It's Been A While...

It has been awhile since I posted here last. I guess life has gotten busy and I just can't find the time to sit down and blog. These next two weeks will be probably two of the busier weeks for me, though. The Fall Trimester is coming to a close and so the paper deadlines are drawing near. I fortunately have only one paper due, but that is still alot when the paper is quite a bit of the grade in the class. The paper is for my Social Work: Processes I class and I had to choose a field of practice in which social workers work in. I chose adoption agencies only because that is my passion. The first part of the paper is to do a lit review on what is going on in the field of practice. For example: explaining what the field of practice is, which population is being served, what types of services are offered, what are the roles of the social worker in this field, and so on. The second part of the paper is to describe the interview that we had to do with someone who is in this field of practice that we chose. Since I am friends with my own adoption placement social worker, I emailed her to see if I could interview her. She aggreed and so I gleefully sent along my questions. Finally the paper asks what I have learned about this field and if my interests have increased for this field. All of this is due by the 12th of November. Alright...no big deal. I have been good and actually started the paper way before it is due. I am giving myself a personal deadline for the 7th of November only so that the paper can sit for a day or two and then be worked over again if needed. When one person writes a paper it is normally done linear. I on the other hand jump out of this norm and work on the segments that are the easiest first. With this being said, I have completed the introduction and the interview portion of the paper done. What I will struggle with is the list review only because it is hard for me to put the words down on paper. I find myself trying to answer the questions but sounding as if I am a freshman in HS, which is not what I need to do. So for awhile I may just get some words on the paper and see how it looks. I am sure this is what authors do when they write a book. I do know that my professor has said that the majority of the paper will probably focus on the interview, so that makes me feel a little bit better. I just need to do the hard stuff and try not to over think it.

Other than school...life seems to be going pretty well, I think. Rob and I went to Texas a couple weeks ago, so that he could attend a conference in Houston. The weekend before the conference, we drove over to San Antonio to visit my sister's family. My parents were visiting my sister as well. It was great to see everyone. While in San Antonio we visited the Alamo and also walked along the Riverwalk. While walking along the Riverwalk we found a really great little mexican food cafe. Rob and I were in heaven while the rest of my family thought it was ok, as they are not really into mexican food. Houston was hot and muggy...but that is normal for that area of Texas. On the last full day in Houston, we went out to Johnson Space Center (NASA) for a couple of hours. I found it interesting but yet I wished that there was more for civilians to see while at the center. :) That evening we went to Lakewood Christian Church which is where Joel Olsteen preaches. He was not there that night, but it was still cool to go to his church. How cool be able to spread the gospel to 66,000 people at one time under one roof. Well it is more than that due to the church services being podcasted, televised, and so forth...but you know what I mean. So overall it was a good trip.

This weekend, Rob and I are headed out to Ohio to spend it with my inlaws. We are going to celebrate Thanksgiving early due to my inlaws spending the winter months out in Arizona with my sister-in-law. I am jealous that they will be in warm weather while I will be burried in snow this winter, I am sure.

Well I should get back to writing that paper that I took a break from so that I could write this blog. :) 

Step Afrika!

Since I am down on campus all day on Tuesdays, I thought I would try and check out some of the performing arts that are being offered on campus from time to time. Tonight there was a performance called Step Afrika!

The group is the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Stepping is a form of percussive dance in which the participant's entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps. This performance that I saw was just incredible. I said over on my Facebook page that the group draws your attention from the moment they step out on stage until the leave wanting you to have them come back out and step for another hour. I was just amazed in how this all looked on stage together. Some of you may say, "why would you want to go to something like that?" My response to you is, "why not?!" I am sure some would be bored...but for those like myself who embrace the art in dancing (probably because I can't dance to save my life) just were in awe.

