Saturday, May 25th, 2013
My Dearest Brother,
Well another week has come and gone. I can hardly wrap my
head around the fact that it is Saturday – it definitely doesn’t feel like it.
I am very grateful, however, that it is Memorial day weekend here in the states
so Jake has the day off of work on Monday. Since we are hoarding his time off
like misers now so that he will have enough for our Disneyland trip it is a
blessed event when he gets a day off. We will probably go up the canyon for a
picnic with Matt & Alyssa and then over to our Aunt & Uncle Rowley’s
for dinner. It should be a fun day!
Speaking of Disneyland… mom has designated me as the
official “event coordinator” for our trip. I have been spending a lot of time
online this week trying to find us a perfect place to stay at the best price…
and I am pretty sure that I found it! I searched in all of Orange County
because we would willingly pay less money even if we had to drive further each
day to Disneyland but this place is only 1.5 miles from Disney!
I could give you the whole description in my words but I
think it is easier to just copy and paste all of the awesomeness here:
________
It has 2300 s.f., 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and private pool.
It is 1 mile from Disneyland and Anaheim Convention Center and the Disneyland
fireworks can be seen at the house. The house is in a quiet neighborhood and is
close to freeways, restaurants, convenience stores, and a lot more.
The dining room has a dining table set that can seat 8. The
family room has a new sectional sofa that can convert to a full sleeping bed,
fireplace, and entertainment system.
The living room has sofa convertible into king bed, recliner
chair, and fireplace.
The kitchen has all the appliances, utensils, dishes, etc.,
large refrigerator, new dishwasher, new microwave, and new oven, and range.
The master bedroom has Cal king bed set, new LCD cable TV,
love seat sofa, and a ceiling fan. Bedroom #2 has a new Cal king bed set, new
cable LCD TV, and ceiling fan. Bedroom #3 has a new king bed set, new cable LCD
TV and ceiling fan. Bedroom #4 has two sets of new bunk beds (twin/full) and a
new cable LCD TV. Bedroom #5 has a queen bed and new cable LCD TV. All bedrooms
have two-tone wall paint.
Two of the bathrooms have tubs and one is shower only. This
house features central air conditioning and heating.
The first indoor great entertainment system is in the Family
Room which features anew 55” LCD HDTV with HD DVR cable, Netflix and new
Blu-ray player.
The second indoor entertainment system is in the garage 58
in. plasma HDTV, cable, Netflix (500 movies and TV shows streaming on high
speed broadband), and ne Blu-ray/DVD player. Seating includes sectional sofa.
In addition there is an 8 foot slate billiard table. Also included is free use
of Xbox 360 video game.
Outdoor patio entertainment features a private swimming pool
with optional heating, back yard pool lock safety gate, gas BBQ grill, dining
table set, new Wicker conversation set, 2 new matching Wicker lounge chairs,
and umbrella. There are numerous floating pool toys available for use.
This house has programmable
key-less entry. No worry for lost key. There are 2 sofa beds as well as 3
electric queen high air mattresses available for use.
What do you think? Pretty awesome, huh? I would send you
pictures but it won’t let me copy them from the site so you’ll just have to
imagine it! I have signed the rental agreement and I am working to get the
deposit paid. Even though this place is an amazing deal we are still incredibly
indebted to Grandma Sue and Kayden… they are both paying a large amount of the
cost so that we can get this great place to stay. And how amazing will it be to
come home from Disneyland after a long day and drop into a hot tub or take a
swim in the heated pool or watch a movie on the big screen tv or play pool or
or or or or… the possibilities are endless!!!! Can you tell that I am excited?
That has definitely consumed a large portion of my week as
my life took a turn on Monday. I seem to hit these turns quite a bit but I am
just trying to follow the path that God has in mind for me. I went to Calculus
2 on Monday and tried to keep a very open mind. I knew that it had been a long
time since I had taken Calculus 1, I knew that it would be challenging, and I
knew that I would probably have to study very hard to keep up… but I didn’t
realize just how little I knew Calculus at all. It has just been too long. I
don’t have the foundation that I need in order to succeed in this class. I
could bust my butt and study like crazy and MAYBE I would be able to pass… but
maybe not. And then I would be in the same position with Organic Chemistry 2
this fall. I came home and talked to Jake about it and called mom and talked to
her about it and the conclusion was… it has been too long. Maybe if I had
pursued this several years ago when the information was just starting to fade
it would be better but all of the foundational information is completely gone
now – I’ve got nothing.
