A Little Gem

I am sitting down to write my second-to-last paper of my entire masters degree. I literally only have 3 classes left until graduation. I cannot believe it. I've been reflecting on the last 3 years a lot lately as I try to wrap my head around the thought of being done with school and being a certified counselor. It feels surreal.  The other day I had a client say, "Man, you've done a lot for your age!" When I thought about that statement it started to kind of click, "wow, I'm 27, I have 2 children, I taught 3 years of 6th grade, worked an internship at a psychiatric hospital, interned at a private practice, and now about to graduate with a job lined up and ready to go! It feels like a whirlwind!!!" 


I found something today that made me look back at the progression of my career…

During my first semester of student teaching at A&M (Fall 2007) I wrote down 10 goals that I wanted my students to learn from me or feel. It did not have a lot to do with the content I was teaching, it was more things like… Feel valued, worthwhile, and accepted by me. Feel heard by me. Feel safe in my classroom. Feel like they can come to me when they need help regarding school, friendships, and stuff at home.

I kept this piece of paper in my desk all 3 years that I taught and looked at it quite often. I kept it right on top of a stack of papers inside my top drawer. I probably saw that paper almost everyday. Right now its packed up in a box in the attic and it will come down if I ever decide to teach again. That's not out of the realm of future possibilities. I loved teaching, actually. It was pretty hard to give up that part of my life, but my babies are for sure worth it. 

Anyway, at the end of each school year I gave my students a series of questions and told them they could keep it anonymous. I wanted them to let me know if I had made them feel heard, worthwhile, accepted, safe, etc. (I also asked things like "Did you ask for tutoring and/or receive extra help if you struggled…did you feel that enough technology was used in our classroom…stuff like that). I kept their answers and reflected on them many times. I really wanted them to have a good experience and hoped that the next year I could make it an even better one. 

Today I was going through my recently fixed laptop (I overloaded it with too much junk to the point that it wouldn't turn on, so we had to have a friend take the hard drive out and remove 25 gigabytes of pictures…Yes, I admit I am a pictureholic. I need help.), and I found a little gem. It's a picture of one of the papers that a student had written (2009 school year). I took a picture of it back then because it was so sweet and it made me smile. It had the same affect on me today as I read the answer to #10. "She could've been a counselor! :)" The question I asked the class was "Did you feel like you could talk to me about your problems with school, friends, and/or home?"

Man! It's like this girl could see into my future. When I read this today I just thought it was so neat that something I am doing 4 years later is something that a 12-year-old girl thought I'd be good at when I taught her in the 6th grade.

Of course her note on the back was the best part. "Mrs. Coats, you are my favorite teacher. When I'm 50 I believe I'll still remember you. You really are awesome. -Ale"

I tell you what, those kinds of notes and words of encouragement from a kid is THE BEST PART OF TEACHING. I know my teacher friends will agree. When it clicks with a student and you see that you were apart of helping them--it's all so worth it. And the best part is that, while confidential, I still get to experience that in counseling! I'll never be able to post a note from a client on the internet or show a friend, but helping a person out and getting to see that moment where they've just seen something in a new light is so exhilarating. I love it. In a lot of ways teaching is what has brought me to counseling and I couldn't be more grateful for that experience. 

Thank you, Ale, for your sweet words. They still make me smile today! 

School/Work + being a SAHM

Today marks the beginning of my 2nd year as a stay-at-home mom! Let me take this moment to say how blessed I feel to have been able to do this for an entire year. God's provision has been more than enough in our lives and it still astounds us that we God has been able to stretch our money the way that He has! Looking back 16 months ago, this was not an option. But somehow, miraculously (I think), it has worked! We cut our income in half--literally--and have not been made to feel "without" or even "poor." Sure, we probably would have moved to a bigger house, bought some new "stuff," or maybe gone on an all-inclusive vacation somewhere, but we don't need to do those things and we certainly wouldn't trade them for this opportunity to have Sawyer and baby #2 at home with me. So, after all that, I'm just saying, that we feel lucky and also thankful to God for somehow helping us out when we had little faith, in the beginning, that it would work. :) God is good!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To a lot of people I've never actually been just a stay-at-home mom, but in my book you're a SAHM if you take care of your kid(s) basically 24/7 even if you have a "job"… like a position at a Mother's Day Out (MDO), or babysitting someone else's kids, or even substitute teaching just one or two days a week--and I've done all of those in my first year of being a SAHM. However, Sawyer was never in the care of anyone but myself, Casey, or grandparents (occasionally), so I think that's pretty much the definition of a SAHM. :)  In the beginning I was working at MDO and subbing on Fridays. Then, I got a job babysitting twin boys 2 days a week, but continued to work at the MDO as well. In the summers MDO isn't open so I kept just 1 little boy (Braden) 2 days a week. Obviously my "jobs" ebbed and flowed a lot during the first year, but they were enough to help pay for my graduate school tuition.

