March 21

March 21, 2013

My week in South Carolina for fieldwork was not what I expected. Without going into too much detail, Lindsey and I were both a little disapointed by our experience. We were so excited to go to this site and had our sights set high that it would be an amazing learning opportunity. We were let down greatly, but we did learn about how we would like to change the mental health field if we were ever to go into it.
Lindsey. I will never be able to say too many nice things about this girl. We hadn't really spent that much time together before this trip, so we both didn't really know what to expect Sunday night as we were making the 2 hour trip together. We quickly bonded over our mutual disdain for the unkempt apartment, the squeaky beds, (the lack of sleep we were getting because of them), and our ideas about life in general. As the week passed, and I learned more and more about her, the more and more I really liked her. She is seriously one of the most open and honest people I know. She is kind-hearted and tender-souled. She is funny, has an amazing work ethic, and doesn't let anything stop her.
On Thursday, the OT at the hospital we were at does this thing called "breakfast club" where the patients work together and make their own breakfast. It's pretty awesome. Definitely one of the highlights of the week. After breakfast was made, and we were all at our spots sitting around the table, the OT asked everyone to say something they were thankful for. Lindsey was one of the last ones to go. Her response took me by surprise. She commented on how thankful she was that she was able to spend the week with me. She said how she started off the week a little nervous because she didn't know what to expect, but she was so glad for the way it turned out. She was grateful I made all those freezer meals so that we never had to eat out while we were there. She said sweet thing after sweet thing. After her turn was over, one of the patients I was sitting by leaned over and said, "That was so nice. That was so nice." He was right; that was so nice.
I honestly probably would have been miserable that whole week in South Carolina if it hadn't been for my dear friend Lindsey. We definitely kept each other sane. I am so grateful I was able to get to know her better! Nothing like a dirty apartment and a bad fieldwork to bring you closer together. 

Courtney

 

March 9

March 9, 2013

In my program at school this is one Indian girl. Her name is Amy. We are friends. Amy grew up here in Georgia, but her parents are still very very Indian. Her mom knows a little English but mainly her family speaks Gujarati. It's quite exciting. Since Amy is so Indian she occasionally stumbles over American culture. Little sayings like "don't push my buttons" become "stop pushing my envelope" or "hippity hop" becomes "hoppity pop" and many other fun Amyisms I can't think of right now. I really should start writing them down. Well, this girl had NEVER had a taste of an apple pie before. NEVER. I just couldn't have that, so she came over, and we made one and she had an entire slice (not just a little taste). I found an awesome recipe on FoodNetwork.com, and we got to it.

 We made that pie crust and latticed it ourselves. Feel free to be impressed.

We threw it in the oven and played with Killer while we waited for it to bake. Here's the finished product. It was pretty dang good. If you don't have an apple pie recipe that you're just mad about, this one is for you. It was seriously the best apple pie I've ever had in my whole life.

 And I just had to include this ridiculous picture of myself. Just a few days ago in one of my classes our teacher gave us this little self-check questionnaire thing to fill out. It had statements like "I'm an active listener" or "I respect others' beliefs", and we had to say if we always, sometimes, or never did these things. One of the items said, "I pay attention to my facial expressions." Obviously, I don't. Don't worry, I put "never".

Courtney 

March 7

March 7, 2013

Tuesdays and Thursdays I have two classes. One from 1-2:30pm and the other from 5-8pm. So I always run home and let Killer out, eat a snack, make dinner, and then head back to school. It was beautiful outside today so rather than make Killer look longingly at the squirrels in our backyard through the curtains, I opened the door for her and let her run wild. She loves to just sit in the doorway with the door open and watch the happenings-on outside. 

Later that night after my second test of the day, one of the girls in my class went through her locker and was giving away snacks and treats she had had in there since last semester. She had two ring pops left, and Amy and I quickly snagged them. They certainly made class after a test at 6pm more bearable.

Courtney

 

March 1

A couple years ago my sister-in-law Valeri did this cool thing where she took a photo every day of the month and then blogged about it. I decided I would do that too. So way back in March 2011 I took a picture everyday and blogged about it. Pretty much all my pictures were of Killer...shocker! Well I think it's high time I repeat that fun little blogging activity. And I'm warning you already, most of these pictures will probably be of Killer.

