Internships

I am registered to start my internship in January. Since last week I have called and e-mailed over 50 sites and I can’t find ANYTHING! I have left a lot of messages and gotten a lot of no’s. I am SO frustrated! I honestly didn’t think it would be this hard. I just want to find a great placement where I get great experience… but I’m not picky either. I don’t know what to do! My application is due November 15th. How am I going to find a placement and get the application in by then?

 

SUGGESTIONS?????????????

My dog

Until I adopted Princess, I never really had a dog of my own. When I was 5 I begged my dad to get me a cat. Because I was spoiled, he gave in. That is when we got “Cuddles”. Cuddles was NOT cuddly… He was a big mean Tom cat… but I loved him. When we moved to Utah he ran away. We did have a dog named Scottie for a very short time, but I don’t remember him… and I SWEAR we had dogs named Salt and Pepper, but my mom tells me they must have been imaginary :). When I was married Bronson and I adopted a yellow lab we named Egypt. She was a crazy dog! She was a puppy and wild and really hard to train. Bronson got very frustrated with her, and wasn’t very nice to her… so we gave her up for adoption. We had her a grand total of a month. Since my divorce I’ve had plenty of cats. My mom and I adopted 2 very small kittens (that we had to bottle feed)… After they died we got more cats… But a dog… a dog is different. My mom and I decided to adopt a dog 2 years ago (almost exactly 2 years ago). Princess is the best dog I could ever ask for. She has become my best friend. I love her more than I ever thought I could love a dog. I think she is the greatest. She has become like a child, an important member of my family.

Tonight Parker is at a sleepover… so it’s just Princess and I. We are enjoying a night to ourselves… She is SO cute… How could you not love that smile?

STRESSSSSSSSSS

Parker’s cell model (made from cake and candy) Learning about cells :) Our new adoption… Parker named him Nick…. but calls him anything from Lion to Zack?? Weird kid

 

Life is just going by so fast! I have known for quite a while that I will be ready to start my practicum/internship in January. Well, when I got home from Phoenix I decided to get serious about finding a site… Well, I CAN’T find one!!! I have to keep my job, because, well… I need the money! But a lot of the counseling centers aren’t open evenings and weekends! Also, I need 900 hours in 30 weeks… so I have to work 30 hours per week to even come close to finishing! Ugh. I am super stressed about all this! I live in such a small area it seems impossible to find a place that will A) work with my schedule and B) give me enough hours!

I’m taking 3 classes this quarter, which is killing me! I have SO much more respect for single-working-school going mothers now! My days are packed full of Parker’s activities, my homework, cooking dinner, bedtimes, sports, etc… I don’t know how I’m going to fit 30 more hours of work a week into my schedule!!!

Anyone out there rich and want to support me for the next 9 months :) LOL

I’ll get through… it is just SUPER stressful right now!

If anyone knows of an internship site, let me know!!!!!!

Rebecca

My niece Rebecca is so hilarious. I just love her so much! Today she called me to remind me that her 16th birthday is in 3 weeks. Rebecca is my oldest niece. I was 12 when she was born. 1994 was a hard year for my family. 2 months before Rebecca was born my brother Travis died. We were all still grieving when Rebecca was born… but she brought so much light into the family. Having a niece was so fun for me. I have always loved kids, and I had several baby cousins before Rebecca… but a niece is completely different. My sister, brother-in-law, and Rebecca lived in our basement the first few months of her life. What a wonderful time that was! Rebecca did tend to cry a lot, but I got so close to her during that time.

Rebecca has a genetic disorder called Holoprosencephaly. This disorder happens when the unborn baby’s brain doesn’t grow forward and divide properly during early pregnancy. Kids with Holoprosencephaly don’t have separated brain hemispheres. Because of this, Rebecca has severe learning disabilities and several physical abnormalities. But she is so beautiful and funny and kind and loving!

So, today when Rebecca called me to “remind” me her birthday is in 3 weeks, I couldn’t help but smile. She so desperately wants to be like “the other kids”, and sometimes she is very much a teenager… but sometimes she is such a little girl. Her birthday list proves this! To demonstrate, this is the list:

Jeans (not skinny jeans though)

Mr. Potato Head

Harry Potter books on CD

Play Dough

Legos

Nintendo DS or Digi

Money

Haha, I just love her! She is so tiny, so much smaller than kids her age… but she is so powerful and strong. I can’t believe she is almost 16!!!

