Giving thanks.

So Thanksgiving was last Thursday.  Yummy turkey, stuffing, pumpkin cheesecake and the list goes on and on. Since it was a holiday about giving thanks  I wanted to make a list of the things that I am thankful for in my life and more recent events that deserve thanks since I feel as if I have been so blessed with so many great things...

•  I am thankful for my heavenly father and the faith and blessings he has bestowed upon me.

• I am thankful for the air in my lungs, the food in my pantry, and the roof over my head.  I may complain that I am a poor college student but I have worked hard to make sure all these things are available to me in good amounts.   
• I am thankful for my parents.  They both have taught me so many things and have always supported me in my decisions.  Couldn't ask for more from them :)
• I am thankful for my internal drive.  I don't think I would be able to keep going to school and working if I didn't have this.  So many times I want to give up but then that little voice clicks and reminds me that I can't....so thank you little voice. (that didn't sound creepy at all)
• I am thankful that I made the choice to go into counseling.  Life gives twists and turns and sometimes I felt like I was in a constant "twist" and by entering grad school for counseling I have made the correct "turn".
• I am thankful for the new friendships I have created since entering college and grad school.  I have met so many wonderful people who have taught me so many things.  
• I am thankful for the friendships I created back in high school and thankful for being able to maintain those friendships.
• I am thankful for holidays where I can go home and visit family and friends.  I do not make it home as often as I would like.
• I am thankful that even though best friends live far away we can still keep in contact and be part of each others lives.
• I am thankful that I got to see Brooke and Duncan this past week.  It is amazing to see that little guy grow and I wish I was closer so I could see both of them more.
• I am thankful that it is almost Christmas break which means 4 weeks of NO school work, 2 weeks of NO work, and time spent with family and friends.

There are so many more things I am thankful for but I think this list explains most of them :)  I have only 1 more in class final, one written final, and paperwork in the clinic to complete and then I am done with my 2nd semester of grad school.  And for that I am  THANKFUL :)
-Shelley

Who loves orange soda? Wikipedia sure does!

 I can't explain how lucky I feel to have made such great friends since I started grad school.  They make every moment wonderful and even through the most trying/want to rip your hair out moments they still make me smile :)

As stated in my last post it is getting harder for me to stay focused on school so instead of forcing myself to do things that would get me ahead I ended up spending most of my nights with friends :)  I went to get a "bucket of wings" with Charlotte and April....20 hot wings crammed into a little metal bucket...it's what dreams are made of :).   I feel so manly when I talk about getting a "bucket of wings" but anyone who knows me should know how much I LOVE hot wings...so this was right up my alley!

Then on Thursday April, Michaela, Charlotte, and I went to the midnight showing of New Moon!!!! Since I am a crazy "twi-hard" (that really is a ridicouls name for it) we got to the theater at 11 thinking there was going to be a huge line but we were surprised to find that they had 3 theater's showing the movie...  So since we had an hour to wait it was a great time to snap some photo's:

 This is the wonderful Charlotte and I doing are best impressions from a great movie bridesmaids.  If anyone has seen the movie they know exactly what we are doing.  All I am going to say is "I can't make accurate ones because I have elbows"

"Don't look at it head on.  It's really aggressive."

we decided that we needed to take a picture of us at the theater's while we were waiting for the movie...thats the movie man worker in the background.  He was not very friendly.  Then it looks like Hitler is behind us on the screen, but I'm thinking that's incorrect..

The movie was SO good!  I didn't really like where they ended it but that's ok.  I will def. go see it again!  I got home at like 2:30 that morning and woke up at 7am to talk to my good friend Kelsey who was staying at my house.  It was good to see her for about 50 mins.

Then on Saturday it was FOOTBALL TIME!!! Which means Breakfast at the Buck with the girls :)  I was sad that it was the last breakfast at the buck for the season, but also happy because now I can sleep in on Saturday mornings!!!  I decided that April needed someone to do her hair at the Buck because she needed to be looking more fly, however she thought that I needed the same...picture below :

As you can see neither of us are very happy with the turn-out of our new do's....haha!

