Tested and Approved!

Great news, folks! I received word today that I passed my Speech Pathology Comprehensive Exam! I have been tested and approved and it feels good! Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me and a special thanks to Ross for being SOOO supportive and understanding in this crazy time. He had to put up with a lot in the past couple of months. For example: coming home to a house strewn with books, binders, looseleaf paper, highlighters, pens, etc, all because I can't sit in one place and so I had about 5 different study areas in our 800 square foot apartment and refused to clean up any of the areas for fear I would lose my place. I was a little bit crazy at times, but we all got through it, praise the Lord!!

So much to do!

Ani doing pushups with her Uncle Rossy.Sweet Anika on our trip to Colorado.

Silly Anika in October 2005-about 7 months old.

Today I've been working tirelessly on this big presentation I have to give next Wednesday in my "Seminar in Autism" class. My presentation is on "The Social Use of Language in High-Functioning ASD and Asperger Syndrome". It's coming along better than I thought, but still taking me a long time. I'm aiming to make it about an hour long and I really hope it doesn't end up longer than that! I am pretty sure my voice will be cracking and my whole body will be shaking the whole time, so the shorter the better! It's wierd but even if I tell myself there's no reason to be nervous, I just get all funny when talking in front of a class. At least I'm good at laughing at myself. That always lightens the mood a bit.

This weekend we'll be celebrating my amazing niece's 4th birthday. It doesn't seem possible that she's already 4! I remember when I found out Stacy was pregnant and trying to teach Anika to walk when she visited Illinois just like it was yesterday! Ross and I are driving out to Rowlett tonight and spending the night at his parents' house. I'm looking forward to relaxing with my hubby and playing with my Ani-girl. I hope it doesn't keep raining tonight because the guys are going to be putting up a swingset to surprise Anika. Hopefully it all goes well and she can play on it tomorrow.

In addition to finishing my presentation and celebrating Ani's birth, I also need to perfect my resume and make a cover letter. That's right...I need to apply to some jobs! Next weekend is "TxSHA" or the Texas Speech and Hearing Association annual convention in Austin. There will be tons of booths of employers and I'm hoping to hand out my resume to a few of them since I really haven't done any looking for jobs yet. It's so hard in a big city like Dallas to know what all is out there. I'm hoping that the convention gives me some ideas of places I'd like to work. I had intentions of brushing up on my interview skills before going, but since I've kind of run out of time, it looks like I'll be winging that too (if a interview even comes up, that is). So, please keep me in your prayers for next weekend and I'll let you know what comes of it! :)

welcome

Hello and welcome. This is the Barry family blog.

I've been wanting to create a blog for some time now, however, due to the stresses of grad school I had to put that dream on hold.

As many of you know, I recently took 2 major tests, Comps and Praxis. The comprehensive exam or "comps" are what I have to pass in order to graduate from UTD with my master's in Communication Disorders. It consists of 4 essay questions covering 4 areas: Child Speech, Child Language, Adult Speech, and Adult Language. The other exam is called the "Praxis". It is a test that measures my specific knowledge about Speech and Hearing Science. It is part of my certification process in becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist. Now, although I don't know my results yet, these tests are finished and I can move on to more important things such as creating this blog!

Tonight, I will keep it short as I need to fold laundry and do some dishes, but I look forward to blogging and keeping in touch with all of you!

Eventually I hope this blog can be cute, entertaining, and informative....thus far it's pretty blah, so any tips are appreciated!