margaritas

My "avocado/pear" dream catcher that I made with willow branches in open studio last week. 

Woo!

I am 66.6% done with classes for the summer.

My supervision presentation went really well with really nice feedback from my peers...followed by a super quick final exam in psychopathology. 

Kind of depressing to hear my professor say, "Have a nice summer" when in reality it will last for what feels like a nano-second. 

Oh well! 

A break is a break, and for that I am grateful!

I have also officially hit my 200 hour mark for the summer semester (500 hours total). 

300 hours to go! (which I will start at the end of August)

So I'll be going in to see 1/1 patients next week, but other than that...I'll be swimming in research....all of the research I haven't been doing for the past month. 

And then....2 WEEKS OFF!

Which will be partially spent in Kansas...and also finishing up my research proposal...right in time for my birthday. 

So how have I been celebrating? 

Margaritas with some of my AT ladies last night at Bel Air Cantina. 

La Reve, the French restaurant in the Wauwatosa village nearby. 

I received a very nice gift certificate for La Reve from the folks I babysit for this last Christmas. 

It was a perfect time to use it. 

And I'm taking most of tomorrow off as well....though I may do some reading if I get bored (don't want to clean the house).
We talked about going to the beach and getting donuts from the fancy new donut place in the Third Ward.

We'll see.

Just enjoying one more victory in the game of grad school!

nonlinear

A commissioned piece that traveled down to some dear friends in Florida this week. 

Greetings!

Happy to say that I am 6 days away from putting down my DSM-5 for a while.

The psychopathology final will take place this Wednesday, as well as my final Supervision class for the summer. 

We just have to turn in papers and do a brief presentation. 

That leaves me with my research class...but my hope is that with my other classes and my additional work hours at EYM out of the way, I'll be able to focus and write a nice first draft for myself. 

You're probably wondering what my research will be about...

It might be a little difficult to grasp this because art therapy lives in a very strange land...

but I will be researching the therapeutic potential of hope through the process of my own art-making, specifically while working with the oncological population. 

I'll be doing art-based inquiry, which means I'll meet with oncology patients to make art and hear about their own stories of hope (or not hope); then I'll do my own art making in response to our session (called response art). In the spring I'll analyze all of the art that I made (the data), find themes, and then write a paper. It's a pretty nuanced way of doing research, so I won't blame you for thinking it sounds bizarre. 

Like I said, art therapy lives in a very special world. 

And otherwise...

I've been making a lot of art and attempting to force myself to work on my homework...it feels almost impossible at times. 

Ben and I had our one year anniversary on July 20. 

I realized that I did not include a picture of our house sitting job, but that's basically what we were doing that weekend. 

It was for our church friends, who happen to live in a really beautiful farm house about 30 minutes from MKE. Ben was out there longer than me, feeding the sheep, chickens, cat & dog, as well as a few other chores. Austin drove over from Columbus, OH to join us, so his sister Taylor came over from Madison. It was great to spend some time in the country with friends. 

Then Ben and I drove back for church and ate our favorite food in the world...Pho and Bahn Mi...at one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants. 

We have a little celebrating in order yet, because I don't think we tried hard enough and I was busy worrying about homework. :)

Maybe after class is done. 

sailing

Been working on these little 3-D Block Canvases. They're super tiny. I think it says a lot about me needing control these days....

OH, HIIIIIIIIIIIIII.....

Yes. Long lost me.

Been a bit hectic these last few weeks.

My family visited last weekend...but I honestly don't remember if other big stuff has been going on.

I'm in a whirlwind of class, practicum, babysitting, working....

It's gotten a little ridiculous.

But I'm happy to report that 2 classes will be out of my life by July 30.

I'm also trying not to have a panic attack as I write that because even though I'm starting to close out a few more classes, I'm also supposed to start writing a research proposal within the next week or two.

And let's just say the "research" part has been lacking.

I'm not the only one (WE ARE VERY, VERY BUSY). 

But I need to step my game up this next week and start doing some serious reading/writing for my annotated bibliography. 

First draft of my proposal is due August 8.

Final draft is due August 22. 

AND THEN THE BUSIEST SEMESTER OF MY ENTIRE LIFE WILL BEGIN ON AUGUST 25.

My schedule is a little horrific.

I'll let you know if it turns out that I'm not that busy...

but don't be surprised if these posts occur at 1 month intervals. 

I would update you more on my family's trip to MKE, but all you really need to know is:

baseball, beer, bloody marys, kittens, lake, macaroons, ice cream, food (in general).....

YAY FAMILY

summerfest

I'm not tired yet, so I'm going to take the opportunity to write you all.

I just got home from my first Summerfest!
I went solo because Ben had a gig, but I have to say that it was A LOT of fun going by myself.
Going alone means you just kind of get to go wherever you want without having to check in with someone.
Oddly freeing.
I DID see EYM friends there, so I was alone, but not lonely. 

Hugest music festival ever.

They actual refer to it as "The World's Largest Music Festival," whatever that means. 

Kind of awesome, as long as you're prepared to be surrounded by a dense crowd of people and pay a lot of $$$ for beer and food.

I actually ate beforehand and only bought one beer, so that was helpful.

AND I not only got to see some big names like Ziggy Marley and The Hold Steady....I also got to see my dear Express Yourself MKE friends play in their amazing local MKE bands. 

Not even on smaller stages...

They OPENED for Ziggy Marley!

Ugh. They're so amazing.

I took the shuttle, which in my opinion, is always a good idea in MKE. 

A lady was trampled at the Ziggy Marley concert, broke her leg, and they hauled her off in an ambulance.

Glad I left to go check out The Hold Steady before Ziggy got started.

My friend Cammie told me what happened when I returned to ride the shuttle back with her. 

So despite the negative ending...I had a really good time and I REALLY want to go back next year.

We'll see what we're doing by then. 

Today was an fellow AT student friend's birthday, so we're celebrating with her tomorrow evening. 

4th of July also means I don't have to go into the hospital tomorrow...so I'll probably be reading for Research during the day...because in grad school all holidays mean "time to catch up". 

Happy 4th, ya'll.