College Update

In May I graduated from the community college.  I had taken classes during the day to complete as many courses as possible as quickly as possible.  That allowed me to study while the kids were in school.

In August I began taking university courses.  Now I am working part-time from home in the mornings, I take classes at night, and the kids take up all the time in between.  I am finding it more difficult to find the balance and to stay on top of the increased reading load.  Many of my classes are offered in 8-week blocks, rather than the 16-week semester format.  Some weeks I have 3-4 chapters to read in a textbook, and one class has 3 books!  I completely LOVE my classes and feel like I am learning so much, but I am also never current on my reading load.  I hate that.

When I was accepted into the university program, they said I had 19 classes to complete to graduate.  Although they offer classes three nights a week, I decided to only taking classes on two nights.  I feel my family needs me at night more than I need to be loaded down with homework.  Good choice considering how busy I am as it is!  Anyway, I calculated that it would take me 5 semesters to complete the 19 classes.

Two weeks ago the university advised me that I only need 10 more classes, or a total of 14 classes from start to finish.  I guess my final transcripts from the community college showed that I didn't need some of the electives they had originally projected.  That simple change cut out an entire semester!

I was really excited and talked to my dean.  She made an appointment to review my proposed class schedule to make sure that I take all the required classes.  During our review, she proposed an internship for my job because it relates to my major.  That means.....I can graduate after only 3 semesters! 

So I will be graduating in December 2013.  I probably won't be a very good blogger in the interim, but it is for a good cause. 


Speaking of college, Emily is a senior this year and has started applying to colleges for next fall.  This week she received her first acceptance letter!  It isn't to her first choice college, but it is one she wouldn't mind going to if the first choice doesn't pan out. 

It is crazy to think we will both be in college next fall.  She's growing up fast!

Graduation 2012

I graduated from the community college last week.  I am so excited!

Front row seating for the lady with a bad knee.  I was the third name called.

Before the ceremony began.  Naturally, the picture was taken as I was whipering in Megan's ear!

Shaking hands with the president of the college.

And then a hug from her, as well.

My fan section:  niece Stephanie, daughter Megan, nephew Eric, Mom and Dad, and sister Sharilyn behind the camera.  Unfortunately, my other two daughters were sick that day.

My friend Sandi and her two daughters came, too, but had to leave because one of Sandi's daughters got sick during the ceremony.  So glad I wasn't the one who got sick that day!   

I only have 19 more classes to go to get my bachelors degree.  I begin classes at the university in August.  I can't wait to get started!

An Elegant Evening

Our bishop recently attended a nice dinner and thought, "We should do that for the adults in our area."  The result was a very elegant evening with great food, great music, and great company.

It looked like a wedding reception - very lovely.

After dinner, there was dancing in the center of the room.

These lovely centerpieces had several battery-operated "candles" in them.  When the lights were dimmed, it created a very intimate atmosphere.

We planned food for 120 people, so we had to use the overflow area, too.

The meal included pork loin, baked potatoes, green bean casserole, individual side salads, rolls, and cheesecake for dessert.  It was a great deal of work, but well worth it. 

Surprise!

I had a voice message this morning from Emily's math teacher.  He said there was a problem with her math grade and we really needed to take care of it.  Then he held up the phone and his entire math class sang "Happy birthday" to me!

I am so sad that I missed hearing it live.  I would have love to tell them how much I appreciated their thoughtfulness.  However, now I have it on voice mail and can listen to it again and again. 

How sweet of Emily to get her class to sing to me.  It totally made my day!

Math Help

I have returned to college to complete my degree.  I took a math class last semester and have two more to take.  I wore out the erasers on my mechanical pencils so Heather bought me something to help out next semester.

I don't know.....Do you think it is big enough?

(I can't decide whether to laugh or ground her!!)

C is for Cookie

Every great speech starts with a "hook".  This was mine.

I gave a speech this week on the origin of cookies, how cookies arrived in the United States, and some history about American-made cookies.  I thought I'd share some of my research with you.

