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? :)