Chrissy Time

This last semester of school has been really hard for me. I feel as though I have been getting burned out really quickly and I just am kind of done. So I started taking some Chrissy time. It has been the best thing for me. I have gone out and done some therapy sessions with my camera and the editing of photos. I have spent some time out with a horse and agree with Winston Churchill that there is something good about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man. I have also just spent some time with the animals at home. I always feel guilty when the cats have to climb over my computer and textbooks to get the snuggle time they need. I am hoping that once school is over that I will be able to continue my Chrissy time and remember how nice it is to not be running constantly!

Deaf Social Night

I love Deaf Social Nights and our area is really good about having them fairly often. This is such a great way to be involved with the community and to practice my skills. It is so nice to be in a room where I can talk with my hands and not get looked at funny! This particular night we went to a pizza restaurant and I fell in love with their calzones. I had a great time talking with my teacher’s children and meeting my teacher for next semester. It was interesting though because I was signing with a friend and not even really thinking about what I was doing and our conversation didn’t have any tricky signs but suddenly we were stopped by the person next to me and she kept asking what was that sign or what does that mean. It gave me a moment to reflect on how far I have come. I realized that I wasn’t really thinking about handshape or movement but just signing. It was a nice relief to see that I wasn’t a 101 student anymore and though I still am far from perfect that I have come a long way. I also felt really quite honored to be able to answer her questions and know that I had enough knowledge to do so correctly. It was a very fun night!

Signing Event

In my Interpreting class this semester my teacher found an interpreting opportunity for us. She volunteered us to interpret at the Mayoral Debate. This was not met with the enthusiastic response that she was hoping for but more of a panicked “WHAT!” After several weeks of preparation and the details getting scarier and scarier the night of the big event came. It was not nearly as scary as we all thought and all of us survived! It was a really neat experience to see just how far my signing skills have come. I did sign some things wrong and even misunderstood a feed from my teacher. I heard the speaker state that he had “four non-profits” and very clearly signed that statement. My teacher signed me the feed for FORMED and I quickly signed that he had FORMED FOUR NON-PROFITS. Again I was so pleased with myself but she signed the feed for FORMED again and I repeated my statement. Afterwards we discussed this segment and I realized that I had heard the speaker wrong. He didn’t say “four non-profits” but “formed non-profits”. I had to laugh because I was so proud that I had caught that number and that my signing was clear, that I hadn’t a moment to realize that I had totally signed it wrong. Oops! It was a really good night and I felt really proud of my abilities after that. It was really nice to see just how far we had come from the beginning of the semester and to have a reality check on how far we still have to go. I am so grateful that my teacher made us go that night and was able to help us contain our panic attacks. She said that we were worse than her kids and I believe it! It was also really nice to have Marc come support me in this event and he enjoyed the political aspect of it. As we were driving home he was asking me what I thought of each candidate. I realized that though I had signed for the speakers that I had no idea what either of them had really said. It had gone in my ears and out of my hands.

Easter

Easter was really unorthodox and amazing this year. I was so exhausted from my crazy work schedule and school that I didn’t want to celebrate Easter on Easter weekend. Then I found out that Marc had the day off of work and I was starting to feel really selfish in not doing an Easter dinner for a day that we could spend together. Late Saturday night, Marc and I went shopping for our Easter dinner. Let me just admit that I had NO IDEA what I was doing but I figured we have been married for two years and I could be a little bit more domesticated. So we started shopping and I was hoping that I wouldn’t totally butcher Easter dinner. When we started shopping Marc and I kept buying too much food. It started with things like a 5 lb bag of potatoes. Marc and I can’t eat 5 lbs of potatoes but you can’t really buy any less than that. Then it came to eggs and they were on sale and we bought a LOT of eggs. It was things like that just over and over again. I kept feeling really guilty about all this food but I kept justifying that Marc was going to be home and this was our Easter. Anyway, on Easter morning we got up and started our preparations. We had most of our dinner either cooking or started in the crockpot by the time we left for church. When we got to church we discovered that our friends had been so busy with life and such that they had forgotten to make the preparations for an Easter dinner. I knew that we had more than enough and Marc and I quickly schemed to take our dinner over to their house. I was so grateful for how willing and excited Marc was to give away his Easter dinner. I was feeling really guilty that I offered to make it for him and then was giving it away at the first chance I got. But he was all in and was even more excited about the whole thing than I was! Suddenly the ridiculous amount of food that I had cooked seemed too little for this family. However, we threw in things like a green bean casserole and egg salad and prayed that we would have enough food. It was really nice to be able to share our Easter meal with another family and honestly Marc and I were as blessed as this other family. I have decided that this might be my favorite Easter even though I didn’t do a single Easter tradition. Marc and I didn’t dye eggs or have baskets full of candy but we had a TRUE Easter. I feel that through our service and our love of this other family that we were able to remember what Easter really celebrates. Our Savior would have taken the time to take food to someone who needed it or would have wanted us to celebrate in service rather than any other way. This is a tradition that I hope will continue in the future and I hope that next year I will know who is need of our Easter dinner.