- Cookies are thought to have originated in Persia, in present-day Iran, during the 7th century A.D.  The Persians were one of the first to cultivate sugar.

- Early bakers would test their ovens by putting a dollop of cake batter on a pan and putting it in the oven.  When the little cakes were done, the oven was hot enough to bake the full-sized cakes.

- By the 14th century, cookies were commonplace throughout most of Europe.

- Cookie recipes were first brought to America in the 1600's by Dutch immigrants.

- The word "cookie" is derived from the Dutch word koekje, which means "little cake."  Apparently, the little cakes were popular enough that bakers started making a whole panful of them.

- Although cookies remained popular with home bakers through the 1800's, due to the high cost of sugar they were typically reserved only for special occasions.

- In the late 1800's, commerically manufactured cookies became quite popular.  Below are a few that you might recognize from grocery shelves today:

Graham crackers were introduced in 1898.  They are named after the Reverend Sylvester Graham who advocated a diet that included vegitarianism and eating only whole wheat flour.  Apparently, he felt the white processed flour wasn't healthy.  Many followed his health plan so Nabisco marketed these crackers following his guidelines.

Barnum's Animal Crackers were first manufactured in 1902.  They were named after circus showman P.T. Barnum.  He and his circus made a tour of England, where people were enthralled by his animal show.  English home bakers began to make animal-shaped "biscuits" to go with their tea.  Nabisco decided to follow suit.  The crackers were first sold in little boxes with strings so they could be hung on Christmas trees.  The boxes still have strings on them today.  There are currently 17 different animal shapes available.  Can you name them all?

Hydrox chocolate sandwich cookies were manufactured in 1910 by Sunshine Biscuit Company.  They were so popular that Nabisco created a similar cookie two years later.

Oreo cookies were an instant hit.  They have been the best-selling cookie on the market ever since they were introduced in 1912.  Ironically, Hydrox was always considered an Oreo knock-off, when really it was the other way around.

Girl Scout cookies were originally homebaked cookies sold by local troops to earn money.  The national organization decided that it was a great idea and commerically manufactured cookies were first sold in 1934.  In the following year, they introduced the boxes with the Girl Scout logo with which we are all familiar.


Despite all these yummy cookies on store shelves, most people still agree that homebaked cookies are the best.  Of homes where people bake, 90% report baking cookies....and more than half of the cookies baked in American homes are chocolate chip cookies.  These popular cookies were created quite by accident in the 1930's by Ruth Graves Wakefield at the Toll House Inn Restaurant in Whitman, MA, while making a batch of cookies that called for baking chocolate.  Legend has it that partway through mixing up the dough she realized she was out of baking chocolate so she chopped up a Nestle chocolate bar.  She thought the chocolate would melt and spread throughout the cookie dough.  Instead, the chocolate retained its shape so chocolate chunks were in every bite. 


Her customers loved the new cookies and their fame spread.  Before long, her recipe was published in a New York newspaper.  Several years later Nestle began marketing chocolate chips. Ruth sold Nestle her recipe in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate chips.  Her recipe has always been printed on the Nestle chocolate chip packaging.  Because of the name of her restaurant, the recipe is called Toll House Cookies.


I actually just set out to find a quote or two about cookies to include in my speech, but I ended up speaking only about the history of cookies.  While I typed my speech, my niece baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies, which I handed out after my speech.  After all, “A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand."

Pick Up Lines

This summer I am taking two Communication courses.  Both classes have numerous activities either in class or as homework that are designed to encourage interaction with other people.  Tonight my homework was to find out the BEST and WORST pick up lines people have used or heard.  I had a meeting at church and we got some assistance from friends.  Below are our family favorites:

My favorite: 
Life without you is like a broken pencil….pointless.

Megan's favorite: 
While standing side by side, ask “If you were a pirate, which shoulder would you want your parrot on?” Point to the shoulder closest to you and say “this one…” and then reach behind her to point to the other shoulder and ask “or this one?” Slide that arm around her when finished.

