Good to be home.....

• as I type this my puppy in my lap
• I'm cooking an actual meal and won't need to eat all of the leftovers myself
• I'm doing Jason's laundry (although I complain about this I do miss it)
• I'm able to help Jason with some stuff around the house, there's a lot to do when you're a home owner....especially when you're running a zoo in your house (or at last that's what it feels like at times with 3 animals running around)
• Troop and I did errands yesterday and both went to the doc....we're both fine and on the mend thankfully
• what a difference I'm noticing in that little guy, Papa has taught him lots of great things
• getting some school work done today.....I hate typing on laptops
• got to go to my church
• getting to see and connect with lots of friends
• healed an important relationship....such a breath of fresh air
• have some more fun things planned
• thinking I need to squeeze in some baking some time this week, the guys at Jason's work are putting in requests
• thankful for 10 days home but it still doesn't seem like long enough
• got to watch House with Jason last night instead of talking about it after we both watch it separately
• missing Ten Thousand Villages, especially during this time of year
• it's weird to me that Christmas is coming...I don't feel it yet
• still dialing 1-506 instead of direct numbers when I want to call someone local
• with all these thoughts and thankful moments I still have a piece of me in Harrisonburg... I miss those buddies of mine.....I think if they were good friends they'd move to Canada :)

Canada adventures....

So I'm home!!!! I came home to surprise Jason for his birthday. It was perfect, he had no idea. Mandi picked me up at the airport and we went to the restaurant for his birthday party. Poor guys was trembling when I hugged him, so cute.

Anyways some thoughts on my travels back to Canada:
-getting up at 3:00 am to catch a 8:51 am flight is still freaking insane to me....why do people live in big cities? in fact, why did I used to want to live in a big city?
-lots of people love me and were offering to drive me to the airport, I feel blessed...Christian was the lucky winner.....he wasn't so chatty when I got there at 4:00 am to pick him up
-there was actually traffic this early in the morning in DC??? again why do people do this?
-I threw a yogurt in my purse before I left my house and forgot about it....had to get my bags checked because of this stupid yogurt, which had to get thrown out....gotta watch out for those explosive yogurt containers
-I'm really liking Dunkin Donuts coffee....way better than Tim Horton's ....although not so fair trade....what are you going to do in an airport though
-when I finally got on the plane to head to Montreal I was sitting in the second last row, there was no one beside me but there were 2 guys across from me....the stewardess asked us to move to the front of the plane because "for this aircraft we need as much weight as possible in the front to offset things"......hmmmm here are my thoughts on that: 1. am I that fat? ha ha ha 2. I don't think I want to fly on a plane where a few hundreds pounds could screw up the whole flight... sheesh
-only restaurant in the crappy terminal I ended up in Montreal was horrible....got a roast beef sandwich and a bottle of water for 13 dollars....what a deal!
-decided to try to get some sleep on the benches since I had a two hour wait.... that was an experience....if it wasn't the announcements that woke me up just as I dozed off it was the creep man eyes that I could feel starring at me....seriously?
-it was so great to see Mandi at the airport....my body was bursting with joy as I walked towards her car...I held it together fine until she hugged me and wouldn't let go when I tried to pull away... freaking brat
-all in all I'm happy to be home and it was worth all the craziness to get here

I will be taking a blogging break while I'm here.....look for something new the middle of next week or so. I'm going to be a busy girl. There's only 4 weeks of this semester left. Where did the time go? Hope everyone is doing well and I hope to get to see you all while I'm home. I've got one happy husband, puppy, and kitty here let me tell you....

Week 12....

1. now married to a 30 year old, sounds hot and sexy ;)
2. been having trouble sleeping
3. went to a "Tasteful Treasures" party (basically a fancy way of saying a sex party) and learned a lot of things....eek
4. finished my last midterm....oh ya!
5. got invited to a prof's house for Thanksgiving supper (she's also Christian's aunt)
6. missed home a lot
7. haven't spent much time alone
8. went to a poetry reading because my friends hate me ha ha ha....seriously I am so not that type of thinker...I left confused, but the hot chocolate was good
9. embarrassed my husband, I love him
10. wanted to see my puppy, especially after being at a fellow classmate's house who had 4 shih tzus (one looked a lot like Troop)
11. went to the voted #1 burger joint in the states, it's called "Five Guys" and I have to say it was yummy....baby you need to get down here
12. heard from the backseat of my car from a Californian who is holding a snowbrush "what is this thing" ha ha ha is that not crazy? I informed him that he better buy one for his fancy BMW, or at least an ice scraper
13. got another A on 3 papers
14. had a rough 2 hour counseling session
15. Trevor cleaned his bathroom (this was a huge blessing, trust me)
16. am needing a break from school and a hug from that man of mine

Happy birthday....

