The Final Stretch

Hello all!  I probably shouldn't be writing this right now, seeing as I am currently in my professor's office during a research meeting (oops!)...but since he is busy editing my paper in silence, I felt the urge to update.

This is the last day of summer school!  Hooray!  And it looks like I will be holding onto my 4.0 for a little longer!  I had a couple of good classes:  Web Design and Language & Development of the Exceptional Child.  Both were very interesting, and I gained a lot of resources from both.   I just submitted my last assignment, and now wait for the final grades to be in.  And since I'm done with school and half of my sessions are on hold until school starts again, I'm taking this next week off!  I'll be going home to AR (hopefully tomorrow) to just chillax for awhile.

I can't believe that it's already August!  This makes me realize that I only have 5 months, and then I will be done with school forever!  I don't plan on getting a PhD or anything, so this will most definitely be it.  All I have left is a couple more online classes, a final resesarch, and then I'm done.

Here's some exciting news about me and my profession.  I may be presenting my current research project at the national conference this November!  It would be during a poster session, which I'm not completely sure what all that entails.  But it gets my name out there and shows people I know what I'm talking about!  Also, said research project may be on its way to being published in a research journal...can we say LEGIT?!?!

Now for the "scary" part of my life:  I have no idea what is going to happen after I graduate in December.  I had a job planned out in Monett, MO at a private clinic, but that has fallen through.  So now I have to figure out what to do.  I'm torn between moving straight back home to start my own practice and staying in Springfield until June (when the lease on the apt. is up) and keeping my current clients to make a little more money.  I'll probably end up doing the second option, but who knows.  My life is so sporadic right now, there's no telling what will actually happen.  I may end up singing to moose in Alaska.  So if you think about it or have time, send a little prayer up for me that I will go down the path God has planned for me.

Well, my professor is done editing now, so it's my turn to work!  Hope everyone is doing well and staying cool!

Authentic

Well hello again all!  I had a random desire to post a video of one of my original songs today.  I've been writing songs since about 10th grade, but I'm always a little leery of showing them to anyone.  Here's one of the ones I'm more proud of.  It's titled "Authentic."  I wrote it a couple years back after helping out at a D-Now weekend.  Let me know what you think!  If you like it, sweet!  If not, I'll still try to be your friend.  ;)

Enjoy!

Yep...Still Alive!

Hello all!  It's been quite awhile since I last posted.  So here's a little blurb about what's been going on the past few months...

I finished my second semester of my master's program.  Best part about it?  I currently have a 4.0 GPA!!  (minus an incomplete for a research project I'm still working on)  All I have left is a couple online classes this summer and 3 classes this fall, then I will be done!  I'm so ready to be done with school and move on to being a full-time MT-BC.  Which brings me to my next rant...

I thought I had a job lined up after I graduated.  I was gonna be working in a clinic as a music therapist full-time.  It sounded like a great starter job.  But I learned just the other day that this probably isn't going to happen after all.  There are some timing issues that are messing things up, and the director of the clinic isn't sure that this is the right time to bring in a new therapist.  Sooooo...I'm back to square one.  I have to decide if I'm going to stay in Springfield and do some sessions part-time, find a job somewhere else, or move home.  I would LOVE to get my own MT thing going in the Fayetteville area.  I'm sure there is such a big need for it since there is literally nothing at the moment.  I would just have to figure out how to make that feasibly happen.  Or if anyone has any job opportunities/suggestions for me starting January let me know!  :-P

This summer will be much like the last one.  I'll be back and forth between Springfield and Fayetteville the entire time, but I think more time will be spent in Springfield this year.  Since I'm a big kid now trying to be a respectable MT, I'm still doing sessions, 3-4 a week, so that keeps me here most of the time.  But I'm hoping to make it home at least once a month.  I managed to take about a week and go home for Memorial Day.  This year we decided to have Cheesy-T Family Photo Hour.  Here's one of the better shots:

I know...we're totally cutesies.  I'll be back home again in a couple of weeks to get ready for Super Summer 2011!  I'm going white school this year rather than a staffer.   It's not as big of a time commitment, which is good since I still have to work and take classes.

The weather here has been crazy!  One week it's a brisk 65 degrees every day...next week there's 50 thunder storms and devastating tornadoes...now it's in the mid 90s by 11am.  Ugh!  Makes me want to move to LA or something!

