Almost to the Finish Line

You might be thinking the finish line I'm referring to is finishing our house reno. Sadly it's not. That still seems a long way off. I'm referring to law school. On Wednesday I will take my last two finals in law school. Ever. My big senior paper was submitted last week. My research paper for another class was submitted the week before that. And now all I have to do is cram for these last two finals. Hooray!

Taking the bar was part of my dream, but since my law school is a correspondence school and only the California bar accepts correspondence law schools, I'm really limited in where I would be allowed to practice law even after I take the bar. Some states have reciprocity, but Ohio is not one of them.  I was not totally clear on these facts when I decided to go back to the law school that I had started with 15 years ago. Hindsight is 20/20 isn't it? When we bought the farmhouse we kind of both knew that the bar wasn't a practical option for us at this time, so I told Chris I wanted to pursue a work-from-home position somewhere since I wouldn't be studying for the bar. I started praying about it, but had no idea just how soon God would open up the opportunity. 

In early November, a work-at-home director position in the youth department at The RIDGE Project where my husband works opened up. I had been praying all along for an at-home position, but wasn't sure what that would look like or if I could find something that would be challenging enough. This job couldn't be more ideal for me and I am in awe of how God worked it all out. I'm also beyond excited to be a part of an organization that has been positively impacting Ohio families for the past 15+ years now! 

The only catch was that my first day was November 9th. Doubling up on work, law school, and homeschooling all while operating as a single parent with Chris working at the farm all the time has not been easy. Thankfully my in-laws have stepped in and watched the kids for me for the times I've had to go to the office as part of my training (bless them!), and in the evenings the kids have been gracious to me and allowed me to get plenty done. We even squeeze in a bit of fun and made Chris take a break or two from the farm so we can get some family time in. The RIDGE has also been gracious enough to allow me to work only about 8-15 hours the first few weeks so I could focus on school right now. Things ramped up a bit more this last week, but I will only work a few hours from now until finals are over and then I'll hit the ground running.

Getting to the finish line with school will now be even more of a relief than it would have been before I started the new job and I'm counting the days hours. 

And with that, here are a few photos of what's been going on outside of school and work these days: 

My three little ladies finally getting to wear their matching Christmas dresses!

The 3rd & 4th grade STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) class a friend and I teach at the homeschool co-op did this project (they built a city). We had it displayed for the concert, we were so proud of them!

 Little Cecily looking way too cute in plaid waiting for her siblings to perform. 

 Cassi's preschool class sang Away in a Manger. 

 CJ's 1st-4th grade choir sang a few songs and did so well!

CJ got to sing a special little solo with the high school choir. He did a great job!

I eyed these corbels in the antique store window downtown during an early morning run. I vowed to come back as soon as the store was open to buy them, and sure enough . . . they are mine now! These are going to look awesome in the farmhouse to divide the dining and family room space in our new open concept floor plan! (Yes, I'm TOTALLY just trying to copy Joanna Gaines from Fixer Upper. No shame). 

 Photo credits to Chris's Aunt, Vicki Hesterman, who took these adorable shots of all of us, even though some of us were NOT cooperating! lol!

 Photo by Vicki Hesterman

 Photo by Vicki Hesterman

Photo by Vicki Hesterman

In case you wanted a little sneak peak of what's going on at the farm . . . here is our almost finished 3-car garage!

And this picture of the stairwell is a victory for me! I really wanted to open up this staircase as much as I possibly could and finally convinced Chris to take not just the door up, but raise the opening all the way up to the ceiling. We both agreed it was worth the effort! Can't you just picture all the family photos that will be hung on those stairwell walls that will now be visible to the main room as you walk by? Of course you can. Glad you agree with this decision. :-) Be sure to tell Chris. ;-)