fall, winter, & spring

This is a bit belated, but life has been pretty hectic...School started at the end of August and my second year of graduate school took off like a rocket. I started right away with seeing the maximum amount of clients allowed, teaching an undergraduate 3-credit course, and also overloading on courses.

This doesn't include client appointments, office hours, or RA hours....ah. 

September: Luna and I continued to learn more about each other...specifically, I learned more about her love for boxes and how much she hates her collar.

She doesn't wear a collar anymore :(

I also participated in a poster presentation at South Dakota Psychological Association (SDPA) about living in Mongolia:

Luna and I worked on eating better and keeping our weight healthy while I successfully proposed my thesis!

In October the annual Bowl-O-Ween rolled around and I was the "Great Pumpkin" from Peanuts, and this is Euodia (3rd year and the best buddy ever) being Woodstock.

In December, a friend hosted an awesome Christmas party, and this is Jill (friend in my cohort) and me wearing our best Christmas attire. 

After the semester wrapped up, Luna and I made the 17-19 hour trip straight home. Luna did amazingly...I didn't do so well and ended up sleeping at a random gas station for an hour or so.

But it was so good to be home! I saw my brother and his girlfriend, Kat. Kat and I went and got massages and had a girl's lunch at Panera. My parents and I saw a play downtown, we went out to eat, checked out the Duluth Farmer's Market, and relaxed.

what a gorgeous couple!

I took an additional break and went to see one of my favorite professors and her husband down in Milledgeville, GA. My parents took care of Luna. :) 

Lap kitty warms up to my dad 

Chloe helped me unwrap my presents, sweet baby.

I also saw some of my FAVORITE friends around town, but mostly spent time with my family. We went to the Botanical Gardens and the Atlanta skyline was just fantastic.

Dad, me, Mom, Kat, and Stevie at the Botanical Gardens

selfie with my poppa baer and the Botanical Gardens all lit up at night!

Over winter break Chloe and Luna worked on their friendship...food tended to unite them briefly, but we saw Luna give Chloe a couple head bumps.

I brought in the New Year by eating dinner with my extended family and watching the Twilight Zone with my Mom, Dad, and Aunt. We drank champagne and relaxed. It was perfect.

Shortly after that, mom and I hit the road to go back to Vermillion. Mom and I stopped in St. Louis and stayed in an amazing hotel and had a fantastic time braving the cold to find food. Our hotel had unlimited happy hour + cookies and milk before bed...so...we are definitely going back :D

We arrived in Vermillion and had a great time decorating my apartment, relaxing, and meeting up with some of my friends for dinner.

And then mom left. :(

Spring semester started with taking an overload of classes, teaching an undergraduate 3-credit course, and also seeing clients. (Sounds like my fall semester, huh)

Doesn't include client hours, time that I go crazy, or time that I'm trying to be productive and failing.

But Luna has been making sure I've been doing my homework... but really, it's just a busy busy semester.

In February I went to Iowa for a conference to learn more about a therapy called "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)" 

 Been trying to hang out with friends in the program and take some time off, but didn't really get to do that till my spring break...when my professor and her husband came to visit...

Ryan (5th year), me, Euodia (3rd year), and Matt (4th year)

I'm from Georgia College and State University and I love my undergrad institution! Aside from an amazing education, I met phenomenal professors and have been lucky enough to stay in contact with them. One in particular, Dr. Robin Harris, taught my sociology course. I loved the class so much that I signed up to take every other course she offered and ended up minoring in Sociology. She and I have kept in contact though the years and she's my second mother. Her husband, Don, is a clinical psychologist and we clicked right away.

They came up to visit me and we traveled around South Dakota, Wyoming, and even Montana! It was seriously the best time of my life and I have never been happier. It was perfect.


We started off the trip by going to Wounded Knee.

Wounded Knee Massacre Monument and Cemetery.

After visiting Wounded Knee, we drove through the Badlands with the car on E...for about 50 miles...laughing nearly the entire way until we found a gas station. We had 1/10th of a gallon left in our car by the time we filled up!

But we arrived in Custer, South Dakota in the evening and found an amazing little hotel that was just perfect.

The next day, 2nd dad and I went to Crazy Horse while 2nd mom slept...the trip wore her out. We had a great time learning all about the incredible history behind Crazy Horse and learning more about Native American history (specifically the Lakota people)

This is a Ghost shirt worn by members Lakota tribe...meant to protect them from the white man's bullets.

I also learned about the various uses for the Buffalo...


Even learned how to grind corn..

And then we had Native American food! Fry bread is amazing.

Native American taco and soup

Custer, South Dakota. Absolutely gorgeous.

To end this perfect day, the three of us went out to eat at this amazing steak restaurant...you got one "option" for an appetizer, a steak or vegetarian option for the entree, and then 30 choices for dessert. It.was.fantastic.

The next day, the three of us went back to the Crazy Horse memorial for a bit, and then we went to the Devil's Tower in Wyoming

How Lakota people believe the marks around the side of Devil's Tower were made.

Don and I decided to walk around the base of Devil's Tower. It only took about 45 minutes and it was so much fun!

Amazing company, gorgeous view...it was wonderful.

After that, we were getting ready to go and then suddenly, I made some friends.

Prairie dogs! They were so friendly.

After leaving my new pets, we saw a line of deer..and then dozens more as we were driving away. Such a beautiful place.

Then we were on our way to go to Montana for this saloon. Robin and Don had been there a few years ago and loved the character of the place, and really wanted to take me there. I loved it...especially the bathroom...

An interesting place that served a really good beer called "Moose Drool"

wat.

These pictures COVERED the women's restroom, and you can also imagine how the guy's restroom was decorated, haha.





