Wrapping Up the Year

4.0. That is correct. Four. Point. Zero. I think this is my first semester ever in college to get a 4.0!!! I can't believe it. I figured I would get an A in Organizational Behavior, but never would I have hoped to get an A in Economics! I thought maybe a B+ or even an A-. But not an A. Pretty sweet accomplishment if I don't say so myself. All while working full-time, still taking piano lessons (for the most part), and going through dating disappointment #3. 

Christmas was wonderful. Sometimes it is just so wonderful to go home, be anonymous, and not have to put yourself out there. And that is exactly what I did for Christmas: just spent time with my family. The only picture I took was when we went to the Garden-a-Glow at the Idaho Botanical Gardens. 

 

I came home from Christmas in Idaho Tuesday night - just in the nick of time to beat the mess of weather we've had yesterday and today. We got several inches of new snow Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and then it rained most of Wednesday. During the little bit of driving I did Wednesday, I think I hydro-planed on the freeway several times. And then the real cold front hit last night just as everyone was getting off work (except for me since I took the day off). We had a little blizzard or something because we had quite the white-out for about 30 minutes while it dropped another several inches of snow. And then all the water from the rain and slush froze solid. And today, the roads are pure ice and the temperatures freezing cold! I'm talking 20 degrees. Tomorrow the high temperature is going to fall to 11 degrees with the wind chill taking it down to -2 degrees. So what is a girl to do with all this cold weather and time off?

Oh my goodness. There are so many things that one can get done when she has four full days at home with no plans .... well very minimal plans.

• Cleaned out my old, nasty tupperwares and replaced them with new ones I just bought
• Organized my tupperware cupboard, complete with little baskets for my lids
• Cleaned out all of my old chocolate and candy in my stash and replaced them with all the new treats I got for Christmas
• Cleaned out and organized my pantry
• Organized a few shelves in my laundry room
• Put away my Christmas decorations
• Cleaned out my Christmas decorations to make room for my new, full Willow Tree nativity set (thanks Jill!)
• Cleaned my house
• Re-organized my hobby room closet - I made a super easy-to-access stationary drawer and some drawers for my little outdoorsy supplies (you know ... flashlights, headlamps, batteries, my spork, bug repellent, sunblock, backpacking towel, etc.) it's all so easy to find and access now!
• Created a little tote for gifts to so it's all together and easy to get something to give
• Organized my random crafty stuff: all my crocheting stuff is together, my cross-stitch and stitchery stuff is together, my gift-wrapping and ribbons are all together now... so lovely. 
• Cleaned out all of my old coloring stuff that I haven't used in ages
• Finished and ordered my first blog book!
• Found a place that I can take my recyclables to since my HOA won't get a recycling bin for us. Now I just need to figure out a way to organize the recyclables and where in my house to do it until I can drop them off at the compost station - the recyclables have to be separated. Maybe organize them in my trunk?
• Went to spin class every day
• Went grocery shopping
• Delivered a meal to my visiting teachee that just had a baby (thanks Mom! for helping me make the meal and telling me to not make chili!) :)
• Had my two newest tires rotated back to my front so I can actually have traction in all this snow we have been getting

And things I still hope to do:

• Start another baby quilt
• Go snowshoeing
• Paint my empty frames and hang them 
• Read the book I'm currently reading: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
• Call the lady that is restoring my great-grandmother's quilt to see how it's coming - she said it might be done by Christmas (that is another blog entry to come)
• Make sure my quilt journal is up to date
• Make a butternut bisque soup 
• Dabble on the piano with my new piano book: Piano Solos Film Music The Costume Drama Collection. I finally got it! I ordered it on November 21st! It has pieces from Little Women, Becoming Jane, Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice and other movies.

Okay. So you are probably sick of reading about everything I've done over that past couple of days. So I'll finish. :)

Here is my Willow Tree nativity that I got for Christmas from my sister, Jill! (Correction, she got me parts of it.)

 

Christmas Letter 2010

Merry Christmas!

Well, I’ve completed my first year as a homeowner without any major incidents. Only two more years until I’m free of the new homeowner credit commitment, but I’m not counting down (note the sarcasm). I’ll be here at least until August 2013 when I graduate with my masters degree. Yes! That’s right! I started an evening masters degree program this fall and I’m still working full-time for BYU’s Human Resource Development. I’m in the Master of Public Administration program and I’m loving it! I just finished two classes: Organizational Behavior and Economic Decision-Making for Managers.

