I've seen people write about their "word of the year" for a few years now. I've decided that maybe if I have an intentional word to focus on for my goals and life, then it will help me to focus on the bigger picture.
Adam and I were talking the other night and I asked him what word he would choose for 2014 and we both said "Patience" at the same time! ha! I guess we both know that we need patience in all areas of our life.
So, I am going to strive to be more patient in my relationships, patient in the internship application process, patient in the dissertation process, and patient about the unknown. It is my hope that this will allow 2014 to be a peaceful year for me and my family.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Procrastination
I seem to have hit a brick wall with my dissertation proposal. It's not that I don't know what I need to edit or add, or that I don't have new sources and articles to add into my literature review (because I do--on all accounts). It's that all I want to do is be at home with my kiddos just hanging out, enjoying summer.
I used to love my little carrel in the library. It's tiny, but it has always been a nice place for me to escape to on campus and get my writing done. I kind of dislike coming to the library now.
I'm a procrastinator...always have been, probably always will be. I'm doing everything but working on my proposal today. I've organized my binder for my last class (which had to be done since the class meets on Monday), I've made hotel reservations for when I go to the NASP Public Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. in July, made a list of what to pack for my daughter and I for her first Girl Scout Camp experience this weekend, and browsed the world of social media.
I've hit a wall. I'm tired. Tired of writing. Tired of being in the world of academia. Tired of feeling like I'm straddling the wall of adulthood (by being in grad school and having my family; not to mention almost all of my friends live in the "real" world and I feel lost).
I know this will pass, and I will get my energy back and blast through my writing. It's how the process goes for me, but it's tough being in this stage of the process. The thing is...if I can get through my proposal, I know that it won't be as bad getting through the rest of my dissertation. I will start to enjoy my work again when I start gathering my data and creating my coding and running my analyses. I know it, but I can't seem to make my brain understand.
Today feels like a Monday. Maybe tomorrow I will be productive like I was on Tuesday. :)
I used to love my little carrel in the library. It's tiny, but it has always been a nice place for me to escape to on campus and get my writing done. I kind of dislike coming to the library now.
I'm a procrastinator...always have been, probably always will be. I'm doing everything but working on my proposal today. I've organized my binder for my last class (which had to be done since the class meets on Monday), I've made hotel reservations for when I go to the NASP Public Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. in July, made a list of what to pack for my daughter and I for her first Girl Scout Camp experience this weekend, and browsed the world of social media.
I've hit a wall. I'm tired. Tired of writing. Tired of being in the world of academia. Tired of feeling like I'm straddling the wall of adulthood (by being in grad school and having my family; not to mention almost all of my friends live in the "real" world and I feel lost).
I know this will pass, and I will get my energy back and blast through my writing. It's how the process goes for me, but it's tough being in this stage of the process. The thing is...if I can get through my proposal, I know that it won't be as bad getting through the rest of my dissertation. I will start to enjoy my work again when I start gathering my data and creating my coding and running my analyses. I know it, but I can't seem to make my brain understand.
Today feels like a Monday. Maybe tomorrow I will be productive like I was on Tuesday. :)
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Another year
Wow! I am really bad at keeping up with this blog! I have managed to average one blog post a year. I really want to work on being more consistent this summer and next year, especially since I am taking my. last. class. right now! EEEKK! I am so excited to be done with classes. Unfortunately that means I really am hitting crunch time with the dissertation and I need to get my proposal in great shape and get moving.
Hannah completed kindergarten this year. I can't believe she will be a first grader in August! Alex graduated from pre-K and has passed all the kindergarten readiness tests, so he will get to be a kindergartner in August. He has made great strides with his speech this year, and while he qualified to received services through the school I am still going to have him get the individual, twice a week for 50 minutes, speech therapy in the university clinic again.
Henry is growing like a weed. Can't believe we all survived a new baby with my grad school requirements and the kids activities and Adam's new job (with all the traveling...seriously except for weekends he has been gone a LOT this year).
My wonderful sister-in-law took these photos in April. I love them!
I will be back soon.....I really mean it this time! :)
Hannah completed kindergarten this year. I can't believe she will be a first grader in August! Alex graduated from pre-K and has passed all the kindergarten readiness tests, so he will get to be a kindergartner in August. He has made great strides with his speech this year, and while he qualified to received services through the school I am still going to have him get the individual, twice a week for 50 minutes, speech therapy in the university clinic again.
Henry is growing like a weed. Can't believe we all survived a new baby with my grad school requirements and the kids activities and Adam's new job (with all the traveling...seriously except for weekends he has been gone a LOT this year).
My wonderful sister-in-law took these photos in April. I love them!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
First Day of School
Hannah started her second year of kindergarten yesterday. After having a busy last week and weekend, I was worried how she would do having to get up so early to catch the bus. She had trouble with falling asleep before 9:30pm and all I could think was "tomorrow morning is going to be FUN". Surprisingly she didn't even hit snooze on her alarm. She immediately got out of bed and started getting ready. She was smiling, cheerful, and didn't complain once. I think my little girl might be starting to grow up. I think her therapy is starting to empower her and make her feel confident in herself.
