Well, it’s 2009…isn’t that how it’s supposed to start? A new year—onwards and upwards—etc., etc. My main thoughts on this year are “So far, so good.” I had a delightfully long winter break from school, lasting from mid-December until January 20th (about 6 weeks). I spent plenty of time relaxing and watching tons of movies. I also managed to be productive by washing the dogs (yep, both of them, in our tub—yikes!—but not at the same time), sorting through clothes to be thrown out, donated, etc., some seriously cleaning and finally cleaning and organizing “my office”—dusted, reorganized, papers filed, old docs shredded, etc. Not to mention all the baking I did around the holidays (and for Dad’s birthday). I did a double-batch of chocolate chip cookies and a triple-batch of Oreo balls right before Christmas. I don’t think any of them lived to see the new year. I had to make another batch of Oreo balls for the New Year’s party. And just recently dad got red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Yum! Happy Birthday, Dad.
For two weeks of my break I pretty much hung out with Jason on our couch as much as I could. He was working from home the week of Christmas and the week of New Year’s. That was a huge blessing and we soaked up as much time together as we could in between holiday activities. I hosted a shower the first weekend and we were both in a wedding the second weekend. During said wedding, my darling husband had his first opportunity to be Santa Claus. (He made an appearance at the reception since it was a Christmas wedding.) Oh my, what a spectacle he was (and loved every second). You get the gist from the pictures, but let me assure you that Santa shaking his rear to the Macarena for all of the wedding guests was a much greater event witnessed live and in action. For me, the highlight was when he actually danced his hat, hair, glasses and beard right off his face. I hope none of the kids saw.
As of this past Tuesday, I am officially back in school. This is my last year of undergrad and I am already super excited to graduate in December. I am taking 15 hours this semester: Tests & Measurements, Logic & Critical Thinking, Global Perspectives in Art, Counseling Theory & Practice, and History and Systems of Psychology. I think I am going to have my hands full. The art class makes a great break from all the other psych classes, though, and we get to do cool hands-on projects like making masks, Aboriginal painting techniques, hand-made paper, print making, Shibori (a Japanese printing technique on cloth), and other stuff like that. It’s therapeutic and stress relieving for me to have a class where I can plug in my iPod and get to be creative for 3 hours. And this is the last class I need to fulfill the requirements for my art minor.
I am going to have to take classes in the summer and then the fall semester will be my last full semester of undergrad. Then I will graduate with my BS in Psychology and a minor in Art. I also believe that I will be doing my clinical hours this summer. I’m not sure where I’ll be doing those, as I have several places to choose from.
As for Jason, he is continuing to work hard to put me through school. I am so blessed to have a husband who is willing to stick by me and not only work hard to provide for our family, but also to be a constant streaming source of encouragement and uplifting. I constantly hear him saying, “I believe in you! You can do this!” I don’t think I could make it without him. He led a group of sixth grade boys in a Disciple Now retreat last weekend and had a blast. Jesus and wrestling—what more could a group of teenage boys ask for? Feel free to join with us in praying that he will be able to start working from home full-time soon. The drive back and forth to Dallas is killer, especially when he could do the same exact work from our living room.
Well, that’s most of what’s going on with us in 2009, so far. Oh yeah, one of our dogs got in a big ol’ dogfight today. Way scary. I’ll post more about that later.
Jason and I hope that your New Year is going well and that God is filling your life with His presence and His blessing. Until next time…
Sending our love,
Heather & Jason
