goodwill = baller.

yesterday I took a friend to the airport who was headed to europe for a week, and I resisted the urge to be her 2nd bag and tag along. :-) phew, that was close.

on my way back I decided to stop at the goodwill in ballard because I've heard good things about it. aaaaaaaand it was fantastic.

for $15 I walked out with a VHS copy of 'hook', an ichiro mariners jersey, a basketball jersey finally (that I'm technically supposed to wear every time my tuesday night bball league plays - oops), a sweet flannel shirt from american eagle, and a hilarious board game called 'therapy' that I just couldn't resist.

my friend Alisa joined me and she found some sweet stuff too, among them a super cute dress and a jigsaw puzzle. :-) after that we went back to my house, turned the fireplace on, Jenny came over, we watched hook, semi-played therapy, and ordered pizza.

I approve of this day.

so I'm on break, and...

I'm now on break until May - woah nelly. kind of a big deal. I did it, I finished trimester numero dos, I am free... I survived first year practicum, marriage and family class, and history and therapeutic perspectives. woosh!

there've been many endings for me over the past month or so.. ending with my practicum group, ending with my triad composed of 2 other lovely individuals, ending with my facilitator, etc. and overall, I feel that I actually mostly 'showed up' for these endings, offering myself and my heart in the midst of them instead of running away or freaking out about them. kind of a big deal actually.

but now, I find myself already anxious about this 2.5 week break that I have. what will I do? what should I do? how do I balance fun with things I really need to do with rest with work... eeeek. slow down, Cori, and breathe. rrrrrrreeeeeeeesssssssstttttttttt, even in the midst of chaos. oh how I wish I could learn that quickly and easily.

one thing, however, that I decided yesterday would be 1) restful for me and 2) good for me is to have at least one tangible thing that I do each day to pay attention to and care for myself.

yesterday, I took a super delightful nap after being done with all of my finals. :-)

tonight, I went out to celebrate my classmate and friend Leanna's 30th birthday, and suggested when we were done at the bar that we were at that we go basically next door to matador to get their amazing $5 happy hour nachos. oh, and we did. deeeeeeeeeeeeelish.

tomorrow, I.......

finals week = blerg.

in twenty-four hours i will be finished with my second term of graduate school --- eeeeeeee!

dang.

am i done yet?

I'm sitting here in my living room with the fireplace on. yup, still rainy and cold here in seattle.

anywho, I just put the vhs movie "anne of green gables" on. yep, that's right. old school.

I'm not doing my research paper that is on women who have been sexually abused's tendency to withdraw in marriage. nope. anne of green gables it is. :)

in other news, today was the end of my first year practicum class. the one that's kinda like practice counseling for all of us newbies. we went through a lot together this year, shared much with each other and both missed and fought for each other. it was pretty crazy to remember how our group started the year and then suddenly finding ourselves the end.

it's not the end of practicum for me, but next year i'll be with a whole new group of people and it will look a bit different. i realized today as we ended our time together that there is loss in endings, for sure. this i know well from my own story.

but there's also a celebration somewhere in the midst of this loss in remembering what we have gone through together. it felt really good for me to actually be able to see both the hard and the good of loss, of change.

that's all for now... 3 more papers and one final til the trimester is over! so close.

friendship x2

so true.

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."
- henri nouwen.

friendship.

last night I got to hang out with my friend danielle who I've known since high school. eleven years ago! woah. she's married now and has a beautiful little girl, and i'm, well, not. anyway, she still lives in tucson, but was in seattle working at a jewelry show so we got to catch up. it was lovely and rich, and i'm so grateful for friendships. especially the ones that go way back.

one thing she said to me last night that stands out:

cori, you can do this whole life thing.

sometimes, i think we all just need some encouragement, someone to believe in us when we're heavy in our own stuff.
thanks D.