Woo Hoo!!!

Sooooo.......

I passed my Psychology test!

It wasn't an "A" but it was an 88 which is pretty impressive for this class. I was one question away from receiving an "A"....shucks!! (meaning: I missed 6 out of 50 questions and I would have gotten an "A" if I'd only missed 5.)

I was really getting worried that I'd get a "C" on this one.

Yeah....I didn't!!!

Just wanted to share my excitement!

School News

Since school appears to be the only part of my life, currently, I'd like to update how my classes are going.

Psychology

I took my second test today and it was a really challenging test for me. Our teacher doesn't exactly make the class easy. Most of her test questions require you to think critically, which can be difficult for me. I'll know a definition of a term and understand it but when put in a different context I can get confused. I got an "A" on the first test and so I was determined to get another "A" on the test taken today. I made sure that I studied even harder than the first time. I've been studying for today's test since last week. I've pretty much been sleeping and eating Psychology. Today's test really stressed me out. I had really wanted to relax the rest of today after taking the test and all I could do when I left school was think about some of those stupid questions on the test. I feel confident that I passed but I'm worried that I didn't pull off the "A" that I studied and worked hard for. I guess I'll find out on Monday what I got on the exam. I hope not to be too disappointed with the grade.

Public Speaking

Our teacher finally brought back our graded Icebreaker Speeches. I got a 98....not bad. He took off 2 points because I didn't hold my notes or objects in one hand. Lame!!! Overall I'm very happy with the grade. I give my next speech in two weeks. The speeches start on Monday but I pulled a good card out of the deck, 8 of Spades, and so I get to speak on the last day of speeches. Lucky me!!! Unfortunately we all have to turn in our speech outlines on Monday so I was forced to write it tonight. I think it turned out pretty awesome. Maybe I'll post it for your enjoyment.

Drafting

We had our first drafting test on Tuesday!!! I got a 98 on the test which I'm also very proud of. I lost 2 points on the floor plan section of the test. Apparently I'm not very good at drawing doors and I made the stupid door too narrow....oops. I lost my other point for making my interior walls 6" thick instead of 4"....another oops!!! I must have been daydreaming the day she told us interior walls were generally 4" and exterior walls were 6". I also got my first 100 on a Lettering Assignment!!! Whoop whoop!!! If I get a 100 on the next one I don't have to do anymore lettering exercises....which would be a great stress reliever. With my 100 and 98 my "low overall A" in the class has been brought up to a "mid/high A!!"

I hope I can keep up the good work because I'm already starting to get exhausted from this stupid semester. I never get a break in life...if it isn't work, it's school. I finish one assignment and I have to start another. I finish studying for one test and I have to start studying for another. I finish one research paper and I have to research for another!!! The cycle just keeps going and going and I'm ready for it to stop. I sure wish I had done this whole school thing when I was younger, had more energy, and had less financial obligations. This hard work better pay off in the end....because it's probably gonna kill me!!!

Catch Up Time

YES, I'm still alive!!! I've just been VERY busy with school and other stuff. Maybe I'll post a little more during Spring Break (sometime in March) when I might have a little more time on my hands.

School
Since the last time I posted, I started my other two classes: Public Speaking and Drafting! I have a story to tell about my Drafting class but I'm not telling it during this post. With 3 classes to focus on...I'm a stressed out mess most of the time. I have taken my first Psychology test and I'm proud to announce that I got the only "A" in the whole class. The teacher told me, in private, that most of the class failed. Yeah for me!!
I've also given my first speech, Icebreaker Speech, which was given on the second day of class! Our teacher is very forgetful and he still hasn't brought back our graded speeches....so needless to say...I don't know how I did, grade wise, but I feel like I did a really good job.
I got an 80 on my first drafting assignment :-( but because I have a 100 on a classwork assignment, my overall grade is still an "A" (just a low "A").
I was hoping that I wouldn't have to spend too much money this semester on supplies but I was wrong. I had to buy a drafting board so I could do my drafting homework and it cost me almost $100. YIKES!! I used it tonight and it seems to have been a good investment.
Overall, school is stressing me out but I seem to be doing well in all 3 classes so far and I'm enjoying all of them!!
OHHH...and I have a stalker from my speech class but I'll talk about him some other time...CREEPY DUDE!!!

Work
To be honest....I don't really have anything to say about work other than I'm still working two jobs. Palais Royal has cut my hours a bit which I'm super grateful for. Now I can dedicate more time to my studies. Gymboree is having to learn that I'm really not that available for them. I feel bad that I only work one day a week for them but hey...I'm not complaining and I'm sure they would let me know if it was a problem for them.

My Weekend
My older sister (her husband and 4 kids) and my little brother, who both live in Utah, came to visit last Thursday. My older brother, who lives in Dallas, also came down so we could all spend some time together as a family. It was really nice having all 4 of us kids back together again with mom and dad. I took off some extra time with my jobs so that I could spend the majority of their time here with them. They were here 6 days and I had off 5 of those days. It was really nice and we had a lot of good laughs together. As fun as it was, it was extremely loud and stressful. Lucky me got to share a room with my sister's 3 oldest children. I love my niece and nephews but they kept me up most of the nights. Needless to say...I didn't get much sleep while they were here AND I didn't get much homework done either. They left yesterday and it was sad to say goodbye but now I can spend some time on my studies.

Speaking of studies....I should get back to them now (before I get too tired).

How's General Psychology?

For the past two weeks I've been going to my General Psychology class and so far I absolutely LOVE it!!!

My professor is a sole lecturer and she doesn't ever assign homework! She thinks of us as adults and just expects us to do whatever we need to do as adults to do well in her class.

