Saturday, December 31, 2011

{let’s play rewind}

I did a yearly recap last year with pictures and I thought I might do it again this year. I really enjoyed looking through my post last year about all that we did throughout the year. So, without further ado… we will rewind through 2011 as it turns into 2012! (An obligatory Christmas post coming soon… along with one about our recent trip to the Dells!)

JanuaryIMG_4167The year 2011 started off a lot like 2010 did. I enjoyed a few weeks off of school before starting my second semester of my second year of graduate school. I was nervous to start my first off campus placement, but it turned out to be pretty awesome! I experimented with some do it yourself canvas art this month and LOVED how it turned out! My friend Kristi and I got our families together a few times this month. We went out to eat and had a Wii family fun night together! Also, my first ‘official’ book of photography came in the mail and it turned out great… totally worth the price!

FebruaryIMG_4374We started off February with some cell phone drama. Our cellphone company switched unexpectedly on us and the transition was not very smooth. Both Jay and I were very unhappy with our service, but there wasn’t much we could do about it at the time. Ayden had his first blue and gold banquet for Cub Scouts and it was held at a hotel that had a pool. Ayden had a blast swimming with his new Cub Scout buddies! Jay got me an open heart pendant for Valentine’s Day and I still love it. What a sweetie! I worked on some of my photography techniques this month and also had an indoor shoot with a cute little munchkin!

MarchIMG_5856I started off March with another photo shoot, this time for my classmate and friend who had gotten engaged. The pictures turned out awesome and some of them are still my favorite to date! We went to the Dells again this month for Spring Break, only this time it was with my friend Kristi and her family. We stayed at Hotel Rome and we had such a great time together! The waterpark was small enough for her girls, yet big enough for Ayden to have some fun yet. We also had some really nice weather again this month… spring was on the horizon!

AprilIMG_6313I tried giving up soda this month and lasted for awhile, but I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to fully give it up again. My brother, sister, and I had our annual Mother’s Day photo shoot to make our mom her Mother’s Day book. My sister and I started something last year and we were told that we needed to continue it this year and so we did. Apparently it is something that we are going to need to continue in the years to come as well since my mom enjoys the books so much. Along with giving up soda, I also started to diet a little bit this month which ultimately led me to losing about 15 pounds by the end of the summer! And lastly, I shot a gun for the first time this month. It was kind of scary and I really don’t see myself doing it again anytime soon!

MayIMG_6437aMother’s Day was very nice this month. Jay and Ayden got me the most awesome flower basket as a gift and I couldn’t get over how cool the flowers looked! I got down and dirty with Jillian Michaels and fell in love with her Ripped in 30 day program! I was featured on the Pioneer Woman’s website this month for one of her photo contests and couldn’t believe it! It was too cool! I finished up my second year of graduate school with good grades. Ayden ‘graduated’ in Cub Scouts from a Tiger Cub to a Wolf! He loves Cub Scouts more and more! Ayden started his spring soccer session, we went deer fawn tagging, and I started my summer clinical rotation which turned out to be pretty awesome as well!

JuneIMG_7613My weight loss goals continued to progress this month and I couldn’t have been more happy! I continued with my off campus placement and was SO happy to be done with it shortly after Ayden was done with school! It saved us SO much money on childcare this summer. Ayden also started his third year of summer school and he really enjoyed it once again. I’m sad he won’t be going to it this summer because we are moving. We had some updated family pictures taken this month and they turned out awesome! Jay’s brother graduated from high school as well!

JulyIMG_7764My mom came to visit for a few days at the beginning of this month and we had a great time together! We also participated in our first carp tournament and caught one big fish. Unfortunately we didn’t win anything, but that was okay. I was just surprised that Ayden stuck in so long! We kind of decided on our wedding reception venue this month, although it is still not set in stone. Jay was doing really good on his weight loss goals and he lost about 30 pounds by this point in the summer. He was doing great! Ayden went tubing behind a boat for the first time and loved it! And, we finally got a sectional couch for uber cheap off of craiglist!

