Another semester is beginning...

... but I'm not going to be there.

I've been feeling for ages like I had to get into college and get going on my degree... but honestly, I feel like I need to focus entirely on my family, making a little bit of money, and writing my novel. It's in early stages right now, but I'm feeling really strongly about it, and I think if I could focus on it more thoroughly, I would definitely be able to publish. I may be wrong, but I think I have a strong storyline and a solid character. It'll take a lot of work, but I'm actually seeing it start to form into something that will happen, and I'm too excited about it to let it go unwritten.

So this semester I'll be writing, working, and mothering. Next fall I'll go back to school. :)

Josh and Asher went back to school this morning, and Steve will be going back to work this afternoon. Asher's teachers were gushing - I don't think I've ever seen someone so excited. They were overjoyed to see the kids again, and Asher said, "I'm wearing my NEW SHIRT!" He was so excited to show them.

Oh, and this morning when Steve and I were trying to decide who should take him to school, I said, "But I'll have to shower and get ready," and he said, "No, your hair looks great!" (Thanks to the awesome present Steve gave me for xmas, btw.) Asher said, "Mom, your hair looks golden! So you better take me to school today." Haha. I totally caved.

Joshua was psyched to show his friends his new watch and his lost tooth. :) It surprises me every time I look at him how cute I think he looks with his front tooth missing. lol It's so awesome to be a mom.

Finally... Finished.

You may remember back when I asked you all for help creating a video called The Benefits of Marriage for my Marriage & Family Relations class. That was two months ago, and I'm here to present - finally - the finished product. 

This is also one of the main excuses I'm going to give you for my blog being so boring lately. 

Thank you so much to my friends and family who participated, and my brother Jon for donating his time, his Mac, and his skills to the cause. If anyone who was involved would like a copy of the video, let me know and I'll get you one by Christmas.

Enjoy!

The Benefits of Marriage from Aubrey Ortega on Vimeo.

[Another] Call for Help

If anyone is interested (willing?) to participate in my Benefits of Marriage: Why Marry? project, please let me know! I need to start filming people so I have enough time to put all the pieces together before it's due November 2nd. I only need a couple of minutes from several people, you really just need to have one or two things to say... the entire thing only needs to be 10 minutes long. :) Let me know if I can set up a time to bring my video camera to your house and ask you a question or two!

Thanks everyone!!

UPDATE:

I have found enough people to interview! Thank you so much for being willing to help:

• Natalie & Rob
• Whitney & Dan
• Jon
• Mom
• Dad
• Krista
• Andrea & Seth
• Michele
• Heather

I can't wait to get it all going! Hopefully all the people on this list will be ok with me sharing the final product on my blog. If not, guess it's for my class' eyes only!

A Call for Help

So I have this presentation to do in my Marriage & Family Relations class. It's due November 2nd, so I'm getting started now.

The assignment is to come up with a "creative" way to present the "Benefits of Marriage" to the class. My own perspective is pretty decent, but I think I'll have a much better final product if I can fuse together a lot of different perspectives. So here's my plan...

I'm going to make a video (DVD) comprised of several interviews, etc., from people I know who want to contribute, of them talking about (or showing) what they think the benefits of being married are.

If you are willing to help, I would be SO appreciative! Anyone who wants to contribute their thoughts can:

A) Leave me a comment
B) Send me an e-mail (aubrey.ortega@gmail.com)
C) Make a short video and e-mail it to me
D) Have me visit you with my video camera & be on my video!

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE MARRIED TO PARTICIPATE! I would love to have all different people, all different ages, all different experiences give their thoughts!

What do YOU think being married does for people that benefits their lives?

Why are they so boring?

I always wondered why busy people were so boring. Have you ever noticed that? The busier the person, the less they have to say when you ask, "What have you been up to?" I always wondered why that was, and now I know.

I am now a boring blogger because I am busy. All my energy goes toward school and homework, I use a little bit that's left over to get the boys to school and back, and I have none left for anything else. No energy, no time.

Each day new thoughts come into my head from my classes and interaction with other people that I didn't have before, things I want so badly to write about... but I know it's not going to happen because all I have time to do is get to class, get my homework done, and feed my family. Even that gets left off the list once in a while... my kids have had to remind me to feed them lately!

Hopefully I'll get the hang of this college stuff soon and balance my time better. I assure you, I'm not about to give up the blog. :)

One of those days.

Today was one of those days.

You know the one.

Where you start the day off fighting with your husband, the kids are late to school, your printer won't print your assignment, you don't have time to eat your breakfast, you go the wrong way down the McDonald's drive thru, the stranger next to you tells you your tire is flat, you realize for the first time that you have never put air in a tire before... even though you've been driving for 10 years, you sit in your car to eat your breakfast, resigning yourself to being late and your teacher pulls up and parks behind you, seeing that you're late to her class so you can eat and listen to the radio, you get a 31 on your test, and you realize you're two chapters off where you're supposed to be because you never received the class outline and have been off-track since the first day of class.

Yep. One of those days. And it's only Noon. Can't wait to go to dance class and be humiliated... again. Did you know that dancing is not a matter of learning, it's a matter of talent? Well, now you know.

Top 10 Things I've Learned (so far) in College Dance Class:

1. I'm not quite as self-conscious as I was in high school, but pretty close.
2. I am much larger than I thought I was. (Staring at yourself in a giant mirror for an hour and a half is NOT pleasant. I'm going to need a whole new therapy session just for that. How is the post-third-kid body so much worse than the post-second-kid body??)
   