Here are the changes for the upcoming year:

This fall I am going to keep Braden 2 days a week in my home, have class 2 nights a week, meet with my supervisory 1 hour a week, do my school internship on Fridays, and have a women's Bible study for 7 weeks! Whew!
Here is what my schedule will look like during the week:

• Monday - meet every week with my internship supervisor to go over tapes 11:15-12:15 in Mesquite - other than that I'm off work/school, but I schedule all of mine and Sawyer's doctor's appointments on this day and you would not believe how many of those there are - I go every month for baby check up and between Sawyer's regular check ups at the pediatrician + her ENT to check on tubes, she goes about once a month as well! Crazy!
• Tuesday - off work/school, 7-week Women's Bible Study held in Rockwall (I am really looking forward to this!)
• Wednesday - keep Braden 9:00-3:30, class 4:30-7:10
• Thursday - keep Braden 9:00-3:30, class 4:30-7:10 (this class just meets 5 weeks in October)
• Friday - internship in the behavioral health unit at a hospital in Greenville 8:30-4:30 while Casey watches Sawyer
• Saturday - off with Casey; family day!
• Sunday - church, homework, nap :)

I am really looking forward to being in a routine this fall even though it is going to be a very busy semester! I am taking 6 hours of school (plus the 8 hr weekly internship), keeping Braden 13 hours a week (I also pick him up and take him back so that's an extra hour each day, so you could say 15 hours a week), and also taking care of Sawyer full time! I will be one busy momma for sure. I am not sure what I would do if I didn't have school or keep an extra kid. I know I would find stuff to fill my time, but after having done all of this for the beginning of being a SAHM I think I will love doing nothing in the spring!! Ha! I'll have a newborn then, so I'm sure it will feel like more work, anyway. :) 

Oh, I guess I didn't mention that… I am taking the Spring semester off from school and taking 6 weeks off from keeping Braden. So, for 6 weeks it's just me and my 2 kiddos. Then, after 6 weeks I'll go back to keeping Braden until May. No classes or internship.

In June I will start my "full time internship" (that's what it's called, but it's actually a minimum requirement of 20 hours a week). So, from June-December I will be taking a full load of classes, and in addition to that, I will be interning somewhere 20 hours a week for those entire 7 months. I will not keep any kids during that time, in fact, I will have to find someone to keep my own kids for those 20 hours a week during those 7 months. Then, BAM! December gets here and I'm finally going to graduate with my Masters of Education in Counseling! Woohoo! It feels like it's all right around the corner now that I know what semesters I'm doing what classes, etc.

As far as the spring of 2014 goes... I will try to find a part time counseling job (somewhere like Lake Pointe or Sunnyvale's Life Builders would be ideal) where I can gain my 3,000 hours (paid hours, thank goodness!) before taking my test to get my LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) licensure. Until then I will be an LPC-I (LPC intern). After I get my license as an LPC I hope to start working "with my mom" "on my own" (meaning my own private practice, but at my mom's practice;).

So there's my next few years in a nut shell folks! Obviously God could change our plans or something drastic could happen and things would change, but for now, those are the "plans." They are written in sand, not in stone. :)

ABC's of Lately

A is for Austin.  We just got back from a weekend trip to Austin to hang out with Casey's friends from college (and my friends, too! I've now know them for as long as I've known Casey, minus 2 weeks.) We had a fun time hanging out, swimming, and catching up!


B is for baby #2. We have our next doctor appointment set for July 16th and are really hoping to find out the gender that day as well! Still trying to think of a creative way to tell friends & family…not sure I'll do the gender reveal party again, so I'm trying to come up with something new and fun!


