, my TA job has been quite the handful lately. There have been a few tests for lecture and I am in charge of making the lab practical for the midterm in lab. Since there have been so many tests, I've been having 3 study sessions a week rather than the normal 1 that I usually have. I have enjoyed making the test, but it's a lot of work. Plus, I've made the test fill in the blank, so grading it will take forever. Michael and I just finished up our computer class, thank goodness for block classes! So that lightened the load a little. It's still pretty tough though. We're thinking for next semester we'll both just go part time. That way Michael can keep his full time job throughout the semester and until the next one starts (January) and he'll be able to do well in his 2 classes he takes. I only have to take 8 credits to graduate and would really like to play soccer in Idaho Falls this summer so having less classes would make that possible. I'm still undecided on what to do because I won't have the TA job and my hours will be cut back at the vet clinic because there's another girl there going to school and won't be during the summer. Thankfully, she'll take my shifts while still leaving me a job (every other Saturday). So all around, next semester will be easier. The only reason I would take enough credits to be full time (14) would be to get all my scholarships and grants, which make such a difference to us. We'll see what happens. 
So far, I have A's in all my classes and Michael has A's and 1 B. I think we're doing pretty well for as much as we're doing. Ivan is doing well. He likes all his baby sitters. This week was a little different for him. We were out of school Monday, but I had to work all day. So Ivan saw Amber and Megan for a little bit. Tuesday & Wednesday he was with his regular, Katelyn. Thursday Katelyn had asked for the day off, and since we don't pay her anything, we figured we might as well let her do what she wanted. So Lisa watched Ivan while I was at work. This was the first time she watched him, not because I don't trust her, Ivan just has his regulars already. She had a blast watching him! She has this huge fake mustache that she put on him and took pictures, it's so cute! Then Friday Ivan was with Kristin in the morning and Amber in the afternoon. Yep, that's 5 baby sitters in one week. We've been super blessed this semester to have so many people able and willing to watch Ivan for us. We try to compensate them in whatever ways we can, but for the most part, they don't ask us for anything. Thank you to everyone that watches Ivan! You'll get what you deserve at some point. Wow, that sounded mean, but doing good things gives you blessings!
I have learned a few things about myself this semester. I found that I have an anger issue. Sorry to those of you who know that... I especially noticed that I'm the worst when I'm in class. I only have 15 classmates in my vet tech classes and I've had classes with them for 3 semesters now. There are a few who I have a really hard time getting along with, a few that I don't know very well at all, and a few that are my close friends. Those few that I don't get along with, I really really don't get along with. I like to think that this is for justifiable reasons, but is that good enough to fill my life with dislike and hate and anger because I have a good reason to not like them? Probably not. At least that's what I feel like lately. So in January when I noticed all my bad feelings coming back and I couldn't blame it on pregnancy, I decided to do something about it. I think I'm in better control now, as long as I have something to snack on (that way my mouth is busy enough not to talk) then I'm good. That will probably make me fat at some point, but until I graduate I think I'll be fine. I also take deep breaths and count and I've learned to laugh at a lot of things that would normally make me angry. 
Along with that whole anger thing, I found I'm not very open to closed minded people. Going to a church school you'd expect there isn't much diversity. People choose to come to this school so they can be with like minded people who share their beliefs, values and morals. However, that does not mean that the people here all have to think the exact same way and if you don't think that way then you shouldn't go here. I have a few online classes that require discussion boards on the weekly topics. One class in particular really ticks me off. It's a class directed at difficult moral issues and ethical dilemmas. Things like border issues, in vitro fertilization, and whether a girl should stay with her fiance even though he has an addiction to porn, just to name a few. In our discussion boards, we're supposed to say what we would do in that situation where we had to choose. I am so appalled at how many people are so closed minded and unwilling to give people a chance. I know that we are taught in church that you need to stand up for what you believe in and that you should avoid the appearance of evil, but what happened to being Christ like? What happened to being charitable and willing to help others? In each of these discussion boards I lean more towards what's for the better good of the most people rather than what is the most dangerous situation to put myself in (spiritually dangerous). And every week I get negative feedback on my decisions because people only see one thing, they see someone doing something wrong and you're not supposed to surround yourself with wrong doers. Well, maybe I have a deeper understanding of the gospel and I know what's more important, I know that I have a strong testimony, and I know that helping others is what we are sent here to do. Otherwise, we would be tested without anyone else here. 
Those are just some of the things on my mind lately. Posts will be few and far between for the next couple weeks, at least til April, then I have a week to catch everything back up. Here's some pictures.








P.S. Laura, I didn't copy you, I had no idea Lisa had this mustache, but you are the first person (and Ben) that I thought of when I saw these pictures!