happily random

I Did It!

It's been a little over a year been posts... I guess they are getting a little closer together.

Today I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate as I finally received my diploma in the mail. I graduated back in May and while that was quite epic as well, actually seeing that piece of paper with my name and "Bachelor of Arts Computer Science" made it seem somehow more real.

Raising a family and supporting a household is not an easy task in and of itself, and on top of it all I spent the last three years buried in schoolwork right next to my four kiddos. My sweet, supportive husband took up the slack, making dinners & doing laundry while I was closeted in my office studying.

Going back to school was not like riding a bike. For me it was more like learning to assemble a bike. When I started in June 2015, had been 20 years since I had a math class. When I was in high school, the last math I took was Algebra II. So to say that I had play a little catchup there is an understatement. And three years later with Pre-Calculus, Calculus I & II, Chemistry I, Physics I & II, Algorithms, Discrete Math and Numerical Computation under my belt, I still found that while I like math, it doesn't come easily for me. Luckily my kind of software development doesn't involve a lot of math!

But goes to show though that just because something is hard or you're not especially good at it doesn't mean that it not worth doing. For me and my family, this degree means a significant source of second income, which is going to come in really handy as my kiddos start heading off to college themselves. 

When we moved to Colorado six years ago kicking and screaming, it is clear to me now that God had a plan for me. It's happened so frequently in my life, where I am pushed into situations where I don't want to be, only to come out the other side & can clearly see that it was God's hand pushing me into something awesome. I just need to trust him more. 

And finally, for those of you who have actually read all this and are interested, I was asked to be one of three speakers at my graduation ceremony. Below is the ceremony in its entirety, although I have set it play where my introduction begins: 1:08:28. Enjoy!

 

Yeh.... so it's been awhile

The Flatirons above University of Colorado Boulder

I know, I know, it's been a long, long, long, long-long time since I have updated by blog. I have one excuse for that: college. With 4 kids under my roof and nearly 20 years since my last college attempt, we decided the timing was right to me to finish my bachelor's degree. Not ideal, I know, but we have been able to make it work.

When I was in my 20s, I boldly studied music, naively thinking that I would have to luck and drive to make it big as a singer. Ha! Now I know better. Oh, I still love to sing, and I'm pretty good at it, but no one has come beating down my door to make me a star. 

For the last 20 years, I have been a graphic artist and designer, so I thought what better than to take that one step further and study computer science. So for the last two years I have studied nonstop through the summers and school years for my degree and happily I am in the home stretch. One more month in this semester will give me one more year until graduation.Yahoo!

There is quite a difference going to school as an adult compared to as a teenager/20-something.Here's a few:

1. No extra-curricular activities.
   In my 20s I was involved in everything. Choir, student government, yearbook. Now I have a husband, four kids and actual responsibilities. Extra curricular activities consist of making dinner for six every night, grocery shopping and designing for my clients here and there.
2. I actually have to learn this stuff, not just get a good grade.
   I don't know why that hit me this time around, but not when I was younger. Maybe it was because I had been going to school my whole life at the time, so getting a good grade was my job. Now I know that that learning, understand and being able to apply the material is substantially more important than a good grade. I still like those too though.
3. Don't procrastinate.
   I used to be able to do an all-nighter to finish a paper. Now all of my study time is scheduled so I get a good night's sleep every night. I just have too many balls in the air and too many people counting on me to put things off.

So, I'm still here. I might blog more. I may not. It's currently Spring Break and while I do have some time off I am still, you guessed it, studying.

First Day of Summer?

Well, apparently I sailed right through the entire spring without making a single blog post. I'd like to say that I was off doing amazing, adventurous, epic things. Just imagine that was indeed what I was doing. You know how it is... there is a season for everything and apparently this wasn't my season for blogging. Oh well... I'm back now.

May was a crazy month. I visited 3 states in 4 weeks. That's saying a lot for someone with four kids at home and a job to take into account.

The first weekend I took a trip down memory lane and headed back to my aluma mater to visit a group of gals that I traveled and sang with in college. They're like sisters... so how come it took nearly 20 years to get together again? Absolutely pathetic.