C is for Casey. Sawyer & I are so lucky to have him as husband and daddy. We tried hard to make his Father's Day extra special. Seriously, it was as if Sawyer knew - she was extra sweet and extra "Daddy's Girl" for him. :)


D is for doctor. Sawyer had a pretty big fall out of her high chair--it's actually a booster seat in the regular chair of our kitchen table, which is a pub table, so that means a tall chair:( Not good. It ended with a very bloody nose, mouth, and bruised forehead. We took her straight to the doctor hoping that we wouldn't be sent to the ER. Fortunately, we weren't. They checked each one of Sawyer's teeth, her nose, and asked us a few questions about how she was acting. She was fine and happy, but gave us a good scare.


E is for Ezra the Escape.  He recently turned 100,000 miles and really it just made me miss Sally. I got Sally in 2002 with only 7 miles on her and I know it sounds silly, but I always thought I'd get to see her turn 100,000 miles and I didn't. Sad times. Ezra is a good car, but just not the same. 


F is for family & the Fourth of July. We are going camping with Casey's family for the 4th this year and I'm really excited! Casey's parents have an RV that easily holds the whole family (that's 6 adults, 1 kid, 3 babies to be exact! (4 if you count the one in my belly;)) and we've only taken advantage of going with them once and that was before we were even married! The night of the 4th we'll see fireworks and then we'll stay another couple of nights. Fun times!


G is for garden. Ours is going wild and I love it! We have about 25 tomatoes and half as many peppers getting huge! I can't wait to pickle some banana peppers and put home-grown tomatoes on my salad! Yum.


H is for Horton. That's my maiden name. I realized when one of my good friends didn't know my maiden name that it is actually very important to me that you know it! I have the book Horton Hears a Who (have had it since I was a little girl) and am just waiting on the elephant and movie to complete my collection. ;)


I is for ice-cream. I crave it like a mad fool when I'm pregnant. Okay, I always crave it, but I just feel more "okay" with eating it regularly when I'm pregnant. Heehee.


J is for Jerry. One of Casey's best friends turned 30 today - kinda crazy, and means that Casey will turn 30 in 7 months!! I'm gonna be married to an old man! ;)


K is for knocked up. It feels like half of the people I know are pregnant right now! Most of them are due sometime before me, and a few right after me. Excited for all of baby #2's playmates! Lots of babies bein' born in 2012!


L is for lobster. Casey is my lobster. *Name that tv show!!* (If you can't, we're probably not that great of friends. Haha!)


M is for masters degree. I am getting mine in counseling and taking 9 hours this summer. I am sooo close to being done, I can almost taste it! I have completed 27 hours of a 52 hour program and after this summer I'll have 9 more (totaling 36!). I am doing my first internship this fall (there are 3 semesters of internships) and am very excited!


N is for nanny. I think most people know that I keep 2 twin boys during the school year, but a lot of people don't know that I am keeping 1 little boy 2 days a week during the summer! I'm like an official nanny. Haha :)


O is for Obama or Oprah? If you had to vote for one of them for president of the United States who would you pick?? I would love to know your answer in the comments section. :) Might be a hard decision for some of you! Ha!


P is for Pets. I'm trying to talk Casey into letting us find a new home for both of ours…I know, it's super sad, but I really don't want to overwhelm myself anymore than I have to when baby #2 is born. I remember how stressed Lucy made me in the first few weeks when we brought Sawyer home. I think poor Lucy is going to get less and less attention and she deserves a lot! She is a very sweet dog. If I could give her to someone for 2 or 3 years and then ask for her back, that is what I would do. Sawyer loves her. (Casey doesn't like Ella, so I know he'll be okay with me finding a new home for her, but that makes me sad, too, and for some reason I can't get rid of just one of them without feeling guilty for keeping the other! Plus, Ella is way less work than Lucy, anyway). Pet owners - please don't hate me. :( I already feel bad about this and will probably take months to make this decision.


Q is for q-tip. Unfortunately Sawyer inherited my super waxy ears. Poor girl.