I was also super lucky because my good friend Brit came into town from Nebraska and we got to spend most of the day together!  She came to the football game with us and it was SO much fun....SO COLD but so much fun...since we are true fans we stayed the entire game (thanks to April and Brit telling me we can't leave) and it was a good thing becaus we are bowl eligible!!! Way to go POKES!!!

Here is Brit and I FREEZING our toes off...literally!  

Then for the rest of the evening we all just hung out and had a great time being lazy and enjoy each other company.  Once again i am thankful for good times with friends and making new friends everyday.

Here is a picture of April, me, Charlotte, and Michaela last night...seriously I can't stop smiling when I look at this photo...there are some creepers in it but just ignore them.  

Well I am off to do some homework...only 2 days left until thanksgiving break!  I couldn't be more excited because that means that in less than 3ish days I get to see my 2 best friend!  I can not wait to see Brooke and Duncan.  I have missed seeing her SO much!  I also can't wait to see how big Duncan has gotten!  I am so lucky that she posts pictures of him so that I can see all of the fun moments in that adorable lil' guy's life!!

Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday!

-Shelley

it's good to be a dolinar.

I am finding it harder and harder to motivate myself to get things done for my classes.  One would think that since I love what I do it would make it easier to accomplish things....well whoever said that was DEAD wrong!  Maybe it is because in less than 3ish weeks I will be done with the semester, or because it's snowy outside and there is a Harry Potter marathon...or maybe because we were assigned a 74 page article for one class that isn't a deep skim I am finding it harder and harder to concentrate this Sunday evening.  So  my solution to this problem of not being able to concentrate.....BLOGGING! 

Well before this blogging started I was trying to convince myself that 74 pages is not that many and that I can knock that out in like 2 hours then my father called to talk to me.  He wanted to check up on me and make sure I was doing well (meaning he was bored and my mom was probably off doing some sewing or something :) ).  I was telling him about how hard it is for me to focus and how much I would love if someone would just read my homework to me.  He then told me this "well dear, you need to remember that you are a Dolinar, and we men don't let things like not having someone read our homework get in the way of doing our work.  So either tape record yourself reading it and listen back to it or just read it in the first place".  O my father, what a wise, wise man :).  Well needless to say I attempted to read the article and got through 45 pages of it before I started to feel like my head was going to explode!!!

Moments like that (talking to my dad on the phone) really make me grateful for my parents.  Even though my dad may not know how to say things in the best ways I know that he is always there for me and supporting me in all things that I do.  It's nice to know that I can call someone and have them tell me what to do even though I am 24 years old.  I am sure he will call me tomorrow or Tuesday to see how my homework is going and see if he can provide anymore motivational advice. 

Well off to finish (or at least attempt) the rest of my readings.

 

-Shelley

P.S. Speaking of parents, they were down here about a week ago for the UW vs. TCU game and brought me a special visitor....I just love this little creature.

why hello Nov. 2nd.

I can't believe that it is already November!  It is so crazy how fast time goes these days.  I swear that just yesterday it was September and I was just starting to get into my courses for the semester....and now its 5 weeks until I am done with my 2nd semester of grad school.  Where does the time go!

Since I last wrote I have started seeing actual clients (not fake ones!) and wrote millions of papers (ok only like 3ish but it feels like a million) and enjoyed my new life as a graduate student.

here are some highlights from the past couple months:

at a FB game with 2 wonderful girls!!!

I have attended every home game for the cowboys!!! (I love college football!)  GO POKES!!!

Got to see one of my favorite girls!!! she moved to NE about 8 months ago and I miss her dearly!! College isn't the same without her!

Had some Halloween fun with some of the most wonderful people I know.  Here I am with Diego and Nate!!  I love these boys...

  

This is the beautiful April....she looks lovely as a blond....we have a problem with doing kissy faces :)  but i sure do love it!!!

Michaela and I looking wonderful on halloween...this girl is simply amazing!  

In between these fun moments of life I have wrote countless papers, read hundreds of pages, and researched counseling theories, techniques, and interventions....I would show you pictures of that, but I am sure you can live without seeing those fun things....

Well off to go work on a play therapy paper!

Lots of love and snow sent your way!!
-Shelley