Feb. theme for NaBloPoMo.com

Since I posted everyday this month for January I thought I would try and do it again. :) February's theme for NaBloPoMo.com is called Ties. While I may not post everyday abut this subject, I will try and have a few posts on this. Here is Feb's badge. :)

Kaylee, Happy 6th Birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LIL MISS KAYLEE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!

Six years ago today a little 5lb 4oz girl was born and placed into my arms. That day was one of the greatest day of my life. I can not believe that just six years ago she was born. It really feels as if it was yesterday!!! Today is bittersweet for me now though. I love birthday but then my mind wanders over to the "Well look what you have missed! Look what you could have had!" I then remind myself of what she has done in the past six years and what I have done in the past six years.

For her birthday this year, I actually put her gift in the mail BEFORE her birthday. That is pretty good for me! The past couple of years I have sent her stuff late and it was more of a valentine's day gift or even late as an Easter gift. So this year I was determined to get the stuff in the mail early. What did I get her?? She is still really into Princess stuff, and was having a Princess themed birthday party. I got her a $15 Target gift card, a Princess & the Frog coloring book (she loves to draw and color), and a Disney Princess reading book. With out even thinking until I got home I looked and the gift card that I picked out was in the shape of the frog...so it goes with the whole Princess theme. :) I sent her at Christmas time a Target gift card as well and she loved it, because she got to pick out stuff with money. It was cute to hear what she bought. Yes it was barbie princess stuff. :)

Today I will go and have breakfast at Chips and get the birthday pancakes. Then I will have to come home and work on a Psych. paper that I have been putting off way too long. Hopefully dinner I will be able to try a new Japenese place that I have not tried yet. So I will make it a good day. I wanted to leave you with a poem that a birthmom friend wrote a couple years ago when her own birthdaughter had a birthday. She is not the only one who feels the way she does in the poem.

Birthday Pain

By: Krissy Mitchell
Birthmommy to Rylee Renee
My baby girl turns four today
My heart is aching
There is so much pain
Just four short years ago
I held her in my arms
I was her "Mommy"
Her very First
I was the first to kiss
Her soft little head
To cuddle her close
To my heart so dead
Tears would drip
On her little face so pure
How can I let go of
My daughter so dear
Four years gone by
My heart is still numb
I think of that day
When I was her "First Mom"
 

Best team on Biggest Loser this season??

I got sucked in this season of NBC's The Biggest Loser. Anyone else watching this season?? I have watched the show off and on ever since the first season. It is not a show that I have to watch every year as the host Allison really gets on my nerves. I personally liked it when it was host from the first season. I am drawing a blank on her name at this time.

Anyways...who is your favorite team? Who do you want to go home next?? When Rob and I watch competition reality shows we tend to pick out "pony" on who is going to win. We always pick the team or person on the first episode as that is the only way for it to be fair. Rob this time picked the RED TEAM. I like the red team, but I do not like the wife on the red team. She lost quite a bit of weight the first week and then she has had immunity for the past three weeks. It seems that as if she was throwing the game because the second and third week she either didn't loose anything or lost one pound. This is crazy as if you look at everyone else, they are dropping like crazy in weight including the females. Another team that I like is the PURPLE TEAM. Her teammate was sent home on the second week and she has been busting everything she has each week since her mom went home. I loved watching her this week in the first competition. Even though she was receiving red X's she never gave up. She did 10-12 laps which I think was the most out of all of the teams. I also like who I think I picked as my favorite team is the GRAY TEAM. These cousins are just amazing!!! They work hard, play hard, and loose massive pounds each week.

On to who I do not care for now. I can not stand the GREEN TEAM. They are negative and just rude. Since they were given the two pound disadvantage this week, I feel as if they didn't try. The daughter wanted to give up last week and walk off the show because Jillian got up in her face. Now since this week they were the bottom team, the daughter automatically said, "send me home. I have been wanting to go home...so send me home." Personally if I was a voting team member on the show I would have voted to send the mother home. Why send the daughter home?? If you send her home then it acknowledges that she can give up on things when they get hard. They did end up sending the daughter home and she has not lost that much since she left the Ranch. Another team that I don't care for is the PINK TEAM. The daughter gives too many excuses on everything. I wanted to tell her, "Ya...so you are loosing in this second competition...but you could at least try!"

Hopefully I have sparked your interest in the show. If not...that is ok, too. I understand that we all have our shows all set up on Tivo. :) I actually catch the show on Friday evenings as FLN replays the show from Tuesday. :)

New Movies for weekend of JANUARY 29, 2010

Here is the listing of the new movies that were released this week. There were only two this week...but at least we are almost done with the month of January!!! Then back to getting some good movies back in the theatre!! At least that is what we all hope!! Today while working in the box office the popular movie of choice today was Edge of Darkness. I will have a better grasp tomorrow evening when I close the box office. :)

When in Rome: rated PG13 - Stars: Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel - The Plot: Beth (Bell) is a young, ambitious New Yorker who is completely unlucky in love. However, when she impulsively steals some coins from a reputed fountain of love during a whirlwind trip to Rome, she finds herself aggressively pursued by a band of suitors. **This movie looks cute, I am not too sure if I will get around to seeing it though.**

Edge of Darkness: rated R - Stars: Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston - The Plot: As homicide detective Thomas Craven (Gibson) investigates the death of his activist daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent (Winstone) tasked with cleaning up the evidence. **This movie looks pretty good as well. I hope to see this before it leaves my theatre here in Connecticut.**

Best candy?

When one is asked what the best candy is, they may sit and think for a bit. I know that I would The best candy all depends on the type of mood you are in. Sometimes the best candy is something salty, or chocolaty, or sour, or sweet.

Right now I have an obsession of the Sour Patch Kids. I would tell you that I do not like super sour candies so you may ask why I like these then? My answer is, "I don't know...they are just good." Such a great response, I know. I am one though who eats these little sour things differently than probably most. Rob will take a handful and just pop them all in his mouth. Someone else may eat them one by one. I on the other hand may eat them one by one...but I have to roll the candy around in my fingers first. I like some of the sourness on the candy but not too much. I take the candy, squish it into a little ball and then just roll it around. Odd, I know. I am sure it is part of some autistic thing in my personality. A friend of mine saw me doing this the other day at work in the break room. She asked, "Amy what are you doing?" I laughed and said, "This is how I eat these yummy little candies." When she walked away I laughed at myself, and realized that everyone has their own way in eating candy. My friend, Karyn, has a specific way in how she eats Hot Tamales. I can not tell you the specific way but she has said it is the best way in eating them.

So now as you go and eat your favorite candy, maybe you will think about how you eat it. :)

Sisterchicks Book Series

Anyone heard of this series?? Well I can thank my mom for getting me hooked to one of the best and funniest friendship book christian series around!! The series is written by a Christian author named Robin Jones Gunn. If you do not know who she is then look her up. She has written all type of books for middle school aged girls, high school girls, young college aged girls, and now a series for women who are are out of college.

The Sisterchicks series is basically a bunch of books that can be read in any order. They are about two girlfriends *which sometimes are sisters* (different characters in each book) embarking on a new adventure. I have close to all of the books except for probably the couple latest ones. These books will make you laugh, cry, and fall in love all over again. Every woman would enjoy this book series as there is something in there for everyone.

I will leave you with this from Robin Jones Gunn:
"Sisterchick: Noun: A friend who shares the deepest wonders of your heart, loves you like a sister, and provides a reality check when you're being a brat."

Temporary Home - Carrie Underwood

Last night when I was driving down to school, I changed the music channel on my radio. I was getting bored with what I had been listening to and flipped it over to one of the country xm stations. Carrie Underwood's new song came on the radio and the lyrics really hit me. I listened to them and thought of how each situation is one that a social worker would interact with. The first verse is about a little boy who is in the foster care system, the second verse is about a homeless mom with her kids, and the last verse is about an elderly man who is in his last days of life. All of these are part of the social work system. Foster Care workers, Homeless shelter workers or a worker who helps homeless people get back up on their feet, and then hospice care, nursing home workers. As a social worker we need to see how we can help better our clients and the people we interact with on an every day basis.

Thought I would share the video and the lyrics of this song for you to sit and think about.

Temporary Home Lyrics

Little boy, 6 years old
A little too used to bein' alone
Another new mom and dad,another school
Another house that'll never be home
When people ask him how he likes this place
He looks up and says with a smile upon his face

"This is my temporary home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this is my
Temporary Home."

Young mom on her own
She needs a little help got nowhere to go
She's lookin' for a job, lookin' for a way out
Because a half-way house will never be a home
At night she whispers to her baby girl
Someday we'll find a place here in this world

"This is our temporary home
It's not where we belong
Windows and rooms that we're passin' through
This is just a stop, on the way to where we're going
I'm not afraid because I know this is our
Temporary Home."

Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers don't cry for me
I'll see you all someday
He looks up and says "I can see God's face."

"This is my temporary Home
It's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passin' through
This was just a stop,on the way To where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know this was
My temporary home."

This is our temporary home

Hats

 I woke up this morning to pouring rain and massive wind. I figured I would just wear a hat today due to such crappy weather. Why would I take the time to do my hair when it is just going to be ruined the second I step outside to go to the car? So a hat it was for today. I have many hats. Two pink ballcap, a white ball cap, a green ballcap, then a straw hat from my trip to TN, and then two stocking caps. Yes, I think I have an over abundance of hats. But shh...they all have their purpose. Over just the past couple of years I have been wearing hats more often. I never thought I would be a person who would wear a hat as often as I do now. I now understand the purpose of having them. :) To either block the sun on a bright day, to hide a bad hair day, or to make a statement.

In life we all wear hats, as well. We all have many different hats that we put on from the time we get out of bed until the time we crawl back into bed. I felt that way today. I woke up and put my "intern" hat on and headed down for a two hour internship shift. After that I put my "dentist patient" hat on to get three cavities filled, then I went home and put my "student/wife" hats on as I was home to finish up some homework and print out everything for class. An hour later I was leaving the house again with only my "student" hat on as class was from 5:30pm-8pm tonight. I have other hats though. Like the "birthmother" hat which is a constant reminder since Kaylee's birthday is on Sunday. Another hat that I have is the "daughter" hat. It is Monday and I normally call my mom on the phone either Sunday or Monday evenings. It is almost 10pm and I have yet to pick up the phone to check in with my mom. It has been a crazy day though. I then have my "work" hat that I put on when I am at the theatre. I could go on and say I have a "sister" hat or a "friend" hat.

As you can see I have a lot of hats, but if you think about where you are...you may have more hats than me.

Best Book?

As I start to think about packing up my stuff into moving boxes I keep looking over at my two book cases full of books. I think, "I really should donate some of these books...but they were too good to give up!" So I got to thinking...what were some of the best books I have read in the past??

I love the O'Malley Series written by Dee Henderson. The series is about seven abandaned or orphaned teens who group together to create their own family. As adults they all are still very close like a family but each one is in a different line of work. One is a firefighter, another one works as a CSI type of job, and so on. Each book has some mild romance along with a pretty good intense mystery plot. I have read almost all of them. I think I have one more to go. I did not read them in order, but it does help to read them in order only because relationships develop in each book that carry on into the following book.

Another series that I have enjoyed is called Annie's People written by Beverly Lewis. It is about an Amish girl who meets an English (non Amish) boy and falls in love. The series is the whole tie of what will she do? Stay with the Amish Community or leave to be banished for life. This series is one that has to be read in order otherwise one would be confused.

If you like the Amish type of romance series you need to check out a series written by Cindy Woodsmall. The series is called Sisters of the Quilt. I picked up the first book when I was living in Tucson. I am not a fast reader and I think I read the first book in close to 2-3 days. I was just shocked of how awesome it is. I then went out to see if I could get the second book only to find out that the second book would not be released until November of that year!!! I had to actually wait for the book to come out. The first book sets the story of an Amish girl who secretly gets engaged to a Menonite boy. On her way home one day from the place that she worked...she was pulled into a car and raped by a stranger. She became pregnant by this pregnancy. She was accused of lying and anything else. The book and the other two in the series are an adrenaline rush. This is another series that must be read in order. 

An excellent book that is not part of a series is called Redeeming Love written by Francine Rivers. A friend of mine gave me this book as a gift after the placement of Kaylee. She said that she had read this book several times and thought that I would enjoy the book just as much as she. It is about a man who takes in a prostitute back in the old western days. It is the struggle of learning to live together and her learning how to live on a farm. Kind of reminded me of the book Sarah, Plain & Tall.

Saturdays

Saturdays are suppose to be lazy, right?? Well can someone tell me how that is suppose to work? I just wish once I could sit in the house in my pj pants on a Saturday and do absolutely nothing. haha. Oh wait I did that many years ago with my sister when we lived in an apartment together. I do miss those days.

Today will be spent running errands before I head off to work tonight. I am working from 6pm to close which means probably 1am-1:30am. Doors lock at 12:15am, and if there is a good closing team then we will be out asap. Since I am closing I will probably end up over at Denny's again with the small group of friends who are still here that have not left for school yet. :)

Rob's interview yesterday went very well. He said that the guy was impressed on all the classes Rob has taught with in the past three years at Iona College. One class he was intrigued about was the Internet Applications class where the students operated a Roomba through the internet with a budget of $200 for each group. Yes, this was a very cool project! Rob also thinks he impressed the interview guy by knowing some of the background history of what Belmont is for sports. Any of you who follow March Madness knows that College Basketball is a big thing for certain schools. Belmont is in Division I for basketball and the past recent years has came very close to upsetting Duke in March Madness. If you do not follow basketball one may not know this. Rob said the guy become pretty animated when Rob said something about this as if it was a good thing. :) So what now? Well, Rob was 1 of 10 candidates to have a phone interview. The next step will be Belmont to choose probably 3 people to come down for an on-site interview. After that they will choose the best person from those three. Hopefully we will be one of those three for an on site. So we will see what happens. 

New Movies for weekend of JANUARY 22, 2010

Three new movies came out this week. I really only see one good one out of the bunch for this week. The new movies should start getting better as January is coming to an end. :)

Legion - Rated R - Stars: Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Charles S. Dutton - The Plot: God has lost his faith in humankind, causing him to send his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. A remote diner becomes the battleground, where the Archangel Michael (Bettany) bands together with a group of strangers, though Michael's true focus is to protect a pregnant waitress whose unborn child is humankind's hope for survival. **The screenwriter and director should have done their biblical homework to get things correct. Granted...if they would have done that...then it would probably not be what the movie is. Nothing about this movie sounds good for me to sit for two hours and watch this.**

Tooth Fairy - Rated PG - Stars: Stars: Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, Ashley Judd, Julie Andrews - The Plot:A bad deed on the part of a tough minor-league hockey player (Johnson) results in an unusual sentence: He must serve one week as a real-life tooth fairy. **This movie looks cute and light hearted. It may be a bit dumb..but hey...one can not think too much about this as they are watching it.**

Extraordinary Measures - Rated PG - Stars: Stars: Brendan Fraser, Keri Russell, Harrison Ford

The Plot: A drama centered on the efforts of John and Aileen Crowley (Fraser and Russell) to find a researcher (Ford) to develop a potential cure for their two children's rare genetic disorder. **I am excited for this movie. I personally like movies that are based on true stories. I am not too sure if I will have time to see this...but I would recommend people to see this movie.**

40 Days...

Rob received some awesome news yesterday! Belmont University emailed Rob yesterday, informing him that they would like to have a phone interview Friday at 11am (est)!!! Pretty cool huh?? I am so excited for Rob as he would love love to be living in the TN area. I have only been to TN once which was back in June for a long weekend for my birthday. I loved what I saw and would love to see Nashville which is where Belmont Un. is located.

Rob today looked back at the date of when Iona informed him of not having a job in June. The date was December 11th. If you count 40 calendar days from December 11th you will end up on January 20th, which was yesterday!! Pretty cool huh??

We are not banking on Belmont, but Rob just finds it very interesting that it was 40 days.

For my readers who are not in the Christian faith, 40 is a big deal in the bible: 

• It rained for 40 days/nights to create the flood for Noah.  (Gen 7:12)
• Noah was on the ark for 40 days before the water went away. (Gen 8:6)
• Embalming required 40 days (Gen 50:3)
• Moses was on the mountain for 40 days, twice! (Exo 24:18, Exo 24:18, & Deu 10:10)
• Moses' face shone for 40 days after being on the mountain with God. (Exo 34:29)
• It took 40 days to search out the promise land and bring back fruit. (Num 13:25)
• The Isrealites wandered around the desert for 40 years (Exo 16:35 & Num 14:33-34)
• Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness (Mat 3:17& Mat 4:1-2)
• Jesus was seen on earth for 40 days after his crucifixion. (Acts 1:3)

Internship - Session 2

This morning I went and worked at my internship for about two and a half hours. Most would say that is a pretty short shift, but my field instructor advised me that I would get more hours later on. Today I worked again with the special needs population down in the Production area. Today they did have a job to work on, so no Bingo today. Today their job was to put together a game for a store to sell. What game?? It is called "Get Bombed". As I looked over it a little more closely...it is the official "beer pong" game. I kid you not. If you play this game you can go to Getbombed.com to check it all out. So what was my job?? Well I worked in the last station that placed the little clear seals on the boxes and also the price tag for the stores to scan when a customer wants to purchase the game. I am assuming that this game would be sent to a store like Hot Topic or Spencer's. After two hours of working in the Production room, I went upstairs to talk to my field instructor. We talked a little about the readings he had given me last week. I am working on one chapter for each meeting. The readings are about challenging behaviors that I will experience when I am working in the Production area and as well out in the field. I also met the field supervisor that takes teams out to work in the area for cleaning and landscaping. I will go out tomorrow with one of the cleaning crews to see another aspect of what ARI does in the community with this certain population.

I hope that my other classmates will all experience a type of internship like mine, rather than get stuck filing papers and making coffee!!

Oh what to write for today...

I am drawing a blank on what to write for today. I am a little over the half way mark for blogging every day for a month. I figured it would get difficult in mid month...and yup...it has. I had class yesterday despite it being MLK Day. The program that I am on meets once a week, it is important to not miss any classes. I didn't mind going to class yesterday. It was easy to find parking since no one was really there. Next week it will be a little bit more of a challenge as spring semester will be in session. Spring trimester will start in mid-February or early March. I can not remember exactly.

I worked today in Box Office, which I loved. Box office to me is the best place to be any day of the week at work. I love working Tuesdays, as it is SENIOR day!! This means that anyone above the age of 60 is able to see a movie for $6.00 all day long. I have a soft heart for senior citizens, probably because my grandma managed a senior citizens for many years when I was little.

I have a couple new favorite songs lately. One is the new single from Creed called RAIN. Guess it just reminds me of the days of living in Oregon. Another new single that I like is from a band called BoyslikeGirls and it is called "Two is Better than One."

Hopefully  tomorrow I will have a better post that is more interesting. Hope your week is a good one. :)

Memento of my life story...

In my social work class that I am in right now we have a weekly journal entries that we turn in for grading. Most of the time the journal entries are about the weekly reading and our understanding of the biophysical, psychological, and social dimensions of the multidimensional approach. This week our weekly journal entry question was to describe some sort of memento that represents our life story. At first I thought this would be easy to do until I sat down to type out the entry. I thought for awhile and found that I could not just choose one item, so I chose four. Here is my weekly journal entry for this week.

After reading the topic for this journal entry, I would have thought this one would be easy.  I am drawing a blank on what would represent my own sense of meaning that represents my personal story in life.  A few things come in mind.  These things would be a moving truck, a violin and two journals.

Each different person would look at my list and wonder why I chose such different items, rather than just one.  I cannot just place one item for my whole life story as each item has a significant part of my life story.

Let me explain the moving truck.  I have done a lot of moving in my life. I was born in Nebraska and lived there until I was four and a half years old.  When I was four and a half, my parents decided it was time to move out to Oregon where my maternal grandparents were living at the time.  When living in Oregon, my family moved around quite a bit until I was in second grade.  I was constantly changing schools every year and it was hard, as I would have to make new friends, which was hard for me since I was extremely shy.  In second grade though, my parents bought a house and are still living there today.  When I was almost 21 years old, I moved out of my parent’s house to learn how to live on my own with a friend.  That year was one of the roughest years of my life due to an emotionally abusive relationship with a guy who I had been engaged to. At almost 22, I moved back home for another couple of years.  I then lived with my little sister until she moved to Olympia, Washington to be closer to Fort Lewis which her husband would be stationed at once he returned home from Iraq.  When I was almost 26 years old, I moved from Oregon to Arizona so that I could live in the same city as my husband (fiance at the time) while he was finishing his doctoral program at University of Arizona.  This was the first time I had lived more than thirty minutes from any type of family.  Rob and I were then married in 2007 and then moved out to Connecticut for three years.  Shortly after the spring term of 2010 at Iona, I will be packing up my house again and moving to somewhere else.  I am getting good at moving, as it seems I have not been in one spot for a long time.

The next item would be a violin.  I started playing the violin when I was in 5th grade.  I remember asking my parents if I could learn this instrument.  They agreed with the understanding of I had to stick with it for the entire year.  I found it difficult, but I loved it.  I played the violin then from fifth grade clear through my senior year in high school.  I was more of an average violin player, but I was just playing it for fun. By playing the violin, I gained the appreciation of classical music.  I do not have a violin anymore as I donated them to my local high school a couple years after graduation to ensure that another child would be able to have the experiences I did with the violin.

