It's been a great start to the fall semester. My grade average in Biology so far is an A, and my other classes are holding strong. Biology was my greatest concern since its been 12 years since I've taken a science class. I was hoping to begin a ceramics class this semester, but that didn't happen because I accidently scheduled an advanced studio instead of the intro. Ooops! Just as well I suppose, but I am glad to finally get drawing 1 out of the way. I am enjoying my drawing class and look forward to putting together a solid portfolio for the subject.
This past summer has been one to remember. Not only because of school, but also for love. I met Cat in the spring at the beginning of March. I fell in love with her immediately. She was finalizing her divorce from her previous marriage that had some similarities to my own. We were both victims of a spouse who would not return affection, but instead took it elsewhere. Cat is a wonderful person who has blessed my life in so many ways since we first met. She began talking with the missionaries and was recently baptized last month. We are planning to be married in November on the 19th. We have a couple of financial hurdles to work through before that can happen, the main one is getting a marriage license. Neither of us is working right now, but hopefully that situation will change soon. My budget has run very thin, and it needs to be supplemented with some additional income.
During the summer, I began making hemp jewelry. Cat spurred me on in this endeavor and with her help I made a couple of sales to local shops here in Denton. Look for the PaC labeled hemp at Sleeping Lizards and Easy's Smoke Shop. That did give me some hope for a new business. It has not been much, but the experience is great. I couldn't have done this with any success without Cat's partnership. I hope to do more business soon, and will be at the Harvest Fest on the 23rd of October here in Denton.

some catching up to do

It has been way too long since my last update, so here's a brief lowdown on how the spring went.
I did well in my classes for the semester, and though I could have done better in a couple of them, I was really happy with how well I did in my Design II class where I pulled 2 trophies for best project! I cant take all that credit though, the final project was judged solely on the weight of canned goods donated for each entry, and my friends helped me out there by donating 62 lbs of canned goods. Thanks for that you guys!
After the spring, I took a couple summer classes to boost the GPA, and here we are again for the Fall already under way. Sorry for the slow rate of my updates, but hopefully ill get back in the swing of things and start posting more frequently.

Spring semester begins soon

After all the mishaps and complications of this last fall that caused me to drop the semester, I am much relieved and very excited to begin again for the spring. Picking up where I left off in the curriculum and moving closer to school, I also will be able to attend full time. This will be an important stretch for me, and I have moved all my classes to a morning schedule in the hopes of having my afternoons and evenings open for getting work of some kind. Although this might be a challenge for me, I feel prepared to meet it head on as I pull myself out of my recent troubles to immerse myself into my schooling on a completely new level than I had anticipated before. School starts on the 19th of this month, a little over a week, and I still need to do a lot of things before that time, (mainly packing and moving) but I am very excited at the opportunities I will have this year with this new approach to my life. On a final note, GO COWBOYS! Looking forward to playing in Minnesota next sunday!

White winter Christmas

Snow on Christmas eve in Texas, A cowboys shutout in Washington, more snow tonight, and a great football game to look forward to this Sunday. My girls had a great Christmas this year, thanks to all the friends and family who pitched in, and especially the ward members from church. Between the Barbies, kitchen toys, and new clothes, it was great to see my daughters have so much fun this year. I really enjoyed being able to have them with me for the holiday, and visiting family that I haven't seen in a while. I am also excited to see the Cowboys getting into the playoffs this year, and playing great defence while doing so. Playing the last game at home, and a slim chance for a bye week if we win that game gives me some hope that we can get some post-season wins this time around. To put all things in perspective, none of that really matters when compared to what we should be remembering during this holiday season. Presents are fun, and sports are exciting, but Christmas was supposed to be about the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. It becomes easy to forget what he did for us when we become distracted by so much over-stimulation in our minds. As we creep towards this new year, may we remember that the spirit of God can be with us every day of the year if we but ask for it. So instead of thinking about how much money we can save by shopping early this new year, try to think about how we can all live a little wiser instead. My prayers go out to all my family and friends to be prosperous in their lives so long as they remember to keep the council of our living savior with them in all they do. That is my resolution for myself as well, and with faith in him, all things are possible.

still not workin

Its been about 4 months now since I lost my job, and I still haven't found any work. I had one day of working with a temp agency and nothing else from them yet, most of my cash has come from family members spotting me for gas, which I am extremely grateful for. Funny that when my children moved to their moms house so I could get my situation taken care of, I am still the one that is watching them each day. It's hard to find a job when you have a 4 year old with you all day, and it's just sort of funny that the last 2 weeks I have had to be the one to help out with that. I haven't given up on the job search by a long shot, but it has had many delays that are trying to drive me crazy. The good thing is that most of those delays are from my own children. I can handle that kind of madness and even enjoy it, but it does get frustrating when the landlord calls me to find out when he'll get rent. How can I tell him, "I don't have that, but you need to fix the heater"? It's pretty cold at my house, so there's another reason I don't mind staying with the kids at the ex's parents house sometimes. Blessings in disguise.

Hello December

After leaving this page in the background for all of November, I am finally back to write some more. The Dallas Cowboys are on a roll after a great game against Oakland on Thanksgiving, and can put the NY Giants out of the race this weekend with a win in NY. My fantasy team is also in desperate need of another win this week to have a chance at a playoff spot, and I have a tough opponent. As for me and My family, we all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family and my kiddos really loved seeing their Mee-Maw and Great Grandma, and especially staying with their Auntie Heather, who took them shopping and tried on clothes and shoes. After returning from the holiday weekend, I continued spending most of this last week with them still, as I still have not found any work, and a sitter was needed for a little girl at their mothers house while she was at school this week. I was happy to help, and ended up helping out in a vehicle crisis as well when Uncle Tim needed a ride to work, and Wendy's tire and spare were flat. I was glad that my presence was well needed, and made me feel good about spending a few days away from home again. My utilities have all been turned on again there, and all is well, except for the heater broke right when it got cold outside. Funny how things like that happen, but at least the oven works! Go Cowboys!

new car total cost

Here's what I paid for my '93 Toyota Corolla, $400 for the car off of Craigslist, $181.26 for a new windshield, $58.11 to fix the exhaust, $14.07 for a new turn signal cover on the front, $63.49 to change the oil and brake pads, $15.89 for new wipers, $10.04 for the putty to fix a wobbly taillight, $39.75 for the inspection fee, and finally $137.50 for the registration, title transfer and new plates. Total cost, $920.11 for a running and legal ride that I now hold a clear title for.