11 months...

Today is Jonathan & my 11 month wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that next month, we will have been married for a whole year! It's been such a good 11 months... I cannot wait to see what comes next!

Practicum

Note: If you don't know, this is a very. big. deal.

I'll soon be in the process of applying for grad schools, and until that time comes, I'm doing everything I can to make myself the best candidate I can be. I'm maintaining good grades, I'm studying for the GRE, I'm making good relationships with my professors so that I can have great letters of recommendation, and I've done extensive research (NOT my cup of tea) that I'm going to write an undergraduate thesis on (breathe...)...

Now, the one thing missing here is work experience. So, I've been looking for a practicum (a volunteer work experience in Psychology that will earn me credit towards graduation) for a couple of months now. I wanted to work in a hospital (because I'm hoping that will give me an edge getting into the program of my choice, which is actually primarily a medical school).

And I got one! I'll be working at a hospital near here (it's about a 35 minute commute) on their inpatient unit. I am VERY excited.

Warning: Details to follow which may seem boring if you don't know what I'm talking about.

The unit has 20 beds, which apparently are nearly always all full. The (I'm not sure what to call them yet... patients? clients? I'm sure there's a "correct" term) have 4 group sessions a day, and there are three kinds of sessions: Process sessions (where they talk about some issue facing them... one ex. I saw on the board was self-mutilation), Expression sessions (typically a game or arts/crafts, etc.), and Education sessions (learning about processes and topics they should know).

I'm so excited to get started. I can't wait to converse with the patients, and see all the things I've been learning about in real life. The therapists said that most of the people they get are suffering from depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, some are detoxing from an addiction, and sometimes they get people with personality disorders. (You may not know this, but THIS is exciting).

Anyway. Hopefully, I'll have some good stories to tell. :)

Menu Plan Monday: June 25

Monday: Quesadillas, Mex. rice, beans
Tuesday: Chicken in Lime Butter, wild rice, veggies
Wednesday: Tasty Taco Bake, corn
Thursday: McCormick Pulled Pork (slow cooker), french fries
Friday: Chicken Cordon Blue (pre-packaged), wild rice, veggies
Saturday: Sour Cream & Dill Chicken, egg noodles, green beans
Sunday: Roast, carrots, potatoes

Wordless Wednesday: June 20

This is Lola, with her baby.

WFMW: Stinky Laundry

In the interest of transparency, I'll admit that I haven't quite gotten the hang of keeping house. I'm trying--but occasionally sometimes I get bored, or distracted, or I forget what I was doing.

Often, it happens with laundry--I'll wash a load before running off to class, or to work, or... well, it really doesn't matter, does it! And then I'll forget it's in there and it will be a day or so before I remember that it's in there and that I need to dry it. By that time, it smells kind of... off.

Solution? Run the wash again with some white vinegar in there along with the detergent. It fixes the smell and when they're done drying, you don't even smell the vinegar. Works for me!

Be sure to check for other great tips at Rocks in My Dryer.

Menu Plan Monday - June 18

Looks like I was a slacker on my blog this week!! For now, these are my meals for this week... I'm having trouble feeling inspired, though, so these are subject to change!!

Monday: Chinese Take-Out

Tuesday: Easy Quesadillas

Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

Thursday: Skirt-Steaks w/ Blue Cheese Butter, Roasted Asparagus Tips, and Sherry Cherry Tomatoes (Saw this meal on Rachael Ray, and I've been wanting to try it!!)

Friday: Leaving Town

Works for Me Wednesday: June 13

Maybe it's just me, but when I cook refried beans to go with Mexican food (like the quesadillas we had last night), I ALWAYS burn some of them to the bottom of the pan, and then have a horrible time cleaning it up. Apparently, I am bean-cooking challenged.

Recently, instead, I started cooking them in the microwave in my 1.5 qt. pyrex bowl... Works great! I don't usually "cook" in the microwave unless something is frozen, but refried beans are one thing I doubt I will ever cook on the stove again.

See what works for other people at Shannon's blog, Rocks in my Dryer.