Surviving the Communication Disorders Department 101

The following is a basic survival guide for finals week (or any week) as a graduate student in the Communications Disorders Department...

First...

Bake a small batch of chocolate chip cookies.

Next...

Place a minimum of three cookies on a plate and pour a glass of ice cold milk.

Lastly...

Plug in The Wedding Date... Grab a blanket and pillow... and crash on the couch.

This should do the trick.

Sea of Green

The time has come.

I have been looking forward to this for three years now.

This weekend, we began moving Andrew's stuff into the house. It's a slow process, but the time has finally arrived!! We spent the weekend packing up his room in Rolla and moving some items to Cape.

I arrived in Rolla on Thursday evening to this lovely sight. Needless to say, we weren't quite sure where to begin! Ultimately, things were just randomly placed in boxes at our convenience. But, hey- it got the job done! We were ready to move him out on Saturday afternoon!

In order to move Andrew's full sized bed into our future bedroom, we had to disassemble the two daybeds. First, Andrew took apart the white one in Theodore's room... then the pink one in my room. Yes, it doubles as storage space- pardon the picture. Everything now has a special home! : )

Theodore was very worried about the removal of the bed in his room. He was actually very upset.

He finally found a safe place in the space between the full sized matress and the couch. He stayed here for a little while.

... That is until he saw we were moving MY bed into HIS room. He was sooo excited about this move. I just know that he thought we were going to have sleepovers every night. He purred and purred... and rubbed his head against Andrew's leg. He was adorable to watch! His excitement made me feel bad that I wasn't going to bunk with him every night. Ok, that's not the truth- but it was cute to watch!

Once the bed was assembled and the bedskirt was on, Theodore couldn't stand it any longer. He jumped up on the bed... with no mattress... and realized that the bed was full of holes! That didn't seem to phase him! He was just thrilled to have my bed in his room! So cute!

It was now time to set up our room!!!

I purchased this bedspread months ago, and I have been itching to use it ever since! I am extremely fond of this new bedroom set! It is still a work in progress, but I love it so far!!

Waking up in a sea of green truly makes me happy!! And, no worries- the bright white tag is now removed from the bedspread. It looks much better without it.

Now for a tacky plug for our registry...

I am really hopeful that we receive these curtains that we have placed on our registry! They are the perfect compliment to our bedspread, and it would look much better than the light pink and brown ones I have up now! These are now on the top of my list of items to receive- along with the ivory sheets and bronze curtain rod!! Like I said, it's a work in progress, but it's coming along nicely!!

Now... The countdown to when Andrew moves in!! YAY!!!

Today I Honor...

... a very incredible lady.

Someone who is selfless.

Someone who is there in an instant.

Someone who is strong.

Someone who is loving, kind, and gentle.

Someone who truly shows unconditional love.

Today I honor my mom.

My mom has been there for me through so many things. She's been through break-ups, held my hair when I was sick, zipped my wedding dress the first time I tried it on, and cried the first tears for many occassions.

My mom is extremely strong, yet gentle. She is one of the kindest people I know, and she has a heart of gold. She gives and gives and gives of herself and never asks for anything in return.

She raised me to be the best I can be. She has always believed in me, pushed me, and expected me to be the best that I can be. She never let me settle for anything less than my best, but she never had unrealistic expectations of me either.

She helped mold me into the person I am today. She helped me learn how to love, how to trust, how to care, and most of all, she taught me about God.

She is an incredible woman. I am so proud to call her my mom.

As I get ready to marry the man of my dreams, I reflect more and more about the life lessons this special lady has taught me over the years. I am so thankful that God blessed me with such an incredible mom!!

Today, my mom spent Mother's Day at the hospital with my Granny Miff. She was taken to the ER this morning, and without second thought, my mom went to the hospital to be with her.

Mom has spent this week creating beautiful bouquets for other women in honor of Mother's Day. She has worked so hard to make this day special for many women in the community.

Today was supposed to be HER day. A chance for her to rest. A chance for her to enjoy. Instead, she spent it at the hospital. She never complained, she just did what had to be done. I am glad I could be there with her for a part of it.

