Balancing Act

July 7, 2011 by

Basil, our sous chef

While Kate was in the midst of finishing up her first year of grad school (yay!), Brett has been REALLY busy with work, and somewhere in between there’s a pup being raised! So far, the transition to dog-owners has been pretty smooth, largely thanks to watching hours of The Dog Whisperer before bringing Basil home, but we are definitely looking forward to the rest of the summer when we’ll have more free time to hang out with and train the little guy.

Celebrating the end of year 1

Kate’s last official day was June 24th, which marked the completion of her first year comprehensive exam (40 hours of writing + 2 hours of oral questioning), with the Spring quarter ending back on June 9th. This 3rd quarter was quite challenging, and even more exhausting than the first 2 (the HOBY seminar right around week 7 didn’t help either). In the end, the hard work and sleepless nights paid off and the year was rounded out with another set of A’s :)

Working nights sure haven’t been lonely, since Brett has a lot going on as well. In addition to his regular work during the day, he’s gotten involved in a few side projects on the evenings and weekends, keeping him just about as busy as Kate. Brett’s volleyball leagues have been bumped from once to twice a week (the 2nd night Kate plays too), and hopefully many more hours will be spent playing outdoors soon!

Double Duty: reading & cuddling

As for Basil, he sure is growing fast! He’s nearly doubled in size since we got him and is now tall enough to get on the couch (& climb on Captain). Speaking of which, he and Captain are beginning to be friends…well, brothers is more like it, as they’ve started having numerous wrestling matches a day! More pics are sure to come.

Already working on the next post,
Brett and Kate

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Filed Under: Life, School  

Papers, Projects, & Puppy!

May 19, 2011 by

Basil at 5 weeks old

Whew! The past few months have been extremely busy/overwhelming/exhausting, hence the lack of blogging, and for the first time in way too long I have a few spare minutes – yay!
Papers-
School has been even more intense than the first 2 quarters, thanks in part to 6 class hours of research a week in preparation for starting my thesis in June. Thankfully, the term is coming to a close, with only 2 weeks of class left, & 1 week of finals. Then, the only thing standing between me & a (mostly) free summer of thesis writing will be 2 weeks spent on a Comp Exam (covering the entire 1st year of study).
Projects-
Brett and I are currently back in Chicago for a few days, mostly for work, with a little bit of fun on the side. From Thursday night until Sunday afternoon I will be helping to run a leadership conference for 110ish local high school students, as part of the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Organization. Meanwhile, Brett is going into the actual office (what?!) for a few days, then gets to spend some quality time with some of our favoritest people in the world :) The weekend will conclude with a little BBQ gathering before we head back to Philly and cross this huge project off our to-do list!
Puppy-
The time has come! For anyone who hasn’t talked to us very recently, a few months ago we began the process of getting a puppy and he is finally old enough for us to bring him home & into our life. He is a 9 week old Shiba Inu, who we’ve named Basil, & is sure to make the next few weeks quite interesting! We’ve prepared our house (and ourselves!) as much as possible, but we know there will still be a few sleepless nights…we’re just hoping for a smooth transition for Captain – he’s going to be such a great big brother!

More to come soon – we will certainly be documenting our experience with Basil!
For now, reuniting with the city we love,
Brett and Kate

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Filed Under: Adventures, Life, School  

Living the college life…again.

September 27, 2010 by

image

And so it began…the whole reason we moved here…classes have officially started! Overall, the topics are amazing, most of the professors are very approachable and extremely knowledgeable, and I’ve already spent 40 hours with my 21 classmates (looks like we’ll be getting to know each other very well, indeed!). The coursework is heavy, with approximately 500 pages of reading each week from our 19 textbooks along with the usual papers to write throughout the term AND weekly art assignments to create, but I’m keeping pretty organized and trying to keep things under control as much as I can. As for my practicum (on-site experience), I will be spending Mondays and Fridays at an outpatient medical facility in New Jersey, working mostly with adolescent and child groups who either have a psychiatric diagnosis, substance addiction, or both. Nervous as I may be, I’m very much more excited and looking forward to starting this experience and forming my identity as an art therapist.

Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it) Brett has been extremely busy with his work as well so we’re spending most days working all day, taking a break to make dinner and watch one TV show, then back to work until midnight. Needless to say, this routine will grow tiresome very soon, but we’re still making the adjustment and figuring out how our new (permanent) circumstances can settle down into a balanced life for both of us.

To spare you too many details about returning to student life: in short it’s overwhelming but gratifying. Be sure to let us know if there’s anything particular you want to know or if you have any advice for us during this transition :) We love you all!

Seeking method for our madness,
Brett and Kate

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Filed Under: School