Sunday September 30, 2012

I haven't written in Ashley's blog for such a long time, I thought I would post an update on our family.  We had the most wonderful summer!  We didn't take any fancy trips, but we did get to spend lots of time together as a family.  The boys were able to take swimming lessons.  I was so proud of them and their progress.  Austin passed out of all the levels three years ago.  He is a super swimmer and diver.  Spencer is moving into Level 5.  His strokes are looking beautiful!  Preston is moving in to Level 4.  He finally got the hang of diving and loves it!  (0:  His front crawl is amazing!  It makes my heart so happy to see them become powerful swimmers.  I just love swimming myself!  Now we can all hang out in the deep end and we love every second of it!

We were also blessed to spend time in Burley with my parents.  I haven't been home for a very long time.  I knew I wanted to go home for at least a week during the summer.  We went at the end of June.  It was am amazing week!  We spent time with my parents, helping them.  We got to see the grandparents.  The boys saw their cousins, which they LOVED!  (0:  While we were in Burley, we were able to get Ashley's headstone ordered.  When she died, we had the money for her headstone. But when Jason quit his job, and we moved to Logan, we thought it best to hang on to the money.  Thus, we never got her headstone put up.  My wonderful cousin and sister decided she needed her headstone.  Unbeknownst to us, they rallied the family together and presented us with the money we needed to erect her headstone.  As I said before, I have the most amazing family!!  (0:  It turned out so beautifully!  I will have to post a picture of it.  What a great blessing to finally have it done!!  Thanks so much to everyone who contributed!!  We couldn't be more grateful!

Another blessing that came this summer was Jason's promotion at work.  Sadly his promotion came because his boss was diagnosed with leukemia.  They asked Jason to step up in his absence and take over the financial part of their business.  He became the finance manager and the construction manager over Wyoming.  It has been very stressful at times, organizing and creating spreadsheets to keep track of the information given to him, but he has loved the new challenge!  It was so great to finally see them recognize the talents Jason has.  Now that we are starting to see the financial rewards of his promotion, he is doubly happy.  Like I said before, our family has been so blessed!

Given my school schedule this fall, I decided not to go back and work at Woodruff this year.  That decision was a hard one!  I loved working there!  However, I have to look to the future.  It is vital I gain the experience I need to get into the graduate program I desire.  So, at the current time, I am volunteering with two research groups.  Thankfully, it is only two!  I am also homeschooling Austin again this year.  He is with the Utah Virtual Academy, and we love it!  I spend about three hours in the morning with him before heading up to campus.  He is doing great!  I know I won't be able to homeschool him next year, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.  I am hoping time and maturation will enable him to focus better in school.  Truly, it is the focusing and organizational part of school that is hard for him, due to his ADHD.  The other boys are doing wonderfully well in school.  Spencer is in 5th grade and he has a super awesome teacher.  Preston is in 4th grade and also loves his teacher.  They both have good friends and are happy.  I can't tell you how hard I prayed that my boys would be happy this year.  They are and I know it is an answer to my earnest pleadings to my Father in Heaven.

Yes, my schedule is hectic.  Between homeschool, research, keeping up with my classes, and keeping up with my family, I feel like my head is in a vice pretty much every day.  This is the cool part though.  My body doesn't handle stress very well.  When I am stressed, I start to feel sick.  Two weeks ago, I started feeling sick.  My head began giving me fits again.  Yes, I still do struggle with vertigo!  YUCK!  I was so tired, and I didn't see how I was going to do all that I need to do and remain sane! I was staying up late and getting up early, and it still wasn't enough.  I started to pray for help.  I know Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers.  I can't tell you how I did it, but I was able to get through it all.  I got through the tests.  I got through the meetings, observations, and trainings.  And I am alive to tell the tale!  (0:   There is no way I did it on my own.  I was carried every step of the way!  That is the cool part!  When we ask for help, it comes.  It did for me!

Now I am in a bigger conundrum.  As I said before, I have been seriously considering the school psychology program.  I have been praying about school psych for quite a while now.  I thought I felt pretty good about it, but when I started attending the research meetings, something felt off to me.  I can't tell you what it was.  Every time I would go to a meeting, I would come away feeling dark and depressed.  I thought at first it was because I am so stressed right now.  Then, one day it hit me!  Perhaps school psych is not what I am supposed to do.  Perhaps Heavenly Father is trying to tell me something.  Well, that same day I had this thought, I was researching careers online.  One of which I was studying about was play therapy.  I heard about play therapy in my Abuse and Neglect course last year.  I never considered it before because there were no colleges close that offered this program.  Well, I found out two weeks ago that Boise State is now offering a play therapy program.  You first get a master's degree in counseling and then enter the play therapy program.  I was fascinated the first minute I discovered it!  I have been studying about it for two weeks now.  I spoke to the director and she said the best way to find out if it is for me is to attend a play therapy conference Boise State is hosting.  Jason and I are going to attend the conference which will be the first week in November.  I am not saying I am going to pursue that program, but it sounds so wonderful!!  At this point, I am going to explore every option.  I don't want to get into grad school, start a program, and then realize it isn't the right program for me.  No way!  I know there is a career out there for me that I will be good at!  I just have to find out what it is!  (0:

Life is good.  It is not easy, but I have come to love the hard times.  Those hard times have molded me into the person I am today.  I know there are many more yet to come, but with my wonderful husband, kids, and family surrounding me, I know we will survive.  (0: