Wedding Weekend

This weekend was one of my friends weddings. He is a friend from college. It was in Deep Creek, MD. It POURED the whole time. It would only stop pouring for a few minutes here and there. We got record breaking rainfall in Maryland over the weekend. I always love college friend's weddings because we all live so far apart and don't get to see each other as often as we would like. We're so lucky that there are 5 college weddings this year! We get to see each other almost once a month all summer and fall!

 

our St. Vincent College crew!

xo, Mrs. Slem

28th Birthday!!

Guys! 28 started perfectly!! Scott woke me up bright an early with a chocolate chip muffin and candle so ready for me to open my gift. He had me go out to the living room where he had a bunch of my dresses, heels, and all my favorite snacks set up. He said that I would need to pick out an outfit because the following Friday we would be going out for a fancy dinner, to get dance lessons, and go dancing in a ballroom! We have taken lessons before together and it's such a fun experience! I'm so excited!!

Scott went to work for a few hours so I had some me time! I caught up on all my trashy Bravo shows. I got a mani pedi. Then I got ready to go out to dinner in the city with my mom and brother! We went to Amicci's in Little Italy last year for my birthday and decided that I MUST make a tradition out of it. The food is fabulous and they give you so much! (we're having leftovers of it tonight and I'm so excited!!) We got tomato and mozzarella to start. I got Pasta Corleone: orecciette pasta sauteed with Italian sausage, fresh spinach, garlic and onions, in spicy, creamy, vodka sauce. yum yum yum! They surprised me with cannoli for dessert. I topped it all off with the most amazing beer I have ever had. It was root beer beer. Incredible! 

my sweet family

 

                           

I am teaming up with a shop on Etsy and will be featuring some of their awesome decals. I made this shirt with their decal. They are closing down for a few weeks while they go on vacation. Be sure to come back and check out my post in July featuring their shop! I have some other cute decals to show you too :)

xo, Mrs. Slem

Crock-Pot Fiesta Chicken

My awesome mom sent me this recipe that she made last week. I changed it a little bit and added taco seasoning. I think next time I might add some jalapeños to add a little bit more of a kick! So, thanks mom for the delicious easy dinner recipe! Love you!!

Ingredients

4-5 frozen boneless chicken breasts1 15oz. can of corn1 15.5oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed1 16oz. jar of salsa1 packet of taco seasoning1 pkg. of cream cheese

Directions

1. 1. Place chicken breasts into the slow cooker. Add the salsa, corn, black beans & taco seasoning.
2. 2. Cook on low for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is done. Shred the chicken. 
3. 3. Add the cream cheese to the slow cooker and let it sit on top for about 30 minutes. Once the cream cheese is soft stir it into the chicken mixture thoroughly.
4. 4. Serve over rice, in warm flour tortillas or with tortilla chips!

Enjoy!!

xo, Mrs. Slem

new j-o-b

I am a licensed (LCSW-C) social worker. For years, I worked for the State of Maryland as a social worker for the Department of Social Services (DSS). I started as a foster care worker and after a couple years, moved to another location to be an adoption worker. I am so happy that I started my social work career as a DSS worker. I met some amazing friends that I wouldn't have made it through those trying days with out them. I learned more from the children on my caseload than I ever thought possible. There's a saying in the therapeutic world "If you can work at DSS, you can work anywhere" and boy is that true!

After 3 1/2 years I decided that DSS was no longer a good fit for me and I began looking for a new job. The reason why I went to grad. school for social work was to work in a school. It's always been my dream to do therapy with littles. I came across a job positing to be a elementary school therapist with Catholic Charities in a local school. I applied, got a job offer, accepted the job, and gave my 3 1/2 weeks notice all in a week. It was certainly meant to be!

I was very excited about starting this new venture. I had so much support from my husband, family, and friends to make this switch. Even with their support, I was a bit nervous. I had never done therapy before. I was used to working more in crisis situations rather than calm, therapeutic, slooow situations. With the support of my new supervisor I knew that this was a job I could definitely do. I am in an amazing school. The school itself if beautiful. It is newly renovated and is so freaking high tech! I'm still wondering when schools made the switch from chalkboards to smart boards. I swear I felt like I was in the science center for my first few weeks at school. The school atmosphere was so welcoming and happy. I am working with school staff that are so nice and helpful.

So here I am, about a month and a half in and I LOVE my job. My husband jokes almost every night when I'm sharing about my day because I always talk about how darn cute and sweet the kids are. I get so many hugs and pictures drawn for me each day. I see about 6-9 kids a day. It's exciting, it's low-key, and I already adore each and every child I work with. Because I work for Catholic Charities and not the school district, I work over the summer as well. Of course I would love to have summers off but I think this summer will be pretty mellow because so many of my kids will be on vacations.

Here are some pictures of what we use for play therapy! I will take pictures of my office this week and post those too!

xo, Mrs. Slem