November Recap

Here we are almost to the end of the year and I haven't done an update from November.  I need to catch up.  Here are the highlights.

Carter playing at Grandma McGrath's house in the goodies jar.

Carter enjoying some attention from his cousin Olivia at our monthly family dinner.

Steve and Carter taking selfies at the family dinner.

Steve and Cameron blowing out birthday candles for November birthdays (Nyles wanted to help of course).

Nyles coming home from visiting the neighbor Sophie.  He wanted to wear a head lamp so he could see better at night (since it gets so dark so quickly).  Let's just say he was super excited to wear it.  Carter going down the slide.  He loves slides right now!

Carter likes to crawl into our shower, and many times gets stuck after climbing in, so we have to rescue him.  Silly kid.

Steve went deer hunting again up this year in Northern Utah on Paul Firth's place.  Dave, Rob and Nyles went with him this time.  They left Friday evening after Dave and Rob got off work, stayed over night in the ATV trailer, then went hunting Saturday morning.  They had 3 tags and got all 3!  It was a little cold that night, but other than that they all had a good time.  Carter and I stayed home of course.  It was the weekend before my CFP test, so I was studying while Carter was taking naps.

Dave and Nyles in the trailer getting ready for bed.

 Rob and the deer he shot. 

Nyles eating a Nutella snack.

Nyles taking a nap while Steve cleans the deer.

Carter having fun on our bed.

Carter and Nyles playing on Sunday.  Notice the baby gates in the background.  Pauline let us borrow hers so we put one downstairs and one upstairs.  Carter could go up the stairs, but not down them.

Like I mentioned earlier, on November 13th I took and passed the CFP Test!  It was such a stress and weight on my shoulders for the past 3 years basically.  I am soooo relieved to finally be done with it.   I'm definitely counting my blessing on being able to pass the test.  I know the Lord helped me to learn the material and remember all that I learned.  

This is the "preliminary results" I received after finishing my test. 

That evening we went out to eat at Olive Garden to celebrate.  

Carter enjoying the coloring and  noodles.

 

Nyles and Steve getting ready to order.

Carter really started to take off walking right before Thanksgiving.  And with the walking he started to get into things.  One of them being the the magnets on the fridge.

 Nyles was the VIP at school.  Look at his quote, haha, he cracks me up!

Carter has been teething lately, so he's been grumpy sometimes.
Nyles playing "Headbands."

Steve decided to put in can lights in our living room right before Thanksgiving.  It gets so dark since it was only wired for lamps, especially in the winter.  We didn't want to have another "dark" winter.

Carter feeding the ducks.

Nyles feeding the ducks.

Carter watching Nyles at the baseball field.

Nyles hitting a ball.

Steve pulling the boys on the sleigh.

Carter and Nyles having fun inside on a sled since we don't have any snow outside.

Playing headbands again.

My cute boys! 

Making progress on the lights.

Tada!

So much brighter.  

My parents came down for Thanksgiving.  It was my mom's side of the family's turn.  It's also Steve's side of the family's turn.  Though we didn't make it to my mom's family dinner, they still stayed w/ us a couple night so we got to see them.  Nyles LOVES having people visit and especially stay the night.

Now playing Headbands w/ Grandpa (notice how much brighter it is in the room).

 Carter enjoying some Nutella, silly kid!

Starting to decorate the Christmas Tree!  Carter helping Grandpa w/ the ornaments.  Luckily we bought the shatterproof ornaments, and so far they've held up.  Carter thinks they are bouncy balls.

Steve made some duck poppers for Thanksgiving to share with everyone.  He used a piece of bell pepper w/ cream cheese, duck meat, sausage, wrapped in bacon then grilled.  Surprisingly everyone really liked them.  Good work Steve!

Carter enjoying coloring again (maybe eating the crayons a little).

Playing w/ Grandpa.

Carter loves ice cream!  Driving the car while his cousins play a game outside.
The weather was so warm, to us, about 60 degrees!  It was wonderful!

Nyles playing food basket upset w/ Ethan.

Notice shorts and t-shirts since it was so warm.

Coloring w/ Grandma now.  Nyles and Carter taking a selfie. 

Nyles and Carter helping me wash the windows.

Carter playing w/ the sunglasses and eating a muffin.

Steve's birthday present from my mom and dad (a fence hopper so he doesn't get stuck on top).  Pretty Christmas tree all decorated.

Steve putting up "frosty."  Carter LOVED watching him and wanted to see him every chance he could.  He would look out the front window throughout the day and want to see him every time we came home in the car.  It was cute!

              

Eating out for Steve's birthday at Red Robin!
Dave, Joann and Rob met us there for dinner.

Carter playing w/ Grandpa again.

Carter thinks its fun to have Grandpa put on and off his glasses.

After dinner we came back to our place for cake and ice cream.
Nyles helping to blow out Steve's birthday candles.

Steve decided to put in more can lights in the kitchen and above the sink.
I LOVE them and all the light!

And for Steve's birthday, he got a bigger fish tank and a few more fish.  Oh I love my boys!