R is for reading. I haven't been hooked on a good book in a little while, BUT I started a new Bible reading plan on my iPhone in order to read the Bible in a year's time and I look forward to reading each day! Turns out the Bible can hook you, too. How 'bout that?!


S is for shoes. Sawyer got her first pair of "real" shoes (you know, the kind you can actually walk in)! She loves them and will pick them up and try to put them on her feet. Never before had she raised her foot to help me put her shoes on before these shoes. They must be really comfortable, or maybe she just knows they are better for your feet when you walk on hot surfaces. ;) Either way, she likes them and I'm happy with my purchase!


T is for tickle.  Casey tickles Sawyer to death and she giggles and giggles and giggles. It is so stinking cute!!! I need to video it, but every time she gets to giggling I don't want to leave the room to go get the camera! She takes my breath away when she gets like that. Pure joy.


U is for umbrella. A couple of weeks ago I met Alycia in Dallas for lunch at Sfuzzi! We had a grand ole time and about 2 hours in we were wrapping up and ready to head out when we looked outside to see a huge downpour of rain--really it wasn't coming down as much as it was coming sideways. It was more rain than I had seen in a while actually. So we decided to order dessert and ended up staying another 2 hours until the rain was completely gone. I never have my umbrella when I need it, but in this case it turned out to be fun! :)


V is for vision. Television that is! There is nothing on TV during the summer and I hate it! I watched an entire season of 24 and am just waiting to borrow the other seasons from my sister-in-law (hint hint! :) Casey and I enjoy Big Brother and are waiting patiently for July 12th. Ps. we don't have cable or netflix, so please don't start suggesting tv shows that we can't watch - it's mean! :)


W is for wagon. Sawyer loves her red wagon and takes rides around the backyard frequently! Casey pulls her around to water the garden and trees and she waves at me on the porch and smiles. So cute.


X is for x-ray. I'm supposed to go to the dentist next week and always think it's fun to tell them I can't get an x-ray since I'm pregnant! I don't like how often they x-ray my teeth anyway! I've never had a cavity and don't think I need an x-ray every year. They just want my money! haha.


Y is for yawn. I have just not been getting enough sleep lately! Or maybe I'm still extra tired from being pregnant. Either way, I'd like a nap! 


Z is for zoo. We have taken Sawyer to the zoo two times this year and she has loved it both times! I think she is going to be an animal lover for sure. 

24 hours down…

27 hours + 3,700 clock hours left to go.

I think this counseling degree/license may take me forever.

Because it's hard to explain and I get so confused myself, I am going to write it all out so that I have something to refer back to and also you all can understand (if you want to), as well! :)

Here is the outline of how I've been trucking along…

Summer 1 - 2010
Coun 512 - Career Development
Coun 522 - Counseling Diverse Populations

Summer 2 - 2010
Coun 517 - Assessment in Counseling

Fall - 2010
Coun 501 - Intro to the Counseling Profession
Coun 514 - School Counseling & Development

Spring - 2011
Coun 510 - Counseling Theories & Techniques
*A particularly hard semester since I had Sawyer in April and finished out this class in May.

Summer 1 - 2011
I took the month of June off & it was glorious to just hang with my baby with no work or school looming over my head:)

Summer 2 - 2011
Coun 534 - Counseling Children & Adolescents

Fall - 2011
Coun 528 - Into to Group Dynamics & Procedures

(those are my completed 8 classes/24 credit hours)

Here is my plan for the future…

Spring - 2012
Coun 516 - Pre-practicum
Coun 539 - Intro to Play Therapy

Summer 1 - 2012
1 class (TBD)

Summer 2 - 2012
1 class (TBD)

Fall - 2012
Coun 551 - Practicum
*Required minimum 100 hours at an agency or school setting (unpaid)
Coun 549 - Ethics in Professional Counseling (a 1 hour class)

Spring - 2013
Coun 552 - Internship
*Required 300 hours field experience at an agency or school setting (unpaid)

Summer 1 - 2013
1 class (TBD)

Summer 2 - 2013
1 class (TBD)

Fall - 2013
Coun 552 - Internship 2
*Required 300 hours field experience at an agency or school setting (unpaid)

December 2013 - Graduation!!!