The last thing would be two journals.  Ever since I was probably in fourth grade, I have written in a journal.  My mom found that it was a positive expression of one person by writing down their daily activities in a journal.  She said that she could always tell when I was not journaling, as I seemed more stressed than normal.  Today I have two journals that I work with.  I have my own personal journal that is written in when I get a chance to sit down and meditate, while the other journal is for Kaylee.  Ever since she was just a newborn, I have written her letters in this journal.  I started when she was only a couple days old, explained why I placed her and how much I loved being able to call her my own when we were in the hospital.  After placement, I wrote to her about once a week, and then changed it to once a month, then every time I had a visit with her, and now I try to write something down on any major holiday, birthday or activity.  When she is old enough, I will give her the journal for her to see that I never gave up on her.  When writing in the journals, I imagined myself sitting across the table from her and having a conversation.  I put in what my favorite movies were at the time, my favorite movie stars were, and what the big music craze was.  I feel that journaling is almost a written time capsule.  Each person uses his or her own journal differently. 

So as you can see each item holds a different value with my life story. I am sure if you looked back onto where you have been you would have different things than I.

Where am I moving to?

I find it kind of funny now. I tell people that I am moving and their first response is, "Oh really? Where to?" I then respond with, "I don't know! But I will be moving in late May to sometime in June." They look at me as if I am crazy and carry on with a new conversation. I thought I would fill everyone in on the schools that Rob has applied at. Rob and I are both hoping to know where he will be teaching in the fall by late April and early May at the latest. I am excited about the change as it is yet another adventure to my life. Rob promised me when we got married that I would have an adventure and it sure has been so far. :)

Below is the list of schools that Rob has applied to. I like just about all of them, as most of them have a social work program of some sort. :) The ones with a star next to them are the ones that I am personally hoping for.

School	City/State
Southern Indiana University	Evansville, IN
Univ of Arkansas - Little Rock	Little Rock, AR
Shippensburg Univ	Shippensburg, PA
USF Polytechnic	Lakeland, FL
Elon University	Elon, NC
Cleveland State	Cleveland, OH
Penn State	University Park, PA
Ohio Univ	Athens, OH
Southern Polytechnic State	Marietta, GA
Black Hills State	Spearfish, SD
*Oregon Institute of Technology	Klamath Falls, OR
Tarleton State	Stephenville, TX
*Belmont	Nashville, TN
*Savannah State	Savannah, GA
Robert Morris	Moon Township, PA
*Pacific Lutheran	Tacoma, WA
Metropolitan State College of Denver	Denver, CO
Augsburg College	Minneapolis, MN
*Univ of Washington, Bothell	Bothell, WA
Utah Valley University	Orem, UT
*Univ of Texas at Dallas	Dallas, TX
*Western Carolina	Cullowhee, NC
*Oklahoma Baptist	Shawnee, OK
*University of Oregon	Eugene, OR
*Minot State University	Minot, ND
*University of Louisville	Louisville, KY
*University of Colorado - Pueblo	Pueblo, CO

Rob has heard back from Un. of Arkansas with a "Sorry we have filled the position" type of letter. So that one is out of the running. But we still have quite a few good schools on the list. He has heard back from a few just confirming that they have received his application. A lot of schools have been on Winter Break, so hopefully this week he will start hearing some more feedback from some of these schools. Some of the applications had to be sent via US Postal service rather than electronically.

Difficult Jobs...

Yesterday marked yet another working anniversary for me. I have now officially been working at the movie theatre for two full years. I know...I should be excited that I made it two years at a tough job that most people can only deal with for 3 months at best! I guess I should blame the "not giving up mentality" on my mother. haha Growing up she always told myself and two siblings that if we started something we had to stick with it for the whole year.

There have been times where I have accepted a job offer, sat for two weeks in complete misery and said that I could not do it any longer. This happened to me when I first moved to Tucson in 2006. I accepted an administrative assistant position at a local exterminating company. So what was the big deal? The company was just awful on how it was ran. The phones were extremely busy and I could not leave my desk even if my life depended on it. The people who worked there would stand up by the front desk (my desk) and drop "F bombs" while I was on the phone. I am even talking about managers! Just not what I wanted. I quit after two weeks and found something different. Well, so I thought. I found a position at a local plumbing/electrical contractor company working as a dispatcher. I loved my HR manager there. She told me to be careful as the owners of this small business like to micromanage everything one does in the office. I saw quickly how this company worked. Even though I hated the job towards the end of my time in Tucson, I stuck it out for seven long months. I then got married and moved to Connecticut.

January of 2008, Rob and I came to the conclusion that I should go back to work. I was bored at home, the Ebay selling from home was not really working and I needed to find some friends. I applied at lots of retail places as I was starting school in March and so I needed something that I would be able to change my hours every 12 weeks or so with out having lots of issues from management. I had to interviews on one day with two job offers. I decided to go with the movie theatre, even though it paid less, due to the fact that it was a stable job. I am glad I chose the movie theatre now only because the other place that offered me a job is no longer in business.

I remember one of the first nights of training at AMC. The computer network went down for the whole theatre. The box office cashiers had to issue tickets that one would use for a raffell and keep track of what movie and show time people were going to. Myself and another person were suppose to get trained in concessions, but since the compters were down we were thrown to do ushering with the other 4 people. I hated this and thought that the training and management could be a little bit more organized. But I told myself to push through it as it was just new to me and eventually I would know what I was suppose to be doing. Once the 90 day mark hit, I congratulated myself as I had made it through probably the hardest 90 days I had at a new job. By then I had made aquaintences with some of the people who worked there, and finally feeling accpted even though I was probably one of the oldest people working there besides my GM and a couple other managers or maintenance workers. July of 2008, I was asked if I would be interested in the Admin. Assistant position at the theatre. I did get a pay raise and it would consist of doing paper work and not being out on the theatre floor 3-4 shifts. I accepted the promotion and loved it. Yes it was challenging because of how my GM treated his employees. I had to work one on one with him at times, but I just pushed my feelings aside if I could. I told myself that I had worked with more difficult people in the past, and this GM was nothing. In March of 2009, I was informed that AMC would be deleting my AA position nationwide in theatres as they felt that it was not sufficient for theatres. I was bummed and was told that I had two options. Quit or step down to a film crew person. I decided to step down (i was able to keep my pay as it was not my fault that I was having to go backwards on the job ladder). In the summer of 2009, a new GM to work at my theatre...and well the whole atmosphere has changed for the better. As much as I didn't care for my previous GM in many ways...I kind of miss the militant style of work ethic for the employees.

So now I am here with a 2 year pin on my work shirt collar. Congrats to me!!! The longest I have ever been with any job is 2.5 years and unfortunately that will be the same with this job as Rob and I are moving. Will I stay with AMC when I move? Well it depends on where we go and if there is an AMC that I could work for. If so, then I will probably just transfer...but I am growing tired of working with high schoolers and their drama. So if I find something new, I would love to work at a place that is closed on the major calendar holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. I will though miss the ability to watch movies for free. Well, I think Rob will miss that more than I, as he takes advantage of that more than me anymore.

New Movies for weekend of JANUARY 15, 2010

Since I got a good response last week, I will keep up on the New movies for the next couple of weeks. I hope that this will help you choose your weekend. d movies if you want a date night. I worked again in the Box office today and have a better idea on what movies people are choosing this week to go see.

