Math Complete and Doors Open!

I finally did it! I finished my online math course through BYU. After this experience I have decided I will never ever teach algebra and I will never do it again if i can help it. The wonderful thing though is i finally made it over the fence into greener areas! I was residing in a swamp before with this horrible math class. The best part of getting this all over with is that I will not be mad at my loving husband for helping me with math. It got to the point where I had his best friend help by listening to Aaron's instructions and then Rex simplifying what Aaron said so I could understand. Really it was more if Aaron talked to me I would become extremely anger so Rex was a mediator. I think it is safe to say Aaron and I are much happier with this math class out of the way.
It was wonderful to know that i was able to start something and finish it. I have always worried I was a sort of flake. I have my moments just like everyone, when I say i will do something and then it never gets done and I never think of it again. I have using my college experience to prove i am the opposite. I know being a high school drop out never helps much but it is always fun to see the surprise on peoples faces when they find out you can be in college without a GED. Oh how i love to surprise people. And hey I am defiantly staying original. That's what I think I will say, I dropped out of high school to maintain my originality. As my semester comes close to the end i realize that math really took up all my time and I am a little behind. Luckily though the majority of the books that need to be read before the semester ends are no higher than a 6th grade reading level, and my art projects have to do with potato stamps, tear art, finger painting, and painting rainbows! Life is good, I have picked a major where I get to finger paint! Now how many of you can say you finger painted for an hour today in class.
I can't wait to be a teacher and unfortunately is will be harder than school but much more rewarding which in my opinion makes it worth it. i would love to teach at a school but what I really want to do is open my own preschool! When I was younger I had great preschool teacher, who I absolutely love! And growing up her classroom was my favorite place to play! I want to create and environment just like the one Teri created. Finishing this math class really helped me understand that i am really almost there! The door to my future is finally open!
I will soon find out if i was excepted into the program and I am keeping my fingers crossed and I really hope you all are too. I will post weather or not a get in as soon as I receive the letter, my advisor thinks i will get in just fine so keep you fingers crossed, and wish me luck!!!!!

Who am I?

Sometimes I wander whats the point of blogging the only people who read it are my sisters and maybe a cousin or two. But then I remember that the majority of the time i am really just righting down what ever nonsense fill the pages for my self. Sure every now and then I will give an update on our life for the in laws that live far away but really how many updates can one person have.
The past few days my thoughts have been focusing on one thing "Who am I?" I know everyone asks this question probably daily and I know the obvious answer I am Jaimie a daughter of God and a wife that is loved deeply by her husband but there is more to everyone one than that. It may be silly but I have always wanted to that girl that goes out and will fix the fence the kind that will just get the job done with out needing help from a man or being pushed to do it. I have always wanted to be that girl but I am not. The truth I am a girl who fears everything, daily i convince my self that the horse I ride wont kill me or if he takes of and I can stay on. These may be small things for some people and yes it is silly that a person who has been riding horses for over 10years still feels like that scared little girl that had to be led around before she would do anything alone.
Fear has ruled my life in everything, I feel like the type of girl that people after look after and push to get things done. My sister Lindsay has always been the go to girl the girl that if she wanted could go outside and fix the fence. She doesn't need anybody to push her to work she is a natural born worker and We tease her about being needed and always wanted attention but really she is one of the most independent people I know. I have always wanted to be like Lindsay. She gets the job done and she does it with out fear.
I have learned that fear is one of the most powerful weapons the devil uses to keep us from striving and it is my biggest weakness, and I don't know what to do about it. I want to be the girl that get the job done. I know my fears and there are a few I know I can control but there are some that I feel will over come me. I have a happy life and amazing husband and an amazing family but there is something that I am lacking something that I know only I can find. I know this post isn't very clear but these are the thoughts that go through my head daily. I am constantly wondering, what I am doing wrong? Why am I always scared? Who am I? Who will I be?
My fears irrational or rational are there and they keep me from being "That Girl" as silly as it may sound I want to be the go to girl, the one who controls her fears, I just don't know how.

Dreams are meant to come true

This semester in school I am taking a children's literature class, and for once in my life I am excited to read the textbook. The whole book is made up of passionately written textbooks and a lot of it is telling teachers to back off and let the student experience an adventure that no one else can experience. I have always loved reading but rarely find time for it because I am either in class, doing homework, at the ranch, or cleaning. Well okay I clean when I don't have homework so that doesn't happen a lot at the moment but thankfully Aaron understands.

