Busy Bee

The semester is winding down, friends.  That of course means that school is getting crazy, hectic, and busy.  So many assignments due in such a short amount of time.  It's crazy how much can be due at the same time. 

Overall, this semester has gone really well.  I have learned, been challenged, and have been pushed to be uncomfortable.  This semester has not only taught me invaluable lessons in the field of social work, but also in my life.  I have had to define myself as a practitioner, advocate, and student.  And have had to secure a friend base in this new season of life.

I am excited about being in such an incredible program, and look forward to the possibility of continuing my education in the future.  I love learning, and can't thank U of M enough for blessing me with incredible professors and incredible opportunities!

#77: Loving the challenging nature of school.  My papers are not simple research regurgitation, but instead incorporate critical analysis and application. 
#78: I have enjoyed my colleagues so much this semester.  I have learned so much from my peers and classmates.  Forever Grateful.
#79: My internship has allowed me to learn in a new way.  Everything is applicable, everything is apparent, and everything is visible.
#80: Life in Michigan is cold and grey, but thankful that the wintery mixes have held off thus far.

Wolverine Love

I admit that it can be troubling to people to hear that I love both the Buckeyes and the Wolverines.  But I assure you that the condition can exist, and does within me.

If you were at the game Saturday, you'll know the video I am talking about.  It was really catchy, really cool and really great and had a We are the Wolverines song in it.  I can't find it. Help a sista out.

#73: Anti-Nausea pills.  Long story. Just grateful
#74: Secured a donation for a party for my clients in December.  It felt incredible to see the willingness of others to donate out of their limited resources. 
#75: Seeing so much family this past weekend reminds me of so many things and reminds me to not take a single thing for granted. 
#76: Holiday Season is upon us.  I am excited to shop for others, love on others, and celebrate this season with love.  Grateful does not begin to describe this feeling.

Urban Meyer!!

I love the Buckeyes, I do I do I do.  And as a Wolverine, I am aware of the dichotomy.  But I still love my Buckeyes....

And I am pleased to announce the arrival of URBAN MEYER. 

Which I totally predicted back in June. No joke. Family connections with the Meyer's. No joke.

Watch and witness a football legend...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy thanksgiving to my friends and family! I hope that you enjoy this holiday while also remembering what you are grateful for!  I am grateful for love, health, happiness, laughter, and joy.

#71: Moments with family members.  I may not see them all of the time, but the love I have for them never changes. 

#72: Opportunities to give thanks and say grace.  It's a beautiful way to thank our God for the blessings we have. 

Travel Day!

Today's the day of travel! After class I will be well on my way to Ohio to see my lovely family.  This will be such an incredible experience for our family since we'll be seeing my grandpa for the first time since he has been diagnosed.  My mom has been down, but my siblings and I haven't been able to make the treck to the little town of Chillicothe. 

I love family gatherings for so many reasons.  I am so excited to see everyone, to eat delicious food, and spend quality time laughing and telling stories.  I am also excited to go black friday shopping!!! I wasn't able to go since last year I went to the houseboat...but this year my plans are a bit different... :) :)

I hope everyone has safe travels!  Good luck dealing with any dilemmas that arise as a result of having so many family members together!! 

. . .

Why??

I have been wondering about the question of why so so much lately.  For instance, why do we do the things we do, why do things happen the way they do, and why things happen when they do.  It's fascinating, discouraging, and frustrating to truly think about the question of why. 

It's Happening...

Every single fall since I've been at Michigan I have gotten sick sick.  Like not cold, sick but sick sick.  It has typically been bronchitis.  But there was that one special year that I was one of the many struck by The Swine of 09.

Well, remember how I had pneumonia in August? I do.  I was hoping that it would credit my seasonal bronchitis episode so that I wouldn't have to go through two miserable sicknesses.  I am obviously not that lucky.

I was up ALL night last night coughing.  Woke up with a low grade fever, but felt decent throughout the day.  I even worked out with my madre! Alas, I am currently feeling ILL.  Swollen lymph nodes, congested, sore throat, heavy chest, you know the drill.  Oh and my fever is much higher.  WOOT.

Sorry for the complaints.  It is now time to be greatful...
#66: Warm, clean sheets and warm, not as clean blankets.  It was laundry day.  And I love clean sheets.  But comforters are too hard to wash. 
#67: Halls Defense.  They are tasty, corn syrup free and will hopefully boost my sad little immune system.
#68: Thanksgiving weekend plans.  SO excited. I'll tell you about them lata gata..
#69: Inappropriate jokes that make me laugh even though they shouldn't but I don't care because everyone needs to laugh.
#70: My madre.  She makes delicious food, loves me, cleans for my family and I, and cares about my wellbeing.  I love her.  I am proud of her. 

Shout Outsss

If you have your own blog, then you know that "statistics" are kept for your blog!  For those of you who don't know this, blogger basically tracks the number of page views on the site, which particular posts are opened individually the most, what search words lead to my blog, what operating systems open my blog, referring websites, pageviews by browser and pageviews by country.

