Hiccups and Warm Fuzzies

Breathe in.

Breath out.

(The breathing exercise is more for my benefit than for yours!)

Life isn't always smooth sailing... and my life has had a few strong winds since I started graduate school a month ago. My loans were sent to the wrong school... I was dropped from the university... my roommate is moving out... I need a roommate in two days... a friend of mine treated me poorly... my job is scheduling me too many hours... transcript issues... etc. etc. etc. A friend of mine humorously labeled events such as these as "hiccups". And with life being as busy as mine is, I just don't have time to deal with these "hiccups".

However, like in Psalm 23, God has given me some tufts of green pastures to get through each day. I have discovered an amazing church filled with people who wholeheartedly strive to be disciples of Jesus and who pray for me daily. Two old men (retired dance instructors) have been teaching me so many new dance moves- they said that I am such a "great prospect" and have so much "potential"! A grandfather of one of my clients observed my therapy session and was very complimentary! My brother came to visit me and take me to a couple of great museums in Dallas! A very dear friend of mine has honored me to be her maid of honor. These things just make me smile and make my heart happy. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside amidst the cold, harsh wind.

I am currently accepting any roommate suggestions/living options and any prayers you'd like to throw my way!

One-Tripper

There are some people in this world who have the patience and time to take several trips to-and-from their car after they go to the grocery store. I am not one of these people. I am a one-tripper. However, I have decided that this is ridiculous! Yesterday I found myself carrying my bookbag (with my laptop, two notebooks, five spirals, and a huge textbook), my purse, my waterbottle, a new houseplant, and 12 grocery bags full of food to my apartment door from my car. This was an exhausting five feet walk, and when I got to my apartment, I couldn't raise my arm high enough to unlock my door. It is so sad that I am so lazy (or so busy) that I can't allow myself to take 2, 3, or even 4 trips. And today my arms are sore... hmm. Perhaps it is time to rethink my life a little bit.

My New School

School has started! It has shocked me how much higher the professors' expectations are in graduate school than in undergrad. Looking around the classroom at my fellow speech-language pathology (SLP) graduate students has also fascinated me. I am not the only beautiful, intelligent, responsible, straight-A student in the class- I'm just one of 80. We all graduated with honors, we all would cry if we made a C, we all have our daily planners filled, and we all have our notes color-coordinated.

In order to be considered competent as an SLP, I must complete at least 400 hours of clinical practicum throughout the next two years of school. This semester I am working with one and two-year-olds who are considered "language-delayed" but who have no other developmental delays. This practicum is basically a language-rich preschool where we strive to increase the children's expressive vocabularies through different activities, fun literature, and lots of repetition. I even get to wear a cool lab coat! I feel like God has really prepared me for this experience- it's nearly exactly what I did last year with my special needs children! Wednesday was our first day, and hopefully it is not foreshadowing how the rest of the semester will be. Out of three kids, two of them wailed the entire time, and one of them vomited. Yuck. It was still enjoyable, and I think I'll really love it!