Cinnamon Santas (because that is what I'm eating right now)

It really is amazing how small decisions can lead to experiences you never thought would happen to you. Walking home from school today, I became aware of this concept in my own life. Looking back to when I was a freshman at BYU, I never would have imagined that I would be where I am right now. Let me explain my realization.

Background

During my sophomore year of college, I learned about an opportunity with study abroad to go to Namibia, a country near South Africa, for the summer of 2006. I have always wanted to go to Africa and this sounded like the perfect experience. There was only one problem, I had missed the deadline to apply. I talked to the director of the program and he let me know that he had room for one more if I wanted the spot. After talking with my parents and thinking about it on my own, I eventually decided not to do it. It was extremely hard for me to pass on the opportunity.

As a result, I went home to Boise for the summer and worked. In July of that summer, I received an email about an internship at Y-Be-Fit. I decided to go ahead and apply since I needed an internship for major requirements. I did not expect to get the internship because I would only be a junior, but felt it was a good way to get my foot in the door. To my surprise, I got the internship for that fall semester.

While working at Y-Be-Fit, I got to know two graduate students who became my mentors. One day one of them asked if I had ever thought about going to grad school. I told him, "no," which was the honest truth. I never felt that grad school was for me. My goal was always to finish undergrad and be done for good.

Fast Foward to Today...

I'm now a Co-Director at Y-Be-Fit, I'm in grad school, and I just found out today that my committee chair was awarded with $20,000 to use for my study that I'm really excited about. Actually obtaining a master's degree now seems attainable.

Reflection

• Had I gone on study abroad, I would have completely missed the email about the internship. Or even if I had received the email, applying would have been out of the question because I would have had to work fall semester instead of going to school (to pay my parents back for the trip and to earn money for future tuition).
  
• If I hadn't gone to school in the fall and gotten the internship at Y-Be-Fit, I wouldn't have met Nate and Joel who were extremely influential in my decision to apply for grad school.
  
• In addition, had I not gone to school in the fall, I wouldn't have had some majorly painful experiences that eventually led me to date my husband.
  
• Without the support of my husband, I would not be in grad school. He could have easily encouraged me to start working instead.

And now here I am, with nothing to complain about. Sure, things don't always go well for me on a day to day basis. But I feel so grateful for the experiences I'm having and that I'm where I should be right now. And one day my husband will go with me to Africa.

That is all. Sorry if I wasted your time.

Just Some Movies

We love to watch movies, so I just thought I would share a few of our most recent movie watching experiences.

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

This is one of the few movies we have seen in the movie theater lately. Since I discovered Netflix we haven't had much reason to get out to the theater, but my work gave me a couple of free passes so we decided to give this one a chance. I thought it was a great movie. It was a little bit sad and had quite a bit of lovin' in it, but it really made you think about things. I can honestly say that I felt uplifted after seeing it, it made me appreciate life a bit more.

2. The Graduate

We watched this one just last night. I ordered it from an online edited movie store, which is now going out of business. This is one of the top rated movies on IMDB and I felt that I needed to check it out. For those not familiar with the movie, it is one of Dustin Hoffman's first films. In it he is a recent college graduate who gets involved in an affair with an older, married woman only to later fall in love with her daughter. It was full of awkward moments, which I think made it a lot of fun. The final scene is a classic.

3. The Witches

This one is pretty goofy. It is based on the book by Roald Dahl, so you would hope it would be decent. It was full of really ugly bald women and muppet talking mice. Also, how about Angelica Houston doing some wierd undulations.

4. The Nativity Story

We watched this one as a good Sunday activity. It is a pretty well done representation of the events leading up to and including Christ's birth. The girl that plays Mary is the star of Whale Rider, for which she was nominated for an Oscar.

5. The Gods Must Be Crazy

I got this one from Netflix, and had a really hard time convincing Katherine to watch it with me. She did not think it sounded like much, but guess what... she loved it! She thought it was so funny, and I am sure she would recommend it to anyone looking for a good laugh.

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime

Sorry! Not that anyone reads our blog, but we haven't been too good at posting lately. After finals we got a much needed Christmas break. We went to Boise this year. All my family was there, although a few of my siblings got stuck in Boston for a couple days, due to bad weather.

We had fun playing in the snow with my nieces and nephew, sleeping, playing with Landon's wii (shoutout to Emily), and just having a "good ole' fashioned Christmas, down on the farm" (shoutout to Will). The song starts at about minute three of the video.

Landon got guitar hero and I got a sweet new laptop among other great gifts. We didn't do a very good job taking pictures over the break, but here are a few from playing in the snow.

Jack Sledding with his Snoopers

Will and Allie with their snowman

Annie pulling me on the sled

Mom and Audrey pulling Jack and Allie