Out With the Old . . .

Today was the ever-anticipated

annual gingerbread house breaking

ceremony. This is one of our

family traditions of ushering in the

new year.

It is kind of spooky how we can

work so hard on something and

then have so much pleasure

watching it fall to the ground and

break into a bazillion pieces.

Our family is totally jazzed

about the new year. We are so thankful

that we have so many blessings as a

family and truly do look forward to

what the Lord has in store for us

during 2011. We are praying that

the construction of our new home

proceeds along well and we are

totally excited at the anticipation of

living in our new home during the

holidays next year.

Personally, I plan to continue being

the best wife, mother, daughter, and

granddaughter than I can be . . . with

much help from the Lord. I am excited

that I will be completing my comprehensive

exams for my PhD in October and then to

begin the dissertation process at this

time next year. Included in this journey

will be a trip to Dallas in March and a trip

to Anaheim in July.

I pray that I can continue

to do all of the many things that I do

well and pray every moment along the way.

I pray for peace and forgiveness as difficulties

present themselves.

I pray and am so grateful for my family and

wonderful friends. I am excited to take part

in your exciting journeys as well and fell

so blessed to be a part of your lives.

Blessings for a spectacular NEW YEAR.

Happy New Year's Eve 2010.

How can this be? Where exactly did

2010 go? I must have blinked as

it flew by. Just the same, I realize

that our family is blessed beyond

measure and are so grateful

for our many, many blessings . . .

most of which we do not even

begin to deserve.

That said, 2010 was a wonderful

year for our family as we were

able to relocate to Reno and

begin anew here with many

exciting adventures in the near future.

We are so excited to begin construction

on our new home, continue working

hard in home school, continue the

PhD journey, attend to business

as the Lord sees fit.

We are praying that you and

your family have a wonderful

2011 and that this new year brings

you all of your hopes, dreams, and

desires.

Happy New Year!

Home Again, Home Again . . . Jiggity Jig.

Yeehaw! I will be back in the Biggest Little

City in the World tonight at about

midnight. I certainly cannot wait!

We have big weekend plans including

flix, church, and family fun.

I cannot wait to usher in the new

year with my favorite people.

Cost of PhD weekend . . . expensive.

Going home . . . priceless.

Day 3 . . . Brain Drain.

Over the course of the past few days, I have

met some incredibly nice people that

I am excited to keep in touch with. It will

be nice to have others that are going

through a similar journey to talk with

during the PhD experience.

This is where it all takes place . . . goodness.

I feel like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz":

There is no place like home.

I cannot wait to click my heals tomorrow

and head home to my little crew.

This shindig ends tomorrow at

noon . . . I will be heading back

home to snowy Reno, Nevada.

I.cannot.wait.

Residency Experience . . . Day 2.

Goodness! I do not like the single

life Sam I am. I feel like I am missing

a big part of myself without my little

family. Thank the Lord for texting,

cell phones, and emails. We have kept

in constant communication.

The wake up call came at 6:15a.m. Florida

time (3:15a.m. Reno time) after a sleepless

night in my hotel room. I definitely do.not.

like to sleep without my husband and

the occasional child.

I spent the ENTIRE day in classes with

a brief break for lunch and a fifteen

minute bathroom break. Tomorrow

proves to be more of the same.

I am chalking this up to experience

and another notch in the pole

of this doctoral journey.

Counting.the.minutes.until.

I.am.back.with.my.cute.family.

And So It Begins . . .

After riding on trains, planes, and automobiles, I

FINALLY made it to Jacksonville, Florida at 3:00a.m.

this morning. It took 14 hours to arrive here from

Reno with all of the crazy uncharacteristic weather

on the East coast.

I am here and I am loving every single moment!

God is so great to me! I have already met several

women who have so much in common with me

and we have become fast friends. This is proving

to be a wonderful educational experience and

one that will instill even more determination

to achieve my goal of PhD.

Reflecting on the journey thus far, I am so

grateful to my family and I realize without

their love and support I would not have

made it to this point. I am so thankful

for my little cheerleading section.

You.are.amazing!

Up, Up, and Away!

As hard as it is to imagine, I am on my

way to Jacksonville, Florida for one of

my three doctoral residencies.

I cannot believe that we have managed

to have a wonderful CHRISTmas with

our fabulous family, unwrap presents,

attend church services, go to movies,

go shopping, drive around and look at CHRISTmas

lights, cook three HUGE meals . . . all in the past

two days.

However, duty calls and I am on my way

to cram my brain with yet more important

information related to school administration

and organizational leadership. I cannot imagine

leaving my little crew for several days, but

I know that they will have tons of fun

with their new CHRISTmas presents and

be ready to celebrate the New Year in style

when I get home late Thursday night.

We already have plans for weekend movies

and spending our other CHRISTmas gift

certificates!!

Jacksonville . . . ready or not, here I come!