My mother and three of my siblings and their entire families joined Dale and I in Utah this weekend for an extended family reunion. The reunion was a great excuse, but I was most interested in the 7 adults and 7 children of my immediate family being in town together for 52 hours.
Wheeler Farm, tour of my new place,
Rodeo
We sat 6 rows behind the livestock the cowboys tried to wresle with. I couldn't help laughing every time the pooped! We saw bucking bronco's and the bull rides, but my favorite was the one where two guys had to rope a cow and milk it, racing to the judges to show them their milk first in order to win!
Tubing down the Provo River
We thought 7 adults and 7 children (the oldest at 6 years old) would be okay in 7 tubes. You know, one child in each adult's lap? Well, 25 yards into the float, Amber pulled herself, her infant, and her toddler out of the event. 100 yards down the river, Jeremy's wife and infant got upturned and panicked which pulled that family out of the river, Mom lost her tube trying to help... and 6 of us (3 adults and 3 children) made it down the river in safety! The others were left to walk through the brambles bare-footed, until they were able to hitch hike a ride back to the Tube Rental establishment.
May sound like a nightmare, but really was at least a story, and a nice way to view the mountians in the canyon.
Thanksgiving Pointe Dinosaur Museum
"The largest Dinosaur Museum in the world. Literally." Nough Said. The cutest part was when Nathan and Jeremy had to play with the dinosaur sized velcro stuffed parts to build their own dinosaur. Loved it!
On Sunday, we all got together for dinner and played games the whole afternoon and evening. Dale loves games and is really good at pulling a group together around them because he gets so passionate :). With the weekend over, we'll go swimming and play games on Monday and Tuesday nights... I love my family, and I'll miss them when they leave again.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Countdown to quit begins... and I'm feeling trunky
Back to a normal day at work. With all of the holidays and a week taken off for graduate school, I am only working a total 9 days in the month of July. As you can imagine, those days have been intense. I just got back from my last 4-day weekend, and now I get to chill at the computer processing paperwork that isn't so complecated I can't listen to Matt Wertz and Mika through the head phones on the computer. Here's to 16 days 3.9 hours of work left before grad school.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Success!!!!
After over 3 months of focused job search, 8 interviews at 5 different companies, and 4 hours of testing at his final choice, Dale will be a Technical Support Agent starting August 2nd. This first position is a big deal as it gets his foot in the door of a reputable world-wide business. We're excited to see what happens and what this will mean for us.
He's been job searching for over 3 months now, and I am proud of, and grateful to him for his continuing effort and hope when I would have been rendered useless in his position.
Best of luck, honey! I'm excited to live this with you.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Grad School: Week 1
a. I came into this fearful that I wouldn't be able to do a simester's worth of work in one week. I came to learn that the two classes were pass/fail and required little more than attendance for 8 hours a day. So, positive. I did learn how to read and use the DSM-IV. I can tell the difference between scizophrenaform disorder and a paranoid delusional disorder, and can also tell you what a dissociative fugue is. I also was the subject observed in a dream therapy demonstration and was reduced to tears in front of a grad student class of 60 people. (I learned from this that I can bite off and chew public speaking and improvisation, but it is hard to stomach for the continuing 3 days of full time class). I learned about the anthropological development of marriage, and how intimacy is expressed and can be taught through couple's sessions. Those were the highlights. That and a lot of Countertransferrance and Judgement discussions, teaching me how to use my instincts to ask questions. Basically a lot of grad students practicing therapy on eachother as we present actual conflicts and issues from our lives. Kinda like nursing students jabbing eachother in flobotamy class.
b. I paid over $2000 in tuition plus books for these classes. That's roughly $50 per hour just for sitting in class. Fortunately I had paid vacation time stored up at work, but it is going to be a HARD transition as I quit my job for the fall semester beginning in 5 weeks. In my senior year of undergrad I had an internship as a Medical Social Worker Intern. I was not paid and my father was aghast at the school blackmailing me for free labor as a professional. I thought he was so silly, and just had to learn that school was something that took advantage of you. I have now been working as a professional for the last year, and have gotten used to an income. Not only am I quitting work to do this, but I am paying them to sit in a class room. I DO have an internship that fortunately pays a stipend equal to minimum wage--which I am grateful for--but this seems like a lot bigger of a sacrifice this time around. There have been several times this week when I have asked myself "Why am I doing this?" and had to just trust myself and stick to the plan I made when I applied.
