"Real" life

Well, the storm is over...I have officially finished my second semester of grad school (and lived to tell about it). So, in celebration, I have decided to tell you about the rest of my life, because, well, I have time. And I love that :)-My patio garden is turning out MUCH better than I anticipated. I went in to the whole process half-expecting it to fail (let's be honest...this is coming from the girl who killed a pet cactus in undergrad) but things are suprisingly growing! It has been SO fun to have something to dote over that isn't a client or homework. A "brain break" at it's best!

my green pepper plant- the tiny white dot you see in the center is a soon-to-be pepper!!

The pink flower on the left isn't doing much, but it's probably just intimidated by the way the white flowers have gone CRAZY.

The smartest flowers I've ever met-they close up at night! Genius! Every time a bud dies, a new one is just about to open. They're called "self-eating"...whatever. I just like that they do tricks.

My sweet seedling spices. (Basil, oregano, and parsley.)  I was the most excited when these started blooming!

 So outside of that, life is pretty grand. I'm sleeping at normal times, I'm waking up at normal times...I could get WAY too used to this.I'm still working and doing plenty of filler activities, and grades have yet to be posted (so there's still a little anxiety) but for the most part I'm doing what normal people do. Cleaning, reading, grocery shopping, cooking real food, going to cinco de mayo cookouts, watching movies with friends, and drinking coffee. Speaking of coffee, a quick story:
   A few months ago (spring break-ish) I went through this phase where my coffee was bad. There was nothing I had changed about it, but it was watery and yucky and my mornings were rough. I even went so far as to get a new coffee pot, all to no avail. My coffee was not tasting right, and I was a sad grad. student.
I was at a friends house discussing my situation and she and I tested all kinds of things-was I making it right, was I only using one filter, etc. But everything in my life was fine! Until our very last test-we changed the type of coffee. She busted out her Dunkin Donuts coffee and we brewed that to see if I liked it better than the Folgers we were using. And sure enough...it tasted perfect.
We then came to the conclusion that I am a coffee snob, and somehow my brain had just up and decided that it no longer enjoyed the cheap red-canned grounds. So now, this is the scene in my kitchen:

The good news is, if you go to the actual Starbucks and have them grind it for you, it's a lot cheaper than in the stores (Whew)...I'm loving this change, but I somewhat wish that my brain enjoyed cheaper things.
Hope you're enjoying "real" life where you are...I know I will be until my textbooks for summer come in the mail next week :)

All Kinds of Excitement!

There's a whole lot that I'm excited about right now:
-I never win anything. Ever. But I got this great little signature freebie (at the bottom) from 20 going on 80, a cute little blog I read about a girl who is 20 with "hobbies the same as your grandmother"....I love it :) She also has this cute little shop...so fun. So hooray for blog accessories!
-I have 14 days until May Break! I've never been so excited about 3 weeks to...read for summer classes? But 14 days until no clients (as much as I love them), no class, no reports. I've got a lot on my plate for those 3 weeks, (including but not limited to a trip to St. Louis for my first major-league baseball games....and it's a CUBS game!!!!, a trip home with my best friend, friends coming to THaute,....and textbooks. Eesh. 
-I've been therapy crafting like NUTS lately. Between Easter and sheer necessity, my little collection of matierials has become, well, not so little. I'll have to do a huge speech crafting post soon, probably once this crazy semester is behind me!
-Yes, I posted it on Twitter AND Facebook, but I just want to share the contents of a package I got today

I had no clue it was coming, and it was the BEST way to get me to the end of this week. It's been a doosey. (Someone clearly knows the best way to my heart!) I had never seen these and I can't wait to build with them. And then let my clients play with them. :) So thoughtful, and they last MUCH longer than flowers! I'm so blessed. 
-I got a hair cut yesterday. There are few worse things associated with living in a new town than having to find a new church, a new place to get your car worked on, and a new place to get your hair cut. It's not as bad because I know I'm not staying here forever (7 more months, to be exact!!), but I've been putting it off for TOO long, and so I broke down and asked a friend who is from here and she gave me the name of a great local place. I love haircuts.
-I'm starting a patio garden, as soon as the nights stop getting below freezing. If I have to be here all summer, I might as well have some fresh veggies, flowers, and herbs growing on my patio while I do it. It's going to be great, and I'm going to blog about it.
-The Office is new tonight, and was last week, AND it is until the end of the season. I don't care if Michael Scott is gone, I will forever love this show. And I want to marry John Krasinski, so it works out.
Hope you're excited about the small things in life, wherever you are.

