As Promised

As promised, here's an updated photo of Sean. He's in his new outfit for College of the Desert. :)

Also, we have a friend staying with us until Monday. Her name is Tootsie, she was one of our last rescue dogs before we closed down Yimeyam Ranch Rescue back at Christmas 2011. Her mom and dad love her so much, she's a very spoiled little girl. She was a special one, for sure, so it's really great to have her back even if just for a few days. 

Fourth Time’s the Charm

There’s a fourth option, you know. I could not transfer, stick to the original plan and maybe take a few less units (ones that would not have transferred since I had too many in my student education plan).

I have been really learning and making progress in volleyball practice lately. We had the tournament in San Diego last weekend and I played so much, learned so much, really felt like I was improving. I feel like with some more playing time on the court, I could really become a player worth taking a look at. Then, I talked with Bonnie, and she asked me about my reasons for choosing one transfer school over the other. I mentioned I liked Cal Poly Pomona as an option to be able to play volleyball (I assume that, since they’re not a UC or a state school like OSU, they won’t be D1 but I could be very, very wrong. I need to look into that). She asked me, why are you going to school? To play volleyball, or to be a vet? Obviously it’s to become a vet, and right now volleyball is kind of hindering that as far as time and focus go. But if I were to get picked up, and get a scholarship for playing volleyball, wouldn’t that make it worth it? Plus I seriously just love the game.

I know I’m not going to get picked up to play by any of my choice schools, but there are options in the Midwest and back east that could come through. I know there’s a girl on our team who is already starting negotiations with a coach from a school in Florida. There were girls from our school, last year and the year before, who were picked up and got full scholarships, some even with housing and extras! For me, money is a big deal. If possible, I want to avoid loans all together. The only reason I even consented to getting loans (eventually) at all was when I learned about joining the Army. I feel more comfortable getting some loans at the undergrad level knowing that they will be paid off very quickly, and not compounded with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.

I chose my top three choice schools for the main reason that I consider them “feeder schools” to veterinary schools I would like to go to. Both Cal Poly and OSU have pre veterinary programs that might give me a leg up. Then again, Davis doesn’t have a pre vet program at all, just an animal science program that, according to their website, can prepare one for many different fields (in other words, not specifically for a vet wanna be). While I was there over the summer, talking to a counselor, she told me that she had a girl who was an art history major, a biology minor, get accepted at the UC Davis vet school. Really? If that’s true, than a degree in just regular biology should do the trick. I don’t even need a degree, technically, just the minimum credits (although a degree is highly recommended).

This is Emma, the counselor I spoke with at UC Davis. 

So at this point, I’m really torn. I could go next fall (2013) to the school that accepts me (if any do). Or, I could wait until fall of 2014 like originally planned, get more units, get more court time, and hopefully get a scholarship.

This does bring up one more complication. I have visited Davis and Cal Poly, I know what they want and I know I’m not going to have all the classes they want before transferring. OSU, on the other hand, I have not been to so I went ahead and emailed their counselors. Most were encouraging, but one worried me by saying if I didn’t have a certain level of science classes under my belt, they would accept me, but as a sophomore. That is NOT what I’m looking to get into. I need to save money, which is the whole point of community college in the first place. I don’t think Davis or Cal Poly will accept a transfer as a sophomore, I believe they only accept juniors.

Waiting could have its own traps, though. There’s no guarantee that even if I get the perfect number of credits, and become an amazing volleyball player, that I will get picked up and play somewhere else under scholarship. Or, maybe it would only be a partial scholarship. Is it worth it?

Ultimately, though, I don’t need to worry about it. God knows exactly what He’s doing, so all we have to do is stay in His word, remain in prayer, and walk through the doors He opens for us. J

We had a fun weekend!

 

Sean and I had a great, not very school related, weekend. He spent Saturday hanging out with his brother, relaxing and playing video games. I went to a volleyball tournament in San Diego. We came in 4th out of 14 teams, so I think we did very well overall (especially since some of the teams were scholarship teams from Arizona).

