Thursdays.

Thursdays are my days off from work and school, though usually I am still working at home, grading papers or prepping or something of the likes. The kids and I really needed to have a good day this Thursday. I stayed up late the night before grading. Even though I was tired when I got up the next morning (after a whopping 5 hours of sleep), I woke up with the determination to have a great day.

The kids slept in until 7:45, a beautiful thing in itself. I made oatmeal for Mylie for breakfast and she told me it was delightful! DELIGHTFUL, she really said that. I knew that moment we would have a fabulous day. After a bit we headed off to the library for story time. When Mylie was little we went to story time every week. It has been a long time since we have gone and the kids loved it. We checked out a big ol' pile of books. We met Alicia and kiddos there and then decided to go to lunch, our husbands met us too and we had a delicious, oh so yummy lunch. The kids were all so good, we had great food and great conversation. The kids and I then met Melissa and the kids at a new {amazing} scrapbook store in Boise. Such fun! We browsed around, picked up some supplies, and signed up for a crop next week. Mylie picked out some valentine's paper.

We came home, Blake {kind of} went down for a nap and Mylie and I scrapbooked. We worked on projects, decorated valentine's mailboxes and just had a lovely afternoon. Blake got up and we read stories and played. It WAS a delightful day. No one argued or yelled or talked back {including me!}. Blakey only went to time-out a handful of times {hey, he is two, it is to be expected}. It is SO easy to get SO busy. I'm trying very hard to make all my moments with my kids quality moments.

My Dove chocolate fortune today said, "Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances." Note to self, remember that!

Message in a chocolate

Tonight I had a Dove chocolate (well, I may have had more than one). Inside each chocolate is a little message. Tonight's message is one that I think all moms need to remember. "Remind yourself that it's okay not to be perfect."

One more to add, "Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances."

Farewell dear friend!

A few weeks ago I sold my camera to my sister Courtney and upgraded to a different model. In October, when she was visiting, I was taking some pictures of Lila and she mentioned how she really wanted to get a camera like mine. I said (because I am Grandpa Jack's granddaughter, so apparently everything is for sale) that if she decided she really wanted to get a DSLR camera to let me know and I would sell her mine and then upgrade. I didn't think much about it, but not too long later she told me she did want to buy it and we struck up a deal.

Right after Christmas I found a used upgraded camera body for a great deal and got it. As I was getting my camera ready to ship to Courtney, I literally started crying. And although I was very excited for my new camera, I was feeling very melancholy. I think it is because this particular camera was much more than just a camera to me.

After Mylie was born, I had terrible post partum depression for a long time. I was head over heels in love with Mylie and so happy to be a mom, but it was just a tough time for me. Because of that, I was slightly apprehensive about how I would be after Blake was born. I had enjoyed photography as a hobby for a long time, and my interest in it increased as my interest in scrapbooking increased after Mylie was born. I knew that to really work on my photography skills, I needed to upgrade to a DSLR camera and so shortly after Blake was born, I did. Jeff is so supportive of my hobbies and I think he knew too, that having a new hobby to focus on in the post partum time would be helpful ... and it was.

I have spent hundreds of hours studying photography in the last almost 2 years. I have read books, studied online tutorials, participated in an online photo community, and taken classes. I'm not claiming to be a super photographer, but I am really pleased with how my photography skills have improved since that time. I can tell a difference in my pictures. I understand f stops and shutter speed and ISO. I can look at a picture (usually mine) and identify what I could have done differently to make it a better picture.

That camera represented all of that to me. All those hours of studying, thousands of pictures taken testing out what I had learned. It represented me not sinking into the depths of depression after Blake was born. It represented all the moments of our family's life that I have captured in the last two years. For a few days, my camera sat on my desk I wasn't sure if I could send it to Courtney. I started working with my new camera and getting the hang of it. My D40 is now Courtney's D40 and it lives in Iowa. It has already taken super cute pictures of little Lila (http://jcschreck.blogspot.com/). Courtney has a great eye for photography and I am excited to hopefully have a hobby to share with her. I am excited to watch her skills develop. I am certain my old camera is happy in its new home.

My new camera and I are becoming friends. Although it is the same brand, there are some difference that took me a bit to get used to. But I know this camera has the potential to do great things and I am excited! I am grateful to have a hobby that I really love and a family that is supportive of it!

Determination

Today Jeff tested for his black belt in Kenpo. It was a 5+ hour physical test and he has already limped up the stairs to bed. This is a picture I snapped of him the other day as he was practicing. I am so proud of him and of his determination. He was been working on this for over 6 years. He gets up every morning at 5 to train. {I don't get out of bed at 5 for anything!} I'm so impressed with this dedication and determination. Six+ years is a very long time to be working towards something and I am so very proud of him!!!

I'm someone's Dr. Tatum!

When I originally registered for college, I was a journalism major. I thought I wanted to be a writer. I had registered for a criminal justice course as an elective because it sounded interesting. Dr. Tatum was my professor. After the first day of class, I went and changed my major to criminal justice and never looked back. I took many courses from him in my years at Ricks College. He was an excellent teacher, knowledgeable in his field, and really cared about his students. I think very fondly about him to this day and truly believe he inspired me to the career I have today. I still keep in touch with him and actually went back to guest speak in one of his classes last year.

At the end of last semester I had a lot of students come and talk to me. Some of them told me how their view of the criminal justice system had changed as a result of our class. Some told me they have changed their career path after our class. One young man stayed after the last day of class to talk to me. He is 18 years old and is on track to finish his bachelors degree in 3 years. He has plans to go to law school and wants to become a judge. He is Hispanic and I connected him with Idaho's only Hispanic judge during the course of the class. He has had many opportunities to meet with him this semester. He told me that our course helped him to map out his future, he wants to be Idaho's next Hispanic judge, and if he sticks to his plan, he could apply for a judgeship by his 30th birthday. I was so impressed with his dedication and planning. Then he told me that at 14 he committed a felony and that he never thought his life would take this course. I had chills.

I left last semester with the thought that I am someone's Dr. Tatum. I am helping students determine their career paths, and hopefully I am inspiring them. I am helping them shape their views about the criminal justice system, about the courts, about the laws of this country.

I just finished the evaluations that my students did last semester on me and a teacher and on my courses. Seriously, I had tears in my eyes when I was done. I know that is cheesy, but it reaffirmed to me that this is what I want to do. This is the path I want my career to take. I LOVE teaching at a community college. Students are there because they want to be. They really want to continue their education and better themselves. Our classes are a great mix of students, I have parents (and even grandparents) returning to college, or starting fresh for the first time, I have students who just graduated from high school, I have students in high school who are doing concurrent enrollment, I have students who just released from prison, I have individuals who have lost their job and are retraining for a new career. I love being a part of teaching them. It is a great feeling to have a job that I truly love!!

He did it!

Last night was Blakey's first night in his big boy bed. We were a little nervous about how it would go. Apparently no need to worry. Little man went to bed at 6:30 and slept until 7 this morning. Yay!

Big boy bed!

A certain almost 2 year old little boy got a big boy bed. Jeff put it together when he was in bed last night and when he woke up this morning, there it was and he was SO excited! Today's nap will be his first try in it, we'll see how it goes!

I cannot believe how fast he is growing!