During the last couple weeks of school, my internship seminar dedicated an entire 1.5 hour lecture to our ASWB licensing exam. Taking this exam and passing would give us our SSW license, and having that license opens up more job opportunities with better pay. It's also beneficial for graduate school application. I did not really know what to expect with the test, and the class discussion wasn't really beneficial ("Do you have any questions?" followed by long spurts of silence). The test was pretty expensive (over $200), and failing means having to pay that all over again to retake the test. I ordered the study guide, took the practice test, and then put my faith in my experience and education.
I was scheduled to take the test at 2 pm at the Salt Lake Community College, and showed up at 1:15. I was told to be signed in at 1:30 for the exam, and used the fifteen minutes prior to study the practice test some more. My stomach was churning, my brow sweating, and when I went to sign in, I was informed that I was the only person taking the test. This was kind of unexpected, but then I realized that I would be able to read the questions out loud, which helps a ton when I'm doing a really long test (this one was 170 questions). We're allotted four hours to take the test, and the study guide suggested taking as much of the four hours as I could stand. I ended up finishing the test in an hour, and spent another fifteen minutes reviewing my answers. We're required to get a 70 to pass, and I was told time and time again not to expect to get much higher than that. I read online several people complaining about having to take the test again because they were a couple points shy. A panic attack later, I finally hit the "quit" button to finish the exam. Because it was all on a computer, I was supposed to get the score as soon as I exited out of the test. Naturally, it's not that easy. A survey popped up about my testing experience. Dripping in sweat, I zipped through the survey and finally got to the last page.
PASSED.
Holy freak. What a relief. In spite of my speed and anxiety, I still managed to get an 84. Hot dang!
Now, if I could just find a job...
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
I spoil my children.
Yesterday, I rode 62 miles. I'm awesome.
Saturday, I purchased some food for Peli at the pet store (after being stalked and pestered by a guy who wanted me to buy his company's dog food, claiming it was more organic and much healthier for my dog. I was almost sold on it when I realized he lied to me. I asked in the conversation how much it cost, and he said it was as much as the brand I normally buy. What I get is $43 for 40 lbs, and his brand had the same price tag... and when I discovered that the bag of his brand that was $43 was 10 lbs less, I gave him the proverbial "Suck it!" by grabbing my Science Diet while he peered at me with his beady little eyes) and realized that Peli gets a lot of treats and toys and stuff, and we haven't done anything to really spoil Chuck. I contemplated getting him a couple cans of Fancy Feast, but feared he would have the same issues he had before (apparently it makes his poop smell like Fancy Feast, which is an odor he can't resist), so looked at my other options. I found something called Vita Gravy, which is a gravy textured substance that you put in with their dry food that tastes good and has a lot of vitamins in it. He's had a tablespoon of this stuff in his breakfast and dinner since Saturday, so only a few days. Yesterday, Bobby gave him his breakfast, and Chuck usually wakes us up for breakfast because he's so excited to eat. We barely get it into the bowl before he's got a mouthful. This time, though, he just sat there, looking at Bobby. Bobby couldn't figure out what was going on, and I asked if he'd added the gravy. As soon as Bobby put it in, Chuck started chowing down. He spoils so easily.
And now, studying for my licensure exam. Wish me luck.
Saturday, I purchased some food for Peli at the pet store (after being stalked and pestered by a guy who wanted me to buy his company's dog food, claiming it was more organic and much healthier for my dog. I was almost sold on it when I realized he lied to me. I asked in the conversation how much it cost, and he said it was as much as the brand I normally buy. What I get is $43 for 40 lbs, and his brand had the same price tag... and when I discovered that the bag of his brand that was $43 was 10 lbs less, I gave him the proverbial "Suck it!" by grabbing my Science Diet while he peered at me with his beady little eyes) and realized that Peli gets a lot of treats and toys and stuff, and we haven't done anything to really spoil Chuck. I contemplated getting him a couple cans of Fancy Feast, but feared he would have the same issues he had before (apparently it makes his poop smell like Fancy Feast, which is an odor he can't resist), so looked at my other options. I found something called Vita Gravy, which is a gravy textured substance that you put in with their dry food that tastes good and has a lot of vitamins in it. He's had a tablespoon of this stuff in his breakfast and dinner since Saturday, so only a few days. Yesterday, Bobby gave him his breakfast, and Chuck usually wakes us up for breakfast because he's so excited to eat. We barely get it into the bowl before he's got a mouthful. This time, though, he just sat there, looking at Bobby. Bobby couldn't figure out what was going on, and I asked if he'd added the gravy. As soon as Bobby put it in, Chuck started chowing down. He spoils so easily.
