I Must Be Crazy

So it began. I starting my third semester at College of Southern Nevada today. This time I’m taking 14 credits (ACK!!!) here’s what my schedule looks like:

BUS106: Business English (an online course to help me learn to write a resume apparently)

BUS273: Business Law (a course requirement to make me either A. pull my hair out. B. die from boredom. C. go postal or D. All of the above.)

HHP123: Anatomy & Physiology (not sure how learning the structure and function of the human body correlates to a degree in business, but OK)

HHP124: Anatomy & Physiology Lab (as all science requirements, a lab)

MGT103: Introduction to Small Business Management (not to be confused with Business 101 in which the same material will be covered regardless of redundancy)

So a full schedule for me, not to mention that I still have a calling in church that requires a significant amount of time. Jonathon is also back to school now. If only for the extra paycheck to help us along, I’m thrilled. Even though he is down one class because the main instructor shorted herself so she took his class. So rather than teaching two classes he’s only teaching one. Perhaps a blessing in disguise, we just don’t know yet. He’s also taking several welding courses this semester as well.

Oh did I mention that we have decided to homeschool Ethen. Yup! I pulled him out today after my first class. It was a little emotional for me because I have officially taken responsibility for the education of my child. HIS WHOLE EDUCATION!!!

Ethen doing math with Legos

This decision has been a long time coming. We have been thinking about it for a while now. Our concerns with Common Core and the fact that he wasn’t really thriving at this school made a huge impact on our decision. I haven’t decided what curriculum to follow, if anything formal. I am currently just reading a lot to Ethen, we do some math, journal and call it a day. I have a lot of research and planning to do.

I thought I was a busy mom before! Boy was I wrong! Ethen has been home two days and I am so busy! I know that this is the best thing for him. We have joined a homeschooling group that meets once a week so he can get out and play with kids of all ages. I know that most people’s major concern with homeschooling is socialization. I personally feel that he will be better socialized this way. Socialization is NOT about having friends. Friends are good, don’t get me wrong. Real socialization is the ability to resolve conflict and deal with people of all ages, not just your own.

I believe this is the best choice for our family. I’m thankful to have a husband that not only supports this but has encouraged it. I believe that this will bring our family closer. I pray the Lord guide me because I’m going to need it!

Wish me luck!

Survive Any Life

My goals this year include helping others be more prepared and self reliant. I have a wealth of knowledge to give and it’s a shame to not share it and help others. So, today I started a second blog. While this blog, May the Speece Be With You, details the life and times of our family (and just how crazy things can be), my new blog will be an outlet for me to get my ideas about preparedness and self-reliance out there. There are so many survival blogs and stores that will try to sell you anything to make a buck. My purposes are simply to impart knowledge!

Survive any life has become my mantra. The struggles that we endured in 2013 proved this to me. I hope that this blog takes off. I hope that people read it and feel that they too can overcome whatever life throws at them. Life happens, yes, but that doesn’t mean we have to let it steamroll over us!

So here is to a new year and a new adventure!

Visit my new blog or find me at any of the links below!

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Happy New Year - 2014

We brought in the new year – a first for our family! We have never stayed up for the festivities, but Ethen wanted to try so we said “WHY NOT!!!”

Ethen started out strong! I was working on a goal sheet for Thrive Preparedness and Ethen asked if he could do “work” on the computer too. I love this kid!!! His work included writing out the password to the game room! We tried to convince him that writing passwords isn’t a good idea, but he was having none of that nonsense!

Boomer got into the festivities a little early – poor Donkey! After an intense battle with the stuffed toy, Boomer was tuckered out and refused to celebrate anymore!!! Silly puppy!!!

At about 10 o’clock Ethen was going strong. He decided it was time to cuddle up on the couch and watch the New York City festivities on TV with us.

By 11:01 he looked like he was struggling. I thought he still had some life in him and predicted he would fight it out until midnight.

