Casanova's Toys

I feel as if I should explain my blogging absence over the last year... and well I'll give you 3 words and that's about all I can do:

I got married. :)

Okay moving right along, we'll just pretend I haven't be absent as I have so many fun stories to tell whoever stumbles upon my blog just to see if I've actually written anything in the last year.

And this story is about my darling 10 month old black cat....

When I was born I was given a blue bear and a baby blanket. Ever since I was little I have affectionately referred to said blue bear and baby blanket as Blueberries and Blankie, respectively. Unfortunately Blankie and Blueberries did not keep well if you know what I mean. Blueberries lost his mouth and his fur became matted and rather rough. Blankie was held together by rusted safety pins because, well, my mother safety pinned him back together when he fell apart and those safety pins went through the wash COUNTLESS times.

When I was packing up to go to college shortly after graduating from high school, my mother told me that I could not take Blueberries and Blankie with me. They had to stay at home. If you know me, you can imagine, I'm sure, how well that went over. So what did I do? As any good daughter would do, I secretly packed them up with me and to my dorm they went. They stayed with me throughout my 4 years of college.

After graduating from college I got an internship here in Atlanta, GA. As we were packing me up to move to the ATL, my mother once again told me that Blueberries and Blankie would not be joining me on said trip. She told me repeatedly my BELOVED blue bear and raggle taggle blanket needed to go in the trash. WELL I'm sure that since you now know just how much I love my childhood remnants, how that conversation went. SO like any good daughter, I once again secretly packed them up and to the ATL they went, only to be revealed to my mother upon our arrival in my new house.

In December of 2009, my phenomenal now husband, proposed to me. It was such a beautiful thing. Later my mother and I had a talk. She said to me "Jessica, you can NOT take Blueberries and Blankie to the marriage bed". And I said to her "WO-HO-HO! I will ABSOLUTELY still have my precious Blueberries and Blankie with me after I get married. Kevin gets me and Blueberries and Blankie or nothing!" (that last sentence is probably exaggerated.)

So what did I do? Naturally, I kept Blueberries and Blankie... However, they were somewhat "demoted" if you will. Much to my dismay, it did feel a little strange to have my childhood toys in bed with me and my husband, so I moved them. They now reside underneath my side of the bed, that way they are still close enough for me to reach in case I need a moment of comfort and familiarity (or in case the dark gets too scary or my Himalayan Crystal Salt lamp goes out...).

At this point, I KNOW you're thinking... "But Jessica, you said this story was about your cat!"

Well one night, my husband and I were sitting on our futon watching, oh perhaps The Bachelorette or The Voice. My wild black cat, Casanova is ROMPING around the house in his usual fashion... destroying things, throwing himself at the mirror in the bathroom, eating toilet paper... you know, the usual... when he disappears for a hot minute.

I look around the room noticing that my furry monster is missing and relatively quiet. I note said observation to Kevin when SUDDENLY the demon comes out of our bedroom carrying none other than MY BELOVED BLUEBERRIES in his FOUL SMELLING CAT MOUTH. I'm sure you can imagine the blood-curling scream that escape from MY mouth!

He throws Blueberries down and proceeds to attack him in the most vicious of manners! Flipping over him, jumping on him, running around with him, all as I sit horrified and stunned!! I jump off the futon and LUNGE at Casanova, who takes off running at the speed of light, but luckily leaves my sweet Blueberries on the floor where I can rescue him!

It was a traumatizing event that transpired to say the least.... But I think you will be pleased to know that Blueberries was not harmed in the attack... at least that I could tell, but as you'll remember he wasn't in the best of conditions to begin with. And because I don't usually learn my lessons the first time around, I placed him back underneath my side of the bed with Blankie.

And here is the question I pose to you my dear reader... at what point is it time to give up your Blueberries and Blankie?

When your cat decides that they are his play things?

Or do you ever really outgrow them?

I'd like to believe that a part of me will be forever young... that a part of me will always be child-like....

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease,

Jess

I'm Here

I'm alive... I'm kickin'.... I just thought you all should know! (Not that you were worried... hehe!). Someday I aspire to be an AWESOME blogger... don't know if I'll ever make it to that though.

Kevin and I are 10 days away from our wedding! HOLY CROW!! Things are BEYOND crazy right now. I feel like every night I come home and we have wedding stuff to do. But soon it will be over and (SPOILER: uber mushy moment coming up, read at your own risk) I will be married to the greatest man ever (at least in my opinion ;).

I keep having all these wonderful blogging ideas and I promise to be a better blogger in the future! But for now I need to go practice my dance lessons... oh man...

Love you all! To my Kansas folks, I miss you more than words can't say and I hope I get to see you all in 10 days :)

411

So I'm still here... even though my blogging habits definitely leave something to be desired. :)

Here's the 411...

