Lanyards are Cool

Ryan has been pressuring me for another post lately, so that means I've either been really lazy or really busy. Fortunately for me, I've been busy. Many of you have offered encouragement and prayers for my new job and I'm so thankful for it all! Things have been going swimmingly at the new job. It is definitely different from what I've been doing, but I like the challenge....AND it's rewarding to see women go from cracked out (yes, I can say that in the most literal sense), detoxing, don't-really-care-about-hygiene TO healthy, well-fed, glowing, bathed, head-held-high ladies. Their stories are so special. They steal though. Not from me yet. But us counselors have to keep our doors shut and locked every time we step out. Which is not cool when you leave your work keys at home. We all wear cool name tags with our keys on lanyards. Super neato, I know. But I switched purses and my lanyard didn't make it in to the new purse. So I had to go home today and get my keys because I was sick of asking the techs if I could get into places. On the way home to get my work keys, one of my biggest fears almost came to life.... That is, I almost ran over a motorcyclist. OK, I didn't almost run over him, but the people two cars in front of me would have for sure...and then maybe I would have too.... This IDIOT guy on a bike was in the HOV lane and starts swerving back in forth slowly. It looked like he was trying to see if something was wrong with the side of his tire. Apparently he was dissatisfied with the way his bike was riding and decided to get out of the HOV lane quickly so he could exit. Well, if you're in Dallas then you know what a hazard those little bumps (that used to hold up sticks) are that are supposed to keep people from getting in/out of the HOV at the wrong times. Well the sticks are mostly gone now, and those bumps are causing a major ruckus with traffic b/c people are swerving in/out of HOV lanes and losing control etc. Well that's exactly what this biker guy did. He swerved out of that HOV lane, hit a bump, went flying off his bike a foot or so (which was still swerving underneath him) and SOMEHOW by an ACT OF GOD managed to land on his bike, regain control, and exit all before I could honk my horn and scream obscenities under my breath. Oh man. I was super scared. I've enjoyed reading everyone's blog updates lately. I'm so blessed to be able to follow along with my friends' lives!

How it's going down..

Ryan has been increasingly interested the blog lately, and he's been bugging me about how long it's been since I've posted...it's only been about a week, but whatever. So he suggested that I tell everyone about what happened to him this week. Ryan drives around to visits clients in his company truck for the majority of his day, and so he listens to alot of talk radio and music as he drives around town. He was listening to 93.3 The Bone when the DJ said that when they played the next Def Leppard song they would give Def Leppard/Poison tickets to the 33rd caller. Ryan has never called a radio station in his life, but since he's been talking to one of his friends about attending the upcoming hair-metal concert, he called in...AND WON! Ha ha. So now Ryan has 2 tickets to the Def Leppard & Poison concert in a few months and all his guy friends are battling it out to see who he will take. He is so excited. What else can I say? Oh, that Ryan is out of town for a sales conference in San Antonio from Sunday morning to Tuesday evening. That leaves me all by myself (with Duke) for the next few days and no one to wish me well on my first few days at my new job. I was hoping for some big "go get 'em" breakfast like we got on the morning of the TAAS test each year when I was in grade school. Oh well. It's been so cold, wet, and miserable here the last half a week or so. That means that Duke is very stir-crazy since he can't romp outside for half the day like usual. So the last few days I did what I could to set up exciting things for him to do... Friday night = I had my mom bring Sug and Miss over to play with him while we went to dinner for Brett's b-day and Ryan's ice hockey game. Saturday = we took him shopping with us, which pretty much meant he stayed in the truck and slept for a while until we went to Bass Pro Shop, which allows dogs. He did so good in public. Then he hung out with Sug and Miss again at my parents' house while we went to Primos for margaritas and enchiladas to celebrate my job! Now = he's sleeping on the couch looking so cozy...I'm about to join him. Do you think it's odd that my post about this weekend's happenings surrounds my dog? I don't. I wanted to make sure to say a "YAY!" for Katie and Derek who found out this week that their second munchkin is going to be a sweet girl. Also, I wanted to shout out to all the March B-days in my life....since there are SO SO many of you! - Meal - Katie Kas - Brett - Kyle - Betsey & Barbara (they are twins obviously) - And everyone else! Say a little prayer for me - tomorrow is my first big day at work!

