IT'S DONE.

MY THESIS IS DONE AND SUBMITTED AND WHAT THE HELL!!??? Yay. I mean, the university may still have some edits they want me to do before they approve the publication, BUT, my supervisor said that isn't likely. SO FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES THE THING I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS IS NOW DONE.

All I have left to do before I have that pretty piece of diplomatic (wrong use of that word, but we'll go with it) paper in my hand is to finish my medical practicum here in Traverse. I'm kind of at a crossroads of thinking because I technically only have about twenty hours left of my practicum to do before I meet the qualifications for my degree...and I'll get those in like, a week... but I am here until mid-July. I am going to make the most of my time here and soak up all of the information that I can. It's a great learning environment and my supervisor is super knowledgeable--catch that pun ;)?--so I might as well learn as much as I possibly can!

Now, I guess my focus is on finding a job.. or rather, finding a place that I want to apply for a job. I'm still looking down South, but I'm finding there are a LOT of things I need to be considering. Currently, I am trying to figure out licensing in a state I may not be staying in when I am not already licensed. Also, I need to figure out if these job postings I'm seeing will take a CFY (Clinical Fellowship Year). I'm not technically nationally licensed until I finish my 9-month fellowship year. So, anywho. That's where I'm at.

No funny stories at the moment. I said goodbye to a few of my patient's today who have been in the hospital since I started. I was a bit attached seeing as they were my first round of patients, but I'm glad that they are getting to go home! Some more sad things have been happening too. One thing I am actually enjoying about the hospital is that being there really makes you appreciate what you have and who you are. It takes all kinds, my dears.

I will update again soon. I am once again in the coffee shop, having a beer. I think I deserve it after the thesis submission. A random guy walked by and winked a minute ago, but I'll take that over the musical stranger from last week.

FOR THE RECORD: he was rapping. He told me that he was in the process of composing a song that was half-folk/half-rap. He had finished the folk portion because, "that came naturally to [him]", but he was really struggling with the rapping. I left immediately after that. At least people are interesting. Again, it takes all kinds, and I enjoy almost all of them for different reasons. People are pretty damn cool. :)

Love, y'all!

Codes and coffee shops.

So, I have moved to Traverse City. Temporarily, but nonetheless, I am here. The area is beautiful; anyone from Michigan knows that. I am currently doing an internship at the hospital here and I have to say: I am really loving it. It's a challenge. It's fast-paced. I think it's going to fly by.

It has been an interesting few weeks. Some big stuff happened, and that's cool. That's the way life works, I think. You move to a new place where you know no one and just when you think you are really feeling a certain way, you start to feel that way even more. Too vague? Sorry. Basically, I am enjoying having some time to do things I enjoy. Currently, I am sitting in a coffee shop drinking wine. It's a grand ole time :).

Anyways, the hospital is great. It is often very sad, but more than often very rewarding. Making someone tear up with happiness because you are giving them the okay to eat a chicken pot pie (when all they have been able to eat is purreed food) is pretty outstanding. I guess I have a somewhat funny story I can share that will not give any patient identifiers:

I am in the office (I have my own office, kind of! Cool, eh?). Anyways, I'm in the office. I hear, "CODE PURPLE. CODE PURPLE." over the intercom. I know that's a pediatric code. I look at the back of my card to see what it is and it's a child abduction. The exchange with me (M) and my supervisor (S) goes like this:

M: WHAT DO WE DO?
S: Meh. We'll go stand by the door over by the North stairwell. It's probably a drill.
M: Um, okay!
(follows supervisor to stairwell)
M: So, we just wait?
S: Well, I'm going to go guard the exit door, you stand here and guard this door. If it's peds, this is the only stairwell. So we should probably watch all the doors in case it's not a drill. If they don't give a description soon it's probably a drill.
INTERCOM: CODE PURPLE. MALE. 5 YEARS. BLONDE HAIR. BROWN EYES. FLANNEL SHIRT. SUSPECT IN BLACK HOODIE. NORTH STAIRWELL.
M (internally): OH SHIT.
S: Alright, I'm gonna check the door.
M (to other SLP standing by me): What do we do? Do I need to be trained? What do I do?
S: I'm sure it's fine.
M: Which is the North stairwell?
S: This one. It's the only one that goes off the peds floor.
M:

SIDEBAR: I am so surprised by this I didn't even finish my last sentence. There is a man who just randomly sat across from me at the coffee shop. Like, at my table for two. While there are MULTIPLE tables open. He just looked at me. The exchange goes like this:

Him (H):  Can I sit here?
Me (M): Um, sure? I'm about to leave so...
He sits down.
......a few minutes go by....
H: If I start making weird faces, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to come up with lyrics.
M: Um... no worries. It's all good.
.....a few minutes go by...
H: I'm sorry if I'm looking at you. I just talk to myself sometimes when I'm doing this, so I figured I should start sitting across from people otherwise I get really weird looks.
M: It's all good, dude. I get it. You do your thing. I'll do my thing. Then I'll leave.
....I'm now chugging my wine. So I'll finish this story quickly and go.

