beantown.

It's hard to believe, but my first year in Boston will be over very soon! I'll be heading home for a few months, and though I can hardly wait, I'm a little sad too! Boston has become a home, a place near to my heart, and beside the humidity, I will miss it this summer! I am excited to be here all next summer, but really can hardly wait to be home in Redmond!!!

packing, cleaning, moving, more packing!

this week marks the 6th time I've moved out of an apartment/house/dorm room in 6 years. I've moved so many times recently, it's hard to believe...I counted the other day and realized that my average length of stay in any given place has been 8-9 months, with the one rare exception of 14 months my junior to senior year of college.

moving so often is a blessing and a curse. a blessing because it forces you to think about what you own, how much you own, and how much you really need. a curse because you have to find moving boxes every 9 months, move away just as you learn about a neighborhood and become a part of it, or become comfortable in your own room.

i'm excited to move to a new apartment, a new location in boston (cambridge actually because we found out today we got our new apartment!!!), be closer to erin et al., be in a really cool neighborhood which feels less like the big city and more like where you know your neighbors, have a deck, etc etc.

but moving this much has made me think: will i ever be content to live in one place for longer than 9 months? will i become bored if i try to stay longer? or will i be happy? does it even matter? i'm not sure it does...i'm not sure it doesn't. what i do know is that i am moving home to redmond for the summer, back to cambridge for the year and sometime after september 2012, moving again. maybe then i'll settle down?

or maybe not.

a new apartment? maybe

Well, today, after a looooooooooooong crazy process, we applied for a new apartment! And it is nearly perfect, I can't even begin to describe it! So, that said, more to come later, and please pray that we get it! It would be AMAZING!

phew.

After my first-ever-all-nighter, I'm done. I worked for 17 hours straight with 2 1-hour breaks (food, of course!). After 24 hours of solid work on my final, I'm done.

It's hard to believe that I am now officially finished with my first year of graduate school. Summer begins and all the wonderful things that will come with it! My stressful days are done for four months...I can just easily work on my summer courses, enjoy my life, read whatever I please, see friends, sleep normally.

What a simple joy: sleep. After 24 hours of no sleeping, here comes blissful sleep. May I never pull an all-nighter again.

with my naked eyes.

well, as I just said to my friend Ben, I feel as if I am starting to emerge from the fog that has been my life for the past few weeks...or months. But especially the past few weeks...Just one more final and a paper to go, plus a few meetings, revisions to paperwork and some house-keeping things to do...

If you think of it, please pray for us as we try to find subletters...our subletters fell through, and we've begun the process of looking again. Ugh. Luckily my roommate has been kind enough to head that search while I try to finish school this week.

It's amazing to me that I made it. I mean, obviously, I was going to. But it was a lot, and I've been stretched more this semester than I realized I would be. I'm tired. I'm exhausted actually, physically, mentally and emotionally. But the end is in sight, a blissful summer in Seattle is coming, and I'm so exited to see my friends back home.

I hope it's all been worth it. I love this field, but if the rest of my life is this crazy busy, some things are going to have to seriously change, because I can't do this forever. Especially if I want more than a career. And I do. So, things will change.

welcome to finals.

i looked in the mirror today and almost didn't recognize myself. despite the new freckles, i'm pale and tired looking, with dark circles under my eyes. And my hair is long...how did that happen?

this has been a long year. a good year, but a long year. i miss home. i miss my friends. i miss driving through the beautiful backroads of washington. i miss lakes. i miss long hours of reading. i miss the smell of bbqs.

finals is here, and i'm dragging my heels to finish. i so desperately want to be done, but i can barely stay awake at this point. you know how at the end of finals, the adrenalin crash happens and you sleep for an entire day? i'm there now, except that i can't sleep because i need to finish my finals! 2 take homes, 2 meetings with professors, miscellaneous paperwork and preparing for 2 in class finals to go...

to be entirely honest, i'm waiting to see the light turn on in paul's office across the river...then i'll head over there and order a pizza with him while we write...right. hah!

wednesday cannot come soon enough.

oh yes!

I would also like to update my accomplishments list:

Phonetics: DONE!

Preschool Language Disorders: DONE! (except for a brief presentation to my professor)

Client: DONE! (except for a meeting with my professor)

Literacy Group: DONE! (except for a meeting with my professor)

Clinic: Miscellaneous paperwork, and, of course...a meeting with ALL of the clinical faculty...eek!

Aphasia: 3 case studies aka a take home final, 1 presentation

School Age Language Disorders: a Case Study

Hearing Practicum: an in-class final

Dysphagia: an in-class final

the latest of all nights yet!

Well, tonight officially makes the latest I've ever been at Sargent College (my school at BU). I officially made it to 11:45pm. Wow. I didn't think I could do it.

But if I go on much longer, I'll be walking home tomorrow, so goodnight!

"my dad" or "case in point".

My dad's response to my comment that the smells of sawdust and BBQ smoke remind me of him:

"C. ...so I either smell smokey or woody?! Love Odoriferous Dad."