It's hard to believe that it is January 3rd, 2010. Where did 2009 go? It flew right on by, I suppose just like I wanted it to do. It seems like fall term flew right on past me.. I am happy to be approaching my final winter term of graduate school and even happier to be one term closer to graduating! I hope this terms classes don't kill me along, with the rest of the stuff that comes with life.
There feels like there is a lot that needs to be done before the wedding, graduating, turning 24 (this is creeping up on me) and possibly moving. Soon I will be searching for a job and hopefully able to easily find one at the hospital I am currently at.
This winter break was full of work, reading, and spending time with family. I have read 4.5 books, hopefully to finish number 5 before school starts tomorrow at 4pm. I always forget the joy of reading during the school term. It will be nice when I am able to read books regluarly again.
I enjoyed a sunny Christmas with my parents and Robert's parents. I couldn't of asked for a better Christmas and enjoyed being able to spend it with all of the Clarks. It was a lot of fun and the food and alcohol was bluntiful.
Although it was an enjoyable break, I did not like being sick. The bronchitis was manageable, the cold that came during it, knocked me off of my feet and I am still trying to regain my energy. I haven't been doing that great of a job at, staying up late celebrating new years and playing Scrabble with Robert. Being sick didn't allow me to do some of the fun things Robert and I planned for prior to school starting, but hopefully there will be time some of it soon.
What's 2010 going to bring? A lot of work to be done. I think this year will be crazy busy but hopefully enjoyable. I cannot wait till our wedding and to be able to start the next part of our life. Hopefully it will be another great year!

It's probably been forever since I have written anything. As usual school has been keeping me busy. I am enjoying my internship way more than I ever expected. It is nice to be excited to go into a place everyday, instead of dreading what some kid that day. I think it will be a good break from kids for now.
Planning a wedding has been also somewhat keeping me busy. We have a lot squared away so far. We are working on getting a dj or a band at this point. On Friday I am going dress shopping for the first time. I am ready to start this process! Things are slowly coming together. I am excited for the day when it is all here and all the planning is over with!
Other than being a little sick this weekend and going to football games my life has been pretty boring.

School starts tomorrow and I was planning on doing a little blog before the term offically started but time is quickly running out so this will be a shorter verison than orginally planned.
Where to start? This has been the best, most busiest, most funnest summers ever! I did everything I wanted to do. I saw everything I wanted to see. I read everything I wanted to read. But still it doesn't feel like enough. It is sad to see the old school life is quickly approaching. Actually already has, I had class on Friday.
So here's a run down of everything I did: (starting from the soonest even to the latest) Of course as many already know Robert and I got engaged over the weekend at the coast. Domo came out with a ring on his hand and Robert asked me to marry him, as we were watching the sunset. Wedding plans have begun!
I spent a couple days at the coast with my mom and Tolley. Lots of fun! I went to Round-Up and Happy Canyon with my dad. One of the best round-ups ever. We also visited Heppner to find relatives lost in the flood. I picked up bike riding again, thanks to Robert. Hopefully going to continue this throughout the year.
Robert and I went to Mt. St. Helens, the coast (several times), Hood River and explored the Gorge. Went wine tasting several times with my parents in the Gorge and off of the Wheatland Ferry. Been to 3 ducks games. Ate a couple mighty ducks! Saw Blink-182!
Spent time with Tolley. House sat with robert while everyone else was enjoying Europe. Drank some beer. Got to spend 3 whole weeks with robert. Visited Grants Pass. Got the Flu (boo!). Went to a wedding. Did WAY TOO MUCH driving.
Got to go to Maine. Drove up Mt. Washington. Spent time with my awesome cousin Jaeger. Had fun with Jane. Can't leave out the sea dogs game with Bill too! Went to Boston, A LOT! Saw Blue Man Group. Drank a lot of beer. Threw up in Maine. And lastly I took a summer class. I got all the pictures to prove it.
It has been a fun summer. I am looking forward to the next 9 months passing by and the next chapter in my life.