For better or for worse, in 13 months time I WILL have a master's degree in Social Work. What might scare you more is that I WILL be a therapist operating under a lisence in less than 2 months... Feels kinda ethereal, and I'm planning to have fun in the coming years figuring out what it all means :)
Travelogue 2010, Entry 3: Montana Rustic
A week after we moved in, Dale and I got to escape our world of boxes for a Fourth of July trip to the Montana! With a 6 day weekend, and two days of 10 hour drives on each end, we enjoyed 4 days of Montana Summer. Each time we go here, I'm struck with the singular vacation experience of a vacation to the Rockies. For example, as soon as we arrived, we were welcomed with a beautifully mild day with barbecued burgers eaten on the back porch deck with a view of the valley below. Warren and Wendy, Dale's folks, live on a mountian on the outskirts of a national park, and the view below includes a lake and an island.
We visited old co-workers at the local Community College and played games that first day. Saturday was, of course, reserved for fishing. Although I don't really have the stomach to kill my own food--illogical, I know--Dale had a great time racing his parents to the count. I did catch one fish, as my contribution to the event, and took pictures of Dale catching, de-hooking, and holding several fish he caught. My favorite part was watching the raptors. As soon as we pulled into the lake, I saw them, and wondered how big they must be. Warren identified a bald eagle being chased by a golden eagle. It wasn't just a matter of intimidation, because that Gold eagle continued to chase every other bird over an 8 inch wing span out of her territory for the next 45 minutes. She called and dived and climbed and made such an appearance that I named her Blondie, and decided I MUST have her to take home with me. Just wait, she will be mine.
The end count was 70 fish between the four of us.
We were fortunate enough to obtain some Nascar tickets for that night, but the games were closed for rain, to the great disappointment of all. Some day we'll make it, and these elusive games will all of a sudden make sense to me. Dale says he just likes to watch them crash... which seems a little gladiatoristic to me, but this is the same woman speaking who did enjoy a rodeo.
The fourth of July passed watching fireworks from a neighbor's lakehouse view, as all of the neighbors with teenage kids put on the show.
Dale's birthday was July 5th and passed relaxed, taking home many of his childhood belongings to be a part of the home we're building together. This may sound like an itinerary, and if so, read it again, but imagine it in forests of evergreen trees and sparsely populated national forest land.
We visited old co-workers at the local Community College and played games that first day. Saturday was, of course, reserved for fishing. Although I don't really have the stomach to kill my own food--illogical, I know--Dale had a great time racing his parents to the count. I did catch one fish, as my contribution to the event, and took pictures of Dale catching, de-hooking, and holding several fish he caught. My favorite part was watching the raptors. As soon as we pulled into the lake, I saw them, and wondered how big they must be. Warren identified a bald eagle being chased by a golden eagle. It wasn't just a matter of intimidation, because that Gold eagle continued to chase every other bird over an 8 inch wing span out of her territory for the next 45 minutes. She called and dived and climbed and made such an appearance that I named her Blondie, and decided I MUST have her to take home with me. Just wait, she will be mine.
The end count was 70 fish between the four of us.
We were fortunate enough to obtain some Nascar tickets for that night, but the games were closed for rain, to the great disappointment of all. Some day we'll make it, and these elusive games will all of a sudden make sense to me. Dale says he just likes to watch them crash... which seems a little gladiatoristic to me, but this is the same woman speaking who did enjoy a rodeo.