Guess who is the big 30 today???

Happy birthday my love! I'm sad that I'm not there to celebrate with you, but it sounds like you're in for a lot of fun on Friday. Besides I'm sure Trooper has something up his paw as well. ha ha ha

It's hard to believe that when I met you we were celebrating your 23 birthday. I look forward to the many, many more years of celebrating your birthdays. I'm definitely not going to miss out on 40, especially since it's only 10 years away :)

Oh and for those of you that don't know, I won. When we first met, and for the longest time, Jason said that if he didn't have kids by 30 he wasn't having any. I said that if we had kids before then great, if not we still would. And he would get mad and say "Erin I'm retiring to do nothing but golf at 55 and I don't want any kids at home at that point". Guess who still wants kids :) Booya!

Processing.....

Have you ever peeled apart a rose? Each petal makes you think you're getting closer and closer to the center. Although you're excited to get to the middle to discover what's there, there is a sense of guilt and loss with each petal you rip off and toss aside. Therefore it's a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, there's the exciting anticipation of what's to come. On the other, there's something to be felt, a sense of mourning almost, for the layers being stripped away and taken from their duty to protect the hidden beauty within. Then there's always the question, what if the anticipated excitement isn't so exciting after all and you're disappointed when you reach the center?

Week 11....

• it was a short week, we only had 2 classes because this week is the Virginia Counseling Association's Conference.....so some profs and half of our class went there....I'm too cheap and didn't really want to go....now when the ACA conference comes I'm going and so is Erica right? ha ha ha...it's in Pittsburg in March
• I had some much needed chick time last night, we watched the movie "The Ugly Truth", it was so funny
• on the way to get the movie I went through a red light despite Erica saying "red light" three times....she was too calm so I wasn't listening
• didn't get any papers back this week so no marks update
• submitted my research paper, it felt good to hand that sucker in I spent way too much time on it
• it's been yucky here the last few days weather wise, however I shouldn't be complaining to all of you about that :)
• I'm missing coffee shop hang out time with the gang...we're all too busy writing and that's hard to do there so we've been working on our own a lot :(
• the counseling department had an open house this week for students who may be interested in the program, so I went to answer questions and explain why I chose the program....it was fun, I'm such an extrovert....when people found out I was form Canada it really sold the program that I came all the down here for EMU
• off to counseling today....poor Nate is probably wondering what he got himself into with me...ha ha ha
• I really want to plan something fun for spring break even though we can't afford it, basically we know where all roads lead in the Constable world PLUS Christian's girlfriend has never been sooooooo :) ha ha ha
• you can tell I'm in the middle of way too much work because I don't really have a lot of fun or exciting things happening....I think we're all needing some room to breathe....come on Christmas!

As per request....

This is a picture of my whole family (minus Jason and I, and my cousin who is in BC) on my dad's side from my grandparents wedding anniversary party. It was really hard for me to see this without me in it...BUT Lindsay wants it on here so I'll rub salt in that wound again just for her :) ha ha ha

Also, apparently I don't post pics of Jason where he can be seen just standing there with his mouth closed. Jason actually joked tonight that if there was ever an emergency that he had to come down here for, and Erica picked him up, that he would recognize her but she wouldn't recognize him. He said that he'd have to stand there and pretend he's sleeping in order for her to recognize him. Seriously why do I surround myself with these people? So I've dug through some pics and here you go Erica. I don't really have a lot of current ones of us. Perhaps Mandi does though??

this is SUCH a Jason face...see here's what I'm realizing he isn't a big fan of getting his pic taken so this is what I end up with....don't believe me? Here's another beauty....

so we'll go with the wedding pic......even though it's from 5 years ago....so just picture him now looking like this but more wrinkles and white hair (oh wait that last part would be me not him)

Happy 60th....

This is my Grammie and Pampie (this picture was taken a couple of years ago), and today is their 60th wedding anniversary. Isn't that nuts? That is so long and so wonderful. I only hope that Jason and I get to experience a life full of love with each other for that long.


This picture was from this past weekend at their anniversary party. It sucked that I had to miss it; I'm thankful my dad sent me pictures though. Grammie is really sick, so this was an important night for everyone!

Few things....

It's really rainy here, apparently we've got a tropical storm coming through. However it's just reminding me of cold, wet, windy days at home :)

I got to go shopping with the LA dudes tonight. Christian didn't have a coat. So we picked him out a lovely Columbia winter jacket. It's the first one he's ever owned at 26. That's insane to me! Anyways, it only cost $34.99. Isn't that crazy? I've found a new store that I will be stopping into again soon. It's called Ross. It's a lot like Winners but with real name brands. There may have been some Nike Golf items there..... that should get someone leaving a comment!