It's been a busy summer, it is hard to believe that it is August and I only have a little more than 2 months left. I feel like I don't know what happened to the first half of my summer.
My summer class went by quickly and I am glad that I don't have to take it during the regular year. Along with taking my class, Robert and I were housing sitting in Woodburn. Before we knew it my parents were on their way home and I was heading out to Maine shortly after. I enjoyed the time in Woodburn it was nice to see Tolley and Robert everyday. It's hard to not see the both of them every day now.
So I was able to be in my apartment for a day before I left for Maine. I quickly packed up what I needed and left my apartment in a huge clothing mess, everywhere. It was quite a trek out to Maine, harder and longer than usual. I made it to Dallas without any trouble but getting out of Dallas was the problem. There was mechanical probelms (the lights the lead you to the exit row weren't working) and they sadly couldn't fix it after promising us for 2 hours we were going to board soon. Finally they gave up and got us a new plane. Luckily the captain would come out and talk to his passengers about what was going on, more so than the gate agents who looked afraid to address the angry crowd. Ontop of all of that there was a thunder storm near the airport, so other planes weren't coming in, which added to the upset crowd. We finally got off the ground I think 2-3 hours later than planned.
Once finally in Boston, much later than usual, I think I arrived around 10, we couldn't get off the plane. They told us that the jetway breakers weren't working and it would take several minutes to fix this. At this time we all began bonding with each other after ignoring the people around us during the flight. I was anxious to get off of the plane and headed to Maine via the bus. Finally 15 minutes later we made it off the plane and I couldn't have been more happy to see Jaeger.
Sadly, the next bus to Maine didn't leave till 11:15. We made our way to South Station in Boston and watched passer-byers as we waited about an hour. I was very very tired and just wanted to sleep. Around 1:30 we made it into Portland, Maine and to my surprise a very awake Bill and Jane (well appeared awake in that moment). I was able to get to bed after being away since 4 AM PAcific Time. My exhuasted body slept late for the next couple of days.
It was good to be back in Maine. While there we did a lot! Jaeg and I drove up Mt. Washington (scariest drive of my life), visited 3 lighthouses, went to Boston several times, went to various art museums (all of them were great), ate a lot of food, went to a Sea Dog's Game, drank beer in Portland (threw up in Falmouth), went shopping, and saw Blue Man Group, Did I leave anything out? We did so much.
I was sad to come home. But I was also ready to be back in my own place, it had been about a month since I had been home. The weather in Maine was starting to look up as I returned to Portland. My trip home was just as eventful as my trip to Maine. The bus ride to Boston was easy, although scary watching the bus driver almost hit several cars. At Boston my flight to Dallas was delayed due to late arriving airplane and bad weather in Dallas. Luckily the nice gate agent, who didn't communicate well, that I was put on a direct flight to Portland from Boston. I was thrilled. I got in hours earlier too! The six hour plane ride was long with no videos to entertain me, so I read for 6 hours.
I was happy to be home no matter how hot it was. I was thrilled to be able to swim again and relax at home. I have completed two books and on my third book now.
This weekend robert and I went on our Gorge adventure, stopping at many waterfalls to hike and take pictures. It was great to be able to do outdoor stuff.
This week I am busy trying to complete my internship pre-employment tasks. Time to get what I need to do done, a litlte less relaxing.
I think that's all I've done so far this summer.

It's been a long while. Summer school is half way over, 2 more classes to go - 16 more hours of sitting. I am excited to almost be done and be on my way to Maine. It can't be soon enough, I haven't had a vacation in a long time.

Things in Woodburn have been busy, the days have been passing by faster than ever. It has been nice to see Robert everyday, instead of two days out of the week. It'll be a hard adjustment to go back to the distance. We spent the fourth of July at Willamette Mission with Tol BBQing. It was a lot of fun and there wasn't as much people there as I expected. There was a civil war reenactment going on that looked interesting but there was a whole other fee to just to see it. The fireworks in the Burn went on till about 1 am, which was great. And continue on every night since but lasting fewer hours.

