Grad School Party

Last night a bunch of my social work cohort had a little get together to eat catch up and play Cards Against Humanity, which is probably the anti-social work game if there ever was one. This semester we are all at our internships just about full time, so we don't see each other regularly. It was nice to relax and take an evening off!

^^there were veggies and pulled pork sliders, but they didn't make it on to the table^^

^^Dani explained the very simple rules^^

- S

Community Practice

For the second year of the masters program, you pick one of three concentrations: Children and Families, Physical and Mental Health, or Community Practice. I chose community practice, and so did twelve other wonderful, beautiful people. For our practice class, we worked on one giant project for the whole semester. We were tasked with looking at volunteerism and community engagement in the five counties surrounding McLennan County (Bosque, Falls, Freestone, Hill, and Limestone), and coming up with a plan to address these things, all to be presented to the Heart of Texas Council of Governments (HOTCOG) and Heart of Texas Efficient Towns and Counties (HOTETC). This was not just another class project for a grade, we were working under a HUD grant, as a group of professionals working in the field. We came up with recommendations and a work plan that could potentially put into place, put everything together into a written report, and today we presented to HOTCOG/HOTETC (it was rescheduled due to the bad weather last Friday). We are done! I am proud of this group and thankful for our amazing professor, Dr. Yancey. 

^^featuring my photo on the cover!^^

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Color Me Rad

I did my first 5K on Saturday, the Color Me Rad run in Waco! It was a lot of fun! My friends Brittany, Melody and I had the first wave at 9am, and we were the first right at the start, too! We didn't stay there, but that's not what matters anyway. The course had nice scenery though the path had some mud detours and branches, but we made it! I think they should have had more color stops and music along the way, too. But, it was a good time and a great way to kick off the weekend. When Melody and I were running toward the finish line, a herd(?) of deer lept across the path, so that was a fun end to our run. I put my old iphone 4s in a plastic bag, so the pictures are not superb, but I think it captures the atmosphere :) The top photo is one my friend Meghan took while we were in that crowd!

 

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Kayaking the Colorado River

On Saturday I went to visit my friend (and bridesmaid who made these amazing table numbers!) Christy, who whouldn'tyaknow, has been working with AmeriCorps in Bastrop, TX, only 1.5 hours away from me! Upon a quick google search I learned Bastrop is on the Colorado River, and immediately knew what we should do during my visit- kayak! After a surprisingly pleasant drive (Texas 95 is a beautiful route), I picked up Christy and we went to downtown Bastrop for lunch. Say what you will about small towns (and I do; it's a love/hate relationship), but I rather enjoy easily finding free parking on a main street in town, no stress. We strolled the downtown and ate lunch while catching up at Maxine's Cafe. We then went around the corner, literally, to Bastrop River Company, hopped in a couple kayaks, and paddled away for a good three hours! If you didn't know, kayaking is my favorite pastime, so getting to paddle in the Texas sunshine and visit with a good friend for hours really set my soul at ease after a particularly rough couple of days. 

^^the sort of downtown with stores called "The Rhinestone Cowgirl" and where the drug store is also the ice cream shop^^

^^this was very good, but it made me think- when are these giant circle slices of onions anything but a showy inconvenience?^^

^^cool sign and gas pump at the brewhouse next door^^

^^plenty of these guys errywhere^^

^^dog is swimming along behind the yellow kayak^^

^^when you get to the bridge you call the river folks to come pick you up^^

^^we got froyo afterwards, of course^^

Kyle and I will definitely have to come back here. The river company also has kayak camping trips, which sounds like it could be great. This trip down the river reminded me of kayaking I've done in PA, more so  than in Austin. The turtles are not as used to people so they dip into the water when you get near, rather than continuing to chill in the sun like the indifferent ATX turtles do. :) 

- From the desk of Mrs. M