"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family." Anthony Brandt
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sleeplessness and Nostalgia
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Huh... how bout that.
I took a personality quiz on facebook today and this is what it said about me... pretty sure it is almost right on. It's even kind of cool that it coincides with what I wrote about the other day!!!
Type 2 - The Helper
Basic Desire: to be loved Basic Fear: of being unloved World View: "People depend on my help. I am needed." Childhood Origin: Ambivalent to father-figure. Twos are generous and strive to be genuinely helpful to everyone. They are caring, but can also fall into people pleasing. Twos find their place by enlivening others with their appreciation and attention. They believe that others come first, but this can cause them to forget about their own needs and avoid their own problems. At their worst, twos fall apart from feeling selfish or feeling that they have harmed others. At their best, twos can take care of others without forgetting themselves. warm, concerned, nurturing, and sensitive to other people's needs. How to Get Along with Me * Tell me that you appreciate me. Be specific. * Share fun times with me. * Take an interest in my problems, though I will probably try to focus on yours. * Let me know that I am important and special to you. * Be gentle if you decide to criticize me. In Intimate Relationships * Reassure me that I am intersting to you. * Reassure me often that you love me. * Tell me I'm attractive and that you're glad to be seen with me. What I Like About Being a Two * being able to relate easily to people and to make friends * knowing what people need and being able to make their lives better * being generous, caring, and warm * being sensitive to and perceptive about others' feelings * being enthusiastic and fun-loving, and having a good sense of humor What's Hard About Being a Two * not being able to say no * having low self-esteem * feeling drained from overdoing for others * not doing things I really like to do for myself for fear of being selfish * criticizing myself for not feeling as loving as I think I should * being upset that others don't tune in to me as much as I tume in to them * working so hard to be tactful and considerate that I suppress my real feelings Twos as Children Often * are very sensitive to disapproval and criticism * try hard to please their parents by being helpful and understanding * are outwardly compliant * are popular or try to be popular with other children * act coy, precocious, or dramatic in order to get attention * are clowns and jokers (the more extroverted Twos), or quiet and shy (the more introverted Twos) Twos as Parents * are good listeners, love their children unconditionally, and are warm and encouraging (or suffer guilt if they aren't) * are often playful with their children * wonder: "Am I doing it right?" "Am I giving enough?" "Have I caused irreparable damage?" * can become fiercely protective COPYRIGHT: Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele The Enneagram Made Easy Discover the 9 Types of People HarperSanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages 9types.com |
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Here is What I know...
Here is what I know I don’t like poetry, gory movies, chocolate, peanut butter, the smell of roses or feeling like a failure. I don’t like spaghetti with marinera sauce, Hawaiian pizza, people who talk in movies, slow drivers, insensitive or rude people, self-righteous or judgemental people, and mothers who pawn their children off on anything from a playground to a best friend, mother, or street corner whenever they have a chance Oh, and ungrateful people (which sadly includes myself at times). Ok… that’s a lot of negative. Let’s brighten things up a bit! I love babies, butterflies and flowery fields (but not the bugs that come with it). I love the divinity of smelling cake batter and cookie dough, being needed, appreciated and loved, hugs, kisses, random e-mails, texts or calls just to say “I love you”, good surprises, praise, feeling important, and eating out. I love hearing my own name (it’s still weird not to get called “Mills” or “twin”), reading for pleasure, feeling smart, driving fast, listening to music, swimming, being with my friends and family and of course the internet and my phone.
I also recently discovered that it is very hard for me to trust other people, especially with information about myself. I choose people I want to be friends with and try to get them to open up to me, and then after sufficient information and secrets received I open up to them. If someone doesn’t open up to me when I want them to it really frustrates me, if I like them enough, and if someone ever betrays my trust I do not forgive easily. I speak too quickly… I forgive, but our friendship will never be the same. Now, mind you I just discovered all this a few days ago. I do not agree with my own way of thinking and intend to renovate my brain, but until then…
Oh the life I live!
Du du du duh! Ladies and gentleman; I have FINALLY time to relax and blog! I am SO glad this week is over!!
I worked from 3pm Sunday night to 7am Monday morning. I went home and slept for a while then went back to work from 3-11pm. That's right, 24 hours.
Tuesday I had a Mental Health quiz and a test review for Stats.
Wednesday I had a meeting with my professor, a Child Welfare exam (an hour and a half for 5 multiple choice, 5 true/false, and two essays), then went DIRECTLY to a meeting & work till 11pm. I stayed up till 3am studying after I got home from work.
Thursday I got up at 7 (that’s right, 4 hours of sleep) and had a Statistics exam, a Social Work Practice 3 quiz, my visiting teachers visited for over an hour, then I went out with a friend that I'd been putting off all week.
