Summer break is here!

Summer break is here and I am nearly giddy with excitement.  And while it is so fresh in my mind, I want to remind myself of many of the wonderful things in my life. 

• Obviously these two.  Not only do I love these kids, I adore them.  Don't get me wrong, somedays they drive me bonkers ... but I am so blessed to be their mom.  I am so excited to spend the summer with them.  To lazy mornings, to eating lunch in the backyard everyday, to have adventures together, to hug each other, to read together, to snuggle on the couch together and watch movies.  I could go on and on, but to sum it up, I am just excited to spend the whole summer with them. 
• I feel so blessed that I have a job that makes this possible.  
• To go to Grandma's.  The kids and I are planning a couple trips to Idaho Falls.  We are excited to play with cousins - ALL the cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents and GREAT-grandpas.  
• I'm excited to have hobbies that I will get to spend time doing this summer. 
• I am grateful that I get the opportunity to learn new things this summer.  I'm taking a grad class and attending a conference in July. 
• And last, but certainly not least, I am so grateful for Jeff.  Tonight we were watching "The Sound of Music" with the kids and I told them that my favorite part was when Captain Von Trapp and Maria sing "somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good."I feel this way about Jeff.  I can hardly express what a wonderful father and husband he is.  He does so much during the school year to make my life easier, I am looking forward to helping make his life easier this summer.  

Bring on summer!

I feel lucky to love what I do.

Graduation 2012!!

For the second time as a full time faculty member I had the opportunity to participate in graduation.  It is so awesome to watch the graduates walk across the stage.  This year I wore my tassel from Ricks College - in honor of my students who received their associate degrees!

It was another great - yet busy - school year.  In addition to teaching and my regular duties, I assisted the department chair this last year with a lot of her duties.  One of the main things I took on was scheduling 13 different disciplines and 100+ faculty.  Although it was a headache at times, it gave me a good opportunity to learn more about the different programs we have and meet more faculty.  We have an awesome department and I love working with the faculty in my department.  As you can see below- we are a little crazy.

I also have wonderful students - and had a lot of students who graduated this year.  Including my club officers.  I have enjoyed working with them and will miss them as they transfer to BSU.  

Reggie, Heather, and I joke about being work brother and sisters.  Sometimes we probably have more fun at work than we should!  

I know that I am lucky to have the career that I love!  Although sometimes I am tired and burned out, it really is the job of my dreams.  I love working with students, I love working with criminal justice agencies, and I definitely love summer break!!

Summer Reading List

Whoo hoo!  Summer break has finally arrived and I can't wait to read.  Once again, I am trying to break out of my traditional courtroom/police novels.  Here is my summer reading list:

• Long Walk to Freedom:  The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela -I started this last night and it is really good so far!
• A Tree Grow in Brooklyn - Betty Smith -this was on my list last summer and I didn't read it
• Princess Academy - Shannon Hale -my Aunt Jalyn recommended this years ago, I picked it up for $1.99 today!
• Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand -this was on my list last summer as well.  It has been recommended by many people
• The Glass Castle - Jeanette Wells -I have heard this is a very good memoir.
• Hotel of the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Jamie Ford - this one has been on my Nook for at least a year waiting to be read.
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee -I haven't read this in years, but I show the movie to my law & justice students every semester.  
• World Without End - Ken Follett -this is the follow-up (but not sequel) to Pillars of the Earth.  I read it a few summers ago and really liked it!

I am not teaching this summer (whoo too) but I am taking a summer class.  I have really been making an effort the last few summers to break out of my normal genres.  I am excited about this list!  

I looked out the window and what did I see?

This morning instead of rushing out the door hurrying to get somewhere, I took some time with a couple of my favorite things ... my camera and my lilacs.  I was pretty happy with the results. 

Can you almost smell them?

April recap

I am really excited that I have stuck with my picture a day project for 121 DAYS!!  Whoo hoo!  Here is our April in review.  

You can see my whole calender here.

Just what I needed!

This weekend Jeff rode the Frontrunner bike ride (62 miles) in Salt Lake.  You can read his account of it here.

My wonderful mom changed her weekend plans and offered to watch the kids for us on Friday night.  Our plan was to leave our house Friday morning and then meet her in Pocatello and she would take the kids and we would go to Salt Lake - we would head back to Idaho Falls on Saturday night.  When we got to Pocatello, she encouraged us to stay the whole weekend in Salt Lake and said she would meet us back in Pocatello on Sunday afternoon.  She said she remembered having little kids and the need for time away.  I love her more than I can even write.

This weekend was just what I needed for a few reasons:

• I miss Jeff.  Is that silly that we live in the same house and I miss him sometimes?  There are many days when I feel we just see each other in passing and give each other a high-five.  I anticipate the next few weeks to be even busier than the last few weeks.  Hours in the car together to talk and a weekend full of dates was exactly what we needed.  
• I love to see Jeff succeed!  This ride was awesome for him and I love to see him be successful in what he wants to do.  He is such a support to me in all my hobbies, I love when I can extend him the same support.  
• I needed to miss my kids.  I love my kids so much, and love every minute that I spend with them (ok, most minutes ...).  But having the opportunity to miss them is always good.  I was excited to see them, relished in Mylie's squeals when she saw me and Blake's 5-minute (not exaggerating) long hug.  
• I needed to hug my sister.  It was fun to hang out with my baby sister Bailey while Jeff was on his ride.  She met us one night for dinner too.  I can't wait for Courtney to move closer and for even more quality sister time!
• I needed to be grateful.  After we picked up the kids and were driving back, I was driving and everyone else fell asleep.  I had one of those moments that Heavenly Father gives you when you can really see and feel how incredibly blessed you are.  I was thankful to be reminded of this.  
• I needed to recharge.  Aside from the ear infection I have today (ugh), I feel like I can make it through the last few weeks of the semester.  Summer break is just around the corner!  Whoo hoo!