Life, and...coffee pots.

I constantly have things running through my brain ( you shouldn't be surprised by this) that I think "Yeah! That should go on the blog!" And, since I nagged Amber (do you read her blog? You should.) about blogging, AND since I knew she'd rightfully call me out not blogging within the past month, I knew it was time for a post. I really should get better at this. Let's face it, I really should do a lot of things....!

I wanted to post my favorite speech crafts on here and silly things about my life like new glasses and the great pork chops I made for dinner tonight and the Jon McLaughin cd I haven't stopped listening to for weeks, but then I had a change of heart. A dear, dear friend of mine since middle school  lost his father to liver cancer Tuesday, and to top it off, my friend is getting married next Saturday. I know that my dear friend's heart is at peace, but I have to admit mine is not resting quite as easily. Its one of those crazy things that hits you out of nowhere, I guess, and makes you realize the superficial things in your life that you've let become big things. The seemingly mindless and trivial things that I let consume me, or that I complain about  that I should be beyond thankful for. I had dinner with a friend tonight, that was finished with too-big bowls of ice cream and discussion about behavior charts and group therapy (don't judge.) It was simple, it was beautiful, it was full of life.

Then the next day, my mother calls to tel me that her best friend of next to forever, and one of the most Godly women I know, has called to tell her that her breast cancer has returned yet again, even after her double masecotmy a few years ago. And my mother's friend isn't sure she wants to do treatment this time around, because she also suffers from Parkinson's disease, and would rather the cancer take her home to the Lord than the Parkinson's.

Yeah. Deep exhale.
But then I found this post-it note that I keep on my desktop that reads:

In all my life, in every season, You are still God, I have a reason to sing; I have a reason to worship...
(take from Hillsong's Desert Song)

So through all of these "seasons", in all of these things that seem to always happen at once, God is still God, and I do have a reason to sing. Because "God is my Victory, and He is here". What sweet, sacred promises.

In much MUCH lighter news, this little gem has come to call my kitchen home this week:

My forever old hand-me-down finally brewed its last, and since a Keruig just ISN'T just in my grad school budget, this nifty gadget will now start my mornings, and afternoons, and....evenings. But I like it! :)

It's Easter themed speech this week...and if you made it this far, you deserve to know that my next post will be much happier, and much more picture-full. So I'm headed to a quiet Friday night full of cutting out laminated bunnies and chicks, foam Easter eggs, and some quality Netflix time. I'll take it. 

Some girls buy purses...

....and some buy Little People.
My latest speech therapy toy obsession is Fisher Price Little People. I am proud to tell you that I am 23 years old (and ten days!) and proudly scour Craigslist, Ebay, Facebook, friends who have children's closets for these little dudes.


I could write a whole book on how useful these sweet faces are in speech, and my clients LOVE them. I'm proud to tell you that I am the owner of the barn, an ark, a racetrack, and the adventure village....they're a little salty for a grad student's budget to buy brand new, and everyone loves them and therefore very rarely want to get rid of them. Oh the dilemma.....but like I said. I think there could be worse things to be crazy about! (Although they may be a bit more age appropriate...)

My birthday/spring break were too beautiful to talk about, and school hit me head-on today. Welcome back.
This has to be a short and shallow post...my laptop is living on a single battery life until tomorrow. (No, I did NOT leave my charger cord at a Starbucks in Fort Wayne and I then had to have a friend pick it up for me and overnight it...see what I mean about hitting me head on?)

Hope that spring has sprung wherever you are! :-)

This is what you get after a long absence...

Well, here it is....the middle (almost) of February. And I have done nothing but an awful job of blogging. So to the 3 of you who read this, I'm sorry. I'd give you the excuse that I'm a grad student and this past month has been a complete whirlwind, however, while that is true, I feel like it's an easy answer. So do with it what you will.
So, here's a quick recap of the past month or so of my life:
-I've been making lots of fun therapy things like this gem made from a Pringle's can

 I sincerely apologize for the awful quality of this photo

And behavior charts and picture schedules like these

I wish I could take credit for the Superman coloring book page on my fridge (in the to left corner) but I can't. It was a gift from my favorite 3 year old, and is proudly displayed.

