Another random update...

So I don't feel like I have a whole lot to write about right now, but I always enjoy reading the other TwentySomething's updates even when they don't have a specific event or topic they are writing about...so I hope you enjoy reading mine too.

First of all, I've started two new books. I bought The Happiness Project (by Gretchen Rubin) and Hearing From God Each Morning (by Joyce Meyer) last week at a thrift shop.

I wasn't exactly looking for these books in particular but I stumbled across them and decided to buy them because I've been wanting to get in the swing of reading something again because I've been missing it. I hope to keep you all posted on how I like these books. I have been trying to read the devotional every morning before I get out of bed which is a way to make sure I remember to read it and it seems like a good time to think about what I've read: when the day is new and untouched. It is still difficult though because I have to really focus on what I'm reading when I wake up early (on substitute teaching days). I really like how Meyer's formats each day's reading and gives you something to think about throughout the day at the end of the daily devotional.
I haven't read much of The Happiness Project yet, but I've really enjoyed what I read so far. It's written in a way that is easy to read and applicable to one's own life.

I'm not sure how well you'll be able to read the page with writing on it, but I hope you can. I really enjoyed this page. It was a list of her "Secrets of Adulthood". A few on the list of things she has learned as an adult are, "'Do good, feel good', 'Bring a sweater', 'You don't have to be good at everything', and 'By doing a little each day, you can get a lot accomplished', among others. I like how I can relate to the author and practical she seems to be. I hope it continues to be as good as the first 20 pages have been. 

On another note, as Miss Ellaneous mentioned in the previous post, it was so much fun to visit and catch up with our fellow TwentySomethings last weekend. I have a few photos from Friday and Saturday that you all may enjoy seeing. I really hope we can all get together again soon!! Granny Eyre was a fun hostess and her Unbirthday Party was very cute.

Granny Eyre wearing the beginning of my folded paper
container (made from re-purposed dictionary paper)

Our delicious Saturday morning breakfast

The spread: farm fresh scrambled eggs with cheese,
pancakes with strawberries & syrup, OJ & coffee

Birthday Girl: Miss Ellaneous

It feels sorta short to sign off already, but that's all I can think of to share with you. Hopefully something exciting will happen soon and I can write about it! 

The Farmer's Daughter 

Snow, continued

Here are a few pictures from last week:

Callie enjoying the snow. 

My driveway the morning after the big snow. 

I spent a few hours out here shoveling away last week. I got the majority of the driveway cleared. I wish I would have taken an after photo so you could see all my hard work!

Also during the week, I started making a t-shirt quilt and did some reading. I will share pictures of my quilt after I actually start piecing it together, since it's just a bunch of squares right now. I spent a couple nights at my sister's house and did some shoveling in her driveway as well. I feel like I did other stuff too, but I really can't remember what it was at this point.

 I enjoyed the snow at first, but now I am starting to wonder if it will ever go away. At least now the roads are mostly cleared and school is back in session. I've found that it has been difficult for me to get back into a normal routine after doing what I wanted when I wanted and being lazy for a week.

Granny Eyre had a small get together on Friday night for all of us. All of the TwentySomethings were there, so I don't really feel the need to elaborate much on what we did. However, I will say that I enjoyed myself very much and was happy to get to spend time with my closest friends again. It has become more difficult to see one another since we aren't all in the same place anymore, but I feel lucky to have friends who make a huge effort to maintain friendships and stay close...if not in distance, then in our hearts. I love receiving letters from you guys in the mail and even something as simple as a Snapchat can make my day better. It's really the little things in life that matter the most!

As most of you know, Sunday was my birthday. It started out with my dad making breakfast for us. The Farmer's Daughter had spent the night with me. It has been awhile since I had a friend over to the house, so I was excited to have her company. Later in the day, I went to my sister's house for some birthday cake. We made a spontaneous decision to go out to dinner and a movie. My sister and her friend had been wanting to see 50 Shades of Grey, and I wanted to go to Applebees so that's what we did. I enjoyed my meal, and the movie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't really know what to expect since I hadn't read the books. My sister and her friend loved the movie and said that they would buy it on DVD when it comes out and that they couldn't wait to see the others. However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to my friends. It's all a matter of opinion I guess.

Last night we were having trouble trying to decide what to make for supper, so I suggested breakfast foods. My mom had given me a cow-shaped skillet and some pancake mix for Christmas and I had yet to use it. I think they turned out pretty cute, but I will admit that it was difficult flipping the pancakes. My mom suggested that I flip them into another skillet to brown the other side, and so I had an assembly line of pancakes! haha!

