So this will be a very random post. Lots has happened. Yesterday I finished my last class. It was the last class of school for the foreseeable future. Very strange. I have been going to school for 16 years, and as of Saturday this week, it will all be over.

It’s getting warm enough to go out and do things, although it did snow a little today. Last Saturday, I went bike riding with Joe, and my-in-laws Liz, Charlotte, and Nate. I was in better shape than I thought I was, and led a lot of the time. Yesterday evening Joe and I went on a hike. The hike was a little wet, although I love doing things in the rain. Maybe not so much the mud. We saw a skunk which was cool, mostly because it wasn’t really close.

We also bought a new car. This is the first car I have actually bought. It was fun because we were able to buy it with cash. Fun feature about the car is it has a DVD player in it. Should be fun for trips.

Went to the doctor today. It’s way easier to get excited about having a baby when you can actually see it moving around. So here’s the baby, coming October 28thish.

I have a little note to share about spring. Up here in Logan, and really Utah in general, people complain that it is snowing in March and April. But I have a new perspective on that. It is still generally warmer, and so the snow is quick to melt away. Spring is all about the melting snow really. So don’t complain, and miss spring while it is happening.

The bulbs have started to come up to. The crocus are in full bloom, and my tulips I planted last fall and poking up outside of my apartment. I am very excited for all the flowers. Too bad I don’t have a yard to put them in. I went out to the community garden yesterday–it got me excited to start planting some vegetables, but I think I will need to wait a month.

This busy week is almost done. This week, I had a community garden education class to both prepare and teach, and a propagation workshop to go to for work. I have two performances for Art Symposium. I had a plant pathology exam, a large residential design project due, and two take home tests. Plus I also had research work to do for a couple of professors–at about 5 hrs. each.

Most of it is done now, gratefully. And I suddenly realized that I only have four weeks of school left, plus finals week. That is not a long time at all. I wish it would be a little longer, but I will be glad I’m not swamped with things to do as well. It will be weird, really being done with school after 16 years.

On my exam this week I got done way early. I have done that before–normally I know stuff pretty well, and can think quickly. This one I just ran out of stuff I knew. Some of the questions weren’t answered all the way. And I’m fine with that–I realized I was taking the class as an elective and who cares what grade I get. I still have this drive to do well, and it is very hard for me to not try my best when I don’t have to.

Although it started off to a rough start with a foot of snow on Monday, spring break turned out to be a great week. This year we took a trip down to Goblin Valley. I had been there when I was a kid, and it is a relatively close, and warm, place to go. We arrived Thursday night and stayed until Sunday morning. Mostly we just hiked, ate and slept tons including one night where we were in bed for 11 hrs. Of course, that was when the Scout group was in the campsite next to us.

We wandered around Goblin Valley a bunch Thursday, and Friday we went and hiked a slot canyon called Little Wild Horse Canyon. It was an 8.5 mile loop, and  I was glad it wasn’t that warm. It would be a death hike in the summer.

Upon arriving home, I have now realized that my phone still might be at the campsite. It was not in anything we unpacked including the tent. So if you see a black samsung phone at Goblin Valley it just might be mine.

Last night I was very worried about getting to church today. Joe was away at work, and would be through church, along with the trusty car. It’s happened before, and I normally get rides with neighbors. For

This morning I woke up, got ready, and was working on my Sunday School lesson on the computer, when I looked down and realized it was not 8:15, but 9:15 (thanks to daylight savings time) and I was already 15 minutes late for church. The neighbors had long left. I wolfed down the rest of my breakfast, hurriedly finished getting ready, tried to call my husband with no luck, and hopped on my bike. Thank goodness for long black skirts. I was only about a half hour later, arrived in plenty of time to give my lesson, and got a little extra exercise. I actually quite enjoyed church because I made it there against many odds.

Last year, Joe and I missed an hour of church due to daylight savings time. This time only a half-hour, so at least I’m getting better. I liked it when it was on conference weekend because it was so easy to remember. If I had a vote I would change it back. It would save me from a slightly chilly bike ride.

I think spring might be beginning. The bulbs are pushing up their fleshy green leaves. The snow is begining to melt away from the ground reveling grass still not revived from a long sleep. Finally spring is coming to my doorstep! I am having visions of going out an planting vegetables, pruning fruit trees (that I should be doing already), and not being stuck indoors with a few suffering houseplants.

Right now is a great time to start working on propagation too. I am currently inolved in a native plant propagation workshop, and we are just about to plant up the seeds that we have been stratifing for the last few months. Just so you know stratifing is the process of placing dormant seeds in cold moist conditions (often a refrigerator). It mimics the effect winter has on the seeds. I find it interesting how different seeds are. Some require three months, others a few weeks. It will be fun to see how the ones do that I have going.

It kinda felt like spring today and yesterday. Made me all happy inside. Winter is a little depressing, although I’ve tried to like it a little more this year. Haven’t complained as much either. But now it’s all warm outside, and I wore my Chacos and only 1 jacket today. And in honor of winter here are some snowy landscape pictures.

I went snowshoeing a bunch this winter. Probably not again; I think the snow is going to melt now. Hopefully. I really want it to be spring. The tulips are coming up so there is hope!

Someday I will remember to tell you about the oven, the dish-rack, another time snowshoeing, more school, and more. I even have pictures. But they are on my camera, not my computer and I don’t want to take the time and go get them.

Instead you are going to here about how I just barely finished filing my income taxes. Because I did. I got my federal return filed last week, and my state just barely. Not a huge refund due to 4 jobs between the two of us, change of filing status, etc. But actually, that’s not a bad thing. It just means we received more money in each paycheck. And since we are doing a good job of saving anyway, it’s worth it.

I have to say that I kinda like filing taxes. It is still easy for us–we don’t really make enough, or have any complicating factors. The hard thing this year was trying to get Joe’s W2 from his old work. They sent it to the wrong address, Joe went to the company, they were going to mail it to us and never did, went back again and finally go it. I wanted to do taxes but was unable to do so. Not fun. I always get my taxes done very early, and I would highly recommend it for two reasons. 1)It’s done with, and 2)I get my refund faster.

Happy tax filing!