Happy New Year 2010!

Hello from the nation's capital! We have over half a foot of snow on the ground here! Yesterday it snowed from before dawn through about 7pm. It is a beautiful blanket of powdery snow!



As I have not written on here since before Halloween, I will try to make this short and sweet.

I visited a college friend, Mandy, at the University of Virginia the week before Halloween. It was so much fun to see her (she is also getting her Masters in Speech-Language Pathology) and to see her campus. We enjoyed the nightlife of Charlottesville, Virginia and went to a wine tasting at King Family Vineyards. It was a very relaxing weekend and so nice to spend it with a good friend.

Jessica, Me, & Mandy in Charlottesville, NC

Wine tasting near UVA

Halloween was fun. As you can see in the last post, I carved pumpkins and enjoyed hot mulled cider at my friend Erin's apartment.

A lot of shenanigans occurred as we got further into the semester. I think we all go a little loopy when we are so focused on our schoolwork! The following pictures are examples of that!

Ben, Me, Kat, Wyatte, & Greg at dinner out in DC

Krystin (my suitemate), Me, & Michael (a visiting friend from college)

Michael (friend from college) seems excited about the Capitol (he's a law student)

My Thanksgiving celebrations began a week before the actual holiday. Similar to last year, my classmates (plus dates, boyfriends, fiances, and husbands) and I made food and had a Thanksgiving feast! It was so nice to enjoy food that wasn't cooked in the cafeteria on campus! Homemade food is just SO much better!

SLP 2010 girls (9 of 12 of us) at our Thanksgiving Party

I traveled home to North Carolina the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving. I got into Southern Pines around 11pm and got some giant hugs from my parents. We woke up the next morning and headed to Charlotte to stay with Vickie's family. We had 9 people (and 2 dogs) in their house. The food was absolutely fantastic! Vickie's mother, Elham, is one of the best cooks in the world! I ate so much food there I could have stopped eating until Christmas and been fine!

The Perrymans and The Flahertys on Thanksgiving in Charlotte, NC

The Perrymans at the Pinehurst Resort over Thanksgiving

Exams went alright. They are always really stressful but I somehow make it through them every time. I think a lot of the stress is relieved when I spend time with friends just trying to decompress and relax and enjoy each others company.

Krystin & I at H Street Country Club

It was so nice when I finished and knew I was heading home. I drove from DC to Greensboro, NC to visit my friend, Michael (the same guy in the photos above). He showed me around to all the Christmas decoration hot spots (there is an entire neighborhood that all decorates with these giant balls of Christmas lights hung in their trees. It is soo cool!). I had to leave Greensboro early though, because a big snow storm was heading our way. I got home just before the sleet hit Southern Pines, but it started snowing in Greensboro less than an hour after I left. Washington, DC got hit HARD by this snow storm. I felt so fortunate that I left the day before because I would have been stuck for days!

Christmas break was soooooo nice. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful home and family to come back to every break. I visited friends in Chapel Hill a few times, spent time in Raleigh with David and Vickie, and spent a lot of time at home with my parents. (If anyone needs another TV show to watch, check out Glee on Wednesday nights! You won't regret it! My mom and I are addicted to it now!)

Dad & I at CCNC for the Christmas Party (the Waller Family Band behind us!)

Fu enjoying one of his Christmas presents

Our church, BMPC, raised its steeple in January! Construction on our new building is coming right along!

High school friends, Kevin and Mike, accompanied me to see Avatar in 3D

During Christmas break my mother also got her most recent CA-125 number (the cancer marker for ovarian cancer). Her number is 15 (below 35 is normal)!!! We are so excited and blessed to have wonderful doctors and supportive family and friends!! You can check out more information on her CaringBridge site by clicking here.

I drove back to DC on Jan. 18 (Martin Luther King Jr Day) and started classes the next day. I am taking 5 classes (Cued Speech, Voice Disorders, Stuttering, Phonology/Articulation, and Research Methods) plus internship. My internship this semester is at a private practice called Building Blocks Therapy. They have two offices, one in DC and one in VA. I will be working with children with various diagnoses from age 1-10. My supervisor is really nice and I have enjoyed being there so far.

I cannot believe that I only have 102 days until graduation. I will have my Master's in Speech-Language Pathology so soon! It seems surreal. I hope I can just pass these classes, get through internship, and find a good job.

The big questions people are asking me are:
Do you have a job yet?
Where do you want to work?
Do you want to live in NC?

The answers to these are:
No, I don't have a job yet.
I'm unsure of where I want to work but I'm really open-minded. I want to work with Deaf and hard-of-hearing children though.
I wouldn't mind living in NC, but I'm looking all along the east coast. I would like to stay within a day's drive of my family.

I will finish this post with a few pictures from this month in DC so far. I hope things are well for you and your family!

Me, Nicole, Krystin, & Heidi (all my suitemates) at dinner before classes began!

My best friend from high school, Julie, just moved to DC too! She is at GW for graduate school (Public Health School)! I love having her here with me!