♥ The Best Nights.

 "The best nights are usually unplanned, random, and spontaneous."

With all that's going on in our lives right now, Brooks and I have learned to really appreciate those nights.

Finding time between chaotic school schedules, work shifts, and church responsibilities has proven to be harder than we thought, and we're both counting the days until May 10th,  (my last day of work), and to finish our school semesters.  Over summer our schedules will be MUCH more relaxed, as I enroll in my externship and Brooks applies for grad school.  

These last few years have definitely felt like an emotional roller coaster as far as school goes.  When I married Brooks, he was close to graduating with an Exercise Science degree and preparing to go onto medical school.  I was still having struggles choosing a major, and decided to go to the temple and pray about it.  While in the temple, I felt very strongly that I was not supposed to graduate B.Y.U.  What??? I was so confused by this answer, because not only was it so strong and so unexpected, but it completely threw me for a loop.  I had ALWAYS planned on graduating B.Y.U, and had no idea what to do next. So, I decided to take a year off and work while exploring my options. Now, I've always wanted to be a mom. When teachers would ask me in grade school what I wanted to be when I grew up, I'd always reply with (or draw a picture, as this was in first grade) "I want to be like my mom."  Now, (I start my sentances with "now" a lot, I know), my mom always worked, but it was never full time, and she was still home with us a lot.  I've always wanted something similar.  I think I'd go too stir crazy staying cooped up in a house ALL day every day, so I've always seen myself working, just not having a "career." I have a passion for life, friends, fun, and food, but not for working, so I never dreamed about having a big career.  As I was trying to decide what to do, I wrote down a list of some necessities I wanted in a job.  

1. I wanted to be qualified for something.  I didn't want to lose a job and have to start over from scratch again.  

2. I wanted a job with good benefits, such as health and dental care.

3. I wanted a job with a consistent schedule, where I could have holidays and nights to be home with my family.

4. I wanted a job where I could be nice to people.  I didn't want sales, or anything to do with yelling at people/having them yell at me all the time (although I know that happens occasionally in most jobs, which I'm okay with, just not an everyday thing).

5. I wanted a job I (drum roll please. . .) actually liked.  Since the time I was 14, I have worked as a piano teacher, house cleaner, hostess at a restaurant, clothing store associate, yogurt shop cashier, lifeguard, insurance salesman, and am currently a data entry at a law office.  I've obviously gotten a pretty good idea of jobs I do like and jobs I don't like.  I loved the busy, people friendly aspect of working in a restaurant, and I like the office atmosphere of my current job, so I wanted to see if I could find something that combined the two.  So I thought about jobs in an office setting where I could still feel busy running around the office, and that weren't just being confined to a desk.  That's when I remembered talking with the MA at my Dermatologist's office a few years back, (don't worry, it was just athlete's foot, I don't have some weird flesh-eating disease, although athlete's foot sure felt like it at times), and having her tell me about how much she loved her job.  I decided to look into some schools in Utah county that offered MA programs, and found one I loved, talked to the teacher, took the necessary preparations, and got enrolled soon after!  It is still kind of crazy to me to think about what I would be doing at B.Y.U, but I'm really grateful for this program and for the chance to have a job that not only will I thoroughly enjoy, but that I can have while still being what I want to be the most: a mom.   

Meanwhile, when I was going through all this craziness in my life, Brooks had been having a really tough time. He had planned on going to Medical school, but upon taking the required courses, he realized how much he did not like medicine.  He found it interesting, sure, but not his choice for a career, and he definitely didn't want to spend the rest of his life doing something he didn't love.  He, like me, went to the temple praying for guidance, and, like me, received an answer saying to "stop." He had no idea where to go from there, and was worried about disappointing me, (um yeah, like that's even a possibility), so he tried to ignore it and kept pushing through school.  Well, eventually, he couldn't ignore it any longer, and came clean to me.  I, of course, was worried he was just having doubts about medical school, and hoped it wasn't the case, but upon praying and pondering I felt the same thing.  I want more than anything for Brooks to be happy, and if being a doctor wouldn't do that for him, then I absolutely didn't want him to do it.  However, this meant adding more years onto his school, and taking a lot more classes, so it was definitely discouraging for the both of us.  Thankfully, Brooks had faith in the Lord, and I had faith in him to make the right decision.  So, after taking some personality tests, talking to counselors, and doing some research, Brooks made his decision and is going into Business, possibly internationally.  He already speaks Spanish fluently, and really wants to learn French so that he will know 3 European languages, but he still may choose to just work within the U.S. as well. We both feel really good about it, and are looking forward to next April when Brooks will OFFICIALLY be done with B.Y.U.

So, school's crazy.  Life's crazy.  But even though most nights consist of staying up till 3 a.m. studying, snacking on popcorn and caffeine, randomly going for a midnight walk and laughing uncontrollably due to exhaustion, I consider these the "best nights," because they are spent with my best friend.  They may not always be glamorous, but we still just love to be together.

Things I'm thankful for:

1. Microwave popcorn:  It's the perfect midnight snack to help you stay awake, but doesn't make you feel like puking after going to bed.  Also, it's cheap.

2. The temple:  Being able to seek guidance and feel Heavenly Father's spirit so strongly has brought us so much peace, and helped us through a lot of trials.  I love going to the temple.

3. This blog:  I know it's not very exciting.  I'm not a fashionista, exceptional writer, or cute mom, nor do I have millions of readers, but I love having this outlet and being able to keep my friends and family updated with our lives. Also, it's a good excuse to procrastinate.

4. Our 100 Dates: Being as busy as we are, it is really hard to find time together, so planning our schedules out special to squeeze in our dates really helps us make the time, and not spend every Saturday night crashing at home watching a movie. (Feel free to click on my Instagram emoticon on the right hand side of the page to check out all of our dates if you don't currently have Instagram).

5. THE WEATHER:  I feel like my mood is instantly better when my toes don't feel like they're about to fall off, and I'm not freezing constantly.  Utah definitely took its time, but Spring's acomin'. 

As you can tell, we immediately took advantage of the flip-flop weather. Love my two boys.

Xoxo.