Erica and I are baking my Grammie's chocolate chip oatmeal cookies tomorrow. Mmmm I can't wait to eat some of those suckers.

Oh in case you guys don't remember.....I love these guys (look how little Trooper is there)

Thoughts from DC.....

-I'm only 2 1/2 hours from DC! That's like going to Fredericton...

-I saw 12 dead dear on that short drive, even a mama and baby one together :(

-there is something about DC, I feel the same way in Ottawa, hard to explain...not magical, not powerful....maybe a bit powerful....I don't know but something...it was my third time to DC in my life (first time barely remember) and although quick, I still felt it when we went over the bridge that put us in the district and I saw the Washington Monument....hard to explain....those of you that have ever stood in front of the Parliament buildings may be able to understand the feeling I mean

-I felt old being at George Washington University (GWU) and out of style

-had to pay $17.00 for parking and we were only there for 2 and 1/2 hours (yup 17 you read that right...crazy huh?)

-was weird being in the "special collections" section of the library, had to get special clearance to go in there

-weren't allowed to bring in any bags or pens, only pencils so no ink got on anything

-were in a room that had windows facing the desk clerk, we still aren't sure if we were supposed to be quiet or not.....if so we didn't do too good of a job....we were just way too excited

-each box that I went out and brought in (we were only allowed one box at a time and we looked at 8) was a scary mystery if that makes any sense....I am the one that decided which boxes would be picked but they just had numbers on them and I didn't remember which one was what...so I knew the leucotomies (basically ice picks that Freeman designed) were in one and I just never knew which one

-instruments ended up being in the last box, we got excellent video of our reactions and thoughts on them....however I'm not the one with the video camera so I don't have the footage for you I can tell you how I felt though....it was weird, scary, sad, and exciting. I was shaking as I unfolded the warn out leather case that Freeman had opened so many times. I could just picture him putting this small case, that was no longer than a pencil, in his back pocket and walking into the surgery room or hotel room, or where ever. They weren't wrapped up or anything, they were just in there. There were 3 different sets and each were different types or spin offs maybe of the other. We had read in the book that Freeman designed his own style that he wanted and that they were adapted as he changed his technique. It was gross and creepy to be holding something that was inserted into someone's brain, that for the most part severely scared them for life or killed them, but at the same time was really saddening. We were thinking about how this was not long ago. This could have been an aunt, grandparent, or even parent of ours that this could have happened to had they been living in the states and displaying symptoms (sometimes even not displaying symptoms unfortunately) of depression, schizophrenia, severe pain, etc. So so so sad, it makes me get teary just typing this. I have been changed holding those instruments. I can't even explain it because I'm not sure fully how yet. I can't quite comprehend the depth of my soul that it has touched but I do know that it is for the better, I can feel it. The purpose of our class reading this book is to understand just how horrible people with mental illness were, and unfortunately still are in some ways, treated. Today I, at the very least, grasped that at a whole new level. These instruments were sharp, cruel, and had changed people's lives forever in an unjust and inhumane way. For some reason it just doesn't do it justice trying to explain it here as I type.

Week 10...

1. holy crap it's week 10 already
2. only one more midterm
3. realizing that I'm always expecting the negative in a situation can be a tough pill to swallow, however now that I've realized it it makes me laugh when I catch myself doing it yet again....realization is the first step to correction apparently :)
4. I love Greenberry's (coffee shop I go to to focus)
5. I'm all done with my United States of Tara episodes and this makes me sad...new episodes start in January...woo hoo! Did you know that Steven Spielberg and Diablo Cody (writer of Juno) are the producers of the show?
6. got an email on signs that your cat may be grieving, Kitty has them all except one :(
7. Trooper is loving his kennel and has not ate his poop or messed in his new home in over a week which = happy Papa
8. Jason's off to Ottawa, that puts him a lot bit closer to me....only 9 hours instead of 19
9. both of my roommates are sick and that scares me because I don't want it
10. played Cranium
11. got back 2 midterms.... 29/30 on one and 99/100 on the other....OH YA!
12. have to write a big research paper that I've been putting off for far too long
13. had my first Ethics team meeting, this is going to be a lot of work
14. am thankful to have wonderful friends in 2 different countries, I'm a lucky girl!
15. debating whether or not to get the H1N1 shot on Monday...any suggestions?

My Lobotomy....

It's time for a field trip to Washington, DC people!!!!