Welp, that's about it for now!  Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning to the summer!  Stay cool!

Spring Break 2011

Sooo...I'm getting worse and worse at this blogging thing.  It's probably because I don't have much to report at the moment.  Life goes on as usual:  school and work.  Both are going ok.  There are moments when I want to rip my hair out and ask myself "Why am I doing this?!"  But in the long run all is well.

I actually got a Spring Break this year!  I went skiing with the youth group from my church at home.  Here are just a few of the pics that I took.

 The crazy group I ski'd with most of the time.

 Winter Park, CO

 Halfway up the mountain

 I don't know this guy... I just thought it was a cool pic to take.

 Me trying to be artistic...

So happy that we made it up half the mountain!

We had a great trip.  I actually ended up driving most of the way there and back.  I end up getting car sick if I'm in the car for awhile and not driving, so I opted to be a big girl and drive!  There were only a few hiccups during the travel: a missed exit here, a wrong turn there, losing the caravan every now and then.  But we made it there and back!  I am also happy to report there were no major injuries acquired on the trip, just lots of sore muscles and sunburn!

And now I am back home in AR for the rest of the break.  It feels good to do absolutely nothing!  I strongly recommend it.

Random update on my "New Year's Resolution":  it's not going too well!  :-P

I'm still working on more water and less soda, I eat out way too much, and I can't commit to a workout routine.  But I'm working on it!  I will tell you that I burned over 1,000 calories each day skiing, so hopefully that will be my boost to keep going!

That's about all I have for now.  Hope everyone is doing well!  Until next time!

Hello 2011...Goodbye Fatty Fat!

I can't believe I'm actually posting this close to my last one.  That hasn't happened in a long time!  AND!  I've been blogging for a year now!  Woo hoo to me!  I started last year in January on a snowy day.  Guess what...it's another snowy day and I'm blogging!  I feel a trend here...

Well, it's 2011!  Happy New Year!  Of course this is the time of year for resolutions.  I'm jumping on the bandwagon and actually making one this year with intentions of sticking to it (a little late, I know, but better late than never).  Mine is the generic weight loss one.  But I like to call it "getting healthy."  I have been so undisciplined and unmotivated for way too long.  It's time to get back into the swing of things!  I'm posting all of this on here in hopes that it will keep me motivated.  So if you see me you can say "Hey, how's that resolution coming?"
So here are a few things that encompass my resolution:

• More water, less soda:  This is gonna be the biggie!  I was averaging around 2 sodas a day, on top of coffee in the morning.  I have no intention of cutting out soda all together or stopping cold turkey, so I'm thinking 1-2 sodas a week is good, kinda like a little something to reward myself with.  I also wanna boost the water intake.  I have a nifty CamelBak thermos (I highly recommend one) and want to drink at least 2 a day.
• Chill out on eating out:  I eat out WAY too much.  It was just so convenient to run through a drive thru at the end of the day and grab something.  Well no more!  I want to start making menus for the week and shopping accordingly.  Hopefully this will put more coin in my pocket!
• Pumpin' some iron:  I'm gonna get back in the habit of working out regularly, at least 3 times as week if not more.  Before I went to Italy I was able to run at least 3 miles with one of my friends...not so much anymore!  I have this nifty little gym in my apartment complex and another friend that also wants to start working out more.  So I have no excuse!
• Portion control:  All last semester I would have about 1 1/2 meals a day.  I don't eat breakfast, except for coffee.  Lunch was sporadic and usually something from a fast food restaurant, and dinner varied.  I'm gonna try to implement the snacking routine, little things here and there on a more routine schedule rather than huge meals late at night.  And I'm gonna watch more carefully my caloric intake and stick to serving sizes.

Well, there's my plan!  If you guys have any other suggestions please let me know!  I'm just tired of looking and feeling like this.  It's time to get in shape!!!  Oh and here's my goal:  30 lbs. by July.  Apparently my family is taking a trip to Florida to visit my uncle, so I gotsta look good for the beach!  So...here it goes!  Wish me luck!

End of the Year Recap

Hello all!  It's been awhile since my last post!  (I'm a terrible blogger...lucky to get one a month)  So I thought I'd just give a little update since the last one.

Thanksgiving came and went like the blink of an eye.  We had Thanksgiving at our house this year.  Good times were had by all.  We all ate way too much and then played a rousing game of Cranium.