I was wrong!!! It took only 6 minutes for him to fall asleep! Literally!!! He was passed out on the couch by 11:07. Poor kiddo, put up such a good fight! I believe this is the first time he was EVER stayed up this late! He did have a great time staying up! He said that staying up late was his favorite part!

Since Jonathon and I have never brought in a new year together we went all out! Ok, not really! But we, somehow, managed to capture our last kiss of 2013 and first kiss of 2014! We kissed through the countdown!!! I have to admit, it was a little fun!

Here’s to a new year! I am thankful that 2013 is over and ready to start anew! I know that the Lord has blessings in store for us!!!

Hot Potato, Hot Potato!

Since my mom is now  married to a potato farmer in Idaho – I was given 100 pounds of potatoes! HOLY HANNAH!!! I knew we wouldn’t eat all of them before they go bad so I had preserve them! So, I broke out the canner, started peeling, dicing, blanching and canning some giant potatoes! It was a lot of fun and I actually ran out of jars just over half way through the first bag!!!

Once I got all the peeling, dicing, blanching done I broke out a second canner. I had to or I would have been in the kitchen for another 3 hours, rather than just an hour!

Look at all those beautiful jars full of potatoes!!! Now to get some more jars so I can do the rest of those potatoes!!!

Baby It’s Cold Outside!

We had a cold spell come through our area. We had overnight lows in the 20s and highs in the 30s! I couldn’t believe how cold it was, neither could my car!!!

Ok so it’s not snow and we aren’t facing any blizzards (that I know of) – but this is way too cold for me. I live in Nevada for a reason people!!!

Valkyrie Combat Grand Opening

Yesterday I did my second vendor booth for Thrive. Valkyrie Combat is a firearms customization shop. They do custom cerakote paint jobs. They even let Jonathon do our AR-15 to demonstrate them.

They do amazing work and I was happy to be a part of the event. This event definitely went better than my last one. I implemented a few new ideas and avoided the pitfalls of my last event!

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I went from this event straight to our Ward’s Trunk or Treat. Ethen refused to dress up because his new friend, Corey, wasn’t dressed up. I failed again to get pictures at this event. I was so tired and my battery had died from use during the day! SORRY!!! Needless to say – I was about as drained as the battery on my phone was!

My First Vendor Booth

A few months ago I became a Thrive Life Consultant. Thrive is a company that produces and sell, through direct sales, freeze dried – long term food for storage. The food is amazing and delicious. I love it. So I thought a great way to get my name out there and build awareness is to have a vendor booth at various places. My first was yesterday. At a fundraiser for a local non-profit company called Pink Peas.

I shared my table with my friend Emily Smith, who does newborn and birth photography!

I wasn’t too successful, not parties booked or sales, but I took it as a learning experience and THAT was worth it! I can’t wait to do my next booth!!!

Funny Faces

Lil’man and I were playing around today making funny faces to the camera! It was fun! Not the greatest pictures but they were fun!

I love the one where he’s making a scary face and I look scared! So funny!

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Yesterday I finished the quilt that is to go to Oklahoma – We have to wait for Sister Crum to finish the other one and we will get them shipped off to Oklahoma disaster victims! I truly hope they like them! Check out the finished product!

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So I hardly EVER post pictures of myself. Today I actually did my hair and makeup (I’m not a real girly girl).  I snapped this shot with my phone and thought I’d share it, you know, for the book!

 

Quilts for Oklahoma

On May 21, 2013 a devastating F5 tornado tore threw the town of Moore, Oklahoma. The twister was over a mile wide and left a 20 mile trail of destruction. Jonathon’s dad and grandmother live in Moore. Thankfully they were alive and unharmed.

This weeks activity we were going to make temple cans (basically the girls plan their weddings), but in light of this disaster we opted to tie quilts to send to the victims. Sister Crum had a queen size quilt top that the girls could tie and I knew I had a bunch of fabric and could probably throw together a twin.