M (internally): Oh, geeze LOUISE.
RUSHING FOOTSTEPS ARE HEARD ABOVE. I AM INTERNALLY FREAKING OUT.
On the outside I am the picture of calm and knowledge.
I see a face. It's a male nurse (MN).
MN: DID YOU SEE ANYONE?
M (sighing): No. Supervisor is at the bottom door looking out.
MN: K, I'll go look and see if I can see anyone on the roof or fire escapes.
M: Ha. Okay!
RUSHING FOOTSTEPS ARE HEARD ABOVE. It's a female nurse (FN).
FN: DID YOU SEE ANYONE?
M: Nope! MN is up above and Supervisor is at the bottom of the stairs.
FN: Okay!
At this point I am thinking I'm going to have to turn into Bruce Lee or something. I have no idea what to do. 
M (to other SLP): Like, do I tackle him?
Her: Mmm.. No. We report it.
M: Okay?
INTERCOM: CODE PURPLE ALL CLEAR.
......... long pregnant pause......
INTERCOM: THIS WAS A DRILL.

Good, heavens. We have had lots of different codes since I've been there, but this was the one I was most directly involved in (besides the Code Blue that happened in the room next to me, and a subsequent Code after that). I am glad it was a drill.

SIDEBAR: Guy across from me is stroking his chin and speaking out loud. And rapping. I think he's rapping. 

So all in all, I am loving it here. My roommate situation is a little different (I'll post on that later), but otherwise I'm feeling pretty good. Lonely sometimes, but that is to be expected in a new city. I think once summer really picks up and there are things to do it will be better :). Hopefully friends come visit! I feel very lucky to be in such a beautiful place for the summer. I have been traveling a lot on the weekends, but I think I may actually try and stay here and explore this upcoming one. Wish me luck. I'll try to keep you updated, but strict confidentiality keeps me from saying too much about work. Now if only I could find the motivation to apply for some jobs. C'est la vie.

Love y'all.

Pink and blue and bows.

This past weekend I took a little jaunt over to the Soo for my best friend's bridal shower. Her colors are navy blue and fuchsia and as would be expected, everything was pink (and white)! She's adorable. It was her spring break from med school this past week, and she was in Marquette looking for an apartment for her clinical rotations beginning this June. I got to spend Sunday and Monday with her! It was nice. Then, as I mentioned, I had her bridal shower. It's the most I've seen her in that short of a period of time since we lived in the same city I think! I've missed her lots.

Anywho, the bridal shower was very cute. Her maid of honor did a great job organizing it, and we all had a wonderful time. A group of us went out Saturday night and had more fun, so it was a successful weekend all in all!

I can't believe I only have two and a half weeks left at my Marquette externship!  I'm REALLY going to miss it. A lot of funny things happen at the preschool, but I've come to understand both that I find things funny that others may not, and also that context is pretty important for a lot of the things that happen. Additionally, I need to keep them anonymous and some of the humor in the situations comes from which kids have done these things--if that makes sense. Anyways, here are a couple of cute things that have happened at the preschool:

Young girl (same one who is the "girlfriend" from the last story): UGH. It's just SO hot in this bra I'm wearing. (Looks to see if I'm paying attention... I don't look at her). UGH. This BRA is just SO HOT. (I nod and walk away. That girl, haha).

Young enthusiastic boy who asked a question about Tooter in the last post. This also happened during show and tell: (To child who brought show and tell) I WOULD LIKE TO TOUCH IT.
Teacher: I don't think you need to. It's not yours.
YEB: (Turns to teacher) I wasn't asking you.

The previously mentioned child is just SO good at reasoning and talking his way out of things, that sometimes you can't do anything but giggle.

I'm sure there's more, but I've forgotten. OH! I have a young one who is now insisting on calling me "Peanut Butter". Hilarity usually ensues and the kids in the class love it, but he's the only one who is calling me that (so far). You, too, may call me "Peanut Butter" if you want now I guess.

