Oh grad school...

Remember how that pretty much happened to me? One of my thesis advisers went on sabbatical for 2 semesters. We e-mailed back and forth regarding how I would measure bilingualism for my thesis. (based on their 1st language? dominance? level of proficiency? sequential vs. simultaneous?) This goes on the whole time she's gone- I do research, talk to colleges, search, ponder, pray (you get the idea :o) in hopes of figuring it out how to move forward on my thesis! She gets back. We have a 5 minute meeting. Problem solved. Oh the joys... to all those working on grad school- good luck! :o) May your experiences be less "adventurous" than mine was...

Fall!

It's started! I officially felt crispness in the air today! Oh, how I love Fall! It means a break from the heat in Austin. College football! White clothes in the closet, browns out! It means warm food and Halloween and being out doors more! It also means change- which I love! Even if it's just a change in the season, I love it, and I'm ready for it!

Holly visits!

My old roommate Holly came to visit in May for the Texas Librarian Conference (so nerdy!) that was in San Antonio. I rescued her from San Antonio, and we drove to Austin where we spent a hilariously entertaining weekend together! One of the highlights was visiting the LBJ presidential library. Nerdy, I know... but it was super fun!

Here's Whitney, me, and Holly outside.

Katie, me, and Holly- not quite ready...

Katie being attacked with love by me... :o)

Yay! We're ready!


Me with mechanical LBJ! So lifelike it's creepy!

In addition, Holly, Megan, and Whitney had fun painting my kitty blue- in honor of the blue bonnets! I was there to witness this painting and all parties are in agreement that I just should not be there during such events. I guess I'm just a worrying mommy and can't handle her hiding behind my curtains... :o) However, you have to admit, Jubilee does look super cute in blue!

What happens at TSHA, stays at TSHA....

So, TSHA is the Texas branch of the Speech-language pathologist and Audiologist professional association. A bunch of us went to the annual conference in Dallas and had a blast! One of the highlights of the trip included dinner at P.F. Changs paid for by Adjuris Therapy, a staffing agency who offered me the scholarship to go to El Salvador. Needless to say, I adore Jeff and Shelley and am continually amazed by their generosity!


Here is a picture of Shelley and I. She's so great!


Jeff with a previous employee in his company. Such a good man!


Latrice, Jenny, and Libby!


Erika, Angela (aka Jolly), and Megan!


Sarah and Becca!


Oh no! Erika stole the camera!


And took this awesome picture of Becca and Sarah! So artsy!


Me looking super cute! It's rare those occur, so I just had to post this one and brag on myself... :o)


Eating my vegetables for Erika... :o)


The whole group surrounded by tons and tons of food! Did I mention that Jeff and Shelley are just amazing?!!


Shelley posing with our amazing chicken noodle soup. So tasty!


They even got us LOTS of desserts! Here's what's left over...


And Megan with her sad face...she gave up desserts for lent so all she ate was the berries that were the garnish of the desserts... poor thing! :o)


For those that drink, Shelley and Jeff bought some wine and Champane. Here's me giving into peer pressure... (but it smells icky!)


Not to drink it!


Just to pose with the bottles. Scandalous, I know. :o)

Overall, it was a evening with lots of laughter and food! Thanks again to Jeff and Shelley who spoiled us!

Audrey's Bridal Shower

Yep, you read that correctly- AudreY. I didn't spell my name wrong nor did I secretly get engaged. :o) Here are some fun pictures of my lovely friend Audrey and the awesome bridal shower Cassi and I co-hosted!

First, the most important part: the food! It was a delicious brunch buffet!


Next- the guests! Candice and me.


Laura and Audrey's wonderful mother.


Audrey and her super famous sister Heather! But more about that later...


Cassi, the other amazing host, and Tamara.


Bridgid and Desiree hanging out at the coolest place- the food table!


And the presents! She wanted lingerie or pantry items- yay vanilla!


Olive oil/ balsamic vinegar bottle- chug chug!


Loving the chocolate cake and sweeten condensed milk! Add some caramel and put whipped cream on top- you know know what kind of cake you have... :o) She did get some lingerie, but I opted to not put said pictures on my blog so that Audrey will still be my friend. :o)


And a picture with me and Heather! She's the last of the Hunter sisters for me to meet (now I just need to meet Audrey's brother and my Hunter sibling collect will be complete!) She also is the author of a quite humorous and real blog (for a lack of a better description... you just feel like you're sitting down for a chat over hot cocoa with her everytime you read it). It's one of those blogs that she gets paid to write. No joke! How awesome and cool is that! And I totally got to meet Miss Heather and add her to my collection (of Hunter sisters :o)

The Kiddos!

Here are some of the kiddos I worked with in El Salvador while working with Austin Smiles!


Typically developing kiddo (except for the cleft palate). Such great eye contact and non-verbal and verbal communication! Lots of requesting! (yeah, I'm such a nerd... :o)


I blew a lot of bubbles in El Salvador...


Areli! The proud earner of the stuffed monkey! One of my favorites!


Cleft lip.


Nose revision (sometimes the doctors in El Salvador do a poor job with cleft lip and palate repairs... our team did a lot of revision surgeries- like the nose- this time to correct what was poorly done before)


Another favorite!


And the last favorite of the older kid crew! They were all in the operating room at the same time getting nose repairs. I watched over them like a mother hen for about 30 minutes, but then it was enough. Nose surgeries gross me out!


Baby with bubbles post surgery!


Cleft palate.


Super sweet and interesting girl! Lots of medically stuff going on with her, so they couldn't work on her this trip, although they traveled for 3 hours to get to us! However, Austin Smiles is planning on taking a specialist next year to make sure this little lady gets her cleft palate and fistulas (holes in the hard palate that are super hard to repair) closed up!


The last baby! Bringing out her out to see the parents!



The parents getting emotional- the team did a beautiful lip repair on their daughter!

Oh what a trip! It for sure will NOT be my last!

The People!

Yeah for the Austin Smiles team!


Post-op nurse!


My bf...kinda...


Bf and anesthesiologist- way too cool for school...


Hello Peace Corps boys!


The docs!


In the operating room...yes, he IS dancing with a monkey... needless to say, this was my favorite room to visit!


Bed 1.


Bed 2.



Bed 3. Hey, look! That's me! Can't you tell from the pink pants? (complements of Melissa Schmidt! Thanks again!)



Bed 4.



Bed 5.


Hey, that's me again! Yeah, I totally look cute in scrubs! It's totally the pig tails! (which you can't see until the hair cover thing...)