Who knows..

So, right now I'm in one of those moods where I just have no idea what to expect outta life. Since I've gotten married, for once in my life, I've almost completely stopped caring about school. My homework, reading, assignments, etc., just haven't been a priority this semester. Maybe it's because I'm a senior and will be graduating soon (YES!) or maybe things just change after you get married; priorities change. I've always wanted to graduate with a bachelor's in psych and go on and get my masters in social work or marriage and family therapy or counseling. Right now I don't even feel like I want to go to school ever again, lol. And even if I do, I'll only work for a short time before we start a family, right?? Hopefully this is just a phase.. Next semester is going to kick my butt though so hopefully this phase gets over ASAP.

Another thing that kinda has me in a weird mood is the fact that it doesn't even feel like Christmas! I dunno if getting married is also contributing to that, since it'll be my first Christmas away from home, but it just feels like, January. I dunno what my deal is! We put our Christmas tree up tonight though so hopefully that will help!

Work is going really well. I thought for sure I could never love any kids as much as I loved the kids at the Boys and Girls Club, but I've been mistaken. I love love love the kids I work with now, too. They are so sweet and really brighten up my life. I've also been teaching ESL (English as a second language) an hour before work every day. This has been quite the experience! I've always thought about teaching and apparently I'm pretty good at it. It's also kinda cool because we get to use "Direct Instruction" which I've learned about in a couple of my psych classes and it's pretty interesting to see how effective it is. So, that's been fun :)

Another thing that's been going on is soccer. We signed up for an indoor league down in Ogden and we play about once a week. The team is pretty darn awesome because it's mostly family. There's me, Peter, Beth, Jessica, Brett, Marcos, JD, Pedro, (all Legua's/Allen's) and Katie and Jordon (some really close friends). It's so fun. The downside is the time of the games. We're usually playing at times between 9-11:00 PM! Some games are later and some are earlier; however, our last three have been at like 11:20. Disgusting. It's really no fun when you have to leave Ogden at 12:30 at night and drive to Brigham and then to Logan.. Then we get to wake up at 5:30 so Peter can go to work. So that's lame! But still, the team is great and soccer is fun enough that I'm okay with a little sleep deprivation.

So there's an update on my life! Things are going pretty well. I think I'm just worn out from school and work and staying up late to really be too chipper right now. Hopefully once I get a break from school things will lighten up a bit. Ta-ta for now!

Also, I might be starting an anonymous blog kinda thing. We shall see :)

My favorite time of year!

So I haven't blogged for a while but I have a few minutes before my next class so I think I will. Normally, with a few minutes here and there between classes I like to catch up on reading for school or any homework I have; however, the textbook I need to read right now is extremely graphic and I'm too embarrassed to read it in public. Seriously! What professor assigns you to read such a graphic book, lol. The class is called Human Sexuality (required for my FCHD minor) and it's pretty weird, but...educational? Hahaha who knows..

So right now life is good. Unfortunately I've just failed two exams, so that REALLY sucks but I can't complain. I'm married to my best friend and we're finally on our own and living our own life. I love our apartment (even though we live by some creepy people and there are unexplained odd smells that possess it sometimes) and it's pretty nice for our first place. We still haven't put all of our wedding gifts away because I feel like I need to write my thank-yous first... I'm a little OCD sometimes I think. Peter has to keep me from being a crazy person all the time, lol.

The wedding was amazing :) I don't think if I could I would change one thing about it. Our families were so supportive and helpful and we had almost everything done and ready so we just got to enjoy our day. I'm not only lucky to be married to such a great guy, I'm lucky he has such an awesome family! The honeymoon was great, also. Unfortunately we had to cut it short and change our plans because of school (which started on the 29th) but we still had a great time. With only 3 days we managed to stay in a nice hotel in Salt Lake, visit Zion National Park, zipline, 4-wheel, go horseback-riding, swim, and mini golf. Peter planned the trip and it was just perfect :)

Along with the wedding and school, things have been really really good. My grandma is just getting out of the hospital and her surgery went well and she seems like she's recovering without too much pain. Which makes me sooo happy! I'm going to pick her up today. Work is also going well! I hate starting a new job but I really like the work I do. I'm working at Lincoln Elementary School at an after-school tutoring program. I work mainly with 1st and 2nd graders and they are adorable. I love helping them read and seeing them improve :) just makes me happy!