The Spy Next Door - Stars: Jackie Chan, Amber Valletta, Billy Ray Cyrus. The Plot: Former CIA spy Bob Ho (Chan) takes on his toughest assignment to date: looking after his girlfriend's three kids, who haven't exactly warmed to their mom's beau. And when one of the youngsters accidentally downloads a top-secret formula, Bob's longtime nemesis, a Russian terrorist, pays a visit to the family. **Only a few people came in to see this movie today. I am sure it will do better tomorrow as it is more of a kid/family movie.**

The Book of Eli - Stars: Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson. The Plot: In a post-apocalyptic United States, a lone man (Washington) fights his way across the country in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind. **This was probably one of the most popular movies today that people were coming in to see. I had some friends see this movie and they said it was good..but not great.**

The Lovely Bones - Stars: Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan. The Plot: Young Susie Salmon (Ronan) watches over her family from "the in-between" as they deal with the aftermath of her brutal rape and murder. **This is based on a book which I have heard is a good book. I have not heard if the movie is any good though. I am a bit leery of this movie only because it was suppose to be released on Christmas Day, but the studios pulled and until this weekend due to the negative or low responses they received from the test audience.**

Other movies that are still popular at the box office are: Alvin & the Chimpmunks 2, The Princess and the Frong, The Blind Side and It's Complicated. If you have not seen The Blind Side, you should see that before the Acadamy Awards!! It is definitely worth the movie ticket prices whatever they may be at your theatre!!

Have a great weekend!!!

Internship

Today was day one of my junior placement internship at ARI of Connecticut. For a full review of what I will be doing at my internship please read this post first (Junior Social Work Placement).

I met with my supervisor at 930am. He went over what I will be doing for the next couple of weeks while I am at ARI. He told me that for the first two hours of my day I will start down in the production area and work with Renee who is the production supervisor. Then I will spend 30 minutes with my field supervisor discussing how I am feeling and learning while I am down in the production area in addition to the readings that he has given me. The readings that I will be taking a look at will help my learning of how to respond to people who are mentally disabled and what behaviors to look for to help correct if needed.

My two hours today in the production room was fun. I was with Renee and she said that when there is no mailings to do or any other paid projects to do, then she has her group of adults play games to keep them busy for the day. Today we played Emotional Bingo. Basically BINGO with pictures of emotions on each square rather than numbers. Renee let me run the game which I found fun. Today there were close to 12 or 13 people in production room today. When I came into the room, Renee told me that everyone was on break and so they will be surprised and excited to see me as I am someone new for class. One by one everyone started to filter in. They all noticed me quickly and came up and said hello, asked me my name, and some tried to make small talk. I could tell that some of the mentally challenged adults were more higher functioning than others. I noticed that some had downs syndrome, a few may have had a mood disorder, and I think a few may have been autistic. As I get more comfortable with Renee, I think I will ask if she knows what each person is challenged with only so that I can have a better idea on how to respond to each adult in the production room.

12pm ended my session down in the production room as it is lunch time. I wandered back up to my field supervisors office to see what he had for me next. He had the full reading packet for me and so he went through the entire reading packet with me. He and I agreed that I would come in Mondays and Wednesdays from 10-1230 for now. My reading part will consist part of the remaining hours each day as I need to have 8 hours per week until I have 100 hours completed.

I am looking forward to next week when I can go again. :)

Party Food!

I have spent the last couple of hours making food for tonight's AMC Employee Appreciation Rockband Party! I made a Chicken Pasta Salad that has green bell peppers, cucumbers, parm. cheese, feta cheese! The dressing is olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. It looks delicious!! A friend of mine back in Oregon use to make a pasta salad like this about once a week for dinner. It is pretty low cal as long as you do not add any type of creamy dressings to it. In addition to the pasta salad, I will be taking Monkey bread. What is monkey bread?? Well basically it is pieces of dough rolled in cinnamon and sugar baked in a bunt pan with a brown sugar & butter sauce. So yummy!! Here are the two recipes that I used. :) I hope that you enjoy!!

MEDITERRANEAN PASTA SALAD **I added 1 pound of grilled chicken pieces**

Printed from COOKS.COM

---

□   2/3 c. oil
□   3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
□   1/4 c. chopped fresh basil
□   2 tbsp. chopped green onion
□   2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
□   1 1/4 tsp. salt
□   1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
□   12 oz. any type of pasta, cooked and drained
□   1 med. size tomato, cut in thin wedges
□   1 each, small red, green and yellow bell pepper, halved lengthwise and cut in thin crosswise strips
□   1/4 c. greek style or pitted black olives
□   8 oz. Feta or mozzarella cheese, crumbled
□   1/4 tsp. crumbled dried oregano

Process oil, vinegar, 2 tbsp. basil, the green onion, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper in blender or food processor until smooth. Put pasta, bell pepper strips, tomato wedges in a large bowl. Pour in dressing; toss to mix. Roll cheese cubes in remaining 2 tbsp. basil to coat. Add to salad; sprinkle with oregano. Toss lightly. Serve at room temperature.

 

MONKEY BREAD

Printed from COOKS.COM

---

□   4 cans refrigerator biscuits (about 40)
□   1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
□   1/2 cup butter
□   1 cup white sugar
□   1 cup brown sugar, packed
□   1/2 cup pecans, raisins and/or coconut, if desired

Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Pour sugar and cinnamon into a plastic bag and mix.Add biscuit pieces, several at a time; shake to coat well.
Place pieces in a buttered tube or Bundt pan until all are used.
Sprinkle layers with nuts, raisins or coconut.
Bring brown sugar and butter to a boil in saucepan. Cool 10 minutes, then pour over top of biscuits.
Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. Allow to cool 15 minutes before removing from pan. Turn upside down to serve.
 

Open, Semi, and Closed Adoptions? English Please!

As part of the adoption world these three terms are used over and over again. When someone outside of the adoption world hears these words they may not know what they all mean. This happened last night in my social work class when my professor explained that she is an adoptive mother of two children. One adoption is open and one is closed. Her daughter's adoption started out closed and when she was a couple years old the birth grandmother contacted my professor to see if the adoption could be opened. My professor was ok with this but she said, "Now if you come in to be grandma to my daughter you will be grandma to my son as he will not udnerstand since he has a closed adoption." The birth grandmother agreed and understood why my professor would ask of this.

Once my professor got done telling her story, a classmate of mine asked what an open adoption was verses any other type of adoption. My professor asked me if I would like to answer this. I grinned and said, "Sure!" I explained the differences of each type of adoption.

For my readers who do not know the difference, I will tell you also the difference. I feel like everyone should know the difference due to the up rise of celebrities adopting and the talk of adoption in many prime time shows on each network lately.

First let's start with Closed Adoptions. A closed adoption is when the birth parent & adoptive parent have no idea who each other is. Closed adoptions would be international adoptions and any adoption that took place before probably 1980. I could be wrong on this date, as I am not an expert.

The second type of adoption is called Semi-Open. Semi-Open adoptions are when the birth mother and the adoptive families know who each party is. The birthmother may recieve pictures, emails, and letters of the child through out its life with out any visits. The information of each party is limited such as an address or phone number. Contact may be sent through the adoption agency to help keep information seperate.