How Jesus got me a Job

So here's how it all went down with this magical job and why God is so good. One of the two jobs I've been working at for the past 7 months is a non-profit where I do counseling for individuals, teens, couples, families, play therapy, etc. on a variety of issues ranging from anxiety and depression to trauma, bipolar disorder, sexual abuse, dual diagnosis, etc. It's called Galaxy Counseling Center. There I meet weekly with a supervisor whose name is Cindy. She pretty much knows everything about how I operate in session. She also is the Program Director at Nexus Recovery Center (a women's inpatient drug and alcohol rehab center). Cindy called me out of the blue last Friday and asked if I would be interested in a full-time therapist position at Nexus Recovery Center. She said that it was great pay, great experience, and great benefits. I was immediately excited about the prospect. Around Christmas, I had already submitted an application to work at Nexus doing PRN, so that part was already taken care of. We scheduled a time to meet Monday so I could check out the job a little better before proceeding. So I was kind of surprised 3 hours later to get a call from Michelle, my supervisor at my Christian private practice, asking if I had applied for a full-time job at Nexus. Ummm, ok. How'd she know that? Yeah, they had already started calling my references. Now, many of you are thinking, "OMG! Her other boss is gonna be pissed b/c she's looking for a new job!," but no, Michelle actually encourages us to have other jobs in order to gain extra hours and experience. So she was excited for me, and encouraged me that they must be serious about me if they were already calling references. Looking good. So I went up to Nexus on Monday and spent some time observing another LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) doing her daily sessions, etc. I got more pumped about working there. Everyone's very friendly and actually seems happy about working there. I find out there's very little turnover there and that they love working together. The clients are all so different and have such interesting stories. I'm pumped. My background is in trauma and crisis-intervention...and the majority of drug-abusers have some sort of trauma history, so I'm all about it. I met with Cindy later that day and told her I loved it and wanted the job. So she started telling me about pay and getting all the paperwork drawn up....said she'd call me in the next couple of days. Ugh, really?!? That easy? I didn't even INTERVIEW. Seriously? SERIOUSLY!!?!? Wednesday Cindy and I met at Galaxy for our regular weekly supervision. She gives me the run-down on the rest of the job description. Paid time off. Benefits. Free supervision. New groups for me to lead. LOADS of hours toward my LPC-Internship (I need 3,000). I should be finished with my Internship within a year or so. Unbelievable. So I stress breifly about having to resign from Galaxy (I'll be staying on with with my private practice). But yy resignation from Galaxy even went smoothly! Un-be-liev-able. So you might be thinking to yourself, "Well how lucky is that...a job just falling out of the sky!" And there you'd be wrong. Because if you know Ryan and I well, you know that our finances are in bad shape right now due to a prior period of unemployment. Ryan recently got a good job, but we've still been struggling b/c my contract counseling jobs aren't exactly bringin' home the bacon. For some reason I've stayed at Galaxy this whole time, despite the fact that I've been discouraged about the unreliability of client hours I got...and not to mention the measly pay I got for doing a whole lot of work. People would ask (with good reason) why I was still there. But for some reason I felt like I should wait it out. For some reason, every time I prayed about it, I just got "Wait." "Well, that's a frustrating answer, God," was my response. "We are broke. But it feels right, so ok, I'll wait." We've been praying for relief. Praying that He would grant us financial peace...maybe show me a better route for my career...a better route for Ryan's career...maybe just a lottery win?...I mean a simple scratch off win would be helpful at this point! As we're praying, we travelled to Tyler as well as Austin to visit some friends. We talked to those friends. We talked to family members. We talked to more friends. And we had some interesting conversations with those who love us. God started giving us this turning in our hearts....this preparation for change. We had no idea what it meant. We're thinking, "Are you preparing us to move somewhere besides the Dallas area? Ok, we could do that we guess. Is something drastic going to happen? Just show us, we trust You." And show us He did. How can I have not even been searching for a job one week ago and today have a job that meets an astounding amount of needs for me and my family? Jesus. Plain and simple. I don't deserve it. Don't get me wrong, I'm a damn good therapist...but even that I cannot take credit for. Those who have seen me in action say that there are techniques and insights in my therapy that most people at my age and with my (intern) credentials should not know. I don't know how I do it. I know how He does. I CANNOT take credit for this. Any of this. I'm just messy person who has my fair share of hangups and horribleness that I'm solely responsible for. Yet He blesses me anyway. Sheesh! Are you picking up what I'm laying down? I'm amazed. Thanks for your prayers and excitement.