Are you thinking that I love this class because I never get homework?

WRONG!!!

I give myself plenty of homework on my own because I read the modules and do all the study guide questions afterward.

I'm just really enjoying my teacher's lectures and I truly feel as though I'm learning!

Remember Phineas Gage?

He's the guy that had a iron rod explode up through his left cheek and come out the top of his head!!! Gross!!! Anyway, I learned that the accident severed ties between his frontal lobe and limbic system. With his frontal lobe being damaged, Gage was no longer able to control his moods and emotions.

Last Wednesday I came home from work to discover that my mom was watching a documentary thingy on King Henry VIII. I sat down and watched while I ate some dinner. The documentary mentioned that King Henry was in a jousting accident in 1538 where he was thrown from his horse and the horse fell on top of him. He was without speech for 2 hours and when he came back around his mood and personality was different.

So....I'm listening and blurted out, "The accident probably damaged his frontal lobe!!"

Then.....the doctor on the documentary says, "Most likely the accident damaged his frontal lobe."

(or something along those lines) My mom looked at me with this shocked face and wondered how I knew that. I told her I was SMART!!! Hehe...I would have never known that if I hadn't learned about Phineas Gage in my Psychology class.

Our first test is this Friday and I'm a little nervous because I don't know what to expect but I'm hoping that I'll do well!!! Wish me luck!

The Story of Phineas Gage

I learned about Phineas Gage this week in my Psychology class and was completely amazed by his story. The video is a little long but I hope you'll take the time to watch it. I can't believe that he survived an accident to this degree. Watch and enjoy and maybe you'll learn something!

My Birthday

I celebrated my 27th Birthday yesterday!

I started the day at the Gynecologist!!! Yes....very exciting!!! Not like I really wanted to make my appointment for my birthday but I knew I'd be available and I wanted to get this appointment out of the way before I started school. On a good note though, there was no horribly bad news!!! After the doctors I went to the mall with my mom and we did some shopping. I didn't end up buying anything but I let my mom use my coupon to buy herself a jacket at Palais Royal!!! I'm so nice...it was my birthday and nothing was bought for me!! Lol! After the mall we went to eat at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Pappasitos, and we shared a platter of quesadillas!!!! The meal was delicious as usal and we ate till we were stuffed. My mom decided to humiliate me and she of course told our waiter that it was my birthday. They forced me to wear a HUGE sombrero while they sang me a song. At least the dessert was to die for. My mom and I just chilled for the rest of the afternoon until I went to FHE with the Singles Branch. They had made me ice cream cake and everyone sang me happy birthday. After our lesson we played some games and I thought that was pretty fun. I'm still not sure if this branch is right for me. They're all really nice people but I think I need to see what else is available before I settle.

Ohhhh!!!!

Remember the cute guy? He's married!!! Turns out he's the 2nd Counselor in the Branch Presidency. Oh well!!!!

Overall, it was a nice birthday and I received a lot of birthday wishes on facebook. I just can't believe that in 3 more years I'll be 30!!! EEK!!! Gotta get a move on!! ;-p

I Went To Church

I've been feeling the need to go back to church for almost a whole year, not quite a full year, but almost! I've been a stubborn person and felt like I could find happiness without the gospel in my life. I've always felt that there are good people in this world that aren't Mormon and I wanted to be one of those people. I also felt that I could find a good guy that wasn't Mormon to settle down with. In truth, there are such people in this world. However, in my almost two years of being divorced, I have yet to meet a guy that fits that description!! I haven't dated many guys since my divorce but the few that I have dated fell to the category of "LOSER" as far as I'm concerned. My last experience with Alex was a rather rude awakening but yet very humbling. I finally came to realize that I'm not going to be blessed with a "nice" guy unless I'm living righteously. So I finally allowed myself to do some research and I found a Singles Branch to attend. I forced myself to attend today and it was "interesting." I went with these two sisters from my home ward and I was grateful to be there with people I kinda knew. It was still a little awkward especially since I haven't been to a Singles Ward since 2004.

The one sister, 30 years of age, talked with me a little about the branch before we got there. She told me that she really liked branch since it had a wide range of age groups. She told me that there are a few young, a few in the mid 20's, and a few more in the older age group of late 20's and early 30's. I found this information to be excellent. I was nervous about attending a singles ward and everyone being younger than 23 and extremely immature. I turn 27 tomorrow and I'm not interested in involving myself with "children!!" She also informed me that this branch doesn't necessarily get caught up in the whole "I want to get married" crap that most singles wards have.

*PAUSE*

I have to admit that there are two reasons why I've decided to attend a singles ward/branch.

1. I want to involve myself with the church again and get on the right side.

2. My goal is to remarry before I'm 30 and a prune.

*PRESS PLAY*

I was a little shocked about how small the branch was....not too shocked mind you because we aren't in Utah. There were probably about 6 guys total in the branch...not of which many enticed me. There was one guy however who was EXTREMELY good looking. He introduced himself to me immediately BUT I recognized him the moment he approached me AS THE BROTHER OF ONE OF THE GUYS I DATED WHEN I WAS RIGHT OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL. Talk about crazy. It took him a minute to figure out who I was but it finally came to him. After he figured out who I was he said, "Wow!! You look, you look...." but he never finished. I'm hoping he was gonna say, "You look amazing" or "You look absolutely beautiful!" Any who, not sure if anything will happen between us because of my history with his brother. In all honesty, I always thought he was cuter than the brother I dated but HE wasn't available. ;-p

The rest of church was just alright. I think I'll have to go a few more times to see how I really feel about the branch. I'm just trying to take baby steps in the right direction. My attending the branch can't hurt me.