New year!

I haven't blogged in over a month, and it seemed like that month flew by. We have been so busy since Thanksgiving, but it's been a "good busy." I finished up my first semester of internship, which seemed to go by a lot quicker than I expected. I have learned so much since I started in August, and I still feel like I have so much more to learn than I could ever imagine. I'm really enjoying my clinical work, and I have found everything I've learned from each of my clients to be really enlightening and rewarding. I decided in October that I wanted to also work on coursework that would lead me towards being a school counselor. I thought that I would only be seeing adults in my field work, which I previously thought would be my population of focus. However, I unexpectedly got the opportunity to co-lead a group on resiliency skills for elementary aged kids, as well as seeing some young kids in our counseling center, and I loved it so much that I figured, what the heck? What's another 20K in student loans anyway.... yeah. I am starting some courses for my M.Ed this semester, and I am THRILLED! I got the opportunity to lead a group in an elementary school this past week, and I was on cloud 9 all day afterward. I haven't been this excited about the prospect of a career in a long time. I feel like this is really what I was meant to be doing.

Halfway through December, Luke started TBS. He spent 3 days there before Christmas leave basically doing a lot of admin things with checking in and filling out paperwork. This past week, Luke has been coming home anywhere from 7:00 to 9:30, so that's been a big change. We are so incredibly thankful for the 6 months that we had during his TAD to settle in with some sense of normalcy; I tried so hard not to let myself get spoiled by our normal lives, but of course it happened anyway. It was such a blessing to have my husband home for dinner by 6:00 on most nights, and the happiness it brought me will definitely be something I'll fall back on during his inevitable absence during TBS. After all, the powerpoint brief says, "Treat TBS like a deployment."

We were so fortunate to be able to have 11 days of leave during the holidays, and we spent most of it in Georgia. It was so nice to be able to relax at my parents' house and basically do nothing but sleep late, play board games (Hand & Foot, Settlers of America, Dominoes, etc!!), eat delicious food, and laugh. We also got to spend some quality time with my sister and nephew, and that is always a cherished blessing. We were also really happy to be able to spend some time with Luke's brother Micah after his graduation from USMC boot camp! We're so proud of him! He graduated second, and we've been bragging about him : ) His next stop will be SOI on the west coast. Luke is already making plans for when they are stationed together.

I suppose that's about it for us. We're getting settled back in after Christmas, making some new friends through TBS, and getting back into study-mode. I'm counting down the days until my graduation from GW and looking forward to all the exciting things coming up in 2012 for us!