schmecking 2014

We just returned from our whirlwind Schmeckfest weekend.

The weather was quite nice and it was so wonderful to return home and see family and friends, if only for a little bit. Ben's sister, Emily, even came up to have her first Schmeckfest meal ever. 

We haven't been able to go for the past 2 years, obviously because we were in Florida, so this was much needed. 

And since I didn't really have much of a spring break, I think I totally deserved this respite.

We came home with a cooler full of meat from the farm, cheesepockets, kuchen, peppernuts, smoked sausage, bierocks, and jam. 

That will definitely help fuel me amidst all of my reading and paper-writing.

The two weeks prior to our Schmeck trip were VERY busy. 

I had another weekend class, a 5-7 page paper to write for the weekend class from last month, and an 8 page addiction client assessment. 

Speaking of weekend classes, I've completed 4 of the 6 weekend classes that I'm required to take in order to get my degree. 

I'm really excited about that!

Even though it felt a little intense to front-load those credits like that, it's going to make my remaining semesters less stressful. 

I know we have 6 weeks to go, but I already feel like I'm in the home stretch. 

Most of our class assignments are due in April, and time is just moving so quickly that I don't think the rest of the semester will feel very long. 

I also found out that because of extra outside assignments, one of my classes will end on April 23 instead of May 8!!!!

I'm just blown away by how amazing this semester has been, and I'm excited to see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

open mic

My friend and art therapy co-intern from MMU and I sang and played "Wagon Wheel" at my practicum open mic night this last Friday. 

We had a wonderful time, and it further solidified our art therapy sisterhood bond. 

Erin is one of the kindest people I have met at MMU and I love sharing a practicum site with her. People often ask if we are sisters, for some reason.

I was preparing to hate this week, but I'm happy to announce that I'm off to a good start.

My team had to lead our Group Dynamics class today and it went really well. 

I was a little nervous about it, but we had good feedback and basically accomplished our goals.

Not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

I also just got a lot out of the group support today. 

We're all kind of suffering through this tough semester.

I also sent an important text message to the folks I babysit for. 

My semester is getting busier and I need the next 2 weeks off. 

I know that my inconsistent ability to babysit their children must be bothersome, so I asked if they wanted to continue working with my crazy schedule, or get another babysitter. 

I haven't heard back from them yet, but I'm glad I sent that text.

I just reminded myself that I'm not paying $$$$$ to babysit. 

I'm in graduate school.

And that means putting my energy and efforts into that, not juggling unnecessary jobs.

I love babysitting for them, but it's hindering both of us, it's not worth it.

SELF-CARE.

So on with the week!

Cousin Lea is coming to visit tomorrow evening, and now the only big thing on my plate is reading and studying for a quiz on Thursday. 

I'm all ready to conquer.

back at it

Now you can see what most of my homework time looks like.

Generally, there are one or two kittens sitting on me while I type or read away.

Tomorrow is my last day of Spring Break...and then the chaos begins again. 

I have quite a few responsibilities this week, but I guess I'm getting used to that. 

A few visitors, a few projects, internship, and my last weekend class for the semester. 

Oh, boy will I be ready to leave for Schmeckfest on the 28th. 

Have a feeling I will be working non-stop until then. 

fundraising

 

Here is what I came up with for my mixed media silent auction donation piece. 

It's not my absolute favorite, but it's not too bad and I got a lot of compliments on it. 

I enjoyed the process until I started adding paint. 

I think I'll try something similar again, but might put more thought into the paint process. 

That's also just what happens when you give yourself 5 days to come up with a silent auction piece. 

Kind of a bad habit of mine. I need to keep more pieces laying around. 

Regardless, I think the piece went for at least $85, which went up from a starting bid of $55. 

I valued it at $75, so that made me happy. The actual size is 12x12.

By the way, the fundraiser was AWESOME. 

It was a New Orleans theme.

Catfish, jambalaya, sweet potato fries, etc. on the menu.

Cupcakes for dessert (my favorite). 

Blues music. 

Drumming and some dancing.

I won the raffle for one of the event posters.

I bought a pair of yoga pants from the silent auction for $20. 

