Grad School Update :)

I realized the other day that I have really talked very little on here about how grad school is going! I feel like I talk about it all the time on Twitter and to other friends in conversations, but there have been so many other big things going on in my life that I have neglected my Master's on my blog!

First of all, it still catches me off guard when I say I'm getting my Master's in Counseling! I just never thought that I would be the "academic type" to pursue schooling post-undergrad...With that said, I LOVE IT! Seriously, I love my classes, what we learn, the discussions, everything. Right now I'm in the midst of midterms which don't really count as midterms in the classical sense. (This post is actually serving as a perfect procrastination for me from writing a paper for a research project! :) ) I have not taken a single test this whole semester. I have, on the other hand, written 1-2 papers a week, read countless chapters, articles, and modules, and taken quizzes. I do have to video tape myself during a "mock" counseling session tonight so I can type up a verbatim transcript of what I said. Say a little prayer for me!

Also, I have loved being able to live at home. A lot of people just don't understand this, but really it has been such a blessing. With everything else going on in my family's life, I have been able to been more readily available to love on them and help out how I can. I have gotten to see so much of both of my nieces, sisters, and parents. During the day though, it's just me, Katie, and Charlotte so it's a little bit calmer than when the whole clan is there. And speaking of freedom during my days, I really would like to have a job so I can have a little bit of moolah, but that's just not in the cards for right now and I'm enjoying it while I can. Three classes gives me plenty to keep me busy though so it'll be an adjustment when I throw a wrench in my schedule known as a job...

Okay so I have one small complaint...spending money on a tank of gas per week kind of sucks. But I have come to love the time I get to spend in the car. It's the only time I don't feel pressured to be doing school work or whatever, but instead have a chance to catch up on phone calls and some "me" time to belt out a song or two with the volume turned up. :)

Taylor Ann has been so so wonderful to have in the program with me! I have a guaranteed friend in my classes, which is especially nice when either one of us are confused about expectations or due dates...and maybe gripe from time to time to each other. I'm making friends in the program from group projects and stuff so that's an added bonus, but I don't know what I would do if TA wasn't starting this out with me.

Hm...I can't think of anything else to really fill y'all in on. These past few weeks have been super busy and this week is especially! But I can't believe we're already halfway through the semester and in just a few short weeks, I'll be registering for Summer and Fall classes! Time is flying by!

Serenade

WGI stands for Winter Guard International and is a what supports and keep the sport of Winter Guard organized and competitive. For those of you that don't know what winter guard is...it's color guard (dance, flags, sabres, and rifles) but from the months of December through April. Music is recorded instead of the marching band and we perform in gyms on a tarp. In a nutshell, that's it. Ten years ago, I was apart of one of the most well loved, most talked about, beautiful shows in Scholastic World Class (In order from lowest to highest, there's A Class, Open Class, and World Class just to give you an idea...World is the most intricate and competitive.)

Serenade was performed to Serenade for Strings in E by Antonín Dvořák. It was "set" in rainy London, and we wore "Bristish man suits" as we said, with cuffs, bow ties, and a bowler. I was only a freshman and completely unaware of the magnitude of how great the show really was and how challenging the work and design truly was. 

Why am I telling you all of this now? Today, wgi.org did a "Retro Rewind" where they highlight winter guard shows of the past and today was our special day :) There is just a short clip of the show, but even that minute gives me chills and a rush of memories. Please go look at the clip of our show and to see what Adam Sage said about us to see just a glimpse of my life in high school was like--hours of practicing, days of sore muscles and bruises, nights spent crying, more practicing, and bonding with the 16 other girls that shared the floor with me that year. 

Practice :)

After we won 3rd Place at WGI Finals

If you can't tell, that's me in the very bottom left hand corner! ha!

Chills...
Winter Guard shaped a lot of who I am and I count it one of the biggest blessings that I got to be a part of this show. I learned so much about hard work, perseverance, and what it means to work as a part of the group because of this sport...but especially because of this winter season. This short post seems insufficient for all of the memories from Serenade, but I got a rush when I saw that clip this morning and wanted to share my joy with all of you!!