In other news, I had a phone interview yesterday for a job that I recently applied for. I think that it went well, but won't know until next week if I will be called in for an in-person interview. I will keep you updated on that as I find out more information, and am excited at the possibility of getting a job that uses my degree.

I apologize for being so random in my post, but I've never been the best with transitions. You all should know to expect that from me by now! Haha

Take Care, 

Miss Ellaneous

Cabin Fever

This post was actually written last Thursday....I was going to post it but I wanted to put the pictures in it and my internet was not behaving. So...you'll have to bear with me so I don't have to go back through this and fix all the tenses and such:

I don't know about you all, but I have cabin fever! I have been in or less than a mile away from my house (as in taking a walk) since Sunday early afternoon when I got back from church. I've taken a walk or gone outside to see the snow almost every day. But today I just stayed inside because it's been about 1 degree or cooler all day. I didn't feel like getting layered up and going out even though it might not have been as bad as I thought it might be. Even though I'm tired of being inside, I've been trying to get somewhat crafty for the last couple of days. Last night I made some rosettes out of an old wool coat that my mother had been using for fabric scraps. I'd never made these rosettes before but I was pleased with how they turned out. I've made one completed necklace and the rosettes for a second necklace (but it isn't attached to a chain or ribbon yet to make it a necklace). There is a really good tutorial on how to make the rosettes and necklace, here. Like I said, I used fabric from a wool coat on the first set of rosettes and I actually used felt for the second set. I think they both turned out nicely.

The red one is felt, the brown is the wool

Today my craft was to decorate a platter. I purchased some oil-based Sharpie paint pens a month or two ago online to start decorating my own mugs with. I decorated two mugs when I first got the pens in the mail but I hadn't set the paint yet (by baking them). This afternoon I started working on the platter and the items are presently still in the oven (they're cooling now from being baked). I stole the idea from someone on Pinterest. I bought a package of colorful (red, black, yellow, blue) fine-point paint pens on eBay and some medium point metallic colored pens from Walmart (here is a link to a large package of some that Walmart sells to show you exactly what I used). A friend gave me the platter. Here are some pictures of the stages of my work. In case you are interested, after using the markers, you let your design dry for at least an hour. Then you preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and bake your item(s) for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, you turn the oven off and let the items cool completely before taking them out. I have used regular Sharpies to draw on ceramic items before and bake them, but some of the colors fade and the design will still wash off after being baked..which is why I looked into the oil-based Sharpies which are made to last on glass and other surfaces. I'm crossing my fingers the designs do last with these paint pens. If you'd like to see where I got my idea for the design, go here to see hers.

1. I cut out letters from a sheet of "Print & Stick" project paper

2. I stuck them on the platter and make Sharpie dots all over it.
(This took much longer than expected).
3. I let it dry, peeled the stickers off and baked it. I couldn't get the final picture on here though

Snow Days are so good for crafting! 
The Farmer's Daughter

Becoming Beautiful

Perfection is a standard

Easily broken.

Like a foot of snow on a cold winter morning

Unbroken and untrodden-

It must be broken to go anywhere.

Little dolls lined up on the mantle

Untouchable and unflawed-

Also unable to go anywhere.

My face and hair after hours in the bathroom

Poised and perfect-

Yet unable to go anywhere.

Once it all meets the world

Full of pain and heartache and chaos

The perfection fades, replaced by

Pathways and smudges and smile lines.

Becoming trodden and moveable and real.

Becoming Beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5KFFpKj7Dg&feature=youtu.be

19 February 2014

I wrote this as I looked out the window at the foot of snow covering my yard. There were some places completely untouched but the places that offered me a hope of escaping this house where the cleared and touched places. Often I spend too long trying to make myself beautiful and then I realize that I admire the girls who are so full of joy with their hair flying everywhere and no make-up. Beauty is not always perfect.