I also loved spending time with my practicum staff.

I've only been hanging out with them since the end of January, but I've befriended them quickly. They're wonderful and insanely artsy people. 

Very inspiring to be a part of their creative think tank. 

And I'm definitely procrastinating working on my paper right now... so on to that on this beautiful (53 degrees) Wisconsin day. 

in the studio

Welcome, beautiful, beautiful spring break.

While it may not feel like the most restful break in the world, I am still cutting a few things out of my schedule and that is a VERY beautiful thing.

No classes for the week and no groups on Friday, but I'll still be at practicum all week, in addition to preparing for a fundraiser happening on Thursday.

I also have A LOT of homework over the break.

A LOT.

Reading, reading, reading, studying for a quiz and a 5-7 pg. paper....but at least I can do it at a somewhat leisurely pace.

I got a little behind with reading this last week because of our take-home midterm, a video-taped practice AT session, and a group addictions counseling interview that I was anxious about.

As a result of this, I'm happy to say that Ben and I are spending the ENTIRE SATURDAY AT HOME.

Today I've been working on a mixed media painting that I'm donating to the silent auction at the fundraiser. It's so nice to have copious amounts of time to make art and relax.

I'm also taking the self-care step of reducing my babysitting hours from 6 to 3 hours a week until the semester is over. I felt bad about that for awhile, but I forgot that I had actually warned the parents about needing to eventually cut down hours before the semester even started. 

I was really just so busy I forgot that I had already made that decision. 

My upcoming summer schedule at the hospital should hopefully make it easier to fit in. 

6 hours doesn't seem like a big deal, but cutting it down to 3 gives me ONE night at home during the week. 

Otherwise I don't usually come home until 9 pm every weekday night because of groups or class, except for Friday. 

But even once a month on Fridays we have open mic night. 

So as you can see, I'm preparing for a crazy second half of the semester, but my saving grace is the fact that we get 3 DAYS OFF for Easter AND the public school spring break will give me a rest from a few groups again in April. 

We're also planning on being at Schmeckfest at the end of the month. 

A nice gift to us both. 

I'll try to keep things calm for my own sake.

Wish me luck. 

coming up for a breath

Holy cow.

The amount of busy I've been these past 2 weeks is indescribable. 

Well, maybe "grueling" is the word.

Having a weekend class really distorts one's perspective of the world and your need to take a break. 

Feels like I've been working constantly since February 17. 

I had a tension headache on Thursday after painting with third-graders for 2.5 hours. 

Found that it is important to take note of your body and get yourself to relax BEFORE your stress begins to physically affect you. 

Only one more week until spring break starts and my schedule lightens up. 

Even this week should be lighter than the last 2 weeks.

Above is a piece I'm working on for supervision class.

It evolves over the entire semester because we work on it for an hour every Wednesday.

I could decide to paint over everything if I want, continue to add imagery, etc.

It's always supposed to be in response to our practicum experience.

The red lines were added after last week's overwhelming craziness. 

By the way, my practicum is AMAZING.

I absolutely love it, despite the fact that I feel it's definitely consuming my life. 

It's good to like/love the thing that is consuming your life. 

I continue to attend weekly groups at the juvenile detention center, our agency studio, an alternative school, a residential school, and a last one with deaf and hard of hearing third-graders at an elementary school (no one is completely deaf). 

I'm also going to start doing additional one-on-ones with the third-graders.

Obviously, you can see I drive around a lot, which is partially the reason it consumes my life.

Other folks are able to work longer shifts at their practicum sites, like 6-8 hours, 3 days a week instead of me who has 2-3 hours 4-6 days a week. 

But having experienced what I've experienced I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Going to be an insanely busy and amazing second half of the semester. 

Groups consist of music, art, poetry, and games that are actually teaching them important life skills. 

They remind me a little of the psychosocial groups we ran at P.V., expect it's with REAL, dedicated artists so the intentionality and thought process behind it focuses even more on artistic expression. 

And now I have to go help clean things a little because we've neglected the house because of our schedules this past week.

Welcome to March and happiest of weekends!