And now, studying for my licensure exam. Wish me luck.
Monday, August 18, 2008
I didn't fall down.
What a crazy few days it's been. Friday, after being exhausted from our graduation celebration, Bobby insisted that we go to one of the stages for the Tour of Utah. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun, seeing as how I managed to squirm away with a cowbell and motivation to get on my bike more (um, the pros manage 30+ mph for over an hour on a flat, and I'm lucky to keep my average speed at 15), but the coolest part was definitely meeting this guy:
Yeah, he definitely told me in French that I have a pretty smile. This was after he almost swore in French and I mentioned that I took a few classes in that language. Unfortunately, they don't teach us swear words (even at KU), so I wouldn't have had the slightest clue that he was being profane. Bobby got a picture with him, and it was neat being able to put a person to the book Bobby's been reading (Tour de Life).
Saturday morning we got our butts out of bed long before I would have enjoyed (since graduation, I've decided to catch up on all the sleep I didn't get in the past four years) to bike up Sundance. I whined a lot, because we sold my mountain bike because I had decided biking up mountains wasn't fun. What the devil was I biking up this one for? Well, Bobby wanted to watch the fourth stage of the Tour of Utah, which was a climbing stage, and the further up the mountain we were, the better idea we could get of who was going to be King of the Mountain. I whined, and I cried, begging Bobby to please stop before we got to the Sundance sign, and after yelling at each other for a bit, I saw the sign and took off in a sprint. I went from going 4 mph to 12, which was pretty awesome on my part, especially since it means I smoked Bobby. He then yelled at me and accused me of faking being tired. I'm a sprinter, suckah.
Last evening, I received a text from our dog trainer suggesting an impromptu puppy play date. I never turn those down, especially since Peli loves playing with other dogs so much, and I thoroughly enjoy our trainer. After playing for a while, I started talking with Stacie (trainer extraordinaire) about how I was contemplating becoming a dog trainer at Petsmart. She complains constantly about the other trainers who are constantly getting fired or quitting without notice, and I joked about how I should just apply there instead of continuing the dreaded job hunt I've been on since the week prior to graduation (I know, a week and a half, wah me). She told me to apply, and that I would only have to work evenings, and that since she's the one doing the interviews, I'd be hired. This is fantastic because once we move back to Kansas, I need a job I can work that doesn't conflict with classes and internship during the day. Dog training is a few hours in the evening, and will contribute to the money we're going to give to Bobby's mom for food and for putting up with us. I hope it works out.
Today, Bobby again stirred my sleeping body earlier than I would have liked to go on a bike ride. We were going to bike around West Mountain and back, which totals to a little over sixty miles. I was pumped and ready to go, chatting away with Bobby, when about seven miles into the ride, I had a blow out. Not a big deal, since Bobby had a tube and a CO2 cartridge, but he voiced some concerns with it being that early in the ride, and we were left with no tube in case of a flat. The next twenty miles were pretty uneventful, until we were attacked by a plague of grasshoppers. I've discovered that I do not enjoy bugs touching me, and when we're biking at 15-20 mph, it's unbelievably unbearable. At about 30 miles into the ride, where we were so far from civilization that I had no service on my cell phone, Bobby discovered his tire was flat. We saw another cyclist shortly after, and while he had an extra tube to give us (cyclists are so nice!), we had no means for putting air into it. Fortunately, we had rolled far enough along to get cell phone service again, and our landlord was prompted to call us to see if he could go with us to Seven Peaks water park later that day. We were out in the middle of no-where, Payson, Utah, and he hopped into his truck and drove out, found us on a total whim, and rescued us from our flattened fate. He's pretty much the superhero of the day.
Life post-graduation is pretty splendid, what with all the additional sleeping and minimal responsibilities, but finding a job is a lot more stressful than I anticipated. I've had two job interviews so far, and the first one was terrible (they thrust me into a room full of eight people with clipboards, staring at me, asking the WEIRDEST questions) and I understood why I didn't get the job (it was at a mental hospital, and I'm sure they were contemplating admitting me instead). The second one, though, was at my internship, and they gave it to someone who deserved the job a lot more than I did. He'd worked there for a while as a human service worker, which included working the hours of 4 pm to midnight full time at a little over $9/hour. I was offered his position instead. I would feel a little weird about taking a job like that when I was a case manager there just a couple weeks ago, so I've opted to continue my search elsewhere. Fortunately, through my addiction to craigslist, I found a posting for a position at a domestic violence shelter looking for an aftercare social service worker. I don't know what the hours are or what the pay is, but I loved being at WTCS for a year and would feel good about helping survivors of domestic violence again.