Mom wanted carrot cake for her birthday (did you know that’s her favorite??) and the only person I knew had a recipe was one of my professors (she brings it whenever her phone rings in class) so I asked her for the recipe. She gave me her home phone number and asked me to call her at home for the recipe if she forgot... awkward. Anyway, we went to the store to get the ingredients and made the cake and didn’t get to bed until nearly 2am.
Friday I got a text from Erica at 8:22am that woke us up. Anthony had class at 8:30 and I had a meeting at 9:30... Can I just say how happy I am for random texts that wake us up on days when we didn’t set alarms? Heavenly Father sure was nice to give her a little prompt.
I met with my counselor, had a choir rehearsal, had my practicum interview (details below), frosted mom’s cakes, had mom’s birthday lunch, then performed in the choir concert, and now I’m home.
What a busy and stressful week it has been!!
On January 9th I posted a blog titled “Randomness” which, in part, explained the whole Practicum process. If you didn’t read that post, or don’t remember what it said now is a great time to catch up. You’re going to need to know what I’m talking about for the next little bit. I’ll wait....
We had our practicum buffet on Anthony’s birthday, which was kind of stinky. As a Social Word (SW) major we do a practicum our senior year, kind of like student teaching.
The practicum buffet was where representatives from ALL the different practicums in the area were in one room and we went around to different booths to learn more about what they were about.
Here's the thing, there were like 35 booths and we were allotted time slots which allowed us to go to 7 of them for 15 minutes each.
That night the practicum people could decide if they did want someone for their practicum, or didn't want them. The best part, we don't choose where we get to go. We're placed. Dr. Calloway-Grahm (Dr. Di) & Dr. Browne place us where they think we'll fit the best. We had to fill out this HUGE survey answering all kinds of questions about ourselves and where we'd like to do our practicum and why we think we'll be good social workers, and what SW type experience we've had in the past, etc. Seriously, it was like 5 pages long. We also turned in a GPA worksheet and our transcripts.
Then Dr. Di and Dr. Browne set up a 20 minute one-on-one interview with everyone so they can "get to know us better" and get a better idea of where to place us. My interview was today.
I was wearing heels, which is not a normal occurrence for me, and had to book it from the choir rehearsal ALL the way across campus is 15 minutes... in heels. I had a smart idea before I left home and put one of those giant knee Band-Aids on each heel before putting my shoes on so I wouldn’t get blisters, but I hadn’t thought about the front of my foot where the shoe rubs against the side (those of you who have work heels know exactly what I'm talking about). My feet were literally blistered and bleeding by the time I got to my interview.
The interview wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be. Dr. Brown told Dr. Di I’m the youngest twin in a family of twelve, small talk, small talk, small talk, Dr. Di took a phone call and talked about how she was going to eventually take the Christmas music off her ring tone, Dr. Browne asked me how I thought I did on his Child Welfare exam, etc, etc, etc.
They asked why Bear River Mental Health was my #1 choice and I told them I’ve worked with individuals with Schizophrenia, Autism, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Depression, Anxiety, etc. and just felt like it was where I belonged... like I'd been led in this direction for a reason.
They asked why I put Sunshine Terrace & Hospice as my next choices and I said I had NO interest in gerontology until I went to those two booths at the practicum buffet and for some reason they both “spoke to me.”
I told them Bear River is by far my first choice, but they only accept two people at that practicum and 5 of us want it. I let them know I could adapt anywhere and if they felt someone else would do a better job, or wanted it more, then I was willing to step aside and give them what they wanted and I'd take something else... but I really wanted it.
We talked about what would happen if the practicum supervisor didn’t like me, or I didn’t like them, etc. That was pretty much it. Really, not a big deal at all.
After Spring Break we’ll find out where they’ve placed us, we have an interview with the practicum supervisors after we find out so they can decide whether they’re ok with the decision or not, then next year we get started.
It is SO weird to think that I’m already at this point. This semester has gone by really fast.
So, that was my week.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Sing! 2010 USU Choir Concert
The USU Performance Hall will resound with great choral music as the combined choirs of the Utah State University Music Department present SING! 2010 on Friday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m. The USU Women's Choir, under the direction of Professor Bonnie Slade, will present a variety of choral music culminating in a rousing performance of HARK, I HEAR THE HARPS ETERNAL, accompanied by 16 auto harps. Dr. Cory Evans will direct the USU Chamber Singers (ANTHONY IS IN THIS ONE) as they present selections from their upcoming CD recording, PRAYER FOR GRACE: THE CHORAL MUSIC OF DANIEL E. GAWTHROP, joined by a string quartet and special guest oboist, Bonnie Schroeder, of the Orchestra at Temple Square. The USU Chorale (ALISHA IS IN THIS ONE) will complete the concert with choral selections from Thomas Tallis, George Shearing, and Mack Wilberg. Tickets are available at boxoffice.usu.edu, by calling (435) 797-8022, or at the door.