AugustIMG_7903I spent the beginning of August in Colorado for an audiology summer camp and had a really great time! The mountains were beautiful and I learned a lot. I also went white water rafting for the first time too! There was also Hoerth camping where we floated down a river on tubes for the first time and Schwobe camping where we got rained out, but still had a lot of fun with everyone. We visited Whitefish Dunes State Park and Cave Point County Park and I fell in love with both places! Ayden and I both celebrated our birthdays and I almost cried that my baby turned seven years old! We had a birthday party and I dreaded the start of another semester of school! I had a few more photo shoots, I started the Turbo Fire workout program, and I began freaking out about having to move in the coming months!

SeptemberIMG_9760Ayden started second grade this month. I started my third year of graduate school. Ayden had his first ‘surgery’, which wasn’t actually a surgery, but he did have to be put under because he had a bead stuck in his ear that needed to come out. Jay and I celebrated being together for eight years! Wow, time flies!

OctoberIMG_1678Jay had a big month this month… he got a new truck! Well, it wasn’t by choice. His old truck died and we found ourselves the proud owner of ‘The Beast’ in which we all have decided that we love just a little more than his other truck, hehe! My bestie from Green Bay came and visited for a few days and we went to try on wedding dresses. Well, I tried the dresses on. There weren’t very many dresses to try on, but it was fun to try them on for the first time. We also went through quite a few corn mazes this month and missed out on trick or treating because of the crappy weather, but that was okay because Ayden didn’t really mind.

NovemberIMG_2607I had two externship interviews this month and after one of them, I visited with my bestie in Green Bay this time. We had a great time together! I got a new flash for my camera and experimented with it a little bit. I still don’t have it all the way mastered. I blogged WAY less than I wanted to. I got sucked into the world of Pinterest and just had a great month with my family.

DecemberIMG_3557I finished out the semester with pretty good grades. I wasn’t very happy with my clinic grade, but what can you do. I will just have to amp it up this coming semester. We had a great Christmas and then went to the Dells with my family and had an even better time. Both of which I will blog about soon!

There you have it… a mini recap of 2011! Overall, I have to say that it wasn’t a bad year or an overly awesome year. It was a blessed year though and I am so glad that I got to spend it with my family and friends. Definitely looking forward to all that 2012 has to offer for me and my family!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

{that's a wrap}

Well folks, the semester is done and over with for me and I couldn't be more excited. Honestly though, I haven't had much to do/worry about for the last two weeks. It hasn’t been a very stress filled end of the semester for a change and I couldn't be happier! I am waiting on two final grades for my clinic and capstone credits. I ended up with an A in my Counseling class, an A in my Implantable class, and an A- in my Pathologies II class. I was pretty upset with the A- because the professor neglected to inform the students how she was determining the grade (which was different than the grades posted online) and here I was pretty confident I was getting an A... guess not. And she didn't even include one of the homework assignments that we had which I had gotten a 100% on and I know that would have helped. And what makes it worse is that I barely got the A- with a 90.6%! Ugh! Hoping for an A for capstone and clinic though. We shall see...

Ayden had his school Christmas concert this week and both Jay and I went to see him. It was cute! They only sang two songs and I was only able to get one of them taped though because I forgot how to use the video function on my camera at first and then by the time I figured it out again, the song was over, ha! But the second song was pretty cute. I also found out that Ayden won a coloring contest in his class the other day! How exciting! He is very artistic!

I am counting down the hours until Friday. I am excited to go 'home' for a few days and to see everyone. We are going to have a very busy couple of days, but that is okay. It is always a lot of fun. I think I am most excited about Ayden opening his presents. We definitely went overboard this year, okay, so it was me who went overboard, but that's okay. I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but we did end up getting him an iPod Touch. I haven't really gotten any negative comments about getting him one when he is only seven, but I have read a few things on other people's Facebook pages discussing the ages that we get children electronics these days. I did see a lot more people getting their children thing at such a young age. And, yes, I do think that Ayden is maybe a little young for one, but I also know that he is fairly responsible. He has had his Nintendo DS for a year and a half now and he has been very responsible with that. He plays on my tablet all of the time and is very good with that too. What I thought was insane was these parents getting their children these super expensive cameras and/or giving them their old ones. We are talking about giving a six year old a $400 camera! Not in my house, haha! But all the more power to them. I won't judge their parenting styles because I know how much I dislike it when people do it to mine.