It's finally official!

Well I finally got the official email on Thursday from the CFP Board stating I passed my CFP test!  The last step was to pay the fee, so I did that on my lunch break, and now it says "Congratulations!  You have completed CFP Board's certification requirements and are authorized to call yourself a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional!"

I took the test on November 13th, and it said I passed, but said it's only preliminary and the official results would take about 4 weeks.  I felt really good about the test, but I wanted to see the official results before truly celebrating!  The test was the last part I needed to complete to finish getting certified.  Their 4 E's to getting certified are first Education-you have to complete the required courses which take about 9 months, and also have a Bachelor's Degree.  Second Experience-you have to have 5 years of financial planning experience, which I had while working.  Third is the Exam-which was pending until December.  And fourth is you agree to their Ethics.

It's been a long process getting here that's for sure!  I actually took my education requirements in 2014. I then studied and tried to prepare myself for the test the best I could.  I took the test in November of 2015 but didn't pass.  I was a couple months pregnant with Carter at the time, so I definitely wasn't feeling too great (morning sickness), but since I had already signed up for the test I thought I'd take it anyway.  I obviously didn't pass.  Looking back I realized I wasn't very well prepared nor did I know enough at the time. 

Fast forward to 2017.  The company I work for, Fidelity Investments, announced they will now pay 100% of everything to get your CFP certification.  Before that you had to pay for your review classes and exam plus 10% of your education courses.  After thinking about it and praying about it further, I decided I would study and prepare to take the exam again.  I really wanted to finish what I started and it was always in the back of my mind something I wanted to accomplish.  I also wanted to have the certification so I could potentially have more flexibility in working.  I am hoping it will allow me to work from home someday.  So I signed up in May to take the Dalton Guaranteed to Pass Review Course (online).  They said I could also take their review courses twice, which was nice.  I figured since it's been a couple years, I needed to refresh my memory as much as possible.

So for the past 6 months I have been studying basically every day, except Sundays (I made a promise to the Lord not to study on Sunday since I was in college, and I really feel it's made a difference in my life).  As it got closer to the exam I was putting in more and more hours each week.  I was studying on the train to and from work, on my lunch break when I could.  Then when I got home I would fix dinner and we'd get the kids to bed and I'd start studying, usually 2-3 hours a night.  On Saturdays I would spend longer.  They suggested putting in 200 hours in the final 10 weeks, so about 20 hours a week.  And this is in addition to working full time, plus a church calling, and taking care of the kids/house.  Needless to say there was a lot to fit into a day/week.  Steve would many times take the boys out while I stayed home to study on Saturdays.  This really helped so I could have some quiet time to study.

Dalton has an Exam Readiness Quiz which you take 3 weeks before you sit for the exam.  The first time I took (in July) they said I had a 75% chance of passing.  Then when I took it again (at the end of October), they said I had a 95% chance of passing.  It definitely made me feel pretty good about taking it, but I still had a little bit of fear of not passing again.  Steve gave me several blessings along the way, which helped me feel at peace about taking it and gave me assurance I could do it this time.  A teacher at Dalton called me about 10 days before my test.  He said I needed to have confidence and remember that the test wasn't greater than me, others have passed it and so can I.  I appreciated his confidence in my ability to pass it as well.

The test was 6 hours long, with a 40 minute break.  It was pretty intense, but I definitely felt way more prepared than last time!  Last time I thought I could do well on just some parts and still pass, but that wasn't the case.  You actually need to do medium to high in every category (Fundamentals, Insurance, Investments, Retirement, Tax, and Estate Planning).  When I finished the last question they had you take a 10 question survey.  It then processes for a minute and then you see either pass/fail.  My heart was pounding as I sat waiting for the results.  As the window popped up I saw the word Congratulations.  I was sooooo thankful this time it said Congratulations!  I sat there in my chair and cried for a minute and said a little prayer thanking Heavenly Father.  I then got up and waited while the attendant checked me out (they have to fingerprint your each time) and printed the official paper saying I passed. She handed it to me, said congrats and that I should go celebrate.

I was so shaky after taking the test for some reason.  I guess from all the stress over the months.  As I got to the car, I said a little prayer again thanking my Heavenly Father for his help, then started driving home.  I called Steve and told him the good news, then called my parents to tell them and Steve's parents.  They all said they knew I could do it.  I appreciated their confidence in me.  When I got home I put all my books downstairs, not wanting to look at them for a long time.  We then loaded up in the car and went over to eat at Olive Garden to celebrate.  It was so nice to eat out for once.  We haven't sat down at a restaurant in months!

Carter trying to eat the crayons.  Now eating yummy noodles!

Nyles working on a puzzle while Steve checks out the menu.

We're slowly getting life "back to normal."  I feel like there is time to do whatever I want since I don't have to study.  Before it was that constant feeling of "I need to study" and in some ways I felt guilty when I wasn't.  It was definitely very stressful.  I now can play with the kids, read to them, cook, clean, watch TV, or whatever, without feeling guilty like I need to study.  I feel so free!

