So I know that I have been quiet for a while...things continue to go well with my new job. I lost a couple of cases due to the parents being noncompliant with the services, but am going to be taking on two more cases, in addition to one that I am still working with (who knows how long that may last for though...the clinician who was on the case with me had to leave because of a family emergency and the mom is worried about how the kiddo is going to react to the new clinician and if there are going to be any problems...not that I blame her, we basically are starting over from square one again). I'm finally going to be full time next week, which will help a lot with the finances - plus I will finally be able to get benefits.

School is done for the summer. I enjoyed my class and think that I did well in it. Hard to believe that in the fall, I will have 2 years left. Here is hoping that it speeds by quickly.

Chris and I are going away for the weekend to Baxter State Park to go camping. Although we won't be able to see any fireworks, we do plan to do a lot of outdoorsy stuff - hiking, boating, just walking around the trails. He took me up there a couple of weekends ago to go hiking and it was absolutely beautiful. We need a break from Portland, so this will be good.

The big excitement yesterday was that there was a moose wandering the streets of Portland. I didn't see it, but I guess that Chris's brother Brian did...literally walked right through his backyard and by his front window. There have been a couple of moose wandering around in civilization recently. I heard today that it may be because of the bugs and the recent heat.

It's official

I am 26 (as of 12:41).

Damn.

I also forgot to mention that I found a gray hair on Friday. I promptly pulled it out of my head.

In less than one week....

I will turn 26. I will be out of high school for 8 years (that part scares me...), and out of college for 4. I am not freaking out as much as I did last year when I turned 25 (the whole turning a quarter century thing really scared me) and I've basically gotten to the point where I really don't care. Ask me again in 4 years when I turn 30.

YAY!

I finished my last couple of assignments for grad school and am now done with my second semester! 2 more years!

Relief!!!

Done with all of my assignments for grad school for this semester! I'm officially at the half way point....two more years to go!

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

I cannot say enough of this book. It is about a Hmong girl and her family who immigrated to the United States from Laos (well the girl's family did...she was was born in the US). The girl, named Lia Lee, is diagnosed with severe epilepsy and the book revolves around her family, their beliefs, and the American doctors who try to treat her. Among the Hmong, having epilepsy and suffering from seizures is seen as a good thing. Shamans in the culture often have seizures because they believe that when one has a seizure, a spirit is entering into their body and is being a host to heal others. Over the course of the book, Lia's condition worsens because of the miscommunication between her parents and the doctors, who do not want to learn about the Hmong culture and do not understand the incredible strength network that the Lees have.

I'm currently writing a paper on this book for my practice class for grad school. The focus of it is to look at incidents that happened over the course of the book that had consequences on Lia and her family. I had already read this in undergrad during the first semester of my senior year for my multicultural class that I had to take for my major. Basically, I credit this book for changing my life. At that point, I did not know what I wanted to do when I graduated. I was a Public Service major in college, with a concentration in Community Health Policy. I knew that I wanted to work in health care in some capacity but was not sure what exactly (certainly not a doctor...I hate blood and needles). When I read this book, and learned about the cultural competency and the social worker's role in it, I was incredibly moved and felt empowered. The class also was based out of the Social Work department at my school. From that, I realized that I wanted to be a Social Worker. Maybe I would not work in the capacity that the social worker in the book did, but I certainly wanted to do something like that and advocate for people and try to make a change.

I know it is cheesy to say, but this book literally changed my life. Nothing like realizing your second semester senior year of undergrad where you wanted to go with your life - after many people told you that you should be a social work major. I should have listened. I could probably have had advanced standing and been done with school sooner...

Yum

I'm currently making Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches in my slow cooker. It smells absolutely divine in my apartment right now.

I really need to start using my slow cooker more. Just the anticipation of smelling what I am making is satisfying enough.