A Little of Everything

It's been a while since I've updated this again, so here we go.

What have we been up to lately? Well, Spencer's enjoying his classes. He bowled 4 strikes in a row today in bowling! He also said today that he's enjoying his bacterial pathogenesis class, even though the lab portion of it sometimes reminds him of why he doesn't want to go into research. I don't hear much about his French class, but I think he likes it alright, considering it's a history class.

I'm still student teaching. Haven't given up yet. Some days it's really hard, and some days it's okay. I am learning more and more that teachers do very little teaching compared to all the other stuff. And I'm learning more about myself, so that's a good thing. I'm trying to enjoy the experience, but to be honest I've never been so relieved for weekends to come. I started my solo teaching unit today, and I think that will help me feel like I have more ownership in the class. Enough talking about this.

Two weekends ago Spencer took me on a date to the Nickel City, the nickel arcade in Orem. It was really fun, actually. We got some FunDips with our tickets. Best prize I've ever gotten with tickets. Right when we walked in Spencer asked if any of my students were there. I didn't notice any, but the next week at school one of my 7th graders was like, "Hey! I saw you at Nickel City on Saturday!" Weird.

Last weekend Patrick (Spencer's brother) came down to visit from BYU-I. It was fun to have him, and it was nice to have a little extra motivation to make some good things to eat. I made some spinach artichoke dip, and we also had smoothies and made another batch of beef jerky. I made Caroline's taco soup and brought some to a girl I visit teach, whose husband had brain surgery recently. They are doing really well, all things considered. I feel blessed to know them and to see their example of courage and faith in the face of trials. They are amazing people.

Um, last week Spencer got a few more rejection letters from medical schools. Michigan State and University of Michigan, so that's a bit of a bummer. He emailed the schools we haven't heard from to let them to know he's still interested and stuff. Central Michigan University emailed back a day later and said if anyone drops their interview, they'll give the slot to Spencer. They emailed again yesterday with an interview offer for next Friday! So, that's great news, and I'm excited for him. We paid an arm and a leg for his plane ticket, but it'll all be worth it if he gets accepted. His status of being on the wait list at Wayne State hasn't changed yet, but most of the movement on wait lists comes in May when people with multiple offers have to declare which school they will be attending. So, we're still hopeful, but we've also thought about what we will do if he has to reapply next cycle. At least he'll get to visit with his family next weekend!

That's all for now. :)

Oh, Hey There, Blog.

I'm in a blogging slump. I have 4 or 5 posts titled and awaiting content, but I have not been feeling the motivation to do it. Things got so busy (and fun!) over break that there was no time to keep up with it. Okay, that's probably a lie. I just haven't felt like blogging, and now I feel guilty.

I'm sure you've all been anxiously awaiting my next post so you could know what we've been up to. That's probably a lie, too, but I will give you a little current update before updating the rest of my empty posts.

Since we got back from our Thornock family vacation in San Antonio, we've jumped right back into school. Spencer's taking a whopping 7.5 credits this semester and I'm in 7th grade. Spencer loves his bowling class, and is determined to break 200 one of these days. He's also taking a French history class to earn a French certification and his last major class, bacterial pathogenesis. I've started student teaching, and I'm exhausted.

Sometimes I just sit and watch all the students and recall that 7th grade is a terrible time of life. Okay, it's not terrible, but it sure was awkward. 7th grade science is just a semester long course at my school (don't even get me started on how terrible of an idea that is). I started last week, but today was the first day of the second semester, so I'm just meeting "my" students now. I'm not really nervous about it at all, but it is stressful. Being on my feet all day is a tough change for me, and sometimes it is tiring to teach the same lesson 6 times a day. I usually go to the gym after I'm done until Spencer get's off work, but then I come home, have dinner, and fall asleep on the couch by like 8:30. When I wake up I decide if it's an acceptable time to go to bed for real or not. That has been contributing to the blogging slump.

So that's pretty much all that we've been up to. Last week we went to help Josh and Katy load up their moving truck, and we're sad that they are gone to snowy Minnesota. Spencer and Carrina were becoming good little buddies. She just adores him.

