Awards and such...

When I first returned to school I was rather spastic about doing well.  Imagine my surprise when just a few days into the second semester I received in the mail a certificate telling me I was on the Presidents list.  I was so proud and amazed.  I now have 2 Presidents list certificates and now with the one I received today, 3 Deans list certificates (1 semester I didn't get either).  Somehow they don't seem to mean as much to me as they did at first.  As I sat here and pondered this attitude, I wondered if it was because I now expect 1 or the other each semester?  My conclusion is that while it is really cool that I made the Deans list, I am much more confident in my performance academically than I was at first, so I do not really need a piece of paper validating said performance.  Instead, I take joy in knowing that I have done my best and the certificate is just a perk.  

I think my goals are somewhat different than when I started.  At first it was all about finishing what I began 30 years ago, perhaps even to make my mom, husband and children proud of me.  Now it is more...I love what I am learning and I can't wait to get out there and do a good job--perhaps put some away for the future.  We used all of our future savings taking care of Marshall and Ethel.  Now Bill is again looking for work.  I know the Lord has something for us and I am practicing patience waiting on the Lord, while doing everything I can to make good things happen.  It is going to be great, not because of some certificate, but because Heavenly Father blesses us for serving him faithfully!

Triumphs and Challenges

The rush of school always surprises me.  I think "wow, I can keep up with everything and still blog" and then I find months have gone by since my last post.  This past semester was really hard as I struggled with Spanish, or rather a Spanish teacher who was from Spain and spoke very little English and therefore taught all in Spanish.  Note:  talking louder does not help people understand words in another language.  It took a lot of work, but I did manage a B in that class.  In my other 4 classes, I got all A's.  All in all it was a good semester.  The fun part was having Jessica and Matt on campus with me and seeing them throughout the day.  Weird, but really fun!

I was able to knit several things for Christmas, however the best thing I did was finally finish Matt's Stained Glass Afghan.  When he was 4 years old, I took him to a stained glass exhibit.  After returning home, he drew a picture of a stained glass window and asked me to make it for him in an afghan.  I began it soon after that.  Then we moved x5 where it lived in a basket in a box.  Well this past year I have worked on it when he was at work and here it is....
First as parts:

 Then together:

And then wrapped around my son.  

He was most surprised!  

We have several challenges right now, so it is nice to remember several of our successes.  As to the challenges, Bill's job ended when his story closed at the beginning of November, and then Bill was VERY sick for a good chunk of December.  Most of the family has had very bad colds, however we are starting to get better.  As the new year approaches we have great faith that things will get better.