The third and final of adoption is an Open Adoption. Open adoption are when all parties involved know all vital information. The birth mother recieves pictures, letters, emails, cards, visits from the adoptive family and child. The adoptive family is chosen by the birthmother where as in a closed adoption the adoptive family may choose the child.

Open adoptions are becoming more and more popular these days. This option is the best option for all parties. The child knows both families through out their life and there are no hidden questions. This is why I chose to place Kaylee into an open adoption. I wanted to be able to see her grow up while I gave her a better life than what I could have ever given her. I know that she will be able to come ask me questions when she gets older and I will be completely honest with her. She will not go her life wondering who she looks like, where she came from and so on.

Songs that could be related to Adoption

It is becoming that time of January where my mind starts to wonder back to when I was very pregnant with Kaylee. She will turn 6 years old at the end of this month which is just out of this world. How far I have came in these past six years with the terms of what an open adoption really means to me and my own family. Since I am drawn to music I tend to pick up songs that could be related to adoption. Thought I would share my list with you.

• "I will always love you" by Dolly Parton
• "Pray for me" by Michael W. Smith
• "Baby Mine" by Bette Midler
• "I hope you dance" by LeAnne Wolmack
• "Tattoo" by Jennifer Hudson
• "Here without you" by Three Doors Down
• "Remember Me" by Mark Schultz
• "Held" by Natalie Grant
• "I Will Remember You" by Sara McLachlan 
• "Think of Me" by Mark Schultz
• "One More Day" by Diamond Rio
• "Everything to me" by Mark Schultz

There are a ton more that I probably could put on here...but these are the ones that really speak to me. For even a greater list of adoption related songs check out the Birthmom Buds Blog back in June of 2009. 

Best place to hang out late night - Denny's!

With a group of friends where the majority of age is under 21 where does one go after work at 1am? Denny's (or in my Grandpa Schneider's words: Lenny's)!! This is where I spent two and a half hours with five other friends from work. Iit was the best way on how to unwind from a crappy night at work. I worked the backbar which means I was in charge of keeping the popcorn and candy and everything going. This is only successful if the backbar person prior to the closer can keep the stand running smoothly. Well this was not the case last night. I came into the stand with an hour before the busy of the evening to find no popcorn at all in any of the three warmers in addition to no candy pretty much left in the stand and or pretzel bites in the oven. I went in and tried to get popcorn going but once the busyness hit...I just wanted to cry. I did have help from a supervisor...which was awesome. It did finally settle down and three of us started to close down the stand. We started closing down the stand around 1030pm which was two hours before doors locked. By 1am myself and the rest of the crew were clocking off and saying good night.

Next stop, Denny's! My friends and I try to do this at least once a month. You tend to see some very interesting people at Denny's around 1-2am. Free entertainment if you ask me. haha. Last night was not an exception to this. When we walked in we could smell alcohol on someone's breath and all wondered which drunk it was. A friend went in to the rest room and when she was opening the door to come back to our table when she met the drunk girl who shoved open the door, did a back head flip and said, "hi". My friend said, "uh hi" and continued her way back to our table. Oh what a night. Good comfort fatty food (i.e. pancakes, hash browns, bacon, mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings, and a turkey club sandwich are all items you could have found at our table last night) with the combination of  conversations that go on this late at night are the best!! These conversations are like ones at a slumber party should never be repeated to anyone outside the circle of friends at the party. I will miss these precious nights come this summer, but know that I will meet new co-workers to hang out with late after work.

Cleaning up Christmas decorations...

Today is Saturday. What to do? What not to do? I have to get stuff done before I leave for work today. I am working from six to close tonight a the back bar person in the main concession stand. Personally I would rather be on register rather than be the one who is constantly making popcorn, pretzel bites, hot dogs, pizza, chicken tenders, running to get more bottled waters, icecream bars and so on. Most would tell me that I have the best shift because of not having to be on register. Bleck...give me a register anyday.

Before heading to work, I will start to take down the Christmas items that are hanging around my house. I need to get the house into a "selling" condition as we will probably put the house on the market within the next week or so. Such bittersweet feelings about all of this. I will be sad to take down my decorations only to know that the decorations will decorate a different house for the next holiday season. I am hoping for a more open layout in the next house. We can only wait and see.

Not much else going on today. Kind of a boring post, sorry! I am enjoying blogging on an everyday basis, even as hard as it is sometimes. :) I hope that you have a wonderful day!

New Movies for weekend of JANUARY 8, 2010

Since it has been requested from several of my friends I will give a listing each Friday of the new movies that come out. I may not see all these movies since I do still have to worry about school, projects, papers, house cleaning, and packing...but I thought I would share with you all what is out each week.

This week at AMC Danbury 16, the new movies are: Daybreakers, Youth in Revolt, Leap Year, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. While working in box office this morning the two popular movies of the new releases were Daybreaksers and Leap Year. None of the movies this week seem too worthy of watching really.

Daybreakers (rated R for strong bloody violence, language, and brief nudity) : Ten years after a plague turned most of the world's population into vampires, a critical blood shortage is causing panic and gruesome mutations within the undead community. Edward (Ethan Hawke), a vampire hematologist, is trying to develop a blood substitute when he meets Lionel (Willem Dafoe) and Audrey (Claudia Karvan), two fugitive humans who claim to have a possible cure for vampirism. Edward casts his lot in with Lionel and Audrey in the hope of perfecting the cure before it's too late. Now I have not heard too much about this movie. I did hear people coming out saying that they liked it...but that is the extent from me. I guess if you like vampire type of movies you may enjoy this movie. This is one movie not for my liking. 


Youth in Revolt (rated R for sexual content, language, and drug use): While his trailer trash parents teeter on the edge of divorce, Nick Twisp sets his sights on dream girl Sheeni Saunders, hoping that she'll be the one to take away his virginity. I do like Michael Cerra, but this movie does not sound good or even look very good.

Leap Year (rated PG for sensuality and launguage): A woman (Amy Adams) heads to Ireland in order to force her boyfriend (Adam Scott) to accept her wedding proposal by scheduling it on leap day, the only time when he couldn't refuse due to the country's tradition in this Spyglass Entertainment romantic comedy. Shopgirl's Anand Tucker directs from a script by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan. Matthew Goode co-stars as a handsome innkeeper who throws a wrench into the woman's plans. This movie looks cute if you are looking for a light hearted movie to take away the stress from a long work week. I am a fan of Amy Adams...and so I may try and see this movie. It looks pretty cheesy and one would think that the studios would have released this movie the last weekend of February since that is when leap day/year falls.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (rated PG-13 for some violence images, language, sensuality, and smoking): Set in the present day, director Terry Gilliam's fantastical morality tale follows the traveling show of the mysterious Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) -- a man who once won a bet with the Devil himself, and possesses the unique ability to guide the imagination of others. Many centuries ago, Dr. Parnassus won immortality in a bet that found the malevolent Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) coming up short. While few would be foolish enough to try their luck against the powers of darkness a second time, Dr. Parnassus did precisely that -- this time trading his mortality for youth on the understanding that his firstborn would become the property of Mr. Nick when the child reaches his or her 16th birthday. Flash-forward to the present day, and Dr. Parnassus' daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole), is about to celebrate her sweet sixteen. Dr. Parnassus is desperate to save his little girl from her fiery fate, so when Mr. Nick arrives to collect, he senses the good doctor's malaise and cooks up a wager too enticing to refuse: Dr. Parnassus and Mr. Nick will each compete to seduce five souls, with possession of Valentina going to whomever manages to complete the task first. As the competition begins to heat up, a mysterious man named Tony (Heath Ledger) appears. Could Tony be the one man capable of helping Dr. Parnassus win the competition and save Valentina? While the sudden death of prominent Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus player Heath Ledger in January of 2008 left Gilliam and company scrambling to find a means of salvaging the film -- which was already well into principal photography at the time -- the cavalry soon arrived in the form of Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, who each serve as alternate-dimension versions of Tony when the character crosses through a paranormal mirror. I do not know much about this movie except for this was the movie that Heath Ledger was filming when he died. I know that Johnny Depp and other worked on this movie for free as all the proceeds of this movie will go to Ledger's daughter.