Oh, and I made Colin, Josh and Katy's baby boy due this spring, an adorable baby blanket. It's my favorite one that I've made so far. It's so snuggly warm. :)

My Last Final!!

Okay, it's probably not my last final ever, but it was my last final at BYU! I took my take home final on Monday night, and this morning I took my evolutionary biology final. Yeah, it was an easy finals week for me. Before the exam, my professor got us all pumped up with an inspiring pep talk while he played The Eye of the Tiger in the background. It was very funny, and actually a great way to start a final exam. I feel like it went pretty well. We'll see when grades are posted.

So, I'm done! Spencer's not. He has 2 exams and a paper left. Poor guy. He'll be done on Friday though, so we're close.

I have a busy week of not school planned out now. Between visiting teaching, getting things ready for Christmas, finding an outfit for James and Miranda's wedding, and our Anniversary, I'll stay busy. I am SO excited for everyone to come to town for the wedding, and then we're off to Texas to see the rest of our family! Plus, Patrick got home from his mission yesterday! So that's very exciting. I know Spencer's really excited to spend some time with him, and It'll be fun to actually get to know him now that he's been my brother-in-law for two years.

That's all for now. :)

A Weekend Away and Other News

Last weekend we went to Washington! It was great.

First, the week leading up to our little trip was crazy. We were both so busy that neither of us really thought about our trip much until the morning of. But we made it through, and we took our homework with us when we went. Spencer's Aunt Sandy used to work for Alaska Airlines, so they hooked us up with transportation. Her husband, John, was so kind to fly down to Salt Lake, so we could fly for free as his companions. On our way back we got standby tickets through her, so they were cheap (and Dad covered them for us. Thanks, Dad!).

We went there for Spencer's Grandpa's 80th birthday. We both worked and Spencer had class on Friday, so we flew out Friday night and got to Grandma and Grandpa Thornock's house later that evening. We had some yummy dinner and had a really nice time talking and hanging out with everyone. Josh, Katy, and Carrina were there, along with Dad and two of his sisters. It was so good to see family and to meet some, too!

On Saturday most of them went to the Seattle Temple, and I got to spend some time with one of my best friends in the whole world! JUDI!! I haven't seen her for 3 years, I think, so I was really excited to go to Seattle so I could see her. It was so good to catch up and talk and just to see her again. We went to a cute little restaurant for breakfast and then did a little bit of shopping at the mall. After that, we went back to the house and had a little party for Grandpa. We ate a big ham lunch and then had cake and ice cream. We spent the afternoon playing card games and chasing Carrina around, and trying to squeeze some studying in where we could without too much away from our family time. I only took a couple of pictures, but I'll add them when I upload them from my camera.

At our wedding, Grandma had offered a Kitchenaid stand mixer to us if we ever were up in Washington and could get it. I had completely forgotten about that, but she didn't! She gave it to us and we managed to squeeze it into my carry-on and take it back with us! Haha. It was funny to see my suitcase go through the scanner thing at the airport. And a little embarrassing. The security guy promised it's not even close to the strangest thing he's seen go through. I've always wanted one, and I'm so happy to have it! I made some chocolate pies with it last night. :-) So, thanks Grandma! I want to try out some more bread recipes and things with it now.

We flew back home early Sunday morning. The afternoon flight was looking pretty full, so we took the 7 am one to be sure to get home that day. Josh and Katy flew with us, so we got to play with Carrina on the plane. She got a little stir-crazy, but was good. She loves Spencer. We were sad to leave Washington, but we're excited to see Dad again in just a couple of weeks, along with everyone else! We're going to try to take another trip up to Washington before we move out of Utah, too. It was such a nice weekend away, and even though we were worried out our midterms, we needed a break.

