Some Goings On

Greetings, neglected readers and random internet stalkers!  Please accept my sorta-deep-but-not-really apologies for the long break in-between blogs.  Yes, I suck, but the last couple of months have been busy and I've been lazy.

Die Schule

First, it's important to note that I'm not saying "DIE, SCHULE!" but am actually saying "The school" auf Deutsch.  Second, I had to Google which gender "schule" should be.  Third, I suck at German.

As many of you noticed via Facebook, I am a college graduate.  Huzzah!

I finished my degree at the end of March.  No clue what the future has in store for me, but standby for either really exciting things (jobs! more school! winning the lottery!) or not-so-exciting things (hanging out by the pool! driving Nolan to preschool! mowing the lawn!).

Future MLB-er

Nolan is making like another Texan with the same name: He joined a baseball team.  

The league he's in is called blast ball; it's like tee-ball, but simpler.  The players only have to run to first base, there are no outs, and nobody keeps score.  Of course--being that we're in Texas--some parents keep mental score.  I imagine that if Nolan continues to play baseball up through high school, I will encounter a parent who will be more than happy to remind me of his/her son beating my child at blast ball.  

One of the best parts of the whole blast ball thing is player of the week.  Every week the coach picks one player who had a great day, or improved, or listened, or didn't poop his pants, and gives him a baseball. That player's name is thrown into a pot (with other players of the week from different teams in the same league) and a blast ball player of the week is chosen.  A couple of weeks ago, Nolan was picked by his coach AND he won the player of the week.  He received a medal, a certificate, a $10 Applebee's gift card, and a free scoop of Baskin-Robins ice cream.

The reason I think it's one of the best parts of blast ball is because only one player per week gets chosen.  No trophies or accolades are handed out just because the kids showed up. It's a fair guess that every player will get one during the season, but the kids don't realize that.  It's a good life lesson for everybody.

Social Butterfly:

I started up a meetup.com group in order for Nolan and I to meet more friends.  Not only has it kept us busy with making crafts, but Nolan has made some good buddies.  As a bonus, I'm making some good buddies too!

Nolan, Ayla, and Camden

Brian, Nolan, and I all enjoy meeting the neighbors and relaxing in the sunshine.  Our street is filled with children, and Nolan loves playing with them.

Nolan and DJ

That's all for now folks.  Stay tuned for more updates!

A Cleaner View

Just a quick blog that captures the fact that our house CAN be clean (on occasion).  We're getting more settled... yay!

I am in love with the open-floor concept.  It's so welcoming.

Nolan wanted to get in on the photo-taking action.  Even
he's a little clean!

CHEESE!!!!!!!

Technically this is a formal dining room.  We are using it
as an office/den.

Guest bedroom

Kinda blurry, but this is in Nolan's fort.  It's his daily schedule.

Waiting on the duvet to come so we can cover up the dirt
stains on our 3-week old down comforter.  Hurry up, Macy's!

Our beautiful painting we purchased in Honduras.

And the clean laundry room.  Wow!
We are amazing!

Proof

The Washington State Student Services Commission (WSSSC) is requesting community college student applicants to speak at its annual event in May.  If I'm accepted, they'll pay for my travel expenses and give me $150 stipend (huzzah!).  I just think it'd be cool to win. :)

Here's my essay!

I’m too smart to not have a college degree.

In high school I was on the honor roll, lettered in varsity golf, took college-level algebra and psychology, played in the marching band, starred in school plays, was a conference champion for the speech team, was a state champion in BPA (Business Professionals of America), and a national scholarship winner for the VFW’s Voice of Democracy program. 

I got a partial scholarship to South Dakota State University and I picked journalism as my major.  In August of 2002, my parents dropped me off at college five hours from home; I unpacked my stuff, met my roommate, and went to a party and got drunk.

I went to the first day of classes.  I missed the second.  I showed up for the third, but skipped the fourth and fifth.  Pretty soon I was staying up all night partying, drinking cheap beer, eating like crap, and irritating my roommate.  At the end of the first semester, I managed to get an A in English 101, but failed algebra (the same class I took in high school and passed).  My other classes were Cs and Ds.

The semesters went on and I continued my ways.  Occasionally I’d go through good-student spurts and I’d get an A in some random class, but would barely pass my journalism courses.  By December 2004, I had no money and moved home.  I dropped out of college; I watched my high school classmates succeed and I felt like a failure.

A few months later—on a whim—I moved to Spokane.  I fell in love with the city; a year after moving there I fell in love with my husband.  We married, had a son, and I became a stay-at-home mom.

