brighter days.

I had a very good day yesterday. It started out perfect; Dan and I got to sleep in. Then I made us chocolate-chip waffles that were delicious. Unfortunately I had to go to work, but it wasn't bad at all. We were just the right amount of busy, and I got to work with Becca, so that was fun. And I got this big group at the end of the day and I got to auto-grat them. Plus everybody except for one person got dessert. When I went to pick up the check after they had left, I noticed that the guy had tipped $60 over the auto-grat. I was so excited, it made the whole day worth it. At the end, I made $114. On a day shift! AMAZING! I was in such a good mood when I went home. And Dan was waiting for me at home, ready to go fishing. We decided not to go to Woodland because it was too late, so we just went up into Provo Canyon and did some fishing. He didn't catch anything, but it was fun. We got to climb around in the brush and trees to get to the hole he wanted to fish at. It reminded me of summers in Colorado when Becca, Scott, and I would venture around the red rocks and the trees and streams that were around them. It just made me feel free and happy. After fishing, we went to Cafe Rio and I had the best tortilla soup ever. It was exactly what I wanted. We were going to go to a movie after, but it was sold out, so we went to Blockbuster and bought Dan a PS2 football game. So he played that the rest of the night and I got to finish The Huger Games, which is an excellent read. Of course it ended in a terrible spot so now I have to go find the second book. Possibly the library. Anyway, I had such a great day, and I realized all the amazing blessings Heavenly Father has blessed me with. Amazing.

I think I know what I'm going to do. We will be getting enough grant money next semester to pay for full tuition for me and for Dan, plus some extra. So the extra will pay for some of rent and if I work at nights at Tucanos, we will still be making a decent amount of money. Then, for the rest of the year (until graduation 2012), I will work as much as I can, Dan and I will continue to apply for grants so we can pay for big things, and we will have moved to a better, more affordable place to live. So I don't have to sacrifice my education in order for us to have money, and I will be doing something that will benefit me in the future for our family. I really can't just stop going to school anyway. I don't want to have regrets down the road and wish I had just finished my degree. We will be fine. We aren't going to have nice things or be able to vacation much, but I know I need to finish school. Something inside of me won't let me give up. And I know the Lord will provide for us and find ways to help us out so that we can afford the basics. Everything will work out. We just have to have faith and trust in the Lord.

Dan has commissioned me to make chocolate-chip cookies today :) I'm going to bring some of the extras to my visiting teaching companion and the two girls I visit teach. I need to do better at my calling of VT district supervisor, and I feel like boosting up my girls will be a step.

I'm going to go lay down now.