The Semester of Discontinuance

Well, about a trillion things have happened since I last blogged, so this is my effort to start getting caught up!

So winters out at BYU have always been really hard for me. I think it's the darkness, the way it just seems endless when it's been snowing for 2 months straight and there's no end in sight, the stress of school, and probably a bunch of other stuff. For whatever reason(s), it's just always kind of ridiculous and it makes school darn near impossible sometimes.

That's why this semester, I decided to discontinue. I loved a lot of my classes but decided that discontinuing would be the best thing for me to do right now so I didn't get terrible grades on my transcript. (It's kind of hard to do well in school when you just stay home all the time.) I'll be going back in the fall and everything will be just fine with my transcripts, I'm just taking a little break right now.

Since discontinuing in the middle of March, I have been busy! I switched my major back to psychology, because that means that I can graduate in just THREE SEMESTERS. This is the first time I've really been able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it is really exciting!!!!! If I can stomach any more school after BYU, I'd like to go somewhere and get my masters in Social Work.

I've also been painting! You'll remember that on our 6 month anniversary Mason got me some paints and an easel. I actually did a little craft with stencils before that that was super easy, and I wanted to keep painting and get better.
Here's the first craft I did with stencils:

I remember I was SO stressed out with picking out the colors for this project. I like the way it turned out! My favorite one is the cream background with the blue flowers, and Mason's favorite is the purple background.
Anyway, fast forward a month or 2 from that project, and I completed my first painting with no stencils! With paint brushes! Here it is:

I know, I know, try to hold your applause, please. ;) Haha totally kidding. It actually looks a lot better in this picture than it does in real life. If you see it up close, you can see the paint is really uneven, there are several places where the shapes are kind of weird, and the blending in the background is choppy at best. But it was SO MUCH FUN painting this! I followed a step by step tutorial on youtube and picked out my own colors. I loved it. I started working on my next painting a few days ago and I'm not using a step by step video for this one, so hopefully it doesn't turn out totally gross looking.

I've also started learning to play the guitar. Mason and I both have an app called Yousician that has cool lessons so you can practice and learn. It can be really frustrating but it's also really fun and when you finally get something that you've been messing up it feels really good.

I also had to find a new job when I discontinued, so I've been working doing transcriptions at a company called Rev. It's all online so I just do it from home. It's getting less terrible the more I do it, and if I really put my mind to it I can make some decent money. I'm thinking I'm going to get a "real" part time job in the summer so I can actually get some social interaction every once in a while.

And I've also been running. Mason, his dad and I are all running a half marathon in about a week and a half. I would love to PR, but I think my only real goal is to get done and then not have to be stuck on the potty for the next 5 hours, like after my last half marathon. Haha. I know you were all dying to know that.

I've visited Michelle and Nate and their fam a couple of times too, and they always help me to feel happy . I LOVE going up there!

(Asa spent a really long time sticking pins through this fabric strip. Then he showed it to me and said he made it for Uncle Mason, who couldn't be up to visit with me. We sent Mason this picture.)

It is inspiring to me to see Mason working so hard to get through this semester. He is so diligent in his school and has some really long days sometimes, but he always gets everything done that he needs to. I'm glad I have him with me as I go through my hard times, and I hope I can be his rock when he goes through his.

Anyway, that's a little of what I've been up to this semester. Here's to the summer when neither of us have class and it's warm outside!