She takes everything with stride, and she gives of herself unconditionally. She isn't thanked enough for all that she does. But, without her, this family would not function as well as it does.

So, I would like to take this time to say THANK YOU, MOM.

Thank you for being who you are.

Thank you for raising me the way you did.

Thank you for loving unconditionally.

Thank you for giving so much of yourself without asking for anything in return.

Thank you for being an awesome role model.

Thank you for being an incredible, absolutely amazing, and totally wonderful Mom.

I LOVE YOU!!!

Craziest of all Crazy Days

On Wednesday, I shared with you about my ant escapade. I didn't; however, share with you about the rest of the fiasco. Wacky Wednesday is what I am calling May 5, 2010.

Let me recap:

After sleeping in and looking forward to a productive day, I was greeted with unwelcome visitors. Just the beginning.

These unwelcome boogers created 5 hours of cleaning... aside from the 5 assignments I had to complete.

While dealing with this mess, I checked my school email and found out that I had to write a last minute treatment plan for my young client... and meet with my supervisor THAT DAY. So, I began to frantically deal with the kitchen.

While in the process, this jerk crawled across my hand... and then resisted the ant killer, which forced me to kill him manually.

Then... I was off to school.

Afterwards, I decided a needed to spoil myself a little bit before I went back home to the mess. So, I decided that Andy's was just the place to go. Afterall, they had NEVER failed me before.

I ordered a Butterfinger concrete... and couldn't wait to bite into it! After five bits, I bit into something that didn't feel quite right. Yes, of course- why would it be perfect on a day like today? Part of the wrapper was mixed into my concrete. That didn't stop me from finishing it though.

After this, things calmed down for a bit until my friend arrived at my house to complete our many assignments. Shortly after her arrival, another silly mishap took place. My phone was on my lap, and Theodore wanted to be held. So, I pick him up, my phone fell, and we heard a thud (obviously). What we didn't know is where the phone fell to.

I was sitting on the corner of my couch, so I obviously checked in the cushions, between the couch and the side table, under the couch, everywhere. It was no where to be found. Little did I know, there is a tiny space between the cushions where the arm of the couch meet the back of the couch. In the year and a half that I've had this couch, I thought that everything was connected. Afterall, I had never lost anything before. Until now. So, we decided the only way to get the phone was to turn the couch over (me and my little friend, Jen).

Why turn it over you ask? Well, because unlike this couch, my couch has a liner along the bottom. So, anything that falls through, doesn't come out the bottom. So, in order to get my phone, I had to tear the liner off of the staples, reach my arm through to the middle of the couch where my phone shifted in transit, and scratch my arm up getting my phone.

Whew! Enough craziness for one day! Or so I thought.

When all was said and done, we decided we should celebrate Cinco de Mayo and order cheese dip to go. I put Theodore in his bachelor pad, and we were off!!

Upon arriving home, I did not let Theodore out because I was so excited about the cheese dip.

It was then that we heard the noise. The unmistakable sound of scurrying feet. I turned to Jen and asked her what that sound was. She responded with "Theodore." I assured her that he was in his room, and she then swore she saw him run by. I went to his room, opened the door, and sure enough, he was in his room.

So, what made that sound?

I went to investigate. It was then that I found the ant trap I had set below the dishwasher gone... and it just so happens there is a small hole between the dishwasher and cabinets. Hmmm... how convenient.

In this picture, if you look closely, you can see the little black ant trap in the lower lefthand corner of the dishwasher. It is now MIA.

We determined that the sound was coming from the large open space behind the sink... under the sink is storage space, but that ends with a half wall... which then opens up into nothingness.

What is back there? Well, that question generated 33 comments on facebook. A mouse? A baby bunny? A snake? ... That was my mom's input. She encouraged me to play a flute because it would make a snake dance. What a wacko!! ; )

I am convinced that I have at least one mouse. Whatever is back there, it's making me and Theodore crazy. Theodore tried to investigate, but had no luck. Since then, he's tried grabbing whatever is back there with his little paws, but he can't reach back far enough.

