thank goodness for husbands

So, I feel like I owe the blogging world and explanation for why it has been so long since I've posted. Let me start by saying it has been an incredibly busy past two weeks. Why so busy you ask? Well, let me tell you...

(and I promise it gets better at the end. If you don't want to hear me complain, feel free to skip to the end :] )



My first mistake was taking 18 credit hours this semester (the most you can take without getting special permission from important people). Truthfully, it wasn't a mistake, but there have been some moments of regret this past semester... Anyway, it seems like I always have a paper to write and a test coming up. Because I sometimes like to complain, I took the liberty of looking up just how many papers I have written this semester. 23. Yep, I have written 23, at least 3 page, double spaced papers in the past 12 weeks. And I still have 5 more to write in the next two weeks. 



I also have a job. Because I needed to take 18 credits this semester (to graduate in August) I decided to work considerably less hours this semester. So I cut my usual 20 hour work week down to only about 12-13 hours--to hopefully give myself more time for homework. Until two weeks ago, that was going just fine. 

I blame the last reason I have been so busy on the International Study department at BYU. This summer, Scott and I are moving home with my parents so we can do internships at the LDS Church Area Office in Lima, Peru (more on this later). I'm doing mine for credit. Little did I know, the preparation for this internship might end up being the death of me. Of course I am exaggerating, but I'm honestly starting to think the internship credit is not worth what they have put me through this semester. 

•  When I decided to do my internship, nobody in my department had any idea that I would have to go through the IS Office. So when I found out, it just happened to be the same day that the application to do an individual internship is due. Lucky me. I got to run around collecting all the necessary forms, recommendations, and paperwork instead of going to class. Luckily, I have a very kind professor and boss who were willing to write spur of the moment recommendations for me. 
• Second, I then had to meet with Mr. Know-it-all who is in charge of the program and has become one of the people I have grown to most dislike at BYU. Not only did he awkwardly ask me if  I am pregnant or planning to conceive before the end of my internship, he also neglected to give me some very important information and refused to let me out of the "required seminars"
• So on top of my 18 credits this semester, I also had to start going to weekly seminars that will "help me avoid culture shock" when I go do an internship in the place I call "home". (I'd also like to mention there is a Mexican in my class who is going back to Mexico to do an internship in a place that is literally his home and he too is being forced to come to the seminars--ridiculous!)
• As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Know-it-all "forgot" to tell me that to be registered for my internship, I have to fill out a "course contract". So, when the deadline came and went, and there were several of us who hadn't turned one in, we of course received a scathing reprimand. Awesome.
• Also, not only do I have to pay $660 to register for my unpaid internship, I also have to maintain BYU insurance AND pay for supplemental international insurance. In order to get this insurance, we had to email Mr. Know-it-all's assistants our travel dates and places. To be sure that this got in on time, I sent the email over a week in advance. So you can imagine my surprise when I received another scathing email the day after it was due. Somehow, they had "misplaced" my email. 

We shall see if I end up getting credit for this internship. With the way things are going, I've most likely already neglected something essential.

So while this department has made my life a living nightmare, things at work have also gotten increasingly more stressful.

About two weeks ago, my boss was diagnosed with stage three (the worst stage) of diverticulitis and was hospitalized. Just as he was starting to get better, they found an abscess on the outside of his colon and he began getting worse again.  However, miraculously he began healing on his own without surgery. The only bad thing was that he had thrown out his back and needed some physical therapy. Regardless, he decided to come into work (about a week and half since he was first hospitalized). While at work, he passed out and then had a seizure. The doctors aren't sure what caused the seizure, but needless to say he most likely won't be back this semester.

My boss is the kind of guy who everyone loves and most get along with, however, he is very much a workaholic and fairly stuck in his ways. His bosses have kept urging him to let someone else do some of his work. So, he trained me to do his filing, scheduling, other computer related things, and some of the ordering. However, he still did a lot of the ordering. After being hospitalized, basically everyone realized that nobody really knew what he did or how he did it. Since I'm the only supervisor trained on Eatec (the ordering system), it fell to my responsibility to do all of the ordering. So of course, it was also my fault when I failed to know what to order or how to order everything we needed for everyday. All the extra work has also meant many extra hours, so instead of working my leisurely  12-13 hours a week, I've been working around 17-18 hours a week. Needless to say, I've been a little busy.

