nerds unite.

I'm now officially just 1 class away from mortuary school. My summer term class is now complete.

I received my final paper back. I received 150 points out of 150 points possible. How the hell I did that I'm not entirely sure.

Test scores, other than the final, have been posted. I took 19 tests during the term. Overall score? 98%.

The final exam late last week was 250 questions, worth 250 points toward my final grade. I figured out yesterday I could miss more than 70 questions of the 250 and I'll still be 4.0'ing the class. Missing 70+ questions ain't gonna happen.

I'd really like to end this class with a 99%. I'm excited that I hold a strong chance at it. A far cry from the 1.9 GPA I was pulling in college right out of high school, huh Mom?!

I love doing well. I love doing what I love. It feels really good.

**UPDATE**
I received my final grade Wednesday morning - 4.0!! I didn't receive a final % but it had to be in the upper 90's as I received a 96% on my final exam. Woohoo!

'lil Jacko turns 8.

Better late than never is this post.

In mid-July we celebrated Jackson's 8th birthday. It was a great day filled with fun, sun, friends, miniature golf & arcade games... and one awesome ice cream cake that Daddy made. I think if you view the pictures you'll see the gift that really made the day too. Big thanks to the grandparents and Aunt Dee & Uncle Dave for helping make Rock Band happen.

Happy Birthday Boy2, Mama loves you so much that it hurts.

gone too soon.

Yesterday I witnessed my 3rd baby at work.

So tiny.
So very, very tiny.
He was fully formed, so perfect.

I could have held his entire body with just one hand.

I was told he actually lived for a few minutes.
But now he is still.

He was an absolutely beautiful little person.

The first 2 babies I've seen were somehow easier than this one. I don't know how or why... but this one was harder. He was taken far too early from not only his parents, but the womb he grew in.

I'm overcoming the mental hurdles I know I need to tackle but there are days, like yesterday, that are the real tests to those who can succeed in this business and those who simply cannot.

I'm still in it, even if I get choked up once in awhile.

busy busy busy

We've been busy. So very, very busy.

School - I'm at a solid 97% halfway through the summer term.

The house outside is looking awesome - new mulch, trees trimmed, bushes whacked (some got new haircuts, others lost their lives altogether), garden growing & new plants around the flagpole where the bushes once resided. I did a lot of this yard work myself which is shocking to not only onlookers but to myself as well. The weather has been mild & very tolerable and I very well may have been outside more in the past few weeks than I was last summer altogether. I'm pretty sure Garth wonders whats gotten into me as I'm quite the 'indoor air-conditioning' type of gal but since even I don't know the answer, we're just running with it.


We need to keep working on decluttering the inside of our house - the rooms we've done look miraculous. Our 4 kids do a doozy on our house and G & I aren't exactly meticulous 'lil peeps ourselves.

The kids are busy with sports, camps, friends, the sprinkler, fighting, bickering, fireworks lightin' (Garth went a little overboard with our fireworks purchase this year by just a titch) & a side dish of a little more arguing, quarreling & whining thrown in for good measure.


G is busy with work, I work when the kids' camps driving schedules allow. I wish it was more often but what can ya do? I did get offered a 4 day per week semi-set schedule helping with visitations in addition to my regular position. I joke that one day I'll own the place. The reality is I don't want to own the place. Just work there. Long term. I pray the right position opens up for me at this company once I'm done with school and if it isn't to be there, that it will be somewhere as friendly, flexible and awesome.

G & I took a fun weekend trip and toured my new school. AWESOME. SCARY. EXCITING.
Admittedly it's going to be a tough year (academically, emotionally, physically) but worth it. Having Garth's unwavering support through this is unexplainable, heart-warming amazing. I am at a loss for words as to how grateful I feel for that.

My baby boy got his braces on, finally.

Do I dare say it?
I'm happy.

Busy as hell but happy. Happier than I've been in a really, really long time, if not ever. I'm so thankful God showed me the way and that this time I listened rather than once again assuming I selfishly knew best. I've been greatly humbled, I've been loved even when I was loveless, I've been saved. My depression has been lifted, I feel hope again in not only my marriage but in my family, in my life, in my future. My head feels clearer than its ever felt despite having more swirling around in there than ever. I feel peace. I feel content. I feel loved. I feel gratitude. I feel alive.