Look Who's Blogging Again!

Well, perhaps it’s time for me to write a new blog. May 8th seems like a long time ago; a lot has happened since then. Too much, in fact, for me to blog about in one sitting. But I’ll start with a brief update and the promise to at least try to blog a little more consistently in the future. Please note that the key word in the preceding sentence is “try.” :-) I have tried to rearrange my schedule going forward so that hopefully I’ll have at least a little time to pursue things other than work and school. Things really started to catch up with me by the end of last semester and I felt like I was barely hanging on and hoping it would all be over soon. I suppose life is like that for all of us at times, but I have waited this long to finish my degree so what’s another semester or two. Which leads me to a quick update of my progress in that regard.

I have now completed a total of 100 hours of the 120 I need to complete my undergraduate degree. However, since I need a number of specific courses in order to complete all the degree requirements, I’m guessing I’m going to need more like 130 hours or so. Either way, 100 hours behind me seems like a significant milestone and I’m happy that I’ve made it this far.

I also have my first official certification with the American Association of Christian Counselors. I’ve successfully completed the requirements for certification in their Caring for People God’s Way program. Eventually I would like to complete the certification programs for counseling teens and children as well.

Also since I last posted a blog, I started a new job. After 13 months of unemployment, I finally found work as a book designer for Author Solutions in Bloomington. So, if I had to come up with an excuse for why I haven’t blogged for so long it’s because things have changed so much since I started the new job, I just haven’t had the time. Well, I haven’t taken the time anyway. :-)

Last semester was the first time I have ever tried to work full time and go to school full time simultaneously. I’m guessing that had a lot to do with why I felt so stressed by the end of the term. Perhaps I’m lazy, but I decided that I’d really rather take it a little slower and hopefully be able to enjoy the process a bit more. I could probably keep up the stressful pace long enough to complete my degree, but the minute I stopped enjoying the classes and just started hoping they would end I decided that wasn’t the kind of outcome I was aiming for. So, instead of 12 hours this semester, I’m only taking 9 and I’ve staggered the classes so that I only have about a seven week period where I’ll be taking more than one class at the same time. I’m hoping this pace will be relaxed enough to not only allow me to enjoy my classes more, but also allow me to focus on some other projects I’d like to work on this year (more on some of those later).

So, with that brief update, it can no longer be said that I haven’t blogged for 8 months and 3 days. The count begins again! :-)

PS – For all my friends who used to be listed here in my list of blogs, etc, I apologize that the list isn’t up currently. When I changed the look of my blog I ended up overwriting the code that would have been those lists. Anyway, I will try to get them all added back soon.