AUGUST 2023!!

QUOTE OF THE MONTH:

"Doing the right thing is more important than doing the thing right... There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently what should not be done at all."  -Peter Drucker

Victories, Big and Small:

• Started my year-long season as a Counseling Intern with Restore Behavioral Health!
• Completed the summer classes and started my fall classes... yay FALL!
• First time driving through parts of Texas that intimidate me
• First appointment with Dallas IVF
• Started training to walk a Half in November
• Set app limits and significantly cut down screen time on my phone

Partial Successes/Areas for Improvement:

• Stress... lots of fun events packed into the past 30 days, but between the surgery news, grad school projects, tough court cases, strong empathy for my niece and nephews, a busier work schedule, and adjusting to a new routine with Restore, this was probably the most stressful month of 2023 for me so far (which makes the next bullet-point make more sense).  I have better control now than I once did, but I want to keep improving at being quick to turn to prayer and not letting myself get flustered or feel inadequate.
• Being off sweets and eating healthy... that was reeeal back and forth this month with some stellar under-WW-points days and some crazy-indulgent, no-tracking days... so a September goal is keeping a healthier balance there!

Memories:

• Celebrating Dad's 40 years at SF and 70 years on earth!
• Celebrating the Mini Miss K's 10th birthday (repeatedly)!
• Celebrating Harvey, Heidi, Charlene, and Lindsay's birthdays! 
• Road trip to Perry, OK with Mom and T-man to see Carter in the Junior Rodeo
• Getting a lovely new car!
• CF Brunch with Kristin Michelle!
• Dinner with the Fosters at Whiskey Cake in OKC + Bixby Starbucks with just Kristin
• Helping friends understand the legal process and the flawed foster care system
• Supporting my niece and nephew as they process some hurtful and toxic behavior
• Neighborhood JAM lunch with Mom
• Being the first intern in my group to schedule times to observe multiple counseling sessions
• Jaceman's mouthguard being lost so he was unable to play in tonight's game... then Kyndal finding it on the ground near the car afterward (Rach and I had searched all through her car for it)

August Family Collage:

August Friend Collage:

Listened To:

• The three audiobooks pictured above (I'll throw in a link here if I go back and recap them later - all three were good - the Tim Keller book was definitely my favorite!)
• The usual podcasts + Write Your Story + Fellowship Around the Table + Just Jack and Will (and took off Doing the Best We Can and Heart of Dating)

Lessons Learned:

• From personal experience - To pray about things and trust my intuition.  As I listen to Debra talk about the power of our words and influence, and how we want to be very intentional about what we say and not be too quick to diagnose our clients... I feel very grateful that I am starting under her leadership rather than someone more aggressive and abrasive.  Rather than bravado or desire for power/respect, she leads from a place of inner security and self-respect and genuine kindness, and that warmth and competence is something I want to emulate (personally and professionally).
• From K. Faith - That we can do hard things and make the best of a tough situation, and that we should know our worth and be careful/selective about who gets the privilege of being in a close relationship with us
• From a new textbook - a chapter focused on documentation really helped me see how my court reporting experience (strong organization, documenting everything appropriately, understanding the nuances of liability and confidentiality issues, attuned listening skills, calm presence in the face of traumatic stories, etc.) will be useful and tie in well with my future profession

Fall is coming - happy September tomorrow, friends!

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