This year I realized that I'm to the age where my parents no longer consider me part enough of their family to warrant more than 2 sentences in their Christmas letter--which means it's probably time I start doing my own like a big girl! So here goes:
Merry Christmas!!
This year has been filled with all sorts of awesomeness and blessings and such... blah blah blah. In February of this year, I went through a lot of training and became a CASA volunteer. CASA stands for "Court Appointed Special Advocate" and my job is basically to be nice and play with kids... kind of. Really what I do is work for the Guardian Ad Litem (the children's lawyer in child abuse/neglect cases) and help him with a specific case. My GAL has about 200 cases that he's supposed to get to know the children on a personal level to try and determine what is in the child's best interest while also appearing in court cases--so you can imagine how appreciated I am as a volunteer member! I received a case with 2 wonderful little girls who I'd go see and take out for lunches, and check up on their school progress. Their case closed this September which happy and sad. Happy because it was a happy ending for everyone involved, but sad because now I don't see them anymore! I got to see them once in October for one of my girl's birthdays and they are doing very well. Now I'm waiting for another case to be assigned to me.
During the summer I received an acceptance letter for the Social Work Bachelor's program at Utah State University and I've started into that. I really enjoy going to school for something I'm passionate about and my attendance and grades reflect that. I'm at the magical spot in my education where I don't have to take any more classes that I think are pointless or boring! Next semester I get to pick my practicum for the next year which is my year-long internship in my chosen area. Right now I'm thinking medical social work at a hospital, or possibly 10 other areas... it changes a lot day to day but that's the benefit of being a social worker--I can change my mind whenever I want! Something else that is new with me is I've started a new job. I work at Youthtrack which is a residential treatment facility for juvenile sex-offenders. It's all boy facility and I really enjoy my work there--I get to work with the younger group of boys, there are 8 of them all around 13 years old and they are my joy...usually! It's a very emotionally taxing job and I feel as though I've inherited 8 teenage boys with extreme behavioral problems at times. Other times I feel like I'm making a huge difference and I'm very fond and protective of my boys. We had a leaf fight once and I like to play Just Dance videos on YouTube for them to dance along to and that always gets pretty funny! It's tough at times as they sometimes lash out at my when they get frustrated with their treatment, but overall I find it very rewarding and I usually look forward to going to work and hanging out with my boys!
Brooks and I have now officially been dating for 2 years as of yesterday (12/23) and I couldn't be happier. He works at Youthtrack with me and really enjoys it (for the most part) as well. He does well there and it has helped influence his decision to possibly change his major to psychology and start into that. He would ideally like to work at a college level counseling and doing research or he thinks he may enjoy teaching as well at a college. I'm happy he's found something that he says feels really right and I'm excited for our debates on psychology vs social work (Social work is obviously the best!). He does very well in school and has been participating in the school's improv club/team and has on occasion taught their weekly improv class and has really enjoyed that.
My family is doing well and I'm expecting 2 new baby nephews in the next couple months. (Probably not the correct way to phrase that, but oh well!!) I'm looking forward to 2 more babies Aunt Nikki can spoil! Hope this finds you well... blah blah... the magic of Christmas!
Nicole
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| MERRY CHRISTMAS |
