First PhD Semester Done

[Chris] Oh boy, how to summarize my first semester? Well, I think that it is fairly in line with what I expected. I’m extremely grateful to my friends and colleagues in the classes ahead of me for that. I think that I managed to balance my life in a near-healthy way, not going too long without riding or running and spending at least a little time with Emily almost every day. A typical week of school work, classes, meetings, and assistantship stuff was probably around 70 hours, plus 4-7 hours of clinical work. This probably won’t be a very exciting post, but if you care to know what I do, I’ll try to summarize it quickly.

Better video of speech

Click here: http://vimeo.com/31315523

MA Commencement Speech

Click here... http://vimeo.com/30313985

PhD: 4 weeks done, 200 to go

[Chris] Is that it? Only 200 weeks left? Of course, that assumes I get it done in four years. Well, so far it's all going well. I really enjoy all of my classes, am working on building my private practice, and am working on a paper to submit for publication. The program is a great fit for me and I'm definitely happy about my choice.

I've actually been pleasantly surprised at my work-load. I work from 7am to 11pm a few days each week but I have been able to take one morning off each week and don't work too hard on the weekends. In large part, this is due to working for very flexible professors for my research assistantships. There are also a few large projects that will crescendo near the end of the semester. But at least for now, it's all pretty smooth.

My Other Blog

On my website for my private practice (www.CJMtherapy.com) I have a blog that I try post on every Sunday. The topics are almost always related to therapy, relationships, and mental health. Some posts are more informative than others (i.e., sometimes I take time to write something good and sometimes I post for the sake of getting something up). In any case, I could always use more traffic at my private practice's site (it helps Google know I matter)- so check it out once a week, or once a day, or more.

Backpacking below the smoke in MT 2011

[Chris] This is a trip I took with my cousin, Steven, in August 2011 to the Bob Marshall Wilderness and surrounding areas in Montana. Emily and I did a trip on the west side of "the Bob" in 2010 and Steven and I did another trip in MT in 2010 as well. I have not written about those trips yet as Emily and I are trying to work through our trips somewhat chronologically. In any case, I just got back a week ago so I thought I should write about this while it is fresh. It will be short and sweet.

As I wrapped up my last semester for my Masters program and geared up for my Doctoral program, I thought it would be a good time to get away for a bit- not to mention the added stresses of this last year and a half. Steven and I decided drive out to the Bob and do a little backpacking and fly fishing. We planned a loop that would take us past some of the more popular features of the Bob, namely the Chinese Wall.

Drowning doesn't look like drowning

I guess it does look like drowning...because it is. What I mean is that is doesn't look like you might expect it to look. Listen to this... "of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening" (article).

Here is a great article about what to actually look for and be aware of around the water: http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

Backpacking in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

[Chris] A backpacking trip Emily and I did in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in 2008. We think it is definitely a place you should check out.

In 2008 we packed in a number of trips and adventures. After a week at the Galvin family reunion (Em’s mom’s side), we stopped for a backpacking trip in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on the Superior side of the U.P. in Michigan. This was an easy-going, on-trail trip with spectacular scenery. We had a little more experience going into this trip than we did in the Grand Canyon. We also had some new gear, including a backing stove (MSR Simmerlite) that boiled water a little more efficiently than my home-made fuel-tablet stove.

We started this trip at the trailhead to chapel rock and would cover 30 miles over 4 days. We saw quite a few day hikers at the beach by chapel rock but would only see a few people over the middle two days. Chapel rock is one of the many amazing rock formations along the lakeshore. On the top of the formation is a tree with massive roots that span the gap between the neighboring cliff. From chapel rock we headed east along the tops of the cliffs toward 12-mile beach. It was on top of these cliffs that our trip almost ended in disaster.