The jist of the story is... between ants, spiders, plastic in my ice cream, the quest for my phone, and an unidentifiable guest below my sink, I had a comically crazy Cinco de Mayo. At the end of the day, while on the phone with Andrew, I couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the events that took place.

So, what's next?

Operation "Find that Creature!"

Operation 5510

Effective Immediately

Mission: Eliminate Ants

Location: Kitchen

Means: Use whatever force necessary

This morning I woke surprisingly well rested. I was in bed and asleep by 10:00, and I have no obligations for the first time in a long time, so I slept until 8:00 this morning.

I lounged in bed for a little while, and after 20 minutes or so, I decided to get up, get a bowl of cereal, and come back to bed and work on homework. I walked into the kitchen, looked at my clean countertops (I cleaned the kitchen and bedroom last night- thoroughly), and much to my dismay, they were black! Not solid black, but little black speckles covered my counters, stove, and sink. I was horrified!

I immediately grabbed my kitchen safe ant killer and went to work. This is the aftermath of Battle One.

I thought I had won.

I cleaned up this nasty mess, disinfected my countertops, and once again tried to get a bowl of cereal. When I opened the cabinets; however, I found that they ants were in there too!! Never before have they moved to the cabinets where I store dishes- until this spring that is.

So, I unloaded EVERYTHING from my cabinets, sprayed them down, and then washed a bowl for cereal. By this time, my stomach was letting me know that it required food. I opened the bag of cereal, poured a bowl... milk and all... and guess what came floating to the top? You got it- and ant. Those little jerks had found their way into a ZIPLOCKED plastic bag. I was not happy.

So, I dumped the bowl. Rinsed the sugary goodness from the sink, bowl, and spoon... and gave up on breakfast. I threw the rest of the cereal out and took the trash out.

I then loaded all of my CLEAN dishes into the dishwasher so I could put them back in the cabinets after I wash them out later today. After this task was complete (halfway, at least- my table is still full of dishes needing to be washed), I went outside to get my heavy duty ant killer. I was spraying along the baseboards of the kitchen when I felt something crawl across my hand. Something big. I knew it wasn't an ant. I flicked it off of my hand, looked down, screamed, sprayed... killed.

Yes. This spider, who is fighting for his life, came off of the ant killer. It was so tough that the ant killer was not effective. I had to personally kill... with a ton of paper towels... this monster of a spider.

I have had my share of insects (I don't care about proper terminology) for the month. And, it's only the 5th of May.

So, after class today, I will make the trek to Wal-Mart to invest in some handy dandy ant traps. The war has been waged. I will be victorious.

*** UPDATE ***

Thanks to a couple of sources, I have found my answer: http://www.terro.com/index.php

Reminded

"A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank...but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child."   - Forest Witchcraft

I often get discouraged in my major. The classes are difficult, the teachers can be demeaning, and I'm tired all of the time from constantly running around. I know that I often complain about the bad things in this major... and rightfully so. However, I live for moments like today.

Moments when I'm reminded.

Moments when I'm encouraged.

Moments when all of my hard work and dedication pay off.

Moments when I'm told that I have made a difference.

I have worked with a young boy this semester. We have worked to increase his intelligibilty... and to simply extend his length of utterances. He came to the clinic using maybe two word sentences. Though we have a long way to go with him, he made incredible progress.

Today, at the parent conference, his mom started telling me, with tears rolling down her face, how much my efforts have meant to her and her family. She explained that I have helped to completely changed their lifestyle. She thanked me again and again for making their family stronger... better... closer.

I cannot say that it is all me. It's not. This little boy is extremely intelligent. And, he's had a lot of prayers said for him this semester by his clinician. : ) I have taken special interest in this family, and it meant the world to me to hear that what I have tried to do has not gone unnoticed.

Once again; however, this family has changed my life in ways that I never could have imagined. They thank me for all of my efforts, but they deserve the thanks. To watch a family love each other, fight for each other, and believe in each other was an incredible thing for me to witness.

