Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all who read this (and even all those millions and billions who do not). I hope this season is a special and sacred time for you! Here are some words of wisdom from a child - super cute!

Hehehe . . . er . . . hohoho :)

We set up some stuff for Christmas!! Well, Matt surprised me and put up the Christmas lights one night so they were on when I got home. - Loved it - Love him! :)

We also found our Christmas tree :) It is perfect for our little apartment!

Anyone? Anyone? . . . Charlie Brown? Bring back memories?

Since not many Christmas presents would really fit under our tree, we wrapped some little ones for Santa's elves :) Also, candy canes wouldn't fit on the tree either, so we did what we could with peppermint Lifesavers.

Hehe Life is fun! :)

THE Best Bed and Breakfast in All the World!

This one is a whole month behind, sorry about that.

Sister Heather came to Utah for a fantastic weekend in November to spend with the girls. We got to stay in the world's BEST Bed and Breakfast. Come with me as we re-live the awesomeness . . .

Heather, Jenni, and I have the entire bottom floor to ourselves. As you walk down the stairs, this sign is posted at the entrance:

On the main door to the floor, this sign is posted:

Then, upon further exploration of the room, the following thoughtful deeds had been done:

Fridge stocked full of goodies (including yummy fruit tarts and lots of veggies)

Pedicure set for free use!

The finest Egyptian towels in all the world, just for our use!

Free hot chocolate (with marshmallows) and apple cider (with cinnamon sticks - my favorite!)

Lots of fruit! And a list of house rules including: no set bedtime/curfew, must have fun together, no cleaning up, etc

Oh, and complimentary welcome gifts (fuzzy socks & lotion) as well as complimentary good-bye gifts (Christmas ornaments!). Best ever right?! Heather, Jenni, and I definitely loved the pampering! Grandma Harman is so sweet and thoughtful! :) We all had such a blast Friday night visiting, doing nice pedicures for our weary feet, watching The Christmas Lodge (provided for the occasion by Grandma Harman as well). Saturday we made banana pancakes, got lost in the Christmas isles at Hobby Lobby, had a picnic on the warm floor in the house, hiked a way up Rock Canyon, and then spent the evening at the Festival of Lights at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. The dancing was astounding! Absolutely amazing (sorry the picture is from such a distance!)

Such a wonderful weekend! And what an amazing Bed and Breakfast! We loved it and the staff as well ;)

Life Gets Busy . . .

Of course, you all know that I am sure!

I just want to take a moment to tell you about an amazing sister I have. She is super cute, very friendly, a hard worker, very cheerful, has a talent for enjoying and uplifting children, and is a very dedicated student (even more than many BYU students I have met). I read her blog recently and discovered that this wonderful sister of mine read the Book of Mormon in 24 hours. As challenged by her leaders, she now has a goal to read it again in 31 days (that's 17.1 pages, or about an hour a night). Two times through in just 32 days. DANG! This girl is absolutely amazing! I wish I was more like her sometimes - such dedication to putting the most important things first. Love ya sis!

With that said - any tips from the more knowledgeable people out there on how in the world to balance working part time, going to school full time, keeping up a home, and making sure these most important spiritual things get priority in life? 

Finals week is next week . . . I have two finals (woot!) Call me crazy (cuz yes, I am), cuz I am bringing on the insanity. I decided that I really want to be bilingual (we'll start there and then keep going on). So, next semester I am going to take an accelerated French course (101 and 102 in on semester instead of two) - could not be more excited for that! 8 credits. I am also trying to finish up my courses so I can graduate next year and move on with life (and learning languages hopefully). Thus, I have 2 courses left for my minor - 3 credits each for a total of 6 credits - and one course left for my major - a simple, 2 credit class. Then, I have to do two internships. One is a small, 400-hour internship for my minor that I will complete by April 2012. 1 credit. The second is my senior internship/capstone project, which I started a few weeks ago at my current job and will continue until the end of April 2012. 9 credits (I have to get additional permission to actually get these credits during Winter 2012 semester). Folks, that is 26 credits total (anything over 12 is a full-time student - anything over 18 needs special permission).

Hehehe, guess what I will be missing though? One, simple G.E. credit - History 202. Hello Independent Study. The goal is to get started on this history class, as well as getting a head start on French with my personal tutor (Matt :) ), as soon as I am done with finals. 

Whew, it almost feels  good just to get that all written down and out of my head :)

Thanks for listening . . . er . . . reading :)

My amazing husband, he is so patient with me, so willing to help around the house and with my French studies. I am so incredibly lucky to have him for all of eternity! Seriously, I would not even think of attempting this next semester without him. 

- Hang in there, it won't be like this for long! -