Legging-ed knee, how did you sneak into this photo?

This is what I do on Friday nights. Sit around and drink tea/coffee, watch Netflix (or Hulu all the shows I don't have time to watch during the week) and turn my living room into a wonderful mess of foam, scissors, scrap paper, hot glue, double stick tape, and lamination. And I love it.

On the same note, school is in full swing and I'm finding myself spending 7-10 hours in the basement of the same building on a daily basis, clinic or not. I have 3 sweet kiddos who give me wonderful reasons to craft and have avoidance behaviors that come in the form of putting too much effort into those crafts to no end. My heart is so happy.

-I've been obsessed with my Switchfoot station on Pandora .Moreso, this album in particular. (Ok, well these couple. Maybe I'm just years behind everyone else....but my music tastes switch a lot. I'll listen to nothing but showtunes for a month solid, and then something else will come up and will be played incessantly for a long time. Good thing I live by myself...)

   
okay, so this one doesn't match, but this is my blog! I put what I want!


-I've been cooking a lot, which is great because it means I'm eating real food, but I think I'll save that for a post of its own.

-If there's one thing I don't have, it's time to read anything that's not a SOAP note, test protocol, or an anatomy picture reference book, but this little gem is on its way to my house, and should come on Valentine's day( presents from myself still count as presents, right?), and I think I'm pretty excited.

I'd like to think that I'll tear through it and give you an insightful, deep review....but I can't make any promises.

-This has recently graced my refrigerator and morning coffee with it's presence, and it makes life just a little more bearable. (Yes, I saw a commercial and yes, it immediately made my grocery list. So what I'm a sucker for marketing and things that taste like ice cream?!)

it's even special enough to take a hipster-looking picture of.

Where I've been and where I'm going

In 2011...

• I graduated from college
• I moved...twice.
• I got accepted to grad school
• I turned 22
• I SURVIVED a semester of grad school
• I met some lovely ladies :-)
• I gained a sister-in-law

So now in 2012...

• I will finish the academic portion of grad. school
• I will move...again.
• I will gain a member of the family (and that's all I'm saying...for now...)
• I will turn 23
• I will be a working woman, yet again
• I will....

Day...oops.

Okay, okay. So I'm not passing blame, but the writing prompts was getting to me. Deeper than sitting on my to-do list saying "Hey! Look at me!" It was all about gifts. And frankly as much as I do (and don't) like gifts, I have a hard time thinking of posting all the way through December and talking only about gifts.  Although I suppose if I really tried I could turn each of them around and make each post revolve around The gift...I want t the few of you who visit to not have to read the same post only re-worded every day. That, and finals week was a killer. We're talking only 2.5 hours of sleep across 2 days killer. Will I pick up the "one a day" in January? Maybe. If I find a good enough prompt that actually has some kind of depth to it. Until then, I ramble.

• Christmas is in 3 days. Holy schmoley. Where did THAT come from?!
• Wanna know what I did today? Good, because I'm gonna tell you. I got to go to Science Central today with these sweet faces:

seriously, I get PAID to spend time with these wonderful children who so quickly worked their way into my heart. PAID. Can I pay them?I absolutely adore these 3. Melt.my.heart.

So I hung out with them, filled my belly with Panera, and am now sitting at a favorite coffee shop playing on Pinterest and drinking a white chocolate mocha until I don't want to. And when I'm done with that? I'm gonna read a REAL book. Not about speech therapy. This book to be exact:

photo credit

 I'd tell you why I'm obsessed with this author/story line/series, but that's for another post. But I'm reading books the rest of society reads, and I'm gonna read until I don't want to anymore. Moral of the story? Christmas break is my best friend. (Actually, it's been kinda nuts, and today is my first real "break-ish" day but I love it and am milking it for all its worth).

• My grades for the semester, nothing short of the grace of God Almighty, came back better than expected. As in, passing.  ( And as I type this, at table of 3 older  ladies at afore-mentioned coffee shop, 1 just said loud enough for the whole coffee shop to hear "But yes! Speech therapy works!" I'm tempted to go shake their hands. And listen to the rest of their conversation. Must....behave....) 
• I miss my grad school friends. If only seeing them all in one place again didn't mean having to start school again, and being back in Terre Haute...

when you're here, you're family.

I am sufficiently pleased with the number of pictures in this post.