Also! Someone special is coming to visit me in less than three weeks, and I am SO excited!!

Anyways, I need to go order shoes for my friend's wedding in June. Love y'all!

Nautical nonsense and preschoolers.

Just so that I give credit where credit is due, the print I found to use as my new background is from: bespokeprints.com. Additionally, I should probably give credit to a quote that has been inspiring me lately, which also has to do with my new background. It is as follows:

“A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.” — John A. Shedd.

I love all things nautical (including anchors)--much to the bemusement of my family probably, considering I REALLY don't care for, or even like, Lake State. In fact, when I came home with a blue phone case that had an anchor on the back, I didn't hear the end of it. I bought a new case, naturally. It is now sparkly silver and gold and has been deemed the "porn star phone case" by one of my best friend's cousins. C'est la vie. Anyways, I just love my new background simply for the fact that it has chevron, a nautical feel, and NO anchor. Everyone's happy.

I have been thinking about the quote I mentioned a lot lately. Growing up in the U.P., we are in a nautical environment ALL the time. I never really realized it until I moved out West though. I'm proud of being from Michigan--more specifically, the U.P.. It's an amazing area.

SIDEBAR: I'm going to be like everyone else and just say, THIS WINTER IS BULLSHIT. Like, seriously. Okay, if we're going to get a bunch of snow, fine. Whatever. I would prefer cold to snow, but NOT BOTH. It's March this weekend and our 10-day forecast does not have us getting above zero--not including wind chill. I'm just done with it.

So the U.P. is great. In the summer, Michigan is the most incredible place in the country to be--in my not-so-unbiased opinion. This winter has kind of solidified my desire to look for my CFY (9 month clinical fellowship all SLPs are required to do) in southern states. So I've started doing that. I can't wait to be WARM, provided that I get a job down there. If I end up hating it, then hey, it's only for one school year. I've left the harbor once for the Wild West and loved it, might as well do it again in a different direction!

For a quick update, I've been working at a preschool in Marquette. It's wonderful. I had no desire to work with the preschool population, but now being in one that is inclusive (as in, we provide speech-language services to the kids in their classroom) it's making me consider doing this for a job. I'm a little wary that I haven't yet worked in a skilled nursing facility or hospital. Those are the environments I was, and still am, most interested in working in; however, there's something to be said for truly looking forward to going to your job every day. Here are a few reasons I love the preschool:

1. The kids are FREAKIN' hilarious. Like, I crack up almost daily.
2. The people I am working with are awesome and they make going there everyday enjoyable.
3. The kids are FREAKIN' adorable. Like, I just want to pick them up and squeeze them sometimes.
4. THE KIDS.
5. THE KIDS.
6. THE KIDS.
7. It's actually a big challenge. I thought that being at a preschool would become kind of routine and wouldn't be super challenging. I've been proven wrong. I've had to learn a ton about behavior management and strategy. I also always have to be on my feet thinking about what each child's goals are and how I can incorporate them into the classroom activities we are doing. The evaluations I've been doing are great too.
8. THE KIDS.
9. I get to play with Legos, Playdough, blocks, etc. It's great.
10. THE KIDS.

I'm starting to think that maybe it would be fun to have a job where you see so much progress in your clients. It also is great to be there during the times they are learning a ton to provide them with the best possible intervention and language learning you can. Preschoolers are at this crazy age and some of them have more negative things going on in their life than you or I do. It's extremely rewarding to be that person there telling them you care about them and making them feel good about themselves--and hopefully providing a good base for the future. It's pretty neat. To finish off, I'll provide a few anonymous things my kids have said to me:

1. (There will be a few in one number for this kid). While staring longingly into my eyes, "you're hands are so soft."
"Look at your cheekies, your beautiful little cheekies" (then pinches my cheeks).
"I just LOVE your beautiful hair" (then pets my hair).
"We're going to play house. You be the mommy, and I'll be the doctor" (I shut this one down quickly).
"Ms. Mia, do you want to know something? You're beautiful." (I say "thank you").
Later, child turns around and says, "Ms. Mia, do you still want to be beautiful?" Um.... yes?

2. Child brings show and tell stuffed animals: an elephant and a seal. We ask their names. They were Porky and Tooter, respectively. Spunky young child bounces in seat raising a hand to ask a question of the child who brought show and tell like an interviewer at a press conference: "Umm, yes, thanks. First, I'd like to ask a question about Tooter...". Proceeds with Tooter having his 15 minutes of fame and Porky being swept to the side.