I had a midterm on Monday, and Spencer had one on Tuesday. We survived them, though neither of us have scores back yet. On Wednesday (yesterday), I had my dreaded Mammalogy Lab final. I studied on the plane, and over the weekend, and for about 4 hours Monday night, and 2.5 hours on Tuesday night before I hit a wall. Then I just kind of lost all of my motivation. I reviewed some more things on Wednesday before I had it, but I was mostly feeling resigned to my fate. I think it went alright, but I'm SO happy that it's over! I don't have a final in that class, either, so I'm totally done! Phew. That class has been a marathon of memorization. So, last night I got to take a break from studying. I made some french silk pies for a Christmas party in Spencer's office, caught up on some dishes, and bought and set up a little Christmas tree! I was listening to Darwin's Origin of Species on audio book while I did all of that. I have to finish that book before I can take my philosophy of biology final, as it's a requirement for the course. So, it was a productive, and really great night. Plus, having a Christmas tree in our apartment just makes me happy. I could only find 2 decorations and some candy canes for it though, so we might have to have a crafty night soon.

I'm kinda feeling like school is over, but it's not quite yet. I have two finals left and Spencer's got quite a bit of stuff to finish tonight, and then several finals. We're almost there, and I can't wait for break!

Oh, I almost forgot. I finally got my student teaching assignment! I'll be teaching 7th grade at a school just 2 miles north of campus, which is awesome because we share a car. I'll have 6 periods of 7th grade biology, with about 200 students total. Yikes. But, it's just one lesson to plan each day, so that's good. I'm excited. 7th graders are fun/crazy. My first day there will be January 7th.

Spencer's still waiting to hear from more medical schools. University of Michigan emailed him to let him know that, while they can't offer him an interview at this time, his application is still open. They might invite him to go interview in the future, but maybe not. So, that's that. It's not bad news, but it's like being on a wait list for interviews. So, we wait. And someday we'll know something.

Tonight we're going to the midnight showing of the Hobbit with James and Miranda. I can't wait!

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving break was so wonderful! We had to work on Wednesday morning, so we had our car all packed up and hit the road around 12:30. We drove down to Arizona to spend the week with AnnaMarie and the Ferrell family! We went through Flagstaff, AZ and hit a closed road. We called Tyler and 40 miles later we were back on track. We finally got there around 11:15. It's a long drive, and since it gets dark so early the last half of it felt like an eternity. We stayed up and chatted with AnnaMarie and Tyler for a while then went to bed.

Oh, and Spencer got an email from Wayne state before we left on Wednesday. He's been placed in the alternate category, but we don't know where in that category he is ranked. Hopefully we'll hear better news from them in the future. We're hoping for a couple more interview offers from other schools this month. So, we're disappointed, but still hopeful.

On Thursday when I got up, Katie and Jane were SO excited to see me! They were really excited to see Spencer when he got up, too. The boys warmed up to us pretty quickly and we had a nice day of playing with the kiddos and feeling useless because apparently there was nothing we could help with. Thanksgiving lunch was fantastic, and we all ate way too much. Tyler and his brother deep fried a turkey for us AND his parents roasted one. I think there were like 15 pounds of leftover turkey.

Spencer went shooting with all the boys on Friday in the morning, and then the girls went out for our own outing. We went to a little bakery for a treat, then we decide to do a little bit of shopping for student teaching clothes for me! It was really successful, and that's fantastic. I got 4 skirts, 2 cardigans, and a couple tops. Now all I need to get for student teaching is a couple pairs of good shoes and a few more blouses. We spent lots of time playing with the kids on Friday, too. It was really nice.

We all went to the temple on Saturday morning, and that was so good. It's been a while since Spencer and I have gone. Plus, I found out that my temple recommend expired at the end of November (I thought it was December), so I need to set up some interview appointments before James and Miranda's wedding. Anyway, the rest of Saturday was just spent hanging out and eating. We went to lunch at Red Lobster, and later we went to dinner at a BBQ place that was really good.

We left on Sunday morning, finally getting back into Provo around 8pm. We weren't awesome about doing homework over break, so we are both kind of paying for that this week. It was worth it, though. It was so much fun to see AnnaMarie and Tyler and the kids are hilarious. The twins were a blast, and Aiden especially loved Spencer. The girls are fun, and they pretty much just do their own thing now. Jane would sometimes sit with me and jabber about stuff. That's fun.

So, we're back. One week of class left, not counting today. I think I'm done with all my homework assignments and papers. I just have quizzes and finals left! So, that's it for now. I didn't take any pictures over break, but I might add some from AnnaMarie at some point.

