My last few days on duty were some emotional ones for sure. Thursday and Friday were pretty normal, aside from that fact that I had to help set up the house for one of our girl's graduation party's for Saturday. It was super busy plus I took one of the other girls Thursday morning to her Medication Review. A med review is always interesting, especially their first visit. It gives you the opportunity to see how the kid's meds are working...or not working and they evaluate how they are doing. It was an interesting appointment for sure that ended up lasting over an hour and half!! I obviously can't go into details on what is discussed and what for, but it really opens your eyes to the challenges the kids face in their lives and how the choices they make in their lives really effect their future and how they can process things such as life skills. It gave me the opportunity to really understand this girl and how much work she is going to be. She is sweet most days but she is also a very difficult child. I think with time and patience she can go a long way but it is the leading to it that will take a bit, especially until we can give her the new medication. But until then I will just need to have some patience I think, and a lot of support from my friends.

Saturday was my first day off but it didn't really feel like it. I attended my girl's graduation party from 2-5pm, and since it was super busy I figured I would lend an extra hand to help out Hannah and Becca since they also  needed to take care of the other girls as well and so they can use all the help they can get. Which I didn't mind at all, it gave me an opportunity to hangout with the girls and show support to the one girl of ours and her big achievement! After the party I went and relaxed then went to hangout with Caitlain to help her decorate another kid's graduation cake...and when I say help I mean I kept her company and simply baked cupcakes while she did all the decorating. It was a great time to just relieve some stress that we both had been having this past week so that was nice. It is great to have fun and have a friend you can just be yourself with and vent and rage, which we both needed so to have that support it is great!

Today has been pretty low key. We went to church, then attended the graduation ceremony. It was great but also emotional seeing my girl graduate, sad but happy all at the same time. Especially knowing that she is being discharged on Tuesday. It is hard I think because she is my first girl to leave successfully since I have been here. I am so proud of her for achieving so many great things and I can't wait to see what she will be doing in the future! After graduation I went to another graduation party for another one of our students from the Boy's Cottage. Spent some time over there and now Caitlain and I are just sitting down in Starbucks enjoying coffee, dinner and working on some paperwork/school work. It is wonderful to just sit in here and relax for what feels like the first time my entire break. Keep in mind I still have tomorrow off until I go on duty tomorrow night but even just having this one breathing moment for the past 2 days of my break is fabulous! I am also looking forward to tonight when we go back to the house and eat ice cream, vent, relax and watch some chick flicks. It will be a great end to the night. I just hope that we both will be able to recover not only physically from a long week of work but also emotionally. I just know for me personally it has been a rough week especially emotionally and so trying to gather all of that together and prepare to go back on duty is a lot of work. It is hard to deal with your own personal things when at the same time you are trying to deal with those emotions of 5 teenage girls! I suppose that is the most challenging part of my job is trying to stay in check for the girls but at the same time deal with my own personal issues and emotions on my own time without it effecting how I work with the girls. It will definitely take some time still in order to grow accustom to how I am feeling and how it effects everyone around me. Even though they don't know I am feeling what I am feeling most days, it is nice to know that I do have those friends that I can vent and express my emotions to as well. I continue to appreciate each and everyone of your friendships and support as I continue what God has planned for me to do. I love you all! A special shout out to all the moms out there and a Happy Mother's Day to you all! And a very special Happy Birthday to my brother who just turned 27 today! And a Happy Birthday to my other brother who turned 32 the 2nd! You all are loved!

Love,
Ashley