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!

Oh yeah.. MOCKINGJAY!

So I finished Mockingjay a few days after I got it, but never did blog about it. It is definitely one of my top 5. I LOVED IT. The book was not only amazing, I couldn't stop reading it. On the way to the bus, on the bus, in class, eating dinner, it was so hard to put down. The best part I think was the ending. I'm not going to spoil it or say what happens but can I just say it ended perfectly? What needed to happen for the book to end realistically and perfectly, happened. I'm sure 90% of readers would disagree because it's surprising and... yeah, but I thought it was perfect lol. I would highly recommend it and plan on reading it again soon :)

October

So things have been kind of bleh. It seems like everything is up in the air and I'm being so lazy! I mean, I keep busy and have a lot to do, there are just so many things that I need to get done that I keep putting off. For instance, right now I practically have my Associate's Degree minus the fact I haven't picked up my paperwork and graduation packet. Who does that?? That and I'm so needing a job. Not that I'm struggling financially or anything but I hate living off what I've saved up (even if it was for this purpose). It just is driving me insane.

I'm very excited for this Friday! I'm visiting the Club and doing some Halloween programs. I cannot wait. I was a little bummed last time I visited because a lot of my kids that I worked with for two years don't really go anymore.. Anywho, I'm very excited and it will be fun.