Talk about a couple of busy days! It has really been one busy week. I have already met with one group. I am meeting again tonight (twice)! It is hard to keep track of which way is up. I have been trying so hard to get my project for Friday done, but it is truly a hard thing to do. I am finding it hard to write and hard to research.

I took a long nap today. I know I shouldn't have, but my body needed it. It is important to listen to your body. I don't want to get sick again. I also don't want to exhaust myself to the point that I can't do anything.

School work has taken up most of my time. I am feeling like there's no bright light at the end of the tunnel, but I know there is. And, Christmas Break will be here soon. That is going to be a much needed rest.

I am still waiting to hear back from my internship interview to see if I will be there for sure next semester. I hope so... It would be an amazing opportunity. I am also meeting with Kathy Dickson at the Career Development Center tomorrow to talk about my resume/cover letter. The CDC is super helpful.

Well, that's all for now folks.

Coming Back from Break

Coming back from Thanksgiving Break is always a positive and negative time of the semester. It is exciting because it's nearing the end of the semester. It is also quite terrifying because it's the end of the semester. Also, I don't want to come back to school--that means end-of-the-year papers and projects. It is good to see friends though.

I left Bluffton Tuesday around 3:30. I had to go to Lima for a class. We attended a Thanksgiving meal that was hosted by the Heart of Lima Neighborhood Association. We had a chance to meet some community members and enjoy food and live music.

I had such a great break. It was relaxing. That is what I love about breaks. They give me a chance to rejuvenate my batteries. I am very much looking forward to Christmas Break. I did get a chance to do some homework (never an event to look forward to). On Wednesday, my boyfriend and I went out with my best friend and her boyfriend. We ate at Cheddar's and went to see Harry Potter. It was great to catch up with her. I am telling you-it is important to stay in touch with your friends from back home!

Thursday was so much fun. My parents and I ventured up to Defiance, where my boyfriend's parents live. We joined them, his siblings, and grandmother for lunch. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving spread and played board gamed. It was so much fun to just sit around and talk, play games, and laugh. Afterwards, we went home and relaxed. I took a nap and then worked on some homework.

Friday was dedicated to sleep and more homework (notice the trend?). Saturday was a girls' day out. My mom and I went to Wooster and went shopping. We made several shops. The main mission of the day was to find clothing for my internship. I searched high and low. I found a few things that should work nicely. I got my haircut, as well. My mom and I also went to see Harry Potter. I love the movie, and my mom really wanted to see it. Afterwards, I got some Chipotle for the road. Once I was home, I finished up a PowerPoint.

Today, I got some more needed rest and "perfected" my PowerPoint. I headed back to Bluffton and arrived around 4:45. I worked on finding some research and then finished up yet another paper! I got myself some East of Chicago and enjoyed some House. It has been a good break, but I can feel the weight of these last few weeks coming up!

Here I go...!

So... Yesterday was a blast.

Yesterday was the Thanksgiving Dinner hosted by Social Work Club. It was a huge success. We ended up having between 30 to 35 people attend. It was a lot of work before the actual meal, but everyone seemed to really enjoy it. We made mashed potatoes, a turkey, and stuffing. Another member of Social Work Club made a delicious cranberry dish. So good!

The people who attended all brought desserts or drinks--there was so much tasty food. I think the event was really successful because of all the wonderful individuals who offered their help. Next up, we will be planning our Christmas party and My Secret Social Worker. I think it should be a lot of fun. It was a great event last year with lots of good food, friendship, and fun. I am looking forward to the same this year.

I also went to see Harry Potter last night--the midnight showing. It was AWESOME (but very sad). I will tell you, though, that I had a terrible time getting up this morning. My eyes were saying "Tired. So tired!"

I am both looking forward to this weekend as well as looking at it with some apprehension. I have quite a few things to do this weekend. I want to get all of my work that is due right after break done, but I know that this will entail a lot of homework time. However, a few of my friends and I are planning a dinner outing for this weekend. It should be fun, if all of our plans come together!

Chaos Breeds Chaos

Oh my goodness! I feel like many of my blogs start out with a similar sentiment! Today has been hectic. My interview for my field placement was cancelled. The woman I was to interview with was out sick. I was a bit thrown off by this development. Today has been filled with me trying to get a hold of people and get things "hammered" out. I am heading up, with the gracious help of many others, the Social Work Thanksgiving Dinner. The people helping have been amazing and steadfast in their assistance. However, I have been typing like mad to make sure things are in place for a successful event. I also scheduled for classes today. It was my last time scheduling for classes at Bluffton University. It is a really daunting thing, looking at it now. I also have a few assignments due and a test this week. They have been keeping me quite stressed and in edge.