As a social work student, my professors here at Iona challenge us students to get outside of the box and learn about other cultures. As I watched this performance tonight, I asked myself..."How can this relate to my Social Work learning?" I would respond with that I am learning another culture's type of dance. By learning another culture's dance I can help clients by getting themselves involved with something like stepping to branch out and put negative emotions into something positive. Now I don't know if that would be the correct answer but I personally need to embrace what is different and enjoy it. 

October = Pumpkins and Fall!

 
October already? Really? As I am excited for it to be October I am sad as well, because of how fast this past year has gone. I do like this time of year though. I never thought that I would like Fall, but with living up in the New England area, I find myself anticipating the changing of the leaves on the trees. Growing up in Oregon I saw trees change colors, but I never saw full mountain sides in full firey reds, yellows, and oranges. My house has been in full fall decor for the past several weeks, and I know soon Rob and I will be packing up the fall items and putting up the three christmas trees and all of the winter decorations through out the house.

The weather is getting much cooler outside. I am having to pull out my long sleeved shirts and sweaters to wear. I wish that I worked at a job where I could wear my sweaters and cute long sleeved shirts. I know that though in just a few years, I will have that luxury. So for now, I wear my cute stuff on the days that I am at school for the day or on my days off from work when I am out and about. :)

So what brings to the month of October? Rob and I are headed to Texas next weekend! I am very excited about this. We leave next Friday and then will return the following Thursday. Rob has a conference in Houston and so we are headed down a couple days earlier to spend the weekend with my sister's family and my parents. I am excited to see all of them. It will be my first time to San Antonio and also Houston. As part of the conference during the week, we will be going to Johnson Space Center. I think that will be very cool to visit.

Not much else going on. School is going well. I have about a month left for my Social Work class. Hard to believe that I am almost done with one of the classes this term. This week we were assigned to our "Triad" groups in class. In these "Triad" groups we are learning how to be the social worker and learn different aspects of an interview process and helping process with a client. This week we learned the "Open Ended Questions" method. To begin though each person in the group had to think of a current problem that they feel comfortable sharing about with their group to help their "social worker" help the "client". Each time we are the "client" in the scenario each week, we will use this problem as our base. Since there are 13 students in my class there is an extra person for one of the "triad" groups. This extra person is part of my group but will act as the floater for a group if they are missing one of their "triad" members that week. This is all going to be very interesting. I am happy for who is in my "triad" group and I do not have to worry about having that rude girl who cut me off couple weeks ago be in my group. yay! Sociology is going well, despite my professor being ill the past couple of class meetings. We are behind on the class work, but he is still expecting us to be caught up in the readings or ahead, so when the time comes to talk about the readings all students have it completed. Our first paper was due on Thursday. Just moments before my class started I over heard my professor talking to a student from the previous class about the paper that was currently due. By listening to what was suppose to be in the paper by my professor, I realized that I forgot to put the last required part in the paper!! The last part was my own opinion about the article which we had to write on! I feel like a complete idiot!! You know how you keep reading something that you have written and in your head you say, "Something is missing. I don't know what it is...but there is something missing!" Well I did that all weekend and kept drawing a blank. Well the blank wall completely filled my head. Grumble!!! So here I turned in a paper that is only 2/3rds done. I hope that I can manage a decent grade as the papers are weighted pretty good. I just was so embarrassed. I didn't say anything to my professor as he was being bogged down by other student's excuses of why their paper was not being turned in. So it is now just a wait and see. I still feel dumb and I am sure I will feel dumb until my next paper is due. I know for sure the next paper will have the opinion included!!

That is all I have for now. Until next time...

Is it that hard?

One part to my social work class is on an online database called Blackboard. For those of you who do not know what Blackboard is, it is simply an online classroom forum. Once a week I have to post my answers to a question that is provided by my professor. Then once a week I must respond to three other student's postings. From now on, I almost hope that no one responds to my own postings. There is no word limit or minimum for the responses. I find myself annoyed reading my fellow classmates responses to my postings or to someone's posting. I find myself reading responses like, "I really like your post because you used the word care. As social workers we must care for our client's problems." I know it is only one part of the class, but come on!! I had a discussion on Facebook with some friends about this and one of my friends who uses Blackboard for her seventh & eighth graders admitted that her students have more fulfilling responses to another student's posting. I just feel as if I am back in grade school when reading the replies to the posts.

