A Life Update

Before I get into the update, look at how cute and Fall-ish our apartment looks with all these mini pumpkins and gourds that our friends gave us!

Do you like the drawing? I did that! :) (This has nothing to do with our Fall decorations, I'm just proud of the way it turned out.)

This one looks like a swan to me. 

Okay! That's all my little pumpkins and gourds!

Here's the update!

So, I decided to apply for the Marriage and Family Therapy Master's program at BYU. It's a bit more involved of a process than I thought when I originally decided to do it. But, I'm really excited with how things are going, and I think I have a chance at getting in!

I studied diligently for the GRE for the last month. I had to relearn a ton of basic math principles. And I learned a bunch of new words like "superfluous" and "querulous". I took the test on Wednesday and HOLY COW that test sure is draining. There are 2 writing sections, 2 math sections, 2 verbal sections, and then one extra either math or verbal. Each section is about 30-35 minutes and there is a 10 minute break in between the 3rd and 4th section.

This was the longest I've ever been away from Rose AND the longest Ryan has ever spent with just Rose. I was a little worried about how it would go, but they turned out alright! It was a little nice to feel validated though, because Ryan now understands how difficult it is to get housework done when you have a baby. Screaming babies aren't as difficult to ignore as he seemed to think. ;)

I don't know the official scores for my test yet, BUT the estimated score was ONE point above what I needed to be considered for the program! Hallelujah and thank goodness! Because I do NOT want to take that test again!

That was one step for the application process. The other is that my professors suggested I get clinical experience so I am better qualified for the MFT program. For that, I've been looking for a job at a residential treatment center.

Unfortunately, Ryan pays the bills by working full time but he is also going to school so my responsibility is to watch Rose. Which leaves very little availability for me when looking for a job.

I found a residential treatment center that has a night shift availability and I got the job! I'll be working on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights from 10 pm to 7 am. Which will be tough, BUT it's experience working with people AND it's a little extra money to help Ryan out. I'm a little nervous about the whole work at night, entertain Rose during the day thing, but I'm also really excited about it and I'm so glad that I'm not losing any of my time with Rose to do it!

I feel like all those jobs I got turned down for were just leading me in this direction. I'm not sure if I'll get into the program or not, but even if I don't, I feel pretty accomplished having successfully taken the GRE and finally being qualified for a job that is something more along what I'm interested in. It seems like God is leading me in some direction, we'll just have to wait and see where it leads.

Happy Halloween!

I cannot WAIT until Ryan is done with school and can work hours where he gets to celebrate all the holidays with us! Including Halloween! However, this year is not that year and so Rose and I had to celebrate Halloween mostly by ourselves.

I had these grand plans for us to dress up together and then pass out candy on the front porch. Then I was going to roast some pumpkin seeds for the first time and snack on them while watching Return to Halloweentown until Ryan got home around 11 pm.

What my Halloween REALLY looked like though:

- Studying for the GRE (which I'm taking in 3 days by the way. And the nail biting begins...)
- Running to drop off our rent.
- Realizing that the sun goes down sooner and I have WAY less time to find myself a costume that matches Rose's and take cute pictures than I thought.
- Rushing home squeezing into my ballet clothes from when I took an Intro to Ballet class at BYU 4 years ago. Finding another shirt to put on TOP of that because... nursing. Putting Rose's cute little ballerina outfit on her.
- Lugging Rose, my camera, a tripod, and a blanket out into the cold, cruel, but also photogenic outside.
- Realizing I need my phone to take the pictures, so lugging all that BACK upstairs (because you can't leave an expensive camera and a priceless baby outside by themselves without panicking about all the thieves and kidnappers there are in Provo...are there any?)
- Taking pictures of a grumpy grumpy ballerina who is NOT pleased to be wearing a tank top in the cold weather. (You have to suffer for beauty, Rose. Sorry, but that's what my mom taught me and I have to pass it down.)
- Stepping down on an acorn and bruising the bottom of my foot while lugging everything back inside.
- Changing back into normal clothes, because I just don't make a good ballerina, and feeding the grumpy baby.
- While I was feeding Rose, we got our first trick or treater, so I put her down (to her extreme displeasure) to run down the stairs, and give candy to them. When I came back upstairs to my screaming baby, I was walking on the front of my foot (because the back of it hurt) and got a splinter from the hardwood floors.
- So, then for the next hour I bounced between feeding Rose, trying to get a very stubborn splinter out of my foot, hobbling down the stairs to open the door and pass out candy and then starting over again.
- I gave up on getting the splinter out, and decided to just sit outside all bundled up to pass out candy, but that only lasted 30 minutes because Utah gets cold when the sun goes away.
- Ryan came home early and had to work on homework, but wasn't interested in watching Halloweentown, so he made fun of it the whole time and I just watched it on my phone instead.
- and the pumpkin seeds are still in the fridge a week later waiting to be roasted.

How did your Halloween go? :)

PS. If anyone would like some Butterfingers or Crunch bars, we have SO many left over. Come visit and I will give them ALL to you.

Here are pictures of the cutest little ballerina on the planet though, despite how grumpy she is sometimes. :)

Also, my legs are not THIS white (they actually sort of are, but I'm wearing tights in this picture, so they look even more white. And I'm wearing ballet clothes, so I'm not as immodest as you think... I think.)

Am I the worst mom for bringing her outside dressed like this? I promise it was only for about 10 minutes.)

All the heart eyes go to this sweet girl.

And here we are all bundled up on the porch. 

Also, here are our pumpkins. My cute little owl, and Ryan's sinister looking Jack O'Lantern. 

And, a very concerned Rose inside a pumpkin. "Mom! Dad! What are you doing to me?!"