Snow Cream and other fun things

It is Wednesday. I didn't have class today for the third day in a row, which has been surprisingly not cool. I miss class and work and people and sunshine. The first snow day of my college career I was feeling a bit more optimistic about the whole not having class and work thing but now it's just getting old. I have had ample amounts of time to study though which has proven to be a good thing. Hopefully my exam score will further prove that. I made snow cream for the first time ever on Monday night it was yummy! I put chocolate milk powder in it and it was like eating a chocolate frosty from Wendy's. You all should try it sometime. Monday's adventures were hard because of all the snow and it just kept coming down. But yesterday was better. The snow was pact down really well and nice and slick so sledding was super awesome. Mr. President had sleds lying on his back patio that were free to use for students as long as we returned them back. It was very thoughtful of him. Something I have yet to do in this snow is build a snow man. Maybe tomorrow morning that can be a goal. And clean my room. Not having a roommate has not been good for my cleaning habits. In other news the CDL opened back up today. It was good to see my little friends even though most of them were home with their parents steal do to this weather. I shoveled snow with a child size shovel and a small broom today while at work. The broom seemed to do a lot better than the shovel. So now for some pictures of the great outdoors of Berea College.

Bummer

Only my aching muscles and the tractor's less full gas tank are to show for the hard work yesterday.

A reminder of what it looked like yesterday...

Snow Days

I wasn't sure what to say when The Farmer's Daughter suggested we make Snow Day posts. My snow days have been pretty lazy. I had already done all of my prep work for both of my jobs this coming week, and I don't have papers to grade. When the snow really started to fall, I was a bit upset because that meant I wouldn't get to use my lesson plans that I spent several hours putting together. And they were good this week. So when The Farmer's Daughter made the suggestion, I was not planning on following through because I didn't want to admit my laziness and I was bitter over the large amount of snow that caused school to be cancelled so many days.

Today though things are looking up. I still am here at the house and there's still a foot of snow covering the yard, but things are looking up. I could leave now if I wanted to do so. This morning I decided I was going to try to clear my driveway even if it took me all day...and it would have, especially once I discovered that there was no shovel to be found. Turns out, it's locked in the garage, which since I'm housesitting I have no access to. I spent about an hour with a broom and bucket clearing the short walk from the house to my car and the six inches right around my car.

Then a miracle happened. A neighbor came trudging across the yard and flagged down another neighbor with a tractor. As I type this, the tractor is clearing me a path out of the yard. I was envious of another neighbor who had someone on a tractor clearing his driveway while I was using a bucket and a broom, but now I'm a bit shameful of that envy. God provided me a tractor. I just had to do a bit of work myself.

You know, I think a lot of things in life are that way. Our selfish nature is to assume that things should be just given to us. I don't think that's how God always works though. Yes, some things, such as grace, are given to us freely even though we don't deserve it, but sometimes God wants us to get a bit dirty and sore first. That's what happened today. God wanted me to get out there and do some work myself before he sent along a tractor. The hard work made me even more thankful for the tractor, because my broom and bucket would have taken me a long, long time to clear that entire driveway.

This was taken sometime in the midst of the snow falling on Monday.

This was the last measurement I took. I'd say we got about a foot out here.

My efforts to clear a path with a broom and a bucket.

After the tractor made a couple of sweeps across the yard.

Hey Farmer's Daughter, I just saw my own sort of tractor pull! A tractor pulling snow!

Snow Day...and other news!

Today has been a long day. I have been somewhat productive..but it's been unusual because of all the snow and my mother has been in the house too because of course, she was off school. As I was thinking of making some coffee this morning shortly after getting up, I was also considering making some scones. I really enjoy scones and I think they're especially good with coffee. I have some raspberries I froze a couple months ago and I was thinking of making some more raspberry scones. I found a new recipe from Martha Stewart (the original Martha, not to be confused with our very own Martha S. on the blog) that looked pretty tasty so I decided to try it. I think they turned out nicely, but I don't know that I would use the exact same recipe again. The only reason I say that is that the raspberries were supposed to be kneaded into the dough, I think I would have preferred to mix them in or fold them in because by kneading them in, I had a couple of the scones with layers of berry on the bottom. The individual scones didn't want to stick together as well this way and didn't bake as nicely. I didn't actually end up eating any of them for breakfast because by the time they got out of the oven I was done with breakfast! But they'll be there for tomorrow...and hopefully the next day. Yum, scones!

