Quick update....

• did a 2 day training called ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) all day Friday and Saturday, although I'm tired I think I picked up some useful tools.....now I don't want to be using them any time soon though, got that kids :)
• am trying to avoid pinkeye, it's going around right now....ahhhhhhh
• am really looking forward to going home
• heard someone actually use "I reckon" the other day in a serious moment....I almost died
• hmmmm what else...OH YA CANADA WON GOLD IN MEN'S HOCKEY!!!!!! What a delightful moment....I was at Trevor's with he and Zac....they were determined we were going to loose....I didn't need to say a thing when Crosby scored :)
• Canada rocked it out in the Olympics...although I didn't get to watch all of it it's been fun catching up online with the highlights....going to be sad it's over
• looking forward to going home in 5 more days!!!!!!
• Jason and I will be trying to catch up on 24 when I'm home, we didn't want to watch it without each other ...so this has been the plan, it's been hard not to watch it though
• am really tired....please be praying that I get all the work done I need to this week, it's so important to me that I come home and only have to do one thing school related that I can't do down here....I can do this.....I can do this!
• hoping for some good news tomorrow that I will definitely be posting so stay tuned.....

Week 7....

1. registered for a workshop called "Dissociative Identity Disorder: Diagnosing and Treating" ... it's in April and I can't wait....and it begins :)
2. heard a presentation on eating disorders, man oh man that was hard to watch
3. led the class in a discussion on adolescent deviance....can't think of a better person to lead that discussion than yours truly...ha ha ha
4. got two new tires, still can't believe I did that
5. met with some potential clients since I was interviewing for my adult children of alcoholics group....I've got 5 participants already and still 2 more interviews...cool huh?
6. had my first client....2 thoughts: wow, I'm really doing this and good thing I have liability insurance ha ha ha
7. have training all weekend
8. had a mexican potluck at school and it was yummy....I decided to make Quinoa Salad (thanks for the recipe Mandi) and lots of people loved it, not too mexican....but I was craving it and it is a grain from South America so I went with it
9. have been spending a lot of time by myself but it's necessary because I'm just too busy
10. had a strong realization in counseling....that sucked
11. am ready to be back home
12. am ready for a vacation....and I may be having one sooner than I thought....more on that later
13. Disney has a freaking special night time parade that they are doing just for the summer and fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom....I swear they hate me :)
14. needing a good God fix, speaking of God He and I have been quite the buddies this week... I've been relying on Him BIG TIME
15. am having a really hard time in my group counseling group.....it's hard being in a group with 8 other people who are all learning to be counselors and know how group should be operating....so far I have left there with intense emotions every freaking week....how is this helpful? grrrrrrr
16. need to get my butt in gear and secure some rides to the airport and back...California is heading back to California so this is screwing me up....
17. the semester will soon be half done, wow....
18. my little boy will be 1 soon :(
19. 9 more sleeps until fun, friends, and ASIAN GARDEN!!!!!

FYI....

hey faithful blog readers....

I'm busting my butt right now with school stuff so the posts may be getting fewer and fewer. We have mandatory ASSIST training (basically how to help a suicidal person) all day Friday and Saturday this week on top of everything else....so it's getting a little bit insane to say the least. Oh and did I mention...I'M COMING HOME IN 10 days!!!!!!!!!! So I'm trying to get as much work done as possible so that I can spend time with all of you and not need to do too much school work. I can do this......

So bare with me...love to you all....

Oh what a night....

We partied it up in Staunton (it's about 30 minutes from here) to celebrate two of our classmate's birthdays last night. So since they live close to Staunton we decided to go to them. Everything was going well, except poor Erica got pink eye and couldn't come :( I picked up these two gals (Erin and Margaret)....

....and we were on our way. We drove around downtown for a bit trying to find a parking spot, then we spotted the parking garage and apparently I was a little to eager to get into this parking garage. I caught the curb on the right side and instantly blew one tire and put a hole in the other.
People this was the first time that I wanted to hit my knees and just start crying because my husband wasn't here to help me. I've been quite strong all along, but this really sucked! If it was one, no big deal put the donut on and away we go. However, we could hear the air coming out of back one while I was taking this picture.

