Russia Study Abroad!

See this, this means that my application for our Russia Study Abroad is DONE! Matt finished his yesterday.

Status	Item	Date Last Modified
	Received	App Fee	Jan 27, 2011
	Received	Bio Data	Jan 25, 2011
	Received	Emergency Contact	Jan 25, 2011
	Received	Endorsement	Jan 25, 2011
	Received	Letter of Intent	Jan 25, 2011
	Received	References	Jan 27, 2011
	Received	Transcript	Jan 25, 2011

We are so so so excited about going! We decided just the other day that we would rather go with BYU than with any other group. One HUGE change in this plan is that we will be leaving on May 10, 2011. That's 4 months sooner than we were originally going to go. Here are some of the reasons we decided to change:

1. The Russian Department here at BYU got a rather large sum of money, so now the program fees are going to be $1,000-$2,000 cheaper than they were going to be.

2. We will now be going through BYU, which means that we will be staying with other LDS families in Moscow. This will be huge when you consider that vodka is a huge part of the Russian culture, and trying to explain that we don't drink would be really hard if we lived with non-LDS families.

3. We don't have to worry about getting to church/being able to go to church.

4. I get to learn Russian!

5. To go along with #4, there are 2 or 3 married couples that are going on the study abroad, all of them where He is an intermediate Russian student, and she doesn't speak any Russian. Because of this, BYU decided to offer a first year program for the wifes of these students. Yipee!

6. I don't have to take my History 490 class in the summer, I get to take it in the fall. This is wonderful because I will have 16 weeks to write a 20-25 page paper instead of only 8. I like this:)

I Know I'm Odd But...

I LOVE filing taxes, weird I know, but true. It's kinda like a puzzle and I get money for getting it done. What more could you want?!? Turbo tax is my favorite. It makes my life so much easier! If any of you haven't done your taxes yet I would highly suggest using the free version that is available here. I also love filling out the FAFSA form, the one for Pell Grants. I deal with these all the time at work and I love getting my own done and knowing exactly what I'm doing. (If you ever have questions about financial aid at BYU, call me, I know ALL about it and would love to help:)

Pat and Barb's 50th Wedding Anniversary

Last weekend we went to Matt's grandparents 50th wedding anniversary party. Let me just tell you a little bit about these amazing people. They are probably the nicest people ever, they are always doing things for other people, in fact, they take care of several older ladies who cannot take care of themselves. When they got married, Pat was studying to be a Catholic Priest. He didn't join the church for quite a few years, but if you talked to him now you would never know that he was a convert, he knows so much about the gospel! So does Barb. Barb used to be our substitute seminary teacher and always had so many good insights about what ever we were studying. They both love to golf. I guess that's one thing they have passed down to their kids, I think almost all of them golf on a regular basis, and get WAY competitive when they all play together, Matt tells me stories about thrown/bent/broken clubs when all the brothers play each other. They are the proud parents of 10 children, but only 9 are living, 8 spouses. They have 25 grandkids, 6 grandkid spouses, and 2 great-grandkids, thats 52 if you count everyone, and the family is still growing! It's quite a crowd when everyone gets together! Barb used to always joke with me that someday I would be part of the family back when Matt and I were in high school, and now I am. She still tells me that she always knew I'd end up with "her Mattie".

The party was great! Pat and Barb never had a real wedding reception, even though they were married 3 times! (1-In front of a Justice of the Peace 2-In the catholic church 3-Sealed in the temple) So their kids made this the reception they never had, complete with first dance and feeding each other cake. It was great to see how in love they still are even after 50 years together. It was sweet to hear each of them talk about their marriage and when they were dating. Barb still remembers exactly what she wore on their first date, how cute is that!

Pretty much I hope that someday Matt and I can be as wonderful and loved as his grandparents are. I want to be like them when I grow up!

"First Dance"

^ All the kids, oldest to youngest. Mike (Matt's Dad), Kristine, Greg, Sean, Jennifer, Matt, Becky,Barbie, Mary Ellen, and Megan

^Matt and his cousin Brianna (Becky's youngest)

Shellie and I cleaning up confetti that a little kid dumped all over the carpet...that stuff is awful to clean up, it probably took us 5 minutes to get one little cup picked up!