Thursday, April 30, 2009

The end is in sight.

11 more days of school. I can't imagine what life will be like without the weight of articles that need reading, a thesis prospectus that needs revising, and statistics homework that needs to be finished. I think I will feel fresh and my eyes will not feel heavy everyday. This summer looks very uneventful thus far, but I'm actually looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to not having to fight to stay awake anymore. Woo!!

I thought I had insightful things to say right now, but I'm too tired.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

much needed.

My weekend could not have come at a better time. On Friday after work I headed down to Tucson for Sarah's bridal shower (which wasn't until Saturday). Some of Angela's roommates and I went to a bluegrass festival in Benson, AZ. Benson was so podunk and we were the youngest people at the festival by at least 20 years, so everyone stared when we walked in. The girls had some girl friends playing (who were phenomenal) and it was so fun doing something different!

That night Ang and I went to hang out with some of the guys who are my friends from high school. We played "would you rather?" all night and I haven't laughed so much in such a long time. Saturday we set up for the bridal shower all morning and then the shower was actually such a blast. I know the summary of my weekend isn't nearly as fun-sounding as it actually was. It was so great to get to hang out with girls again, especially those girls. It was great to have a fun weekend away right before the crunch time of finals. I may or may not be spending a lot of time in Tucson over the next year and I now could not be more excited about it because I'd get to be around those girls much more often!

Now after all this excitement...I really have to get going on endless reading, writing, and studying. 15 days left until I'm finished with it all!!

Monday, April 20, 2009

a new week.

For the first time in awhile, I feel like I'm starting fresh with my week. That may be due to the fact that I did little to no homework this weekend...or just a new perspective on things. I'm feeling very optimistic and choosing to stay that way.

Today I made a play-doh skateboard and a paper cut-and-paste castle with one of my kiddos. This one is particularly frustrating and non-compliant, but today was our BEST day yet! I designed this choice schedule where he picks his activity and then picks his reinforcer and it works out SO SO well. Even with him being sick today, we went form task to task with very little anger or freak out. It was SO encouraging.

Moral of the story: I'm excited about life. I have so many ideas of fun things I can begin and work on and everything. For example: cake decorating class this summer with my sister, finally working on (and eventually finishing) my senior year of HS scrapbook, running more often, ect. I'm going to set up an awesome schedule for myself. I cannot wait. But for now, back to work!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Fifteen

This morning on my way to school, I was listening to Taylor Swift's extremely cliche song Fifteen. As cheesy as this song is, it entirely reminds me of 8-10th grade and how I felt about life then. For instance the lyrics:
Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday
But I realized some bigger dreams of mine
Thank goodness I had a father who always reminded me there was more to life than boys. It's something I really wish I could help my Young Life girls understand--there is a much bigger, better world outside of high school. Thank goodness for that. Freakin' Mountain View. (that was my high school).

It's interesting thinking about the next year of my life because I most likely won't be in Arizona after next year (at least for a few years). I'm feeling the need to fit all of these things in and really focus on building myself as a person and in my faith and all of that. It's a fun idea, actually. I'm not 100% sure of what that looks like yet, but I have a lot of little and big decisions to make in the next little while to make it all work out.

Easter was fun. I did children's ministry at Praxis for the morning service and basically held two chunkers in my arms all morning (I volunteer in the nursery) and my arms are still sore. Moms must get great arms and upper body strength. Good grief. It was fun though. I actually love the chaos kids bring.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Pandora Radio

For those of you who do not use Pandora Radio, you should. It constructs such perfect study playlists for me and you can make it play whatever you want. It's so great.

Lately I've been having those "God set all this up" moments. I just see such a linear connection between my early intervention class last spring to my internship in Australia to my current job to my future career ideas. This definitely isn't just a coincidence or something I carefully put together myself at all. It is one of those things that have seemingly "fallen into place" which is where my "God set this up" moments come in. I know that God uses everything for His grandeur plans for our life, but it is amazing to see it in action. I've been reminded lately of the unbelievable sacrifice God made for us by giving us Jesus. It sounds so simply stated there, but lately I haven't been the person I want to be and God is still present--which shows the grace He gave us through Jesus. Through my endless busy schedule of work, school, yl, and life, it is such a comfort to see God in the middle of it all.

35 days and counting until I'm finished for the semester. It's already too hot in Arizona. Gah. On a positive note, I absolutely adore my 2 boys I work with. However frustrating the day is with them, I always leave with a smile on my face because no matter how frustrated they are with me they still manage to give me the sweetest hugs. It's all about the little things.