Bragging

Okay, my parents DID teach me manners and stuff and that it's not really nice to brag, but since no one besides me is actually looking at this blog yet, I figure this is a good venue to brag without being obnoxious, so here goes:

I got a 4.0!!!

Grades are in, and I have officially received my Masters of Library and Information Science degree, with a 4.0 GPA!!! Woohoo! I have no idea how many other people in my program has 4.0's--it could be quite a common occurrence for all I know--but it still feels good knowing that I graduated with a 4.0!

The Christmas Story

Check out this link:

The Christmas Story

It's the Christmas story from Luke 2, with interactive links to music and talks. It's really cool! The music is beautiful and the talks help keep the real meaning of Christmas in our minds.

Random Tidbits

So, you know when you play those get to know you games, or you have to tell something interesting about yourself but you never have anything really interesting to say? (Or maybe that's just me...) For some reason, I've been thinking about those random bits of information about myself, so I figure I'll share a few.

Favorite book: I do NOT have a favorite book. I read a couple hundred books a year and you want me to pick ONE favorite book? I don't think so. So, here's a brief list:

• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (This book was pretty much my best friend during my preteen/teen years)
  
• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (Prisoner of Azkaban is my fave of the series; what can I say? I love Sirius Black)
• These Is My Words by Nancy Turner (I refuse to read the other 2 books in the series, though)
• Fat Cat by Robin Brande
• Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (I also really like Getting the Girl by Zusak, and hope I will be getting that book for Christmas)
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Favorite movies: The Power of One (not the Pokemon movie; the one about apartheid in South Africa), Memphis Belle

Favorite type of music: Christmas music!! I will actually listen to Christmas music any time during the year if I need a pick me up. When I'm not listening to Christmas music, I like country best...can't beat George Strait or Josh Turner.

Favorite foods: cheese and chocolate...although, definitely NOT together

The places in the world I would most like to visit are:

• Victoria Falls
• Australia
• Europe--to see the death camps (morbid, I know)

I have never been trick or treating. (Shocking, I know. That one always surprises people.)

Visiting Ethan

Me and my little bro

My two favorite guys--aren't they cute?

My little brother (the baby of the family...who just turned 21! Yikes!) is serving a mission right now for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and he just happens to be serving in Salt Lake City...which is all of 40 minutes away from where my husband and I live. So, we got special permission to stop by and see him, and Friday night, we headed to SLC to visit Ethan and to deliver Christmas presents. We volunteered to deliver presents for the rest of the family, rather than everyone having to pay shipping costs, and a lot of people took us up on that offer, so we delivered 4 boxes and 1 bag worth of Christmas presents. (We were assisted by Adam's parents, who were nice enough to help us carry Ethan's many packages, and take pictures, and in the case of my mother-in-law, give Ethan a hug, saying she'd want someone to hug her sons. Aw, sweet!)

It was great to get to see Ethan, and it's especially great to see how well he's doing and how much he's growing up. Of course, now I'm tempted to use some of my newly acquired free time to sneak back up to SLC and visit again...

Sad News--Provo Tabernacle Burned

The Provo community has suffered a loss today--the historic Provo Tabernacle caught on fire sometime in the early hours of the morning, and after several hours of burning, the windows are all burned out, some of the walls have collapsed, and the roof has collapsed. At this point, the news stories are reporting that they are anticipating a total loss of the building. Originally built in 1896, this building has been a gathering place for LDS church meetings, meetings of other denominations, cultural events, and more.

As I reflect on this building, there's not any one special meeting I've been to that stands out--I've been to stake conferences and concerts, and while they were all good meetings, there isn't one that really makes the building especially memorable for me. However, the building holds a great deal of significance for me; it represents the faith and dedication of so many people who used their time and resources to build this structure, to create a place for their people to ga ther and worship God. The building was beautiful, truly beautiful, and I appreciate the effort that went into building it. I think for me, it symbolizes their desire to do God's work and build His kingdom on the earth, one building at a time, and one person at a time.

I'm D-O-N-E!!!

I'm done!!! And so, I begin.

I am officially done with....GRAD SCHOOL! Yay! My husband and I both finished up school this week; he got his bachelor's degree in business, and I am now a Master of Library and Information Science. Technically, we are still waiting for waiting for some grades, but things are looking pretty good. (Actually...Adam might not be waiting for grades; he might already know but hasn't told me...he has a tendency to do that.) So, I'm still waiting for the official end of my semester, and my diploma, but I think it's safe to say that I'm a "master." So, what did I master over the course of my time at UWM?

• Foundations of Library and Information Science
• Organization of Information (where we talked about exciting things like metadata)
• Information Access and Retrieval
• Research Methods in Library and Information Science
• Children's Literature
• Young Adult Literature (favorite class; it was awesome)
• Reference Services
• Managing Library Collections
• Cataloging (This class almost made me go blind; my eyes hurt every day--and Adam had to proofread my midterm to see if I'd typed up exactly what I'd written out on my paper because I literally couldn't read)
• a fieldwork project (in which I revamped my library's Young Adult nonfiction collection)
• Multicultural Children's Literature (which is one of the most eye-opening classes I've ever taken)
• E-publishing and Web Design (in which I designed my own website...sweet!)

I also took and passed a Comprehensive exam, which was pretty scary at the time, but since I took it awhile ago, it doesn't seem so scary anymore.

So, what does being done with school mean for us? Well, it means Adam starts a new job on Monday...and I keep my current job at my favorite public library. And it means we have time for hobbies, which I vaguely remember having before. And it means blogging can be one of my hobbies...so, off I go on whatever random tangents I so choose.

(Btw...my tangents actually usually aren't random; they are COMPLETELY related to something that someone said or that I read or something. There really is a connection in my brain somewhere.)