People have read my blog all over the world (no joke).  Countries represented include (but are not limited to) Mexico, Russia, the Netherlands, Singapore, Mozambique, South Africa, Australia, and Latvia.  Pretty crazy, huh?

Let this post be a polite thank you and shout out to my friends and readers in Latvia (and everywhere else, too!!!)

#64: This blog may not mean much to anyone but me, but then again, I made it for me first and foremost.
#65: Weeks go by, the weather changes, and the seasons are more and more exaggerated.  Loving Michigan.  Embracing this very very rare feeling. 

Sexy Can I

Have you listened to the radio lately?  Well if you haven't, let me give you a brief description of what you can hear on the radio...

"I'm sexy and I know ittt""are you gonna love me forever...uh uh uh..or am I just a hit and runnnn"

"You da oneee"
"God gave me youu"
"We found love in a hopeless placeee"
"we own the night"
"all you are is meann"
"someone like you"


So basically, we are all going through a mental process of knowing we are damn hottt, determining the status of the relationship (one night stand or long term), deciding that the other person is "the one", going so far as to say that God gave me you, being grateful for finding the one in a hopeless place, feeling so powerful in love that you feel like you're owning the night, and then all of the sudden, boom, you hate the person and the person is mean, and you'll find someone better.

It's a complicated world that us humans live in. 

#61: Music makes commuting possible.  don't know how I would survive without being able to listen to music and sing along.
#62: Getting assignments done early because of the motivation that CMT/GAC offer.  I love how much it can make the time go by during homework time!  (unless "I'm gonna love you through it" comes on)
#63: Ever walk into potentially horrible situations? I did recently.  I made it out alive, mentally stable, and emotionally stable.  Grateful.

Politics

Politics and I have a love hate relationship, and a lot of that comes from the fact that so many relationships can become stressed by talking about politics.  The truth of the matter, though, is that politics has a lot to do with the direction of our country, and the services that we as citizens receive. 

Have you been watching the GOP debates?  I have been discouraged by them.  I am not a GOP supporter, generally, but I still like seeing the ingenuity in the variety of candidates before the primaries when there are so many candidates.  I feel like I haven't seen any ingenuity, but have been disappointed over and over again. 

I am realizing, too, how much we need to be aware of the policies and bills that are current in congress or the senate (both state and federal).  Citizens have lots of swaying power when it comes to writing their legislators.  Currently, Michigan is trying to revamp the no-fault insurance policy in the state.  They are trying to put a cap on the amount insurers are required to pay out in terms of health related accident needs.  This is being framed as saving individuals on their premiums.  In reality, if you are hurt in an accident, that $250 k will go by incredibly quickly.  Educate yourself on the policy, and write your legislator.  I don't care what side your on, actually...I just want our politicians to do what they're supposed to do, represent their constituents.

Awkwardddd

Lots of things are awkward.  Just check out Awkward family photos and you'll find things like this to show you just how awkward life can be...



Other things that are awkward:
Your professors and dean being at the Charity Ball you danced at on Friday night, waking up the next morning to find out that you were texting the wrong person the night before, finding out that your baby brother is not such a baby anymore (Girlfriend alert), and having your dad call the sales people that are not being cooperative while your still in the store....

yep. Life has been pretty awkward lately....

#55: My dad fights for me all the time.  Even if it's really awkward, I'd rather not have to be the bad guy.
#56: I love my baby brother.  And he will never lose the baby in front of brother.
#57: We still had fun, even with our professors and dean rockin out beside us.
#58: People are very forgiving when it comes to late night texts.  Thank you.
#59: Time to blog.  Such a fun outlet. 
#60: Jon Stewart's reaction to the GOP debates this past week.

November

November means lots of things: The semester is about to wind down, which actually means amp up; It is about to get really cold really fast and snow will soon be on the ground; Christmas music is now acceptable; and you should feel burned out (check point one). 

Everything is going as planned.  It snowed on Thursday, it's really cold, I'm really busy with school, and the semester is getting crazy.  Oh and because it snowed, Christmas music is TOTALLY acceptable now. 

By the way, if you're like me and want to cry on the first snow fall, be near children on the first snow fall of the year.  I was picking up kids from school, and when it started snowing, all of the children at the school were jumping up and down, clapping, and running around in circles.  The kids talked about it the entire drive home (30 min) and also told me they need their snow pants....

Well happy November, friends.  Hang in there.  It is gonna get crazy, but just remember...

"I get by with a little help from my friends"

....

#51: Time to sleep.  I took a 3 hour nap yesterday, and slept a full nine hours last night.

#52: Healthy mamma's.  My lovely madre had to experience another ER visit last night.  She's fine...and I am eternally greatful for that.

#53: The freedom to cry.  Because I have a healthy madre, a healthy aunt, a fighting papa, and an angel grandma, I cannot listen to Martina McBride's song without crying.  And that's okay.  I love my family, and am honored to be related to such ridiculously strong people.