This past Thursday for class, I had to sit through a Library Orientation. I think that I would have rathered plucked my eye-lashes out than sit through this, as I already know how search in a library database to find books or journal articles. I did learn though in the orientation where else I could look for journal articles on the databases. There were a few databases that I had never thought about using. So that was useful to use. After the librarian finished talking she went around the room to see if students needed help. A girl sitting behind me was completely clueless, as if it was her first time using the databases. I do not think I could ever go into IT and actually have to help people like the girl who sat behind me. I would probably find myself slamming my head against the wall as I was telling someone how to do something.

I did learn that it is highly recommended for Social Work students to gain membership with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and that students get a discounted price for the membership. I talked to Rob about on the way home from school Thursday evening, and he said, "Do it! Sign up..this will give you an advantage when you are looking for a job!" He also encouraged me to go to any of the NASW conferences to help myself network with other people who may be hiring with in the next couple of years. So I think that I will go ahead and sign up. He said that when he was a PhD student he had signed up with a couple different organizations as the membership dues were so cheap for students. I doubt any of my other classmates will sign up, but why not get involved and do some networking and some help while I am still learning about the whole field of Social Work.

School - 1 week down...how many weeks until December?

Week one of classes did not kill me, but I know if I get behind on ANY of my readings for my two classes, I will be dead before the end of the term.

Sociology is going to be very interesting to me. I guess I am one who likes to learn about other human groups. :) It is an introductory class, and so I will just get a basic overview of what Sociology is. This class requires three books, which are all read through out the term. I will have two papers, a midterm, and a final for this class. My first paper is due towards the end of September. I have the choose one article from the assigned book to write about. I will use the article to analyze the topic along with using another required textbook. I think I will write about the Amish and how they fit in today's society. I find the Amish culture very interesting. Most of you probably do not know this, but I actually have Amish heritage from Holmes County, Ohio. Scary thing is, that is where Rob grew up. So wierd, I know. The second paper will be similar to the first but I will be told to use a different assigned book.

Social Work is going to be a very time consuming class. There are two books required along with a CD-Rom and PDF files from the Blackboard school site. For those of you who don't know what Blackboard is...it is an online Forum based teaching tool that alot of Colleges and Universities use to bring in an Hybrid part of the class. My professor is having the students read a chapter in one desired book or pdf file, then the students will discuss it on blackboard each week. We then have to respond to two or three of our classmates postings. Along with all of this there are 4 quizzes, 1 large term paper, and then a Report Analasis fromk our practice in class group work. Each week we will break off into an assigned group of three and work on a certain emotion. One person will be the client, the other will be the social worker, and the third person is the observer who will give pointers for the social worker on what needs to be said or not said. This class teaches us the first basic model in working with clients in a social worker setting. The term paper for this class will be on a social work profession of our choice. I think that I will choose the social worker position in an Adoption Agency. I am hoping that my professor gives more detail soon on what she wants in this term paper. I have heard horror stories about this class from my social work classmates who are now seniors. I miss having those classmates in class with me, this year!!

So that is it for the first week of class. :)

Summer coming to an end

Well, tomorrow marks the end of summer for me. School starts back up, which I am happy for. I am ready for a regular schedule again. I do know that once I am back into the swing of things, I will be looking forward to another break. Never fails! Fall term brings me Sociology and Processes I Class which is one of my Social Work core classes.

