moving right along!

I can't believe that May is almost over!  Time is FLYING by, and life keeps moving right along.  Dan and I spent 6 days in Las Vegas, and it was pretty great!  It was HOT, but we did a lot of fun things.  We went to Cirque du Soleil, which I highly recommend!  Also, we saw the Bellagio fountains, Mirage volcano, and many other free "shows."  If you are looking for a relaxing vacation, Las Vegas is not the place I would recommend, and I don't know that Dan and I will be one of those couples that goes back every year; however, I do want to go back from time to time!  It was lively and fun, and I enjoyed it a lot!


Next week, I start my summer class at SIUe.  I am pretty excited to ease my way back into the swing of school, but I am nervous to be working full-time and taking a class.  Suddenly my time off isn't going to be about me relaxing, and I have gotten so used to that in the past year!  I definitely need to just push through the summer so that I can step down from my full-time position.  Not that school won't be busy, but I think I am ready for a new challenge!  (always need something new to complain about, right?!)


Wedding plans have not progressed too much.  Dan and I met with msgr and Epiphany about the wedding, and we are currently supposed to be picking our readings and vows ;).  Also, while Dan's sister is in town in June, 5 out of 6 of my bridesmaids and I will head to Champaign to pick out the bridesmaids dresses!  I am pretty excited about this!  It should be a lot of fun to have all of my girls together :)  (side note - I have been watching a lot of "say yes to the dress-bridesmaids & bridezillas, and I am SO grateful that I am lucky enough to have such wonderful women standing up with me!  I can't imagine the extra stress of crappy bridesmaids!)  Along the same lines, my wonderful MoH is getting married next September, and we both found our dresses at the same shop!  AND!  We are sharing a veil and slip for our dresses.  I am so happy that we can save some costs and have some shared items.  I think it makes them more special!  So lucky to have her!

Planning, planning, planning!

Wedding planning is in full effect!  (I think!)  We decided on a date!  ahhh!  June 1, 2013 (6 years to the day that Dan and I graduated high school together!  -- still can't believe I am lucky enough to marry my high school sweetheart!)  After deciding on a day, we put our deposit down for Epiphany for the ceremony and Bone Student Center for the reception.  We are so excited that these big things are out of the way, and so far, I love our choices!  I think it will be perfect for us :)

Also - I found and purchased my dress!  It seemed kind of fast at the moment, but I know myself, and if I didn't make a decision, I would end up trying on a million dresses and being overwhelmed.  I LOVE my dress!  I am so stoked for it to come in and actually have it fit me.  It really is a shame I will only be able to wear it once ;)

We have also got some small things handled - I have ordered the gifts for my bridesmaids!  (Which I am really really excited about and I hope they love, as well!)  I ordered Aidan and Jake's gifts (cute little picture frames thanking them!)  I also ordered the bubbles for after the ceremony and our favors!  (It was a big order so that I could get free shipping! -- Any way to save some $$, I will take!)  Oh!  I bought some invitations at Michael's that were on clearance!  I ended up with 120 invites for $80...thankyouverymuch!

Now I feel like we kind of sit back and wait for awhile :)

While we wait, we are headed to LAS VEGAS!  I cannot wait to spend 6 days away from real life.  Work has been overwhelming, and life will only get more hectic when I begin my summer class.  At this point, I cannot wait to become a full-time student again!  (I have always been a nerd and liked school...but I am over working full-time where I am at, so this change couldn't have come at a more perfect time!)

I'm getting MARRIED!

On Saturday, my boyfriend of almost 7.5  years became my fiance!  My future hubby got down on one knee in Forest Park by my favorite fountain!  I am so happy that we are officially starting this chapter of our lives!  That means this blog may center a lot around wedding planning :)  don't like it?  tough stuff, cream puff!

I am so excited that I just want to do it all right away.  I know it's a marathon and not a sprint, so I am sure I will be forced to slow down eventually.  So far, I have gotten cards and ordered a small "gift" to use to ask each of my bridesmaids :)  And I am thinking of going to look at dresses with my mom, future mother in law, and MoH next time I am home!

More importantly, though, we  need to pick a date!  This is going to be the most challenging due to my future school schedule.  It is my understanding that my Spring classes will get over at the beginning of May and Summer classes begin at the end of May.  During that 2 week break, I will still have my practicum, so I won't really have any time off until the end of July prior to Fall classes beginning.  I don't think I want to wait that long, so I will have to look into details.  I can't wait to pick and know when we're getting married!

love is in the air

Growing up can be so freaking exciting sometimes!  So many wonderful things are happening to the people I care about (and it's all age appropriate because we are grown ups!)  


One of my beautiful friends was married in October, and now she is expecting her first child.  It is so great to know someone I care about so much is experiencing such a wonderful blessing.  I am so stoked to see her experience the rest of her pregnancy and become a great mother!  Plus, I need some baby loving in my life!


