Light at the end of the tunnel

So thank you for being patient as I continue to be delinquent on my blog postings. The end of the semester is near! Which also means that moving back to the midwest is near...saying good-bye to my wonderful friends here is near...and packing up my life into my car is near. Hm. Stress. Oh well. It's almost over!

Good news - I got published! I finally found out that the trilogy of book reviews that I wrote last summer was published in the Families in Society journal - I made the last page, but hey, I guess I have to start somewhere. Feel free to check it out if you want - I'll also be getting print copies in the mail as well at some point.

Last Friday, I went to see both The Bucket List and The Kite Runner. Both were amazing, and I definitely walked out of the first movie balling. I've read The Kite Runner already, and I know most people are nervous about seeing a movie if they've already read the book, or vice versa. My rating is that they are equally as good - I know, unbelievable, right? But the movie is really well-done. I would recommend both.

Let's see here - Saturday night I attended a Peace Corps potluck for all RPCVs in the Missoula area, as well as those who are currently in the application process or have already been placed. It was a great time and I met some really cool people. I also got great tips on how to keep my underwear mildew-free. Yay! After the potluck, a bunch of us--me, Lindsay, Brendan, Kendra, Matthew, Becca, Zach, Laura, Cameron--headed to The Jack Saloon up in Lolo Pass. It is in the middle of nowhere, and we drove there in a blizzard. Craziness. So worth it though when the band was amazing. A good ol' country band always makes a drive worth it. It was a fun night of dancing, singing, and spending time with friends. Gotta love it. We enjoyed a big bowl of homemade puppy chow on the way home, that I had leftover from the potluck. Yum.

Currently, I've been working on a needs assessment for the grant proposal I need to write for my non-profit class....it's coming along slowly. I want it to be a great proposal, so I'm taking a long time to put statistics together, but I am finding some crazy stats for Manitowoc County youth, compared to statewide stats. Eek. Anyways, I'm also working on a project on child trafficking for my social work class. For as big of a problem as it is, there is surprisingly little information and statistics on the issue! It's a bit crazy....so today I had to change my focus from solely the Philippines to southeast Asia in general. We'll see how it goes! I'm reading a ton of research and not finding that great of information. Also, I have a presentation on Aging Cross-Culturally on Thursday - all done, just have to present. And then....and then....well, the semester's not over, but almost. After that, simply a reflection paper, finishing my grant, doing my literature review for social work, reflecting on my time at MAC, and.....and.....okay more than that. But almost done!

Love all.