3. One of my favorites so far, while talking to my supervisor and I: "I don't know if you know this, but you're going to die. You're going to get old, and you're going to die. I won't, I want to stay little, so I won't die. But you will. You're going to meet our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, up there. But don't worry, he's a pretty nice guy. And Slipknot is the devil's music." We just stared at each other.

4. Same child as #3 with another child, sitting on bean bags. I think, awesome! Perfect opportunity for some language treatment! I'll read this one like a dialogue:
Me (M): Hey, guys! What are ya up to? (Both stare at me like I'm nuts).
Boy (B): Just talking.
Girl (G): Yea, just talking.
M: Can I sit with you, or would you rather be alone?
G: We'd rather be alone.
B: Yea, and she's my girlfriend and we're gonna get married. We'd rather be alone.
M: Okay.... well, see ya. (Walk away with head down. I am not the cool kid in class). 

Later that day:
B: Ms. Mia! Look what I drew!
M: (Trying to interpret scribbles) Oh, nice! What is it?
B: Me and G up on top of a hill swinging in the sunset because we're in love. Isn't that nice?!
M: Umm...
B: (To girl) Would you like that? We'll take a picnic and walk up a hill and lay on a blanket and eat the picnic and watch the sunrise! Does that sound fun?
G: (This actually happened. Girl exasperatedly puts her head in her hands and says) Not now, we're coloring.

I'll try to update more with anonymous silly stories, because there have been many I've forgotten.

Love, y'all!

Home is where the heat is.

No, I didn't spell that wrong. We have a sauna at my house and with how FREAKIN' COLD it's been lately, I have been taking one every day. It's the only way I can really warm up. I mean, it got to like, -50 degrees in Wyoming, but it's not humid--if you're bundled up, you don't really feel it. Here, it's the exact opposite. When it's -30 degrees, it feels like it no matter what you wrap yourself up in.

I'm home. I'm all done with graduate school classes and now just have my two externships and thesis defense before I am officially graduated. CRAZY. I have to admit, I'm really missing Wyoming. That was to be expected though, I suppose. One thing I will say is that it has been a chore fitting an apartment-full of stuff into my small bedroom, but I have somewhat succeeded. Yes, there are books on books on books and we had to buy some new storage shelves, but we figured it out. My friend Shell's sister helped us unpack the car when we got back to my house in Michigan and her comment on the number of books we had to unload--which was drastically reduced as I had shipped eight boxes home already--was, "Geeze, this is like unpacking Rorie Gilmore's car." I took it as a compliment :).

Home has been nice so far. I got to see pretty much all of my family, eat delicious food, relax, spend time with my bestest friends, and spend a lot of time in the car. Like, a lot. My travels over the last three weeks have been as follows:

Laramie > Marquette.
Marquette > Soo.
Soo > Petoskey.
Petoskey > Detroit.
Detroit > Green Bay (via Chicago).
Green Bay > Marquette.
Marquette > Soo.
Soo > Lansing.
Lansing > Kalamazoo.
Kalamazoo > Marquette.

Whew. I think that's it. It's a good thing I love car trips!

Anyways, I am beginning my externship at an early developmental center this week. It was supposed to begin on Monday, but with the "Polar Vortex" sweeping through the nation, we have had triple cold days. I'm hoping to begin on Thursday. Don't get me wrong, I love the extra vacation time. I'm just getting a little bit stir crazy being in the house so much. Now that my room is all organized, I really don't have much to do. Maybe I'll start studying for my board exam...... HA. No, that can wait. Also! I found out that other than IFSP/IEP meetings or professional seminars I am able to wear jeans and casual shirts to work! Seeing as we are on the floor with preschoolers all day, this makes sense. I'm still excited, though.

As I'm no longer out West I'm not sure what kind of updates/posts I'll be doing, or how often I'll be doing them. It will most likely be little stories about my preschoolers and where I'm at with finishing school and such. Hopefully it will pick up more once I begin the job hunt, and then start said job! (Preview: I'll likely be looking down South or on the East Coast). Wish me luck!

Love, y'all!

Live authentically.

It's almost done. I am two exams down, with one to go, and I really don't know how I feel about that. In my last post I talked about things I've learned and those sorts of things. This post will be a bit of that, and then more of an update I guess.

