Getting close to the end!

I've been sort of MIA lately, at least in terms of posting on here.  I've been trying to finish up my portfolio, which is due in a couple of weeks (on GRADUATION day!!!) and my graduate thesis... which will not be completed before graduation.  :(  That's kind of sad, but data collection has been taking SOOO long.  This thesis has taken so much time to complete, and there is still so much work left to do. Part of the delay has been due to the fact that some participants just don't show up.  It's been so hard to be patient with people not being dependable.

I feel like this whole graduate school experience has been so full of obstacles.  Nothing really has gone easily or the way that I've expected it to.  I hope this isn't a sign of bad things to come... when I start the career.  There are a lot of time when I wonder if this is where I'm supposed to be and that God just provided all this adversity to stretch me and make me stronger... and on my worst days, I wonder why God even made me go through all of this. 

Play Date

Most people that have blogs are always writing about their cute little babies, which is great, of course, because children are such precious gifts from God.  Since we don't have a human child, we just have a little beagle boy to write about.  I thought I would post some pictures from a recent play date with my mom's puppy, Pollyanna, and my neighbor's Appalachian Big-Footed Basset Hound, Nala.  They are so funny together!  Bruce and Pollyanna like to wrestle, and Nala can only run when she's barking her head off!  So, enjoy!

Also, Bruce can now sit, shake paws/hands, and give a high five.  Jeff has been working with him on bowing.  What a smart little boy!

The last picture is of Bruce and Pollyanna when Jeff was trying to scare them with a cutting board.  I think it's really adorable!

Potato Sausage Soup- Yum!!

This potato soup is one of our favorite recipes! It has such a delicious flavor to it, and we have made it over and over again. It's from my Busy Woman's Cookbook, which I love!

Potato-Sausage Soup

1 lb. pork sausage links*
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 (10 oz) cans potato soup**
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1 package of frozen hash browns***

1. If using pork links, cut sausage into 1 inch diagonal slices. We prefer breakfast sausage with it, so just brown that in a large heavy soup pot, drain and place in separate bowl. Leave about two tbsp sausage drippings in skillet and saute celery and onion.

2. Add potato soup, 3/4 cup water, chicken broth, and sausage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Serves 4. (If you decide to put in the hash browns, I put these in when I simmer the soup for 20 minutes.)

*We prefer breakfast sausage instead of links. Well, really, it's javascript:void(0)just me that does. We've been using sage breakfast sausage, which is really delicious!

**Just potato soup does not exist, so look for cream of potato.

***Since potato soup does not exist, if you make it with just that, it really doesn't have very many potatoes in it. Once I decided to add in some frozen hash browns to see what would happen, and it was awesome! If you like a little more spice, you can try southwestern hash browns!

There you go!! :)

P.S.  Jeff wanted to say this is his most favorite soup that he has ever consumed.

"Breakfast burritos make me fat" & other things

Also, my one and only reader, Lindsay, said she thought I needed to spice up my blog a little. I'm not sure if this will be funny, but I thought I would still share it.

I've been doing a group for the past four weeks with three girls who are cognitively impaired. We've been working on concepts like body protection, body awareness, and just general "My body belongs to me" kinds of things. Well, it has been so much fun, as well as a mixture of hilarious and sad. These girls are pretty unpredictable with what they say so they keep me laughing inside...

One of the girls in the group perseverates on things, especially jalapenos. Here are two of her knock-knock jokes from the first session:

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Jalapeno.

Jalapeno who?

I like it hot!


Knock knock.

Who's there?

You.

You who?

You get on out of here!

SO funny! And today, we were role-playing how we would respond to bullies. So she started making a gun with her hands and saying, "PUT YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR!"

If my job could be filled with this, I think I would love it a lot more!

Mixed Vegetable Minestrone- YUM!

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 med. onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed with press
salt and pepper
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
4 c. water
1 lb. carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 sm. bunch Swiss Chard, stems removed and discarded; leaves thinly sliced
1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-in pieces
1 1/2 c. frozen shelled edamame
1 1/2 c. cooked or 1 can (15 oz) white kidney beans (cannellini)
1 c. tubetti or other short pasta
1/2 c. plus 6 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. In 5- to 6-quart, heat 1 tablespoon oil on medium until hot. Stir in onion, garlic, and 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper. Cover and cook 4-5 minutes or until tender. Add tomatoes and water. Heat to boiling on medium-high. Add carrots; cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chard and green beans; cook 6 minutes or until beans are just tender stirring occasionally. Add edamame and white beans; cook 5 minutes or until edamame beans are cooked through. .