Most of all I feel an immense amount of gratitude.  I know I couldn't have done it without all your love, support and encouragement.  I know many of you were praying for me as well.  I could feel your strength through prayer.  Steve was my number one supporter.  I know I especially couldn't have done it without him.  At times when I would doubt myself and my ability, Steve was there to give me confidence and reassurance that I could do it.  Thanks honey!  I love you so much!  Thanks again to all of you for your love, support and encouragement on my behalf.  I appreciate it more than you know.  Thanks a million!  Now that I've finished my MBA and CFP certification, I think I'm going to take a break from school for a while. :)

As we get closer to Christmas in a couple weeks, my heart if full of love and gratitude for our Savior Jesus Christ.  May we all feel of his love this time of year and always.  And remember that He is the greatest gift of all.  We love you all!!!

November Gratitude List.

Here are a few things we were thankful for during the month of November!

Carter is loving the slides!  He also figured out magnets on the fridge.

Nyles playing the Headbanz game.  We like to give the clues and then you guess what's on your forehead.  Nyles and Carter playing w/ my phone, taking selfies.  Silly boys ;)

	Steve	Penny	Nyles
11/1/2017	Put Halloween decor away.	Steve did dishes. Seeing Nyles and Carter play w/ others, warms my heart.	Played w/ Sophie and Bode.
11/2/2017	Steak for dinner.	Steve had dinner ready when I got home from work; yummy steak.	Got a new ipad learning game.
11/3/2017	Penny was home today.	Had dinner together as a family after a busy day studying.	Got to play w/ Lynsie.
11/4/2017	Went duck hunting.	Clicklist, saves me time.	New truck to play with.
11/5/2017	Family.	Priesthood power on Earth.	Got to go to Grandma's to play w/ cousins.
11/6/2017	Pork chops for dinner.	Steve made a yummy dinner.	VIP at school.
11/7/2017	Rotisserie chicken from Costco.	Steve cleaned up and made dinner.	Finished my homework.
11/8/2017	Nyles was VIP at school this week.	Heaters on cold days.	Hamster in game ABC Mouse.
11/9/2017	Penny was able to stay home and study.	Took the day off to study.	Pet fish in game ABC Mouse.
11/10/2017	Went shooting today.	Chiropractor; got back adjusted.	Mommy.
11/11/2017	Got 3 deer.	Spent time w/ Carter today.	Went deer hunting w/ Daddy.
11/12/2017	Got to sleep in.	Took a nap. Steve gave me a blessing before taking my test.	Played doggy doggy after FHE.
11/13/2017	Got 2/3rd of the deer butchered.	Passed the CFP test! So thankful to be done and for all the prayers and support I had.	Ate dinner as a family at the restaurant.
11/14/2017	Finished butchering deer meat.	Didn't have to study on the train, at lunch, or after dinner!	Addy is the VIP at school.
11/15/2017	Medicine.	Steve is such a great dad and knows what to do when the boys are sick.	Played Minecraft w/ dad.
11/16/2017	Carter's fever broke.	Good neighbors.	Dad gave me a blessing.
11/17/2017	Didn't go on the camp out, went to the movie instead.	First Friday of Freedom; no studying!	Dad drilling light holes.
11/18/2017	Dr. Erickson waited to see Carter.	Had a relaxing Saturday w/ family and didn't have to study!	Went and played w/ Ryder.
11/19/2017	Family time at the park.	For the Gift of the Holy Ghost.	Went to the park and played baseball.
11/20/2017	I was able to successfully wire the can lights.	Steve's handyman skills.	Daddy finally got the lights in.
11/21/2017	Carter started feeling better.	Steve put up the Christmas tree and turned on the Christmas lights outside.	Played w/ Jace w/ our bow and arrows.
11/22/2017	Grant and Cathleen arrived safely.	My parents came to visit.	No school. Grandma and Grandpa slept at our place.
11/23/2017	It's Thanksgiving.	Thankful that we have a day/Holiday to give thanks and reflect on our blessings.	Played w/ cousins.
11/24/2017	Penny is home to help w/ the kids while I'm not feeling well.	Got to spend the day w/ my parents.	Played w/ neighbor Sophie and her cousin Paul.
11/25/2017	For Penny taking care of me and the boys, cleaning the house, making food, etc while I was sick.	Went outside and enjoyed the sunshine; raked leaves.	Popsicles.
11/26/2017	I felt better today.	The Book of Mormon.	Put up Frosty the Snowman outside.
11/27/2017	Penny's job.	The rain.	To have a snack w/ my reading group.
11/28/2017	The can lights in the kitchen were easier to put in than the living room ones.	Steve put can lights in the kitchen!	Wild Kratts.
11/29/2017	My parents and Rob came over for my birthday.	For Steve in my life. He's the love of my life.	Got to blow out candles for Guppy (fish).
11/30/2017	Nyles' school so he can learn.	Steve put more can lights in the kitchen over our sink.	New fish tank.