Luckily, I did have a nice visit home. This was a much needed break from school. I think that we can forget to take time for ourselves. We can forget to "self-care". This is so important throughout one's entire life. I was able to spend some time with my parents, as well as just relax.

On top of everything else, I am reconsidering the direction of my life. That happens a lot too. I am considering applying for jobs and graduate school and seeing what comes from that. If I can find a desirable job, I might just go part time at a graduate school. I have yet to decide what is the best path for me. There are so many opportunities ahead, but they can often disguise themselves as obstacle and nothing else. Just work with and around those obstacles!

Field

I scheduled my field placement interview today! It is a really exciting event: it is a new experience that will be happening soon. I think that many of my fellow classmates are just as excited and nervous! I don't want to jinx the whole thing, but I am going to interview at a school. It would be a good opportunity.

Field is something that I have been anticipating since the beginning of the semester.

I have been pretty busy the past few days. I have been working on group projects. Group projects can be good and bad--a double-edged sword. I have a project due Thursday for my Practice 1: Micro course. We are working on crisis presentations. These projects look at crisis situations and a population directly impacted by that crisis. We then look at the best-model program.

My second project is my whole semester group project. We are working on researching the needs of the Downtown Lima community, as well as developing a project to address the needs.

The rest of this weeks proves to be a busy one. On Friday, I am going to be heading to Lima with the rest of the class to administer surveys. I will also be calling BINGO at the MMH. Then, I will be heading home for the weekend.

On the go go

It has been a very jam-packed week. I turned in my two papers that were do. My Macro group met on Tuesday evening and we completed our paper. It got taken care of pretty quickly. Hard work can do that. :)  That paper got turned in on Thursday. My Christian Values essay that was due Wednesday got pushed back until Friday. That gave me a chance to get feedback and perfect the paper.

On Wednesday, Chris (my boyfriend) and I had lunch with Chris's sister and her son. The baby is only six months, and he is as cute as a button! We ate at Jeanne's kitchen, here in Bluffton. Then we took her around to a few of the local stores. It was a really nice visit. The next day, we went up to Chris's parents' place. His sister was staying there during her visit. I got to play with her son, who is adorable. Chris's sister made us a vegetarian Mexican dinner: vegetarian tacos and enchiladas. It was a really tasty meal!

Thursday night, a few students from my Macro class met in order to decide what would appear in the survey that our class will be passing out. The survey is meant to help the Neighborhood Association of Lima. This organization is one that looks to unify the citizens of Lima. Our class is doing our project around the requests of the Neighborhood Association.

On Friday, my roommate and I went to an event called the CONNECTS Event. It was held at Davis Community College in Toledo, Ohio. The event focused on networking. There was a speaker, Jill Marie, who taught us the "etiquette" of networking. The skills included a firm handshake, eye contact, appropriate "commercials" (introductions of oneself and information about oneself), and more. It was an interesting opportunity. We met local business professionals and students from over eighteen schools (i.e. Defiance, Lourdes, etc.). We went with Kathy Dickson. She is the leader of the Career Development Center (CDC). That night, my roommate and I went to Bellacino's in Findlay. We had a roommates' night out. It was good to catch up. Even though we are roommates, we are both very busy and don't see each other as much.

Today, I went to lunch with one of my friends. It was a little day out. Before that, I had coffee with my boyfriend, folded some laundry, and watched an episode of House. Very exciting stuff, isn't it. (Laughs)

This is a good weekend because I don't have much due next week. It gives me a chance to relax some.

Time is flying by! It feels like I just started back to school, and now it is November 1. Wow!

Needless to say, I am keeping busy. I have a lot of stuff coming up. I have 3 papers due this week and a project due next week. talk about a lot to do and keep straight!

My weekend was pretty good. Saturday was family day. My parents came up. We went to the farmer's market in town and got some Mocha Meltaway cupcakes. They were so good! We ate lunch at Luke's. My parents love to eat there. It was so busy, though. It seemed like everyone in town was there or students were bringing their parents there to eat. We went to Wal-Mart and I picked up some groceries. It wasn't a particularly eventful visit, but it was definitely a good time. It was good to see my parents.

Later that night, I drove up to Defiance to attend a Halloween parade with my boyfriend's family. He had to work, but I decided to go. His sister was visiting from Texas with her 6 month old son. Her husband was working, and she decided to visit her family. I had never heard of a Halloween parade, but it was fun. I enjoyed visiting with everyone. I would have liked to stay afterwards to enjoy freshly popped popcorn and board games, but I decided I better drive back to Bluffton before it was too late. Yesterday was mostly a day of recuperation. I took a long nap and tried to wok on some homework.

Tonight, a friend of mine has invited a group of us over to his house to join him for cake and ice cream. His birthday is Wednesday. :)