#54: Babies.  I can't get enough of the little one I've been getting to spend time with.  She's talking some, is so much more mobile, and gets so excited to see me. 

FINISHED

The craziest part about being finished?  I am totally not finished at all!  There are always new projects to work on and new 1000s of pages to read.  But honestly, making it to this time today has seemed so impossible the past few days.  Considering the hours of sleep I missed out on and the hours of my life span taken away by stress, I am just grateful that everything actually got accomplished!  While I could worry about grades and my scores on each of my assignments, I am going to choose to be content with the fact that each assignment is turned in, complete, and was completed to the best of my ability, considering the resources (ie time) that was available to me. 

Speaking of stress, I have become a bit more educated on what it can do to your body.  IT CAN MAKE YOU GAIN WEIGHT LIKE WOAH.  So secret revealing time: I have gained 12ish pounds since starting my masters program in September.  That's alot, people.  The confusing and frustrating part to this is that I am actually eating less (I'm busy, friends) and exercising more (for sanity, yo).  Now I am not saying I deserve the healthy person of the year award, but my habits are better than they were this summer, for sure.

I was talking to my doctor about headache medicines (they cause weight gain too) and she mentioned that the weight is probably because of higher levels of stress hormones in my body.  Daily stress is more damaging to your body than trauma.  For reals. And your body internalizes this daily stress via the fight or flight concept.  So when I eat, my body saves ALL of those calories for future battle.  And when I exercise, my metabolism is not boosted by as much as it used to be.  So...I have to destress......

#48: Getting through these past few days
#49: Helpful doctors who don't think I'm superficial when voicing that spontaneous weight gain is no fun
#50: Freedom to not feel ashamed about my body.  This is an every day battle, but I am confident that I will continue gaining more and more freedom in this realm.

Crazies

Technology is the cause for my crazies.  So it's not even me-crazies.  That's the worst; I am not even contributing to my crazies.

Between phones being obnoxious, files failing, and presentations being difficult, I am so done with this week full of countless assignments.  (Five to be exact).  So at noon tomorrow, I will be celebrating.  How will I celebrate, well I am going to buy a nice starbucks, and relax as I slowly continue checking things off of my to-do list.  Which, for me, sounds like the nicest afternoon ever....

#46: the unconditional love of a puppy.  No matter what my day has been like, she loves me and greats me so eagerly.
#47: the ctools confirmation email telling me my assignment has been submitted....officially off of the to-do list, i other words. 

Natures' Beauty

#41

 The best part about driving crazy early in the morning?  The sunrises of course! I have also had the chance to catch a few amazing sunsets too...enjoy friends.

#42

                                                                                                

#43

#44

#45

Never Underestimate

...the BUCKEYES!!!

I love my Buckeyes.  I really do.  And I love my Wolverines.  Trust me, it can happen.  But the Wisconsin/OSU game was out of this world on Saturday night.

I was babysitting (3yr old triplets and a 17mth baby) on Saturday night so after the kiddos went to bed I got to do some reading (have I mentioned how much reading I do every week?) and watch the best football game ever.

I have to mention, too, that I don't like Wisconsin.  Every time I see a team I like play them, I like them less and less; so seeing Wisconsin lose is way fun.  And seeing them lose with only 28 seconds to go...much more fun!

I hope you watched the game...you would have been on the edge of your seat because it was CRAY CRAY!

#37: Sports are fun.  I love watching my favorite teams and watching them work so hard to make their fans smile and cheer.  Did you hear that horseshoe crowd on saturday!?
#38: Winning.  I don't care how ridiculous this is, but I am much happier after my teams win.
#39: Children.  I love them.  I really do.  Orchard with the children pictures to come.  Then you'll understand why.
#40: Huron River Dr. in Ann Arbor is the prettiest road I have driven on, especially with all of the Fall colors.  Take the time.  Do it.

Spicer's Round Two

On Sunday, I was able to find an excuse for round two at the Orchard: I was with the babes all afternoon!! They hadn't gone yet this year so I took the liberty of taking them.  My madre came with since she hadn't gone yet this year.  It was definitely helpful for crowd control!

#35: nothing beats the apple cinnamon smell of the orchard.
#36: bringing the kiddos meant I could un-awkwardly hang out in the kid part of the orchard...which is obviously the best part.

They were adamant about wearing their costumes.  They all have on so many layers to make sure they didn't get cold.  Everyone commented on their cuteness!

Just two cuties, hanging out inside the pirate ship.

 It's serious work on the pirate ship.  Smiling for photos was not a priority.

 We left Pierce in charge of driving the train.  His (sleepy) bro bros approved.

Mom tucked in the aliens teeth to help Dominick see better.  She then asked him if he could see better and he did this....

Miss Jaclyn is very big on trains, chains, and single file lines.  They have adapted well, I'd say.