Here's a shot of me, taken last week, in my new jersey. I'm now officially #11. :)

Needless to say, I was wiped out after ten hours of volleyball and six hours on a bus, so today I wasn't too much fun to be around. I was able to stay somewhat likeable for a few hours, during Sean's chili cookoff at the Morongo Valley park for Fiesta Days (a fall fair thing Morongo puts on annually). Sean had been practicing all week with different "winging it" versions of chili. They got better and better every time, until we finished with a recipe that included unmeasured amounts of hamburger, bacon, tomato sauce, fresh tomatoes, chili sauce, tapatio, and various other fun ingredients (including some apple juice in a new Heaven's Best cleaning solution bottle, lol).

Sean's chili took second place! We're still convinced he should have won, but our chili was kind of odd (sweet and spicy and AWESOME!), and the one that won was super traditional, so we figure that's more of what they were looking for today. *shrug* Oh well, he won in my book, plus everyone who tasted it loved our chili! Sadly, it's all gone now. But the $50 prize money will be added to our savings, still trying to make our $5,000 goal by this coming summer (we've almost hit the $1,000 by December goal already!).

As far as school and jobs go, we're both doing okay so far. I'm disappointed with B's on my first chem and bio exams, but it's typical of me to not do well on the first exams and pick up steam later on, after I figure out the professors and how they test. Sean seems to be enjoying his fire science class much more than the criminal justice classes he took last semester. Wow, it's crazy how the time flies! I can't believe it was just January that Sean had talked himself into going to game warden school, just like I had convinced myself I could never be a vet and was settling for vet tech. I'm so glad we both realized what we are truly being called to do; him, through hating his criminal justice courses, and me, through being inspired at Holly's graduation (thanks, sis!).

Really need to sleep now, tomorrow is math, chem, and psych with vball practice in there somewhere. Not looking forward to it right now, hopefully I'll have some energy in the morning. :)

 

 

 

 

Fun Facts

I'm procrastinating like only I know how to do. . . with photos! 

Maybe if I do this long enough, my chemistry homework will just disappear. . . 

I LOVE canned peaches! When we went to this store in Oregon when I was visiting my family, I bought about ten huge cans and took some home in my suitcase.

I love doing my own nails! I've also worked at a nail art shop, doing samples on customers and selling a ton of product! (I'm a good sales lady). 

Two weeks after I learned to drive, got my license, and bought (paid in full, cash) my first car, I fell asleep driving and drove into oncoming traffic. Sean was in the ambulance that was first on scene, and the fire chief drove him to the hospital where I was air lifted. Wheelchair to walking in six months, just before our wedding. (That's me eating canned peaches). 

I worked at our local KFC for about a year. 

I was a Tupperware lady! That's me on the right when I made manager. 

Sean and I met when we were sixteen and got married when we were eighteen. In all that time, we never even kissed (inspiration, my cousin Monica). Our very first kiss was on our wedding day, and no, it was not awkward like the TV show. It was perfect. 

I was home schooled until my junior year of high school. I loved it. 

I'm a gun fighter / old west reenacter. 

 I plan to get a tattoo just like this when I get accepted to veterinary school. 

My grandma is Rona Barret, she's famous. 

I once had a photo I took published in our local newspaper. 

I wanted to chop my hair again this year, found a photo of something I might like. Cut it on a whim after church one Sunday, didn't have the photo but I think the gal did a good job!

Forgot to mention. . .

Great news! Sean was interviewed out of the blue and looks like he might be hired at an ambulance company!!!

A while ago, right when Sean had finished his EMT class, passed his National Registry exam and gotten his license, I'd turned in a few resumes for him for ads posted on Craigslist and then had forgotten about them. Well, we missed the first hiring but they called Sean after a second round of hiring occurred. He passed their interview with flying colors and now just needs to pass the drug test (ha!) before he can be officially hired. It's so exciting! 

Sean has been working since he was fifteen at the same job, cleaning carpets for his dad's local company. While it's been a great job and has supported us all these years, we're both looking forward to a new adventure for Sean. 

The job seems promising, with full or part time work plus benefits and a local (Palm Springs) base. Please pray for us!

The best part is, Sean is getting a job that he went to school for! How many people can say that these days, right? It's just incredible! 

This is an old photo of Sean from his first EMT class in 2009, we need an updated one!  :D

Get there sooner?

GOD IS GOOD! 

From my Facebook today: For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, "He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness." 1 Corinthians 3:19 (Verse of the week, for sure!)

Problem: Too many units. After going over my student education plan (for the thousandth time, my goodness), I realized that about 20 higher-level course credits were not going to transfer.