At the time of graduation I will be qualified to be a school counselor. However, I will not yet be qualified to have a counseling practice until I do the following after graduation (the actual link to the requirements in Texas is HERE):

1) Study for licensure…
2) Take both the National Counselor Exam and the Texas Jurisprudence Exam
3) Receive temporary LPC license…
4) Begin supervised post-graduate counseling to get 3,000 clock hours (3,000 hours may not be completed in a time period of less than 18 months).

So if all goes exactly as planned…I will graduate with my masters in December of 2013 (and maybe go to work as a school counselor) and get my LPC license around January 2015 (and hopefully go to work as a family therapist).

Omigoodness…my head may explode.

Casey Coats, Th.M.

Casey finished his degree at Dallas Theological Seminary in December, 2010. However, DTS only holds their graduation in the Spring, so on May 7th Casey officially graduated! :) It was a fun weekend! We started it off by going to the graduation BBQ at DTS on Friday night with Casey's parents! We had some yummy Sonny Bryan's Barbeque and then headed over to the little petting zoo - there were goats, bunnies, pot belly pigs, ducks, & chickens! Have you ever heard of ducks and chickens in a petting zoo?! We thought it was odd. There were also pony rides! Part of me wished that Sawyer was old enough to do those things, but then I realized that I want her to stay small a bit longer! :)

Poppy & Sawyer checking out all of the animals 

Proud Grandparents

The next day, we (Casey, Sawyer, &  I) made it to Prestonwood Baptist Church (that's where DTS holds their graduation ceremonies) at 8:30am. Graduation didn't start until 10, but Casey had to take a class picture and get directions, etc. I saved seats for his family and played with Sawyer until everyone arrived. Casey's fan base consisted of me, Sawyer, his mom, dad, and sister!

Can you pick Casey out of the crowd?

These are the graduates taking their class picture.

Now can you find him? :) It's like a game of Where's Waldo!

How about now?

I'll give you a hint - he's wearing blue!

What Sawyer did during the graduation :)

I took this picture of the big screen when Casey was walking down the aisle!

The speaker, Dennis Rainey

more sleeping :)

Casey getting his diploma! (Not really - his was mailed to him back in December!:)

Jeremiah getting his diploma!

To brag on him a bit…he graduated with honors!
Way to go, babe!

Coats family of 3 :)

The original Coats family!

the whole gang!

most importantly…the financial contributors ;)

proud wifey!

Aunt Stephanie with Sawyer - she was 3 weeks old here

Casey & Jeremiah - they went to UT together and then DTS together!

…and one with the wives!

That evening we had Casey's graduation party at our houset!! It was a lot of fun! For food we had hamburgers, hot dogs, Mitch's delicious french fries, chips & dip, and cake! For fun we had corn hole - a  game you play with bean bags (actually the bags are filled with corn and that's how it got it's name…which I just learned for the first time!)! There were about 50 people at our house, so luckily we have a big backyard! :)

Lauren & Sawyer - she sat there holding her for a long time!

Alycia's first time to meet Sawyer :)

Laura K & Aubrey K

At one point most all of the women and children were inside and all the men outside!

It was kind of funny that we separated ourselves like that!

Playing corn hole!

Mitch at the "fry station"

Casey's gifts!

The party boy giving me a "I don't want my picture made" look!

Some of my pretty friends:)

Laura, Ginni, & Jennifer

and then we added another pretty girl, Melina!

just hanging out

changing Sawyer's diaper, haha!

Ginni with Sawyer, Lauren, Alycia, & Kane!

Barbara & Bob Wood and Craig Kilgore came, too!

Funny story - Joshua McDill (4 years old) came out of the house looking for his mom because he couldn't get his pants back up from being in the restroom - he ran around the yard after he figured out that we all thought he was hilarious! It was really cute :)

Aubrey was so cute with Sawyer! When she came in she asked where Sawyer was and then later that night we let her hold her. She kept calling her "baby" over and over. One time my mom came over and touched Sawyer's head and Aubrey said very seriously, "Don't touch the baby!" It was so funny!

SUCH a cute picture :)

She also put her pacifier back in when it fell out - so sweet :)

Mimi & Sawyer!

The Laurens :)

Congratulations, babe! You are loved!

Ps. Isn't the cake so funny? I knew he'd like being called "Master Casey" :)