Interviews and a Weird Work Schedule

This last week at work has been CRAZY!!!! We have been holding interviews for my old position and a couple of new openings but trying to schedule interviews and keep programming going has been exhausting. I have been so far from my normal schedule that most days I am not sure what time I am supposed to be at work. My Mom always says that she can’t keep my work schedule straight and I can honestly say after these past two weeks that I don’t know if I can either!

Answer to Prayers

As I have said before I have caught the photo bug like the rest of my family. It is ridiculous to watch us go anywhere because we always have at least one camera around. Anyway, we had the opportunity to go horseback riding when Mikkel was here visiting and I took some photos of our friend’s little girl. I did this as a favor to her without her ever asking but the situation with this little girl is complicated and I wanted her to have as many photos of her as she possibly could. So I started taking photos and then when we house sat I put up a collage of photos in her room. It was a really simple thing for me to do and honestly I loved every moment of it but apparently it was an answer to their prayers. It made me think about how much we all need each other and how easy it can be to support others in their times of need. I didn’t do anything more than edit a few photos and it made all the difference to this family. We have had those same type of miracles in our life and it has always been these small and simple things. No matter how silly a prompting may feel, I really hope we can follow through on those things. I know I was inspired to do the photos and I am so grateful that I took a moment to follow through on that prompting.

It’s Official I Am Going to Graduate!

I got the announcement today and after several hard years of work I am finally going to be graduating from NAU. YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not even sure that begins to describe how excited I am to be done. I realize that I am not done with school yet as I have another year before my interpreting certificate will be complete and at least 18 months of my Master’s program before I will be done DONE. Well, at least unless I want to take some photography classes or who knows. I will probably never be done with school at this rate. However, graduating from NAU is a huge milestone in my life. I have fought really hard to come back from the setbacks that happened in 2007 that really could have made me stop trying. My freshman year was really hard and I was cocky and arrogant. I lost my scholarship and had the worst GPA of my life. I have worked over the last years to prove who I am as a student and a person. I am not the same cocky freshman that I was and have come back to prove that I am the person that I have always wanted to be. I am so grateful for those who have stood by me and supported me through this journey. I am grateful for everyone’s patience as I have ignored phone calls and stayed up way too late working on papers or tests. I am grateful for Marc who never complains about my odd hours. I am looking forward to this next chapter of schooling and am so grateful that I will NEVER have to take another humanities class ever again!!!!! Now that alone is reason to celebrate!

Going to Jerusalem

That’s right! I bought my tickets and in a few months I will be in the gorgeous country of Jerusalem. I am so excited to see my kiddos and get to experience the Middle East with my own fabulous tour guide. I am so ecstatic and grateful that Marc is supporting in this endeavor. I wish he could come too but with us not knowing if he will be in the academy or if he will have time off or whatever, we just couldn’t risk it. We will have to go together to Melissa’s next post though! But in the mean time… Jerusalem, you had better watch out!