For the next few months I'll just be trying to catch up in school, adjust to being a newlywed and all of that fun stuff, and working. I'm excited for what's to come and...

OCTOBER! My most favorite time of year! I feel like, even though it's not very close to Halloween, it's right around the corner! I can't wait for it. The only thing that would make things better would be if I were back at the Club making glue ghosts, haunted houses, and reading scary stories. I sure do miss those kids! But I'm really starting to love the kids I work with now as well.

Well that's about it in my life. I'm sure I'm missing some shtuff but that's the gist of it :) I'm happy and things are really going well. I'm so thankful and so blessed :)

Ahhh!

So I just saw the title to my last blog and it basically sums up how I feel now, lol. There are 15 days til my wedding! I'm sooo excited/nervous. Pete and I finally got on the ball with the wedding planning. We're basically all done! Just a bunch of little things left to plan now. My bridal showers were fun; I had one with the people in my ward and some close friends and one with mostly Peter's family and some of my close family. They were awesome and all but I'm not gonna lie, I hate being the center of attention.. I get so nervous and fumbly and just want people to not stare at me hahaha. I guess though, besides the awesome gifts you get and great company, another good thing is that bridal showers prep you for your wedding day. People keep telling me the wedding day will be all about me (and Pete, lol) and we'll have all the attention.. Not excited for that part but I am excited to wear my gorgeous dress!!! Yep, I'm going from tangent to tangent because I'm just so dang excited about a million different things. Anyway, about my dress. It's soooo gorgeous. I didn't want to spend as much as I did on it (I think most brides say that) but I'll never regret not getting my dream dress because that's exactly what I got :) I'm one happy little girl.

The first couple weeks back from Peru I was freaking out, having little breakdowns left and right because I had no idea what I was doing and felt like I was having the plan the whole wedding myself.. Poor Pete lol. My family says instead of "Bridezilla" I'm actually a "Cryzilla" lol, I think it's quite fitting though. But yeah, we're just about done! School is starting next week and I'm super excited for that! (weird, I know.) We also found an apartment and I got a new job! Haha see why I've been stressed? Getting ready for my last two semesters of school (boo-yah!), planning a wedding, going to Peru, searching for an apartment, etc. It's been pretty crazy! I can't wait until like a month from now when we're all settled in and things have calmed down a little bit. I'm excited for my new job, it's doing just about the same thing I was doing before so I can't wait to start :)

Peru was awesome! I don't think I'll blog all about it today.. Just that it was wonderful! I was definitely ready to come home though, just missed my family a ton! So I'm happy to be home, happy to be almost done planning this wedding, and super happy about marrying my best friend in just a few weeks :) feelin' blessed!

Overwhelmed.. but excited!

So things have been flying. I started work the Monday after the semester ended and I've been working and getting ready for things to come ever since. Unfortunately, I officially suck at planning weddings. Er, my wedding. I keep seeing all these things saying what you should be getting ready 4-6 months before the wedding and I have--NOTHING done. We don't know where we're getting married, where our reception is going to be, who's coming, what we're eating--nada. So that's a little stressful. I think the thing is that I have no idea what I'm doing. I've been to 1, that's right, 1 wedding (that I can remember.) So I have no idea who pays for what, what goes where, or when certain things are supposed to take place. I feel bad asking anyone to help though, it seems like everyone is already stressed to the max, lol. Blah! Hopefully this week I can get on the ball and get that stuff done before...

Peru! That's right, I'm going to Peru! I can't remember how much or what I talked about when I blogged before so I might be repeating myself but oh well. I'm so excited. Except for the food and the fact that I don't speak Spanish. It's sad that I took two semesters of Spanish and I don't feel like I could speak to someone or carry on a conversation, oh well again, lol. Everyone keeps saying I'll pick it up fast when I get out there and no one speaks English--lets hope that's true!