As I started planning and new I probably bit off more than I could chew. But I was determined to help at least one person. I was grateful when I found strips that had all ready been sewn together. I was planning another quilt for them, but I couldn’t think of a better project for them to go to!

So I started ironing, cutting and sewing like a mad woman! I was up until 3 in the morning doing most of the work. I knew I needed to do a lot through the night or it wouldn’t be ready for the young women to tie.

This is the (almost) final top part. I still needed to add the border. I finished that JUST in time to leave for the church! WHEW!

I was grateful to see so many young women show up, we weren’t expecting too many due to school engagements. The girls did an awesome job… and had a bit of fun too!!! The queen took us about a hour to completely tie – this put us at 8 p.m. and most of the girls went home. Sisters Crum, Sneed and Smith stayed with me to tie my blanket (I didn’t get any pics of us though… boo). That one took us about half an hour to finish.

Brother Gibson even got into the helping spirit! SWEET!!!

This is what cuties got to do while we were working!!! Must be nice!!! I’m exhausted!!!

Now I just need to finish the binding and send it to Oklahoma! Two families are going to be so blessed and I am grateful that we could been instruments in the hands of God.

Summer Bucket List 2013

It’s that time of year again folks! The days are longer and getting hotter. There is 18.5 days left in this school year! Last summer Ethen and I did a Summer Bucket List – see HERE and HERE.

Ethen LOVED marking off activities. Admittedly we didn’t do EVERYTHING that was on our list. So this year, those activities have been added once again and some fun new ones!

We have two trips planned this summer. One back to California for some fun at Lego Land and the other to Idaho for my mother’s wedding. I also desperately want to take Ethen camping and hiking – especially to Bryce Canyon or Zion National Park. My brother had the great idea to get our friends Felicia and Amari together to go rafting down the Colorado River! So fun!!

So in honor of our tradition I have compiled this years list. I present to you…

Summer Bucket List 2013

4th of July Celebration, 51’s Game, Back to School Shopping, Backyard Campout, Bass Pro Shop, Bike rides, Bounce U, Bowling, Breakfast @ park, Build a fort, Camping, Celebrate Father’s Day, Chuck ‘E’ Cheese, Colorado River Rafting, Coloring , Crafts, Dino Museum (in SLC), Dye Hair with Kool-Aid, Feed Ducks, Fishing, Flashlight tag, Fly a kite, Free Movies at Rave, Fun day w/ dad, Fun day w/ mom, Game Night, Get a snow cone/ice cream, Go Ice blocking, Go to a new skate park, Go to the beach in Cali, Hiking, Hoover dam, Inter tubing on the lake, Laser tag, Lego Land, Library Summer Challenge, Lied’s Discovery Museum, Lowe’s kids workshops, Make a gift for Grandma, Make care pkgs for deployed soldiers, Make treat for friend, Messy Painting, Mini Golf, Mini Grand Prix, Movie Marathon, Natural History Museum, Outdoor bingo, Paint a picture, Paint a rock friend, Parade, Pen pal, Photo Scavenger Hunt, Picnic, Plant a garden, Prepare for 1st Grade, Read a book a day, Ride a Horse, Roller Skating, Scavenger Hunt, Send G-ma a hug, Shark reef, Shooting, Sky Zone, Sleepover, Springs Preserve, Star Gazing, Swimming, Take pictures at the temple, Tie Dye Shirt, Train Museum, Trip to Cali, Trip to Idaho, Visit 5 different splash parks, Visit a friend, Visit Bryce Canyon, Visit fire station, Visit Lake Mead, Visit Mt. Charleston, Visit Nana, Visit Red Rock Canyon, Visit Uncle Chuck, Visit Valley of Fire, Watch planes take off/land, Water gun/balloon fight, Wet ‘n’ Wild

Well there you have it 85 fun, wholesome and MOSTLY inexpensive activities for this summer. It’s going to be a GREAT summer vacation… I can just feel it!!!

I seriously can’t believe that there is less than 20 days to prepare for all of this! Yikes… I better get going then!!!