It looks like we will not be having a white Christmas this year, but you know what... I could really care less! I don't like the snow and don't want any snow. If I have to deal with the cold temperatures, I'd rather deal with them when the ground is not covered in anything. Ha!

I have all of the presents wrapped and am most of the way packed for this weekend. We will be coming back to our place for a few days then going to Wisconsin Dells for a few days with my mom, brother, sister, and her boyfriend. I am really excited about that because Ayden is tall enough to go down all of the water slides this year! I hope that he doesn't get afraid.

Final clinic grade came in and I’m not very happy with it. Makes me want to cry. It’s passing and all, but still… not what I wanted to find out before Christmas… ugh, trying to get myself out of this funk with the grade and ready to have a great holiday weekend!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

{end of the semester}

WEDNESDAY: The fall semester is winding to a close and I am SO happy! I have one final and one presentation today to get through and then I will be done with my late classes! SO excited! I also have one final and one assignment due next Monday. I am almost done with the assignment and I'm not too worried about finishing it up. The final is a little worrisome. I haven't had to study for any tests this entire semester. They have all been online or open book. My grades have been pretty good. I need to do pretty well on the final we have today, but once again, it is online/open book (although that doesn't always mean it's easier). The final next Monday is an in class final that I actually have to HAND write! I haven't had to hand write anything all semester. I am so used to word processing everything on my computer. It is rare when I actually have to turn in something that I've hand written. It is also cumulative which bites, but it is for my counseling class so I'm not overly worried. What I am not looking forward to is having to hand write it because when the ideas get flowing it is so much easier and faster to get them on out on the computer than with a pen and paper and it is A LOT faster! Not mention having to avoid hand cramps, haha! Yes, I'm complaining about something so trivial as having to hand write a final exam.

I was looking forward to being done after Monday, but now I have to work on my capstone paper. Ugh! Actually, I might get motivated and work on it a little bit tomorrow and Friday since I won't have anything going on for the majority of the day, other than working for a little while in the morning. Our second revisions were supposed to be due not this past Monday, but the Monday before and I was waiting on one of my committee members to add some more edits; but I guess his edits were just the ones that he sent in an email. At this point in the game, I am just so over my capstone project and it isn't even halfway complete yet. I have to finish entering in all of the surveys and then analysis the data and write the second half of my paper. SO not looking forward to it . Then I have to create a PowerPoint presentation and then present it. Thank goodness we only have two classes next semester otherwise I'd probably be up a creek! My motivation is next to nothing so the less I have to do the better, ha! I am SO over school at this point!

The weather has been pretty craptastic lately, but it looks like it is going to get nicer for the weekend and that is good because I am photographing a small wedding on Saturday. I am excited about it and then I am having a girls afternoon with my friends on Sunday. I am excited to get my camera out again. I haven’t really had it out all that much in the previous weeks and I feel bad. I need to get it out and get back into my photographing mood. I am ready for it! It will make for a fun weekend and I am looking forward to it because the last couple of weekends have been pretty boring and laid back at our house. Don’t get me wrong, it was definitely nice to have a weekend to ourselves.

THURSDAY: I had intentions of finishing this post yesterday. I always have intentions of finishing the post when I start writing it, but it doesn't always end up that way. The grade for the final I took yesterday is already posted and I got a... wait for it... wait for it... an A-. Okay, so an A would have been better, but for the class and the teacher and the format of the exam and the fact that as I was going through it I could really have cared less about some of the answers that I put, I was pretty happy with that grade. I was pretty ecstatic to even see that it was up already because that teacher is known for not putting grades up right away. I also found out that I got an A on my last presentation in that class which was awesome. If I factored my grade out correctly, I will be getting an A... heck yeah! The presentation that I had to give yesterday went well also. I'm pretty much guaranteed an A in my other two classes, but I won't say for sure because then I'll jinx myself and end up with an A-. I need to get at least an 85% on both my presentation and my last assignment for my Implantables class to pull of an A in there and at least a 75% on my final in my other class (and that is factoring in 100% for my class participation grade and I think I participated enough in that class to get all the points for it). And I'm anticipating on getting better than all of those grades. All of this math is making my head hurt, haha!

