A Year of Catching Up...

I made this blog atleast 3 years ago now because I have friends who blog and since I enjoyed reading their blogs, I thought maybe I could make one that people would enjoy too. However I always found that I enjoyed the quick convenience of Facebook instead, preferring to just put a quick note here and there. Well, I rarely DO post Facebook updates, I don't really want to talk about the mundane of my life, so I read everyone else's instead.  Recently I've decided that I'm rather tired of Facebook though and all of the things people post. Then, just this week we decided to cut off our Netflix subscription for a while. While my husband goes through some transitions in the work scene, we felt that was an expense we could forego. I admit at first I felt restless, bored, distracted, not being able to watch movies anytime I wanted. Sometimes I watched movies alot, sometimes not so much. But I liked having it available whenever I chose. After the first couple of days I began to re-evaluate where my priorites lie and what should I REALLY be doing with my time on the computer. We order a subscription to the newspaper, but I rarely read the paper itself. It takes up two hands that become inky and it's hard to be able to read through it with a toddler and an infant demanding attention in one way or another, whether it's wanting a snack, a story, a cuddle, or finding out why my child is suddenly too quiet/ screaming at a sibling. So our subscription is wasted on me and though I've debated cancelling it, I've held off because I want to keep updated with the world of news. During this week of reflection I remembered that I can read my subscription online instead, freeing my hands to hold baby and cutting down on the paper waste that drives me nuts. Check one for things to do with my computer time instead. 
Then comes in where I'm tired of Facebook and wanting to change, but not wanting to go to ANOTHER site similar about all of my interests and updates. I may yet break down and check out pinterest or googlewhateveritis, but I thought, I think I'd would enjoy writing more personal reflections of myself and my family on my blog instead. After all, why have it if I'm not going to use it? Check two for things to do with my computer time.
    I've always wanted to go to school and get my degree in psychology, but children came along first and I told myself that could wait, raising them is more important and I'd wait until they were older. Then I decided when my husband, Matthew finished school I'd go and get my degree. Well, during this week of introspection I started thinking about what I could be doing to contribute if I had a degree already. All of my friends have some college/ university education and a degree of some sort or other. I started feeling restless and wondering why do I have to really wait?  There are colleges that offer independent studies online for those who can't come to class, like mothers with young children at home....
  I have been much ashamed to admit and rarely have that I never finished High School. While homeschooling, my family life underwent alot of reform during which I moved multiple times in the space of just a year. So, I neglected my studies and failed to finish my grades. I worked instead, which I found fulfilling and satisfying. I never finished and I never even got my GED.  I promised myself this year I would do it. But here it is October, and I've put it off and put it off.  Well, I've finally had enough of putting things off! I want an education to be proud of. Not one to wave around mind you, but for my own personal sense of satisfaction, knowing I'm a contributing member of society and am capable of doing more.  So I googled GEDs online and found
http://www.gedforfree.com/. Check three for things to do instead.
  
    Now, I've been really remiss in my blogging and it's difficult to recount a year's worth of life in a single entry, so here's a little recap. In the last year we've.....
     * had 2 job changes             *started college
     * had a new baby                 *gone camping
     *bought a vehicle                *gone to the temple
     *sold a vehicle                     *watched my son turn 12 & be ordained to the Priesthood
     *taken a mini vacation to Branson when our otherwise planned vacation was held up
     * given talks in sacrament meeting
     *started home preschooling 
     *completed potty training
     *been released from and received new callings at church
I'm sure the list is longer, but that's all I can think of of of the top of my head. I tried adding a few pics but for some reason it says the server returned failed, so here's what I could get..