Emily's favorite: 
Boy: How much does a polar bear weigh?
Girl: I don’t know.
Boy: Enough to break the ice. (Boy then introduces himself and shakes her hand.)
 
Heather's favorite:
Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?

Stephanie's favorite (my niece who is staying with us): 
 Ask to look at the clothing tag on her top.  After reading the label, say, “I knew it!  It says MADE IN HEAVEN.”

Others we liked:

Are you going to kiss me or will I have to lie to my diary?

I lost my phone number. Can I have yours?

Hey, you must be tired because you’ve been running through my mind all day.

Are you from Tennessee? Because you are the only “TEN I SEE.”

Is your name SWIFFER? ‘Cuz you just swept me off my feet.

My name isn’t Elmo, but you can tickle me anytime you want to.

Let's make like fabric softener and Snuggle.

Were you arrested earlier?  It's gotta be illegal to look that good.
Do you have a Band-Aid? ‘Cuz I scraped my knees when I fell for you.

Something’s wrong with my phone….your number isn’t in it.

Boy: Can I borrow your library card?
Girl: Why?
Boy: Because I am checking you out!

There’s something wrong with your hand…It isn’t in mine.

Are you a parking ticket? Because you’ve got “FINE” written all over you!

If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together.
 
 
And a few we found a bit disgusting:

My love for you is like diarrhea...I just can't hold it in.

If you were a booger I'd pick you first.


The best part of the assignment was laughing and groaning at the cheesiness of each pick up line.  Who knew that summer school could be this much fun?

Summer Vacation and Other School Stuff

The girls are out of school for the summer.  Yahoo!  I am as relieved as they are.

On my last day of school I had one of my instructors approach me about participating in a bachelor's degree program at the community college.  One of the state universities has a distance learning program on the community college campus, so I can take all of the classes right there without moving.

One of the main reasons for moving was because I was told only 24 of my previous credits would transfer to Arizona.  I do not want to repeat 36 credits so I was going back to my old school.  However, I found out that universities accept more credits than community colleges do.  (That would have been nice to know way back when!!)   I had my transcripts reviewed and learned the state university will accept all but 8 of my prior credits (mostly religious ones), so we are staying put.  The girls are thrilled and so are our extended family....and our friends.

Yesterday I met with the community college advisement office.  I need to complete the state general education requirements before Fall 2012 so I needed to find out what classes would satisfy the different requirements.  In addition, I found out that I can meet all pre-requisites for the state program AND an Associates degree by next May!  I will have a pretty heavy load for Fall and Spring, but I am closer than I realized.  That is certainly good news!

I will be taking two classes this summer, cramming 16 weeks of study into a mere 5 weeks.  However, these two classes are pre-requisites for all other pre-requisite courses for the state program.  I need them before the Fall and Spring courses can be taken.

I also found out that all my science courses transfer as electives but not as science classes.  The differences in state requirements mandate that I re-take two science courses, this time with labs.  The other frustrating news is that the labs are two and a half hours long each week....in addition to the normal three hours in lecture time each week.  That's five and a half hours of class time for four credits.  Ugh!  But I am determined to make the most of it.  I just have to decide which two classes to take:  chemistry, astronomy, or nutrition. 

While my daughters are celebrating the start of summer vacation, my short summer vacation will be over this weekend.  I start classes again on Tuesday.  However, I am excited because every class I need is now mapped out for me and I will be able to see the progress I make.  I am so excited to get my degree!

Change is Good

Once upon a time, long, long, long ago, I attended college for two years.  One of the things I have always regretted is not finishing my degree.  I have spent an extraordinary amount of time lately pondering and praying about this.  Going back to school after so long was pretty intimidating.  My parents and others have reminded me repeatedly that change is good and provides opportunities for growth.

My biggest struggle has been that taking one or two classes at a time I would drag out graduation.  I want to graduate before I am eligible to retire!  I was talking with my sister one day and said, "I wish I could just go to school full-time and be done with it."  She responded with a question that would haunt me for weeks:  "So why don't you?"

What a chain reaction that comment has created!  I could bore you with all the details, but instead I will simply summarize:

- I am enrolled full-time at the local community college this semester.