So we went to the restaurant. I'm feeling super embarrassed and ready to cry at any second. I was introduced to a few spouses/significant others that I had never met. Erin then looks at me and says "are you okay". I choke back the tears and say "I'll be right back". On my way through the crowd though I run into the Haase boys, Christian gives me a hug and I'm done. I'm saying things like "I'm so stupid", "I wish Jason was here", "What am I going to do". Yup, it was a good little cry let me tell you, now he's got some more counseling experience under his belt :) By the time I got back out to the crowd, word had spread on what happened and Stosh (one of the birthday boys) and his wife Jo-anna were on the phone with AAA. So I got a free tow!!!!Rick (seen below in the gray shirt on the left...that's the best pic I got of him) then became my next hero of the night. He got on the phone trying to find somewhere open, so that we could get it fixed tonight. At this point it's about 8:00pm. Thankfully Rick grew up in Staunton and so his cousin owns a mechanic shop about 10 minutes from where we were. His cousin went back into work to fix my tires!!!! How wonderful eh??? (in this picture starting with man on left: Rick, Ellen- in my class, Kristee behind a menu- in my class, Victoria- K's daughter, Allen, and Jean- in my class)

So we met the tow truck, got the car on it (both tires are now flat at this point), and it was on it's merry way. Rick knew the tow truck driver too who was supposed to charge me 4 dollars a mile outside of Staunton for the tow and legally we were supposed to follow him or go with, but Rick talked him out of both of those things.

That granite curb was the murderer of my tires :)

Then it was back to the restaurant to await Rick's cousin's phone call. I was so thankful and feeling like life was doable again in that moment. When I got back in the restaurant everyone clapped and cheered...kind of embarrassing but it felt good. So then the fun for me began. I rewarded myself with a nice filet mignon, it was sooooo good! Everyone had already ate, but Christian waited for me so I didn't have to eat alone. I'm telling you people, I am one lucky girl. I've got people looking out for me down here like you wouldn't believe and that was SO obvious last night. Makes me smile just typing that! I feel VERY blessed!

So I got my car back around 10:30 with two new tires, thankfully no more damage than that. Ellen and Rick drove me since they were on their way home. Poor Jason had a teary wife call him. I freaked him out :( I was crying so hard when he answered that he thought for sure I was in some major trouble. By the time I got the words out that I had popped two tires he was really relieved. He said "dear, I don't care, it's two tires". So thankful for that guy! I don't know why I always worry that he's going to be really mad in those moments, it's never the case.

Anyways, more pics from the rest of the night.

Left to right: Danny, Tara-in my class, Jennifer- in my class, Adrian- I think that's his name Jen's boyfriend, Stosh- in my class, Jo-anna, Erin- in my class, Margaret-in my class, Christian- who you should know by now is in my class, and Trevor

Nobody wanted me taking pictures because the flash was so bright (hence Christian's face in a lot of these pics). So these lovely ladies decided to give me the finger. I just had to post this pic. Kristee, on the left who is in my class, is a single mom of Victoria on the right. V's dad left when she was born because he couldn't handle that his daughter was born without hands and she also has a prosthetic foot. Nice eh? Ya not so much. Anyways, I wanted to post this to show you just how amazing V is. She is only 16 but she is so comfortable with who she his. She's always up for a challenge and doesn't let anything stop her. It's been so wonderful hearing her story and even listening to her mom talk about their life. This picture is just so them to me. V thought it was cool that she couldn't give the finger like the rest of them....great kid!

David- the other birthday boy.

This was a few minutes before Trevor went home. He was so drunk that he was needing to hang onto the table so he wouldn't fall. He was a bit mad at me here because I had just got done taking a video of him that he didn't want me to take :) Most left at this point but 6 of us stayed and went to the back where there was a band playing. You're still allowed to smoke in bars in VA so I'm feeling a little yucky today from that. The band was great....we danced some and then Erin and I drove back to Harrisonburg praying that we didn't pop the other two tires on the way back.

I think that was enough procrastinating....I need to get some work done!

Finally....

So I am now able to express my excitement about something that I knew in this picture from new year's eve but have had to keep quiet about all along (Jason didn't do so hot with that once he had a few too many drinks though)...

MANDI IS GOING TO BE LOOKING LIKE THIS AGAIN!!!!!!(sorry can't enlarge that pic any more because it gets too blurry)

That's right my good buddies are having another baby. She's currently 12.5 weeks, so that means she's due on September 2. That also means that I will be secretly praying that this baby comes a little bit early so that I can meet him or her before I go back to school :)

Can't wait to pig out with you all summer long buddy....that's the kind of supportive friend I am folks. Bring on the sympathy pounds!

