my life 20ish hours a week… :)

internship thoughts

today has been kind of a rough day. i am lacking sleep and energy in major way. and my thoughts won’t stop bugging me. my head is just spinning with everything about my internship and everything i need to be doing around the house and how i have to wake up super early AGAIN and go to work and how i have a ton of assignments i should be working on and how josh is leaving me on sunday and how mindy had connor yesterday and i’m sad i’m not there and…

see what i mean?

i hate that. give it a rest, brain! is it just me, or does that happen to all girls? a lot of times when i ask josh what he’s thinking he says, “nothing,” or “just watching t.v.” or whatever. for a while i didn’t believe him, but now, 4 years into this thing called marriage, i do. oh, to single-task. so lucky.

anyway, i got back from my internship a little after 7 last night, and then made dinner and worked on homework until about 11 10 (i did make time to watch the office!). and then i got up ungodly early this morning and headed to work at 4:45. ugh. i’m absolutely exhausted.

my internship went pretty well. i wish i felt a bigger sense of relief having gotten my first day under my belt. there’s a little bit of relief, but not much. i’m doubting everything that i’ve learned, wondering if i’ll actually be able to do art therapy with clients. it’s kind of a bummer to feel that way. i could really use some confidence… and my heart is already breaking for the clients i’ll be working with. no child should ever have to go through the amount of abuse and neglect that these kids have been through, it’s just awful! and while sympathy is my first reaction, i know it’s not the best reaction. how is feeling sorry for a kid going to help them in any way? it won’t. so i need to work on that. and really that whole leaving-work-at-work thing is completely alluding me. i need to be able to engage, detach, and re-engage when appropriate. but all i seem to be doing is stressing over treatment planning. my supervisor is going to sit in on a couple of my sessions next week and i am terrified. why? i know i’m a student. i know i’m not expected to do this perfectly. and yet, i don’t want to disappoint her. or me. or screw up kids more that they already are…

sorry for such a bummer of a post. i am excited, i promise. this is just hard. and i know i’m trying to rush this whole process, wishing i had a level of comfort and confidence at my internship like i had been there three months or something. that’s just not how things work… i just need to be patient.

3 big things!

1. i was accepted to present at the 2011 national AATA (american art therapy association) conference this summer in D.C. hooray! i’m not even entirely sure i’m going to go right now, but i’ll be deciding by the 26th because that’s when i have to let them know so they can finalize the schedule. it’s super expensive and that also means i’ll be traveling a ton this summer, but it would also be a really awesome experience! it’s definitely an honor to be accepted!

2. tomorrow is my first day at my internship! after 3 1/2 years in graduate school, it’s finally here! i’ll try not to ramble on about all of the different things i’m feeling right now, but just know that i’m super excited and, more prominently, super nervous! eek! if you have a second, say a prayer for me!

and the most exciting…

3. mindy is in the hospital, getting ready to pop out a baby tomorrow! i’m SOOOO EXCITED! i can’t wait to meet connor! mindy, i love you and i’m praying for you! you and jason are going to be amazing parents! say a prayer for mindy too!

(i made her this shirt after she told me she was pregnant - he he!)

Connor’s Quilt

that’s right, 2 posts in one afternoon for me! i was waiting to post this until mindy got the quilt in the mail (i had it waiting in “draft” mode), and she did today, so here it is:

so, i finished mindy’s connor’s quilt! yay! here it is in all it’s glory:

a few thoughts:

i did less quilting on this one, and i think i like the result. it’s very plush, which is perfect for a baby quilt. i also have plenty of corners that don’t match up, so i figured that the quilting in all the ditches would just accentuate them!

the batting is a little loose, but i’m okay with it. i blame the batting. it was really crumpled so i did a lot of smoothing. i guess i should have ironed it?

my binding was a big improvement from the last quilt! it is still a bit of a hot mess on the back, but it looks great from the front! i used this method. if i do it again, i think i’ll use the same binding fabric all the way around, like one that matches the thread better. the crooked navy line of thread doesn’t look too shabby on the brown fabric, you hardly notice it.

so, there it is! what do you think? i hope you like it connor!

