Halloween Party!

Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable and spooky holiday. I have work and school today so not much fun for me. Oh well! I was able to quickly catch a buy one get one sweater sale at H&M. Two cozy sweaters to keep me toasty this winter. Yay! ^^

This last weekend I had a Halloween party with some of my friends. It was a lot of fun. My mom helped me fix up my costume. I was a dead doll. Apparently all of the close up shots of my makeup turned out fuzzy. But it's way cooler than it looks here.

 

I put up a bunch of streamers and spiderwebs and bones and rats for decorations. Because I was also busy with school and work the week before, I decorated pretty early. There were a few times when some of my decorations (namely the rats) scared me a bit. Oops! 

 

 

There was lots of food: pizza, candy, chips, and homemade cupcakes and cookies (decorated by moi). Michelle also brought homemade carrot cake (which is not pictured here but was SUPER cute and uber tastey!).

 

James described my cookies as "droll" which I thought was adorable. I haven't heard that word in ages!

 

 

We played a couple of games, but the most fun, I think at least, was the classic "eat the donut off a string game! There were, of course, prize bags handed out to the winners. 

 

There  were some lots of great costumes show up: a cat, roadkill, Twilight vampire (she *SPARKLED*), a leprechaun, a Mexican, martial artist, mafia member, and Medusa (complete with scaley makeup and "snake" hair!).

 

An overall fabulous time was had and I'm glad I had a party. Jesi and I are wanting to have a Halloween/Christmas party next year. A  "Nightmare Before Christmas" themed party: Christmas/Halloween decorations, scary costumes, a white elephant gift exchange, and holiday foods from both holidays! I'm excited about that one. I hope it works out. I think that could be even MORE awesome. ^^

Well, I'm off to class soon, now. Happy Halloween!!

 

Keep on keepin' on

Things keep going. And I'm doing pretty good. Classes and school are keeping me busy, and it's only going to get busier. I got a look at the first draft of the November schedule for work and things are going to get pretty crazy busy.

And I say, "BRING IT ON!!!"

No, I mostly say, "Yaaay..." in a tired voice with a small smile.

Things have been especially crazy these past few weeks as, in between work, school, and homework, I've been getting ready to have a Halloween party! I am really excited for it. My mom helped me fix up a costume. We took an old dress from Goodwill, cut up the hem so my red crinoline skirt can peek out, added an awesome collar and a spider brooch, and then made some hair ties with extra lace. I'll add some awesome makeup and crazy hair and I'll be a dead doll. Pretty awesome. I'll post pictures after the party. :)

Dad helped me out this week as well. We had a self defense night for the women at church and he came and taught for us. It was a lot of fun. Everyone had a really great time. It's always fun to yell and hit stuff. And Dad is a really fun teacher. ^^

In other news.... I might be going to New York next summer (and maybe D.C. if my friend has her wedding around my New York trip)!! I have to take Multicultural Counseling next summer and there are two options. One, take the class as a ten week course in a classroom, normal normal style. Not as exciting but cheaper (not CHEAP: tuition is still expensive) Option TWO is to take a one week intensive course in New York where we go around to all the different neighborhoods and talk to leaders of the community. I've talked to several of the students who have gone and it sounds pretty freaking amazing. It is, however, expensive. In addition to tuition costs, I need to pay for hotel ($80 a night), airfare (anywhere from $700-$800 or so), a program fee ($380), plus food and transportation to and from the airport.

So I'm needing a bit of extra money. I've gotten about a quarter of the way there already, but if anyone wants to help, birthday and Christmas are both coming up and money is an easy and very much appreciated gift!

Here is a lovely video of a day spent in New York City. Isn't it lovely and fun? Wouldn't it be awesome to take a class there?

Maybe I'll sleep...

Well the past few weeks have been interesting to say the least. Life has been hectic since classes started. I'm loving my classes, by the way. They are all really interesting and I love how everything I am learning is applicable to what I'll be doing. We're not wasting any time with "broadening our horizons," but rather diving right into the good stuff. That makes me really happy because my time is precious.

Not to mention that this is costing A LOT of money.

First let me fill you in on what my schedule looks like until December:

Mondays I leave for the light rail around 2pm or so to head downtown. Human Development starts at 4 and goes until 6:30. We are learning about human cognitive, emotional, and physical development which comes in super handy in my next class. From 6:40 to 9:20 I have Theory Fundamentals where we are learning about the basic psychological theories. This week we discussed Freud and Psychoanalysis. Next week we will delve into the realms of Psychodynamics. It's all very interesting and I love seeing the theories put to use in the DVD's we watch of actual counseling sessions where the therapists use the theory we are discussing.

After class, I take the light rail back and get home around 10:30 or so.

Tuesdays I might have a day "off" to catch up on homework and chores or I might work if we have a session (usually only once a month).

Wednesdays I will usually work from  8:30 until 2 at the latest so I can take the light rail downtown again, this time for Parents, Schools, and Community Communication from 4 to 6:30. Here we learn about the various responsibilities of school counselors when it comes to community involvement. After that I have group therapy from 7 to 9. This is probably the high light of my week right now. It's actual group therapy with other members of my cohort (though I am the only School Counselor out of the bunch... it's mostly Clinical and Rehabilitation). It's a great experience.

Thursdays I usually have work in the morning and then I head downtown again for my last class of the week: Effective Teaching from 6:40 to 8:30. I'll have this class through June. It is essentially a class to complete a 200 hour student teaching experience. It shouldn't be too difficult. Hopefully it's mostly review, considering I got my BA in English Teaching!

Some Fridays I work, but mostly I have them off to do more homework, hopefully some dishes, and possible go out and have some fun (Mom and I went shopping yesterday).

I work every Saturday morning. I'll probably be Dina's lead for most Saturdays. Today was my first time being lead on a Saturday. I think it went fairly well, considering we were having a few crises in the back. I don't think the guests had a clue that we almost ran out of alfredo sauce! ^_^

Then Sundays I got church. This weekend is Conference which means church at home in bed in pajamas!

Tomorrow I also have to head downtown for a "Town-hall Meeting" for the school counselors where we will be matched up with a mentor as well as get other information about program things, I'm sure. It will also be a nice time to just hang out and talk with some of the fun people in the program.

Speaking of fun people in the program. I was talking with one of the other girls the other night, and we discovered that we attended the same high school. And were in the same graduating class. Small world, eh?

Also this week, Mom and I made a pretty promotional piece for work. Well, I designed it and cut things out. Mom's the one that stayed up late and glued, glittered, and ribboned everything into perfection. It looks beautiful! Exactly how I pictured it when I made the design. I stopped at St. Cupcake on Thursday and got Mom one of her favorite coconut cupcakes as a thank you gift (I'm eating mine right now).

The only other thing going on right now that I can think of is that I'm having a Halloween party! Yay! It will be awesome! I practice my makeup tonight for my dead doll costume and it looks AWESOME. Mom is helping me with my costume and it is going to look so cool! I am way stoked. I'd show you some pictures, but right now finishing up this post quick and spending some time watching TV before going to Wal Mart is looking more appealing than getting photos off my camera and onto here. Sorry. I'll have to show you another time. Possibly when my amazing costume is ready!!

I hope everyone out there is enjoying themselves. Jesi is off at BYU and Dad is in Vietnam so it's just Mom and me right now. And tomorrow we're making cookies! For my party! Yay! ^_^