Snow

While Kelly and I were in Rigby over Thanksgiving break it snowed in Pullman but by the time we got back the day before Thanksgiving most of it had melted. So when it started snowing last night I was pretty excited, Kelly wasn't. If you don't already know I love snow...at least until about the middle of January. The first snows of winter are always my favorite because they always have big flakes and they are usually pretty peaceful. Last night wasn't too much of an exception. I was a little windy but the snow was wet and abundant...perfect for making snowmen. So I'm very pleased to introduce you all to Bob, our snowman. He'll be in town for awhile if you want to visit. We aren't sure when he'll go away (or when a drunken college student stumbles into him and knocks him over), but for now he's here to stay.

P.s. Sorry about the poor image quality, these were taken with my cell phone, so they obviously aren't that great.

On A Happier Note

So as I was finishing up that last blog I realized that it was a bit of a downer. So I thought I'd do a bit of a more light-hearted post now...just a few quick things that have been making Brian and I laugh lately!

Dainen Peterson (and Elise and Jaaron too)
One of the new apartment coordinator couples this year are the coolest people ever. We LOVE them. We also love their little boy Dainen. He is a super cutie! Not only is he cute though but he also has the sweetest personality. We usually get to sit next to them at church and Dainen is just so funny with his snacking. Just this last Sunday we came in a few minutes late (which is very unusual for us of course) and went to sit next to them. When we got there I gave Dainen a quick wave and he looked up and gave me the sweetest wave and then crawled over his parents to come sit with me and Brian. We fed him cheerios the entire time which of course makes us pals and played games with Brian and his funny faces. Dainen is just a super cute and fun kid who brightens my day. To describe him I'll relay a story Jaaron told us. Dainen was at swim lessons. Things were going well. Then at one point the swim instructor looked over a Dainen. He pointed at her with his finger and then motioned for her to come over with his fingers. To me that is the funniest image. This little kid pointing at an adult and having such authority to have them come over to him. It don't know about you but it cracked-me-up!

Evie Rippy (and her parents too)
Another person that's got me giggling everyday is little Miss Evie Rippy. She's just the sweetest little girl who can give the best smiles. Stacey and Jeff are kind enough to let me steal her whenever I go over there. She's just a little bundle of joy. She's my girl. We love to go over there and play with her, and if ever she's a fussy I just sing the Nutmeg library to her and she quites down (possibly to shut me up) but it works so who cares. The way I feel about Evie can be summed up by a quote from Elliot on Scrubs "I'm gonna go hold the crap outta that baby."

So, yes, there may be a pattern. But it's no secret that I love babies. And since it will be awhile until Brian and I allow ourselves to have one of our own, I will be using and abusing (in a loving way) these two sweet angels.

There are other things in my life that are good and happy, but most of them have to do with Chemistry and my daily expanded knowledge of the subject...which is boring to most people. Just wanted to let you all know that while things are a little boring and kind of sad around here sometimes, there are lots of good things going on too!

Visualizing Your Goal

This Friday I went and visited with Skip Paznokas (yup, that's his name) he's the guy in charge of science majors who want to teach high school sciences. I had heard about this opportunity at another university called a Masters in Teaching and wanted to see if it was an option here at WSU.
Basically a Masters in Teaching is the golden ticket for me...the cake with all the icing on top. With a MIT (that's short for Masters in Teaching) I would be able to get a BS in Chemistry, without having to take all those crappy, waste of time (no offense to any Ed. Majors out there) education classes, and then spend one concentrated year earning my teaching credentials and wind up in the end with not only a BS in Chemistry but a Masters degree to boot. I'll be it it's not a masters in Chemistry but that doesn't matter, just the fact that it's a masters in anything is enough to make me more marketable and bump me up a pay grade. I will be doing a Chemistry Endorsement for my MIT which means I have to take one more Biochemistry class (the lab corresponding with the lecture I took) and then I'll be set. Skip also recommended doing a general science endorsement, so that I can teach other classes too. But he said that I can always add on endorsements as I go. This was good news because the general science endorsement would require I take more classes than I really have time for...classes like astrology, and geology and who has time for those?1?!
So this is good news and bad news. It means that I definitely know what I'm going to do with my life and have laid out the breadcrumbs to follow the right path but it also means that I'm definitely going to be in school for five...count em' people...five more semesters. Which sucks. I'm really ready to be done with school now. I'm tired of the constant studying and the endless string of busy days and no fun. But don't start panicking now people...I will not give up. I (well, Brian had a part in it too) have made this decision to get my degree and not give up until it's finished, so I'm not going to give up. I promise. It just feels sometimes like we're stuck in this no-man's-land between being kids and being adults. Because no matter how old I am, if I'm still in school somehow it doesn't really feel like I've grown up. And I want to grow up, I really do. I want to finally get out of this state of being and become that person I was destined to be. It just appears that it is going to take me a little bit longer than expected.
But that's okay, because when I'm all done with this it will be worth it. Stacey and I were talking about all this is other day and she said "just think about all the paper work you and Brian will be hanging on your walls...". And so I guess I can hang it all up on my walls, and looking at it I'll be able to remember and (hopefully) be happy about the journey that I took in getting there.