These are the new ones for my theatre. If anyone sees these movies please feel free to comment on what you thought about them. I am curious. If I hear more about each movie I will be sure to update this blog. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

New England & Tri-State Bucket List

Rob and I are probably moving out of the New England & Tri State area, I thought I would make a "Bucket List" for what I want to see and/or do before I leave this area. For my readers who also live in this area or have been to this area...if you think I am missing something please feel free to comment. I love reading suggestions!!

• Go to the Mayflower over in Plymouth, MA.
• See Plymouth Rock
  
• Visit Boston (what should I see when I am in Boston?)
• Watch a Red Sox game at Fenway Ballpark (not that I am a Red Sox fan, but I want to see Fenway with my own eyes in person.)
  
• Visit the Baseball Hall of Fame up in Cooperstown, NY
• Walk through Central Park (yes, I have been to the city several times, but never got the chance to walk through this famous park)
• Go to the top of the Empire State Building
• See a Broadway Musical
• Visit Trump Tower in Manhattan
• Drive to Woodstock, NY (only 1.5 hours from my house)
  
• Visit Orange County Choppers 
• Visit Salem, MA (My mother-in-law's family was involved with the Salem Witch Trials back in the day. The family owned the bar)
• Drive Mt. Washington
• Eat an ice cream at Serendipity 
• Walk on the Brooklyn Bridge 
• See a game in Citi Field (where the Met's play now)
• See a game in New Yankee Stadium (this is not too high on my list as tickets are still pretty expensive)
  
• See Cape Cod, MA
• Spend an afternoon in Mystic, CT (yes...this is where Mystic Pizza was filmed)

Now this is a pretty big list and Rob and I may not get to everything on this list. If we do not then we have a reason why to come back for a vacation.

Old Christmas

Today is considered Old Christmas. We all have heard the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" and tend to assume that it is for the days before Christmas. Well truth be told, this song is actually about the days after December 25th. If you were Amish, today would be the day that you would celebrate Christmas with small little handmade gifts and little candies. Most people do not know the meaning behind the song of 12 days of Christmas, and so I thought I would pass it along for you all to read. Yesterday would have been the twelfth day of Christmas as today is the beginning day of Epiphany. I found the meaning at this link.

"On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me....A Partridge in a Pear Tree
The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, whose birthday we celebrate on December 25, the first day of Christmas. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge that feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, recalling the expression of Christ's sadness over the fate of Jerusalem: "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered you under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but you would not have it so . . . ." (Luke 13:34)"

"On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Two Turtle Doves
The Old and New Testaments, which together bear witness to God's self-revelation in history and the creation of a people to tell the Story of God to the world."

"On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Three French Hens
The Three Theological Virtues:  1) Faith, 2) Hope, and 3) Love (1 Corinthians 13:13)"

"On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Four Calling Birds
The Four Gospels: 1) Matthew, 2) Mark, 3) Luke, and 4) John, which proclaim the Good News of God's reconciliation of the world to Himself in Jesus Christ."

 

"On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Five Gold Rings
The first Five Books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah or the Pentateuch:  1) Genesis, 2) Exodus, 3) Leviticus, 4) Numbers, and 5) Deuteronomy, which gives the history of humanity's sinful failure and God's response of grace in the creation of a people to be a light to the world."

"On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Six Geese A-laying
The six days of creation that confesses God as Creator and Sustainer of the world (Genesis 1)."

"On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Seven Swans A-swimming
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1) prophecy, 2) ministry, 3) teaching, 4) exhortation, 5) giving, 6) leading, and 7) compassion (Romans 12:6-8; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11)."

"On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Eight Maids A-milking
The eight Beatitudes: 1) Blessed are the poor in spirit, 2) those who mourn, 3) the meek, 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 5) the merciful, 6) the pure in heart, 7) the peacemakers, 8) those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. (Matthew 5:3-10)"

"On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Nine Ladies Dancing
The nine Fruit of the Holy Spirit: 1) love, 2) joy, 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness,
6) generosity, 7) faithfulness, 8) gentleness, and 9) self-control.  (Galatians 5:22)"

"On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Ten Lords A-leaping
The ten commandments: 1) You shall have no other gods before me; 2) Do not make an idol; 3) Do not take God's name in vain; 4) Remember the Sabbath Day; 5) Honor your father and mother; 6) Do not murder; 7) Do not commit adultery; 8) Do not steal; 9) Do not bear false witness; 10) Do not covet. (Exodus 20:1-17)" 

"On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Eleven Pipers Piping
The eleven Faithful Apostles: 1) Simon Peter, 2) Andrew, 3) James, 4) John, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew, 7) Matthew, 8) Thomas, 9) James bar Alphaeus, 10) Simon the Zealot, 11) Judas bar James.  (Luke 6:14-16).  The list does not include the twelfth disciple, Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus to the religious leaders and the Romans."

"On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Twelve Drummers Drumming
The twelve points of doctrine in the Apostles' Creed: 1) I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. 2) I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 3) He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. 4) He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell [the grave]. 5) On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. 6) He will come again to judge the living and the dead. 7) I believe in the Holy Spirit, 8) the holy catholic Church, 9) the communion of saints, 10) the forgiveness of sins, 11) the resurrection of the body, 12) and life everlasting."

So now you know the meaning behind this silly song that you have grown up listening to. I hope that next year when you hear this song you are able to remember the real meaning of this song. 

Happy Old Christmas my  friends! 

Classes up and running...

Today classes start back up today for me, where most college students still have another two to three weeks of vacation. I have a class this evening and then again on Thursday evening. Today I will be finishing up some reading that I have put off to the last minute in addition to a write up on the chapter that I have to read. Tomorrow and Wednesday I will start to study for my Psychology test. The test should be pretty easy as it is just on the 12 disorders that we have went over so far in class.

Tonight's class is my social work: human behavior class. Myself and the two other students in the class are working on a group project through out the class. The project is to raise a child (fictitiously of course) from conception to death over the entire class. Each student has three installments. This week I will be presenting on Infancy. The child we are raising is a Japanese female who was born just after the second world war. I pretty much explain to the class the stages of infancy while adding a story about Tobi and her parents and other family members. Part of the assignment is that the child we raise has to be from a different ethnic background from any of the group members. Hence the reason why we chose a Japanese ethnicity. The project is interesting as it forces the students to learn about another culture while learning the boring items of how a human behaves and develops.