Brandy

Devil Pup

Lil’man got his first (official) set of MARINE CORPS APPROVED camies!!! OOHRAH!!! I don’t care if he says he wants to be a Navy Seal – he’s a Marine at heart!!! Check out this handsome stud!!!

That’s right buddy… finger straight and off the trigger!!!

 

He looks awfully familiar in this picture… Let’s compare…

YUP! That’s me through and through! Like Mother… like son!!!

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Orange Rhino update – today I failed! I yelled today because I was frustrated, offended and irritated by a situation that had nothing to do with my family what-so-ever! Tomorrow is a new day and I will start again. I made it 7 days. That’s HUGE! This time… I will make it further! 30 days here I come!!!

Holy Hannah…

I can hardly believe I have made it 5 days (not counting today) without yelling! I’m so excited that this challenge! I am loving that I am “loving more and yelling less!”

We were doing so well today – until we were walking home from school. As we were crossing the road the crossing guard said something to him about riding his scooter in the crosswalk. Well he didn’t like that too much and he threw a fit the whole way home! When I say the whole way home I mean the whole 3 blocks we had to walk with God and country watching him come lose at the seams! AYE AYE AYE!!!

As we got home I put him in a timeout so he could relax. I set the timer for 10 minutes but he was really there for about 16. As before I kept having to reset the time. He didn’t completely calm himself by the time the timer went off so we went to have a little talk. I could not believe how out of hand he got. BUT – I maintained my Orange Rhino mentality! I did have to use my stern voice – but no yelling. I had to be stern so he would know that I was serious and wasn’t going to tolerate his poor behavior!

Thankfully that was the only issue today and we made it the rest of the day without incident! THANK GOD!

Day 6 down… 24 to go!!!

Twenty Minutes

That’s how long Lil’man was in a time out for this morning.

Today my hubby left just before 7 AM to go to his class to get his concealed weapon carry permit. It’s an all day class and we have been waiting for this opportunity for what seems like ages! The class costs $75 plus the $100 for a background check. So needless to say we had to save up for it! I was hoping that Lil’man would still be asleep because I wanted to still be asleep. So I asked, unfortunately the response was not what I wanted and I was forced to get up at that point! BOO. I was so tired! I haven’t been sleeping well for the past few days!

I knew I needed to clean my house – I had let things slide this week. The cat box needed to be cleaned desperately, the dishes had been left from last night, I needed to vacuum, fold the load of laundry that has been sitting in the dryer for a week (I found the shirt I was looking for all week – go figure), the bathrooms needed cleaning, the kitchen floor needs swept and mopped, the dining room table has become a “I have no place else to put this so I’ll just set it here with all this other crap” pile, the coffee table looked like a landfill with several empty water bottles on it, there were throw blankets on each of the couches that needed to be folded, not to mention the schlew of toys that were strung around the living and dining rooms, AND I have been wanting to get outside and pull the weeds that have become a jungle in my front yard. UH I had a ton to do and expected Lil’man to help me out! He had other plans!

As I’m telling him of the things I need HIM to do (clean the cat box, pick up his toys and clean his room up) he starts FREAKING OUT! “You’re mean! I don’t want to!!!” On and on and on, in that whiney voice that just gets under my skin like nothing else can. Orange Rhino… ORANGE RHINO!!! We had been playing the same orange rhino game that the creator does (except Lil’man likes blue) but we say blue rhino. As I saw him getting more and more frustrated I calmly said “blue rhinoceros buddy” – “NO BLUE RHINOCERUS I DON’T’ WANT TO PLAY BLUE RHINOCERUS TODAY!” he screams

That’s IT – You’re in timeout. Sit your butt down in this chair – right now. I actually said this without screaming it! “10 minutes buddy” and I set the timer on my phone. Then began the fight for control! I was determined to win – with logic and a calm manner!