The next day we took a trip to Wall Drug, relaxed, and saw some beautiful scenery.

Our final day we went to a Lakota school (but I didn't take any pictures!) and then we drove back to Vermillion. 

Sadly, less than 48 hours later my 2nd parents left to drive back to Milly, but Luna was happy to have me back.

I hate to end a blog post this way, but over spring break, Chloe, our family dog passed away. Chloe was 13 years old and was the best dog that our family has ever had. She had spunk, would back-talk you in a heartbeat, would boss you up the stairs for bed, and when all else failed...would sit at the top of the stairs and bark at you to come up. Sadly, her health was failing and her quality of life had declined significantly...life isn't the same without her.

Miss this sweet girl always.

...now I'm just counting down the days till the end of the semester. Summer holds a lot of exciting adventures and I'm thankful for those who are in my life and for those that I've met along the way.

Action-Packed Summer!

After I finished up my first year of graduate school (!!!) I left South Dakota at 3:30 in the morning to drive to Georgia. I got to my parent's house at 11:30 at night...I thought about taking a break and spending the night in a hotel but I had fish in the passenger seat of my car so we needed to get home asap!

And I was also in need of both giving and getting some puppy kisses.

Chloe typically holds grudges and gives me the cold shoulder for a few days after coming home, but this time she was really cuddly and very happy to see me. Love this sweet girl.

But I was only home for a couple of days before my parents and I hopped into the car and drove all the way up to New York for my Grandfather's memorial service and a family reunion. I had not been to a family reunion in over 3 years so it was wonderful to see everyone and it was great to celebrate the life of someone so important to us all. 

And some of my family...

 Not a complete picture, but we got the majority.

During this time, my class started! This summer I got the opportunity to teach Lifespan Development to undergraduate students online. I also took a class online, so I was both an instructor and a student this summer which meant that I had lots of homework and grading.

After a few days, we drove back to Georgia. Since I was back home and could watch Chloe, my parents took a vacation to Florida, haha. While they were in Florida, my 2001 Saturn started to act up more than usual...and it died. It was actually perfect timing, because I took my mom's car to different car dealerships and test-drove cars and negotiated and then came home and researched what I drove and the prices. 

RIP my Barney Car. You were a great first car.

I bought a car while my parents were gone and when they came home they drove me to go pick it up!
They said it was the easiest and best bystander experience they have ever had, haha. 

I bought a 2014 Toyota Corolla L[ov]E. 

 Then life calmed down for a bit, thankfully. My brother came to Atlanta to present at a conference and we got to have a couple of family dinners and catch up. 

For the rest of the time I was home (roughly 2 months), I went hiking up Kennesaw Mountain with my friend Heather nearly every day, I spent time with my parents, met up with some high school and college friends for waffles and coffee, and honestly, I worked a lot on my graduate class and my teaching class. 

My days were full of teaching, reading, writing, and eating as much food as possible.

Before I headed back to South Dakota, my parents and I went on our annual trip to Florida...oh yes.

I'm fine with heat, but my body is not. Cold water, huge hat, & shade? I'm good to go.

I would lay out and relax in the morning and then do some homework during the hottest part of the day before heading back out in the late afternoon. 

Our hotel had complimentary happy hour...so that was amazing.

It was really hard to leave that happy hour and those pool chairs, but we left Florida and went back to Georgia and then I drove to Milledgeville to see my undergraduate professors. 

Pecan field in Milledgeville, GA

Best university ever.

I stayed with my amazing professor and her husband for a few days (not long enough!) and got to have lunch with another favorite professor of mine and got to give a big hug and have a long conversation with another. Georgia College's Psychology Department is made up of the best individuals...so glad that we still keep in touch.

Driveway leading up to my professor's house. One of my favorite places to go.

After a few days, I headed back to my parent's house because it was time to pack to go back to South Dakota! My mom and I took a hilarious and wonderful road-trip together up to South Dakota. We ate amazing food, had fantastic conversations, laughed a lot, and slept on the most amazing bed in St. Louis. Spending quality time with my mom is something that I've missed out on for the past couple of years, so it was awesome to have a road trip with her.

Some artwork in our hotel.

Slept on a cloud. It.was.amazing.

After a night in St. Louis, we traveled the rest of the way up to South Dakota. We finally got to Vermillion late at night and I was greeted by a letter saying that my rent had gone up despite the fact I signed a lease! So my mom and I woke up the next day, got some coffee, had breakfast with some of my friends, and then went apartment shopping and found a new place for me to move into. 

While I was waiting for my lease to finish at my current apartment and my lease to begin at the new place, I decided it was finally time for me to adopt a cat. 

And so I adopted Luna. Luna is nearly 3 years old and she was a pregnant stray who was brought into the humane society. She likes to meow before she drinks water, get brushed while she's eating, and sometimes she bites me (not hard) after licking my hand. She's an independent girl during the day and likes to cuddle at night... We work well together. 

Cat-loaf.

She's a little girl who only weighs 8 pounds but that's surprising..she's such an stress/emotional eater that I expect her to weigh double. But she's really the best. She's learned to stay out of the kitchen, she taps me gently on the shoulder to wake me up when she's hungry (always), and she's even getting toilet trained (she doesn't like it, but she's doing well so far)

Study buddy....sometimes.

 But now my 2nd year in graduate school has started! I'll hopefully start seeing clients this semester but in the meantime, I'm taking a full course load and I'll be teaching a class on campus. I love all my classes and I've missed teaching and interacting with students. Now Luna and I are all settled in the new apartment (thanks to the help of my wonderful friends) and we've got a positive attitude for the school year. 

Love the clouds in South Dakota

Life is good.