Taking a Break

The decision is in: I'm not going to be taking classes this summer! It was a tough call since this will be the first time I've had a break since I started school in the fall of 2010. 

I'm at a point in my coursework where I didn't have a lot of options of things to take (trying to finish up concentrations, keep my student status, yadayadayada). So if I had gone this summer, I would have had one online course and one that met in Denton (an hour's drive) on five consecutive Saturdays from 8:30-4:30. And it has become more and more clear that I just couldn't do it.

The weekends here are already really wonderful and really tough. It's a nice stretch of time with my girl. I get to feed her, change her, and snuggle with her, and I didn't want to miss out on that--even for just five weeks. (That also gives her daddy a break after doing those things Monday-Friday!)

But the weekends are also when we work on the house, mow the yard, do the laundry, go to church, buy groceries, prep the food for the following week, Skype with family, and try to work in a little bit of fun and rest! And so far (for the last three months), I've been unsuccessful at crossing all of those to-dos off the list as it is. If Saturdays were taken, we would likely have to wear unironed clothes and eat cereal for supper every night!

I hate pushing my qualifying exams back another semester, and I'm nervous about my fall classes (one will meet on Monday nights, which will be tough as well). But, after much prayer and plenty of discussion with Jason, this seems like the direction God is leading our family right now. 

There is still much work to be done for this semester and very little time to do it, but I'm already looking forward to a more relaxed summer with these two!

(The first and, sadly, the only picture of the three of us. Shameful!)