I am excited for this weekend because I am going to be photographing a small wedding. I haven't had my camera out nearly as much as I would like and so to get it out again is exciting. To get back to my element. I haven't had many photo shoots after this fall, so to have another one is exciting. Sometimes I sit back and look at my photos and think, man did I really take those. Of course I have ones that didn't turn out just the way I wanted, but then again, I have ones that I absolutely fall in love with!

Then on Sunday I am meeting up with my besties to do some shopping. I am so happy that we've all been able to continue to get together after we graduated and still want to get together. Love those ladies and any time we spend together is never enough, but we always have a blast. The last time all four of us were able to make it was back in August (I think) and so it's been TOO long! Can't wait to catch up with everyone! And I'm so excited that I'll be moving closer to one soon! Of course that means leaving the one that still lives here in Point with me. So it's exciting and a bummer at the same time.

Next week, if the weather holds, I'm heading to Green Bay to spend some time with another bestie of mine. We are going to do a mini photo shoot of me. I want to make something nice for Jay for Christmas even though we said we weren't going to get anything for each other. I'm excited to be in front of the camera for once and to get some nice pictures of myself. My friend is dabbling in photography and it's going to be free so it's not really spending any money and I get to spend time with my bestie, which happens WAY less than it should! And then it's Christmas! This money is really flying by, although this week seems to be dragging. I cannot believe how slow this week is going. Maybe it's because I haven't had a lot to do and so I haven't done too much and it is making time go slower. I shouldn't be complaining about how slow time is going because I'm so often complaining about how fast it is going, but I am, haha!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

{get to it}

I have to admit that my ambition to work out lately has been nil… I took two weeks ‘off’ after Thanksgiving and haven’t had the want to start back up. These last two weeks have led me to eating less than healthy, from eating too little to eating too much and not working out at all. This past week I told myself that I was going to start working out again on Monday and get back into a good routine with it. With the holidays I know that my eating habits were not going to be stellar and that by working out I could allow myself to indulge a little more than I have been these last few months. I was pleasantly surprised when I came back home from Thanksgiving and I hadn’t gained any weight and let me tell you, I wasn’t watching what I was eating AT ALL!

Since Thanksgiving… I’ve gained a few pounds back. Nothing that I ‘should’ be worried about, but it doesn’t make me happy and I know I have only myself to blame. I haven’t been working out and I have been eating/snacking WAY more than I need to be. What can I say, chocolate is just calling out to me! I haven’t had any willpower to stop myself either. If it’s there, I eat it. My portion sizes have gotten bigger and I just tell myself that at the next meal I won’t eat as much and it doesn’t happen. Then I say that tomorrow will be better and tomorrow comes and it isn’t any better. And then I get mad at myself for the number on the scale. I NEED to curb this now because I’ve worked too hard to start gaining back the weight that I’ve lost. I know that I’ve been through this over and over here on my blog, but my writing all of this out on here, it holds me more accountable. Or at least I’m hoping it is going to hold me more accountable. We are taking a mini vacation to the Dells right after Christmas and I want to be swimsuit ready still by that time.

I worked out on Thursday and Friday and then didn’t yesterday. I know I should have and I feel bad about it. I am going to work out tonight… right after I finish this post, I am going to go work out. I think that not working out has been one of the big reasons that I have been feeling so low lately. Working out is not only good for the body, but also for the soul and I know that when I was working out consistently, I was in a much better mood. Lately with not working out, I can feel that not only am I eating more, but my moods haven’t been as good. I’m feeling down, mad at myself, lazy, just don’t want to be around people. That has to changed. I need to get out of this funk. I will get out of this funk. Especially with school ending soon, I need to keep on the upswing and not the downswing.
With that… I am going to GET TO IT!!!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

UPDATED: I worked out tonight and did some strength training and I have to admit, despite the fact that I feel all wobbly now, I am feeling much better than I have all day long!