Now that I've ranted for a lot longer than I planned on, I feel like I need to mention that although my life has been so stressful, it really isn't as terrible as it seems. I do have plenty of things to be grateful for.

• I'm grateful that I have a job. I'm grateful for all the extra money we're getting from all the hours I've worked. I'm grateful for the experience I'm getting and I'm grateful I can help my boss out. 
• I'm grateful for BYU and that I'm able to attend. I'm SO grateful that I'm graduating in August and I can go get a real job and make real money.
• I'm grateful for my parents and that they pay for my tuition. I'm grateful for my dad for coordinating our internships.
• I'm thankful for the Church and for Sundays and for our callings
• And most of all, I'm thankful for my wonderful husband who can always make me laugh and distract me when I'm most stressed, who is always willing to do anything to make my life easier, and who loves me, no matter how much I complain. 

Thank goodness for husbands.

and so the countdown begins...

It's been a while since I've written--mainly due to the fact that while many of my friends from around the world are taking spring break right now, I'm in the middle of probably one of the hardest weeks of the semester. (I guess thats what I get for taking 18 credits this semester...).

So, since I don't have time to sit down and write for fun, I decided I could still look on the bright side of things. I graduate from BYU 5 months from tomorrow! 

After a lot of trial and error, I finally figured out how to add a countdown to my blog. It's not really where I want it but hey, its better than nothing. Hopefully I'll figure out how to move it as I get better at this whole blogging thing. (And maybe when I have more time).

The End.

take me to....the coldest country in the world

After convincing pretty much everyone (myself included) they are moving back to Utah this coming July, my family has accepted a position in Moscow, Russia. To their benefit, they really did think they were moving back. But, my dad was offered a position and they decided it was an experience they didn't want to give up (that definitely would have been my choice too!). So while I'm sad they won't be around for the next couple of years, I'm very excited for them! Especially since this means Scott and I will have to take a trip to Europe sometime in the next two years... :)

My mom is excited because she'll get to wear one of these:

 

In light of this announcement I decided to look up some interesting stats about Russia:

• Oymyakon, Russia is third on the list of coldest places in the world (#1 and #2 are both in Antarctica). The coldest temperature recorded is -96.0 Fahrenheit.
• Russia is the largest country in the world. It spans 11 time zones and borders 14 countries by land and 4 by water.

• While more than 81% of the population is Russian, the other 19% are from more than 100 other nationalities.
• There are 88 men per every 100 women (possibly because the life expectancy for women is more than 13 years longer than the life expectancy for men...)
• Adult literacy: 99.6%
• Russia is home to the 10th largest dessert in the world 

 

(Kyzylkum Desert)

• Also home to the largest lake in the world (as well as the 6th and 9th largest)

 

(Caspian Sea...which I guess they consider a lake..) 

• Has the 6th largest population in the world
• Moscow is the 24th largest city in the world with a population of 8.4 million 

• Russia is the 4th biggest producer of cereal in the world (USA is second)
• The 4th top consumer of tea in the world and the 5th top consumer of cocoa. 
• Russia is the top producer of nickle and the 2nd top producer of platinum and aluminum
• Russia is 7th in the number of tourist arrivals 
• Is ranked 11th in terms of Winter Olympic Games with a total of 27 golds, 20 silvers, and 13 bronze medals (not including the most recent Olympics)

• Because Russia does not have an LDS Temple, Moscow belongs to the Helsinki Finland Temple District. Below is they temple my family will belong to:

Well, I hope those were as interesting for you to read as they were for me to find... Anyway, I'm excited for my family and I can't wait to go visit! :)

homesick

Home is where the heart is. Thats what they say.

If this is true, my heart must be torn into pieces. I feel like I've left a little peice of myself in every country I've lived in. People say that now that I'm married, my home should be where my husband and I live. And I do feel like Provo is more of a home now that I live with a husband instead of roommates. But even so, I will never get back those pieces of my heart that I've left all over South America and the Caribbean.

This past weekend I've been thinking a lot about Chile. Although I experienced many small earthquakes while living there, it was almost impossible to believe that an 8.8 earthquake hit my home. MY home. My mind was in denial as I saw pictures of collapsed bridges and damaged streets and buildings--places I've been many many times! How could something so terrible happen to a place I love so much?

Rather than feeling relieved that I wasn't there when it happened, this whole event has made me wish more than ever that I was there right now. I want to making sure everyone I know is okay. I want to help clean up the areas that were hit the hardest. But most of all, I just want to be there. Back home where I belong.