Here's the quick version: I will transfer with over 120 semester units on my current track, which I was fine with, knowing the college I transfer to will only accept up to 70 of those. I figured the ones they weren't taking would be the lower level pre reqs, etc. No big deal. The red flag arose when I realized that I was taking about 90 upper level classes, meaning that those twenty difficult, ugly units (classes with super expensive textbooks) would be wasted, thrown out like old garbage by the college I'd worked so hard to earn them for. Well, that's not going to happen! I went to my counselor, made a few phone calls, and now we have a new plan.

Solution: Transfer early! I will graduate from COD in Spring 2013 with an AA in Liberal Arts - Math & Science instead of Spring 2014 with an AA in Biology, which is a bummer but without the organic chem and physics it's just not going to happen. So, I'm going to put applications in this October (for the CSU) and November (for OSU and the UC) at my top three choices: Oregon State University, Cal Poly Pomona, and UC Davis. I've already submitted my TAG (transfer admission guarantee, I highly recommend doing this for your top UC choice as you can only do one) to UC Davis, so that's a good start.

There are pros and cons with every school choice. I have visited Cal Poly three times, Davis once and I've never been to Oregon State but my mom says it's beautiful. For Sean, an important aspect is NOT moving after we move to the place where I will finish my undergrad. He wants to take those six or seven (I hope) years to nail down his education and career. This works in all situations: for OSU, I could apply to their vet school, same for Davis. For Cal Poly, I could apply to the relatively new vet school at Western University. From their website, they seem like an interesting alternative (especially their study-abroad program, that would mesh well with my Army goals, I think).

Personally, I love the look and feeling of an old university (like University of Utah where my sister went to school). From the photos I've seen, OSU might just satisfy that desire for me. A big downside would be the move; long distance and very expensive (we're budgeting about $5,000 for traveling up there, rent deposit and one month of rent for buffer). We have to move ourselves and two cars, so with gas prices the way they are, that won't be fun. A huge plus is my family! All of my family lives in Oregon and Washington, and I've never lived close to them, ever! It would be a dream come true to see them on a regular basis. A heart breaker, though, is moving away from Sean's family. His parents and brother are an integral part of our lives.

Then again, Davis is huge and gorgeous. It would still be a long distance, expensive move, plus we'd be about ten hours from all family. No holidays without a long drive or a flight up or down (in other words, on our budget, no family holidays). If my TAG goes though, I would have guaranteed admission here. Also, with their Blue and Gold program and our low income, we would qualify for free tuition. The area around Davis is very romantic in it's college town-ness, which I adore. Just walking down town when we were there at the beginning of the summer was intoxicating, eating at the pizzeria overflowing with students and joy.

Cal Poly is a polytechnic school, so super hands on. I love that aspect. I do not love the idea of living in Los Angeles. The price of living out there is outrageous, although it might be less difficult for Sean to find a job with an ambulance company as an EMT. It might be a bit cheaper school-wise since CSUs tend to be less expensive than UCs. In my bones, I feel like Cal Poly is a cop out. At this point in my life, I want to go out, see the world, spread my wings. Going to school an hour and a half down the road seems, to me, a bit timid.

Snag: One question is whether to try to graduate from COD this spring, before hearing back from the schools, or waiting until summer, when I would know for sure. The reason this is an issue is if I graduate from COD with an AA in Lib Arts, but do not get accepted to any of my transfer schools, there would be a problem with getting any financial aid at COD again. They would want to know why I had graduated yet was still taking classes. My counselor says I could fight them on this, explain that I had attempted to transfer a bit early but the plan had fallen through, and still needed to complete a few more classes before the transfer schools would accept me. I might be able to make it work. A safer way would be to wait until summer to graduate. If accepted and transferring, I could take a little online class, finish it, and graduate. If not accepted and staying at COD, I would continue on with the old plan. A bummer about this plan would be not walking, and I would really like to do that even though community colleges aren't like "real" colleges. I still want the cap and gown, the hugs and cards and "good for you's". Does that make me selfish? I don't know.

(That's me #2 blocking the RCC middle in a tournament from a couple weekends ago). 

Also, without a second year of college volleyball at the junior college level, I don't think I'll stand a chance of playing for any of these schools. I don't even know if that was ever a possibility as I don't know how the schedule works for an athlete at a real college and the schedule for a pre-vet major. I've been making it work here at COD but it hasn't been easy, I can't imagine it being very possible at that level. Also, I don't know if you can just try out or if you have to be scouted. I'm really clueless here, as you can see!


