You could consider this post similar to one of those Christmas letters you get in the mail...this one doesn't come with any pictures of us, but I figured it's time to give friends an update on life for us. I know there are some friends and family who know a lot about our lives, and some are fellow friends from facebook who are past roommates, high school friends etc. So here's the basic rundown on each of us:
Mark is now considered a junior at Utah Valley University but will have junior status for a while still. He has been working at Insidesales.com for 2 1/2 years now and is a product manager. Our original plan a year ago was to have him stop working and go to school full time this fall. But due to some positive changes at work (ie a raise) we decided it would be worth it to have him continue to work full time and do night classes until he was no longer able to. From the looks of it, he should be able to finish as a night school student no problem with an estimated graduation date of April/August 2015.
Although his schedule is less than ideal for us and for the company he works for, they have been awesome and supportive in his decision. He goes to work from 6:30-3:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays and then has class from 4-5. It's an early morning, but then he's home by 5:30. On Tuesdays he works a normal schedule and has one evening class from 5:30-6:45. Those days he gets home just in time to see me head off to my office for my evening on-duty time. Thursdays he works from 8-6 with a 2 hour "lunch break" for a 1 credit seminar class required for graduation. It sounds fairly pointless for anyone who already knows what they want to do for their career like Mark, but they somehow believe this 1 credit is crucial to graduation. He has kept busy for sure with 10 credits this semester, but it is surprisingly doable and I get more time with him than I thought I would, which is awesome.
As mentioned in a previous post, I am in my 2nd year as a hall advisor at BYU. Our new apartment is almost double the size of the previous building we were in before. So needless to say, I have more to clean and it can get extra quiet/lonely at times with Mark gone all day. There are seriously days where I do not talk to a single person unless I happen to be in my office and someone comes by. While there are difficult moments and residents from time to time, I have some great co-workers and managers to work with that make it fun. Plus it's quite fascinating to see freshman go through the same social and educational phases each year.
I have also been kept busy working on my class through UW-La Crosse. The class I'm enrolled in is "Helping Children Cope with Grief and Loss". I wouldn't say the class is depressing, but when you're reading books called "Mourning Children, Children Mourning" and "Private Worlds of Dying Children" it sheds quite a bit of light into the darker and sadder side of the children that Child Life Specialists serve and work with. With it costing us $1200 for the 2-credit class (out of state tuition costs), I am not sure if I will enroll in their 2nd course offered in the Winter. Because of my human development background, I only need to take the class I'm currently enrolled in before I am eligible to apply for an internship and ultimately sit for the national certification exam. While it sounds pretty easy and simple, there are a few bumps in the road that we'll have to figure out as time goes by. For now, it's fun to be "in school". I forget how much I love learning--especially in the field of child development/psychology.
That basically sums life up for us. Now that summer is over, most of our big adventures are over until next summer (7 months to go). We are toying with the idea of going on another cruise to the Bahamas, or perhaps the Caribbean. For now though, we'll be enjoying less exotic adventures such as the dollar movie theater, occasional restaurant and evening walks together.
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