CRC

My certificate arrived today... I am a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor!

I couldn't be happier that I don't have to retake the exam... and now I can update my business cards! :)

looking forward to 2012

So much to say.... Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! And so on! But I'll keep this brief.

We are looking forward to a year of no school (yay!), my long-awaited gainful employment (yay!), and much more time for creativity! YAY!

I have plenty of projects that have been on hold while the dust has settled this year, so I am looking forward to a 2012 full of crafting. Stay tuned! Thanks, everyone, for your patience and understanding!

Cheers!

love what I do

I'm a bad blogger... my apologies to anyone out there who has been terribly lonely in my virtual absence. BUT, good news, I am really finding my stride on my new full time work schedule and have actually been contemplating some blog-worthy projects! More on those in the near future, hopefully.

The topic of this post, though, is just how much I love what I do. A big part of why I love my job is the true good I see in people, especially my coworkers. Yesterday a veteran was coming to a meeting we had set up when he realized that he had not planned for the parking meters downtown; he called me to ask if I knew of a solution to this problem, so I asked him to hang tight for a minute while I worked it out before calling him back. I consulted my coworkers, thinking perhaps I could find a way to grant him access to the building's limited parking deck just for that hour. Without missing a beat or giving it a second thought, both of the people I was talking to dug in their pockets and desk drawers for coins. Within 15 seconds I had more than $1 in change for my veteran to use to plug the parking meter. I was inspired and proud - this is why we're here. We help veterans... whether that help comes in the form of more training, employment services, or a handful of change.

my how the time flies...

Here we are halfway through May - I can't even believe it. It's been a blur since my last post. After much discussion with Joel about where we see ourself in a few years and what kind of plans we want to make for the next six months or so, we landed on staying in the Indianapolis area. I declined the interview in Oregon and threw myself into efforts to stay here in the area; primarily, that has consisted of lining things up to hopefully fall into a position with the VA working full-time doing the job I currently do as an intern. Though I graduate in two months and one week (trying not to start a countdown, getting closer!), right now everything is fluid and it could all completely change at any time. I'm working hard to stay cautiously optimistic and hope for the best without hanging all of my hopes too completely on anything yet. On a brighter note, with my slightly less taxing summer schedule I should have some time for sewing and crafting and such! Joy! Stay tuned. :)

dum spiro spero

Hello! It's been a while. My life is crazy and I run around in a daze trying to get everything done, with only partial success. School is going well. Work is going well. Job applications are going well... and I have been invited to interview for a job in Oregon. Oregon! What an adventure that would be! At this point it is all up in the air, though, and I have no idea where we will live, what I will do, and how our life will unfold in a few months. Right now all I can do is move forward and keep hoping.

As Cicero said, dum spiro spero: While I breathe, I hope. I learned today that this is the Doran family motto, and it made me smile. It made me... well, hopeful. Life is hard sometimes. Personally, I sometimes have to deal with things I would rather not: school stress, work drama, personal identity crises. I don't always know what the future holds, and that certainly causes me anxiety. At the end of the day, though, I know everything is good. My main piece of evidence that things are good overall? Joel. Joel is wonderful for me and I think we are an excellent team. I guess the whole point of this paragraph is: my husband is an amazing man and I am lucky to have him. Joel, thanks for being you!

In other news, where the heck is spring? It's a little warmer here today, but I am not any more motivated to go outside due to the rainy, stormy weather out there. Come on, couldn't we have ONE day of decent temperatures AND sunlight? I will be beside myself with joy when that day arrives.

Unfortunately I have nothing else much to report, probably because my connections with the world outside my bubble of stress have been difficult to maintain lately. If you are reading this and I haven't returned your call, e-mail, or smoke signal, I apologize. I hope to emerge from my haze sometime soon! At the very least, in July I will be done with school, so we can all look forward to that. :)

Happy Weekend!

a gift for baby Anna-Belle

Having (finally) gotten this gift to its recipient, I can now post pictures of it here! Hooray! Baby Anna-Belle was born on January 12, but I JUST delivered this little stuffed octopus to her (and met her for the first time) on Sunday (yes, that was February 20th... almost six weeks later... can I still call it a birth day present?).

I was very happy with how this turned out - I found the pattern and instructions here and thought it was really easy to follow, though those eight little legs were not exactly a picnic to make and attach! So cute, though, and completely worth the effort.
I wanted it to be a meaningful gift, so I constructed this little cutie using fabric from the bridesmaid's dress I wore in the wedding (I rarely wear dresses so it wasn't that difficult for me to decide cutting it up was a good idea)! I hope sweet little Anna-Belle loves it.

having a job will be like being on vacation

I can't wait to have a regularly scheduled full time job! It will be so amazing having weekends to use as I please, evenings free to enjoy some down time, and NO HOMEWORK! I can't even imagine what I will do with the time I now spend reading textbooks and writing papers... it will be just like a vacation!

This rant brought to you by Presidents Day, which my VA coworkers have off but I am spending at work and class. Sigh.

take 5 minutes and vote!

Voting is happening now for a fun contest - follow this link to the post: Craftaholics Anonymous - You Know You're a Craftaholic When.... Lots of people finished that sentence and the top 65 entries are up now for voting; I'd love it if you'd go vote! Both of my two entries made the cut (#12 and #14) and #12 is my favorite: You know you're a craftaholic when your husband gives you a stack of paint sample chips for Valentine's Day and they make you feel more loved than flowers ever could. (Joel really does give me paint sample chips as gifts and I am always thrilled - he knows me so well!)

Of course it would be fun to win so I'd be pleased if you vote for mine, but there are some seriously hilarious entries so I have to say vote for whichever entries make you laugh! I had a great time reading through all of the entries. Voting is open through the end of the day Monday, 2/21. 

this and that

Well, obviously blogging is not my number one priority lately - more than a month without a single post. Sad. In short, the past month has included: finishing the fall semester, picking up some extra hours at my internship, welcoming baby Sarah to the world, visiting Washington, D.C., with Joel and my wonderful in-laws, celebrating Christmas with my family, returning to school, and generally having my days be completely full. Most exciting on that list is definitely baby Sarah, who is beautiful and such a joy to everyone she meets! I'm only sorry Joel & I can't be closer to babysit more... seeing videos online is both wonderful and tough sometimes because I'd love to be able to make some dinner to take along and stop by to see Sarah and chat with Ann. It's a little stressful right now to be thinking about graduating in 6 months(!) and looking for a job, because the midwest is definitely our preferred region of the U.S. and I'm not sure how well I'll be able to keep my search to this area. A job in Illinois or Indiana seems like it would be best, but I realize that my first job might take us somewhere completely different. Generally, I'm not opposed to moving somewhere totally new (I actually think it would be really fun right now while we're not "tied down" anywhere in particular yet), but being close to those we love is absolutely a priority if I can manage it. Only time will tell, I suppose, so I'm trying not to get caught up in the anxiety of where we will live and focus more on finishing the degree and finding a good job that I can enjoy... and that will help me to recoup my grad school expenses. :)

sixty-six percent!

66% done with grad school... hooray! This is the last Christmas season I will spend in school and I couldn't be happier. The end is starting to feel closer!

Maybe I can actually do some fun crafting-type things now that I don't have dozens of school-related things to do for a few weeks...