This has helped me remember my dream to write children's books. My blog doesn't really show my talent for writing mainly because I don't always go back over what I write and I just kind of type whatever pops in my head. However, my niece is turning two soon and I thought that was the best way to see if I had the talent to write 10 pages with a couple sentences on each page. Most would find that pretty easy and maybe it is but I have been terrified for some silly reason.

I loved having the idea in the back of my mind to one day have a library of books that I wrote for my children. I never necessarily felt the need to publish anything but I have always wanted my children to experience the things I love most. Today as I sat in my Art class for elementary school teachers instead of listening to the lecture that I will probably be quizzed on unfortunately, I just wrote for 2 hours and before I knew I had a story about a girl who loves stars and every day her mom kisses her good night and tells her to shine bright. I don't know if it is any good or if it a work of art. I don't know and I don't care because I did it. Now for those who don't know my niece loves stars which is where I got the idea and I tried to write a mom that resembled my sister and I know to her Margaret shines brighter than any star in the sky.

I don't really know why I felt the need to share this with the maybe two people that read my blog but to me the accomplishment was profound and I will one day have my own library of books for my children and for anyone else that wants to enjoy it.

I hope for whoever is reading this will go out and make time for their dreams and their passions. I know their are mothers out there who may say "You don't have kids yet, try then" or someone with a stressful job or school schedule will always have an excuse. I have a stressful school schedule but this year for once I am making time for my dreams and passions, I am making time because one day i want to say to my children "I live my dreams, so why can't you live yours?" Wake up early, stay up later, just do whatever it takes. We are given dreams for a reason, lets do something about it. I know later in life it will get more and more difficult but the joy I felt today when I called my family to see what they thought or when I called my mom to see if she would illustrate it for me (I am a terrible artist) was one of the proudest moments of my life. I want my future children to know that feeling and I know if I live my dreams then maybe they have a chance of living their own.

Wisdom teeth and thanksgiving

For all those who had a wonderfully delicious thanksgiving dinner in front of you count your blessings that you were able to eat it! Because my family is full of huge procrastinators I of course still had my wisdom teeth in at the age of 20 when the dentists told me at 15 it was time for them to be removed. Well I came up with excuses because call me crazy but i had a fear of have my jaw drilled into and people hammering out four teeth. Maybe it's just me but that just doesn't sound enjoyable. Little did I understand that the longer I waited the more painful it would be for me. Never thinking ahead will always bite you in the butt. Lucky as I was I married a man who dad is a dentist and who has been telling me i really need them to be removed. That was over a year ago when Aaron tried to get me to let his dad do it. Which of course would be free and my parents really enjoyed that seeing as how a non-complicated surgery is about 350 a tooth and I of course had all four, but I still found a way out of it. When Aaron and I got married i knew i was going to have to let Mark do it sense we sadly have no dental insurance we really wouldn't be able to afford it. Recently I had started getting awful headaches, and no matter what i took they wouldn't go away. So of course we called my father-in-law and he said it was time to pull those babies out and when of all day did he want to do it? The day before Thanksgiving! I guess I was lucky because I knew i wouldn't gain the 5lbs that everyone unfortunately gains the week of thanksgiving. You see Americans don't just feast the one day, no we find it absolutely necessary to feast everyday of the week. However I only got one meal because our plans we had for the day before didn't work out because there was a huge snow storm in Nevada that kept us in reno for over an hour and made us 3 hours. However I did have yummy pizza that they made for us the night before the dreaded surgery.

