Friday, May 29, 2015

Taking the show on the road

Matthew is playing this song in two different church congregations this Sunday. He's playing it for our church services and then when his piano teacher heard he was playing it at our church, she asked if he would come play it for her congregation as well.

It's an arrangement of an LDS Hymn called I Know That My Redeemer Lives. This particular arrangement was written by Paul Cardall, who is an amazing pianist.

This a ridiculously difficult song for a kid who has only been playing the piano for less than a year. He has worked harder to master this song than anything else he's done.

Our piano isn't fancy, but we had him go over to the church to practice there and it sounds amazing on the church piano with the acoustics of the room. I wish I had a recording of that, but you'll just have to listen to it on our piano. I know half my posts have been Matthew's piano lately, but I post what makes me happy, and listening to Matthew play the piano makes me very happy. :)


Thursday, May 21, 2015

College update

Tonight I had my first meeting for the college program I'm starting in the fall. The first year is basically an intro back into college program for older students. I could have chosen to skip this year long program and apply directly to the regular degree program, but if I jump their hoops and take these intro classes for a year, they discount the cost of the degree program significantly. So I'm saving a fortune on my bachelors degree by doing it this way.

But that means I have to deal with this year long program first. It's through a religious university, so I'm going to be taking a religion class and a college intro class each semester. Everyone in the program takes the same classes. We do the classes online, but we have to meet as a group every Thursday night for a group discussion about what we're learning. The place we meet at is way across town, which I'm not all that excited about, but I have to keep reminding myself that by doing this, college is finally affordable for me. I can't really afford to go back to school otherwise. 

The classes don't start until September, but tonight I had to go meet with the people who run the program so they could go over how it all works. The nice thing about this program is that my group is all people 30 years and older who are all starting back on their journey to college, just like I am. So everyone is nervous, everyone has been out of school for a long time and we all kind of work through it together. So as much as I find this year long program a bit of a hassle, there is a lot of wisdom in how it works. It's going to be a nice slow ease back into college, which will probably be a really good thing for me. Just signing up for a full time program and taking a pile of classes after being out of school for so long would have been a much harder adjustment. 

So my first semester I'm taking a religion class and a study skills class. Second semester is a religion class and a math class and third semester is religion and English. it goes through next summer, so I'll be finished with it next fall. And if I get a 3.0gpa or above, which seems easy enough for the classes they have us take, I am automatically accepted into the university online degree program so I can start working towards my bachelors next fall.

So that's what's happening. I'm just jumping through their hoops for the next year and doing what they tell me to do and after that I can start working on the classes I need to for my major. I already have 29 credits from the college I did when I was 18, and I'll get 15 more through this intro program over the next year, so I'll be on my way! It's a start anyway! 

I'm really nervous, but actually pretty excited. I have no idea how I'm going to do or how I'm going to get through it all, but I have committed to myself to give it a try. My husband and kids are incredibly supportive, so I have a house full of cheerleaders, which helps. :) I can do this, right?! I guess we'll find out this fall! :) 

Sunday, May 17, 2015

What a Wonderful World

Matthew had his spring piano recital last night! The video I took doesn't look very good because he was sitting in front of windows and the backlighting was really bad. Also, from where I was sitting it just wasn't a very good view. But you can hear his song, and I know I'm biased, but I think it's beautiful!

Matthew has been playing the piano for around ten months. A year ago when we bought the piano I bought it for me to take lessons and he's the one who just took off with it. He loves the piano, and you can tell how much he loves it when you hear him play. His gift has been a blessing for the whole family, because when our house is filled with his music, it's a happier, more peaceful place. I could listen to him play all day long.

So here is his song. I've posted this song before, but I think he's improved it since then and it sounds so much prettier on a grand piano! I love it!


Sunday, May 10, 2015

Happy Mothers Day!!

I love being a mom!!!


mothersday2015a

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Sooo...

I kind of have an announcement. A very terrifying announcement, lol.

I think I'm going back to college. Eek! There is a very long story behind all of this, but the short version is that lately I can't seem to shake the feeling that I need to go back to school.

When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a psychologist. That was my dream job. The story of why that never happened is complicated to tell, but the short version is that I had one disastrous year of college and my dreams never happened. And that has bothered me for years. One of the biggest regrets of my life has been not finishing college, and the older I've gotten the more I have felt like the opportunity has passed and it's too late.

Then I've had a few really odd experiences in my life lately, where the idea of going back to school keeps coming up. From very weird and random places, this idea keeps being brought up to me. It's been a theme in my life over the past year.

So I finally recognized that maybe these weird occurrences aren't random and maybe it was something I needed to pursue.

I thought it was impossible. I'm too old, it's too expensive, I haven't been in school in 20 years and I don't know if I can do it...I came up with a hundred reasons why I can't do it.

Except you know what? I think, just maybe, I can. I stumbled upon a college program that actually seems like a realistic option for me. It's not psychology, but the ultimate goal is a masters in clinical mental health counseling, which, really I think is what I wanted to do all along, I just never knew another word for it besides psychology. I don't need a psychology degree to do what I want to do, which is mental health or marriage and family counseling. I was in a therapists office recently and I literally walked into her office and my heart skipped a beat. I wanted to work in that office and sit in her chair and do her job so badly. I wanted to BE her at that moment. That was just one of a series of occurrences recently that has led me to the conclusion that maybe this is what I'm supposed to do with the second half of my life.

So...I think maybe I'm going to give it a try. I have a really long road ahead of me if I'm going to do it. I'm going to start with a college program designed for older students who are taking a second crack at college. Starting in the fall I'm going to be taking a few classes over the next year that will fulfill the requirements that will lead me to step two, which is to start on the path to a bachelors degree in marriage and family studies.

That should take me another 3 years or so and after that I move on to step three, which is to get into a masters program for mental health counseling.

If I really do this, it's going to take me most of the next decade. It's going to be a really long road that, at the moment, kind of scares the crap out of me! I might be almost 50 by the time I'm done. But you know what, I'm going to be 50 in ten years either way. I can be 50 and still wishing I had somehow found a way to go back to school or I can be 50 with a brand new masters degree.

I honestly don't know if I can do it. I have no idea where this next adventure is going to take me. I simply committed to myself to sign up, take the first class and give it a try. I suppose there is a possibility that I'm going to take one class, hate it and quit. I have no idea what's going to happen. But there is also a possibility that I'm going to pass the first class, move on to the second one and give that one a try and keep going. Committing to a masters degree is too much for me to comprehend right now. At the moment I have found what I believe to be a realistic path to my dreams and I'm
simply committing to take the first step. One step. I can take the first step.

The adventure starts September 14th. I have the summer to get used to the idea. I'm a little terrified. Stay tuned. :)