So... wish me luck. If this doesn't go through, maybe I can sell an ovary or something. And in case you were wondering, Peli has her click-a-trick graduation on Wednesday, so feel free to send congratulation cards to her for all of her adorable accomplishments.
Yeah, he definitely told me in French that I have a pretty smile. This was after he almost swore in French and I mentioned that I took a few classes in that language. Unfortunately, they don't teach us swear words (even at KU), so I wouldn't have had the slightest clue that he was being profane. Bobby got a picture with him, and it was neat being able to put a person to the book Bobby's been reading (Tour de Life).
Saturday morning we got our butts out of bed long before I would have enjoyed (since graduation, I've decided to catch up on all the sleep I didn't get in the past four years) to bike up Sundance. I whined a lot, because we sold my mountain bike because I had decided biking up mountains wasn't fun. What the devil was I biking up this one for? Well, Bobby wanted to watch the fourth stage of the Tour of Utah, which was a climbing stage, and the further up the mountain we were, the better idea we could get of who was going to be King of the Mountain. I whined, and I cried, begging Bobby to please stop before we got to the Sundance sign, and after yelling at each other for a bit, I saw the sign and took off in a sprint. I went from going 4 mph to 12, which was pretty awesome on my part, especially since it means I smoked Bobby. He then yelled at me and accused me of faking being tired. I'm a sprinter, suckah.
Last evening, I received a text from our dog trainer suggesting an impromptu puppy play date. I never turn those down, especially since Peli loves playing with other dogs so much, and I thoroughly enjoy our trainer. After playing for a while, I started talking with Stacie (trainer extraordinaire) about how I was contemplating becoming a dog trainer at Petsmart. She complains constantly about the other trainers who are constantly getting fired or quitting without notice, and I joked about how I should just apply there instead of continuing the dreaded job hunt I've been on since the week prior to graduation (I know, a week and a half, wah me). She told me to apply, and that I would only have to work evenings, and that since she's the one doing the interviews, I'd be hired. This is fantastic because once we move back to Kansas, I need a job I can work that doesn't conflict with classes and internship during the day. Dog training is a few hours in the evening, and will contribute to the money we're going to give to Bobby's mom for food and for putting up with us. I hope it works out.
Today, Bobby again stirred my sleeping body earlier than I would have liked to go on a bike ride. We were going to bike around West Mountain and back, which totals to a little over sixty miles. I was pumped and ready to go, chatting away with Bobby, when about seven miles into the ride, I had a blow out. Not a big deal, since Bobby had a tube and a CO2 cartridge, but he voiced some concerns with it being that early in the ride, and we were left with no tube in case of a flat. The next twenty miles were pretty uneventful, until we were attacked by a plague of grasshoppers. I've discovered that I do not enjoy bugs touching me, and when we're biking at 15-20 mph, it's unbelievably unbearable. At about 30 miles into the ride, where we were so far from civilization that I had no service on my cell phone, Bobby discovered his tire was flat. We saw another cyclist shortly after, and while he had an extra tube to give us (cyclists are so nice!), we had no means for putting air into it. Fortunately, we had rolled far enough along to get cell phone service again, and our landlord was prompted to call us to see if he could go with us to Seven Peaks water park later that day. We were out in the middle of no-where, Payson, Utah, and he hopped into his truck and drove out, found us on a total whim, and rescued us from our flattened fate. He's pretty much the superhero of the day.
Life post-graduation is pretty splendid, what with all the additional sleeping and minimal responsibilities, but finding a job is a lot more stressful than I anticipated. I've had two job interviews so far, and the first one was terrible (they thrust me into a room full of eight people with clipboards, staring at me, asking the WEIRDEST questions) and I understood why I didn't get the job (it was at a mental hospital, and I'm sure they were contemplating admitting me instead). The second one, though, was at my internship, and they gave it to someone who deserved the job a lot more than I did. He'd worked there for a while as a human service worker, which included working the hours of 4 pm to midnight full time at a little over $9/hour. I was offered his position instead. I would feel a little weird about taking a job like that when I was a case manager there just a couple weeks ago, so I've opted to continue my search elsewhere. Fortunately, through my addiction to craigslist, I found a posting for a position at a domestic violence shelter looking for an aftercare social service worker. I don't know what the hours are or what the pay is, but I loved being at WTCS for a year and would feel good about helping survivors of domestic violence again.
So... wish me luck. If this doesn't go through, maybe I can sell an ovary or something. And in case you were wondering, Peli has her click-a-trick graduation on Wednesday, so feel free to send congratulation cards to her for all of her adorable accomplishments.
Friday, August 15, 2008
So I guess this means I'm an adult.