They are truly wonderful.

And, once again, God has reminded me exactly why I am in this career path. Once again, I have been reminded to not focus on the difficult aspects... the discouraging moments... but to relish the gems that are handed out every once in a while. Most often they come at the perfect time.

One Track Mind

I am easily distractible. I mean, if I can find anything... I mean anything... to keep me from focusing on school, I will do it. Unfortunately (if you can even say that here), I got my wedding dress fitted on Saturday. Why, you might ask, is that an unfortunate event? Well, let me explain...

... Ever since Saturday, I've mainly only thought about one thing. My dress.

Any quiet moment I have, I think about my dress. Any time I'm bored in class, I think about my dress. Any time I sit down to do homework, I think about my dress. As I'm getting ready in the mornings, I think about my dress. As I'm eating, I think about my dress.

I adore my dress. I adore wedding dresses in general, but my dress is simply perfect. It was made with me in mind, and I cannot wait to wear it in 33 days (who's counting?!).

I have been enamored with my dress since I found it 2.5 years ago, but I was no prepared for the day when I could actually see it fit my body perfectly. Although the alterations haven't been made, it was absolutely stunning with the pins in place, pulling it precisely where the dress needed to lay.

It's gorgeous. It's perfect. It's consuming my thoughts.

33 days.

I cannot wait.

Just Do It

... That is the motto of the day.

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, Andrew and I are working towards living a healthier lifestyle. I have received several comments about this such as, "You are already so skinny!"... "You already look great!"... and so on. So, as a disclaimer, I am not doing this to "lose" weight, but I am doing this to feel better. To feel healthy. To have energy. To feel good about myself. Luckily, Andrew is wanting to lose a little bit of weight, and his willingness to participate in this new campaign makes it easier for me.

Our new plan... eat less, eat healthier, and incorporate exercise into our weekly routines. This weekend, along with eating the super yummy, very healthy meals, we also made it a point to exercise in some way every day. On Friday, we walked for an hour around the park and campus. On Saturday, we went to the student REC center, and Andrew lifted weights while I walked on the treadmill. Finally, today, we walked over two miles around the hilly campus. Today's walk was much different than the previous two days though... We had new excercise gear!

Andrew and I purchased new tennis shoes! My old shoes were a half size too small, five years old, and simply not good for my feet. When I purchased my last Nike's, they were a steal. Although too small, I didn't wear them enough for them to hurt my feet. However, my friend and I have been walking several times a week, and now Andrew and I plan to work out more... so new shoes were a must.

Andrew's shoes were also in need of replacement. They were old and not very supportive anymore. He had gotten a lot of use out of them, and it was time for those shoes to retire. They served him well.

So- we went on a quest to find the perfect pairs. We ended up at Shoe Carnival where they have a buy one, get one half off sale. We hit the jackpot!! I found the above white and bright pink tennis shoes. Andrew found a similar pair that are white and red. He didn't want his picture taken. Silly boy.

These shoes are ultra comfortable... my toes don't jam against the front... and they feel so good on my feet. In fact, my toes were doing a happy dance as soon as I put these shoes on because I had so much added room!

On top of our jackpot in regards to tennis shoes, I also found two packs of socks... also buy one, get one half off. These socks are extremely vibrant, thin, and provide adequate breathing abilities. These socks compliment the bright pink Nike "swoosh" on my shoe perfectly. I love them- and I was in need of socks to go with tennis shoes. I have a ton of socks- but I have come to learn that they are all Christmas socks. Needless to say, I've been slowly getting rid of socks for over a year.

So, back on track, Andrew and I, of course, had to try out our new shoes right away. As I mentioned before, we walked for over two miles all over campus... up hills... down hills... on blacktop... and never once did our feet scream for a break. We would recommend these shoes to anyone. We enjoyed our time together- we enjoyed our exercise- and we are so excited about our new lifestyle!

Finally, I am going to leave you with another picture.