He started screaming and kicking – I reset the timer. He continued to scream and kick – I took away a point (we have a point scale thanks to CLASSDOJO.COM his teacher introduced it to her class when I was volunteering and I decided to use it at home). This made him even more mad and the kicking and screaming continued – I reset the timer again. I think I reset the timer about 6 times. He finally figured out that every time he got crazy I reset the time and THAT meant more time sitting there! He finally stopped the kicking and screaming and after 20 minutes the timer finally went off.

Not ONCE did I yell. I did have to get VERY stern BUT I did it!!! I DID IT!!!

Over the past 4 days I have felt so great! There is a peace and joy in my house that hasn’t been here in a while! I love this not yelling challenge. I have been sharing through Facebook about my successes and failures. I have such a huge support there. Nearly all of my friends are supporting me and even a few have joined the challenge with me! At least once a day I get “What’s Orange Rhino?” and I get the privilege of sharing this amazing opportunity with them! Even my mother told me how proud she was of me and how awesome she thought it was that I was doing this. “This is going to change your life and his!” my mother told me. Yes mom, yes it is!!!

It feels so good to see that “3 day’s since” on my counter! I’ve gone 3 days (officially – today will be 4) without yelling! Thank you Lord for leading me to this! I know that He wants me to do this. We are meant to be loving and nurturing not ruthless and cruel! God is a loving god and wants us to be like him, so why not parent like Him?

The Stars Align

For or against me I haven’t quite figured out yet!

Day 2 – Oh my gosh my counter actually says “1 Days since”

I awoke this morning ready for the day, tired, but ready! An actual bed time eludes me because I tend to wait up for my husband who is working (either at the school or for the company). Last night was no different! As I prepared for my day I was prepped and ready to continue my Orange Rhino Challenge. Day 1 was tough, day 1 again was even worse! But if I can make it though day 1 I can make it the rest of the 29 days!

I always get Lil’man up about 6:40 to get ready for school. We have the same routine everyday! Get up, potty, get dressed, feed the cat, eat breakfast, brush teeth, say prayer, get coat/backpack and get out the door by 7:30! There is never any variation to this plan, ever! So please explain why we didn’t leave the house until almost 7:40 today? I say, ok get dressed takes him 20 minutes. I say what do you want for breakfast, cereal? Today it was eggs! I say brush your teeth. He grabs the iPod and starts dancing. I say brush your teeth again. He brushes… barely because he’s still dancing to the music in his head! I say go get your coat. He takes 5 minutes! At this point I’m trying to be patient and not scream HURRY THE HECK UP!!! So I STERNLY say, Buddy, we have to go. Now. Get your coat and let’s get going!

Whew – disaster averted but just barely!

Rewind to last week. Jonathon had a CT scan on his chest. Yesterday we received the results and they weren’t good. They detected some pulmonary nodules and have scheduled a follow up appointment with a Pulmonologist.

After a quick search online about this condition and found that it is common to find them. However they can be a sign of lunch cancer or a metastasized cancer from another area in the body. Needless to say I wasn’t exactly functioning well after I dropped Lil’man at school this morning.

We shall see how this afternoon and subsequent night class go tonight… Stay tuned….

… 2 hours later…

I just picked up Lil’man and went to get something to eat. As I’m trying to get the packaging off he kept getting in the way trying to watch a movie on my phone! UGH! “I’ll move!” I say (at least I didn’t yell it) but the sarcasm was definitely there! Maybe I should have a no sarcasm challenge… that I KNOW I will fail!

Orange Rhino Brandy… Orange Rhino! It’s not your son’s fault your stress level rose exponentially today!

A friend of mine from the Westcliff Ward, Amy Stevens, posted a quote from President Hinckley “Don’t get discouraged. Things will work out.” How simple yet so profound – especially with this thing that is happening with Jonathon. I really needed that today!

… 5 hours later

Brothers Perkins and Gibson came over to give Jonathon a blessing. I almost lost my marbles on Lil’man. He decides he’s going to ride his scooter outside. This must have been around an amplifier because all I heard was him riding back and forth during the prayer. I guess my turning and giving him the “shhhh” sign through the sliding door wasn’t being computed properly! After the prayer I went to talk to him in which he refused to stand still and would not look me in the eyes. UGH – CHILD I’M SPEAKING TO YOU (I wanted to scream)!