CONGRATULATIONS FRIEND!

The ugly truth, unfortunately.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAuNL_ucx7M

***used this as a closing to my presentation on sexual assault....didn't realize how much I connected with it personally....

Week 6....

• aka sixth week in a row that I haven't seen my husband
• started my group for young gay men....think it got off to a good start, only time will tell... regardless I have made history at EMU people and the passion that is ever present within me (give a voice to the voiceless) is feeling fulfilled and excited about this new opportunity
• I'm having some people excitedly signing up for my adult children of alcoholics group
• went to see the play Vagina Monologues with some classmates/friends the other night... it is highly recommended....has a good balance of humor and social activism/woman's rights... best scene was when a woman was acting out different types of orgasms women can have... I have no idea how she kept a straight face to pull that one off....learned about women in DR Congo who are being severely victimized right now...had some good laughs and choked back some tears at times as well
• got to do my 60 minute presentation on sexual assault and I think it went pretty good, ther'es not really a light way to present that.....thanks to a close buddy for lots of help
• had a nice break from all the reading I've been needing to do, felt weird though
• CANADA GOT TWO GOLD MEDALS ON OUR TURF!!!!!
• ate at Taste of Thai, like Saigon Thai....but cheaper, more options, and way bigger portions
• read way too much on LGBTQ stuff, I'm getting ready to write a paper on why some people "come out" in their early adulthood and why some in their late....also involved in that will be what we as counselors needs to do to assist our clients, I'm learning loads of interesting goodies....think God's prepping me for some LGBTQ clients in the future? I sure hope so!!!
• have been freezing...no matter what I do I can't get warm...I'm diagnosing myself with hypothyroidism....now who's going to diagnose me with a factitious disorder :) Yutzky?..oh I've also been waking up tired...another symptom...ha ha ha
• am needing some Asian Garden goodness!!!!
• can't wait to see Troop, Jason, Kitty, Alpine, family, and friends soon.....2 more weeks!!!
• Trooper was being mouthy one day (barking and growling at Jason for no reason) and I was on the phone with him...so he put me on speaker phone and I said "Troo" in my slow, stern voice...that's what I call him when he's in trouble...guess what he did? Stopped and laid down....too cute! Someone's missing his Mama I think!

For you dear.....

I heard about this the other day and immediately thought of my husband, while getting a little nauseous as well at the thought of it....

in case you can't tell.....that is 2 Krispee Creme donuts (big thing down here), a hamburger patty, bacon, and an egg...all which form the most disgusting, unhealthy burger ever. The guys were talking about this the other night and wanting to drive to North Carolina to get one, something tells me that Jason would have been all over that!

Thoughts on Olympics...

• watched the opening ceremonies online yesterday...quite impressive....although I couldn't help but think that 30-40 million (yup that's right million) dollars couldn't have been put to better use...like oh I don't know Haiti for example...I know I know the Olympics are a big deal
• loved it when Harper was singing "O Canada" and he shouldn't have been....how embarrassing
• also LOVED the guy who did the monologue about Canada (the bigger guy from you tube)... does anyone know his name???
• KD Lang.....really?
• anyone from the Maritimes notice that they started with Quebec in their journey across Canada.....now Canada, how can I expect all these Americans to know where I'm from when even you forget about the East coast??? I guess Sarah McLaughlin did sing though and they had fiddlers from Newfoundland...
• loved how much they incorporated in the different Aboriginal groups
• there were so many times that I was amazed by the cool things they were doing...like the whales... WOW!
• go Wayne Gretzky go
• I was definitely having emotional reactions (you know that overwhelming feeling of joy that just makes you smile, take a deep breath, and get teary....I don't get that often...mostly when I'm at Disney, one of my animals does something really cute, and now apparently watching the Olympics when they're in my country)
• made me homesick....it's weird to be having something so cool going on in your country and you're not there for it...I mean I'm about as far away from Vancouver here as I would be in Moncton, but still it's not the same....all the channels down here feature all of the American athletes of course
• I'm able to cheer for 2 countries now when watching :) of course Canada is my first pick but since I'm living down here I'm excited when USA wins a metal as well...although last night's women's moguls was hard to watch....we got silver though....and america got gold and bronze...woot woot
• wish I had a TV in my room so that I could just have the Olympics on in the background while I do my work.....why am I getting more interested in this the older I get? Or perhaps it's because everyone is always crapping on my country right now and there's something really cool happening so I'm feeling like I need to REPRESENT! :)

Last night's adventures.....