Those of you who know I hate reading will be proud of me. I have finished yet another book (I think that may be 5 in my lifetime). We had to read this book for Psychopathology:

We are now divided into groups and have to do an hour long presentation on a topic from the book. Our group decided to pick actual lobotomies. Most of us, myself included, had never heard of a lobotomy. I literally was gasping in shock when I was reading about it in the book. I have since thought about it a lot, even had a dream that one of my friends was getting one and I couldn't do anything about it (that was when I stopped reading the book before I went to bed). I really encourage you to watch the below video on lobotomies and the man that started them, Walter Freeman. However, I warn you it is graphic. (if you do watch it I'd love to hear your thoughts, please leave a comment

ANYWAYS all that to say....all of Freeman's archives (tools, correspondence, pictures, etc) are all at George Washington University in DC. I contacted them and we're allowed to go see them. They have way too many boxes of stuff. So they gave us a list of all the available items (minus patient folders because those are confidential and we aren't allowed to see those) and then we told them what boxes to pull. So Monday we're off to DC and will be seeing and possibly holding (I say possibly because it may gross me out) the actual freaking ice picks that Freeman used on his patients! Nuts huh? I'm horribly excited about this if that makes sense. We plan on videoing that moment and can hopefully incorporate it into our presentation. I'll let you know how that was....

This honey is one experience that I wouldn't get if I went to school in Canada, so see, it's worth it :) ha ha ha

Oh if anyone wants to borrow the book some time I now own a copy and can bring it home with me at Christmas. It's Howard Dully's (the author) life story on his experience of having a lobotomy at a young age. It's a remarkable story of resilience, hope, and new beginnings.

****thanks to Mel for telling me how to embed youtube videos!!!

ACA ethics competition....

So you are now reading the blog of one of the 4 members of the ACA (American Counseling Association) Ethics Competition Team. Basically what that means is four of us were chosen by the faculty (through a selection process of people who suggested that they were interested from first and second year students) to represent EMU. ACA puts out a case study and Masters level students from qualifying universities pick it apart and come up with the best way ethically to handle the situation.

This gives me no extra credit, other than it will look awesome on my resume and it's REALLY important to me that I learn as much about ethics as possible. So do I have time for this right now (it has to be submitted on Dec. 13), heck no! However, will this give me more experience than headaches over the next couple of weeks? That's what I'm hoping for!

I'm super excited. I signed up thinking that i wouldn't get chosen for the process if I'm honest. So I didn't tell anyone, not even Jason. When I got the email though saying that I had gotten picked I was pumped and scared too :)

So here's hoping that we place!!!!

On my heart.....

I'm missing this chick a lot right now...love you friend!

Dude we need to work on an updated photo when I'm home again :)

Soooo funny....

For all of you Office fans..... you're welcome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k5FHJqFde0&feature=popt00us04

(I tried looking for the link to get a YouTube video in my blog and have still had no success, that's what you get for reading a beginner's blog)

EDIT: I've been hearing the aboce link doesn't work anymore...try this one...

Busy girl...

I'll just apologize ahead of time here....

I have a crazy next couple of weeks coming up. It's starting now with a huge midterm on Wednesday that apparently has me a little stressed with the dream I had last night. I dreamt that I fell asleep while writing the essay part. When I woke up the midterm was done and I had to hand mine in without the essay being completed. The worst part about all of this is that Christian was writing his exam next to me and didn't wake me up. I'm going to have to talk to that boy in case this dream becomes a reality :)

I also have way too many papers, projects and reading assignments to do. Good news is though that it should pass the time until I can come home at Christmas!

I'll post when I can friends.....

Last night....

Good times at the Halloween party last night. The only one in our group that decided to dress up was Christian...he's a Californian :) They wanted me to go as a Canadian....what does that even look like? My roots hoodie?

Below is a group shot that Trevor took so he's missing. The new face you're seeing on the right is Susan, Christian's girlfriend. She is doing her Masters in Public Health in DC. Normally Christian goes there, however she decided to come hang out with all of us for a change.

representing LA....
These seem to be becoming mandatory shots....
Trevor and his new friend....

So this guy with Trev is Scott. Man oh man Scott is a busy guy. He's only 19 and has about three different jobs. He told Trevor and I about them in great detail, they all involve farms in one form or another. He had his hands full with these two city slickers trying to explain everything. Seriously this guy was like a character straight out of King of the Hill. He had the accent, was chewing tobacco, and knew way more about farm animals than I could even understand. Trev and I were trying to stay focused and made sure we didn't make eye contact because we both were going to laugh way too hard. So if you would like to know about milking cows, mixing cow feed, picking up dead turkeys, or fixing manure spreading tractors I may be your woman :) He also randomly told me I was a "good lookin' lady" ha ha ha so funny!

As for Trooper and the trick-or-treaters, well for some reason we didn't get any ?!?!?!?! I normally have 40 or so kids coming to the door. So when I was home we went to Costco and bought 48 cans of pop. Who thinks Jason wanted all that pop for his lunches and decided not to turn the lights on? :)