Orange Rhino Orange Rhino!!! I had to stop and compose myself so I didn’t yell at him. He doesn’t know about the issues with Jonathon and it certainly wasn’t his fault the scooter was loud! He was a little boy trying to have some fun!

I am so glad this day is over. My pillow is calling! Day 2… I hope I never see you again!

Day 3 tomorrow – please Lord give me strength!

I Did It!!!

Day 1… again!

Since yesterday I yelled at the nice woman on the phone I felt impressed to start over! Today seemed to be a little more difficult despite the fact that both Ethen and I were in school most of the day. Even when school was over Ethen made it through his afternoon routine – to include homework – without issue. Even when Ethen decided not to eat supper before we had to leave for YW’s tonight I kept my cool! I was impressed! I was on a roll!!! I did almost lose it at the church activity tonight when Ethen was running in and out. I almost broke out my pipes but I reminded myself – ORANGE RHINO ORANGE RHINO – that did it, I made it!

So now that Lil’man is snug as a bug – I am officially counting this day as a success!!!

WOO HOO!!! Onto day 2!!!

Orange Rhino Day 1

Day 1

Today I started the Orange Rhino Challenge (http://theorangerhino.com). The creator of this set a goal of a whole YEAR of no yelling! A WHOLE YEAR! That seemed a bit daunting to me so I set an initial goal of 30 days without yelling. Today was my first day and I did good – sort of!

The day started out awesome and even after pouring chunky milk onto Lil’man’s cereal this morning I made it to the afternoon before I really started to lose it. Surprisingly it wasn’t even towards my buddy. We even came up with out OWN version of the “Orange Rhino Game” that she does with her family except Lil’man chose a different color – blue. So whenever either of us begin to suspect a volcanic explosion we say “BLUE RHINOCERUS”!!! We had a chance to test it out today as we were leaving the skate park. Lil’man had a bit of a hard time, a kid was laughing at him, for no reason. As we got into the car I could see the eruption coming I looked at him and calmly said “Blue Rhinoceros” and he calmed down!!!
Then as I checked the mail, not 5 minutes after the skate park incident, I received in the mail a delinquency notice for a hospital bill that I have been paying. So when I call they tell me that even though I have been making payments I’m not set up on a payment PLAN and therefore will be sent to collections.
I LOST IT! How could this be! I’m sorry if $10 is all I can afford to pay you, but it’s DEFINITLY MORE that what SOME people pay (which is NOTHING!). It seemed so ridiculous to me that they would take my money and still send me to collections. Seemed a bit ILLEGAL!
So I hang up on the woman who was explaining things to me (she was really just doing her job and really didn’t deserve my attitude or yelling fit… after all she didn’t write the policy) and call my brother, who is a biller for the VA. He too thought that it was illegal and told me that he would check on some things and call me back.
Well there went day one of no yelling! UGH!!! The reason I say that I’m back to day 1 is everyone on FB and even my hubby said that yelling at the woman counts and I need to start over! BUMMER!!!

SOOOOO… Tomorrow starts it all again!
Wish me luck!!!

Brandy

The Orange Rhino

Over the past six years I have struggled as a mom. I try to be a good mom. I take care of him, love him, spend time with him, do amazing things but I am no perfect. In fact I often suck at being a mom. I think I have made my child cry on more occasions than I would like to count! It pains me that I have caused many of the tears that have streamed down the cheeks of my sweet little boy.

Lil'man can be quite the handful. He is probably the most head-strong child that I have ever seen. He can be easily agitated and insanely aggressive at time! But when he's not he is the most loving and enthusiastic child I could ask for. He is highly independant and self motivated!