A few of us went out last night to celebrate Zac's 28th birthday here are some pics from the night:Started at a new restaurant called Pennybackers, the food was just okay but we had fun. Around the table from left to right: Ashely (Z's wife), Zac, Trev, Seth (Erica's boyfriend), Erica, me, Susan (Christian's girlfriend), Christian, Laura (second year counseling student), and Margaret.

Then it was off to go bowling, but because they wouldn't accept reservations there was going to be way too long of a wait. So they thought it would be funny to get me on roller skates...I was a little stressed about this...BUT...I was a trooper and did it anyways. I think we were the only "adults" in the place. Trevor had some kid decide he wanted to race him, so in true Trevor fashion he did. Not too long after that Trevor fell and rolled his ankle, what a guy!

Yes this is a fake smile.....I'm a little nervous at this point....okay a lot!

taking a picture on roller skates, not so easy

then it was off to Clementine's for some drinks (Tara and Danny joined us earlier)....and lastly what would a night be without drunk rockband playing for the boys.....

Zac and Danny loved to sing along whether they had the mic or not....I think I'm singing at this point and Trev's on the drums....

Looking forward to the next birthday bash H'burg style....I think Miss Erica is the next one we get to celebrate. Is it weird that I'm the freaking oldest out of all of these people? Sheesh!

Opposites attract....

Something I love looking at...... Something I don't.....

"If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?" ~RUMI

(which means I will love it soon I'm sure, it's just pissing me off right now... but that's not always a bad thing in my world, it means it's stirring something up...I'm sensing some resistance folks)

Week 5....

1. wow it's week 5 already...no wonder I want to go home
2. had another tear jerker exercise in my Human Growth and Development class
3. taught the Californian that you need to bang off your wipers, otherwise the ice will melt while your wipers are going and you won't be able to see "Erin what's this gel that keeps appearing on my window"
4. got tickets to the Vagina Monologues, I've always wanted to see this play
5. school shouldn't have been cancelled, we only got about 10 cm's of snow
6. really liked "He's Just Not that Into You" and "The Proposal"
7. have been feeling really lonely, all the storms aren't helping this
8. registered for the DC conference.....exciting
9. met one of my friend's wives who came to visit.....she lives in South Carolina, so Jason and I aren't the only crazy people doing this
10. got stuck on my road because it's literally one big sheet of ice
11. am feeling overwhelmed at times.....am I ready for this? can I do this?
12. got involved in a crazy ethical dilemma, hated that it happened, but loved that I got to use some of my skills
13. am feeling nervous about starting my group for young gay men next week
14. will be starting another support group for adult children of alcoholics with EMU students soon
15. haven't understood people sometimes and it sucks.... and I need to learn to watch my freaking mouth....story of my life :)
16. my grandfather celebrated his 78th birthday
17. am jealous that another classmate is going to disney world this weekend
18. need a vacation
19. might be going to Baltimore for a dissociative identity disorder workshop
20. want Trooper to stop going to the bathroom in my house....seriously, he's going to be a year old in 2 weeks....what are we doing wrong????? freaking Shih Tzus
21. got to color a little mermaid picture in class and diagnose her and other disney characters... it was fun....didn't help my "I want to go to Disney again" dream though
22. am trying not to be cranky, I really really am but it's just soooooo hard sometimes
23. made a classmate cry when we had to break into pairs and share our responses to questions about our middle adolescent years.... it's amazing I'm not more messed up than I am people :)
24. hoping my readers don't mind my honesty in my posts....it's not all roses down here and I'd hate to paint the picture that is....in fact this semester has been one of the hardest periods of my life I think...."your clients will only go as far as you've gone yourself" interesting thought huh?
25. am looking forward to coming back home in 3 weeks!!!!!!!!

Bored?

Feel free to read this and it will make you more bored.....

http://www.counseling.org/competition/winners.htm

This is our essay from the ethics competition that is now online. I know some of you were interested in seeing it so I thought I'd post it. Good eye Jason!

Great title.....

http://www.canadianmennonite.org/latestnews/

ha ha ha check it out....you have to scroll down a bit.....I'm sending this to my teammates :)

Something's missing....

