I've been trying to get caught up on the events of the last month with chronological entries. But I need to post that I PASSED MY COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS!!! I found out today - Memorial Day!
When I hadn't heard by Friday afternoon, I figured that I'd have to wait until tomorrow to hear. I decided to go ahead and check (since I have been checking morning, noon, and night since the first day I could have received the results), and the official email was there!
In our group conference call before we all started writing, our comps mentor told us that out of every quarter's group of 12 -14 students doing comps, about 3 usually pass outright, with no revisions; about 3 usually fail, even after revisions, and have to completely rewrite the comps with new questions; the rest usually have to make revisions to at least one of the questions. I told her in our one-on-one that my goal was to be one of the 3-ish that passed outright, with no revisions.
Most of my friends in the program have had to make revisions. There is a group of us that have been together since our first residency. ALL of them have had to make revisions. That has kind of worried me, since I know we are pretty similar in our learning styles and abilities.
I decided to be positive and confident after I submitted my comps. My kitchen counter had been piled high with books and articles through the 4 weeks of the comps. I was tired of looking at them. I told myself that I would not need to make any revisions, and put them all away. :)
As I was reporting to Mom & Dad earlier today, I joked about how I passed partially due to my positive thinking. Ryan chimed in, "No, it wasn't because of your positive thinking...it's because you are totally BRILLIANT!" Isn't he good?
It's also because of the daily prayers of my family, and the wonderful support of my family and friends. If you're reading this, you're probably someone who has supported me in some way. Thank you!
Now, on to the dissertation!!!
And back to the chronological catch-up!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Ryan’s First Scout Overnighter ~ April 22-23, 2011
We rushed home from Frances’ graduation to get Ryan to his first overnighter as a scout. Yes, less than 24 hours after he was welcomed into scouting, he went on his first overnighter!
This was Ryan’s first night away from a family member. Even as I have traveled for work and school, he has always stayed with Rara and Papa. When we said good-bye, he teared up a little bit (if he’s reading this, I mean he was worried about if I would be ok while he was gone).
Ryan is the only 11-year-old boy in our ward, so we combine his scout group with the ward next to us. He knows a couple of the boys a little bit, but with him not going to the neighborhood school, he doesn’t know any of the boys well. I think that was part of the fear – that he was also going with people he didn’t know well. But they were cute to call for him to come over and join them.
I have to admit, I worried about him all evening, all night, and all day Saturday until he came home. I worried if he was warm enough (he wasn’t), and if he was eating enough (he was). He was the last scout to be dropped off by his leaders. They said he did pretty well, and was a pretty good little trooper. I’m proud of him for making the change from a little Cub Scout to an overnight-camping-scout in such a short time and such a brave manner!
This was Ryan’s first night away from a family member. Even as I have traveled for work and school, he has always stayed with Rara and Papa. When we said good-bye, he teared up a little bit (if he’s reading this, I mean he was worried about if I would be ok while he was gone).
Ryan is the only 11-year-old boy in our ward, so we combine his scout group with the ward next to us. He knows a couple of the boys a little bit, but with him not going to the neighborhood school, he doesn’t know any of the boys well. I think that was part of the fear – that he was also going with people he didn’t know well. But they were cute to call for him to come over and join them.
I have to admit, I worried about him all evening, all night, and all day Saturday until he came home. I worried if he was warm enough (he wasn’t), and if he was eating enough (he was). He was the last scout to be dropped off by his leaders. They said he did pretty well, and was a pretty good little trooper. I’m proud of him for making the change from a little Cub Scout to an overnight-camping-scout in such a short time and such a brave manner!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Frances’ Graduation! April 22, 2011
On Friday, April 22, Frances graduated from Weber State University! Her major was in Health Promotions, and her minor was in Nutrition. She has a great job as the ultrasound person (sonographer, I think) at the hospital in Park City, so she is going to continue there. But having her Bachelor’s degree will help her with pay scale and future promotions.
We all loved watching her cross the stage and cheering her on. I think my loud whistling may have embarrassed her a bit. :)
Ryan was a good helper, being the “bag boy” for us.
What a cute family picture!
Congratulations, Frances! We’re proud of you! Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Ryan’s Arrow of Light Ceremony ~ April 21, 2011
Thursday, April 21, was Ryan’s Arrow of Light Ceremony. For those of you not in scouting, or who have been away for a while, the Arrow of Light is the highest possible award in Cub Scouts. It’s like the Eagle Scout of Cub Scouting. Similar to the Eagle, a relatively small percentage of Cub Scouts earn the Arrow of Light. We are SO proud of Ryan for his accomplishment!
For the most part, the Arrow of Light Ceremony completely focuses on the scout who has earned it. I set up a display with Ryan’s belt loop display (more about this later), the Cub Scout scrapbook that Ryan and I put together, and some of his swimming awards.
We had a great program. The Pack had a brief period of time at the beginning where they awarded the other scouts their awards, and then they turned the rest of the time over to us for Ryan’s program. Rara and Papa told the story of Akela, and the legend of the Arrow of Light. Rara used Grandpa Jensen’s bow when she talked about the shooting of the arrow. This is our pack’s first Arrow of Light in about 1 ½ years, so many of the scouts have not seen a ceremony, and are not familiar with the story, or even the award itself!
There are seven character points of the Arrow of Light. I asked several people who are close to Ryan to speak about one of the character points, and then give examples of how Ryan has developed each of those traits. Rara talked about Wisdom, and Papa talked about Courage. Ryan turned on each of the lights or points as each person talked about them.
