JASON'S HOME!!!!

Doreen's dream homecoming didn't happen! No not at all. She went to the airport with visions of missionary homecoming viral videos floating in her head and that's not what happened. Instead she was standing there staring at the arrivals board waiting for Jason's plane to land. Every other flight was going from "on time" to "landed" to "arrived" but flight 5682 just kept showing "Now 6:22 PM" which was 17 minutes early! 

She with all the kids except Kray were just chatting away waiting for the message to change when they hear a commotion over by the wall were Steve and Kray were sitting. She looks over and there is Jason! 

Jason has snuck up on us! He came the one way we didn't expect him to come and because we weren't watching for him missed him. Thank goodness he didn't miss us. He walked up to Steve and Kray and asked, "Are you waiting for me?" 

We are so glad to have him home again! He is going to be going to BYU Provo at the end of April. 

Before we could go home we had to stop by Five Guys and grab a burger. Funny but the last family meal we had before he left on his mission was a Five Guys burger too! 

BYU

As a homeschooling mom you always wonder if you did right. Thankfully I've been able to get four of my children into our local Community College and three have been accepted to four year Universities. Now I can say four kids have been accepted. Matt got his letter of acceptance to BYU Idaho. He will hopefully defer to serve a mission this summer. 

For the record Kray was accepted at BYU Idaho, BYU Hawaii (where he went), and WSU. Jason was accepted at BYU Idaho before his mission but deferred and while on his mission reapplied to BYU Provo and is going there. Mike deferred his enrollment at BYU Idaho to serve his mission. I only have two left! WHEW!

PASSED!

Back in November I did something very crazy; I enrolled in a certificate program to become a certified personal trainer. I am about 18 months from being out of a teaching job as Jessie will be heading off to community college. I still am young and we have college tuitions and missions to pay for. Since about mid summer I've been thinking about what I was going to do with the rest of my life and watching Netflix all day just didn't appeal to me. I looked at the job listings and although I have been teaching for 20 some years, I don't have a degree (didn't finish my degree after Steve graduated). And I really don't want to teach. I really wasn't qualified for anything but office work and that really doesn't appeal to me. I wanted to be able to set my own schedule and I don't need benefits. 

I went to lunch with a friend and we were discussing this topic and she said something that made me think. She asked me what I wanted to be when I was in grade school and jr. high. In third grade I wanted to be a vet because they just played with cats and dogs all day. Then I did a report on what a vet really does. After they showed a photo of a vet performing an operation, I decided I needed a new profession. Thankfully that was in third grade. It was around the fifth or sixth grade that I wanted to be a coach. Well, if you are faithful reader of the Blanding Bugle you will know that I did do that and now I'm retired from coaching soccer as Jessie is no longer playing. But my friend got me thinking. I've helped a number of people pick up running and I've designed a few running programs. That's sort of like a coach. I started my internet search and decided to try my hand at becoming a personal trainer. 

I bought the course, studied my brains out for 9 weeks, took another three weeks studying late into the night and every spare moment and took a test! I was very nervous and worried as all the practice tests I had taken had not gone so well. But, look at the photo and you will see the word PASS! What a relief!

Now for clients!

A GYM - A sign of true love

True love is spending your Valentine's Day installing your wife's new gym floor. Steve showed a lot of faith in me because he bought an expensive rubber floor, sold his pool table, ripped out the old gross carpet and laid the new rubber floor so I can have a gym. A gym that doesn't have any clients yet! What faith! What love!

I'm in love with my new floor! 

EXTRAS because I can