Speaking of the pain… I have another doctor appointment this Friday and I made an appointment to see a Rheumatologist on December 2nd, which was the earliest I could get in.  It’s getting unbelievably frustrating not knowing what is going on with me.  I can’t do half the things I was able to do before this started happening.  And while I may have a few days or even a week where I don’t really experience much pain, it always comes back.  And I’m sick of the doctors taking forever to see me and then not even having anything to tell me when I do see them.

On another note… I registered for classes this morning for next semester.  Here’s what it looks like:

MON - 4:15-7:00p - Marriage & Family Therapy I (PSY 639) with Amy Tuttle
TUE - 5:00-7:00p - Psychopharmacology (PSY 627) with Diana Hurlbut (only meets 9 weeks)
THU - 4:15-7:00p - Techniques of Counseling & Psychotherapy (PSY 637) with George Nalbach
THU - 7:15-10:00p - Clinical Management of Psychopathology (PSY 600) with Lisa Fasnacht-Hill
SAT (1/10 & 1/24) - 9:00a-4:45p - Human Sexuality (PSY 628) with Susan Johnson

It sounds like a lot… but it’s only 12 units, 1 class only meets on 2 saturdays in January, and 1 is only a 9 week course.  I just think it’s so doable so it doesn’t make sense not to cram this much in, especially while I still don’t have to do my practicum.  So it shouldn’t be too bad of a semester.

Getting Ready

Walking down the aisle

The beautiful ceremony

Outside the church, my mom, me, and my sister

The wedding party

The first dance

The lack of sleep I got over the weekend took quite a toll on me, however.  I’ve had a pretty bad sore throat the past couple days, and my joints have been extra painful as well.  I’m still trying to figure out what I’ve got.  I got a call from the doctor yesterday saying they didn’t take enough blood at my last appointment so I need to go in to get more drawn.  Ugh.  I just want to know what I have.  The good news is that it doesn’t look like it’s Rheumatoid Arthritis according to my first blood test.  And my doctor doesn’t think it’s an autoimmune disease at all.  I don’t really believe him though, and more blood tests will hopefully give some answers.

I don’t think my Obama high will be going away anytime soon! Today was the first day in like my entire life that I actually went and bought a newspaper just so I can have it forever

I really thought Californians were less ignorant though.  The fact that we can elect our first black president and still don’t support the rights of homosexuals is pretty sickening.  I honestly wouldn’t care if all the Yes on 8 people dropped off the face of the earth.  They’re slowing down our progress and are promoting intolerance and I won’t have it!

Obama Day was such a success.  YAY!!!

Last night I went to this private party in Culver City entitled Wonderland that my sister was hired to perform at (which I think I mentioned in an earlier entry).  I was a swan   It was fun, but the night turned into shit pretty quickly and I don’t feel like discussing it.  Things are probably going to be pretty strange with my sister for awhile now after this, but I hope we can get through it.  I think it has to do with the fact that she doesn’t know how to process/handle my recent physical problems and she seems to be going about it completely wrong in my mind.  That’s really all I care to say on the matter.  Here are a few pics from last night:

I’ve been pretty hungover today, probably as a result of both Friday and Saturday night combined.  I had a field trip with my group therapy class this afternoon called “Art and Creativity for Healing” at a little studio in Laguna Niguel.  It was amazingly fun actually!  We were given blank canvases and were asked to express our emotions.  After we finished each painting we went around the room talking about our creations.  It was a really cool experience.

The first one was called “Melting Colors.”  We were told to imagine a scene where we were in the middle of a garden and the colors were just sort of melting around us.  This is what I came up with:

I thought of darker colors running together as if it was raining.

The next piece was on a bigger canvas, and it was called “What is Going On?”  This one was a lot more complex and tells about 6-7 different stories including things that are currently bothering me, people who are involved, consequences, happiness, spirituality, and love.

The red and brown in the upper left is the explosion between my sister and I that happened last night.  The flower in the bottom right corner is love.  The blue and orange spread throughout represents Alex and my mom (happiness that just sort of engulfs everything), and the teal and black in the upper right represents my feelings in the moment (mixed emotions raining down).

The last one is on a tiny canvas and it’s called “Gratitude.”  We were asked to just portray our idea of gratitude.

The colors that clearly came to mind for me with gratitude were orange and pink.  I’m not sure what the different shapes mean but I guess they’re sort of like happy swirls.  When I finished the painting I decided to give it the little border you see.  Not for any particular reason other than I just thought it would look cool.

When I got home I showed my mom my paintings and she wants to frame them, expecially the 2nd one   I’ll probably put the other 2 in my room.  I love how each one has it’s own little story and totally expresses what I was feeling at the time.

Halloween 2008 will go down in history as the first night Tasha wore fake eyelashes. I look so girly. Loving not wearing contacts anymore

I’m also going to Vegas in 2 weeks!  A friend of mine from Pepperdine wants to go for her birthday, and it’s going to be her, her boyfriend, me, and Alex.  She knows someone who works at the Residence Inn Marriot in South Vegas, which is just a couple streets over from the Strip.  We got a suite with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a kitchen for only $120 a night, and since I’ll be paying 1/4 of it, that means the whole weekend is only going to cost me $60 (+ about $30 for gas and well, food and drinks and stuff).  The hotel even includes a free breakfast buffet which I’m in love with, haha.  She also has a friend who works at Tao, and she said he can get us a VIP table… so yay for that.  I’ve been wanting to go back to Vegas with Alex anyway, so this was the perfect opportunity.

I can’t believe it’s Halloween tomorrow already…  This semester has flown by.

My mom bought us mouse ears and we got our names engraved on the back I love Disneyland!