BIG NEWS! Drumroll Please!....

I am ecstatic to announce that the newest counselor at Nexus Recovery Center is...ME! YAAAAYYYYYY!!!! GOD IS SO GOOD! I will have much more to write, but for now I must go to Allen and counsel more peeps.

Update on Job Prospect...

Things went well on Monday. I went and observed some sessions at Nexus for about half of the day before I went to Galaxy for clients. I really liked it there. I think I would fit in nicely and I'm really excited about the possibility of working there. Things are still looking good. I should know more at the end of the week. Keep praying, because there still might be some things they have to work out with the lady who is leaving and I'm not sure if they are going to want to do any more interviews. I know that I am fully capable of working there and doing a great job, I just don't have as much experience in substance abuse issues as others might. Thanks for your prayers! Now I'm off to see Kim Vu for a haircut. Yay no more dead ends!

Changes

Weekends are getting livelier around here lately. We've got alot of stuff movin' and shakin' around here. Some big stuff, some small stuff. Why don't we start with the small and go to the big. #1.

Ryan and I have the same dining room table & chairs that my grandparents used to when they were younger (I was going go say that they got it for their wedding, but I'm not sure how true that is). So yeah, it's pretty old. I remember that it was the same dining room table my parents had when I was growing up (it had already been passed down to them from as far back as I remember). I remember reupholstering it with my mom when I was very young. Yay mauve 80's.

So imagine the excitement that Ryan and I experience on a daily basis using this super-dated look as our everyday kitchen table. Oh yeah. It's terrible. So I finally got around to re-covering them with a more home-decor-friendly fabric. It took me approximately 2 hours including shopping time to get them finished. This should hold us over until we are a in a better place financially and can buy a new table set. Check out the before and afters.

#2.

Ryan decided he was sick of looking at the ugly concrete stairs that go from our back door into the garage. So while I was gone yesterday, he decided to wrap some pull-ties around them, hook them to his truck, and pull the massive concrete stairs out to the curb (they weren't attached to the wall or ground, so that's how he did all that without a jackhammer). I'm all for home improvement, but when there's a three foot drop off after you open your back door, it gets a little hazardous. Luckily it was only like that for less than a day. He just got finished putting some pretty cedar steps. He's my handy manly man. Yay new steps!

#3.

My computer is back in action. It was a quitter, but now it's back in the game. I think the breaking point was when I maxed out my hard drive about 10x in the past 3 months and realized that my iPod had more space on it than my computer. Boo. So I prayed for God to send me someone who could fix it up for cheap...and he sent Ben, our friend from our ABF at church. He builds servers for a living so I figured he could handle my laptop. He quadrupled my space and doubled my memory for less than $100. And my computer has all the same stuff on it as before...none of that customizing a computer that's been wiped clean. Whew. Welcome back girl, welcome back.

#4.

I have a potential job opportunity that looks quite promising. My supervisor at the non-profit I work for is also the Program Director at a women's drug & alcohol rehab center. She called me on Friday and asked if I was interested in a full-time position at the rehab center. Since August, I've seen her for at least an hour per week to review all my cases with her. We talk about different interventions and techniques to use for my clients...so she pretty much knows everything about how I operate in session and has been giving me lots of compliments lately on my "wisdom beyond my years." She also started calling my references already...So I'm pretty sure I have a real good shot at it if I want it.

I'm going tomorrow at 10am to observe a few groups, sessions, meetings, etc. and see if I like it. Full-time pay AND a boat-load of hours to go toward my internship (I need 3,000 total) AND it's a place that I know treats their employees well (not milk them for all their worth and then pay them peanuts)...I don't think I can pass it up unless there's something major I can't stand. I wouldn't be doing long-term counseling on a regular basis anymore so that will be hard not seeing those kind of life-changes over time. It's also going to be hard b/c I'll have to transfer alot of my existing clients. Some of them are people who have already had multiple different (student) therapists, so I was hoping to offer them some longevity. Some of them are kids too, and I don't want to give up my kiddos.

I have to give God props for all this no matter what because it's an amazing opportunity.

So just pray tomorrow...that I will have clarity and peace about things...and that they will stay as enthusiastic about me as they have seemed so far if it's where I should be.

I will make sure to post an update when I have more info.

Thanks for reading...and praying!