Good Times, Gratitude, Humility, & Anticipation

I'll spare you some time and tell you right now- -this is a journal entry.  If you're not interested, there's no need to proceed past this point.

What a week!

GOOD TIMES

Tuesday, I met at "Spoon Me" with a bunch of my old After School Club co-workers.  I personally wasn't in love with the yogurt, but it was wonderful to catch up with old friends!  Then that night I invited the girls next door to watch "The Biggest Loser" at my place.  I made chili and cornbread for dinner and we had a lot of fun.  Tyson pulled a graveyard shift that night from 10 pm to 6 am and that was a little rough, but he's a champ.

Thursday, I went to my friend Nanci's house for lunch.  She's pregnant!  Which I didn't know until this week and she only has 5 weeks left!!!  I couldn't believe it had been that long since I'd seen her last- -time slips by too quickly.  Tyson pulled another 10-6 graveyard shift that night and it was much better than the first one.

Friday, we headed down to Utah Valley to see some friends.  We went to Jake and Karlie Mitchell's house in Springville for dinner.  Matt and Taylor joined us.  It was a good time, but Teryn was too tired to enjoy so we couldn't stick around as long as we'd planned.  Instead, we invited all of them to Tyson's Grandma Miller's home in Provo where we planned to stay.  Grandma was out in Roosevelt for the weekend, so we were just there to sleep.  We put Teryn down for the night and the rest of us stayed up reminiscing and playing "Buzz Word".  It was a lot of fun!

Saturday, we first stopped at Stephen and DaRae Jones' apartment to visit.  Teryn enjoyed terrorizing their non-child-proofed home.  It gave them something to look forward to =0).  After that, we headed back down to Springville to see Tiffani and Lui Castro.  They have a Black Lab named Tango that Tyson couldn't get enough of.  Teryn is used to playing with his grandparents' small dogs, so Tango startled him a bit at first but he got used to him.  After lunch, we laid Teryn down for a nap while we chatted.  I hadn't seen Tiff since my wedding day and Tyson had never met Lui, so it was great to catch up them.  When Teryn woke up from his nap, we packed up and drove down to Salem to see Blake, Sharon, and Gentry Jarvis.  I supported Gentry when I worked for R.I.S.E. my second year of college.  I developed a friendship with her and fell in love with her family and we've kept in touch ever since.  It was great to see them and it was fun for them to meet Teryn.  We had a very enjoyable visit.  We stuck around only 45 minutes before we needed to be on the road again.  A few months back I won a free photo shoot by Blue Bird Photography so April 9th was the day we scheduled to meet.  We were planning for spring photos in an orchard or up Hobble Creek Canyon, but the weather didn't work with us at all.  It was rainy, snowy, and muddy all day so we changed venues and decided to meet at the Harley Davidson in Lindon.  There were a few covered places that allowed us to get out of the rain and snow, but it was still freezing so we only lasted about 25-30 minutes.  Even so, she got some great shots!  I've only seen the pictures on her blog so far, but I love them all and I can't wait to see the rest!  We got back on the road by 4:45 and were on our way home to Logan.

GRATITUDE

When we arrived home Tyson went out to get the mail.  There was a letter from IHC.  We applied for financial assistance after Tyson's knee surgery in February and had been waiting for the result.  Tyson opened the letter and this is what he read, "Based on our careful consideration of the information you provided, I am happy to inform you that Intermountain Healthcare will adjust $4,103.65 from the account(s) listed above, leaving a balance of $0.00."  Whhhhaaaaa?  We were definitely not expecting that!!  We were hoping maybe $500-$1,000 would be adjusted, but the entire balance??  Words cannot express.  We are so grateful that there are people who donate to IHC's charity, allowing them to serve the needs of their communities.  We will no-doubt give back as our financial circumstances improve, hoping to bless the lives of others as we have been blessed.

HUMILITY

Sunday morning I got a call.  "Sister Todd, this is Brother Thompson from the ward.  The Bishop asked me to call and see if you and Tyson are able to meet with him before church starts this morning."  Three weeks ago when we walked into the chapel, Brother Hollingsworth of the Bishopric approached us and asked how long we planned to stick around.  (Our ward has a high turnover rate at the beginning and end of every USU semester and they know Tyson is graduating next month.)  We told him we would still be here for another year or so and he seemed happy about that.  The next week, two weeks ago, before we went to church Tyson and I agreed that we both thought something was up.  We still hadn't spoken in the ward- -maybe they were finally cornering us to give our introductory talks?  Two years isn't too late for that, right?  When we got the call Sunday morning, we knew something was up.  The Bishop wouldn't invite us into his office to ask us to speak, would he?  No, he wouldn't.  But he would invite us into his office to release me from my 2-year calling as a Relief Society Instructor and call me to be the 2nd Counselor in the Young Women.  Exciting, but also somewhat intimidating.  Going from a room full of women whom I look up to, admire, and learn from to being the woman who is expected to teach and lead by example.  Also, no longer being able to care for Teryn during the 3rd hour of church and giving up my Tuesday nights of Biggest Loser with friends for YW activities.  It will be a lifestyle change and I'm a little bit emotional about it.  But I guess the Lord sees fit that I have a new challenge and He knows me better than I know myself.  I trust in that.

ANTICIPATION

I've mentioned previously that we finally feel like we are getting a handle on our post-grad life.  Tyson will graduate May 7th with a BS in Political Science and another BS in Economics.  We've considered (what seems like) endless options- -none of which have been entirely convincing.  For example, last month one of Tyson's Political Science professors talked to him about the possibility of joining the Poli-Sci Graduate Program.  She told him she would be interested in having him as her research assistant- -researching Eastern Asia.  Both of us were really excited about it but in reality, continuing down the Political Science road isn't what Tyson wants to do.  So we thought about the MBA Program, but there wasn't a particular end in mind there either.  Perhaps he would just find a job and start working?  But he's found little options there.  Back and forth, back and forth, considering options, weighing pros and cons.  This has been our last year.  Until just last week during Conference Weekend.  In our talking about where we're at and where we're going, I mentioned to Tyson that I really don't see him continuing through graduate school.  I know he's talked about it, he's wanted it, he's planned on it......but he dreads it.  He wants to love school and he wants to enjoy it.....but he doesn't.  He hasn't been studying anything he's passionate about.  In contrast, I see him light up when he talks about working on the rigs and when he dreams of building our future home and when he works on his truck, etc.  He's a hands-on kind of guy.  The get-dirt-under-his-fingernails kind of guy.  The get-outdoors-and-enjoy-life kind of guy.  You know the kind.  I told him I could see him getting into a trade of some sort.  Carpentry, electrical, mechanics, etc.  He told me he had actually been thinking about mechanics recently.  Specifically diesel mechanics.  He would be great at something like that!  And the demand for diesel mechanics is high and always present, the pay and benefits are quite good, and it would be something that could take us back home.  Not to mention the program is half the length of an MBA and the price is 10x cheaper (literally).  So as of May 16th, Tyson will start the diesel mechanics program at Bridgerland ATC here in Logan.  It's wonderfully relieving and exciting to finally have something we're shooting for!  And looking forward to!  You'd have to ask Tyson, but I think he's pretty excited too =0)

So that was our week!

And to finish it all off with a bang, Teryn ate soap.
Ah ha ha ha!

Here's to another week!