Paul is DONE with school!!!

Paul graduated from the University of Phoenix with his MBA. Nothing like this is accomplished without some kind of storey behind it. So, Paul's story seen through his wife's eye.

Paul works for a great company that cover education. Paul talked about going back to school to get his MBA, but not really knowing if all the work would be worth it he wasn't in a hurry to get started. Well, I had the opportunity to be called to the position of Relief Society President leaving Paul home many evenings with the kids while I attended meetings or did visits. He struggled having little to do, so I encouraged him to go to school. This would give him something to do while I was busy with my stuff.

Paul got everything worked out and began his studies. Things worked out really well. Paul had many occasions that he had to travel for work, and having homework gave him something to do during the evenings while he was away. Paul took the summer off, so that he could spend more time with the family, and then it was back to work and school. His schedule was a bit crazy he would wake up around 5:30 am to begin school work and then be off to work around 7:00 he would return home between 5:30 and 6:00. We sat together as a family for dinner. Once we were done eating some nights I would be off to meetings leaving him to clean up from dinner and put the kids to bed while trying to get more homework done.

I was blessed to be released from my calling just as life for Paul was really starting to get crazy. Paul took a few classes that overlapped. This allowed him to finish with school sooner, but made family life a bit more interesting. It was nice to have dinner time together simply because that was just about all the time we had. I count my blessing that years ago Paul committed him self to not do any homework on Sunday. This gave us one day together. We were also very blessed to be called to nursery together. This allowed us to have two extra hours in the day to spend together. At times I really questioned if there was something wrong in our relationship. It gets very frustrating when you begin to feel like you have very little in common with your spouse. When he was home he was sitting on the couch in front of the computer, and I would stay busy with the kids and finding something to do until I was ready to go to bed. The last three months were very challenging, but we kept telling each other when he was done it would all be worth it!

Well, the day did finally come. We had a wonderful opportunity to go to drive to Las Vegas for spring break, and I must say how nice it was to spend time talking with my husband! It was nice to just have time for our family.

Then came graduation day. I encouraged Paul to graduate. This was something he worked hard for. The one thing that did not cross my mind as I was encouraging him was me. I had all ready spent many hours with the kids without him, and now I was going to have to spend another two hours trying to get my kids to behave while he sat down all by himself and listened to speakers tell how what a fabulous job him and all the other graduates did. The imagine in my mind was much worse than the actual day.

It was a rainy Saturday. I got up got ready, took some pictures of Paul and then worked on getting the kids dressed and ready. We ended up being late, so the traffic by the E-center was really bad by the time we arrived. I decided it would be easiest if we parked at the Training Table restaurant and walked the rest of the way, we had planned to eat lunch there after the graduation ceremony. It was only a light rain, and we all had jackets so we would be just fine. I allowed the kids to each pick on stuff animal so that they would have something to keep them busy. The kids proudly showed me how they stuffed the small animals in their jackets to keep them from getting all wet.

My kids were such troopers they walked and were happy to hold hands as we crossed the busy street. We entered the E-center and Connor ask "Mom where is Tigi?" Tigi is Connor's webkinz that he got for Christmas and is as close to a pet as he will probably ever have. I had NO idea where Tigi was, but it was obvious by Connor's flat jacket that Tigi was no longer safe and dry. I priced out the graduation bears that they had for sale in hopes to not have to go back out in the now poring down rain. The bears cost $20.00 a big price to replace a loved pet that only cost $3.00. I took the kids up to my Mother in law and then rain back out in the rain. I found Tigi lying on the sidewalk just over half way back to the restaurant. I was drenched . My nice straightened hair was now frizzy and my pour bangs were flipping out. My jacket and pants were soak, but I had rescued my little boys Tigi and I felt good to see Connor's face of relief. Paul's parents were so great to help keep the kids behaved, and it was so nice to be able to all be there and see our Husband, Dad, and Son finish up his education.

Now that all is said and done it is easy to look back and say, "Yes, it was all WORTH it!"