I thought of you today.... It doesn't happen often, but when it does it hits hard and it's almost unbearable. I do everything I can in those moments to stuff it back down and put the lid back on the intense emotions that arise, when it's a time that I can't process what's happening. Most of the time though, I take a few minutes and connect with that deep part of me that longs to see you again. I think it's easier being so far away from home right now. It just feels like I'm on one of those trips, or that I've been too busy to stop by for a while. The reality is though it's never going to be the same. I can pretend you're still around all I want, but when I call, you won't pick up. When I walk into your house you won't come running around the corner all excited to see me. When I'm leaving you won't be standing in the window waving goodbye to me as I back up. I called Pampie the other day to wish him a happy birthday; he cried a lot. It was hard to hear him like that. Says he wouldn't wish this on his worst enemy. Funny how things change after someone is gone. Funny that we can't just say all the things we needed to say in the moments it mattered most. I think it says a lot that you're so missed by all of us. What would it mean if life just continued on for me as if nothing happened? That's the beauty that you've left behind. You have an everlasting imprint on my heart, and because of that I have an everlasting bank of memories that I can tap into in an instance. Don't worry, I'm not too sad. I promised you I wouldn't be just like you asked. I hold onto what you said, and what we both know to be so true. In the sweet by and by we will meet on that beautiful shore. See you then Grammie!

Grammie's Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda in ¼ cup of boiling water
2 cup oatmeal
2 cup flour
½ tsp salt

Mix all ingredients together,
roll into balls and press with fork.

Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes.

(This is the best oatmeal cookie recipe, so yummy! I also like the recipe because it doesn't call for any eggs, so I can eat as much dough as I want and not worry :) I like to add a cup or so of chocolate chips as well)

Weird....

So I just got an email and a text informing me that classes are cancelled for tomorrow at EMU. Interesting approach....cancel school before the storm has hit. Man if we did this in NB schools would never be open :) Poor Virginia is getting pounded with snow and doesn't know what to do, and I'm the cranky Canadian stuck in it all!

Some stats for you.....

As you know I've been up to my neck in sexual assault stuff these past few days. I've got a 60 minute presentation to do on it tomorrow. Thought I'd share some frustrating/alarming/scary stats that I've been stumbling upon:

• An American is sexually assaulted every 2 minutes (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network RAINN, 2009).


• 80% of sex crimes are perpetrated by assailants known to the victim (National Center for Victims of Crime, 2009).


• 32 000 pregnancies result from rape every year (AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 1999).


• National survey reported that 34% of women were victims of sexual coercion by a husband or intimate partner in their lifetime (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2002).


• 75% of male rapes occur before the age of 18; 48% occur before the age of 12 (National Institute of Justice Report, 2000).


• 95% of violent episodes against people with disabilities involve sexual violence (Beail & Warden, 1995).


• One in four sexual assaults takes place in the victim’s home, making it the most common place for an assault to take place. One in six takes place in or near a relative’s or friend’s home; one in five on the street; one in six in a parking garage or commercial building. Three out of five sexual assaults occur at night, with the largest proportion occurring between 6:00 pm and midnight (Crime and Crime Prevention Statistics).


• Victims of sexual assault are: 3 times more likely to suffer from depression, 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder,13 times more likely to abuse alcohol, 26 times more likely to abuse drugs, 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide (RAINN, 2010).

Thoughts? Feelings? Gut reactions?

Observations around town...

1. it hasn't snowed since Saturday at about 7:00 pm
2. school was closed today
3. drove by a school on my way to EMU and the parking lot wasn't even plowed yet, no wonder school was cancelled ?!?!?!
4. roads, main roads, still have loads of snow and slush on them....sometimes so deep that the bottom of my car was dragging through and I know I would have got stuck if I had to stop and start again
5. felt like I was off-roading in the Honda because of the bumpy snow potholes and ice build up on all the roads
6. can't believe people are allowed to park their cars on the road
7. plows down here are garbage trucks with plows on the front...I laughed really hard at this one
8. NOBODY KNOWS WHAT TO DO
9. they have already cancelled school for tomorrow because there are still places that have not yet been plowed out
10. I'm trying not to get frustrated driving, but it's really hard. At least when we get this crap we're equipped, down here not so much. Is this were grace should come in, because all I'm getting is an accelerated heart rate due to frustration when I'm driving right now
11. better take the longest way to EMU tonight when I go back because it is the path most travelled and surely things should be cleaned up by then
12. good news.....25 more centimetres coming tomorrow afternoon/evening.....arghhhhhhh!