Yesterday was my graduation from Brigham Young University. After spending a whole year at BYU, I decided to participate fully in the pomp and circumstance, and the events went as follows:
Midnight, Wednesday night: Bobby, Marty, Sarah and myself went to Smith's to purchase chips, bread, ham, and cheese. Sarah and I also bought waterproof makeup (for all the tears, right?)
Thursday morning: Bobby and I woke up in a frenzy, getting everything thrown together, and preparing Peli for a day of kenneling while we went off into the world.
Thursday, 10:30 ish: We picked up Marty and Sarah, and then stopped at a gas station to fill the tires with air and to get some delicious fig newtons and a very large diet coke with lime.
Thursday, 12:00 pm: I walked... right into Lagoon, where we spent the day riding amusement park rides, going to the water park, and exhausting ourselves, ending the day with a trip to Salt Lake City just to go to Chipotle (they don't have one in the Provo/Orem area, which I consider one of the greatest sins of happy valley).
I didn't wear the black cap and gown, but I did wear my new cute black and white polka dotted swimsuit. I didn't accept a handshake as I walked across the stage, but I did accept my husband's hand to squeeze the living daylights out of when he forced me to go on a scary roller coaster. Instead of spending a couple hours with people I didn't really know very well, reminiscing about all the year I spent at BYU, I spent an entire day with my husband and our amazing friends creating new memories to reminisce about later.
This whole being a capable adult thing terrifies me, but in looking at my decision for how to celebrate yesterday, I'd say I'm pretty competent when it comes to priorities and execution.
Now, here comes the job application part. That's only mildly terrifying.
Midnight, Wednesday night: Bobby, Marty, Sarah and myself went to Smith's to purchase chips, bread, ham, and cheese. Sarah and I also bought waterproof makeup (for all the tears, right?)
Thursday morning: Bobby and I woke up in a frenzy, getting everything thrown together, and preparing Peli for a day of kenneling while we went off into the world.
Thursday, 10:30 ish: We picked up Marty and Sarah, and then stopped at a gas station to fill the tires with air and to get some delicious fig newtons and a very large diet coke with lime.
Thursday, 12:00 pm: I walked... right into Lagoon, where we spent the day riding amusement park rides, going to the water park, and exhausting ourselves, ending the day with a trip to Salt Lake City just to go to Chipotle (they don't have one in the Provo/Orem area, which I consider one of the greatest sins of happy valley).
I didn't wear the black cap and gown, but I did wear my new cute black and white polka dotted swimsuit. I didn't accept a handshake as I walked across the stage, but I did accept my husband's hand to squeeze the living daylights out of when he forced me to go on a scary roller coaster. Instead of spending a couple hours with people I didn't really know very well, reminiscing about all the year I spent at BYU, I spent an entire day with my husband and our amazing friends creating new memories to reminisce about later.
This whole being a capable adult thing terrifies me, but in looking at my decision for how to celebrate yesterday, I'd say I'm pretty competent when it comes to priorities and execution.
Now, here comes the job application part. That's only mildly terrifying.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Why I Love My Husband
I've been a little wound up lately. With hours of final projects and homework assignments weighing me down, along with the termination of my internship and job, and the prospect of applying for "real" jobs, I've been stressed. My tendency during these times is to turn to all of the flaws I see in myself and rip myself to shreds. My mom's voice starts screaming in my head louder than anything else going on in my life, and I start to revert back to disordered thinking patterns. One morning this past week, it got to be so overwhelming as I looked at the number on the scale, and before I left for my 7 a.m. class, I made notes to tape to the fridge. On three sheets of paper, I wrote, "Have you gone to the gym today?" "Eat a salad!" and "No Sweets. No Sugar. Are you really hungry, or just bored?" Before I left for work, Bobby saw them and asked what they were about. When I came home from work, the signs were covered with his own signs. "You are a daughter of God," "Your husband loves you," and "You are beautiful."
Even after I was the one who begged and pleaded for a dog, he's the one that wakes up in the wee hours of the morning to let her outside. He got so stressed out about money and finances, and then let me get a bunch of clothes from Plato's Closet so I'd have something to wear for my job interviews. And so I can start working as soon as possible, he's given up going to Las Vegas for a vacation, even though he needs a vacation more than anything.
I have the best husband in the world. I know everyone says that, but seriously. He's my everything.
Even after I was the one who begged and pleaded for a dog, he's the one that wakes up in the wee hours of the morning to let her outside. He got so stressed out about money and finances, and then let me get a bunch of clothes from Plato's Closet so I'd have something to wear for my job interviews. And so I can start working as soon as possible, he's given up going to Las Vegas for a vacation, even though he needs a vacation more than anything.
I have the best husband in the world. I know everyone says that, but seriously. He's my everything.
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