{surviving night class}

here's a fun fact for all you non-grads...

in grad school, they like to make you come to this thing called 'night class'

i tried to find a humorous definition on urban dictionary, but sadly, it's so lame no one has even bothered to make something funny out of it.   *side note to the CD girls... i challenge you to fix urban dictionary's lack of terms*

i sort of detest night class.  by sort of, i mean really.  mostly because my day starts at 7 am, so asking me to stay awake, stay alert, stay engaged until 9 is really testing.  add to this the class is basically a review of undergrad classes, it's rather difficult.

tonight's topic of conversation was "testing".  if you know anything about therapy, we test.  a lot.  i can make a drive-by diagnosis of a kid.  add to this i had an entire class on testing last semester, and tonight was rather disastrous.
i equated tonight with a middle school class with a substitute teacher.

it was a circus.

we had a baby in class who made sighing noises at key points when we all wanted to but would never be able to get away with it, hiccup girl was at her finest, and yes, there was a bit of chatter going around. add to that the number of people on facebook, twitter, and stumbleupon and it all equals none of us reallllly cared.

*side note #2.  please don't judge... i'm usually very studious, but tonight, none of us could do it.  we're all really good students, just very ready for spring break :) *

i'm glad i have classmates who can make things funny.  it might annoy our teachers at times (let's be honest... really it's just one.  i think the other teachers find us funny and amusing).  it takes talent to make tests that were published the year i was born funny.

just look at that beauty... (test of language competence, publishing date: 1987, be jealous)

thank you girls, for making even the dullest of dull classes amusing.

to all of you who have or will have night classes, i wish you the same!

{enjoying weekends}

i love the weekends...

this one has not failed me :)

friday night was not super exciting, but i caught up on laundry.  hallelujah!  i have this problem of getting backed up on laundry... #1. i was out of laundry detergent (major fail when you need to do laundry). #2. i have lots of roommates who all need to do laundry (shocker right?), and considering #1, i wasn't too much competition for the washer.  #3. i really hate putting away laundry.  i love DOING laundry.  it smells good and it's warm when to comes out of the dryer, i love my fabric softener and it literally calms me down, and the act of folding clothes is therapeutic (i know, i'm weird)

all that to say i finally got detergent and i finally did laundry... lots and lots of it.  i also fell asleep at 11 on friday which was fabulous as i've been SUPER sleep deprived all week.

saturday i woke up to the beautiful sun shining through my window and birds chirping.  ian and i walked to ramsey's for brunch (who wouldn't love walking to lunch!?) and then, being the amazing boyfriend he is, went to see harry potter with me!  i know i know... the movie came out months ago, but it's now at the dollar theater which = affordable date.  then a uk game with a win finally, followed by a girls' night.

when i think of a really good weekend, this was it :)  i have missed the sun, i have missed being able to be outside, i have missed going on walks with ian, i have missed being able to catch up with the girls.


*add to that i just heard thunder... i'm not the biggest rain fan, but i LOVE thunderstorms :)  hello sunday nap!

Psalm 107:1

{compassion}

i've been in a bit of a funk the past few days... i'm not sure why, and i don't like it.

i like to be fun and full of joy, and the past few days, i've just felt drained.

i needed today.  i got the opportunity to go to asbury's campus with compassion.  i wrote a post about my compassion child, esther not too long ago if you want more info on compassion!  craig gross (he's the pastor of xxxchurch... super cool guy and organization to check out!) was speaking and made a plug for compassion, so i went and worked a booth hoping to get kids sponsored.

i was blown away.  70 kids got sponsored today.  that's 70 kids who don't have to worry about going to bed hungry, or how they're going to get shoes to go to school, or what happens if they get sick.  that's not stuff kids should have to worry about, and living in america, we take that for granted so much... it was just so encouraging to see college students care so much and want to take care of kids, even on a limited budget.

after all that, i came home and had a new letter AND picture from my sweet esther.  she's moved up in school and is doing so well... she's in the top of her class and is just so precious :)  and beautiful... she keeps growing up and i can't take it!

finally, i got the opportunity to go have dinner with some of compassion's head-ups.  they're just awesome people.  they wanted input on what they're doing well, what they can help us with, what they need to work on... i like that even though i'm easily the youngest person most of the time, they genuinely desire my input.  i don't feel like a college student, i feel like a real person with real ideas who they care about and want to invest in.  it's just such a neat organization and although i'm just a volunteer, i feel like such a part of it, and i'm so blessed :)

i needed today... i needed a reminder of how big God is and how much He cares about His people.  the sun was shining, i got a letter from my little girl, and i got to have dinner with some truly inspiring people :)  it was a busy day, but one that rekindles the spirit

www.compassion.com

{adventures of a thrifty grad student]

i like to think i'm thrifty.

i like going to find things i like, then figuring out how to make them.

i try and use coupons and scan the grocery catalogs to see who's got what the cheapest, and i try to make meals that last for a while so i can just eat off them because newsflash!  grad school is super crazy, and the combination of 3 jobs, clinic, classes, and trying to have a life, sometimes there's no time to cook.

