Looking Forward to the Future

It's been awhile since we've provided an update, so here are some things we've been up to lately, and some things we're going to do soon:

I (Emily) am still in school during the summer. I am also still working as a mental health counselor at a drug and alcohol residential rehab. It's been challenging. Pretty much every time I see a client I have to quell a mini internal meltdown because I get a little worried that I will never be able to help anyone. My supervisor constantly reminds me that I can't make anyone change, but I can at least provide support and make an effort to learn more about each client and why they are the way they are. I am fascinated by my clients. Some are nice, some are mean. Some lie, some manipulate, but some genuinely want to change. I love it (most of the time).

I am also volunteering at a place called Homeward Bound, which is a center for adults with brain injuries. It's located on a farm in Cornelius, which is totally in the middle of nowhere, but it also means that they have chickens, a llama, a hourse, and a goat. The volunteering is related to a class I am taking this term called Human Diversity, which is about diversity issues that clients may have and how to provide adequate therapy for different diverse groups. On the first day of the lab portion of the class everyone talked about which groups we would be the most scared to work with, and I admitted that I would have difficulties working with mentally or physically disabled populations. Everyone was assigned volunteer work based on these diverse populations with which we were worried about working. I have to admit that most (maybe not all) of my fears were unwarranted. The people who work there are exceptionally nice and completely helpful. They have encouraged the clients to talk about their various brain injuries and the resulting disabilities. It's fascinating.

Josh is continuing to work as the PR and marketing director of Hoodoo Family Recreation. Right now it's camping season, so he's spending this weekend at an RV show in Albany. He is suffering through allergy season, which has been much tougher for him this year than last. In his free time he has been working out. We joined 24-Hour Fitness, so he works out at the oddest times. Like, right now he's at the gym. He has lost so much weight, his pants just fall off! I always tell him to buy new pants, but he ignores me. He doesn't like to shop. Josh has also been enjoying his calling as Scout Leader/Young Men's Leader. He's the sole member of the YM adults who did not attend BYU, so he feels like it's his duty to let the YM know there are other colleges in the universe.

My term ends in July, and after that I am taking the year off. We're really excited because it means we can do all sorts of travelling. We've been wanting to go to Washington DC forever, but have instead taken various other trips (well, we've gone to Disneyland twice, as per Josh's request). We're also going to drive from DC to Philedelphia to visit the various US history sites. We also already have plane tickets to Southern CA to go to Disneyland (for the third time in two years) with my family, then we're going to spend another week and go to the Hearst Castle to take another tour (we visited there during our honeymoon tour through CA) and then stay at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. We're also planning to go to Austin, TX again sometime this winter to visit my sister and her family, and I've been begging Josh to take me to Hawaii. So many plans!

I am so excited about taking time off, it seems like sometimes I completely forget that I'm still in school. Instead of reading textbooks, I've been reading mystery novels, and instead of preparing a presentation, I am writing a blog post!