Remember the first day of class and your teacher asked, "What did you do over the summer?" I was thinking about that today. "What did I do this summer?" I would be the kid this year who would stand up and say, "In the month of June I spent a long weekend in Oregon visiting family and friends, along with celebrating my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. The following weekend in June I spent a quick weekend in Eastern Tennessee for my 29th birthday, and then two weeks later I spent 8 days in China." Hard to believe that I did all of that in just one month!! What an adventure, for sure.

July brought us new windows and door for our house, along with my sister-in-law visiting from Tucson, AZ. While she was here, I met her down in New York City for her first two days and showed her around the city. I helped her ride the train back up to our house.

Just a week ago, Rob's parents were up here for a week. It was nice to see them, but I was glad when I was able to have my house back to myself.

We celebrated Rob's 35th birthday last week, by spending the day up at Yankee Candle Village up in South Deerfield, MA. This is where Yankee Candle all started. Rob and I have a hard time getting out of there under $100. It is just to easy to get caught up into the "Oohh...I like that scent!"

Rob and I saw many movies over the summer, as well. I think Rob saw more than me, only because there were days that he came up to the movie theater on the days that I working to sit and see movies. One of the best summer movies this year has to be "The Hangover". I think that I could watch that movie over and over and not be sick of it. The movie just makes you laugh and laugh.

I am curious to see what the rest of the year has to bring Rob and I. Before I know it, I will be working on Christmas Cards and trying to get them out the day after Thanksgiving.

I hope you all had a great summer, as well!!

Home Alone

Rob has been left for Ohio last Friday to get some cleaning done at his parent's attic. This was the first time I would be at this house alone for a long period of time. I was a bit nervous at first only because our house is a large house for one person to be alone in. I get the creeps pretty easily...and so trying to sleep alone with just two dogs who expect me to protect them is not comforting. haha. gotta love dogs!!

Anyways...I have found that I have needed these days alone. It has been a nice break. I had to work Friday and Saturday evenings, but then I have had Sunday through today off. I have been lazy and have not done much. Sunday consisted of sleeping late (yes too late to go to church), calling my mom and a few other people on the phone, watching the movie 27 Dresses, having a friend stop by for an hour or so, then deciding on what to watch. I opted to find shows or movies that Rob absolutely hates watching, so that I could get those fixes before he came back. I was not really in the mood for another movie...but could not find anything on the television. I had picked up last summer at a yard sale the first two seasons of WILL & GRACE. I have not been able to watch it, because Rob can not stand the show...and I don't like watching stuff when he sits and ridicules everything about what I am watching. I must say that I had forgotten how funny this television series was. I sat and giggled through each 27 minute episode. Before I knew it, I was placing the 4th and final dvd of season 1 into my dvd player. I didn't mind though because it was better than watching real tv.

Yesterday I finished Season 1 and started with the 2nd season. Let me just say that I am 3 hours away from finishing the second season. I am hoping to have it watched before Rob gets home. haha. I am just sucked in. I have to remember how the second season ends. I remember watching the shows when they first premiered...but didn't watch the show all of the time due to another show conflict or something else. Some of the episodes are brand new to me. What I love about the show is that it is just so down to earth.

I recieved some emails last night from NaeDean (Kaylee's adoptive mom). One email was an update on how their summer has been. They tend to camp quite a bit and stay busy, which I love about them. She said that Kaylee did a week of Vacation Bible School at their church and is going to be starting swimming lessons here shortly. Then in September she will start playing Soccer. I will have a little soccer girl. Love it!!! I had sent her a box last week full of items that I have picked up through out my summer travels to Tennessee and China. Kaylee loved everything that I had sent. The other two emails that I got last night were pictures of Kaylee. I was so excited!! It was just something that I needed. She is getting so big and her hair is super cute!! She and I have about the same haircut. I love it.

As much as I have loved having my time alone, I am looking forward to Rob coming back home. It is quiet in the house (which I love), but yet I need some noise or someone to physically talk to. I have the dogs, but one can only talk to a dog for so long before going crazy.

Signing out for now...sorry if this was random and all over the place. It is just how my mind is working right now.