{housing wanted}

Jay and I got into an argument about moving the other night. Your typical run of the mill argument. But I'm dreading trying to find a place to live if these will continue to happen. Although, I'm not anticipating that they will. I understand that we need to move. He understands that we need to move. I've sort of let my Type A controlling personality slide a little bit on this issue because even though I would LOVE to know where we are going to be moving to in the next five/six months, I realize that the chances of finding a place to live right at this moment are slim to none. No one rents out their place six months in advance, they just don't. It's as simple as that. So, I was relinquished to that fact and even though I peruse craigslist for apartments/duplexes/houses, I'm not really thinking I am going to find anything.

Here's the dilemma... I DO NOT want to end up back in an apartment and Jay thinks we pretty much will. I have been spoiled these last three years with our current living situation. Is everything perfect about our current residence... absolutely not, but it's pretty darn nice for what we can afford and what we got. I would love a larger living room with more natural light, a bigger kitchen that was more up to date and definitely a bigger bathroom. But in contrast to all of that, we have a garage, a private back yard, clothes lines, TWO bathrooms, an office area, laundry area, AND a toy room! Our basement may be outdated with the paneling and the thin stained carpet, but just to have a finished basement is AWESOME! I don't want to have to give any of that up when we move. Now in all likely hood, I will probably have to give some of it up, but I'm not going to jump into the first apartment that is for rent. If we were to end up back in Chilton, what we are paying for rent now should go further there and get us something better. I think about our last place compared to what we have now and don't think I could go back to it. I don't WANT to go back to it. I do NOT want apartment living again. I want duplex or house living! I'm AM NOT moving back to my hometown to settle (not that I think anyone thinks we are doing that). I am getting my doctoral degree, I am making something of myself! There WILL be a day where we do not have to worry so much about money. I am making SURE of that with my career! Does money mean everything, of course not, but I did not decide to become an audiologist SOLELY because I love the ear. Heck no, I also looked at the potential pay check in the bank once I got a job as well. Audiologist are pretty well paid that that definitely was a perk of the career for me.

Okay, back to my point... I was already dreading moving, now I'm dreading it more so. That and the fact that so many of our family members seem to want us right in our hometown and I'm not so sure I'm ready for that kind of small town living again. I love Stevens Point. I think that is mostly it. I'm not ready to leave Stevens Point. I'm ready to have my family close again, but they should all move to Stevens Point. It has everything I need. If I cannot find something I want in one store, I have ten more to choose from and I'm not going to run into ten different people that I know when I go to the store either. Simple as that. I'm not ready for that again, I don't think. I'm a whole ball of emotions when it comes to thinking about moving and leaving the city that we have called home for the last six and a half years. I know Stevens Point and I love Stevens Point and I don't really want to leave.
It is going to take me the next six months to get used to the idea of leaving, it's a good thing we have that much time before we actually have to leave.

We went and got our Christmas tree this weekend. We went to a Christmas tree farm and picked one out to cut down ourselves. It was pretty bitterly cold outside, but we still had a pretty decent time. That was pretty much my extent of Christmas enthusiasm. Actually, I could really care less if we had a tree or not. Have I mentioned that we did not to St. Nick at our house this year. I didn't feel like digging out the stockings for it and Ayden didn't even know the difference. (Probably because he thought we got our St. Nick gifts when my mom gave us our now christened 'Turkey Nick' gifts.) I had no ambition to do any decorating this year. I didn't feel like digging out bins or getting everything out to decorate the tree. It is just a lot of extra work that I didn't want to do. Why decorate our house when I have to do all of the work myself and no one comes to see it? I just don't see the point. Yes, bah humbug! But, we got a tree and it got decorated. Jay did a haphazard job of putting the lights on and Ayden put 99% of the ornaments on and it looks good enough for someone who doesn't really care if they have a tree. I honestly don't care what the tree looks like, looks perfectly 'imperfect' to me and I'm happy, well except for the fact that I'm probably going to be stuck taking the ornaments off and putting them away. I suppose I can deal.