Four days together was just too short a time to spend together. We picked up where we left off 20 years ago... except that we had a whole lot of life in between. We sang, we laughed (a lot), we cried (a bit)... and I'm eagerly looking forward to getting together again, much sooner than 20 years this time.

The following weekend sent me back to my former home of San Diego to pay a long overdue visit to my best friend, Shannon. For the first time ever, instead of getting together to scrapbook, we got together to... RUN. I always said that I would never be a runner unless something was chasing me, but apparently Shannon converted me. It was she that inspired me with her frequent running to add that to my non-existent workout routine a year ago, so I thought it fitting that we run 5k together.

Color Run Orange County was the setting for our first run... and I will never ever ever sign up to do a race in the middle of the day in the summer on a airport tarmack again. So hot! Needless to say, we did a lot of walking so that I wouldn't faint, but nonetheless it was a blast.

We went from the Happiest 5k on Earth to the Happiest Place on Earth: Shannon and I spent Mother's Day at Disneyland! A part of me felt it was kinda mean to go to Disneyland without our kids on Mother's Day, but I must say, it was evil fun.

The third weekend I stayed home -- for my sanity.

The final weekend of May was Memorial Day weekend, which we spent in camping in Moab with my parents and some friends. We spent the weekend four-wheeling, eating, sightseeing, eating, hiking, eating, rafting and, well, eating.

Good times for all... until we went to leave. We had unknowingly entered the Twilight Zone, which wouldn't actually let us leave Moab. Our Suburban broke down on the way out of town and we ended up spending an extra three days there. I'm just glad we had our camper.

So, there is my May wrap-up. Hoping to get caught up to June in my next post... hopefully not 6 months from now.

Lucky Number 13... 2013

I have high hopes for this year: new home, new jobs, new schools, new friends. The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades. At least that's what I'm hoping. 2012 was one of the hardest years of my life with financial struggles, the closing of our business, and the picking up and moving 1,000 from home. While I still mourn the life I left behind (mostly friends I desperately miss every day), with the beginning of a New Year, I have hope that this year is going to be a good one.

Now that all my children are in school fulltime, for the first time in 12 years, I have a job outside the home. Just before Christmas I started working parttime at Archiver's (a scrapbooking chain) as a class instructor. So far I'm really enjoying it, not only the scrapbooking atmosphere and nice coworkers but also bringing home a paycheck.

I'll also be turning 40 this year. In celebration of this great milestone, my best friend Shannon would like to run a half-marathon together. With a 5K under my belt, I think I can be ready to add another 10-miles onto that total by October. *gulp* Gotta love those 10K and marathon trainer apps on iTunes!

Gotta get back into music. Leaving behind my regular singing gig at my church back in Idaho has been a real hole in my life since I moved. The Christmas season really solidified that longing as it's one of my favorite musical seasons. Not only that, but I have wanted to learn to play the guitar for years now. I think that time has come.

I'm not really into the whole "resolutions" thing, but I do feel like good things are in our future. As I say goodbye to the old, I welcome the new with hope.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

 

Eye of the Tiger And All That... Sort Of

I always said the only way that I would be a runner is if someone was chasing me. Even then, I'm not sure that I wouldn't just rather have them catch me than actually run. But this year something changed. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but since I hate running so much I decided that I wanted to conquer it. In my mind I felt like because I dreaded the idea of it so much that it had somehow defeated me. So on my quest to get into better shape, I decided to take up running (which I wrote about previously how I started here) in May.

Fast forward six months. My move to Colorado put a bit of a delay on my intial goal to run a 5K -- altitude change and lack of oxygen is a major hurdle -- but I finally completed my first goal on Thanksgiving day, running the Redline Turkey Day 5K. My goal wasn't to be fast, but just to run the whole thing, which I did. My husband, kids and sister were there to cheer me on, even braving the constant chilly wind that blew the whole morning just to be there. I loved knowing that they were waiting for me at the finish line.

3,000+ runners is certainly energizing. I had my playlist on my iPhone to set my pace so I didn't push too hard to stay with crowd. The first two miles I felt great. The last one was rough -- uphill and into the gusty wind -- but I kept putting one foot in front of the other and ran to the finish. My pace was 13.2 minutes per mile, which won't win any races, but I'm happy with. I know I'll get faster as I keep training and more than anything I'm just proud of myself for getting it done.

