Decisions, decisions

A little over two months ago I got the brilliant idea that maybe it was time for a brand new life goal, something I could be in charge of and work toward. What is this goal, you may ask? Grad school.

As you can imagine, this is a big decision. There’s a lot of factors to consider from where to go to the time and money it’s going to involve. Not to mention the preparation it’ll take to get there, i.e. a nasty graduate entrance exam, complete with a full prep course, that will cost a nice chunk of change all on its own.

I’ve been pondering if I’m ready to give up pretty much all my free time, my social life and, gulp, my exercise time too. These are all things I value and would have a hard time sacrificing, even though I know the reason you sacrifice is to give up something good for something better. In this case, it would be to sacrifice things I care about in order to improve myself.

Plus, two years of my life is a big commitment. I can see the benefits of why I’d do it, but I’m not getting any younger. This is also more debt than I’ve ever been in for my entire life.

These are all the cons, in case you’re wondering.

The pros are that this is a big goal, something I could accomplish. There’s still plenty of things in life I want that I can’t control, so it’d be nice to have something big like this that I can. It’s more education, better training and may provide a chance for me to advance in the professional world. Quite honestly I can’t picture a world in which I don’t have to work, so isn’t it wise to give myself the best opportunity for professional advancement?

I talked to my supervisor at work about grad school, and she’s in full support of it. She told me my job is perfect for this because it can be flexible, and she also said this will show how serious I am about my career so I can move forward. With support like that, wouldn’t I be crazy to not take her up on it?!

I’ve thought about going the online route, but ultimately decided against it because I want to physically sit in a classroom and have the chance to network with other people. Pretty much everyone I’ve talked to about this has supported the idea. In fact, one person even said, “Nobody ever regretted going to business school.”

I went to an information meeting tonight, and I found myself nervous but excited as I listened to the enrollment counselor talking about the program. I pictured myself in the classroom again (somewhere I haven’t been for quite awhile) with maybe some of the people in the room as my classmates. And I got excited all over again. I’m slightly overwhelmed contemplating it right now … but I still feel good about it.

So, even with reservations, it looks like more school is in my future. Now I’ve got to start on the road to preparation. If I want this, I just have to commit, and then I can go for it!

Our cute house guest

A couple weeks ago my roommate asked if we’d be okay if she dog sat for her friend while she was on vacation. I said yes and didn’t really think about it. What’s one more dog when we have this cute guy already living peacefully at our house?

I was delighted when I came home on Thursday and found this little darling in our living room. Her name is Bella.

I know it’s really hard to believe, but one look was all it took, and I was hooked! I call her the cute little fur ball because that’s what she is. She’s a little shorter and stouter than Max, but she is so precious! It helps that her mommy had her washed right before she came over so her fur is really soft too.

My roomie was worried about her sweet Max getting jealous with having Bella sleep in her room. So … being the kind roomie that I am, I offered to let her come and lay by me. It’s a difficult job, but somebody had to do it. It’s perfect that I now have a nice big bed where she can comfortably lay by me.

Bella is a darling houseguest that I’ve been only too delighted to help take care of. Taking her out early in the morning before I go to work is a bit of an adjustment, but since I’m being a fake dog mom for a few days, I can handle it. I’m going to enjoy my time with her the next few days, and I have to be honest — I’m going to miss her when she goes home.

Yes it has probably strengthened my resolve to have my own dog someday, but it’ll have to wait until I have a lifestyle that’s more dog friendly. Until then, I can be the best dog aunt ever. Just ask Max.

A beautiful conference weekend

Once again we just spent two days being taught and fed by the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the Semi-Annual General Conference, and it couldn’t have been more wonderful! So many talks spoke directly to me and were exactly the message I needed to hear.

For me personally, a couple of the top themes were cheerfully handling adversity and serving others. While I don’t have a lot of adversity in my life at the moment, this conference made me feel like I need to prepare for when it happens … because I do believe it will.

I feel inspired listening to the leaders of the Church deliver messages I know they spent a lot of time, effort and prayer preparing. It just increased my testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and all its teachings.

I was especially touched by Shayne Bowen’s talk on Saturday about losing his son Tyson. The lessons he learned from the experience and his testimony of the Atonement reaffirmed the lessons I learned when my beautiful niece died and how I dealt with it. I also loved Elder Dallin H. Oaks’ talk about children and how it’s our job to protect them and watch out for them. As the Temple and Family History Co-Chair for my ward, I also really like Elder Richard G. Scott’s talk about temple and family history work.

Basically, I have a lot of reading/listening to do in the next little while to remember these inspired messages and how they should affect what I do.

I had the very special experience of being invited to attend the Sunday morning session of conference. It was all that I could have wanted to have in a conference session I attended and more with President Eyring, Elder Holland and President Monson speaking and being able to hear Music and the Spoken Word before.

Here are a couple pictures commemorating the event because we all know I’m the queen of pictures after all. Sorry about the random finger in the first picture.

An incredible conference weekend that’s left me determined to do and be better.