Water Heater Woes

Last Thursday afternoon, Katie took the dogs outside and heard a terrible noise coming from our closet in our garage that holds our water heater. Hours later, it still sounded like it was about to take off so we called my dad for a more "professional" opinion. The over-the-phone diagnosis wasn't good. The water heater has officially gone kaput. With my dad on speaker phone, I sloshed through the puddle (it had been leaking for a while at this point...), dead leaves, and probably a few other disgusting things that I didn't see (and didn't want to see) to hook up a hose and turn off the gas valve to the water heater. Am I handy, or what?!

Thankfully my dad could make a few calls to plumbers and the man that is helping them set up how they want to re-do the master bath. Friday and Saturday were spent with plumbers, Mike the bathroom man, and more plumbers coming over to get us a new hot water heater! We had to rent a hotel room in Kennesaw for Friday night so we could all shower!! haha Another part of the fiasco is dealing with a toddler and 2 pooches whenever people would come over. Katie and I would switch off being the spokesperson with whoever came over and manning the dogs and kid. It made for an eventful few days!!

But it's finally all sorted out and we have a new hot water heater and thankfully have hot water at the Mardis house again! Also, in case you are wondering...I know a whole lot more about the plumbing system and hot water heaters now!

Retelling Mimi's Story

I called my Mimi yesterday to wish her a Happy Valentine's Day. And as our usual conversations go, she caught me up on her life as of late and she asked how Kirby had been doing. I filled her in--and fyi, Kirby has been grieving, but has really impressed me with her strength, courage to keep living with her chin up, and has been vulnerable in her sharing her emotions--but something that touched me was a story that Mimi told me from before I was born.

My Grandaddy passed away a few months before I was born. Katie was almost 6 years old and Kirby was 2 1/2. My Mimi came to visit for a short time and said she was running a bath upstairs when she said she just lost it. She was leaning onto the bathtub crying heavily when toddler Kirby walked in the door. Kirby pats Mimi on the back and says "It's okay, Mimi. It will be okay."

This, first of all, is so very Kirby; the comforter. But this was so encouraging to hear Mimi retelling this story for Kirby's sake, that Mimi can say this for Kirby now.

I promise I'll start doing more regular posts soon and hopefully some pictures too! But lately life has been pretty non-blogpost worthy. Soon enough. But I thought this post was worth sharing as a pick me up for Kirby as well as any of you that might need a pick me up. :)

A Mother's Lovin'

This past week has been a "drop whatever I'm doing" or rearrange my schedule to make it work kind of week to be around for Kirby and Daniel. School has taken a back burner (don't worry dad if you're reading this--I still have had everything turned in on time and still have gotten my readings done. Just so you know...I just haven't been as proactive on things as I normally am), I've driven to South Atlanta and back a few times, and have basically been on call 24/7. I love that I can be here for my sister in her time of need by sharing quality time with her family. My love language that I show others is definitely quality time and I really appreciate that I have had the time to show my love that way this past week. 

But who I have been impressed with even more is my mom. My mom and I are pretty close and talk about pretty much everything. But a shining quality of my mom is that she can really pull through in a crisis. I first realized this about her my junior year in college. After a semester of public relations classes (and hating it), I had a bit of breakdown over Christmas break. My mom was so supportive--suggesting everything from dropping out of school, moving home, transferring schools and everything in between. I ended up just changing majors that following spring, but was so impressed by how quick my mom was to be there for me 100%, no matter what. Other times that I have lost my job, or dealt with some form of a heartbreak from friends or boys, or whatever else that gave me quite a blow--my mom can tell from the first word that I say that I'm upset and need my mom's love and encouragement. 