Lets see... work is going great :) I missed the kids soooo much, I'm pathetic. I feel like I enjoy working at the club more than the kids enjoy going there hahaha. I'm working out in Tremonton now and the drive out there every day isn't as bad as I thought it would be, it's kind of nice actually. I can't decide if, when I get back from Peru, I'd rather work in the Brigham club or the Tremonton club.. I guess we'll see what happens!

So I just got done kind of cleaning out my room. It's weird getting rid of things with the thought that I'm only going to take so much to my new apartment when I get married; I really don't need much. The sad thing is throwing stuff away. I've decided I don't want anyone to buy me anything because it eventually gets thrown away. Like everything! I think when I have birthdays or any time I get gifts I just want money. That sounds bad and cheap but really, that's the only thing that I can save or spend on things that I actually need. Haha gifts are nice but paying for school and a car when you need one I think trumps them in my book :)

So things are going well. I'm super stressed but it's mostly my fault, I just need to really start getting things done. I think when August comes and I'm starting school and getting back from Peru, I'll be freaking out a little more lol perhaps then my blog posts will be much more interesting...

Flow

Today in my Theories of Personality class (Personality Theory?? who knows what it's really called...) we learned about the coolest thing. It's called "flow." I learned about it a little in another one of my classes and it spiked my interest. In my psych classes when I learn about different things there are some concepts I can really understand and relate to, and some I doubt exist or have a hard time grasping.. (like the Oedipus Complex--children being romantically attracted to their parents, as mentioned in my last blog... WEIRD) But "flow" was different. When I first heard about flow we were talking about what makes people happy and successful in life. Researchers have been studying this for a while I guess and they would page (with beepers--remember those??) "happy" people throughout their day and the people would have to report what they were doing and rate their level of happiness. The researchers found that people are happy when they are 1. doing something they love and 2. doing something they're good at. If you love your job but you're not good at it, you're not going to always be successful. If you're good at your job but you HATE it, you're not going to be too happy. So this is like flow. When people are doing things they love, they're good at, they have pretty cool experiences--flow. Okay so that's flow in a nutshell and there's probably a million other factors that contribute.. but oh well, that's what I took from it :) I think that's why I loved my previous job so much. I worked with kids that I loved, I taught and spent time with them and really believed that I was making a positive difference in their lives. And, according to my boss and other staff I was good at it. It was difficult but I knew I was capable of doing it and progressing and doing better each day. That's another part of flow and being successful. You're doing tasks that are challenging but not TOO challenging, to the point where you feel like your skills are unmatched and you're unable to complete the task or do it well. So today in my PT class was good. Thought-provoking and interesting. Flooooow. Kinda like listening to U2 or your favorite songs lol. That's all for now :)

Marchy March

Yes, pigs are flying, and I am blogging again for the SECOND TIME in a month. In a week, actually :) I guess I'm just feeling very bloggy lately. Bloggy: Feeling the need to write/talk about things in ones life.

So today, despite the fact that it's 9:45 am, has been a great day. I was absolutely dreading my Spanish midterm for one reason. It was an ORAL interview. Dun dun dun! We had to sheepishly enter the professor's dungeon and be interrogated by her with complicated questions with words we've never heard before. If we answered a question wrong or pronounced a word incorrectly, we were severely beaten. Okay so it wasn't that bad, I guess.. In fact, it went quite well. Thank goodness my teacher is friggin' awesome and she makes even the most shy and quiet and scared to death of public speaking people (like myself) feel A-OK. But yeah, so it went so much better than I thought it was going to. My grammar wasn't great but I knew most of the questions she asked me and could answer them pretty well. I might have the grammar of a 10 year old Spanish-speaking child but oh well, I'm getting there :)

Today I saw the cutest squirrel as I was going to my interview. It sat up in this tree and just stared at me. I got my phone out to take a pic and it just sat there lol. I got a few weird looks but who cares, it was so cute!

(hahaha this is such a small picture of such a small squirrel...)