Here goes March 2013.

March 1, 2013

I've been in graduate school for just over 6 months now. I'm learning a ton, I'm having a blast, and I'm making really great friends. And I'm so lucky that they all just love my little pup. She can be quite annoying sometimes - always begging for attention and wanting to lick your face - but these friends of mine don't care. They think she's cute as she can be and super sweet. They've learned her quirks and her tricks and love loving on her. 

Friday after I got home from class I got a text from Carmel (pronounced Car-Mel) asking if Killer and I would like to join her and Daisy (Carmel's pitbull) on a walk at the Augusta Canal. (Side note: The Augusta Canal is beyond awesome. Brad and I love to take Killer there, we run, we walk, we play, we kayak, and it's seriously about 2 miles from our house - awesome.) So Killer and I got ourselves together, loaded in the car, and met Carmel and Daisy at the park. 

The very first time Killer and Daisy walked together, Daisy did not like having this little bittty thing running around her going wild and crazy. But now Daisy has come to accept the fact that no one can contain Killer, especially when she's outside on a walk. Daisy is super sweet and just ignores Killer running around all over the place. 

Brad and I have been trying to socialize Killer to other dogs pretty much her whole life, but she just can't seem to get it. She loves people, but really could do without ever meeting another 4-legged barking creature. She likes to play with her cousin Mimzy and the basket hound next dog, Herb. But that's about it. So I really appreciate these walks with Carmel and Daisy because it gives Killer a chance to be around another dog in an environment that she already enjoys.

So Carmel and I and our dogs went for a walk. Julie came a little later, so she ran to catch up with us and then joined us on our dog walk. On the canal trail there's this great open field right on the river just after the 2.5 mile marker. Killer knows exactly where it is, and once we start getting close she starts going crazy. So we walked the dogs to this field and then let them run around for a while to get some more energy out. Killer swam and chased rocks into the water. Daisy really wanted to join her, but common sense took over since it was freezing cold that day.

Julie laid on the table and talked about how the world looks so much different laying on your side. She eventually convinced Carmel to do the same. I laughed at them and took candid photos.

On March 1st I was very grateful for good friends who are silly and don't mind walking 5 miles while constantly being clotheslined by my dog's leash.

Courtney

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na,na, na, na, na, Batman!

Last Thursday night was, in one word, EPIC. A few months before I got a text from a friend asking us if we wanted to go to the midnight premiere of Batman with her and her husband. Um...Yes! So we bought super advanced tickets to the 12:01am IMAX showing of The Dark Knight Rises. The weeks went by, and we forgot completely about it. Then we flipped the calendar to July and there it was, written in BIG letters - BATMAN. It felt like finding a $20 bill crumbled up in a ball in the bottom of your purse that you didn't even know was missing. We were so excited and could hardly wait 19 more days until we could finally cash in those movie tickets. Brad even asked off work for the next day so he could sleep in after our big night (that turned out to be a huge blessing for him since we didn't get home until about 3:30am...but our poor friend Amanda had to be a work super early the next morning.)

The day finally arrived. Amanda and Adam come over around 6:30, and we were off! They were so incredibly sweet and took us to Buffalo Wild Wings. I'm a little (ok, a lot) embarrassed to say that we ordered 50 wings and between the 4 of us there were probably about 5 left over. And to make it worse they had calorie counts on their menu. Who does that?! Oh well, it was delicious! We then made our way to the theater, because A and A still had to print out their tickets. We then decided what the heck, we're here we'll just go ahead and wait in line! We were the second or third group in line, which meant we got great seats once we finally got in the theater. Amanda and I decided we needed to swing by the Target and get some candy, so we left the boys with camp chairs to save our place in line. Once we got to Target we got distracted not only by the swim suits but also by the rows and rows of clearance items. What the boys assumed would be a quick trip across the street turned into a 30 minute shopping experience.

When we got back we just hung out, laughed, joked, and took lots of pictures. As the night went on more and more people showed up, and I really enjoyed people watching. The news was even there! But they were interviewing more colorful characters than we.

There are so many things I love about this picture. First of all, and probably my most favorite aspect, Spiderman is in the background. After we realized this we could not stop laughing! Brad and I were part of a small group of Batman goers who weren't dressed up. We were asked by a few people why we were dressed in normal clothes, and Brad wittily replied that we were ordinary victims of Gotham.