Both of us are extreme type A personalities and when we both get going - it's ON!!! Yelling has been a go-to for me for the past 6 years. I mean the over-the-top-gonna-blow-a-gasket-erruption-of-mount-saint-hellens-blood-pressure-so-high-you'll-get-an-anyerism kind of yelling!

A friend of mine introduced me to a blog called The Orange Rhino. It's simply a chronical of a mom that has experienced the same issue and resolved to go a whole year without yelling. She would take it one day at a time and if she yelled she had to start back at day 0 again. If she had one of those eye-bulging scream outs she reset to day -2! She is currently on day 376!!! She did it!

This really got me thinking. The whole purpose of being a parent is to teach their children and love them. I have to say I love Lil'Man more than life itself and would do anything for him. I must teach him, though my example, to control my temper! This is necessary! So I have decided to take the challenge. I am going to do 30 days and once I get there I will re-evaluate to make the goal longer! I just need to take this one day at a time like she did!

 

I can totally do this. I know that it won't be easy! But I know that I HAVE to stop yelling. I don't like it and it's not an appropriate manner of parenting! I plan to chronical my successes and failures here and on Facebook.

 

Here is to a more peaceful home... Day 1 starts - tomorrow!

The Only Thing That Stays the Same...

Is that EVERYTHING changes. Probably one of my favorite songs sung by Tracy Lawrence. But truer words have never been spoken. Think about it, everything changes to some degree, be it fast or slow. My life now is no different. Over the past couple of weeks I have gone from being employed by a wonderful employer to being a full-time student, learning to run a business!

I am currently taking four classes at the College of Southern Nevada - ALS101 (an easy class to get me back in the swing of being in school), ANTH101 (Anthropology - a given. Interesting and informative, we shall see how his anti-Christian beliefs will meld with me.), BUS101 (intro to business), IS101 (Information Systems - pretty much a refresher in Microsoft Office - EASY)

Jonathon and I have also taken drastic steps to start preparing for emergencies. We should have been doing this a long time ago and now there is almost a sense of panic and feelings of being rushed. So we have also joined a local prepers group that has classes to teach home security, gardening, canning and so much more. It should be very informative and helpful to the cause!

 

 

Changes all around for my family too. My mom has met someone! He's a rancher in Idaho. I took her to the airport today for a trip to go see him. Ethen even helped with the luggage! I honestly haven't seen her this happy in a very long time. I do hope that she finds everlasting happiness!

 

 

This year is bound to bring about many more changes. I cannot control most things that will change so I will do my best to accept and apply these changes as necessary.

 

Happy Changing!

Brandy





 

 

So Begins 2013

Well the Mayan's were definitely wrong – here it is January 2013! It’s starting to be an amazing year and we are only 20 days in! I’m not saying that trials will not be had this year, because trials are just a part of life, but I really feel good about this year!

This past Friday on the 18th, I quit my job. I had given my notice around Christmas time and the three weeks really felt like one! My keys are definitely a little lighter though since turning in my keys to the office.

It was great working for Dr. Kaminsky at Red Rock Podiatry. I never would have dreamed in a million years that I would ever work for a podiatrist! My – issues – with feet never seemed it possible! I have worked there for a little under a year! For my last day, Dr. Kaminsky treated the office to breakfast and massages! Oh my gosh. I have never worked for such a wonderful and generous boss. She truly was awesome to work for.

But it’s onto bigger and better things. I start school at CSN on the 22nd for Business concentrating on Small Business Management. This will come in handy since Jonathon went into partnership with a company and they are in need of an office manager! I should be starting that journey soon.

Last night was so much fun. We were invited over to the Smith’s home for supper. They are a (relatively) new family in the ward. The cool thing, both Emily and Cameron are former Marines. During our conversations we found out that Emily and I grew up in the same stake as Young Women – yet never met. Even our life’s are eerily similar. They are really nice people and we are so blessed to have them in our lives! Here’s a picture of Jonathon playing with the kiddos before dinner.

I’m telling you – this year is gonna be GREAT!

Brandy