I was ready to hear about her day, and she was so excited and chatty when I picked her up from school. She is with the same teacher she had last year, and she absolutely loves her. Hannah was chatty about her new friends, who followed the rules, and the activities she completed. I am hoping she is up to grade level when they test with DIBELS. She received Title I services all last year, and I would like for her to not need the intense instruction anymore. I know that would help her confidence.
Hannah started school with a new backpack and lunchbox thanks to her Gran and Papaw. She loves her pink John Deere backpack and her Thermos Hello Kitty lunchbox. We packed her lunch the night before and she was excited to tell me her friends reaction to her lunch. She said, "Mommy, when I opened my lunchbox, my friends said that it looked sooo good and maybe they would bring that for their lunch." She had the biggest smile on her face. She had chosen hummus, baby carrots, a thin slice of lunchmeat ham, a few flatbread crackers and a blueberry gogurt.
I think I am ready (and I may be a bit premature) to say that I think this year will be a wonderful kindergarten year for my Hannah Banana. Alex will start pre-K after Labor Day. Henry is almost five months old and will be with a regular sitter (his aunt) while I am in class. I have preliminary examinations this week, and once I pass them I will be admitted to candidacy for my Ph.D. This will be our year for success and growth. I'm counting on it. We need to have a great year!
I was ready to hear about her day, and she was so excited and chatty when I picked her up from school. She is with the same teacher she had last year, and she absolutely loves her. Hannah was chatty about her new friends, who followed the rules, and the activities she completed. I am hoping she is up to grade level when they test with DIBELS. She received Title I services all last year, and I would like for her to not need the intense instruction anymore. I know that would help her confidence.
Hannah started school with a new backpack and lunchbox thanks to her Gran and Papaw. She loves her pink John Deere backpack and her Thermos Hello Kitty lunchbox. We packed her lunch the night before and she was excited to tell me her friends reaction to her lunch. She said, "Mommy, when I opened my lunchbox, my friends said that it looked sooo good and maybe they would bring that for their lunch." She had the biggest smile on her face. She had chosen hummus, baby carrots, a thin slice of lunchmeat ham, a few flatbread crackers and a blueberry gogurt.
I think I am ready (and I may be a bit premature) to say that I think this year will be a wonderful kindergarten year for my Hannah Banana. Alex will start pre-K after Labor Day. Henry is almost five months old and will be with a regular sitter (his aunt) while I am in class. I have preliminary examinations this week, and once I pass them I will be admitted to candidacy for my Ph.D. This will be our year for success and growth. I'm counting on it. We need to have a great year!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Yikes!
This last week has been a bit of a rollercoaster! I finally found out the reason for my occasional bouts of severe abdominal pain as I had an entire day of searing pain in the right upper quadrant....yep, you guessed it! My gallbladder was BAD! So, I listened to the doctor and had it removed on Saturday morning. I had to miss classes, practicum, cancel my class, and spend 3 days in the hospital. My poor Hannah and Alex had to go stay with their grandparents while Adam had to miss work to stay with me...I tried going back to school today and was only able to stay long enough to teach. Partly because I was hurting and tired and partly because the faculty and the powers that be and my fellow students all told me to "deal with my silly decision to teach today" and then go home and rest....so I did! I also was given the go ahead to cancel my practicums this week, so I get more time to just be at home relaxing and resting. I am so glad that I have supportive professors at school, supportive friends, and supportive family! I am sooo lucky that I had some wonderful friends who conducted my meeting today and that Adam was so willing to take me to school and pick me up again.....AND he carried my rolling bag in and up the first flight of stairs to the elevator for me since I cannot lift anything over 5 lbs right now.
It's really hard not being able to eat my normal comfort foods, but hopefully this will be the jumpstart that I really needed to keep me on the healthy eating track....No caffeine for 6 days now, so I am gonna try to keep that up...drinking lots of water and decaf tea with sweetnlow! I can't have fried foods right now and I have to keep grease and fat content down, so I really think this could work out for the best. I have lost 10 lbs since Wednesday (mainly due to the fact that I was NPO and on full liquids for my entire hospital stay), but I am hoping I can keep it off. It would be a good start to my continued weight loss!
Above are a few pics of the kiddos playing with my photobooth on my mac!
~ Cassie
Monday, January 17, 2011
Mommy-Hannah date night
Hannah and I left Alex with Gran and Papaw for his first sleepover with them and we headed to the movies. I had been promising Hannah we would go see Tangled since previews started playing several months back, but just never had a chance to take her. So, we took advantage of the fact that there was no school today for MLK holiday and went to the movies last night. Hannah was super excited to have all the attention and she LOVED the movie! It will definitely be one we add to our collection of DVD's. We stayed up late last night and slept in this morning and I wish we could do this every day! But alas, the real world of grad school reappears bright and early tomorrow morning!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Hannah's Dance
Hannah's dance teacher has finally announced the theme for the recital. They will be dancing The Wizard of Oz. Performances will be on Friday, June 3rd and Saturday June 4th @ 6:30pm both days. If you want to come and watch, then please let me know which day and how many tickets you need.
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