Monday, December 29, 2014

family time


I feel like I should squeeze in one last post before 2015. 

We are currently in Kansas visiting Ben's family. 
The picture above is from a day celebration that we had at a B&B in Lindsborg, Kansas. 
The Stuckys gathered to celebrate Grandma Milly's 90th birthday, which is coming up in February. 

We are headed to Lawrence tomorrow to hang with friends. 
We'll stay for New Years and then head back to MKE on Jan. 1. 
Luckily, Ben doesn't have to return to school until Jan. 5, so he has time to relax yet. 

It's been a wonderful trip thus far. 
Spent Christmas in South Dakota with my family.
Saw some good ol' friends. 
Spoke to some important people about potential job opportunities in Sioux Falls. 
The job search may ramp up a little more in the coming months, but it's at least time to get things rolling.
Our lease is up in August. 
There are more notable things about our future house situation...but I'll explain those when we know more about the future in general. 

I'll try to post a few pictures from my phone when I get a chance. 
Until then, I'll be enjoying my break. :)
Happy New Years!



Saturday, December 13, 2014

finish line

Final semester of supervision. Final semester-long art piece.


SORRY FOR THE HIATUS!

So I made it...almost.
There is the matter of this little "take home exam" that I have yet to complete for Family Systems, but the goal is to sit in a coffee shop and complete it on Monday!
Otherwise I somehow magically made it through 2 very tough weeks. 
They weren't the toughest 2 weeks because I had a lot to do.
They were just THE LAST TWO WEEKS of one of the hardest semesters I've ever experienced. 
I actually didn't have THAT much to do.
Luckily, I've had practice with 2 other tough semesters. 
If I hadn't had experience with the first two semesters I never would have made it through this one. 
Not to mention that they were the last two weeks of PRACTICUM.
That part really hasn't sunk in yet.
I hit my 800 practicum hour requirement (actually probably more like 825-ish) and I will officially have 18-20 hours of my life back each week.
WOW.
THAT'S HUGE.
But I might also be working more hours at EYM, looking for a real, full-time job, doing homework from the two classes that I'll be taking this spring semester, creating my exit art show, and writing a 30-page contextual essay about my research.
So YES. I AM looking forward to it.

These last two weeks were hard because I was sick with a cold. 
The first week was just a dry throat and postnasal drip.
Week 2 was a full blown cold, but because I didn't have a lot to do I could actually do SOME laying around...but not much. And now I've given my cold to Ben (but I think we could blame his elementary school children too).
I managed to do some rearranging of my schedule at the hospital in order to get the rest of my hours in and clients closed out. 
I did have to cancel my last visit to the infusion clinic and my last time at the cancer support group on the oncology floor.
It's not responsible to spread your cold to people with compromised immune systems. 
I took a bouquet of tissue paper flowers as a gift to the infusion clinic on Friday. The nurses loved them and they were super appreciative.

Because I still have a little residual cold and cough I decided to take it easy today and tomorrow. 
Been napping, drinking tea, and watching tons of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix. 
No shame. 
Time for a break.



Speaking of breaks...
Never got to say how wonderful it was to have Ben's sister with us for Thanksgiving break. 
We made a nice little spread, hung out, watched Netflix, Skyped/called family, went to my final Open Studio at the hospital, and took Emily on her very first brewery tour over at Lakefront. 

I actually have some "homework" to complete before the spring semester starts...aka analyzing my research, and completing my annotated bibliography (no small tasks).
BUT I have until JANUARY 26 until classes start again.
Thank you MMU, for the most beautifully long Christmas break.

Hope that gives you all an idea of what life has been for the past 3 weeks.
We're headed out for a week in South Dakota and then Kansas.
Going to be cleaning the house until then...it's been awhile.