Also, today we started discrimination training with my rat, George. We're now teaching him to only do the behavior when a stimulus (flashlight) is present. Once again, he's so dang smart. Only took him a couple of times to recognize the contingency and do what we were trying to teach him. Oh little furry animals, they just make my day!

Today I have an exam in Theories of Personality. Can I just say how friggin' weird that class is??? When I decided to take it (even though it is required for my major) I thought it'd be informational; I'd be able to decide why people do things and act the way they do. But no, right now we're learning about theorists from the 1900's who believe that children fall in love with their opposite-sex parents and they want to marry them and be romantically involved with them. Also that children (particularly babies) are obsessed with the breast because it represents comfort and love and safety... WTF. It's so weird.. But, um, interesting? Some people are so coo-coo.

That's about all I wanna blog about.. my bloggyness is running low now, I guess I've satiated that need hahaha. Time to go study :)

Febrero

So I haven't blogged for what seems like for-ev-er. I guess that just means my life is very boring. Oh wells :) Things are going well. I love my classes this semester, thank goodness. One of the coolest thing, that everyone has already heard about so it's pretty boring but who cares I'm still talking about it, is my lab for my Behavioral Analysis class. In this lab I get to train a rat! A real live cute gross rat lol. I say gross because I'm still to afraid to hold it (biting, scratching, defecating--ha!) but cute because it's sooo sweet and gentle and willing to learn (I think, lol). So yeah it's been an adventure! We go every day and feed it food and reinforce different behaviors. Since my partner didn't give me much input when we startedC.. we're teaching him to climb up these little mini stairs and push a lego guy off the edge. He's so dang good at it. I'm so proud.

Besides hangin out with my rat :) I've just been schoolin, haning out with the family and Pete on the weekends, and all of that fun stuff.. Some good news! Peter and his family invited me to go to Peru with him this summer! I can't wait--I love to travel and can't wait to stay for a MONTH to meet his family and see Peru. On the down side, I don't think I'll be able to work at the B&GC again this summer. I don't think they'll hire me when I'm going to be gone for a month out of the summer so I'm pretty bummed about that.. I guess we'll see what happens. I miss my kids soooo much. The other day I saw pictures of my chillens on fb and I just sat in my room crying lol it's weird how attached you can get to people. I just love those kids!

Idk why but for some reason I decide to blog at the weirdest times.. for instance, right now I have two exams to study for and an SI at 7:00.. it's 6:15.. I should probably go! I might continue this when I get back. We shall see! Chau!

Qupdate.

Qupdate: Quick Update. :D

So things are going really well. I've spent the past two weeks being extremely lazy and reading, drawing, and playing. It has been so fantastic. The Christmas break has been awesome and so so so nice.

Unfortunately I did, as always, get sick again this year. This time it wasn't strep or anything though, the doctor said I had some sort of gastrointestinal infection. Who knows what the heck that is or how I got it. So after a sleepless night where I lost track of how many times I threw up, I finally went to the doctors and got on some antibiotics. I'm feeling great now :)

For some reason this year it didn't really feel like Christmas.. I don't know why exactly.

I've just finished the Hunger Games series again, and can I just say, again, how much I freakin love those books? They're perfect. I love the characters and the realistic struggles and events. Love love love love love.

School is about to start up again. I'm pretty excited. For a while there I was discouraged because I was thinking I still had like two years of school to finish.. but after talking with my advisor I have about 3 semesters left until I get my bachelors. Just 3! I'm very happy about that; and excited for my classes this semester. I actually have classes that I think I'll enjoy and be interested in. I'm finished with all of my classes that have nothing to do with my major (Masterpieces of Music aka Hell, Anthropology, etc.). Wahoo! This semester I'm taking Physiological Psychology, Spanish 2 (just for fun), Behavioral Psychology, and Personality Theory. I'm excited.

I've thought a lot lately about whether or not I want to go to graduate school. I've thought about getting my masters in marriage and family therapy, child psychology, or just clinical psychology but can't decide if that's what I want to do. I figure I can finish as much school as I want and get any degree but I think eventually my number one job will to be a mom lol. As weird as that sounds.. I'm only 21.. I still think about it. Anywho, I'll just keep my options open and see where life takes me!