Shell will be here on Friday night (WOO WOO), which is crazy. I just... I can't believe I'm leaving. I'm really excited to see everyone and to start a new chapter and everything, but honestly: I'm not ready to be done here. I'm just going to have to suck it up and get on with it, eh? Pretty much. Anyways, I'M REALLY EXCITED TO SEE SHELL! :)

More pondering: 
Andy Warhol said (or wrote, I'm not totally sure): “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”

I both agree with and reject that sentiment. My rejection is that time really does change things. I mean, this time two years ago I was in a completely different place than I am now, and that is in direct relation to both time and the choices I made. This is something I'm trying to keep in mind lately.

When it comes to emotions and such, I am a pretty private person. I only share my true feelings with a couple of people, and I often like to pretend like I have none. Something that both time--and my decisions--have taught me is that, while this is a great strategy for self-preservation in theory, it really isn't in reality. So since no one really reads this besides my family, I'm going to theorize for a moment. I'm talking about both professional relationships and private relationships, here. For example: pretending you don't care about someone or something may have a result you expect or want and leave you feeling like you have the upper-hand; however, inject into that story you actually sharing how you're feeling--being yourself--and the interaction changes. You sort of become an outsider to this situation you've created through acting untrue to yourself.

If you're a person who likes to talk things out and get over them, frickin' talk things out. If another person is not that sort of person, then how were you ever going to get anything solved anyways?

If you are the type of person who gets wrapped up in good music and really thinking about things, then frickin' do that. If another person prefers to be wrapped up in more materialistic things, then how were you going to have thoughtful interactions anyways?

If you are the type of person who likes to make others feel special and cared for, then frickin' be that person. If another person prefers to take and not provide the same type of care, then how were you ever going to feel special in that relationship?

If you prefer to make certain people a priority, then frickin' do it. If another person sees you as more of an option than a priority, how were you ever going to form a meaningful relationship?

Basically, in both professional and personal relationships, if you aren't being yourself (within reason for the professional ones), then you are fooling the other person. Sometimes two good people are just different, and that has been a tough lesson for me to learn. In contrast to that though, sometimes opposites can work exceptionally well together if they are both willing to put in the effort--effort being the key word there. Things can be easy if you want them to be (and for the most part they should be), but I often find that the things that are always easy are not the things that are worth it. Think going to the gym: you can get into a routine and keep doing it and it gets easier and easier. If you stay in that routine, it will be easy, but not enjoyable. I prefer to mix things up, to accept that even though some days may be more difficult than others, it's worth it. I'm worth it. In relationships, the other person should be worth it to. Through some difficult things come things that are better than we could have thought otherwise. Has anyone sensed that this got away from the "professional" relationship? Oh well lol.

Update time: 

I am in the process of packing up my apartment and have now sent two shipments of boxes home. The last shipment was addressed to my family, but not really. I believe the names I used were: La, Hurricane, Fr. Joe, Josephine, Jowdy, and Magglio. :). My landlord is showing my apartment to a few people tomorrow, so hopefully he'll find someone to take it soon.
When we first moved in, he asked us not to put nail holes in the wall if we could avoid it because we live in a very old building. So I, trying to be resourceful and follow his rules at the same time, decided to use those tacky squares you can get. They held things up beautifully and were fine everywhere else in the apartment besides my bedroom. One wall in my bedroom to be exact. The paint started peeling, and I was freaking out a bit, and then I was honest and showed it to him and he was totally fine. He handed me some spackle and told me if I had trouble to let him know. Whew.
I cleaned out my closets (I brought WAY too many clothes out here) and brought the clothes to the middle school that I did my community placement at. One of the kids who made me a card when I left happened to be in the treatment room when I stopped by. I walked in and he goes, "YOU'RE BACK! YOU'RE BACK! Are you back for good!?". I told him I wasn't, but it was nice to feel missed after a few days :). I'll miss those kids and the people at the school.

Well, I have one more exam to go on Friday afternoon. It's my Craniofacial exam, and I think I'll be okay if I study all day tomorrow and the morning. I'll look over the stuff tonight too.

More pondering: 
I guess my message for this post is something that I thought I embodied pretty well, but am starting to feel like is a perpetual journey: Live authentically. It's surprising how you can get away from yourself if you don't remember to look at your life and your choices ("LOOK ATCHA LIFE, LOOK ATCHA CHOICES... Sassy Gay Friend... anyone?). You know what, though? It's also nice how quickly you can come back. After all, you're the only you ;). I'll leave you with this.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

This quote always made me think. At first I'd be like, "yea! Exactly!" And then I'd go, "But isn't that boastful?" It's taken me a bit to realize that being everything you can be, and then opening the doors for others to do that too, is probably one of the least boastful things you can do. It's kind of like being, "Yo, you're good with history and sports? I'm awesome with pop culture and music. Let's get together and form one of the most unbeatable groups in the history of bar trivia teams". By acknowledging the gifts you've been given, you can help others do the same; therefore, helping them to get out there and try things they may not have, and vice versa.