I was working on one of my last homework assignments earlier on my computer and it shut itself off on me and I took that as a sign I should take a break and blog. I'm blogging on my tablet right now, giving my computer a rest. Apparently it thought I was working too hard, haha! Actually, lately when my computer gets too overheated it shuts down by itself. Its rather inconvenient, but I'd rather it do that than over heat completely and stop working and I had saved my project so I didn't lose anything. Save often!!! A lesson I've learned the hard way one too many times. I need a new computer, but I'm hoping the one that I have now can at least last until my birthday in August and then maybe I'll get a new one. I would like it to last longer than that, but it is already four years old and although that doesn't seem old, for laptops and the pace technology runs these days, it is. I am contemplating getting a desktop for my next one, but we'll see. By August I will be in my externship and will not need to go to an actual class anymore so the need for a laptop decreases... especially with having a tablet. Keep your fingers crossed it will last that long. My class load this coming spring really isn't too bad so I can take it easy on my computer then too.

I went ahead and bought Ayden a new ipod touch for Christmas. I kept looking and looking on craigslist and nothing was coming up. I found a pretty good deal at Best Buy for a package bundle that was the ipod, a case, screen protector, and ear buds (even though the touch comes with ear buds). Now Ayden will have ear buds for his touch and his Nintendo ds. I cannot wait to see his face when he opens it on Christmas morning! He's going to be SO excited!

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

{nothing lasts forever}

I was paging through some old photos on facebook last night as I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep (stupid short nap I took in the afternoon screwed me up on that one... and I think the caffine I had for supper probably helped too) and I realized that my little boy isn't so little anymore. Okay, so he is... I mean, he's only seven years old, but he has come such a long way since he was born. And I don't mean that in he had to go through any huge medical scares or anything, just that he has grown so much. I feel like I blinked and the last seven years passed me by in a haze. I was looking at his picture on the first day of second grade and think where did my little boy who needed his mommy for everything go?!

I have a little man now who doesn't need his mom to accompany him downstairs to play. I have a little man who can pick out his own clothes and get dressed himself. I have a little man who is responsible for bringing home stuff from school every day to get signed. I have a little man who used to be my little boy not too long ago.

Time is fleeting and it goes so much faster when you have kids. The saying is SO true! And... it just seems to speed up just that much more every year that goes by. Sometimes I wish it to go a little faster, like those days when Ayden and I are not on the same wave length and neither of us can get along... yes, as a parent, it does happen. Not our best parenting moments, but everyone has them. And then on days (most days), I wish it to slow down just a little bit more. I want my little man to still need his mommy and still want his mommy. And for he most part, he still does want his mommy. Case in point, I got home from clinic tonight and he wanted to cuddle with me after I got in the door. Love him!

Speaking of clinic, today was my last day until the end of January. I am happy for the rotation to be over, but I will miss it. I did enjoy going. I brought donuts as a treat for my last day and I was able to get to see an appointment that I have been wanting to see for a while now which was pretty cool.

I've read two books in the last week. Well, probably less than the last week. I started the Hunger Game series. I had heard some good things about it and then I saw that they were making at least the first book into a movie and the preview for the movie looked really good so I thought about reading the book. The first book was really good and so I went ahead and read the second book as well. Another good book. I love getting sucked into a series and really getting to know the characters and feel like they are real. I tend to get attached to the characters in my books, especially if the books are really good. And then it makes it harder for me to finish a good book and then pick up a new one and having to get drawn into the new characters and story when I am still attached to the old ones. That is what I think about series, you don't have to get to re-know the characters. Anyways, there is a third book in the series and I don't know if I am going to read it or not. I was all gunho on downloading and starting it right away tonight after finishing the second book, but I read some reviews about it on amazon and although it has far more good reviews than bad reviews, it is the bad reviews that are holding me back. I have read the synopses of the book and overall it just doesn't sound as good as the first two and I don't think I want to 'waste' the money on it when I'm sure there are better books out there that I can read. But, I did just read two books and the semester isn't quite over so I probably shouldn't even start another book until my last final is over. Unlikely, haha! Once I get into my reading moods, I usually read 6-8 books in a row and then don't read anything for another month or so and then go through my cycle again.