THE LIVING SITUATION: I'm still in Georgia. I moved to Roswell, GA the last day of my internship (I was living in the Sandy Springs/Buckhead area for those who didn't know). Holy Nightmare! Again for those who don't know (although the majority of you probably do) for the last 4 weeks I've been fighting.... roaches.... UGH! The day I was supposed to move into my new apartment it was infested with roaches. So the apartment complex put me into a different apartment in a different building. Supposedly I was getting a "great deal". Originally I was to move into a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. Now I am in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment for the same price except.... that it also has... roaches... In fairness, it's gotten A LOT better than when I first moved in, but the darn bugs still haunt me a little. What I've learned is that getting rid of roaches more than anything takes PATIENCE. The apartment complex assures me this is extremely unusual and is paying for the exterminator to come out weekly. I keep telling myself this will a great life story when I'm old and have kids... but right now it's not something I'm enjoying.

THE JOB: It's up and down. Mostly I absolutely LOVE IT! Sometimes though I don't... and I get really discouraged. I know there are many things I will learn with experience and I try to not be so hard on myself (HA! Easier said then done!). I've only been a "professional" for 4 weeks which means I'm still learning the ropes in all the different facets of this job. I never imagined it would be so hard and there are certain aspects of my job that my internship and 4 years at the University of Kansas DID NOT prepare me for. Generally speaking I have GREAT group of kiddos and I couldn't be more blessed to work them. I'm still in the process of building up my caseload which is very difficult, but I know things will get better too once my caseload is a little larger. I work with the most amazing group of woman. I've really come to respect them and enjoy their company. There are days when I think to myself "gosh is work supposed to be this fun??" :D

THE WEDDING: I have moments when I'm like "HOLY CROW!! THE WEDDING IS 3 MONTHS AWAY!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!". Can you say stressed out??? I do not recommend trying to plan a wedding when you live in a different state. I'm flying back to KS on Thursday night and this is the weekend plan: meet with florist, meet with pastor, dress alterations, engagement pictures, order/finish editing invitations..... and who knows what else... fast and furious that's how we do when I come home for a weekend.

I suppose that is all for now, but because I like pictures I will leave you with a picture from my 23rd birthday with my birthday cookie :)

Love, love!

And all of a sudden...

My life has completely changed in the last 24 hours....

I woke up yesterday morning thinking everything was the same as usual. I was 3 and 1/2 weeks away from being done with my internship. I was moving back to Kansas. I was trying to figure out the "what comes next" part of life. I was trying to survive....

Amber, my internship director (who is also my supervisor on Tuesdays), was going to be late that day. She had intern auditions for next year. SO after doing 3 sessions and eating my lunch, I wait for her to arrive as I prepare for my next session. At about 11:30am she strolls in and says "Jessica I have the perfect job for you." I stare at her blankly. She proceeds to tell me about a private practice in the area that is hiring a music therapist. It was the same facility that I had been to a couple weeks ago for observation purposes. I tell Amber that I know they are hiring, but my plans are to move back to Kansas. She proceeds to tell me that they want to hire IMMEDIATELY because one of the music therapists that currently works there is resigning. The owner of this private practice interned with Amber several years ago and called Amber about her current interns. Amber suggested me and one other intern to the owner for the job... I basically put my head in my hands and almost start crying. I knew that it was the PERFECT job for me, but I just didn't think it would logistically work out. Thus began about 30 minutes of Amber and I going back and forth about the pros and cons of applying for this job...

SO what did I do? I naturally called my mom. I needed to get mom approval. LOL I'm almost 23 years old and in my crazy mind I still need mom approval. :) Moms are just good at stuff like this. Then I called my fiance and with both of them on board I decided to call the owner of the practice and talk.

The owner answers and after the hello, how are ya business this is basically how our dialogue went down:

Owner: Would you like to set up an interview?

Me: Yes...I would love to.

Owner: When can you come in?

Me: Oh really any time as long as it's after school. Tell me when is good for you.

Owner: How about 5:00pm?

Me: Ummm... tonight??!?

Owner: Yeah, I had another girl who couldn't make it tonight. So if you could make it tonight that'd be perfect...

Me: Ummmm...okay sure.

Owner: You got a resume?

Me: Yeah.... but I don't have any fabulous resume paper.

Owner: *laughs* That's okay, just bring it in anyway. I know you haven't had any time to prepare so don't stress.

I haul myself home as fast as I can (for those who know the Atlanta area, I drive from Alpharetta to Buckhead), print off my resume, get back in my car and high tail it to the clinic for my interview. All the while I'm totally freaking out and calling people to tell them what's going on.

I get to the clinic about 10 minutes late (darn Atlanta traffic). I meet with the owner and we end up talking for about an hour and half. She asks me some typical interview questions (what are your strengths and weaknesses? where do you see yourself in 6 months? in 2 years? etc). She also asks me some more music therapy geared questions (what is the definition of music therapy in YOUR words? thank you quiz out #4!!!! i had a darn good answer!). She asks me some questions that I have to tell her "honestly I have never even thought about that". We then go into one of the treatment rooms and I play the guitar and sing a little for her. She then asks me some session "what would you do in this situation?" type questions.