The late night was all fun since we had to get up the next day and drive to Issaquah for my 3rd cousin Shannon's wedding. It was an easy drive with very little traffic. It was a great wedding and just a little to humid. I wish we could have stayed longer for all the other festivities but we had to get back to Tolley-Dog.

This weekend will hopefully warm back up and can do a little swimming or something that involves water. Robert and I found a nice area off of Butteville Rd. that looks like it would be another great area to spend by the river. For the rest of the summer we are planning on going to Mt. St. Helens, the coast, and (of course) Hood River. I really want to go St. Helens, I haven't been there since I was in 8th grade.

I have to go get ready for work, a 12 hour day. ugh. Another 12 hour day on Monday. I don't miss those super long shifts, luckily they only come every so often. Time to get ready for the busy couple of days

2 weeks left in the term! (not counting finals week where I have to go to class for a pot luck..) I am excited to be done with the school aspect, for 2 weeks at least. I am struggling with my final papers. One is easy for me to write, I am just not interested in it and hate being limited to that references I can make based on the number of different ones that are required. The other paper is slightly confusing and I am just putting off the hard part as long as possible. Also I left the copy I needed at my internship today, so I doubt I will be able to work on it this weekend.
2 more weeks at my internship also. It'll be weird not going there every week. I will actually miss leading the Relapse Prevention group, even after days like today where it was kind of all over the place. I really renjoy this group of girls and the staff that I work with. Another time to begin process "ending" with clients and the agency, my least favorite.
I would really like to go to the coast right now with how sunny it has been today. Saturday robert and I are heading up the seattle-ish area to go see eroya. I am excited to have a mini-adventure and getting to explore Seattle again. I don't think I have been there in 4 years or so. I hope I can remember where my favorite store is. I know what it looks like but can't remember the name.
Back to the grind... (paper)

Today was an interesting day. I woke up having to get ready for my interview with Providence St. Vincent's Palliative Care for an internship for next school year. It took me forever to get ready and changed what felt like a gajillion times, all I was settled on was my lucky jacket (that I borrow from my mom). I finally got out the door and there was this weird squirrel running around the parking lot. I hop in my car hoping that the squirrel isn't hiding behind me and I look in my right side view mirror and see it on the side of my car. I am slightly confused about this. I realize that the squirrel is in my wheel well. I start the car in hopes that it will be scared and run off. It isn't. So I figure slowly moving the car will scare it. It doesn't. It's just peaking it's head out the side of the car. I was nervous that I was going to hurt the squirrel and be a bad sign for the entire day. I start to get out of the car to somehow scare it off and it finally hops out. I hope and pray as I am backing out that there isn't a squirrel under my tires. It finally appears in the grass near my car and I happily go on my way, hoping that this isn't a bad sign.
There was no traffic on the way to NE Portland where I was interviewing and luckily one parking spot left for me. I interview and am super nervous as I always am. They had a few questions for me and I do most of the talking and ask them a lot of questions. I feel like I have this in the bag but just to make sure I ask what I need to do to get this placement since I have so little medical experience. It appears they already had their mind made up I was going to be placed there but offered suggestions of me attending confrences on Palliative Care, read some books, and attend free seminars. I am happy to do whatever they want. So I got the placement! (pending I don't have TB or anything).
My mind is focused on getting this placement started, however I have till the end of September to begin. Both of my (soon be) supervisors are awesome and I am excited to work there. This was a good end to a super busy/stressful week.
The only downside to the whole day was I was super tired all day, week wore me out and that one of my three allergy shots is leaving this nice huge bruise on my arm every week and today was the day I got another bruise.
It is quickly becoming the end of the term. I have papers to write and projects to get done. It's starting to feel like the end is in sight and there is only one year left. I have to put a little effort forth in the summer for one class and then get to have a mini vacation in Maine! I am looking forward to a slow pace summer.