Around 9:30 or 10 we were allowed to go into the theater, pick our seats, and wait for another 2 hours until the movie started. It was so nice to get out of the heat and humidity. In order to entertain us while we waited we were graced by every super hero ever thought up. Amanda lovingly referred to it as "the nerds unite".

We had a great time, and we're so glad A and A invited us to go with them. We loved the movie, and if you haven't seen it yet GO! I would suggest watching the other movies marathon style before seeing this one though. That was one thing we wished we had done. It's hard to remember all the details of the other movies when you haven't seen them in so long. And for those of you who know me, you know I am by means a movie critic, and I usually like everything I see. But it seems like everyone in the whole world likes this movie, so at least just this once you can trust my opinion on movies.

Brad and Courtney

shout out to friends

Today is the 2nd wedding anniversary of our wonderful and bestest (yes, I just said "bestest" and yes I know that's most likely the worst grammar I've ever used in my entire life) friends Sara and Steve!

We're pretty much crazy about these two. They are seriously so awesome. We have so so many fond memories of all the fun times we've had with Sara and Steve. Two in particular are learning to country dance (which Brad and I have since forgotten) and the Hare Kishna Holi festival.

We hate that we live so far away. We miss hanging out with them and always having someone awesome to do something fun with. Happy anniversary Sara and Steve! We hope it's a great day!

Brad and Courtney

Utah Trip

As I mentioned in my last long over due post, we went to Utah for Memorial Day weekend. It was freezing cold and raining the whole time we were there but we still had a ton of fun! We hung out with Curt, Malinka, Blake, Devin, Sara, Steve, and Brittney (who had absolutely no idea we were coming - surprise!).

Brad and Devin were even able to go on a hike!

 Once they got pretty high up on the mountain, they ran into a cloud. Pretty cool, huh?

 On Monday, Brittney, Blake, Sara, Steve, Brad, and I went to see the movie Source Code. While we were waiting for the movie to start, Brad and Steve found neat motion movie seats that moved and shaked along with the movie.

We also went shopping.

Tuesday before we left to go back to Atlanta and while Sara and Steve were at work, we walked to the temple, which isn't even a mile from their house.

While in Utah we were able to partake the following wonderful goodness:

- Cafe Rio

- In N Out

- Rock Creek Pizza

- 7 Eleven slurpies

It was delicious!

Thanks to Sara and Steve for having us and showing us a good time!

Love, Brad & Courtney

Until After Finals...

So until after my last final this Thursday, I won't be posting anything. I've been bombarded with cruise pictures and story requests, and I promise I'll get to it ... next week. So to hold everyone over until then (if I still have any readers after not posting for a month), here's a little something for you with love from Killer.

This 20 dollar bill was on top of our bedroom dresser which is about 2 1/2 feet tall. While Brad wasn't watching, Killer jumped up there (from the ground) and tried to eat it. She must have decided it wasn't all that tasty because she left all the pieces just laying on the floor and walked away.

I got some tape and did a little surgery. We found all but two tiny pieces and according to Google, a bank will exchange a bad bill for a good one as long as you have at least 50% of the dog eaten one.

Sorry Andrew Jackson.

On a completely different note, today is Sara and Steve's

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! 

Until after finals,

Brad and Courtney

Day 13: Pumpkin Rolls

My dear friend Bethany's birthday is on Monday (keep on the look out for the day 14 post, which is all about her), so on Sunday I made her a pumpkin roll. About a month ago I asked dear Bethany what she wanted for her birthday which was coming up soon. Without hesitation she said, "A pumpkin roll!" Done deal. Ask anyone that's ever been around me near the holidays, and they will tell you I am the queen of pumpkin rolls. I seriously make them almost every week straight for two months. I could definitely make Bethany a pumpkin roll for her birthday. All I could think was, "How fabulous that I have an excuse to make such a delicious treat in March!" Bethany, not cursed by a nut allergy, wished the inside of her dessert to be filled with pecans. So, naturally I granted her birthday wishes. But I couldn't possibly make a pumpkin roll that I wouldn't even be able to taste, not even one little bite. So I made two - one pecan filled for Bethany and one nut free for Brad and myself. 

Happy Sunday!

Love, Courtney