Friday, July 29, 2016

And then this happened

Josh and his teacher were invited to share their France story on a local news talk show this morning! So he got all dressed up and we got to spend the morning at the news station. It was really cool, Josh loves anything video camera related, so seeing how the news was filmed was pretty fun for him.

They filmed a really great segment about their experiences in Normandy and the silent hero project. I was so nervous watching him, but he did great!

The show airs on Sunday. I'll post a link to it when they add it to the news station website.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek photo!!

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Friday, July 22, 2016

Phase one complete!

Last night I went to my last college class and finished my last assignments and the year long program I was doing is officially over. I did it! And with straight A's! Yay me! :)

I originally signed up for this program mostly because if I completed it the college would reduce my tuition for the rest of my degree. Thanks to this program I'm going to be getting my bachelors degree for really cheap, which I really needed if I'm going to afford to get through grad school.

But honestly, I wasn't really that excited about the program. Two online classes a semester for three semesters and we had to meet as a class for two hours every Thursday night. I really wasn't excited about the Thursday night meetings. When I found out that it was going to be a lot of group participation and taking turns teaching the class I almost dropped out. I'm such an introvert. Group participation isn't my thing.

But over the year I really grew to love my classmates and I learned that I can teach a class and participate in group discussions and last night, sitting in a circle with all these people I've grown to love and practically think of as family, I realized how profoundly changed I have been by this experience. We all had a hard time leaving for the last time last night. We've been through a lot together. We've tutored each other, cheered each other on, listened to each other complain when it got hard and celebrated each other's successes. It's going to be weird not going there every Thursday night anymore. I went there for the promise of cheap tuition and I left with a group of friends I truly love.

So now I'm done with school for a bit, and done with this program. Now that this program is over I'm just a regular college student in regular college making my own schedule. I'll be taking 12 credits online starting the second week in September. It was weird this morning knowing I don't have any homework to do. That program lasted 40 weeks. It's been a while since I've had a big stretch of time  without homework to do.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my time now. I've got some projects to get done before school starts, so it's time to work on those.

The first project is Matthews bedroom. When our kids turn 13 we have a tradition of redoing their bedroom. Teenagers need a teenage bedroom. So we're completely redoing Matthews bedroom. He has a small bedroom so when he was little we bought him a loft bed to maximize the floor space for toys and things. But a loft bed isn't working as well for an almost 13 year old as it did for a 6 year old, so we're getting rid of that bed and buying him new bedroom furniture. We're also panting, giving him a little reading corner and searching for cool room decor. We're just starting, but we have some fun ideas that incorporate his love of books and music.

This summer has been weird because the boys have been gone so much. Josh was in France for two weeks, then he came home and Matthew left for a week for scout camp and when Matthew got home, Josh left again for three days to go to a church event. And now that Josh is finally home, he's working full time as a pharmacy tech at Shawn's pharmacy, so hes still not really home much. It's been a busy time around here. We've been trying to find some time to take a little family trip, but with everyone so busy I don't think it's going to happen.

OH! Here's something cool going on next week! Our local TV news station finally got wind of Josh's France trip and they want him to come on the little local talk show type program they do. Next Friday morning he and his teacher are filming a segment for the show about the silent hero project they did in France. It will air next Sunday. I'll post the link for it once they have it on their website. He's really excited about that!

So school is done for now, but we've got a lot to keep us busy. As usual, time is flying by and I'm just trying to keep up! :)


Thursday, July 21, 2016

Red

I got my hair done the other day. I think the red is definitely here to stay for a while. I love it!

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Friday, July 1, 2016

Home

After three weeks, two countries, four hotels, one dorm room, six airplanes and one incredible adventure, my sweet boy is home, and I could not be more thrilled to have him back.