So I am unofficially done with my first year of grad school! I still have three finals to take, but the classwork is done. This year has flown and I hate to think that in just one more year I will be preparing for graduation and the inevitable “What’s next?” This has been a great year for me in many ways. My singing has improved, my circle of friends has expanded, my confidence has been strengthened, my faith has been fortified, my love for Tom and marriage as grown, and my love for life remains constant!

A few specific things I have learned this year:

• Every single singer has been “blessed” with a beautiful voice, and God wants all of them to succeed just as much as he wants me to. In order to be one with God, I can help each singer realize their potential through encouragement and genuine compliments.
• The above mindset results in greater self confidence and a much healthy approach to a singing career (forget that cutthroat stuff!)
• Religion can be a topic of conversation without creating tension or uneasiness, it’s all in the way it is addressed.
• Truly studying the New Testament is a powerful way to come to know Christ, and strengthen ones faith.
• Studying the scriptures and talking about them as a couple lifts marriage to a higher plane.
• Growing flowers makes rain an invited guest!
• A home is not a home without lots of people in it.
• Some men work better with a damsel in distress. (I’m not referring to Tom.)
• I love living in the suburbs.
• I really need to find a way to control my moods when I am confronted by a series of gray days. 
• My Dad did a whole lot around the house and yard that I am only now coming to realize.
• Running with friends makes long distances so much more enjoyable.

Here’s to the oncoming summer!!!!!