My next goal is to run a 10K, which I would like to do in the spring. My best friend would like to run a half marathon with me for my 40th birthday, just 10 months away. I find that having a goal keeps me motivated to keep getting out there and pounding the pavement.

Oh, and an added bonus... since I began running I've taken off 25 lbs. Add that to the 15 I lost before that and I'm down 40 lbs for the year. All in all, it's sure has been worth the effort.

Four Most Dreaded Words

The four most dreaded words a mother can hear from her child: Mommy, my tummy hurts. I woke up to those exact words from my 8-year-old son last night. On the positive side, I was able to get him set up with a big pot in his bed before the main event began. Finally closed my eyes for the night at about 5 a.m. only to be awoken by the ever delightful sound of my alarm too soon after. Spent most of the day recovering from lack of sleep and doting on my boys (they're both sick now).

The horror of these words is not the single event that follows, but instead the dread that it's going to make its way through the entire household before it's done. It's like a poisonous snake hidden in your home: you're not sure where it's hiding and you don't know when or if it'll strike again.

So now we wait. And disinfect everything that anyone might possibly touch. Maybe, just maybe, it'll pass the rest of us by...

Cookie Day: Salted Mudslide Cookies

Yeh, yeh, I know. I'm an inconsistent blogger. So live with it. Trying to do better, get it into my routine, see if I can truly make a go at writing down my thoughts. 

Cookie day today. I don't really like store-bought, pre-package cookies. Anyone else thinks they're just too crunchy? Cookies should be chewy inside with a crunchy outside, chocolate oozing with each bite. Store-bought cookies just aren't like that, although I will make an exception for Girl Scout Samoas, but then who wouldn't? Anyway, I try to make at least one batch at the beginning of every week for the kids' and my Tall Man's lunches... and to much on myself from time to time. All that running makes for a healthy appetite.

Pinterest is a great enabler. Cookie recipes galore. Today I made Salted Mudslide Cookies from How Sweet It Is. Yum, yum! Chocolate chocolate chip with coffee and Kalua? Who wouldn't want to try them?

*I didn't use chocolate chunks because I had chocolate chips in my pantry. Still equally yummy. And I sprinkled the salt on before they baked which worked just fine.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Halloween

Now that we no longer live in the boonies where no one but us could see if we decorated for the holidays or not, my kids have become very gung-ho about making sure that our house is all decked out. Halloween being our first holiday in our new neighborhood home, they have been planning for a month to deck the halls with spiderwebs and pumpkins. In the spirit of the season (ha-ha, spirit), I saw this black tulle wreath in the Pottery Barn catalogue for my front door. Not wanting to shell out the fortune for the one in the catalogue, I decided to make one myself. Heading to Hobby Lobby with list in hand, I grabbed a few simple items and literally threw this together in about 30 minutes.

• Roll of black tulle (25 yards about 7" wide) - $3.99 (Used 40% off coupon)
• 9" embroidery hoop - $1.29
• Wide orange Polka Dotted Ribbon - $3.99 (on sale for $2.00)
• Orange Cardstock
• Thin Ribbon for pennant

This craft was not exact in the least and so easy I had my 6-year-old helping me tie the tulle onto the hoop. I cut pieces off the roll of tulle about 12-16" in length and knotted them one at time around the hoop, using the entire roll (which I was very relieved that one roll was the perfect amount as I really didn't want to make a trip to buy more).

For a little added touch (which wasn't on the one in the Pottery Barn catalogue), I designed up little pennant banner, printed it out on orange cardstock, trimmed it out and strung it on some purple gingham ribbon I had in my stash, tying each end of the ribbon to each side of the wreath. You can download and print out one of your own below onto an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock.

To hang the wreath, I cut a 3' piece of the wide polka dotted ribbon and looped it around the top of the wreath and actually stapled it to together to hold it on. To hang it I just used some strong tape and taped it to the inside top of the door.

Easy Peasy. And I think it turned out very cute. Take that, Pottery Barn! ;)

BOO Pennant template download (pdf)