It's hard for me to believe that I am coming close to being down with my first year of school. It has gone by quickly and makes me glad that I am not where I was a year ago. I am grateful to be doing what I really wanted to do and surprised sometimes where I am in my life. Sometimes it's hard to believe that my time at U of O was done over a year ago.
I have an interview soon for a medical field placement for next year. I am really excited about this and hope that I can get this position. I am not sure excatly what I want to do when I graduate in a year - my options seem so endless and medical is currently where my interests lie. Residential is an interesting place to be and I feel like I've found a great agency to be in and am going to be sad to leave it in about a month.
I wish it was summer already and I could countiously enjoy the warm weather and not be fighting the chance of rain. I wish I could go back to the coast, spring break already seems far too long ago.
I think my bendryl is finally kicking in and the larger than quarter size allergy shots are starting to shrink, which means its time for bed.

I have spent the last hour or so trying to set up my new modem from verizion. After spending several hours on the phone already trying to figure out what was wrong with the previous modem, only to find out that it was dead. They quickly told me I was going to be paying $69 for a new one because my warranty had expired. Yet no one was able to tell me when my warranty had expired or how long it lasted, nor in my contract. After threatening to cancel my service, I was offered a free modem, that arrived the next day. I was excited to set this modem up and figured it would be just as easy as the last. This one came with no directions. I knew how to set it up and got to the point of going wireless, although wouldn't let me fully connect. I realized that my ISP number was the same as the last and wasn't allowed to take all the steps I needed without the password I wasn't provided to go through these steps. To make story short, told tech guy what the problem was and the WEP key I was provided wasn't actually the number I could use.
All in all, verizon sucks. I am going to quickly cancel my service if a modem dies again or when my contract expires, which ever comes first. Comcast may be more expensive but they never sent me around and around.
In other excitment, spring term has begun. I am enjoying my new generalist class and am glad I am made the decision to switch classes. I was nervous about what I had got myself into but quickly came to realize that I had made the right decision. The vibe in the class was much better and the professor actually got to the point of what she was talking about. My other classes aren't as exciting. Statistics, I am unsure about yet. And my macro theories class will be boring, as expected, but the work load isn't bad.
It's hard to believe that I only have 10 weeks left before the term is up. We are already discussing in my generalist class about preparing for goodbyes. As excited as I am to try a different internship, it is hard to believe that I am leaving De Paul. I love the staff there and the kids. I apperciate the feedback I am given and the growing I have done. I never thought it would be hard to move on, but I have gotten really comfortable.
I coming to an end in physical therapy also. I am happy about my progress but sad to leave, yet again. It'd be nice to be able to just go and visit with my physical therapist once a week. If only she didn't make physical therapy so fun. All in all things are going well. I am just missing spring break like crazy.

I have finished all of my finals, now I just need to turn two of them in. I am sitting in the UO library while robert is in some study group. I have had hell of time finding a spot to sit and getting the wireless internet to work somewhat well. I have finally got on and not been kicked off in two seconds. I really do miss this library and all of the things it offers compared to PSU. It's actually quiet too! It was a pain in the ass working on a final at PSU, I was so distracted by what everyone else was saying.
I am looking forward to turning in all of my work on wednesday and finally getting to relax a little for about a week and half. I hope it doesn't rain the entire time, it would be nice to get out in the sun a little bit. I wish it was warm enough to start swimming outside again too! I am really ready for it to be summer and warm.
This summer I am considering taking one class to lessen my load a little throughout the next school year. I am not sure if I am motivated enough to actually follow through in taking another class but I will wait and see. It would be nice to take one less class during the school year and to focus more on my internship.
thats all the excitement I have going on in my life. Nothing exciting at all actually...