This past week, my mom has been so supportive of Kirby and Daniel. She has taken off work the day of Kirby's surgery and is taking off again tomorrow to spend time with Kirby and Felicity. Although she doesn't necessarily sit down to have the heartfelt conversations, she does "little" things like sweep, grocery shop, or take care of Felicity so Kirby can rest (which are really actually huge and super helpful). Moms are great at lots and lots of things, but as for my mom, I just want you to know that your love and care is not unnoticed or under appreciated, but the opposite; so necessary, valued, and respected. Thanks Mom for loving Kirby (and the rest of your daughters) in our times of greatest need.

heartbroken and praying

It breaks my heart to sit down to write this but part of sharing my life and those that are in it are sharing the ups and downs.

Last Wednesday, Kirby went to the doctor for an 18 1/2 week appointment (nearly at the halfway point) at the OB-GYN and they couldn't find the heartbeat of her little baby. She went to see a specialist immediately, and back to the doctor on Thursday to double check what they feared was true--she had a miscarriage, or more technically, a fetal death. Because she was as far along as she was, she had surgery on Friday morning to extract what needed to be removed. We aren't sure right now of what happened or why, just that it happened for a reason and that little Baby Cleland #2 is with the Lord and it's for the best in God's sight. We are all heartbroken and wondering. And understandably so,  Kirby and Daniel are hurting terribly right now. I have never wanted to take on someone else's heartache for them so that they don't have to feel that pain as I do right now for my sister. We live in a broken world and with that comes a physical death; sometimes much, much sooner than we imagined or anticipated or imagined. No matter what, we are in God's hands and He has a perfect plan. I have reminded myself constantly this week, as I have in hard times before, that God is good. Always, without exception.

Please pray with me for Kirby, Daniel, Felicity, and for their little one that they lost. Pray for maybe not all of the answers, but at least for clarity on the situation and alleviated heartache and processing with this "grey area". Pray for healing after Kirby's surgery--both physical and emotional. Thank you for you concern and love for my family during this time. It really means the world to each of us, especially the Clelands. 

Classic City Adventures

Summed up, this was an interesting/great/exhausting weekend! 

Friday: Since I focused most of my Thursday on a paper (which was originally due on Sunday and was pushed back to Thursday--less work for me now! Whoop!) I had lunch with my dad, Kirby, and Felicity at McAlister's. I love being so close to both of my sisters and nieces so I can do semi-regular outings like that. Anyways, after that I was packed and ready to head to Athens....until I couldn't find my keys. Fast forward through frantic searching everywhere in the house, doubling checking to make sure no one took them in the morning, and still nothing for over 2 hours. Thankfully, Good Sam pulled through and turns out that I locked my keys in the car and my spare is still stranded in Chattanooga. After that ordeal, I hit the road just in time to get stuck in rush hour traffic, but eventually made it to Athens all in one piece in time for dinner and an early night out with Jessica and her friend Christie. 

Saturday: We woke up bright and early for the FACS Alumni "Chilly Dawg" 5k. Let me just say we were not doing the race for time (read; we walked the whole thing) and I am still sore! Let me just say, I felt as though I aged at least 35 years when I started to complain about my hip and knees hurting mid-5k. Old age at 25 years old is rough. 

We cleaned up, went to lunch at Tacqueria del Sol, walked around/window shopped downtown, and headed to one of my favorite sporting events in Athens--Gym Dogs!! We had a meet against LSU and beat them! It was so fun to be back in Stegman cheering on the Dawgs and even better than we won. :)

We went to an early-ish dinner at Last Resort, had some down time, and headed out for the night. Saturday was so fun and great to be back in the Classic City! 

Sunday: I woke up in time to make it back to Atlanta for church and a young adults lunch with the church afterwards. I was back on the road again though because once I made it back home, I unpacked and repacked to continue my weekend at Kirby's and Daniel's, who now officially have me hooked on Downton Abbey...like I need another show to watch... 

I spent my Monday before class with Kirby and Felicity--going on walks, playing with F and catching up on "Burger" time. :)

Another great weekend spent with friends and family. Hopefully I won't have to endure anymore lost key fiascos anytime soon...