Schools out

School is officially out for Ryan. I cannot even tell you how thrilled we both are. This semester has been a tough one. Work has been crazy busy for him and on top of everything else he had to do homework. He sacrificed A LOT!  Grades post next week, then he gets a 6-month break from school until his LAST semester in California.

Expect us to be partying A LOT! I'm stoked to get my husband back. He's been taking classes non-stop for over a year. 4 semesters back-to-back with no break. He's my hero.

...and there was much rejoicing.

Image by Irish Typepad via Flickr

CEU Reunion

Syd and I have wanted to get together with our friends from CEU for years. A few weeks ago we settled on a date and sent the invite out via Facebook. Saturday was the day and it was so great to see everyone. We were so glad to see those who came and hope to do another one sooner rather than waiting another 5 years. (It's hard to believe I've been out of college for that long)

Syd brought the bungee

 You may have seen this on the news, but we were eyewitnesses to it. It entertained us for a long time. 

Story

 

We had it at Vivan Park up Provo Canyon. This is the last stop on the Heber Creeper. You can see the train tracks behind us.

CSI Graduation

Ryan's sister graduated from the College of Southern Idaho last weekend Magna Cum Laude, with her Associates Degree in Liberal Arts. She actually finished in December and is now playing volleyball at Utah State, but chose to go back and walk. We had a very nice weekend with family. The college hosted a reception afterwards that was very impressive. They had tons of food and a live band. We finished off the night swimming and relaxing in the hot tub. Alyssa is the first of her five siblings in college to get a degree. It's crazy to think that when I was her age I was dating Ryan and just months away from getting engaged. 5 years goes by fast...

sisters - Janessa, Alyssa, Brianna

She was wearing heels but I swear I'm not as short as i look. I'm average, she's just super tall. (6'2")

Debt Snowball

We paid off another debt this weekend! We started our debt snowball in July and so far have paid off $6272 ! We've been really cutting back and putting every extra penny towards our debt. We plan on selling more things and continuing to put tax refunds, bonuses etc on it. We have 3 more to go until "we're debt free!" (except our house) and our goal is still July 2012 although we may have to put it on hold for a few months so we can save for Ryan's 3 months in California since he probably won't be working. Our stake president spoke on Sunday about Provident Living and getting out of debt. We're so glad we're doing it and can recognize the blessings in our lives from heeding the prophets counsel.

How To Become an Air Traffic Controller

Image via Wikipedia

A new semester of school has started for Ryan, well it started Jan 5th. This is his 3rd semester at UVU. Here's a little update on that. He's getting an aviation administration degree to become an air traffic controller. The FAA only requires an associates degree, but you have to graduate from a school that has an FAA approved AT-CTI program (Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative), and Utah does not have one. He's planning to transfer to Mt SAC (Mount San Antonio College, in California) for his last semester then graduate there. They will give him an official school recommendation and he'll have to pass the FAA pre-employment test with a 70 or higher  along with a medical exam and security investigation. After graduation he must complete all required training at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City to continue employment with FAA. Depending which option he chooses training will be 30 days or 60 days. Once he's completed that we'll move wherever there's an opening! We're very excited!  The plan is for him to move to California in January to finish school though it may be August depending on how many classes he has left. He still has to speak with a counselor and make sure all the classes will transfer etc. to know for sure. I will probably stay here to work unless we can figure something out.

1/8

Ryan just finished summer semester! Hallelujah. Only 7 more to go...

You remember in this post I said he only had 4 more semesters? Well, after we transferred all of his credits from Snow and CEU none of them counted! So, he is starting from square one and will graduate in Dec 2012. On top of full time work, and his calling (Young Men's Pres) he's taking 15 credits per semester. I'm so proud of him for sticking it out and getting it done. It will go by fast, right? We're so blessed that we're able to pay for all of it and not have to take out student loans. Speaking of student loans, we just paid off 1 of them yesterday and are that much closer to becoming debt free! Life is good.

I started wearing Bath and Body Works Rice flour and Shea lotion and love it! What's your favorite B&BW scent?

PhD

Requirements for Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD.
Credit hours (54): 36 hours of course work beyond the baccalaureate degree plus 18 hours of dissertation (EC En 799R).
Required courses: 36 credit hours of graduate course work as specified by the advisory committee; EC En 799R.
Study list: submitted during the first semester of graduate study.
Written qualifying exam: completed by end of second year.
Oral comprehensive exam: completed by end of third year.
Advancement to candidacy.
Dissertation.
Final oral examination consisting of public presentation of original research described in dissertation.

Sound tough?
My brother-in-law is one smart cookie and he has done all of that. I got to go to his final oral exam this weekend to support him. He passed! Come April he will be forever known as Dr. Zaugg.
We celebrated by going to The Olive Garden afterwards.

Think we ate enough food!? Look at all of those dishes.
Congratulations Evan! We're so proud of you.

The Biggest Loser

My work is having a biggest loser competition. I'd been wanting to do P90X again so I thought this would be the perfect time to start. We're on week 5. I've been faithful, except for Yoga, I hate Yoga! I can tell a difference in my body, but my numbers aren't changing. I had this same problem in college. We'd have two hours of drill team practice every morning, then I'd go run and workout some more. I gained muscle but my weight never changed. I have a hard time losing 'weight' but I can always tell I've gained muscle and lost inches. Does that make sense?

Image via Wikipedia

We weigh in every Monday at work. My weight's stayed about the same but I've lost body fat. So, I may not win the contest but I love working out and feeling healthy! The contest goes until January so here's to hoping!

10/23

Ryan's sister Alyssa is on CSI's volleyball team. On October 23rd they played our alma mater, CEU at Price. Of course, I couldn't miss an opportunity to go to Price. I haven't been back since college 3 1/2 years ago and I miss it! I drove down with Jess and Aaron and I'm sure they got sick of me talking about a simpler life at college. I wore my CEU shirt which didn't make Ryan's family very happy, but I justified it because their school colors are the same and they're both golden eagles. Close enough, right? Both teams played very well, but at the end CEU won. This was a big deal for them because, let's be honest, they're not very good. It was pretty awkward after that around the family and Alyssa and the team were pretty bummed, but all in all it's OK because last weekend Alyssa's team won the NJCAA National Championship! That is CSI's 9th National Championship! We're so proud of Alyssa and got to watch them win live online. What a great accomplishment!

What a hottie!

At the CEU game

Sorry about the red eyes. Sportin' CEU (taken with my phone)