So Proud!

There has been so much that has happened in the last few weeks, I don't even know where to begin.  First off, I have to brag about my amazing husband.  David worked so hard to get ready for the concerto competition.  I wrote in my last post about how nervous I was for the preliminaries.  I was actually kind of relieved that I couldn't be there for the finals (I had to go to rehearsal for the IF Symphony in order to go to my mom's graduation that friday).  But my mom and my grandma went to support him in my stead!  That made me very happy because I was sad David wouldn't have family there to support him. 

 

During rehearsal, I kept looking at the clock and trying to figure out if he'd gone yet or to see if he or my mom had sent me a text, but all I got was a text from David saying "you can call whenever" which told me nothing.  As soon as we had a break, I jumped out of my chair to call him.  As soon as he got on the phone, I tried to decide if he sounded happy or sad, but couldn't decide.  I asked him how he played.  Oh, fine.  I messed up a little. So I tried to ask him how everyone else did.  Oh, pretty good I guess.  So do you want to hear who won?  Um...yes!!!  Well there was a saxaphone player......and......(I about started crying at this point because I thought he was going to tell me someone else for the 2nd winner).....and me......   I almost started jumping around at that point because I was so excited!  I knew how hard he worked for it and, no matter how much he tried to act like he didn't care, I knew he really wanted to win. 

 

I am so proud of him and so happy that such a good thing could happen.  It's easy to feel like everything is going wrong in life, so it's good when you get a win every once in awhile!  David asked me if we were going to get him anything special to wear and I said of course!  It might just be a colored vest and tie, but I think he wants kind of a big deal made out of this, so we're going to make a night out of it!  I don't usually like to buy frivolous things, but I can make an exception for this!  The concert, I believe, is on May 23 and we would love for any and all friends and family to be there! 

 

The next exciting thing that happened recently is my mother graduated with her bachelors degree.  37 years ago, my mom started her undergraduate education.  She started at (what was then) Ricks College.  She graduated from there with her Assosiates Degree, and then went down to BYU to get her Bachelors.  In the middle of that degree, she decided to come home for Thanksgiving dinner (something she was debating on).  Good thing she did because that is where she met my dad.  A month later, they were engaged!  And a year after that, married!  The only drawback was, they got married one semester before my mom graduated.  She dropped out of school so she could move back to Rexburg to be with my dad.  She told me that that was the biggest regret she had in her life, not finishing her Bachelors degree. 

 

Well, awhile back she got a job up at BYU-Idaho, and along with that job she could take a few credits every semester for free!  It was the perfect chance for her to finish and she took it!  This time, she decided that instead of textile and clothing, she would do an art degree with an emphasis in Illustration (she is an amazing artist).  It took her awhile to finish the degree because she had to start at the beginning of all the art classes and she also had to take a lot of psychology classes (either her cluster or minor, I don't remember). 

 

I remember when she first started taking classes, she was very nervous about being the "old lady" in the class.  But she got past those fears and worked hard to get a great education.  I remember walking with her through the bookstore and we ran into a girl I went to high school with that was also an art major.  She said hello to me, but spent 15 minutes talking with my mom about all the art classes they had taken together!  It made me laugh.

 

I am so proud of my mom for going ahead and accomplishing the goals that she set out to do!  I know it wasn't easy for her and she always said it was a lot harder for her (especially in the psychology classes) because she has an old brain that doesn't remember things as well.  I was always so impressed at how hard she worked and how much time and effort she put into her education! 

 

I have learned so much from her.  I've learned that you shouldn't let yourself be afraid of going after things that you want.  Also, that learning is a lifelong process.  She is always taken random classes like ceramics, ham radio certification, and all sorts of things like that.  It inspires me to take more chances and to try to keep learning all I can.

 

Well, she really didn't want to walk for graduation, but we all made her so that we could make a big deal and support her just like she's done for us all these years.  Here are some pictures of it to finish off this long post!



She's thinking "I wish I could just go home and chill with my doggie..."

My grandma entertained the boys very well through this whole thing!  Well, her phone did...

The two babies...

The man with the red is my mom's boss.

Yay for a degree!

All of the kids here for our Mama.

This is everyone minus Tyler (Lisa's husband) and David (my husband)

Way to go Mama!