I have a paper to write, so I'll update my blog first.

Alright, it's true that I'm mostly updating the blog so I can procrastinate working on my paper, but it's about time for an update anyway! 

First, the good news! We're going to Arizona for Thanksgiving! Yay! I can't wait to spend some quality time with AnnaMarie, and it'll be fun to see the kids, too. :) It'll be nice to get out of Provo for a little bit, but we won't be getting away from the homework. I'll have to do some studying and I have a (different) 5 page paper due right after break. 

And now for the non-news. Medical schools. We know nothing. We are supposed to hear from Wayne State on Wednesday, though, so we'll keep you all up to date on that when we hear. However, University of Michigan said that they were going to close a bunch of accounts, meaning rejections, this week and I don't think Spencer's was closed... Maybe that's a good sign. Who knows?? 

So, what have we been up to? We have been studying and writing papers a lot. But we've done some nice things, too. 

Last Sunday we had Josh and Katy over for dinner. We made some yummy beef stew and they brought some really good rolls. Carrina was happy. We are going to miss them when they move to Minnesota in a couple of months. We video chatted with Mom and Brigham while they were there. Carrina was totally into it. 

This morning we had the Halls, a couple from our ward, over for breakfast! It was a really nice way to start the day. :) I made some monkey bread and we had a nice chat with them. 

James and Miranda are going to be moving into our ward once they are married, so that will be really fun! They are buying someone's contract who is moving out. 

That's about all the fun things we've been doing. The end of the semester is coming, and it's coming fast. Yesterday I typed up a daily to-do list for my remaining school work, and it's not looking too bad, but I think we'll stay busy. Oh! We bought our tickets for the Hobbit, too! That's good news. :) 

We're busy, but we're happy. I am so blessed to have Spencer around. I feel like he's my anchor. I get stressed out and have my ups and downs, and he's always there: positive, calm, and stable. 

Spencer just finished an exam at the testing center, and he's on his way back home. I guess I should get going on that paper before I decide it's time for a lunch break. :) 

Just Life

Not much exciting has really happened since Spencer's birthday, but I figured I should put a post up anyway. School has been going pretty well. This semester has had a lot of ups and downs. Like, Thursday through Sundays are up and Mondays to Wednesdays are down. Every week. My mammalogy lab quizzes are every Wednesday afternoon. I typically spend about 5 or 6 hours between Monday and Wednesday studying for them and I still go into them just hoping I won't fail. And by fail, I mean get less than a C. Sometimes I get Cs on them. But life goes on. The quiz comes and goes, and then I get to relax a little bit even if it didn't go super well. Good news though! Only 2 more quizzes and the lab final to go! Whooohooo!

Spencer had a couple of exams over the last week, and I've been working on papers and things. We've just been plugging along. School's almost wrapping up now. I have 3 papers to write over the next few weeks. I have a good start on one of them though. Then just a couple more midterms and finals! Is it strange that I actually like finals week? It's so much easier to study for tests when you don't have new material in every class and homework and quizzes to prepare for. Plus, I think I'll just have 2 finals during finals week this semester, and one of them is take-home! Plus, The Hobbit part 2 is coming out at the end of finals week!!

AnnaMarie invited us to go down to Arizona for Thanksgiving with them. That would be a lot of fun, and we're gonna check with our bosses to see if we can manage it. Spencer's grandpa is turning 80 in December, so they want to have a big party for him. His aunt works (worked?) for an airline, so she can fly standby almost for free. She's gonna fly down to Salt Lake and take us with her (so we can fly for almost free) back to Washington the first weekend in December. Hopefully we'll be able to get onto a flight and go. So, we have a couple of potential trips to look forward to. :) Then there's Christmas break, James and Miranda' wedding, and the Thornock family reunion in Texas! This will be a busy month and a half. In a really good way.

That's pretty much it for us. Oh, and I started a new blog! Our stake (regional level of organization in our church) has been focusing on member missionary work, so I decided to make a blog about my beliefs. You can check it out if you want to. http://thingsabbeyknows.blogspot.com/

Only 18 more days of class!