And then after all this is done....

She offers me the job on the spot....

And all of a sudden my world was not the same one that I woke up in that morning.....

Today I called her back and accepted the job. Looks like I'll be in Atlanta for a little bit longer than I initially thought :)

4 and a half weeks

It snowed here today and they didn't cancel school. Now someone please explain that business to me! We are predicted to get 1-3 inches of snow today and I still had to go to school -- so NOT cool! I'm hanging onto the slim hope that maybe we won't have school tomorrow. Say a prayer! Would absolutely LOVE to have tomorrow off. :) The picture is of the frozen pond outside my house. Beautiful, huh? Look at that whole inch of snow on the steps! hehe

In other news, I've applied for some summer jobs. Nothing fabulous and nothing very career oriented. But after 7 months of no paycheck, I'm definitely in need of some monies. A couple of them could be potential 'get my foot in the door' type gigs. We'll see how it all pans out. Regardless, I'm sure things will work out. They always do.... I just wish I had a little more direction in my life right now...

I officially have 4 and a half weeks left of my internship and those are very sweet words to my ears. Although, they would be much sweeter if they were "I'm done with my internship". I feel like I've come to the point where I'm ready to be done. I'm ready to move onto the next stage, even if I have absolutely no idea what that stage is exactly. I'm praying the next 4 and a half weeks don't drag unmercifully on.... but of course then there's the ever pressing question of "what now?".

We are in the middle of Exceptional Children's Week at two of my schools. This means I've got two big shows going on. One is themed So You Think You Can Dance? and the other is themed A Year in Review. The kids are doing pretty well considering they haven't had too long to rehearse their numbers (maybe a month-ish). We'll be performing the shows on Thursday and Friday of this week. Wish us luck!

Wedding plans are coming along. We officially sent out our Save-The-Dates (as you have probably noticed :). I've bought a dress and my girls have bought their dresses. We have a church to get married in, a reception hall that will feed us, and not to forget a DJ for dancing the night away (bring your dancin' shoes!). So regardless of how everything else turns out we'll at least have a ceremony and eatin' and dancin'. :) What more could you need?

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers over the next 4 and a half weeks. I desperately need them.

Much love!

In a funk

I'm in a funk and I've been in a funk for the last 2 weeks. :(

Last week I just felt like I couldn't get anything together. It seems I forgot everything I was supposed to be doing/bringing to my sessions -- I'm sure I would have forgotten my head if it wasn't attached to my body. Ugh...it was NOT fun to say the least. This week I've just been down in the dumps...thinking about the future really gets to me. I've been job hunting and can't seem to find anything and I'm PETRIFIED to try and do the 'create your own program' thing. It is so intimidating to even think about...I just all in all don't feel very adequate. I also feel like the professionals who are supposed to be helping just aren't being very helpful. *sigh*

I know another part of my funk revolves around the fact that I'm feeling the next transition stage of my life creeping its way up. I am HORRIBLE with transitions. I like predictability. I like knowing what's next. And I have no IDEA what is coming next. All the pieces are massively up in the air and it scares the snot out of me. I don't know where I'm going to be come mid-April...and mid-April is not that far away. I'm so scared that I'm going to fail.... :(

And all in all this leads to me being in a 2 week funk... *sigh*

Any suggestions for how to shake this??

In fairness...I have made at least 2 decision in regards to the future: 1 pretty major and 1 minor (but hopefully will be major).

The major decision: I think most everyone knows by now, BUT for those who read my blog and perhaps don't know, Kevin and I are engaged. We are going to get married August 7th, 2010. It was an absolutely beautiful proposal with family and friends around. The ring is gorgeous! I couldn't be happier. I'll put up a pic of the ring in my next post for all the curious parties who haven't seen it yet. :) The pic below was taken the night of the proposal. I would like everyone to note that I bought Kevin that tie in Thailand.

The minor decision (that will hopefully become a major decision): I've decided to pitch a music therapy job to a therapy practice in Kansas City. I'm absolutely terrified. I suppose if nothing else it will be a good learning experience. Regardless, I'm still terrified. I really feel drawn towards pitching to this specific practice so I've decided to just walk forward in faith. I'm sure that the anxiety I feel about this prospect is also contributing directly to my funk...

Hope all is well with all of you! I'm 2 months and 1 week away from the completion of my internship. My how time flies....

I'm on a plane

I'm sitting in the plane flying a million feet in the air and I'm maybe an hour away from home....

I have never been so excited in my life to get back to such a FREEZING place. :)

I hope to see YOU ALL while I'm home over the next 2 weeks!!!!