the light at the end of the tunnel

Brian defends his dissertation on Wednesday. I think he's been feeling like this day would never come. Well, it's finally here. We could definitely use some prayers on his/our behalf, you're inclined to do that kind of thing. :)

AU11

Ok, I know this is going to look/sound like bragging, but I swear it's not! I was just so excited about my grades that I had to share!

Some of you probably know how much I struggled in this chem class this quarter. However, Brian says he'll never trust me again when I say I'm not doing well in a class (chem or otherwise). I have to say though, I worked pretty darn hard for that A.

thanks

Today, I am grateful for bus drivers who have compassion and slow down/stop for you when you're running after them.

(Yup, I almost missed the bus this morning. Pretty sure I looked ridiculous, running as fast as I could while loaded down like a Sherpa. It was already a later bus than I normally take because I was still working on getting my stuff ready when I needed to leave for the earlier bus. The later one still gets me to class on time, but I like to have time before class to chill and work on school stuff.)

Today, I am grateful that whatever sickness I thought I was getting over the weekend did not spill over into this week.

(I may have only gotten about 2 hours of sleep on Thursday night because of a lab report that was due on Friday. If you ask if it was worth it, I'll probably say no...but the perfectionist in me had to keep on going so I wouldn't have to turn it in late. I miraculously stayed awake - and actually got stuff done! - at school and in the library until about 1 that afternoon, then headed home to nap. We went camping with the ward at A.W. Marion State Park on Friday night. We had a blast, but it was a bit chilly. That was expected, so I had plenty of layers, but I was worried with all my sneezing on Saturday that I was coming down with something. I wouldn't have been surprised because of the lack of sleep combined with the cold. Fortunately, whatever it was wasn't quite as bad on Sunday, and I'm feeling even better today.)

In spite of stressing out over my exam tonight (which I should probably be studying for instead of writing this...but I did study for a while, so I'm taking a break from that for a minute), today's been a pretty good start to the week. :)


Addendum:
Today, I am grateful for people who wear funny shirts that make me laugh while walking around campus.

(I was on my way to a aula de Português today when I saw a guy with this on his shirt:

It took me a second to realize what i was - longer than it should have - but when I did, I really did laugh out loud. I'm sure the people around me wondered.)

Today, I'm grateful for exams that are not quite as difficult as I expected.

(Read: I psyched myself out. That chem exam I was studying for? I need not have worried. I was super stressed about it because I didn't get/make the time to study for it over the weekend. I probably could have reviewed even less than I did and still done ok. I hope I'm not speaking too soon, but I felt pretty good about it when I turned it in - good enough to text Brian that I thought I tore it up. I suppose we'll see for sure when I get the results back...)