Before they went onto the oven..I made them rectangular instead of triangular

I also tried to take a walk today...Ever since I can remember, I don't have any recollection of the snow being so high that I couldn't take a walk. Today I went outside with plenty of layers on and I wore my rain-boots since the snow was so high. I have snow boots which are more insulted but I thought the snow too deep for my shorter insulated boots (as opposed to my tall, cold rain-boots). Although I didn't get any snow inside my boots with the rain-boots, the rubber easily transferred all the cold from the snow onto my legs and feet. Nova also tried to come out in the snow and of course, she couldn't walk very easily. From her vantage point it was probably like trying to walk straight through the side of a mountain with every step she took. Unfortunately my walk was very short. I was also hoping to get the toboggan out and sled down the hill a few times, but I was discouraged with how deep the snow was and went back inside. I needed some friendly encouragement and camaraderie to get me going...but since I was by myself I couldn't seem to encourage myself enough. Since the temperatures aren't supposed to get any warmer, I should have another chance to go sledding tomorrow or even the next day. I'm planning on it!

Like Martha S., I also worked on catching up on some homework today. I finished some math home work that needed to be done and I have also been working on editing more of the wedding photos for the Ramsay's. Perhaps I can motivate myself to study a bit on my time off tomorrow. I'm not sure about you all...but my school has been called off for tomorrow too! It's a good thing...because I wouldn't be able to make it out if they did have class. I've heard prediction that the public K-12 schools in the area may be closed all week. Of course that means no work for me either...but we shall see what happens, they may go back Thursday or Friday.

In other news:

• I attended my first tractor/truck pull on Saturday. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. Even though they tried to control it, there were alot of fumes in that building. It was also REALLY loud. The beau and I wore earplugs the whole time. It was quite an experience. I think I would prefer to watch my next tractor/truck pull outside! We also went to the National Farm Machinery Show to look around, before the pull.  
  
• The weekend before last I tried The B.O.M.B. at Sonny's barbecue. I read an article on Facebook that Miss Ellaneous' sister had shared about a man from Richmond creating a sandwich for the Annual Pitmaster Showdown. The sandwich has a patty of macaroni & cheese, brisket, onion straws and sweet barbecue sauce, all on a bun. It was an unusual sandwich, but it was very tasty!  



You can't see it very well here, but this is the only photo I took

• I'm sorta getting the hang of the whole substitute teaching routine. I've now substituted for two kindergarten classrooms (once as the regular classroom teacher and once as the teacher's aid), one middle school special education teacher and one elementary school special education teacher. Each day presents new challenges, but I haven't been too overwhelmed with any of the classrooms yet. 
• It's Girl Scout cookie season!!

I know these as Samoas...they're my favorite!  

Adios for now!
The Farmer's Daughter

Snow angel?

Hey y'all! Since The Farmer's Daughter prompted us to make a post on our snow day, I thought I would write something right quick. Even on this snow day, I've been trying to keep myself busy catching up on school work. Neuroanatomy and kinesiology are wearing me out this semester. It's soo much material. My brain hurts every time I leave class. I believe a snow angel was sent to relieve me and all the other MSOT students of our anxiety over the exam. It's a nice thought anyway.

Anywho... all I've really done lately is go to school and go to work. This past Friday, Lucas and I went to Lexington and got a Costco membership which was very exciting. After doing a lot of research, I figured it would be a good fit for us. We use the same staples over and over again. By buying them in bulk, we won't have to be at the store as often (hopefully!) and we'll be getting a better price too. It's a plus that they carry lots of USDA organic items.

Besides studying today, I went outside for maybe fifteen minutes--long enough to look around and get some snow for snow cream--and have watched two episodes of Criminal Minds. Honestly, I'll be happy when we get all the way through the episodes because I've spent a lot of time watching them over the past two months and I don't like that. The episodes draw me in and I can't help myself.

The only other exciting thing I know to tell is that the hubs and I are probably going to Washington D.C. over spring break. They're having an Android gathering there on April 4th that Lucas had planned to attend and when we realized my spring break matched up, we decided to make a small trip of it. He's never been to D.C. so I plan to show him the ropes! Do y'all have any spring break plans?

