A semi-working mama who is also in school's life...

I'm sure you're DYING to know how my life is going... because that's why you read this, right? To keep tabs on me? Wait... But I'll fill you in nonetheless. The first semester of me being back in school is almost to an end. I have 2 weeks left and then I will have a 3 week break before summer school starts. Somehow I have managed to maintain a 97 average in my Biology class and a 95 in my statistics class. I guess I really am learning something! I am pretty proud of myself. I was never really told that I was smart growing up, so I never put too much effort into getting high grades. But since I actually want to succeed in school this time around I am actually studying and really letting the information sink in and not just retain it for a test. Hopefully this will be a pattern for the rest of my higher education (and something I can pass down to my kids). I do miss being with my babies all the time. I have to break mid day on my non-work days to go to class because you can't take any science classes online. I am very grateful to my mother and mother in law as they watch my babies when I'm at school. This summer, however, I am only taking one class and it's not a science class so I won't have to go campus until the Fall. That I am super excited about. I will definitely need some suggestions on what to do during the summer to keep us from getting in a rut and not enjoying all that Dallas has to offer (preferably free or cheap suggestions). I am an absolute dufus when it comes to crafts, so maybe I can work on my craft skills as the kids work on theirs. You might actually mistake a craft I have made for one of Layla's, that's how sub-par my talent is. Since we are in an apartment complex, we are fortunate enough to have a swimming pool right behind our building, so the plan is to spend a lot of time at the pool and teaching my kids how to swim.
I'm still kicking butt with Jillian Michaels and Billy Blanks and now that the weather is awesome, I'm perfecting my running skills too. And just so you get a laugh, I fell the other day because I was trying to change the song on my phone and wasn't paying attention to the sidewalk and tripped over something. I got a few scrapes from it, but nothing too bad, and the worst part of all was that no one was around to witness it. I know that I love a good laugh at other peoples expense (if they haven't really hurt themselves of course), so I was sad no one could laugh at me or tell their friends about the idiot runner who got laid out on the sidewalk. So there you have it. My life in 500 words or less. Thanks and Gig 'Em.

I did it!!

Okay, so it took me 73 days instead of 60 days to complete Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and Get Ripped in 30, but I did it! And I'm so proud of myself! It was incredibly hard and many days I didn't want to do it. I just wanted to sit on the couch and veg, but I didn't. Of the 13 days that I didn't work out I was either working and didn't get home until too late to do it, or at school taking an exam. I never chose television over working out. And it has paid off! I feel absolutely amazing! I'm the fittest I've been since I got pregnant with Josiah and it's the most fun I've had working out since before then. After my 2 DVDs were done, I started working out to Billy Blanks Tae Bo all over again... hello 2000! One of my BFFs, Allison Cunningham, and I did that all the time our Freshmen year of college. It was awesome... and is awesome. It's a killer workout! I have also picked running back up. Since it's not 40 degrees anymore (except for the past 4 days) I decided it's time I get back to enjoying the outdoors while being active. And let me tell you... I thought I would be slow because I hadn't run since early November, but the first mile I ran, was the second fastest mile I had run in years. And then the other day I ran under an 8 minute mile, which hadn't happened since high school! I was/am incredibly proud of myself. This has clearly helped boost my self confidence and I'm no longer embarrassed by how I look, because the excuse "I just had a baby" ended one year ago. I'm excited to continue to find new and exciting workout programs/videos that motivate and encourage me. If I can do it, YOU can do it!

Randoms

 I just thought you should all see how awesome Layla's hair is after she's had it in a ponytail all day. Her crazy eyes say it all!

 This is a much delayed picture of their Halloween costumes. Josiah was Lightning McQueen again and Layla was a spider.

And this is one of the two cutest feet in the world. Josiah knows how much I love his little feet so he took a picture for me to find on my camera. Isn't he so thoughtful?

 Aunt LeLe and sweet Layla. Do you think they like each other? And yes, that is chocolate on Layla's mouth.

 Josiah was being uncharacteristically shy when we were singing Happy Birthday to him. He covered his ears and then lept into daddy's arms. Then he thought he was just hilarious.

Well hello, gorgeous!

I can't believe how much I took for granted my time in college. I had all the FREE time in the world. I can say that studying was never really an option for me. I would rather have been doing anything else. I didn't really care what my grades were. All I knew is that I was supposed to go to college, even if I had NO idea what I wanted to do with my life. So I went, not knowing what I wanted to do. And that continued until I graduated. Going into the real world I still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. And I would say that up until a year ago I had no idea what I wanted to do. Well, now I do. I want to be a nurse... specifically a labor and delivery nurse. So I'm taking my pre-reqs to get in to nursing school. Since I graduated with an Arts degree, I only needed 2 science classes and it didn't matter which ones I took, so I took the easiest ones. And now, 9 years later, I am paying for that mistake. I have 5 science classes that I need to take (and 4 other random ones). And I can't take any of them online. So I have to go to school 2 days a week, for 6 hours just for one science class. Now I know that doesn't sound like a lot of time, but it really is. I have a job, so I am already away from my children 3 days a week, and adding 2 half days is really painful. I don't like being away from them. It sucks. But, I really want to get my nursing degree. It is, however, going to take a while. They offer summer classes, but they are every day and I can't do that since I have a job and 2 children to take care of. So I will be done with my pre-reqs December of 2014. Then I will apply to get into nursing school for Fall of 2015. And that will take 1.5 years. So I should be done with nursing school by Spring 2017. 4 more years from now. I will be 35. Why didn't I figure this out when I was in college?? I am, however, kicking butt in my classes because I actually want to do well and succeed and I know I need to have good grades to get in to the school I want. Okay, sorry for the pity party, but I am at the library doing my statistics class and my brain got overloaded with information, so I thought I would procrastinate and blog. Pray for me.

Happy Birthday, Josiah!!

I can hardly believe my little man is 3 today! What a true blessing he has been in our life. He has taught us about patience, unconditional love, kindness, gentleness, so on and so on. He has such a sweet disposition. He takes the role of big brother very seriously and is always looking out for Layla (which doesn't mean they don't fight). If I'm upset, he knows and is comforting me. He wrestles with his daddy and helps Chris re-live his own childhood. He loves learning about God's Word, and we pray that we are doing a good job loving our children as Christ loves us. We are truly blessed.

Celebration

One of our personal New Year's Resolutions came true on Valentine's Day. Chris got offered a job at Right Now. It's a ministry organization and you can check out their website at www.rightnow.org

We are beyond thrilled and are humbled by God's mercy and grace on our family. I am so proud of Chris for pursuing a new career path that will lead him towards Christ. We are truly blessed! If you think about it, congratulate Chris. He spend a lot of time in prayer and fellowship about this decision and I couldn't be more proud!