And then one day it happened: I realized I wanted to go back to school.  The idea had popped into my head every few months in the years since I dropped out, but this time was different.  I got online, Googled “community colleges,” and clicked on SFCC’s link.  Right at the top of the page was the application. 

I applied.  I was accepted.

Telling my friends and family that I was going back to school was awesome.  Everybody was excited for me. 

“Good for you!” my friends said.  (Thanks!)

“We are so proud of you!” my parents said.  (Thanks!)

“Don’t screw it up!” my brothers said. (Thanks?)

I started off light and took two classes online during the summer.  My son was a toddler and I didn’t have child care for him, so it made sense to take the classes while he napped or when my husband came home from work.

When the summer quarter ended I learned I had gotten A’s in both of my classes.  I decided to go for a full load in the fall and I took those classes online, too.  I got A’s in all of them, I was happy, and I continued studying online.

And then a really wild thing happened: My husband accepted a job in Dallas, Texas.  In July of 2013 we sold our house, loaded up our stuff, and made the 2000-mile trip to the land of longhorns.  We mourned the loss of mountains, but embraced the adventure.

What happened to my education at Spokane Falls Community College?  It continues.  Thanks to the internet, I am able to take classes halfway across the country from my classmates and instructors.  Right now I’m enrolled in my last four classes before I receive my associate of applied science in general business.

It hasn’t been easy; at times it’s been really frustrating.  I’ve missed out on bonding time with my son, dates with my husband, and restful weekends with my sofa.  Last fall was particularly hard because of our adjustment to living in a new state.

But it’s worth it.

It’s worth it because I’m making myself better.  It’s worth it because a two-year degree is exactly what I need.  It’s worth it because my confidence is soaring. 

I don’t know if I’ll continue my education beyond an associate degree.  I’m not sure if I’ll get a job right away, or if I’ll wait until my son is in school.  I plan on doing some freelance writing, and I’ve started working on my first novel.  It doesn’t matter what I do or don’t do, because simply having a degree creates opportunities for me that I didn’t have before.

I’ve always known I am smart.  In March I will have proof.

Squatting

Greetings, friends and followers!  After almost two weeks of living in our new house, I am just now putting up the "official" photographs of the final result.  I also put up a post earlier today, so read that one for more updates on December.

Enjoy the pictures!

Home sweet home!

The kitchen area.  It looks really, really messy, but it's
actually coming along quite nicely.

Eat-in kitchen.  Notice all the mud prints on the ground from
our three fabulous dogs.  (The reason our back yard is so
muddy is because the dead dormant sod is being watered
twice per day.  It is very wet.)

We need to get a new maid.  Our non-existent one sucks.

Chip looks creepy as heck in that shot. (Special
shout-out to my dad and friend Brad for getting
the TV installed.  Holla!)

Master bed room.  Still need to get a king-sized
bed frame.

Master bath.  This actually looks reasonably
clean.  Maybe we'll keep that maid after all...

I took a bath for the first time in this tub Friday evening.  It was
AWESOME.  There's something about taking a bath in a brand
new tub that doesn't have hair balls floating around in it.

Master closet.  Love the Container Store's Elfa
storage system.

This closet's so big.  I better go buy more clothes
so my current clothes don't feel lonely.

Master bath looking into the bedroom.

Formal dining room, which we are clearly using as a dump.  

Formal dining room, which we will actually be using as an office/den.

Nolan's Harry-Potter fort.

This sucker wraps all the way under the stairs.  It's finished
with paint and carpet and trim.  Pretty sweet fort, I think!

Laundry.  Our dryer finally came yesterday (Jan. 11).

Guest bedroom.

Guest bedroom.  Sad that this is the neatest
room in the house.

Front coat closet.

Guest bath (definitely LOVED picking out bath accessories)

Biggest challenge?  Going from a 4+ car garage down to 2.

Heading upstairs, looking down at the main living area.

Going up the stairs.

What I call our rec room.  Texans call this a game room, or a
2nd living area.  

Fabulous elliptical trainer.

Nolan in the rec room.

Storage in the attic.

Storage in the attic

Nolan's room.  Surprisingly (eerily?) neat.

He and Sophie both have walk-in closets.

Sophie's room.

The kids' bathroom.

All those darker spots in the grass?  That's where it's wet.
Really, really wet.

Our back patio. 

I will post more pictures as we finish unpacking, decorating, etc.  Thanks for reading!