 

school

today is a little unusual day because i am at school  but i don’t have class. most people understand my school, or what i want to do for that matter, very little. if you are interested, i attend saint mary-of-the-woods college, which is a great school with a really weird name. it’s small and catholic and near terre haute, indiana, which has very little to offer. of all the places to visit 3 times a year… anyway, i’m in a distance learning program, where i travel here 3 times a year for a short 4-7 day residency, and do the rest of my work from home. it’s sorta online, but mostly not. anyway, i am finally nearing the end, hoping to finish up this year! i should have finished in december, but moving twice in a year really makes it tough to start an internship, so here i am! this trip has been especially interesting because it was my first time flying. i usually just throw whatever i think i might need in my car and take off at my leisure. instead i had to do some very strategic packing (i was not going to pay $50 to check a bag!), especially due to the winter weather. i’m definitely chili outside (the big winter coat didn’t make the cut) but other than that i’m fine! here’s a little recap of my adventures thus far:

thursday i got to the greensboro piedmont triad airport around 6am. i left at 7:10 and got into charlotte by 8. i sat next to a really nice lady who lives about 2 seconds away from me on the plane. my flight to indy was supposed to leave charlotte at 9:45. i got some breakfast and then made the long trek to my gate. i ended up running into 2 other girls from my program there, which was great because i had someone to talk to. our flight ended up being delayed repeatedly, until it was eventually cancelled around 11:30. yikes! so glad i didn’t check a bag! we headed to the special services counter to make new arrangements. i also made different arrangements for my ride to campus, so that the girl who was supposed to pick me up wouldn’t have to wait around forever. we got on a 2:50 flight, so we basically just sat around the airport for a good part of the day. we got into indy by 4:30, got a rental car, and then headed to terre haute. we stopped for dinner and a got few groceries, and then finally made it to the hotel around 8. not too shabby, but i was exhausted from a long day of traveling!

yesterday all of the (40+) students gathered in the library to listen to thesis presentations. there were only 4 this time so that was not too bad at all. last time when i did mine there were 10 of us so it was a looong day. then after visiting a couple offices we gathered for a fiber making workshop, which was actually a lot of fun. we learned about the white violet center, which is part of the sisters of providence at saint mary-of-the-woods. the nuns raise over 60 alpacas and use their wool to make and sell all sorts of fun stuff like scarves, hats, and gloves. the nuns here are awesome and they are very eco-justice minded. (they even put a picture of the alpaca the wool came from with whatever you buy! isn’t that precious!?) we got to meet a couple of the alpacas and go to 4 different stations and learn about spinning, weaving, needle felting, and felting, using the alpaca wool. it was pretty awesome, especially since i’ve never done much of anything with fiber arts! here are a few pictures from the day:

needless to say, it was a pretty awesome experience! if you are interested in learning more about the white violet center you can watch this little video. they also offer weekend workshops if you are interested!

anyway, today i am mainly just hanging and hoping to get some reading done. obviously i’m blogging, so we’ll see how that goes! tomorrow i have my internship 1 class all day, and monday i have career counseling in the morning. then i’m flying out around 5 monday and hopefully getting into greensboro around 9. i hope you have a great weekend!

wordless wednesday – new hair cut

the joys of a company vehicle

this is josh’s “new” ride. note – his truck was solid white.

oh well, i’m not going to complain about a free vehicle!

wordless wednesday – quilt progress!

gratitude.

i’ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately – seeing how it is the new year and all – and i’m feeling so grateful. god has truly blessed josh and me this past year. when i look back on 2010 i’m totally overwhelmed. we went from small town, indiana with josh running one store, feeling totally unsure of what was to come and where we were going to end up, to a summer full of training and traveling with lots of time apart (josh trained in arkansas, georgia, and south carolina over a period of months!) and more uncertainty, to finally knowing where we were going to end up, to actually moving to greensboro, to finding a job, an internship, a church, and friends. wow. i freaked out way too much along the way, because clearly things have worked out. god truly is the good shepherd, i don’t know why i ever doubt him.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

another freeby :)

i just love synchronicity! as i was browsing stonesoup (after my last post) i stumbled upon a free e-baking cookbook! i haven’t looked through it too much, but i’m excited to! baking with 5 ingredients or less? yes please! head over here to get your copy! you can also get a free e-cookbook here!