So what does this mean? It means that I went back to my
original plan – I am getting my AAS Fitness Technician degree at SLCC. And once
I have that I will most likely take seminars, maybe start teaching, certify as
a health coach, etc. I have to do things like that to earn Continuing Education
Credits to keep my personal training certification up to date anyways. I am
excited and happy about this course. This is where my true passion lies now.
And even though I may have some difficult classes still, at least it is in a
subject that I love.
What this further means is that my last semester at SLCC
will be spring 2014. Yup – that soon. I will take 12 credits this summer in the
course of a killer 9 weeks;
Classes: Flexibility for Fitness (1 credit), Principles of
Cardiorespiratory Training (1 credit), Nutrition for Fitness & Sports (3
credits), Exercise Physiology (3 credits), Principles of Weight Training (1
credit), and Kinesiology (3 credits).
I will follow that up with a leisurely 10 credit hours this
fall;
Classes: Lifetime Fitness/Wellness (3 credits), Pilates (1
credit), Exercise & Special Populations (3 credits), and *Designing
Training Programs (3 credits)
*This class
is very significant because the midterm for the class is the ACSM personal
training certification test. I will be a certified personal trainer after this
semester if I can pass this test. I scored a 90% on my final exam in Evaluate
and Assess Fitness and it was almost the same as the ACSM test… so… I think I
will be okay.
Then all that is left is 9 credit hours next spring;
Classes: Fitness Motivation/Behavior Response (3 credits),
Personal Trainer Fit Industry (3 credits), *Personal Training Internship (3
credits)
*Although
this is a 3 credit hour “class” what it really is is a 120 hour internship. I
completed 23 or 24 of those hours in Evaluate and Assess Fitness and there is
one more class that will also provide about 25 of those hours before this
point. So I will have about 70 hours left to do at this point. If I can get
about 4.5 hours in each week during the semester I will be able to finish this
internship in 1 semester. If I can’t get that in then I will have to finish it
in the summer.
Crazy to think that that is all that is left. I feel very
relaxed about it and excited as well. I also feel at peace about this – I feel
that it is the right thing to do for myself and for my family. I look forward
to the next two semesters and then….. DISNEYLAND!!!!!!
Abrielle had her last week of preschool this week. She will
be out of preschool in June and July and then she will be in the older
preschool class starting in August. That class is Monday, Wednesday and Friday
instead of just Tuesday and Thursday. It worked out perfectly so that one of my
classes is right when she is at preschool so that I can drop her off, leave
Nathan with mom or Dana, go to school, and get back in enough time to pick
Abrielle up – SCORE! She continues to take karate and she is doing better
although she is still quite timid about her yelling. Not such a bad thing, I
guess. She says lots of funny things still. One of my favorites from this week
was when she came up to tell us that she had heard a monster in her room. In
the midst of trying to tell her that monsters aren’t real and she didn’t need
to be scared she said, “But mom! I heard the monster and he turned me into a
little girl!” What a funny kid!
Nathan, bless his heart, is becoming more and more of a
toddler. Translation: he is more emotional than he has hitherto fore been.
Maybe I am getting older and more patient or maybe his tempers are just nothing
compared to what Abrielle put me through but it doesn’t seem to faze me quite
as much. He is still loving and adorable and I still love to give him and
Abrielle tons of hugs, kisses, and tickles.
Jake and I continue to be crazy about each other. Marriage
is wonderful. I am so grateful for my loving husband and his continual support
in all of my crazy endeavors.
I continue to train Kayden and we have a great time
together. We ran 3+ miles this week in the heat of the day, all uphill. He
pushes me to want to be better and we have built a great relationship in our
working together. I can’t wait for you to get home so that we can build that
kind of relationship too. I ran 5 miles this morning and felt so overwhelmed
with gratitude to God at the end of my run for showing me that nothing is
impossible when we work through the grace and goodness of the Lord. He has
strengthened me and supported me and brought me to where I am today and I can’t
wait to see where I end up.
Well I believe I have, once again, successfully talked your
ear off. I love you, dear brother, and I continue to think about and pray for
you. Press on and stay strong.
Love always and forever, Shayla
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