3. When you're 25 (26 on Tuesday), you're old enough to know that 18-year-olds straight out of high school are obnoxious (and you can pick them out of crowd a mile away).
   
4. I have the exact same body type as the 45-year-old lady who is also in my class. Absolutely no one else in the class even resembles my shape.
5. There are girls who take Introduction to Jazz even though they've been dancing their entire lives, just to show off.
   
6. There are straight men who dance WAY better than I ever will, and gay men who can move in way more feminine ways than I ever have.
   
7. Jazz dance works every single muscle in your body and will leave you sore for weeks.
   
8. Dancing barefoot because you forgot your dance shoes is a very bad idea.
   
9. Just because you could dance when you were 8 doesn't mean you can dance when you're 25. (Take the number of kids you've had, times it by 8, and that's how many years of experience you have to take off your resume.)
   
10. Sign up for classes very early, so you don't get stuck taking a dance class at 5:30 pm.
    

Shortest Summer of My Life (Ramblings)

What happened? Summer finally came... and then... well, now it's ending. How is this possible? It just started. I know summer is short... but after the longest winter of my life, this is by far the shortest summer I've ever had. All of a sudden it's getting cool at night, school is starting, and all of our fall birthdays are right around the corner.

So here's how it is: School is starting, and I am a complete stress case. There is A WEEK AND A HALF until school starts, and less than that until Josh's school starts. I can't believe it's already here, and I am terrified. Steve will be starting his third semester at Salt Lake Community College, I'll be starting my very first semester at SLCC, Josh will be starting 2nd grade (2nd grade???) and Asher will be starting preschool. How we're going to get everyone to 3 different schools at 4 different times plus Steve's job, with only one car, is beyond me. I have absolutely no idea how we're going to accomplish it; all I can do is hope it all works out. I feel like we're doing the right thing by starting school right now, so I can just hope the Lord will help us accomplish it.


Why am I terrified of school?

1. I am no good at making friends. Seriously. The people who love me didn't come to that realization until well after they met me (with a couple of unique exceptions I could count on one hand). I tend to make a harsh first impression, and I'm nervous about that. People who meet me generally get the impression that I am not a nice person. I can't imagine where they might get that idea.... ;) 
2. I am taking a cardio fitness class and a jazz dance class. I haven't done any dance since I was 15, and even then I wasn't very good at it. I am completely and totally out of shape (if anyone is considering having their third kid... think long and hard before you make that leap. Even if your body bounced back after #1 and #2, #3 will throw you for a loop). Last Wednesday I started Zumba class at Centerville Academy and I am not kidding when I say it NEARLY KILLED ME. I am way too out of shape, and there's no way I can change that enough in the next week and a half to be able to pull off two fitness classes (on the same day, twice a week!) very well. 
3. I am already grasping at the edges of life, desperately trying to hold onto sanity... how can I add homework and complicated scheduling to what's already got me crazying? (What, you don't think that's a word? Live with me for a week, you'll think otherwise. With me, crazy is a verb.)
4. Lots of time away from my little ones. I am craving it like you wouldn't believe... 6 years as a SaHM has brought me to a place in life where I am pretty desperate for some Aubrey Time out of the house, but honestly, even an hour away from them still makes my heart ache.

Why am I excited to start school?

1. I will be FORCED into shape. 2 cardio classes twice a week (if I skip my classes I lose my financial aid), walking around campus, plus less time sitting around at home with full access to my fridge, AND free gym access? It can only mean a better body (as long as I don't snack on garbage while I'm at school). 
2. It's about time I get on with MY life. I have spent the last 7 years doing everything for my kids and my husband, and it's time for ME. I haven't had a job for more than 6 months our entire marriage, I haven't gotten any education since high school... it's time I have something to put on a resume. It's time I start something that can bring in money. It's time I learn something new that isn't about newborn sleep schedules, vaccinations, and baby-proofing. My mind is craving stimulation.
3. The government has sufficiently recognized how broke we are and will be paying for it. I won't have to pay a dime, and I can't think of a better thing in life than a free education.

I've been putting off registering Josh for school because I am unwilling to accept that he's so old.  I'm excited he's going back, though, because he's been so bored and under-stimulated. That's my fault; I should have done a better job keeping him occupied. I am definitely not a good homeschool mom! Grandma Miller bought him a Mario Kart backpack and lunchbox, just like he asked for, and he can't wait to use them.

Asher is going to start preschool through Head Start this year. He's turning 5 next month, but he's like me and missed the deadline for Kindergarten, so he'll be starting school next year. We haven't done preschool before now because it's so expensive, but Head Start is going to allow us to get him some pre-school training before Kindergarten. He definitely doesn't need it academically; he's already got his whole alphabet, numbers, etc. down, and he's starting to read... but I think socially he's going  to need some practice. He doesn't spend much time around other kids (except his cousins), and he tends to conflict with kids his age. His school schedule is going to be the hardest one to orchestrate... no idea how I'll get him there and back. But he needs it, so we'll figure something out.

So many things are starting, and I'm not good with change... so I'm using most of my energy trying to keep my stress level down and not getting too panicky about it. I do best with just one or two things to concentrate on, and this is far beyond my comfort zone. I guess you could say I'm not supermom... but I think the changes that are coming are good.

I hope everyone else has had a fantastic summer... Leave me a comment and tell me your favorite thing you did this summer... or even the thing you're most looking forward to about fall! I'm craving some feedback. :)