Be Glad

The second summer semesters is only a week in, and I'm already ready to give up. Well, not totally, just on Spanish. And it's not that it's so horrible, it's only that I want to be done already. Here's why:

Mondays & Wednesdays: Wake up at 6, get on the bus at 7:20 to get to work by 8, work 8-9 hours depending on if I take a lunch break, get on the bus around 4:55 to get to class before 6, Spanish class from 6-9, go home, eat something because I didn't have time for dinner, go to bed around 10.
Tuesdays & Thursdays: Wake up at 7 or 8, do reading or homework that didn't get done the night before, go to class from 10-11:30, then another class from 12-3, then finish other homework or reading, try to get something to eat, go to class from 6-9, go home, go to bed around 10.
Fridays: Wake up at 6, get on the bus at 7:20 to get to work by 8, work 8-9 hours, go home at 5.

It's really exhausting, and hard on my body, because I'm really bad at eating. If I don't have time, I'll often just skip a meal, which in turn makes me grumpy and sick and gives me a headache. It's also hard because I don't get to see Brian very much during the week. And I'm never home to make dinner, so he often has to just fend for himself.

I know this doesn't sound like I'm being very Glad, but the happy part is that I only have 17 more Spanish classes, and 9 more of my other classes. It really does go by quickly, it just seems to take forever because there's so much to do. For example, we've had a week of class, and we have a test on Monday. Intense. And I'm really doing alright with the 3 hour Spanish class, I just hate to be called on to speak. I can read & understand talking pretty well, if it's not too fast, but I just can't formulate what I want to say. Brian says he's going to help with this by making us talk in Spanish every night when I get home. And by praying in Spanish. I have a feeling my prayers will revert back to children's prayers if I have to do this. Short & Simple.

Another downside of school right now, is the fact that I have to do homework at Bear Lake this weekend. But that is something I'm happy about, BEAR LAKE THIS WEEKEND! I'm so ready for it. Our family is getting really big though, so it'll be interesting to see how we make it all fit. We leave after work today and I can't wait. I'll try to take pictures to post.

As for the title of my post, I've come up with a brilliant idea. If I do say so myself. :) A few years ago, I remember my mom trying to get our family to think of a family slogan or motto, something that would inspire us to do better, be better, be closer as a family. As most of us were teenagers by that point, you can imagine what the response was. Joking, teasing, never really coming up with a good idea. Nothing seemed to stick.

Recently, Brian has become the ward/neighborhood bike specialist. If someone needs their bike fixed, they bring it to Brian. Since more & more people are riding bikes to work, they come to Brian to fix them. So the past few nights, when I've gotten home from class, he's outside with a bike on his bike stand working on it. It's pretty fun because usually the wives come along and we all hang out and chat in front of our apartment. (It's too hot to go inside, we haven't invested in an air conditioning unit yet, though I REALLY want to.) So, the other day, I made the joke that I was going to make a sign for our door: "GLAD Bike Shop. Glad You're Here, Glad to Help" We laughed and moved on. But it made me start thinking.

I want to do something like my mom tried to do. And I know that our last name is something that we could easily use to teach our kids. Besides, they're going to be teased about it anyway. (Glad to meet you, Glad to see you, etc.) So I was thinking, what's a simple thing that can be taught to young kids that also needs to be used your entire life. And I immediately thought of a bunch of scriptures and teachings about charity and service and love. And especially about how we should show love to those around us, which in turn shows love to our Father in Heaven. So I talked about it with Brian, and we both agreed, it should be something we start using from when our kids are little, "Glad You're Here, Glad to Help." Simple, but profound. Love those around you, and serve them willingly.

So now I really do want to make a sign or something to put in our home or even the funny sign for our door, just so we can get it started now. If it's always present I think it'll make it easier to implement in our family. Anyway, that was my stroke of genius. If any of you more creative people out there want to design something for me, I'd love it!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, and I will post when we get home.