2. Meanwhile, cook pasta as label directs. Drain well and stir into saucepot with soup. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Ladle into 6 soup bowls. Top each portion with 1 tablespoon Parmesan and 1/2 teaspoon oil.

This was delicious! Took a while to make, but it makes a ton, especially if you have a small family! It would also be good for company. Thought I would share with you!

Also, if you can chop up all that stuff in 18 minutes, I'm impressed.. :) And Swiss Chard is a leafy vegetable--kind of like big spinach leaves.

Good bye 2009! Hello 2010!

Happy New Year!!

We really hope everyone had a great Christmas and holiday season.. and that you were able to spend time with loved ones and celebrate the wonderfulness of Christmas!

I obviously haven't been on in a long time. I've really wanted to, but I really just dread typing after having had to do it so much in grad school and on the job. I also didn't really know what to write! :)

So I looked at some other blogs and saw that some people had written what was special and what they wanted to remember about 2009, and thought, "I would like to do that, too!" It seems like so much has happened in the past year, which seems to be the trend in this phase of our lives.. :)

So here goes..
January: Celebrated 6 months of marriage! I took the Praxis...

February: I don't really remember too much of February.. Probably were both busy traveling back and forth to work and school. We started exploring some new churches in our area, wondering if God wanted us to be somewhere else.

March: Found out I passed the Praxis.. Did several interviews for internships.

April: I got offered an internship... on APRIL FOOL'S DAY! Wouldn't you know it?!

May: We decided to make an offer on a house and closed on the very last day of this month! I also finished up my grad school coursework.. hmm.. Hard to figure out which one of those is more exciting!!

June: PAINTED A TON!! and unpacked 40 billion boxes! Bruce, our beagle child, also was finally able to come live with us.

July: Took our first vacation to Panama City Beach. It was a nice way to relax and get revitalized after all of our hard work. I also proposed my thesis. And Jeff had an interview at his current place of work.

August: We celebrated our first year of marriage! What sweet bliss to still love one another so much! God has truly blessed us with gracious hearts toward one another. Also.. Started our new jobs!

September: Cheered on those Titans, even though they lost so much during this month. We tried to keep our heads up though..:)

October: We flew up to New Jersey to visit my brother and his family. Spent a couple of days in NYC! It was such fun to get away and explore the city together. Also, it was so fun to spend time with our nephews, John (now 5) & Andrew (2 1/2)! I also turned 25... Moved up an age bracket! (hah!) We also were able to travel to TTU to see some of our old friends from college. And we picked out a puppy for my parents.

November: Celebrated Thanksgiving! Tried to be realistic about the Titans actually making it to the Super Bowl.

December: Celebrated Christmas and Jeff's birthday! Also, we both made it through the first half the school year. It was so sweet to get to spend so much time together again!

Here are some little glimpses of our year!

Work Schmerk

Well, adulthood is in full swing. I now fully understand why adults are so stressed out all the time and always tell college students that they are living the best years of their lives. That used to make me feel sad, in a way, because I thought that I still could be happy even as an adult. I’ve come to realize that it’s really more about the freedom and accessibility to friends that is missed when you’re an adult.

One challenge of working is just trying to keep a positive spirit. There are so many things to complain about, especially when working with people. Let’s face it, people can be difficult, especially middle schoolers (a fact Jeff can attest to). Of course, I just survived two years of grad school so sometimes knowing that I can go home and not have to work on homework is enough to make me feel happy. :)

But I’ve realized that it’s easy to get bogged down in a to-do list and forget that we have opportunities to make an impact on people’s lives. I’m just an intern, but I interact with sweet kiddos all the time, and I hope the work that I do can help them have a more supported educational experience. A lot of times, I don’t necessarily think I’m the best fit for this job and tire of the process to becoming a more knowledgeable school psychologist. I want to know how to do everything, but it takes time and effort, which can be frustrating, especially when you have to learn so much in front of other people.

Things are okay, though. Beneath it all is a hope that God will lift us up when we feel weary and give us strength to get through the crazy days. And He will.