2 hours later...

Can I just tell you how thankful I am for the woman I rent from? I went outside today to shovel out my car, and I literally wanted to start bawling; the task at hand seemed way too big. I knew it wouldn't help any though, so I just started shovelling. Not too long after, Reta came out and saved the day. It was much better having someone help me, and working together to accomplish what we felt like a great victory in the end. As you'll see from the pictures below there was way too much snow. I decided to shovel out the front to the driveway and pull forward. After lots of digging it worked thankfully!!! Do you see how far from the driveway I parked my car? STUPID!! Lesson learned...and look how far in we had to shovel to get to the door... do you feel bad for me yet?
This was a happy moment!!!! Next time I'm calling Erica's boyfriend and using his connections. Actually let me rephrase that there better not be a next time!!!!

What's this???

Why it's the Honda on the road smothered under 76 centimetres of snow...yup you read that right 76 freaking centimetres of snow in 24 hours. I think we're in a state of emergency here people :) Seriously though whens the last time we had a storm like this in NB?? This sucker has paralyzed Northern Virginia, DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia to name a few. Glad I'm not flying today or I'd be an unhappy person I think. Oh this is also going to be called tomorrow's project, I'm not touching this sucker tonight.....

Week 4....

• EMOTIONAL!!!! man oh man this program
• had guest speakers form the local crisis sexual asault clinic come.... some stats I found nteresting/scary: 1 in 4 woman have been sexually abused, 1 in 6 men, 50% of children who have been sexually abused have been abused by other children who are either frinds or famly members (HOLY CRAP), only 1 in 10 victims report the abuse when it actually happens-------> TALK TO YOUR KIDS PEOPLE!!!! I'm sure I'll learn lots of other goodies over the next few years and I don't want to scare you guys but I want everyone to be aware.....Erica's going to do her internship there so we'll learn lots :)
• there's an owl that "hoo"s all the time in the backyard at night time...I'm used to it now but it took a bit, I don't know if I've ever heard that before aside from movies/cartoons
• had the opportunity to go spend the weekend in Manhattan for free, Jason you're lucky I promised you I wouldn't go there without you!...it was soooo hard to turn down
• got a couple of DVD's because I'm going to be snowed in...there are definitely some things that rock down here.....for example Redbox...put your credit card in a machine at the grocery store, select a movie from loads of titles, have it back by 9 the next night and it's only $1 isn't that cray? So I'm going to be watching The Proposal and He's Just Not That Into You this weekend....seemed like a chick flick time and I know Jason has no interest in these
• am learning lots, wow I'm really going to be a counselor some day
• had too much snow this past week and right now in another storm... theweathernetwork. com just says 50+ cm of snow for the next 24 hours....is that weird to anyone else? 50+?? Not only is that INSANE for down here....BUT.... did they just give up counting or something? I want to come home where it's just cold and less snow....oh and Jason's there too :)
• very thankful for a good friend who is going to be telling her story to my crisis class
• local Christian radio station switched to KLOVE.... a friend told me about this when I was home and it's a great Christian radio station, now I'm lucky and even get to listen to it in my car, although I do miss the CKOE guy's "good morning" in his weird voice :)
• been craving some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies thanks to a friend who talks about them nonstop....hmmmm maybe she's preggers? ha ha ha.....regardless I may need to bake some of these suckers
• have a huge sexual assault presentation that I'll be working on for most of the weekend,
• praying I don't get a migraine because I forgot to buy more Ibuprofen and I'm all out
• hoping to connect with friends at some point this weekend
• saw the movie Kite Runner last weekend....have any of you read this book? I guess it's quite famous....anyways I LOVED the movie, not something I would have picked but the woman I rent from and her neighbour made supper and watched a movie last weekend and invited me because it was storming and it turned out being a really touching move (could I have put anymore ands in that sentence???)... my favorite line, which I sent to Jason in a text that night "For you? A thousand times over"...story of my life people.....if it wasn't for that guy I would have given up a long time ago and just accepted being where I'm at in my head space but wanting to bless him with me, all of me, the whole me, keeps me putting one foot in front of the other... especially in those times when everything in me is wanting to jam the breaks on and that's been happening a lot lately....so perhaps the movie wouldn't be as touching to you :)
• ummmmmm I'm sure there's more but that's all I've got for now... stay tuned for more this weekend on my snowy situation, love to you all!