My Christmas cactus must think that it's Christmas as a result of the new shoes. This silly plant is only supposed to bloom at Thanksgiving/Christmas; however, here it is in full bloom, with more buds, at the beginning of May. Crazy cactus!! It was a nice treat to walk outside to find this pretty surprise!!

In fact, I kind of wish that it would bloom all year...

Maybe, just maybe, this won't be the only sweet surprise I receive from this exciting plant.

Mmmm... Sweet Summertime!

I love spring, don't get me wrong. I love the flowers, the cool breeze, and just the overall feeling of life being renewed. However, I have begun to crave certain aspects of summer... the food and yardwork. I love the fresh vegetables, lemonade, and barbeque. I also love the smell of freshly cut grass, watching my summer flowers grow, and anticipating the growth of my elephant ears Andrew and I planted last spring. This weekend, I thought it would be nice to pull in some of those summertime foods and enjoy. Andrew and I are doing our best to eat healthy instead of just grabbing whatever is easiest. We're doing well so far!!

First, I created a very yummy veggie salad. I cubed a yellow squash, cucumber, green pepper, red pepper, cauliflower, vidalia onion, asparagus, and grape tomatos. After I combined all of the veggies, I covered them with vinegar and sprinkled a little sugar, salt, pepper, and parsely to taste. We let the veggies sit for an hour or so while we enjoyed a nice afternoon walk. We then drained most of the vinegar from them so they didn't soften any more, and enjoyed a healthy feast of brown sugar tilapia and fresh veggies.

Today's menu consisted of:

Tortilla pizzas! To create these delicacies, I sautéed chicken, asparagus, onion, and minced garlic in Sherry cooking wine. I also added salt, pepper, and parsely to taste. While these were cooking to perfection, I spread tomato paste (which is verrrry healthy for you!) on tortillas (which were sadly not whole wheat). When the toppings were done cooking, Andrew helped me prepare the pizzas which we finished by sprinkling with shredded parmesan cheese... the good kind, not the nasty powder. These baked at 400 degrees for about 7 minutes. Needless to say, they were gobbled up too quickly to photograph! ; )

Tomorrow's menu consists of barbeque chicken and burgers, asparagus, and more of the veggie salad! Mmm! I can't wait!

In fact, this is asparagus we grilled a few weekends ago. I chopped the ends off of these yummy treats, sprinkled lightly with lemon, salt, and pepper...placed a few dallops of olive oil butter, and garnished with parmesan cheese. We wrapped them in aluminum foil and grilled to perfect. Yum! My mouth is watering already for tomorrow's lunch!!!

Now... to move on from food. I am going to post a few pictures of our yard after the first mow of the season. These were taken a few weeks ago, but I just got Andrew's camera, and this weekend's weather wasn't conducive to picture taking.

A view of the gorgeous landscaping and beautiful lawn!

Mr. Grumpy Frog who greets me as I come home. I love this fat guy!

The beautiful grass surrounding my lightpost. I love it! Andrew borrowed it for our yard last year from an empty lot. So pretty!!

Healthy, tasty food and a beautiful yard... Life is good.

Mission Accomplished

Tonight I crossed 14 items off of my 45 item to-do list.

It was worth blogging about.

I fully intend to cross at least 3-5 more items off before calling it a night.

Some of the items crossed off were:

- Ceremony music. I am pretty excited about this one.

- Semester SOAP Notes for each client.

- Sending out tux information to the guys in the wedding.

- Completing attendance sheets and clock hours for clinic.

- Paying bills.

Please notice that I alternated between school and wedding... it's the only way to keep me sane. I have to mix fun planning in with school or else I would not be a happy camper. It worked- I'm still not crabby.

One last thought- I don't like writing a check for $2,158. I am paying to have a migraine every day. What is wrong with me?!

And the best part of today?!

I enjoyed a beautiful, sunny morning walk with my friend! What a great way to start the day, and it gave me enough energy to make it through the day without crashing!! I LOVE gorgeous days like today! There is something about having the windows open and feeling the cool breeze that encourages me to be productive!!

Ok- off to my next task:

Putting away laundry. Where, oh where, is that sun now?!