Sidenote, Domingo my horse was able to be leased out this last Saturday. He went to a nice family in LA who ride trails and do a little hunter/jumper stuff on the side. I'm so glad he has a family and job again, just trying not to think about what we're going to do with him if we end up moving to Oregon this coming summer. . . 

Here's a photo of him and his new people. :)

P.S. I've been using this new note taking device, it's a pen with a built in tape recorder. It's actually been very helpful, I would recommend it to everyone! It's called Live Scribe, I have the "Echo" pen. 

If not a vet, then what?

I like to read some vet school student blogs and recently one of the girls was talking about how her friends switched from vet school to med school to become a neuro surgeon. 

If I decided to be a doctor instead of a vet, what kind should I be?

Like the veterinary program, the Army would pay for 100% of tuition plus a $2k month stipend and food/housing allowance. An added plus is the $20k sign on bonus. That sounds fun, pay for all my undergrad in one fell swoop. This would be a seriously good thing; I hate debt, and I tend to worry about money. 

Not like I'm the only person who worries about money. 

I wouldn't mind having a little family practice, non emergency kind a place where the appointment times were a bit longer and I could get to know my patients. 

I asked Sean what he thinks. Like always, he says he'll support whatever I choose to do. 

I love animals, I want to help them more than anything. I'm pretty sure I'll stick with vet, but I'm not going to shut off any opportunity that opens up. It's a great big world out there, we have to be open to the possibilities. 

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."

My husband made me do it. . .

I've always thought in the back of my mind that I would start a blog someday. Maybe after something exciting had happened in our lives, or we'd accomplished something great, or had kids and wanted to share their every little antic to the world. Sean, however, thinks it's a good idea to start now. We'll have a fun record of our lives during school, and might even help someone who is pursuing dreams similar to ours. Here's a photo of Sean and myself from September 2011, when we took a week long house boat vacation. 

Here's the facts: Sean and I have been together since we were sixteen, we met in high school, fell in love, and we married at 18. Now he's twenty-one and I'm twenty; we live in Palm Desert, Ca with our two dogs and our cat. Gunther is the big guy, our first Great Dane. Cub is our rescue pup, a middle aged troubled-soul of uncertain heritage. Mrow Mrow was an unplanned addition to our family, made while on our honeymoon in Oregon. We love all three very much, at this point in our lives, they're our kids. Here's a photo of the three of them together, they are all buds and love being in front of the camera. 

Sean wants to be a fire fighter. In high school, he considered heavy equipment operation, after watching a DVD some company sent him in the mail. He also considered become a Game Warden, since it's a lot quicker to get into than fire fighting. However, after a semester of criminal justice classes at our local college, he realized that was not the career for him and changed back to fire. Recently, Sean earned his EMT-1 license and has quite a few certifications under his belt. He tried to get into a fire one academy this fall, but they ended up not having it at College of the Desert so he was forced to push back his plans and take it in the spring. His ultimate goal is to get onto a government fire station on a military base, so he can follow me around in the future. This is a photo of Sean taking his Biddle exam, which he passed first try without even working out beforehand. He's such a stud. 

I want to become a veterinarian. Yes, I know how that sounds. A lot of little girls say that as kids, many go through a strong phase even, but for me, becoming a vet is more of a calling than anything else. I have seen a lot, not everything obviously, but enough to know that I can handle blood, guts and gore and death and pus and illness and heart break. Sean and I ran a small rescue out of our home for a year, and while I do not recommend it, I think it finalized my resolve that helping animals is something I need to do. My goal now - and it may change - is to get my license and then come back to Southern California to fight the problem of pet over population. But, like I said, plans are always changing. First I wanted to go to school at UC Davis, then at Cornell, then possibly the vet school in Pomona, now I'm considering Oregon State. There are so many options. One thing I am seriously considering is joining to Army. There are two reasons for this: one, they pay for school which is my biggest worry. Second, I consider myself a very patriotic person and possess a strong love for this country, and would be proud to serve in through military service. This is a photo of me bottle feeding two orphan baby pygmy goats we adopted. 

I love pictures, so I'll throw a few extra ones down here for the fun of it, so anyone reading can get to know us a little better. 

This is our family Christmas photo for 2011.