The weeks after Thanksgiving break were nearly horrible school-wise.  I was so busy and so stressed!  Having a year off of school work and then having to do it all again was not something to look forward to.  Needless to say, I finished with flying colors.  After completing a research proposal, making an undergraduate curriculum, a final, and two juries, I made all A's!  Woo hoo to me!  Next semester will be more of the same, except I will have more duties in the music therapy clinic.  So good luck to me actually balancing clinic work with school work!

Did anybody else feel like it wasn't really Christmas last week?  I don't know what it was, but I never really got in the mood of Christmas this year.  Usually it just feels like Christmas, with all the music, the church services, the presents, etc.  This year it came and went, and that was it.  We had a good Christmas though.  Here's a pic of the family we took last year for our Christmas cards!

Aren't we cutesies?!  Anyways...mom had to work Christmas eve this year, so the siblings and I headed over to the Johnson house for some fun.  Christmas morning we woke up, opened presents, ate a little breakfast, and got cleaned up to head to Ozark, MO.  This was the year of DVDs for me.  I got The Great Mouse Detective, Fern Gully (it was supposed to be the first one but oops!), Iron Man 2, and all available seasons of The Office.  I will not be leaving a tv for quite some time!  Mom and dad also got me more rhythm instruments and a bag to use for my MT sessions among other random things.  So like I said, after our family Christmas we headed to Ozark to my uncle's house for the big family Christmas dinner.  Here are some pics my aunt took of the fam.

Me and the cousin (Alex)

Laura displaying the new tv

Andy and the other cousin (Drew)

Uncle Robert carving the oh so delicious prime rib

The magnificent feast

Uncle Robert reading Luke 2 to all of us before the meal

The Christmas table

The Christmas table full of people!

And here we all are stuffing our faces

So there ya go!  A little glimpse into my family Christmas.

 

This has definitely been a season of prayer for many reasons!  So many of my friends have either gotten engaged, married, both, or are pregnant.  So many blessings all in a short time.  Each time I pray that God will be the center of the relationship and that the couple will continually love, respect, and support each other.  There have also been many prayers of healing sent up by me.  Both my grandma and grandpa had health issues the end of this year, a girl from my church had a tumor on her brain, and a good friend of mine was in a pretty bad car accident recently.  But God is good and put his healing hand on all of them.  Things could have been much worse in each situation, but He provided the healing needed.  And it was so reasurring to look on facebook and twitter to see all of the prayers being lifted up for various people.  God is Good!!!

I cannot believe it's almost 2011!  Not quite sure what my New Years' Resolutions will be (if I have any).  But when I find out I will probably post it, kinda like a form of commitment for me or something.

Anyways, that's about it for now.  I hope everyone has had a safe and happy holiday season!  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  Until next time!!

St. Louis/Kirkwood Trip

Well hello again everyone!  Last weekend I went up to St. Louis/Kirkwood to visit my friend Erin (who I hadn't seen in 2 years!) while she was home for a conference.  The first night I was there, we met up with our friend/former roommate Erica to go to Bailey's Chocolate Bar.  If you ever end up in Lafayette Square in St. Louis, I highly recommend this place for a little after dinner adventure!  It's pretty much a dessert bar, with sooooo many yummy desserts and drinks to choose from.  It was sooooo good!

The next day E-Mac and I headed out to Powder Valley.  Our tradition all throughout college was to take pictures of the fall leaves around campus.  Since we weren't on campus, we did the next best thing.  Here are some of the really cool pics we got.

After we got done at Powder Valley we headed off to the zoo.  Best thing about the zoo?  IT'S FREE!  We used her mom's parking pass to park really close and walked right in.  It was a glorious day for a zoo trip.  Most of the animals were out and about, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous.  Here's some of the furry little critters we saw.

By far the cutest guys we saw were the prairie dogs.  They were working on their different burrows and tunnels, so there were a few with huge wads of straw and sticks in their mouths, like this guy.  They were squeakin all over the place at each other!  It was so cute.  I got a little video of them.

After the zoo we stopped at Sonic for Happy Hour, then I headed back to Springfield.  It was a short little trip, but it was a bunch of fun.  Thanks E-Mac!!  :)

I cannot believe it's already the middle of November!  The cold weather has finally hit, the leaves are gorgeous, and Christmas decorations are making their way into everything.  I have 2 short weeks of school and then it's back home for good food, good family, and good fun!  Hope everyone is doing well!