Chris Flanagan, the Young Men’s President and a good friend, talked about Self Control.
Greg Mortensen, Ryan’s Primary teacher, talked about Justice.
Bishop Paul Schmutz talked about Faith.
Donna Hiatt, Ryan’s Webelos leader, talked about Hope. She awarded Ryan his Arrow of Light Patch. (I’m sorry the picture is a blurry. I handed my camera to someone else while I went up front.)
Natasha Boren, the Cub Committee Chair, talked about Love. She presented Ryan with the leather hanging she made with many of his awards.
Usually all of the scout’s awards go on the hanging, but Ryan has so many that we had to do a couple of other things. We left all of his monthly patches and his camp patches on his bandelo. I also purchased a display for Ryan’s belt loops. It holds 40 belt loops, so Ryan’s goal was to fill it. He ended up with 42 belt loops!
I also received my Arrow of Light Mother’s Pin. We really did have a lot of fun earning his Cub Scout awards together. I was his Wolf den leader, and then in Cub Scouts for almost the rest of his time in Cub Scouts. We also had a lot of fun working on the belt loops together. We did a lot of them for our Family Home Evening activities.
After the Arrow of Light was awarded, Ryan crossed the scouting bridge from Cub Scouts and Donna Hiatt to scouting with Steve Cohen. Steve welcomed Ryan and presented him with his scout neckerchief and our troop’s special neckerchief slide.
After the program, we had a wonderful cake that Natasha Boren had ordered. We loved it!
A special thank you to Rara & Papa for the wonderful program, and to all of our special guests who took time out of their busy schedules to join us and support Ryan…
The Flanagan family and Geri Turley (the Cubmaster through much of Ryan’s Cub Scout time)…
Scott Johnson and Jeff Novak (our home teachers) and Merilee Novak…
It was a great evening, and a lot of fun honoring Ryan for his commitment and hard work in Cub Scouts.
For the most part, the Arrow of Light Ceremony completely focuses on the scout who has earned it. I set up a display with Ryan’s belt loop display (more about this later), the Cub Scout scrapbook that Ryan and I put together, and some of his swimming awards.
We had a great program. The Pack had a brief period of time at the beginning where they awarded the other scouts their awards, and then they turned the rest of the time over to us for Ryan’s program. Rara and Papa told the story of Akela, and the legend of the Arrow of Light. Rara used Grandpa Jensen’s bow when she talked about the shooting of the arrow. This is our pack’s first Arrow of Light in about 1 ½ years, so many of the scouts have not seen a ceremony, and are not familiar with the story, or even the award itself!
There are seven character points of the Arrow of Light. I asked several people who are close to Ryan to speak about one of the character points, and then give examples of how Ryan has developed each of those traits. Rara talked about Wisdom, and Papa talked about Courage. Ryan turned on each of the lights or points as each person talked about them.
Chris Flanagan, the Young Men’s President and a good friend, talked about Self Control.
Greg Mortensen, Ryan’s Primary teacher, talked about Justice.
Bishop Paul Schmutz talked about Faith.
Donna Hiatt, Ryan’s Webelos leader, talked about Hope. She awarded Ryan his Arrow of Light Patch. (I’m sorry the picture is a blurry. I handed my camera to someone else while I went up front.)
Natasha Boren, the Cub Committee Chair, talked about Love. She presented Ryan with the leather hanging she made with many of his awards.
Usually all of the scout’s awards go on the hanging, but Ryan has so many that we had to do a couple of other things. We left all of his monthly patches and his camp patches on his bandelo. I also purchased a display for Ryan’s belt loops. It holds 40 belt loops, so Ryan’s goal was to fill it. He ended up with 42 belt loops!
I also received my Arrow of Light Mother’s Pin. We really did have a lot of fun earning his Cub Scout awards together. I was his Wolf den leader, and then in Cub Scouts for almost the rest of his time in Cub Scouts. We also had a lot of fun working on the belt loops together. We did a lot of them for our Family Home Evening activities.
After the Arrow of Light was awarded, Ryan crossed the scouting bridge from Cub Scouts and Donna Hiatt to scouting with Steve Cohen. Steve welcomed Ryan and presented him with his scout neckerchief and our troop’s special neckerchief slide.
After the program, we had a wonderful cake that Natasha Boren had ordered. We loved it!
A special thank you to Rara & Papa for the wonderful program, and to all of our special guests who took time out of their busy schedules to join us and support Ryan…The Flanagan family and Geri Turley (the Cubmaster through much of Ryan’s Cub Scout time)…
Scott Johnson and Jeff Novak (our home teachers) and Merilee Novak…
It was a great evening, and a lot of fun honoring Ryan for his commitment and hard work in Cub Scouts.
Backblogged
“Backblogged isn’t a word,” you say? Well, it should be. That’s exactly what I am.
Backlogged blog = Backblogged
My comprehensive exams are submitted, but I’m still waiting to hear the results. While I’m waiting, I’ll do a couple of posts from last month’s events. If I disappear again for a while, you’ll know that my comps needed revisions and I’m working on those. I’ll get back to blogging once they are resubmitted.
Backlogged blog = Backblogged
My comprehensive exams are submitted, but I’m still waiting to hear the results. While I’m waiting, I’ll do a couple of posts from last month’s events. If I disappear again for a while, you’ll know that my comps needed revisions and I’m working on those. I’ll get back to blogging once they are resubmitted.