But first, I guess I'll just give a general update. I haven't blogged since September (duh). I have not been held hostage. I've only been busy. School has been pretty crazy, and the rest of life hasn't left me any chance to slow down. Plus, all that waffle-making.
I'm also applying to schools this semester. My #1 pick right now is San Luis Obispo, but we'll see what happens. I would go private if the financial aid was good enough. I have a few unique circumstances that might get me some scholarships.
Work has been different. My weekend job at the Chalet isn't giving me many hours. My boss knows I'm looking for another job. My tutoring job at DVC has bumped me up to 8 hours a week. It's a nice job. Unfortunately, it's been pretty busy at the math lab, so I don't get as much homework done as I thought I would be able to. I can't really complain since I'm getting paid to tutor and not to do my homework. It's mostly irritating when people come up with questions where they basically just want you to work through the tediousness that is algebra. Or people like this one girl who takes a chemistry class at another college that isn't even the chemistry class I technically tutor for, and then wants me to figure out what she was supposed to do in her lab. That's like you barfing into my bucket and then asking me what you had for breakfast. I hope that makes sense.
This semester so far has been all about balance. Balancing schoolwork, my marriage, church responsibilities. Oh by the way. I don't know if I mentioned it before but I've been called as the Sunday School instructor for 14 and 15 year-old group. Merilee and I also just gave talks in our ward. Anyways, it's been pretty hectic.
It's also been extremely rewarding. Married life, to answer all the questions that everyone's been asking, has been great. No, better than great. It's exceeded my expectations in many ways. I feel like I tell Merilee all the time that I'm so glad that we got married. The thing is, that I probably only say it 10% of the time that I feel I want to, so the phrase doesn't get worn out. I try to tell single friends who ask how married life is that they should just go get married. But I know that it's not that easy. As it is, married life is challenging (and I don't even have kids). The balance of 18.5 units of school and part-time work with family life really requires effort, but it's so worth it if it's for the right person. We have a lot of blessings and a lot of things going for us that make our marriage super great. It's sad to see families and couples struggle, but we're glad to have the Gospel and each other. We're pretty excited about that.