CIAO! LOVE ME!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

{no good excuse}

I'm sitting in my bed with my tablet on my lap. I wish I had some good excuse as to why I haven't blogged in the last two weeks, but other than being lazy and not really feeling like it, I don't have one. It's the norm these days, right?! I only posted four times in November... FOUR!!! That is less than one whole hand! That is B.A.D.! I am a bad blogger. I feel like the more time that passes the less and less I blog, okay, so I don't just feel like that, it is actually happening. I have been blogging for over three and a half years now and although I do genuinely enjoy blogging, it is becoming less and less of a priority to me. Life is changing. I do not make money from my blog so I don't have a 'good' reason to update it regularly, other than for myself. And I do love to write. I enjoy blogging when I do it because sometimes it is just what the 'doctor' calls for... a good vent session to someone who doesn't talk back.

I am listening to the Trans Siberian Orchestra on Pandora right now. LOVE them! I wish I could go see them in concert again this year, but it is probably too late to get tickets. Well, that is if they are even playing in Green Bay this winter. I haven't been to see them in concert since Ayden was born which was seven years ago. I cannot believe that it has been that long. They are amazing and I love listening to them at this time of the year. Their Christmas Eve cd rocks my socks off everytime I listen to it.

Life continues to move forward in our household. We are getting ready for the holidays. We had a good Thanksgiving. It went by a little too fast, but then again, most days seem to around here. It was nice to see all of my family and Jay's family. My cousin taught me how to crochet and I've been mastering the basic stitch ever since. Oh okay, so I haven't done all that much since we got home last weekend, but it was a busy and tiring week, who can blame me, haha! I got to do some Black Friday shopping with my mom, aunt, and the same cousin who taught me to crochet, Amanda. It was a TON of fun and it felt like the old days when we used to all go shopping together! Many years ago the aunts and cousins on my mom's side of the family would all go shopping together on Black Friday (there really wasn't a whole ton of us) and it was lots of fun. Slowly everyone started to sort of separate and do their own thing and then my mom would have to work that day and so I sort of just stopped going. I missed it. This year felt like the old days and I really had a great time! So if you happen to read this mom, Julie, or Amanda... thanks for Black Friday shopping with me! And thanks Michele for watching the little guy so I could go!

I ended up getting some awesome deals and the majority of my shopping done. It was pretty great! Now I just have to wrap it all, oh wait, Jay can, ha!

The semester is slowly coming to a close. It is taking FOREVER! But thankfully I don't really have too much to worry about this semester. One more presentation to do which should be super easy and then two finals which I'm not overly worried about either. Kind of an easy end to the semester. Just need to get through it now. This will be my last week of clinic for almost two months. I'm kind of excited, but then again, I know that I am going to miss it after a few weeks. I enjoy clinic and I enjoyed my placement this semester as well. My supervisor was pretty awesome and I got to see some pretty great things. But I am also ready for it to be over as well. Time for another placement.

Speaking of clinic... I have made my decision as to where I am going to be doing my externship and I couldn't be more excited! We have no idea where we will end up living, where Jay will be working, or where Ayden will be going to school yet, but one thing checked off the list is exciting! I'm trying not to get too ahead of myself with all of that again because it just stresses me out when I think about having to move and all of that. I cringe the thought if we would have to move back into an apartment building after living in where we are for the last three years. I'd love to find a house to rent or something similar to what we are currently living in. We just have so much space to spread out where we are now that I can't imagine going back to living in a small apartment, even if it was just for a year. Our basement/toy room/office is a life saver right now! It provides the space we need when we are all getting on each others nerves. I mean, our upstairs isn't really all that big, but with the addition of the basement it makes this place so much more tolerable. But once again, I am getting ahead of myself and I just got done saying I didn't want to do that.

I redesigned my blog for Christmas... likey?!

I feel like I could write a book or more yet, but my Kindle is calling my name... I'm in the middle of a very good book. Until next time then...

CIAO! LOVE ME!