Today is...

the last day of school for the summer! Hooray! I have a very, very simple Math test tonight and then I'm done. It's not even a final, it's just over the last chapter we did, my summer vacation will be here as soon as I finish those 25 very easy problems. Oh man, I can not wait! Summer, summer, summer! Last Wednesday, I had to do my oral final in Spanish, I totally rocked that and got an "A". However, last night was my written final in Spanish. And, I will be lucky if I got a "C" on it. Seriously, I studied all day Sunday and a good part of Monday. That was the HARDEST test I've ever had to take in my entire life. Did you know that there are like 14 different ways to conjugate a verb in Spanish? I know them, but when my crazy teacher crams them all into one final which was 12 pages long, it just becomes too much. She hardly gave any direction in the final as to put what conjugation where, so we were all left wondering. As I was trying to think of something last night, I looked up from my final and saw even the "geeks" in our class struggling. That made me feel not so stupid. People from the previous class as well as my class were all talking about how hard that crazy final was. But I figured out my grades and even if I got a zero on the final, I would get away with a high "C". Not my best work, but that class was so exhausting that I just wanted it over. A girl in my class took her last final, EVER in Spanish last night, she is graduating from ASU in a few weeks. *Sigh* I'm so jealous of her. I just want to be done with school already.

Tis' the season for graduations and weddings. Wednesday, my chica, Kristine is graduating with her Master's Degree in Teaching. I'm so proud of her, she has been chugging along and was determined to get her Master's. Here are the weddings so far this year I'm going to: Ky and Vince, Adam and Valerie, Mark and Cynthia, Rey and Beckie.

I start volunteering for Food for the Hungry on Friday. I volunteer with them on breaks from school. They are a missionary company based in Phoenix. And although I'm just doing office volunteer for them, they all know I want to be a missionary. Good way to get my foot in the door, huh? Yep, yep. I've been volunteering with them for about 2 years now. Gosh, I can't believe it's been that long. I also met the president of the Dominican Republic office when I was there, a little bug was also put in his ear about my goals. I'm learning in life, that it's about who you know that will help you get the places you want to go.

My girl, Becky is coming home in a few weeks from school...for good. The original plan was for her to come home, pack up her stuff and move back to Missouri, but things didn't work out like they planned. She wants to be independent from her parents, but realized she could do that here in Arizona and still be near her family and friends. She called me a few weeks ago, while Kays and I were having coffee. I put her on speaker phone, first she told us she was going to be an auntie again, then she told us she was moving back. Hooray! We've already planned a road trip to Cali to visit my family and to help my niece unpack. We are heading out Memorial Day weekend, I CANNOT WAIT! I talked to my niece yesterday, she said the baby is trying to crawl. I can't wait to see her. They grow up so fast. Rosie said she's also got two teeth, and another coming in. She just turned 7 months old, can you believe it?

It's going to be an exciting summer. I managed to walk 6 times last week, 30 minutes each time, which would put me at 2.5 miles walked last week. Whew! I walked again yesterday, I'm seriously rockin' such a tan right now. As soon as my tax stimulus money comes in, I'm going to use that money to buy a good pair of tennis shoes and possibly a bicycle. I'm feeling good, got lots of energy and I know it's because I'm exercising. You may think, it's only walking, but it's a start and I walk fast when I do go. Hooray. Go me. Life is pretty fantastic right now, pretty fantastic and God is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Have a great day!

Love,

Bran

Quote of the day: "In order to change, we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired." ~Unknown

Scripture of the day in English: "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance." Romans 5:3

y en español: "Y no sólo en esto, sino también en nuestros sufrimientos, porque sabemos que el sufrimiento produce perseverancia." Romanos 5:3