More random things....

So picture this....class of 12. 6 told to go in the center of the room and form a circle facing inward. The other 6 (where I was) are to walk around the circle and whisper into the individual's ear what they wanted to hear as a child and never heard....meaning I had to say to 6 people the same thing, what I needed to hear as a child and never did, over and over...hard right? Yup, that's what I thought. THEN it was my turn to go in the middle and hear 6 totally different things that all connected. We were a crying group this afternoon let me tell you. Man oh man! It's nuts how there were so many commonalities "I'm sorry that happened to you", "You are worthy", "I'll love you no matter what you do", "I'm so proud of you"......phewf, makes me take a deep breath again just typing that. Who wants to go to graduate school to get a masters in counseling :)

Had a photo shoot...for lack of better words...with the EMU newspaper I guess...I don't even know....for the freaking ethics team. They were taking all these serious pictures and then she said "do something funny"....and here's what we got

oh and of course guess what picture they are going to publish??? You got it, great way to start off my career don't you think? Poor Zac, I knew this was going to be the pic that was chose... I turned to him right after and called it. If you look really close you can even see my gum, classy!

Other than that, stood in line for wayyyyy too long to get groceries tonight in between needing to go back to school for 3 hours tonight after already spending 10 hours there. Why? Oh because there's 30 centimetres of snow coming in the next 24 hours and more on the weekend. Yup, I'm coming home people, this is ridiculous! Guess it makes all you happy to not hear "oh it's warm and sunny down here" huh? You've all been praying for this haven't you? I knew it :)

I'll keep you updated because something tells me I'm going to be in the house for a few days :(

Few and far between.....

Sorry to all my loyal blog readers.... Being both sick and emotionally exhausted has put me a bit behind in a few areas. So because of that I haven't been maintaining this sucker.

Few quick updates:

Had another storm here on Saturday, got 30 centimetres of snow. Seriously what the heck is going on? I came 19 hours south of my home, this shouldn't be happening. If I hear one person say "this is so weird, we never have winters like this", I'm going to start to think it's because I'm living here. Oh and as I type this....there's another 15 centimetres falling right now. Oh and it gets better....more coming this weekend. At least the Honda is happy, I think it misses the winter driving and it's owner of the past 10 years. So honey feel free to trade me cars whenever k?

Been getting lots of recognition with the ethics win. I'm having a hard time with this, I just want it to be done. Okay we won, but look at how great everyone else is doing too! They had a pizza and ice cream cake party for us last week. One of my profs decided to make us hats and give us compasses for "leading the way in ethics". Here are a couple blurry pictures of that event:

(left to right top pic: Prof Linda Leitch-Alford...she teaches the ethics class...Zac...my second year buddy, we're off to celebrate his birthday this weekend and I'll be bringing my camera let me tell you because Zac and Trev together=hilarious....Tara, Tom, and yours truly)

I'm, as I've said a few times now, emotionally done and I'm only 3 weeks in to the semester. Besides the normal draining classes, missing Jason and home, and doing my personal weekly counseling sessions this semester has added a lot more goodies. So on top of all that I just mentioned, I also have a weekly one hour group counseling session with half of my class (the shit is going to hit the fan let me tell you....drama, drama, drama, and I can't wait), one hour mini counseling session where we are in small groups of three and we work on "light" personal things, and a three hour weekly practicing group of 4 where we again work on "light" things. Do you know how hard it is to pick something that isn't going to be heavy, that isn't connected to your current process in counseling, and that is something you want your counseling peers to know about you (because I'm not in groups with Erica, Christian, or April)? It's quite hard let me tell you. Last week for my 3 hour meeting I picked what I thought was a "light" issue and it turned into a complete emotional mess by the time I was done. The poor girl who got stuck to be my counselor (basically we rotate through where one is the counselor, one the client, and two observers), handled it beautifully but it was out of her experience level. I realized halfway through and didn't know what to do because I was already in it. Sheesh....I should start making stuff up or working on stuff I already know I've dealt with :)

Hmmmm I think that's all I've got for you right now. Got a huge sexual assault presentation coming up in a week that I haven't even begun so that will be my world next weekend. How fun.. ha ha ha. Thankfully I've got two nights of fun planned as well to offset all the intensity. Life is good, but it will be even better in 31 days because I'll be home with my boys!