Pancakes

I will have to say that I think that pancakes are probably the best type of breakfast item on any given day of the week. I am one who could eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch, or even dinner. Pancakes can be eaten any season of the year and you can add your favorite seasonal fruit for a different look and taste. Seen here in the picture was breakfast at a Bed & Breakfast up in Northern Vermont over Rob and my one year wedding anniversary in 2008. These pancakes were amazing!

This morning, Rob, my father-in-law, and I went out for breakfast. We went out to Chips Family Restaurant which is know for their amazing pancakes.  This place has close to 40 different flavors of pancakes ranging from your normal plain buttermilk pancakes to exotic flavors of Coconut Crunch pancakes that consist of chocolate chips, cocunuts, and almonds all mixed into the buttermilk pancake batter. Rob and I tend to eat at this place once every couple of months. There is normally a line on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but the food is worth the wait. The line moves pretty fast, too. My favorite are the Birthday Pancakes. It comes with sugar colored sprinkles inside the pancakes along with whipped creme and a cherry. I normally ask for no whipped creme and cherry though. Other flavors I have had are the chocolate chip pancakes, and today I tried the M&M pancakes. These are good...but I almost find that the chocolate is too much. Now those who know me, I can not get enough chocolate..but there is something where I can't have too much chocolate within my pancakes. Rob has had the German Apple Pancakes which consist of fresh sliced apples cooked inside five buttermilk pancakes, topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar and is served with a raspberry purée sauce. Yes....a diabetic shock waiting to happen!

I know that this is a place that Rob and I will miss when we move away from Connecticut this summer. If you are ever in the Orange, Connecticut area on vacation, Chips is definite stop for any person for a good meal!! You will not be sorry if you stop!

Tired...

I am so glad that I have the next two days off from work! I am so tired!! Work has been pretty busy the last couple of days even though we had snowfall the last couple days in the morning. I was in concessions today and I had a pretty good team with me. My backbar person was the BEST!!! she kept stuff going and it was awesome. Thanks Alyssa! :)

Monday classes start back up and so I will get back into the winter school routine. Monday I will have my Social work: Human Behavior class in the evening. I have just a little bit left to work on for my presentation and then I need to get my reading done in addition to a write up on what I got out of the chapter. Then my psych: learning disorders class is on Thursday evening. I have a test in that class. should be pretty easy as it is over just 12 disorders that we have covered since the first day. :)

Not much else going on. oh!! I was playing around with a new facebook application called Status Shuffle. I found the best saying that needs to be one's personal moto. It says, "Don't look back and ask why, look forward and ask, why not?!" Isn't that just awesome?? This is something that I need to remember for this year since there were be lots of changes for me this year again. :)

January theme for NaBloPoMo.com

I will do my best to complete at least one posting every day. Check back daily to see what I am doing. :)

First Post of 2010

Well since I am still up...I figure I would do my first posting before I go to bed. Happy 2010!! I thought I would look back on the past ten years of my life to see how far I have came.

• 2000 - I turned 20 and was still living with my parents in Oregon, which was not always a bad thing. I was working at Home Depot which still to date was one of the favorite companies I have ever worked for.  November, I got sick and found out that I am extremely allergic to Zithromax the wrong way.
  
• 2001 - Lots happened for me in 2001. I moved out of my parent's house with a co-worker who I didn't know very well in May. I met a guy who also ended up moving in as well. I turned 21 in June and ten days later one of my bestest friends got married. I also got engaged on that day. September 11th occurred and every American's life was changed forever. By October, my engagement was called off. It was a good thing in the end...even though I could not see that back then.
  
• 2002 - I moved back to my parent's house due to having roommates not helping me pay the rent. I quit my job at Home Depot, to hopefully move onto bigger and better things. I did a lot of dumb things this year. I guess I was trying to figure out who I was. My friend, Erika was married in May.
  
• 2003 - I became pregnant in May and started another journey down the road of Adoption. What an experience. This expereince brought my family together a little bit more as it was a family decision. Several friends got married this year including: Karyn, Angie, and Melissa.
  
• 2004 - Kaylee Rae was born on January 31st! I started down the road of being a birthmother. In Feb. I flew to Vegas for the first time to meet up with  my best friend, Christy. We spent a day and a half there before driving to her house in Flagstaff, AZ. In July, my sister and I moved into an apartment up in Milwaukie, Oregon. Boy, I miss that apartment. My sister got married and had planned a wedding in five short days. December, my new brother-in-law was deployed to Iraq.
  
• 2005 - In May, I started a position at Delta Fire, Inc. as the administrative assistant. Yet another great company to work for! I decided to sign up with Eharmony.com just to see if it worked. I had friends who had found people on the site and figured I would give it a try. In July, Rob and I were matched and went from stage 1 to stage 4 which is open communication on the site with in three days. July I moved from Milwaukie to Tigard due to my sister moving to Olympia. In August, Rob and I had our first face to face date. He flew up to meet me and that is when we both knew we were right for each other. September I flew down to Tucson to visit Rob and see where he lives. This is when we started flying about once a month to see each other over the wekends. September I went to my first Oregon Ducks game. I was hooked to being an Oregon Fan. :) November (Thanksgiving) I was given a Promise ring from Rob. 
• 2006 - I started to make my plans to move to Arizona. Such a scarey and exciting adventure. In May Rob flew up to Portland and proposed to me on the last day of work at Delta Fire (May 19th). Memorial Day weekend I packed up my stuff and moved down to Tucson, Arizona, with the help of my mom and dad. Wedding plans start in motion. Interesting to be planning a wedding long distantly since we had decided to get married in Portland. Erik and Ang were married in August.
  
• 2007 - April 19th Rob defended his dissertation and passed! May 12th, Rob graduates from the University of Arizona with a PhD in Management in Information Systems. May 19th, Rob and I are married in Lake Oswego, Oregon. We honeymooned in Ireland for a week, only to then spend almost a month in Ohio. June I turned 27 and was house hunting in New York and Connecticut. August 2007 I was an official owner of a house. Rob and I took a trip to Las Vegas so that he could present at a conference he had been invited to. October 8th, my nephew, Simon, was born! I rang in 2008 with my best friend Christy while visiting in Oregon.
  
• 2008 - I started my job at AMC Theatres in January. Febuary, Rob and I adopted Casey from New England Border Collie Rescue. In March, I started taking classes towards a social work degree at Iona College. October took Rob and I to San Diego for a conference that would turn into an annual conference. December I traveled to Germany to visit my sister and see the sites in Berlin, Munich, and Nuremburg.
  
• 2009 - I started a blog this year to help people see what I was doing and to read what I had on my mind. Sorry if most of my postings are boring. But, what a year this year was. Rob and I had many adventures. We went to China in late June, and earlier in June I spent a weekend in Oregon and also another weekend in Gatlinburg, TN for my 29th birthday. October, we spent a week in Houston, TX where Rob presented at the annual IIMA Conference. In early December, Rob found out that due to Budget Cuts he would have a teaching job until June 2010.

As you can see...I didn't do much early in the decade. I know all of the events define who I am and where I am today. So what is to come for this new year? Well there will be a lot of change. Rob and I will be moving to a new place. As of right now we have no idea where we will be. Hopefully it will be someplace warmer than Connecticut. We are still hoping to attend the annual conference IIMA conference as this year it is being held in Amsterdam. We will see what happens. All we can do for this year is pray and see where the good Lord sends us.