Livingston Update

Here's a giant post about life currently so I can check off that "wrote in journal for posterity about our day to day life" box. And also, lets be honest, I like being able to go back and read about what we've been up to.

Carter is well into his last undergrad semester. His summer boss offered to let him continue working remotely from Provo, so he is also doing that. I'm amazed at how he juggles it all. Though he loves his classes, they are tough but somehow he's managed to get great grades, I'm so grateful for his hard work, he takes his responsibilities as a husband, father, student, and provider very seriously. And I can't express how much I appreciate it.

I am loving my classes. I'm taking one class that is taught by a very brilliant psychologist. She works with families and couples and has given us the opportunity to learn lots of theories and practices used by marriage and family therapists. As I've learned about these techniques, something deep within me has started to think seriously about someday becoming a therapist or a social worker. I don't know how, when, or if this will happen, but I can't get the idea out of my head. Maybe I'll fit it in someday, maybe I won't. Luckily life is long. But at the very least, I'm so grateful for what I'm learning and can apply it every day.

So...school is going well. I'm also loving being at home with Jayden. We have joined a little play group and go to story time at the library each week...(well, most weeks!) and it is so fun. I could spend hours in the library with him. The Provo library has the cutest children's section with lots of toys and things for little hands to explore. We hardly leave the place without a stack of books. And though Jay never sits still long enough to get through a story, I'd like to think that as I follow him around reading, he's at least halfway listening.

Carter was accepted into BYU's grad program for civil engineering. Yay!! So we'll be in Provo another year. The company he's currently working for wants him to continue working while he studies, so that's great. Again, I'm so glad that he makes it all work. That is such an incredible blessing.

I am well on my way to becoming a crazy couponer. With Carter heading off to grad school, in order to meet some financial goals, we've had to take a hard look at our budget and rearrange how we do some things. We are so blessed to have our needs taken care of---truly I can't express how grateful I am for that. But in order to make everything work we have to be diligent budgeters, and even though that can be hard, I'm learning so much. It takes so much discipline to stick to a plan, but I love how it's changing me. And I love seeing how the Lord makes everything work as we do our best. Because he truly does.

We had a big fall party for Jayden's birthday. A number of our friends came and we all enjoyed homemade soup, salad, apple cider, and giant rolls. It was a very autumny day and absolutely perfect. Jayden was spoiled silly by family and friends. I'm almost ashamed to say that I've never bought him a toy, only because he's been given so many by other people. What a lucky guy.

We were put on the committee for the ward Halloween party, and then a few days later I was sustained as our ward's new Relief Society President. So...yikes. But luckily the gospel is true so it's worth it. And our ward is so fun that we really love being involved.

For Halloween Jay was Superman, Carter was Clark Kent, and I was Lois Lane. And no I didn't get any pictures because I stink, our camera stinks, and our dumb phones don't take pictures very well. So sorry posterity. We went trick or treating down Center Street, had dinner with friends, and then watched a movie. It was so fun!

Ok I'm done now. But that's our current life!