I was lucky enough to have extremely strong drugs, before the surgery so I was almost unconscious but still conscious enough to move my mouth anywhere I needed. You would think I would be falling every where after the surgery because that is when people are really out of it right? Wrong! An hour before I was unable to dress myself, put my shoes on and Aaron and my brother-in-law Don had to carry me to the car on the way to the dentist office. and carry me into the office to sit on the chair. It was all a very odd experience i remember the surgery but I don't remember anything before or after. I do however remember passing out in the bathroom hallucinating that my rather tall brother-in-law was a giraffe and the three younger boys of the family were in a caterpillar costume. I don't know why my mind thought of giraffes and caterpillars but I guess the mind does weird things sometimes. the best part of the whole experience was when afterwards my face felt like it had a case of elephantitis from all the numbing, and the fact that I had to double check that cups of water were against my mouth because otherwise I would spill it all over my lap. Now I am grateful that Mark did because if any other dentist did it I know I would have severe bruising all over my previously pleasantly plump cheeks. Well as you can see it was a rather interesting thanksgiving and today is the first day I haven't had any need to take a massive amount of pain killers! I thought the pain would never end. My cheeks are still a little extra round and i have yet to eat solid food so i am constantly hungry and jealous of the lucky people eating around me. Aaron was amazing and rarely left my side and sense I didn't sleep for three days because of the awful pain I was in sadly neither did he. but he was always willing to run to the kitchen at 3 in the morning to get me another ice pack or dose of pain killers that in my opinion wore off much too quickly. It was defiantly a memorable holiday and I am very grateful that wisdom teeth never grow back, because I never want to do that again!

I hope everyone Had a wonderful Thanksgiving that they will never forget! But if i may suggest something, never wait five years to get your wisdom teeth pulled and don't do it the day before thanksgiving, you will either end up with four impacted extra large teeth or you will just end up slurping mash potatoes and gravy! neither are a good outcome trust me!

Graduation

Aaron graduated!!! I was so proud of him! He made me so happy to be able to see him walk. I wanted nothing more than to see him walk. It was a great accomplishment. Here are a few pictures of the weekend. The ones at the bottom are of the honors luncheon we went to with Aaron's mom! It was such a fun day! I love Aaron so much enjoy the pictures!!

Survey Results

Hi guys, Jaimie's probably not gonna like this, but I'm doing it anyway. Here's a link to see some of the cool survey results. You should probably take the survey before you look though, otherwise it may bias your answers.

http://survey.qualtrics.com/CP/Report.php?RP=RP_3HOdufySLWi5f0g

Our Little home!

I have had a few people complain that i don't blog enough so I thought it would be a good idea to take a few pictures of our apartment! We both feel so blessed to have found such an amazing apartment. We love it so much and have been able to make it feel more like a home now that we have decorated. I still feel like I have a little tweaking to do but for now I am happy with the results of my first time decorating alone.

And now for your tour!


This is our bedroom which really needs quite a bit of my attention but I still need to find a cheap way to decorate and i have learned that I am drawn to the finer more expensive things for the home. I am determined to one Saturday drag Aaron to all the, apparently cool, thrift stores in salt lake and pick out some cool accessories for the bedroom! who knows maybe some good old fashion yard sales will do the trick.

our dining area slash piano room is my favorite part of our apartment even though its a little crowed for two people. It is so great to be able to get ready in the morning and hear Aaron playing the piano. I love to be able to see him enjoy his favorite things whenever he wants. Its also an added bonus because I can now practice for voice every day.

Our living room. I had a surprisingly difficult time decorating the room. The walls are too big!! but I think I was able to pull it together rather nicely and the best part about this room is that the coffee table and end table were only $30!!! Yeah that right I found something cheap for the house!
My kitchen, oh how I love to create fun new things in here! This is my own little art studio! It may be small but it gets the job done. I still have a ways to go in the decorating department here though. i am trying to give a 50's feel with a hint of yellow. so far no yellow but i have the cool clock to give it the 50's diner feel.

Moving on to Aaron's favorite part. this is our Porch, and in the evenings we will come out and light all the candles and either read or just enjoy the occasional thunder storms. Even though our view is the on ramp to i15 it is still a relaxing place to sit no matter how unfortunate the view.

This is the bed for our new little guest! but I have learned she prefers either my lap or pillow directly next me or Aaron. Since Aaron works at home and I work in Salt Lake they get to spend a lot of time together so she will often choose to be near Aaron over me, but this my fingers get licked less so I don't complain.

The best birthday present ever!!!!! we went to the laundry mat once and I couldn't handle it took too long cost too much and was just all around inconvenient and didn't even dry our clothes. So I received a lovely gift from a lovely husband! Yeah he loves me alright. Don't worry they are used very very used. The bathroom. I spent so much on the shower curtain that I couldn't throw it away and I like it and luckily Aaron thinks its fun so instead of having a calm neutral bathroom it is hot pink, black and white. and you know what i think its pretty down right cool! not to mention we have towels with P's embroidered on them! they were a pretty awesome wedding present!

Well that's our home and I promise I will do a better job keeping up the blog even when I don't have anything good to say! I love you all!