I DID IT!

I finished and survived this semester!

With the help of Jayze and my instructors, of course. :)

Jayze and I had our doubts before this past semester started - sometimes at the same time, most of the time at different times. It was nice when it was at different times because then we helped the other have faith again. But finally with lots of bouncing the baby in the bouncer; meeting at the school to car/baby swap; staying up late while Aidan was asleep; cooking late dinners; throwing laundry into the washer and dryer (thank goodness we have a washer and dryer in our house) and sometimes folding it; reading tons of poetry, short stories, and novels; watching a few movies for both of my classes; forgetting to eat lunch a few times; meeting new friends; learning new things; and finding the motivation to keep going, I finished the semester!

Despite all the stress, it was totally worth it. I'm so glad I didn't defer because it was a great semester.

Timeline:

• September 15: School started.
• September 25: Aidan's Birthday!
• September 29: Back to class.
• September 29-October 17: Playing catch-up, especially in my online class. My instructors were awesome.
• Midterms somewhere in there.
• A few papers now and then.
• Watched a few movies.
• A few projects.
• Finals is next week...what?!
• As you can tell, the semester was kind of a blur...
• December 15-19: Finals week. 
• December 25: Final grades posted. 

I learned so much this semester. School is way more fun when I worry more about learning than about grades - although grades are important too. :)

I learned to love poetry, particularly the Romantic Era. In my on-campus class, I learned that it's a lot harder to translate fiction to film (e.g. To Kill a Mockingbird, Rear Window, And Then There Were None, and so on. There are SO many films out there based on literature.)

And I learned that including God made ALL the difference.

Thank you to all those who brought Jayze, Aidan, and me dinner - it meant a lot. Thanks Mom for spending a whole week with us! I don't think all of those doctor appointments after Aidan was born would have been possible without you, as well as retaining my sanity. And thank you to my instructor's who let me play catch up for a couple of weeks. 

So, here's to this past semester, and here's to another semester coming up soon!