Housesitting

Marc and I had the opportunity to house-sit for some friends when Mikkel was in town. It was a BIG job and I don’t know if we really qualified for the job looking back. Mikkel and I went out on Friday night to start the house-sitting and found our list of “chores” for the weekend. We started with feeding the animals to find that one of the baby turkeys was dead when we arrived. We fed the goats, pony, rabbits, dogs, cat, chickens, ducks, and turkeys. We let the family know about the dead turkey (which they thought would die and was stated on our list of chores) and then went to bury the poor thing. I was terrified that they would be upset that their animal had died under my care but I had no idea what was coming!!! Marc came over late Friday night when he got off of work and was there to do the Saturday morning feed. On Saturday we started the list of chores again to find that a rabbit had froze to death over night. REALLY!!! I was devastated! By Saturday night we had another turkey die. Let’s just say when the weekend was over I was ready for them to come home because I was tired of burying any more animals and was a little afraid of what would die next! I felt bad because it wasn’t due to ignorance or us not following the instructions or treating the animals badly but they just died. Luckily, our friends still speak to us and we all survived the weekend, well minus a few animals. Oops….

Where Has the Time Gone?

The last few weeks have been an absolute blur! I don’t know where the time has gone and have the time I can’t seem to remember what day of the week it is. There have been several days when I can’t seem to remember that it is Wednesday. I am not sure why that day is harder to remember but I am having a heck of a time with it! But in that blur, I am coming one step closer to actually being a college graduate and one step closer to the craziest summer I will ever have!

I Am No Longer Blonde

I have fought the fact that I have been losing my blonde hair since I was like 15. I keep trying to dye my hair to still be blonde and I finally gave up after my hair became this like weird kind of blond/brown color. I decided that I was going to be a brunette and I am loving it and Marc likes it too. Which is a big plus because he kept telling me he didn’t want me to be a brunette and I finally found out why. I guess growing up he said that would either marry a tall blonde or a short brunette and by dying my hair I became a tall brunette. I told him that I wasn’t not going to dye my hair so that I won’t be a tall brunette and that I thought he would like it and he did! I have never had so many compliments on my hair color and I am glad that I don’t have to fight being blonde anymore! We will see, I will probably change my mind again because my hair is always something that I change my mind about!

Getting Played

Each of our animals has a very distinct personality and that is very true with Kiara. She is a special cat but usually likes to be left alone and hates to be held or touched. Every once in a blue moon she will want to snuggle and we try to accommodate her because she hardly ever wants affection. On Saturday night at 9:01 PM Kiara came to snuggle with me. I laughed because I figured she was trying to tell me that I was past my curfew for doing school and I quickly gave her the love and affection she needed. I then noticed that she kept nuzzling my pocket and I realized that I still had a plastic bag from my outing with Max in my sweatshirt pocket. I took it out for her and she ran away with it. Plastic bags have always been Kiara’s favorite things! I laughed even harder when I realized that I had just been played. The silly cat hadn’t wanted affection or love but had wanted the plastic bag in my pocket. She came back probably 20 minutes later hoping to find another bag and when she didn’t she ran away and I haven’t been able to touch her since. What a dork! But I sure love her!

Lunch Date with Marc

Just about every Saturday I have a lunch date with Marc. Marc is at work almost all day and it is my only chance to see him. It is always fun to spend a meal with him but sometimes I like to make it extra special. On Saturday I surprised Marc with a homemade Mexican Pizza complete with fine china (plastic plates and cups) and punch. I even brought Max because he was dying to get out of the house. It was fun to sit and talk and eat our lunch outside, since it wasn’t too cold, and just enjoy an afternoon together. I love that we still try to make time for each other and this is one of our silly ways to do it.

Losing the Animals

One of the stories that I heard at Women’s Conference was about a mom who rescued her sleeping child from a busy road. The child had wandered away and the mom had found her just in time. I found myself thinking that the mom must have been inattentive or something for this child to be placed in danger but since I didn’t know what had happened I quickly moved on and didn’t think too much about it. After the conference I went to a work meeting and then to home where I was making lunch for Marc and myself. I was in a good mood and dancing, singing, watching tv, goofing off, etc. while I was cooking. I had let the dogs out for a little bit earlier but it was quiet in the house and I figured everyone was sleeping because that is a typical afternoon ritual in our house. My phone rang and I didn’t recognize the number but I answered anyway. The caller told me that they had my dog Max. I figured they had to mistaken since Max was sleeping in the house but was a little confused as they insisted that they had Max at their house. I went to go see and found that the front door to the house and blown open and that not only Max had escaped but that Carmel and Aurora were sitting outside my front door. I about had a heart attack as I tried to figure out what I was going to do to get everyone back inside. Luckily the cats came scurrying back in and I was able to bring Max home without incident. The whole experience was pretty traumatizing to the cats and I don’t think they will try leaving again anytime soon. I quickly recalled my thoughts at Women’s Conference and realized that the woman hadn’t been a bad mom but sometimes weird things happen and accidents occur. I was so grateful that everyone came back home safe and sound and that no one was injured or lost. I was also grateful that we had just updated the dog’s tags and I was able to receive a call quickly and fix the problem. I felt that the Lord was aware of our little family and it meant the world to me that he would care so much about us.