- I have been re-admitted as a full-time student next fall at the university I attended previously in Utah. 

- I have been offered a job at that university, working for one of my best friends.

- I will be moving the end of May.  The girls will spend part of the summer with their dad here and then join me the middle of July.

I have heard "all things in moderation" so I guess I went a little overboard on the whole "change is good" concept.  I have tremendous changes happening in my life right now, but it is exciting and it certainly does feel good.

Birthday Baking

Heather decided to bake a cake for my birthday.  My favorite cake is chocolate with white frosting.  On the box there was a picture of a 2-layer cake, with frosting in between the layers.  Heather thought that looked really yummy and decided to make that kind of cake.

Unfortunately, Heather's mom is a slacker mom.  I either bake cupcakes or I bake a cake in a 9x13 pan.  I don't even own the round pans used to make a 2-layer cake!  Poor Heather had no idea how to make a cake that looked like the picture and Emily wasn't around, so Heather improvised.  She spread a layer of cake batter in a 9x13 pan, spread some white frosting on top, and added the rest of the cake batter.  She then baked it, fully expecting the cake to come out like the one on the box.

It didn't come out quite like she had hoped.  You can see the frosting that oozed out one end.  Plus, she set the digital timer and forgot to push "start" so it cooked a little too long.  However, the middle part tasted amazing! 

I love that she took the initiative and made the effort to make something wonderful for my birthday.  I guess Heather and I need to spend some quality time in the kitchen.  Sounds fun to me!

No More Pencils, No More Books

Last January I went back to college. I have wanted to do this for years and years, but I always thought it would be too hard to do. Being unemployed kind of gives you a good motivator to upgrade your job skills. Ha Ha So I finally took the leap of faith and enrolled in two classes.

Every Saturday I drove downtown for a 3-hour class. It was actually very interesting....and the 3 hours went by very quickly. I really enjoyed the class, the instructor, meeting the other students. It wasn't necessarily easy, but it was definitely easier than I had thought it would be.

I also took a Microsoft 2007 online class. I have been helping a friend deal with a family crisis for the last month or more and got behind on the assignments so I spent a lot of time recently trying to catch up. Other than the nested formula in Excel, I found this class wasn't as horrific as I expected, either. And I learned some really cool stuff tricks. Heather was trying to do something on the computer for her homework and I showed her the tricks I learned. She was very impressed.

So I learned a few things:

1. I am not too old to go back to school.

2. Don't get behind on your homework!

3. Learning is fun. (I knew this but sort of forgot for a while.)

4. It is possible to know something about computers that your teenagers don't know.

I couldn't get into the next pre-requisite course during the summer so I will hold off until fall. But I am done for the summer. Yahoo!

(My girls are jealous. Emily has 8 more class days and her sisters have 5.)

Thoughts on Blogging

When I started this family blog, I had several goals:

~ to help family and friends who live throughout the country stay current with family events.

~ to remind myself (and others) to look for the fun in everyday events.

~ to find a creative outlet for myself that would also somehow have meaning to others.

After the inital burst of blogging inspiration, I have begun to feel a bit like the person who carries on conversations with no one but themselves. I have no idea if anyone is actually reading my posts or if what I post is interesting to anyone but me.

I read somewhere that there are several kinds of blogging love languages. The two that apply to most people are as follows:

1. There are those who read the blog and leave comments and feedback on the posts regularly.

2. There are those who lurk, meaning they read the blog posts but never comment so the blogger doesn't know they were there.

I am usually a lurker. I read my friend's blogs but I don't post comments very often. Perhaps there are other lurkers out there who read my blog but never let me know that they have stopped by.

I would like to ask anyone who reads this post to leave a comment, just so I know that someone other than me actually reads my blog. Thank you!

Cat Napping

I took a few pictures recently and decided to load them onto my computer this afternoon. To my great surprise I found the above picture. I guess I should be glad that all the kids did while I was sleeping was take my picture!