Here are some of the other highlights from my year:

• The year’s travels included a trip to Blackfoot, Idaho to visit my dad, several trips to St. George for some biking, a business trip to Washington DC with my mom, a hiking trip to Zions and Moab, Jackson Hole for a mountain bike race, California for the 30-50-70 party with my sisters and mom to celebrate some milestone birthdays! Oregon to reconnect with some distant cousins, and Boise for a little get-out-of-dodge weekend.
• Tried my hand at refinishing some furniture and definitely need some help from those with experience! :)
• Joined the mountain bike racing team again and actually won 2nd place at the Deer Valley race! I also rode the Little Red Riding Hood 100-mile Century ride again with my sister Teri in beautiful Cache Valley.
• Went on a couple backpacking trips to beautiful Grand Gulch and  White Pine Hollow. We really tested the filtering capabilities of my water filter when we drank from a pothole that had tadpoles in it! 
• I even went snow skiing at Snowbird on JUNE 19TH!! That was a first and fulfilled all of my wildest skiing dreams. 
• Received an employee recognition award at work which came with a fancy clock, some cash, and a dinner to The Roof in Salt Lake City
• A couple camping and fishing trips in the fall - one to Calf Creek which I highly recommend! 
• Two epic days of skiing within a week of Christmas - 39 inches of powder is hard to ski in!

Well, like usual it’s been a busy, busy year! I love keeping my life full and fun and packed. But I really love that life has slowed down this past week so I can do what this season is all about - visit family and friends and ponder the birth of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice for each and every one of us. I hope all is well with you and your loved ones and that this letter finds you well and happy! Take care and keep the emails, blog posts, and Christmas letters coming!

Epic Skiing!

Oh my heaven!! I have had two awesome days of epic skiing in the past few days. Once on December 18th with Braden* at Brighton and then yesterday with my sister and brother-in-law at Snowbird. I skied in 39 inches of powder at the Bird yesterday. It was so hard! My skis would submarine into the snow and then the next thing I'd know I'd be kneeling in the snow and had a hecka workout ahead of me to dig out my skis. Wowser. We had a great time!

This is what I woke up to: 1 foot of snow at my house

And this is how happy Teri and I were at the end of the epic ski day:

As soon as I get some pictures from Braden, I'll add those.

*And just so you don't think I'm two-timing Dave.... we actually broke up back in the beginning of November. Kind of sad, but ... such is life. I look at this way: I have more time to do my homework now! :)

Lindsey Got Married!

So my dear friend Lindsey got married December 17th! I'm so excited for her... but I begged her to still invite me to all her and Rob's outdoor adventures - I don't mind being a third-wheel with them. :)

Me and friends outside of the temple waiting for the happy couple:

The happy couple:

First Semester in Review

I finished my first semester of my graduate program. I survived! Not only did I survive, but I'm pretty sure I excelled! At least, I think I did, but everything is relative to my undergrad where I was happy to get Cs in my classes.

I really loved my Organizational Behavior class. So much of it came naturally for me because it's all the stuff that I and we, the BYU Human Resources personnel, have been trying to get our managers across campus to do for ages now! Dr. Thompson was a fabulous teacher. I think I'm going to end up with an A in the class.

And then my Economics class. It was a beast. Dr. Walters is a great man, very helpful, and personable. I can tell he is very smart. But I think he is still ironing out the kinks in his teaching style and method... because we had some struggles with his assignments and exams. The final exam was take-home and it took me 6.5 hours to complete it - I had to do a cost-benefit analysis and do all the calculations and then make a recommendation. While it was a difficult class, I really learned a lot and my confidence in economics as a topic has been boosted, which is good! One of our text books, Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan, was a fascinating! I recommend it for anyone to read. He writes with a lot of personality and with a lot of interesting examples. Unless I bombed the final, I think I'll come out with a B or B+.

So I love my program! And I really think I made the right choice in choosing the Master of Public Administration program. My classmates are wonderful and have a lot of good insights from their work experience. I definitely think the vast array and amount of work experience we all have adds so much to my learning and makes it mean so much more. Sadly, we did lose one of our classmates to a tragic death. She was a part-time flight instructor for Utah Valley University. She and a student both died in a plane crash in Payson, Utah. It was so sad. It just shows, once again, how fragile life is and how Heavenly Father can bring anyone home at anytime.

As for my team - everyone is great! I really lucked out. Everyone works really hard and does their fair share. Dr. Thompson was always docking us points on our team papers because he wanted us to tell him about our conflicts and how we handle them... but we never really had any conflict! We get along great and we did some great work! We'll remain as a team through the next semester and term. But until then, I'm going to enjoy this Christmas break and get some pleasure reading in! And quilting. :)