Women’s Conference

Our stake had a women’s conference on Saturday and it was awesome! It was filled with great speakers on uplifting topics and really filled some of the areas that I needed to have filled. It was filled with laughing, crying, thinking, and very good food! I was so glad that I was able to attend and thankful for this service that our stake does.

One of the lines that stuck out to me was a deeper understanding that the Lord makes up our hurts and our pains to us in the end. He knows us and he understands where we are and what we are going through and he wants to help us and wants us to know that he cares and that we matter to him. I am so grateful for that knowledge and how much easier it makes it to go through various trials in our lives. We are loved and special, each and every one of us and knowing that can make all the difference in the world.

Moving Things At Work

Because of my sick day, I didn’t feel like I had accomplished enough at work and went in early on Friday to try and get some stuff done. I went in to find that a giant order of anime had come in and we had absolutely no room for it on the shelf. So I spent my day rearranging the library so that we could accommodate this new collection. It was so much fun and it made me feel like I had accomplished what I needed to accomplish at work. Plus it was nice to be up and active and moving for an entire day at work but I went home exhausted!

Marc Gets to Test…. Again!

Marc has been invited to test with another police department here in town. I am praying that this is the job he gets because it would be an answer to so many of our prayers. Good luck babe!

Sicker Than A Dog!

On Tuesday I had a big test to take and several small assignments to get through after work. I came home and Marc was off with friends and I started to work on school. I finished the test and suddenly was throwing up violently. I didn’t know what was wrong but I hadn’t ever thrown up like that before. I figured that since it was too good to be true that I wouldn’t react to the medicine that I must be reacting now. I was up all night making trips to the bathroom but got up the next morning and went to work. I figured I wasn’t contagious and I just didn’t feel good; maybe getting up and doing something would help. I made it through two hours of work and 9 trips to the bathroom before I decided to go home. I basically slept all day and would only wake up if I had to run to the bathroom. That night I called my doctor to see what was going on because if this was a reaction then I was going to need a new medication. I got a call back and the nurse explained that I wasn’t having a reaction but legitimately caught a bug. She told me to rest up and I would be feeling better in a day or so. By the next morning I was feeling great and was able to go back to work and keep going with my day. I was so grateful that it wasn’t a reaction to the medicine because I couldn’t have done that for 6 months!

Trashcan

One of the things that I have noticed since Aurora has joined the family is that several items of clothing have little holes in them caused by claw marks. I have tried to keep the closet closed and whatever but she could get in our laundry hamper and that was causing problems. So, on our anniversary we went shopping for solutions to the laundry conundrum. We looked at various options but I didn’t think they were cost effective until we found a giant trashcan. It has a latching lid and is tall enough that the cats can’t really knock it over to get inside. I am super excited about it, even though it is a little redneck. If it means saving my clothes than it is totally worth it!

Max’s First Hair Cut

I must have been in a mood because I decided that Max needed to lose some hair. I did see how much it would be to have a groomer do it but I wasn’t willing to pay between $70 and $120. So I bought a buzzer just for Max and set up the shower to be better equipped for him to have a bath and we went to town. He lost so much hair and looks so much better now! I think next time I will shave it down a little bit more but it was a great first hair cut and he gets so many compliments on how he looks now.