Love you Rebecca! :)

Becoming a mother

Growing up I always knew I would be a mother. When I married Bronson, we both knew we wanted kids… We tried from day one, and when I found out I probably could never have kids I was devastated. While Bronson and I were still married we took a trip to California. While shopping in Old Sacramento with my sister and mom we ran into a psychic. I have never been one to “believe in” psychics, but I thought it would be fun to have them look into my future. This psychic told me that I would get divorced around the holidays (at that point I was still “happily” married). She also told me I would never have children of my own, but I would have hundreds of children. I hated what she said… what a downer! Well, that next Christmas I spent my time filing divorce papers. So, if the divorce came true… will the fact that I will never have kids come true too?

Well, I didn’t give birth to Parker… but I love him like he is my own son. He has been in California for 2 weeks… at first I was enjoying my little bit of freedom… but now I just want that little bugger home. I miss him like I never thought possible! He is such a bright light in my life, and has truly been an inspiration. It is fun watching him grow and learn everyday. He is becoming more and more responsible as the days pass… but he is still such a kid it makes me smile. I can’t wait to pick him up from the airport tomorrow. Him coming home means we have to go back to school and work… but I am ready to get back to real life!

I miss this goof!

I know this is a touchy subject, but…

OKAY, I have to add my 2 cents… not that it matters much.

Everybody deserves love and respect. End of story. How is it possible that an entire religion can support the discrimination of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered people? How can anyone support a religion who is so discriminative? How can you give 10% of your income to a religion that hates? Do we discriminate against people who are born with 6 fingers, deaf, blind, mentally challenged, mentally ill, or a different color than ourselves? How can someone say that homosexuality is a choice? To me, that is like someone choosing to be bipolar! If you believe in God, don’t you believe he is accepting of ALL people? Don’t you believe he will love ALL his children, regardless of age, sexual orientation, color, etc…

I KNOW I will probably lose friends by having this point of view… but honestly! I am a straight woman, and I am PROUD to have friends who are gay, lesbian, and bisexual. I respect them. Do I want to be homosexual? No. We DO NOT all have to be the same!!! I don’t want to be a man, but I respect men. I am not deaf, but I respect deaf people. You don’t have to BE homosexual to respect homosexual individuals!

Am I getting my point across???? I am SOOO tired of logging onto Facebook/e-mail and having an inbox FULL of hatred. I DO NOT want to join a group to support Boyd K. Packard. I DO NOT want to join a group supporting the “treatment of homosexuality”. I DO NOT want to forward chain e-mails about making gay marriage illegal.

I SUPPORT HOMOSEXUALITY. I SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE. I DO NOT THINK HOMOSEXUALITY IS AN ILLNESS. THEY DO NOT NEED “TREATMENT” THEY NEED

RESPECT.

So, un-friend me on Facebook, take me off your e-mail list, hate me. This is my opinion. I mean no offense… but I’m pissed…

 

Becoming…

When you are young the biggest question of your life is “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Usually the answer changes from week to week… For me, there are only 2 professions I ever wanted. Until I was about 17 I wanted to be a Cardiovascular Surgeon. Around that time I figured out 2 things: 1. I didn’t like blood enough to see it everyday & 2. I wasn’t smart enough at math and science to be a doctor. At that time I decided I wanted to be a therapist. That was 11 years ago… and my mind hasn’t changed. Now, I am so, so close. In January I will start my internship (so long as I find a placement)… and 30 weeks after that (which seems like a long time, but it ISN’T) I will graduate with a Masters degree in Mental Health Counseling. I will be a therapist. I can’t believe it. In a very short time I will be what I’ve always wanted to be. I will be the first in my family to have a Masters degree… and I thought a bachelors was cool!!

I spent a week in Phoenix preparing to be a therapist… It was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting (and HOT)… but I learned a lot and I honestly feel so much more prepared! Each of the track 2 students had to be video taped conducting a therapy session. The session wasn’t bad, but being video taped was pretty rough :) I met a lot of cool people and learned a lot of cool stuff. I am SO ready to be done… to be a LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR! This is a big deal! :) :)

Parker has been in California… he won’t be back for another week (it’s potato harvest here in Idaho). Man, do I miss that kid! He’s my cute little side kick! I didn’t realize how attached I have become. I can’t wait until he’s back!

Enjoy some photos :)

Marilynn and I (we were in the same track 1 and track 2!) My portfolio! Portfolio fair.

The video camera….. It wasn’t AS bad as I thought it would be………………….