I swear we have the funniest cat. He fits right in with my crazy kids. I love them all.

Peeping Tom

I named my blog "The Spice In Life" because I wanted to remember to laugh at all the every day things in life. So today I had to take a picture of one of those random things that makes life so much fun.

When I pulled into the driveway this morning I had a weird feeling. It was almost like someone was watching me. I looked around and didn't see anyone at first. And then I saw this....

My neighbor's recycle bin at the curb

My neighbor had thrown a cardboard box into her recycle bin and probably didn't think another thing about it. However, the box had holes that looked like a face....almost like someone was either hiding in the recycle bin or trying to get out.

It made me chuckle every time I looked out the window or left the house. The recycle truck didn't come by until after lunch, so I had plenty of chances to smile today. I finally walked out and took the picture so I could share it with you.

Back to School

In January I went back to college. I am planning to graduate in paralegal studies. It was kind of scary to go back to school after two decades out of school. I wasn't sure I could do it but I have found it is very exciting.

I love my Intro to Law class, which I attend every Saturday morning for three hours. Our instructor is a practicing lawyer but he explains everything in everyday language. I have found it really interesting. I can't wait to take more law classes next term. (Who would have thought that I would ever say that?!?!)

I am also taking a Microsoft 2007 course online. I installed the Microsoft 2007 programs the day I started doing my assignments, so I am totally new to this stuff. It has been a bit more challenging because I am not familiar with the screens, but so far I have 100%. Slow but steady. Ha Ha

The girls are excited because I have homework, too. (Misery loves company!) They are also excited because their dad Pat volunteered to come over EVERY Saturday while I am in class. He has "encouraged" the girls to do their chores and he takes them places afterwards. It has been good for all of them to have more time together. I really appreciate his support, though the girls are less excited when they are spending "Daddy time" doing chores. Hee Hee

Magic in Mesa

Last weekend I attended a Single Adult conference in Mesa. None of my single friends were available to go with me, so I went alone. However, I met some really great people there. I am always surprised at how many truly amazing, friendly people I meet.

I arrived shortly before the afternoon fireside. I stood outside the church building talking on my cell phone when a couple pulled up to the curb and got out. The gentleman began unloading things from the trunk while the lady walked right up to me and shook my hand. I was surprised, because I was on the phone and I didn't know her. It turns out she was the speaker, Kristen M. Oaks, wife of Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles! We talked for a few minutes and then they entered the building.

After my call was completed, I entered the building and went to the chapel. Sister Oaks was on the stand preparing for her talk. The gentleman was sitting alone in the middle of the chapel. Since I didn't know anyone there, I figured we could be alone together so I sat by him. It turns out his wife and Sister Oaks are cousins. Sister Oaks was staying with them. We chatted on and off for about 30 minutes as the chapel filled.

Right before the fireside began, the gentleman's wife and daughters arrived. His wife sat between us and chatted with me immediately like we were old friends. We chatted some more after the fireside. I mentioned that I wanted to go to the church bookstore a few blocks away and buy Sister Oaks's new book. Her cousin insisted on sending me a copy. She took down my name and address and said I will have the book within the week. Amazing lady! I met her children and grandchildren after the fireside. She introduced me to them like we had known each other for years.

After the fireside, there was a goofy olympics event. They planned events like riding scooters, jumping on a pogo stick, playing water volleyball, and playing a twisted version of kickball. The kicking team had to wear unusual footwear, like clown shoes, big animal-shaped slippers, and swimming flippers. The team in the field had to wear boxing gloves, socks, and other items that would make it harder for them to catch and throw the ball. It was pretty funny to watch someone run around the bases while wearing big, floppy yellow flippers.

The dinner that night was followed by a magic show by Craig Davis. He came by our table before dinner and spent 15 minutes doing card tricks. He was really good, and extremely funny. His magic show was so much fun! The magic show was followed by a dance.

I was a bit nervous about going to these events alone. I find comfort in having someone I know with me. However, I met some really wonderful people and exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses with several ladies I met there. I am so proud of myself for stepping outside my comfort zone.