This has been way more deep than I intended. Sheesh. Love, y'all.

APA (almost) style update.

Wow. I feel like I start the majority of my posts with either "wow" or "so". C'est la vie. I have two weeks of grad school left (and two externships), and I will have my Master's degree. What the wha? This is crazy. It has been an insane semester. Clearly, due to my lack of posts. I must be completely honest though: it wasn't as crazy as last year. I think I just reveled in soaking up the time I have here with the people I've been spending time with, and I was just enjoying it all a lot. I apologize--to my family, really--for my lack of updates. Grandma told me a couple of weeks ago that I needed to post again before I left, so I decided to do it. If Gma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy (or something like that). I shudder to think of the guilt that would be laid on me if I didn't update at least once more. So here goes (I'll use bolded titles so you may decide what you want/don't want to read):

Why I don't want to leave. To be completely frank, I'm not sure that I'm ready to leave here yet for a number of reasons. Mainly, I've learned a ton about myself and I'm kind of enjoying that journey.

Friends. I have wonderful friends and people I really care about all in one place. That is never easy to leave. I go away confident, however, that my friendships will be solid. Distance means little when relationships are meaningful--that's what I keep reminding myself of. Things I've learned in regards to friends include: 1) gut instincts are generally correct, 2) you aren't going to be friends with everyone, and 3) people really are put into your life (and you in theirs) for a purpose. I'm going to miss these people dearly.

Sig-O's. I was fortunate while out here to have met a few great guys. Luckily, one of them became a very close friend--and now I'm friends with that group. They are awesome people. The other turned into something much more than I expected. He means a lot to me, and I will miss him when I head home for a few months. If nothing else though, I learned a lot about relationships and myself in them. I take that as a wonderful experience to have had. I will leave it at that.

Landscape. GOSH DARN IT. Wyoming is beautiful. I feel privileged to be able to take day trips to Colorado if I want--or to just drive ten minutes and be in the mountains. Sunsets are unreal (I've taken in a few lately), the vast amount of land is unreal, just everything. It's beautiful.

School. Yea. I'll say it. I'll miss school. I'm ready for a break. I mean, I've been going to school for eighteen years straight (that's kind of disgusting, haha), but I just don't feel like I'm done. I'm going to work for a few years, but my tentative plan is to go back for my PhD in the near future. Might as well, eh? (We'll see if I like working and having free time too much instead ;) ).

College schedule. This may sound crazy, but I'm going to miss my schedule. I worked nearly full-time all through undergrad while taking at least seventeen credits, so I never really had down time to just study, sleep in, and such. I have in grad school, and I love it! I will sincerely miss being able to grocery shop or run and get coffee in the middle of the day if I feel like it. The freedom of not working has not been lost on me.

So now I'll go through some updates about what's been happening in my life, I guess (bolded titles perpetuate):

Thesis research. Well, the research portion is almost done--for the actual thesis, that is... and just in English, but yea. Still more needs to be done for the Spanish portion and the actual paper to be submitted for publishing, but I see the light! I will spend my first few months while at home working on that so I can come back out here and defend it--and then be done!--in the Spring. Woo woo!

ASHA. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA; ie.) our national governing body) annual convention was in Chicago this year. My friend and I had posters that we presented, and it was amazing! I had three people whom I cite in my research stop by and talk to me about everything; the remaining people I cite are either at UW or I met them later in the conference. What an opportunity! It was awesome, and the food was awesome, and it was awesome. Did I say that already? I don't care. It was. :)

School. School is going well. One more day of classes and two more days of my community placement (at a middle school) and then it's just final exams!

Community placement. So my clinical community placement is at a middle school here in Laramie. It's been a rewarding--and at times very funny experience. I have learned a ton, and I was fortunate enough to have an amazing supervisor. All's good on that front, I suppose.

I feel like I've been rambling--in an organized way--and I'm not really quite sure what else to say. Maybe I'll try to post some more in the next couple of weeks. Shell is coming out to help me move home in less than two weeks, and I'm so excited to see her--not so much for the leaving part! It will be great to have her here and to have her see where I've been for the last year and a half. Soon enough I will be home, and then I probably won't know what to do with myself for a while. Such is life... and it's a great one. :)