Thought Dump

I haven't done a thought dump in a while. So without further ado, as Kelle Hampton would say, my stream of consciousness…

I have stayed in Boone for three weekends in a row and it has been wonderful. I love to travel but I also love to stay home and relax. Weekends in grad school look like Friday naps, take-out, sleeping in, more naps, and movie nights ;) 

Now that we are full blown into the holiday season, I can't help but think how excited I am that next year I'll be able to spend each holiday with my husband! :-0 We have never been able to be together on holidays and I can't wait!!

This week is my last full week of double practicum. This has hands down but the absolute hardest, most challenging semester ever. I don't really remember what it feels like to have no looming worries and I'm really hoping to get some relief over break!

I've quickly learned that you can't just pick where you want to live and move there. Job searches are tiring and disheartening at times. I am SO proud of my man for how persistent he has been to pursue his passion. I know God has something good in store for Him. But meanwhile, I'm enjoying not applying for jobs yet!

Speaking of school and jobs and stress, I am thinking more and more about how I can't wait to have a life again. Hah I just feel like I haven't had any time to do any hobbies in grad school. I feel like that sounds super depressing, but I'm ready to get back to sewing, crafting, and reading for fun!

I cannot believe that I have less than one month left in Boone!! I also can't believe I'll be moving to Chapel Hill in the next month! My stepmom made a funny point when she said I've taken my schooling from the east coast, to the western part of the state, and then to the middle. Hah! Amy sent me a picture of half of her closet cleared out for me and all I could say is Ahhhh! I just can't believe it. I'm excited for sure.

I'm in serious need of an Old Navy trip. I usually buy a few new things each season and I haven't bought anything this fall. See: no income. I'm itching to do a little retail therapy. With what money? I don't know Ha ha

I think thats it for today. It has rained all day and the temperatures have dramatically dropped into the teens tonight. The high for tomorrow is 19 with wind chills in the negatives. Yikes! My school is already on a two-hour delay. 

Cheers!

A Day in the Life of an SLP Grad Student

I have read so many "Day in the Life" posts from mom bloggers and I thought, why not make my own!? Graduate school has been a crazy ride and I imagine my life will be pretty different this time next year. So I think it will be fun to look back on what my days looked like! This will probably just look like a bunch of random pictures … but here it goes! :)

I want to start by saying I got extremely lucky this semester with having close placements. Over the summer I had to leave my apt by 6:40 and drive an hour and a half to my placement. This semester I drive 40 minutes on MW to a nursing home and only 10 minutes on TTh to a school!

Tuesday, November 4th 2014

My alarm clock went off at 6:48

(Fun fact about me, I always set my alarm at odd times, not 6:45 or 6:50, but 6:48)

I usually lie in bed about 5 minutes and check my email. I got up and got dressed. This only takes me about 15 minutes. I know, crazy. But I don't have any type of make-up routine right now and I set everything out the night before so it is as quick as possible.

I go in the kitchen about 7:15 and cook my breakfast. I usually eat two eggs, sometimes a protein (like turkey bacon), and a banana or I drink a protein smoothie.

I take about 10 minutes to sit and eat breakfast and read Jesus Calling. This is always a nice start to my day. I hate having to eat breakfast in the car. And, surprisingly, I'm not a coffee drinker. So I have water, and I get through my day ;)

I take a minute to brush my teeth and put on my coat and at 7:40, I grab my stuff (that is already ready to go) and head out the door!

(sorry you'll see this kissy picture throughout the day as a time stamp ;)

At a stop light along the way, I always send Andy a good morning text. He may be in the library until midnight every night, but I do get up before him ;)

I also enjoy a tic-tac on the way every morning.

I am in a preschool giving therapy by 7:50. We see a client that is in my school's district, but still in preschool, before heading to the school at 8:20. 

It is such a pretty drive out to my school.

I turn my phone off when I get to the school and don't turn it on again until I leave. I don't have service there anyways so there is no point in even having it on. We see clients all day and have a 30 minute lunch break at 11:30. On this particular day, I had an IEP to lead (eek!) and didn't get finished until 4:30.

I got home at 4:40 with just enough to throw my things down and swap my clipboard

… for my book bag and basically look a step above a homeless person. Ha ha

yes my shoe is untied and no I didn't have time to tie it

Andy and I have to remind each other of our schedules on a daily basis Ha ha

This is hard to see in this picture but on my way to class there was a tiny strip of a rainbow!

All of my graduate classes have been in Edwin Duncan. I made it to Voice Disorders class right at 5:00.

While my professor passed back some papers, I checked my email. Reading this email and realizing that I now fall into the "internship students" category for next semester made me SO excited. 

We then discussed spasmodic dysphonia. Riveting stuff after a long day ;)

We get out at 6:15. I'm still getting used to it being dark so early after daylights savings time ended this past weekend.

I made it home to my room looking like this. This is unacceptable. Hah 

I decided to go ahead and cook dinner though since I was super hungry. I put part of my dinner in the oven and sat down for 5 minutes to breathe ;)

I was ready to eat dinner by 6:54

I usually sit on the couch and read social media while I eat dinner. I noticed this post on my time hop and I loved that I'm already a year closer to this coming true!! Andy and I are going to need to frame this in our house :)

I finished my dinner about 7:15. Next, I took the time to clean all my dishes and pack my lunch for the next day. On MW I have to pack a morning and afternoon snack as well. 

I'm out of the kitchen and off to my room at 7:40.

I decided to clean that aforementioned mess and get my things ready for the next day. I always lay everything out; my clothes, shoes, clipboard, and even jewelry. 

Don't you love my retro tv? 

Finally, at 8:00 I decided to take a bubble bath :)

I will shamelessly admit I spent about 30 minutes in the tub. I only wash my hair every 2 nights so when I don't shower, this time to de-stress is necessary for me before getting ready for bed!

After my bath I took some time to talk to my best frand about wedding planning and read all of the blogs I like to read. 

 At about 9:00, I was going to start making a game-plan for studying for the Praxis (that I take on December 16th, yikes!). This is also usually the time I spend doing school work or lesson planning. Thankfully, I didn't have anything on my plate that night, so I decided to chat with my roommate Meghan about our days instead :)

At 10:18, I was exhausted and my bed was calling my name. 

Andy was at an election party, so I looked at more social media and waited around to call him until about 10:55. Sadly, his phone died and I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Y'all, unless you have a super strong relationship, I don't recommend having a long distance relationship in graduate and law school Ha ha. What you've seen here is really the amount of talking we do each day. But it will all be worth it soon :)

Then at 11:02, I set my alarm clock for 6:31 and turned my sleep machine on. 

Goodnight!

Happy Novemburrrr!

We had a COLD front come in on Friday. I already knew I'd be at the apt by myself this weekend because Mindy usually goes home on the weekends and Meghan went to a conference in Raleigh. So, when I heard this cold front was bringing snow along with it, I knew it was going to be the perfect weekend to relax! 

I picked up a few things at the grocery store Friday afternoon (which of course was a ZOO) and rented a couple movies. I settled in Friday night and the snow started falling around midnight. 

We had about 2 inches Saturday morning.

I watched football all day, did some laundry, caught up on sleep, and watched my movies. 

It was definitely the quiet, relaxing weekend I needed :)