today has been an exceptionally thrifty day.

i made soup a while ago and froze some and it is amazing STILL!  i also found some veggies cheap at meijer, so for the past 3 days, i've eaten a whole lot of asparagus.  if you take it, put some olive oil, salt and lemon and put it in the oven for like 3 minutes, it is sooooo good :)

here's my favorite thrifty move of the day... i have this teacher... she likes to make us buy books we never use, so i didn't buy them this semester.  (add to that she just picks the most expensive books!) so we didn't have class tonight, but she assigned us a review.... hmmm how am i going to review a book i never bought?  enter amazon's lovely "look inside" feature.  guess who found pages 1-70 of said book.  that's right.  i wrote my 1 page reflection solely because of amazon.com.

this is only setting me up to be even thriftier later on in life, right?  let's hope so, because there's kind of a nice thrill i get from this :)

{slacker}

it's been a long time since my last post!  guess this is when the real adventures of grad school kick in and i suddenly just find myself too busy/exhausted to do anything!

here's a quick update... brownie went back to the shop AGAIN.  new wheel bearings.  ugh.  but she's running wonderfully now!  pray that the mechanic doesn't seem me again for a really nice long time...

i started my new job!  this brings me up to 3 part-time jobs: the y, teaching violin lessons, and now working as a transcriptionist for EKU (basically i type up lectures and stuff)!  this alone makes me slightly crazy, but after all lexington's lovely snow days (which i don't get paid for), i needed a little extra work

friday night, i convinced ian to come along babysitting with me.  i got to hang out with my 2 favorite munchkins and it was great :)  caleb impressed everyone with his basketball abilities- the kid's really good for being only a year and a half!  he can shoot and do a jump shot and it's super super cute.  he gets so proud of himself when he makes it too.  claire is my little goof ball... we showed ian the "imagination movers" dance (it's pretty impressive), played with the doll house, and then it was bed time... and it was an ordeal!  caleb was super easy.  he points at his crib.  kid's amazing.  claire on the other hand likes a little extra attention.  we put on pj's, brushed teeth, said our prayers, and then read the 2 longest books the kid could find.  *add to this she had the hiccups and thought every time she hiccuped it was the best thing ever and laughed hysterically*  we got up to leave and she called out "aunt kellie, rub my back" so i did "1 more minute" so i did... i did the very thing when i was little.  "i need water" (in the saddest, most pathetic voice you've ever heard out of a 3 year old).  the kid's adorable.  i love them and it was so fun to hang out with them!

friday night ended early b/c ian and i had to wake up at 3.  yes.  that's am. to go to dance blue pancakes!
i love dance blue... it's a 24 hr dance marathon uk students do each year to raise support and awareness for the children's cancer unit at uk.  cancer has developed a new soft spot in my heart bc of ry, but even before i met him, it had gotten in there.  i did dance blue for 2 years and loved it.  you get to hang out with the kids and it's just a blast.  hard, but a blast.  so at 3 am i woke up and headed to csf to get 8 jumbo bags of pancake mix ready for serving.  5 coolers of pancake batter later, we were ready to start cooking pancakes to feed 700 dancers at 7 am.  it was awesome :)  i've never cooked more pancakes in my life (i did the same thing last year, but there weren't nearly this many dancers).  then came nap time, a walking trip to kroger with the boy to make lunch, an awesome uk game, and my favorite way to spend a night- talking with the boy....

sorry it's been so long since i've updated!  i've only been slightly busy ;)

{spring}

i'm writing this with the hope spring has sprung!!!!

today is beautiful.  absolutely amazing.

if i could figure out how to add music to my blog, the song today would be "here comes the sun".

i love winter.  snow is my favorite, i turn into a 5 year old, and i love sweatshirts and sweaters and all that goodness.  with that being said, winter needs to be over!  i didn't even realize how much i have missed the sun until it came out today and i got to enjoy it :)

wednesday's are great.  i work at 7 and then i'm done.  no class, no clinic, no nothing!

i get to relax, read, and take a moment to just enjoy life.  with the craziness of my week, i like having the opportunity to rest.  it's something i've learned to treasure the older i've gotten.  i don't have to be busy at every moment of the day.

i am so thankful i got to just bask in God's goodness at the arboretum today.  it was a nice chance to just breath and soak up some rays and enjoy the peace and joy spring is bringing!

now get off the computer and enjoy the beautiful weather...

{my favorite holiday}

i am not a valentine's day person.

i don't really like the idea of needing a day to celebrate your "togetherness" or more often times, your singleness.  i think it's a fairly cheesy holiday created by card companies to make more money.

with that being said, ian and i felt like we should probably do something for valentine's day... it ended up being the best :)

nothing fancy- we made dinner, homemade valentines and just hung out all day.  it was exactly what i felt like valentine's day should be... just enjoying each other's company, laughing and joking around, and doing things we would do most other days.

i have a pretty awesome guy :)