A few weeks ago, my best friend got engaged!  AHHHHH!  I have known her since my freshmen year of high school, and we have basically be inseparable since.  I am so freaking happy for her because I know her fiance is the perfect guy for her.  Yesterday, we went to try on bridesmaid dresses!  It's so real, and it's so exciting.  I don't think I have ever been this happy for anyone!  (except maybe my prego friend!)  Just happy all around!


And to top it off, my older brother got engaged last night!  His girlfriend / now fiance is a wonderful woman who really does bring out the best in Justin.  She is exactly what he needs.  Plus, she is absolutely wonderful with Aidan, and I couldn't ask for anything more for two people that mean so much to me.  I finally get to have a sister!


It's just so exciting when wonderful life events happen to the people who mean the most to you :)

a future career?!

I received INCREDIBLE news today!  As you know from previous updates, I decided to apply to SIUe's clinical child and school psychology program.  I received an email on Monday saying I had been selected for an interview.  It was set up for today, and I got extremely nervous.  Today I went, and it went fabulously!  The entire time, I felt very comfortable, and I could tell the professor was trying to sell SIUe to me instead of me trying to sell myself to them.  He said I had a great GPA, and he was even impressed with my GRE scores.  It felt WONDERFUL!  Before leaving, he unofficially told me that I will be getting an OFFER! to start school there in the fall.  AHHHHHHH!  I am SO excited, and so so grateful that things seem to be working out the way they should.  AHHHHH!  I am going to have my MA in Child Clinical Psych and my Ed.S in School Psychology!  I am going to have a career!  How awesome!

last minute decision

I made the decision (at the last minute) to apply to SIUe's Clinical Psych program.  It's a MA degree with an emphasis in school psychology.  Right now, I am mostly concerned about all of my paperwork making to the right place by Feb 1 (the due date), but I am keeping my fingers crossed.


I really need a change, and I have wanted to go to graduate school, so this seems like an amazing opportunity.  Unfortunately, I would have to stop being full-time at Chestnut, but if that's what's necessary, that's what I have to do.  I am super hopeful.  If this doesn't work out, there is still the option to go to UMSL or Lindenwood for a Counseling program, but I do feel as though a clinical program will give me a better education, so as I said...fingers crossed!

what AM I doing?!

I started part-time at Chestnut in February.  For me, it was a job that would hold me over until grad school because I knew I would get valuable experience that a classroom just will not provide.  Well, when the grad school thing didn't plan out, I was blessed enough to get offered a full-time position.  It's so lucky that I have a job that relates to my degree seeing as a bachelor's in psychology doesn't always get you very far.  I received an e-mail from HR that I had reached my full-time 6 month anniversary mark.  Truthfully, I am happy I have gotten that far, and I feel like I am pretty good at my job.  BUT.  Lately I have really been wondering if this is what I want to do.  I spend entirely too much of my day babysitting children.  They have to ask permission for EVERYTHING, so it's constantly "yes, you can come get a glass of water" or "yes, you can sharpen your pencil."  It just gets frustrating because this isn't necessarily what I had envisioned.  Not to mention, just about 0% of the boys there actually want our help or to learn anything from us.  Any research you read will tell you that for therapy to be beneficial, the ct has to put in work, and for the ct to put in work, they have to want to do it.  It just makes the day difficult because they don't care what we're discussing in group, and they don't really care what we say to them in primary sessions.


Speaking of primary sessions...let me discuss the insanity that has been my caseload.  My first ct was discharged after 60 days because there was no way he was going to finish the program in 90 days.  He had huge anger blow ups every other day where he would punch walls or kick things, so he spent most of his time in the hole.  I called detention to come pick him up and watched him get handcuffed.  Second ct was actually the only ct I have had to successfully complete.  (Though he has already relapsed -- hence what we're doing isn't working!)  3rd ct was there while #2 was there.  He also had anger problems and got mad so he ran from the facility roughly 4 times in two days and then had a huge outburst and went crazy, so they called his case worker to get him immediately.  I heard a few days later that the kid had run away from home and was missing.  lovely.  My 4th ct also had some anger problems, to put it mildly.  On two separate occasions, he threatened other cts and staff.  He tried to get anyone to fight him.  It really was ridiculous.  5th ct came and ran the day he got there...police never found him.  Got number 6 last Thursday.  Tonight he went to NA with another counselor and got into a fight in the van and outside...choking another kid.  Seriously?!  What am I supposed to be doing with these kids?!?!?!?!  It's getting super frustrating.   I can see why burnout happens so quickly in this field.


Moral of the story.  I need more education.  I am contemplating getting a MA in school counseling.  At least the hours will be better!