The fourth of July passed watching fireworks from a neighbor's lakehouse view, as all of the neighbors with teenage kids put on the show.
Dale's birthday was July 5th and passed relaxed, taking home many of his childhood belongings to be a part of the home we're building together. This may sound like an itinerary, and if so, read it again, but imagine it in forests of evergreen trees and sparsely populated national forest land.
The Big Move
On June 26th, Dale and I moved out of our itsy bitsy 1st time married student apartment in Provo to a beautiful, professional, slightly less itsy bitsy apartment in Salt Lake! Dale had worked hard for WEEKS before hand to pack all of our belongings and stack them in boxes from floor to ceiling all along the east wall of our apartment. I had been trying not to stress about it, and had therefore seriously under planned. Dale really saved us by working hard on it each day, and still allowing our lives to be liveable.
We packed full time for the last three days we lived there, and the day finally came. We had almost a dozen friends show up in Provo to help us load the cars and clean the apartment (THANK YOU!!!) and in the end it only took us three truck loads and one car load. One cute story: a new couple from upstairs stopped in to ask if we needed help during the first run. I thanked them, but had plenty of help at that point, and they asked me to get them if more help was needed. Dale and his best friend Clancy took the first two truck load's haul to Salt Lake, and it was about an hours and a half before they got back. We had everything in a pyramid of boxes just to be hauled out... but no people left to do it! I went to the new couple's place and asked them to stick to their offer. They were having a World Cup party (Ghana beat the US) and were kindof busy, but since it would only take about 15 minutes, all 9 strapping 22 year old men came down from the party to get us all packed and on our last load to Salt Lake in less than 10 minutes! Pretty cool.
We got to our new place and I saw the ACTUAL apartment for the first time. It had been freshly repainted with carpet that is only VERY lightly worn. Our old apartment was roughly 500 square feet and it's floor plan had all the creativity of a block of wood. This new place is set up in a square rather than a straight line, and has the addition of a dining room, double sized bathroom, double sized bedroom closet, 150% sized bedroom, and central heating and air! We're on the third story with an amazing view of a little grove outside, and ... it really is perfect.
My favorite part is when I am driving in from work and get to pass through the little lane welcoming me into the complex. 30 foot tall Birch trees line the road and little bits of pollen float through the air like fairy dust. I may sound melodramatic, but that's really how it looks!
We packed full time for the last three days we lived there, and the day finally came. We had almost a dozen friends show up in Provo to help us load the cars and clean the apartment (THANK YOU!!!) and in the end it only took us three truck loads and one car load. One cute story: a new couple from upstairs stopped in to ask if we needed help during the first run. I thanked them, but had plenty of help at that point, and they asked me to get them if more help was needed. Dale and his best friend Clancy took the first two truck load's haul to Salt Lake, and it was about an hours and a half before they got back. We had everything in a pyramid of boxes just to be hauled out... but no people left to do it! I went to the new couple's place and asked them to stick to their offer. They were having a World Cup party (Ghana beat the US) and were kindof busy, but since it would only take about 15 minutes, all 9 strapping 22 year old men came down from the party to get us all packed and on our last load to Salt Lake in less than 10 minutes! Pretty cool.
We got to our new place and I saw the ACTUAL apartment for the first time. It had been freshly repainted with carpet that is only VERY lightly worn. Our old apartment was roughly 500 square feet and it's floor plan had all the creativity of a block of wood. This new place is set up in a square rather than a straight line, and has the addition of a dining room, double sized bathroom, double sized bedroom closet, 150% sized bedroom, and central heating and air! We're on the third story with an amazing view of a little grove outside, and ... it really is perfect.
My favorite part is when I am driving in from work and get to pass through the little lane welcoming me into the complex. 30 foot tall Birch trees line the road and little bits of pollen float through the air like fairy dust. I may sound melodramatic, but that's really how it looks!
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