Menopause

Well at the ripe age of 22, I start my medically induced menopause. The doctors feel that my best bet for having children will be to induce menopause for at least 6 months and then give me an 18 month window to get pregnant. There will be some other issues that will need to be addressed if there is ever a chance of me having children but for right now this is my best chance. I must say that I was a little nervous to start yet another set of medications and deal with the changes that it would cause to my body and my life. They gave me the worst case scenario before I started and I was just ready to face whatever came but this is the best my body has ever handled a change in medication! I do have hot flashes and that is a little annoying but in the winter time it is actually really nice because I seem to not get cold anymore and that is a huge plus! Plus these hot flashes only occur during the day and so they don’t affect my sleep which is a huge bonus! I am sure more changes will come over time but right now I am feeling great and hopeful for some possibility of future children.

Pirate Kitties and Colds

We had our first set of colds at our house with the kitties. One day I came home from work and Kiara had boogers coming out of her eye and she was closing her right eye. She looked like a pirate and I wish I could have gotten a picture of it! She continued to baby her eye and then the cold must of switched eyes because she was babying her left eye! Aurora was also sick and was sneezing up a storm. In fact in one instance she sneezed like 17 times in a minute but it wasn’t always that bad. But other than her sneezing you would have had no idea that she was sick because she was as crazy as ever! Now finally we were past the whole ordeal and everyone is back to full health! Thank heavens! It always makes me nervous when they get sick because I don’t want to rush to the vet but I don’t want to not go and have it be something serious. I was glad that thought that this was a simple cold and everything went just fine!

Anniversary

I had planned to finally take Marc to the Grand Canyon for our anniversary. I had even tried to get a couple of other couples to come with us because Marc loves spending our anniversary with other people, like we did our first year. Well all of my planning was for naught. No one could come because of work schedules and it snowed, again. But we didn’t let that stop us. We did both spend some time catching up on school and working on various projects that needed to be finished and then we were ready to leave. We went out to lunch and went thrift store shopping. It was such a fun day!!! I am so lucky to be married to Marc. He is such an amazing part of my life and I don’t know what I would do without him. I can’t even imagine that we were married two years ago, sometimes it feels like 20 years and sometimes it seems like a few months. But it has been an awesome journey and I can’t wait to spend the rest of eternity together!

Feeling Pretty

Have you ever had one of those days where you just need to feel extra pretty? Today was one of those days for me. I found myself taking extra care in getting ready and was going to take a picture of the final product. Marc is always complaining that there aren’t enough pictures of me because I am always behind the camera. However, by the time I finished getting ready I was late for church, I know not a shocker! So I simply said that I would take a picture after church. This seemed like a great solution but by the time I left church it was snowing. So my once curled hair has now survived a snow storm and isn’t quite in the same shape that it was this morning, nor is my makeup. So don’t judge! I still felt very pretty today and was glad that I was able to feel that way! It was exactly what I needed! So I realize the picture is a little silly but it was a nice way to end the day to just goof off with Marc and take photos.

Pretty Flowers

Marc one day brought home a set of flowers for me. He said that one bouquet didn’t begin to express how much he loved me and so he brought home two bouquets. They were so pretty that I wanted to post some of my favorite photos of the flowers on here. Thanks babe!

Driving Extra in the Snow

Anyone who knows me knows that I HATE the snow. In fact I try to avoid being out in it at all. But last Sunday was the birthday of one of the boys in my class and I had forgotten his birthday present at home. By the time church got out it had started to snow and it was more than what I like to drive in but not even a typical storm for the area. I thought about just waiting for Marc to get off of work and having him drive me across town but I knew at that point it would be dark and snowing. So I faced my fear and went home and got the present and started driving. The trip was fine and nothing really special happened but I was able to give him his birthday present. I was so proud of myself for driving extra in the snow though and wouldn’t stop talking about it to Marc. Since he is from New Hampshire, he wasn’t overly impressed but he did seem to realize that it was a BIG deal to me and told me how proud he was of me. :)

Snuggling at Church

Last Sunday I had a child in my class that was just having an off day. He was a little crazy in class but seemed really sad in Primary and so I asked if he wanted to sit on my lap. He climbed right on up and quickly fell asleep in my arms. I absolutely loved holding him. It made me remember that even if I can’t be a mother that I can still mother like so many did to me. I carried the sleeping boy into Sacrament meeting and sat behind his family. He slept in my arms for a while longer before going up to join his family after he woke up. I don’t know if I could ever express what that meant to me but I sure loved being able to snuggle with him at church.