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday,

It's the Small Things

So Granny Eyre informed me that is my turn to make a blog post, who'd a thunk it. Anyways my life has been a bit busy with classes, work, and church these past few weeks. I took the GRE (secretly known as the Grueling Rhino's Examination). It was interesting exam which I am not allowed to disclose much information about so I will try my best not to go into too great of detail about that part of my day. Which incase you were wondering I have had a fabulous weekend. It started around 5 oclock when all the children went home early for various reasons so I was able to shut down the classroom and leave early. Then meet up at church to eat a home cooked meal of lasagna and spaghetti, with a bit of salad and bread to go along with it. It was very scrumptious! The plan was to watch God's Not Dead, which after the third viewing can still say this is an excellent movie that I would recommend any one to watch. It was about 930 when the movie was finished but the night was still young. A group of us from my sunday school class where still awake and up for anything so of course we had to play Apples to Apples. I get too competitive with this game but I still enjoy it even if I only received one green apple card :(. I wake up Saturday morning ready to conquer this monstrous exam that will decidedly determine my future education plans eek. Granny Eyre spent the night because it was late and on her way to leave she handed me my own personal GRE ready bag filled with chocolate, mints, and Bubbles! I must say for those of you who do not know, I seriously hate taking exams of any sorts. It is not the content questions that bother me just the sheer amount of time it takes. I cannot sit still for long amounts of time like that so I tend to just rush through exams. Probably not the best practices to use. It did not help that I am a bit sick and runny noses are not conducive to taking exams either. In happier news my little friends at work have been super wonderful, exciting, and adventurous lately. We play lots of games and sing songs. I am going to teach you all some of these songs the next time we are all together especially the Farmers Daughter because I think she could use them in her classroom as well. Sometimes I get stuck on songs and just listen to them on repeat all day long. Right now that song is Jesus, Only Jesus- by Philips, Craig, and Dean. It is very good song that paints a picture of what it is like to know/have Jesus with you. As I mentioned in a really long ago post, if you have any songs that you like you should share with me because I love music! Another wonderful thing that has happened is someone in my dorm did my house duty for me this week :) I am not sure who or why but someone cleaned for me and it is very much appreciated because it gives me time to breathe. That is it for now. Peace to you all!

100th Day of School

Yesterday was the 100th day of school! And it was also my first day working as a substitute teacher. It was exciting, nerve-racking, scary, intimidating and rewarding. To give some background about my first day, I was a substitute for a "traveling" special education teacher. I wasn't too nervous about accepting this job because I have some knowledge of special education through my mother (and some limited knowledge through my background as a psychology major). I also really liked the idea of substituting for a special education teacher because she only works with a couple of students at a time. Her schedule took me to two elementary schools and an hour at the middle school. I worked with 1st graders through 6th graders. It was a busy first day.

I like lists, so here is a list of some of the things I've learned about my first day:

1. Second graders are ADORABLE dressed up as 100 year old people. Kids are adorable anyway, but add some suspenders, curlers in their hair or a little cane and they are 10 times cuter. I feel like Captain Something Fun when I say this, but I really wish I could have taken a picture of them and shared it with you all.

2. It is difficult stepping in for another teacher (especially when you have no teaching experience...and you don't know the layout of the buildings). Some people are very understanding about this and others aren't. First of all, the school buildings I went into, I had no knowledge of their layout which made it difficult to find my way. Luckily, many of the staff were very nice in directing me, but some of those buildings really felt like mazes. They were difficult to navigate. In the middle school, I went out a different door than I went in and had to walk around the building to my car. I am grateful to the people who were friendly, helpful and understanding when I was unsure about what I was doing, both with directions and with the children.

3. Communication is very difficult when a child has poor speaking skills or an inability to speak at all. I became very aware of the importance of speech yesterday. I worked with two kids who were unable to speak except with a computer (or iPad) and two who had limited speech perception as well as speaking skills. Wow. One of the students could communicate "yes" or "no" with her eyes by looking up or down, and with the computer (she had very little use of her arms/hands), she would make eye contact with the screen, and make selections for various words corresponding to what she was thinking. The problem is, the computer she was using to communicate had a limited vocabulary. So she could only say a limited amount of common words. I felt sympathy for her and her situation. Can you imagine not being about to always communicate exactly what you were thinking by using spoken languge or sign language?

4. Parents send junk food for their children to snack on. I can't say this really surprised me that much, but it was crazy to witness. I was in a regular classroom in the morning with two of the students who needed extra help and when it was snack time, I was horrified at what most of the children pulled out of their bags. Doritos, candy, cookies,...I don't think I saw one piece of fruit. I didn't examine the food on everyone's desk at snack-time, but most of what I could see was terrible food for a child's snack. I counted one child with 5 or 6 regular size cookies in a bag. I thought..wow, if I sent my child with cookies to school, it would be one cookie, not six. Not that I don't ever eat these junk foods..I like them too. But that kind of food isn't appropriate for daily snack time! Thinking back to my childhood, my mother would have never sent me to school with a bag of chips or a bag of candy for a snack. Not that we never got candy or chips, but it was all in moderation. And I just don't think daily snack time should consist of these foods. I was reminded of some of the work Save the Children does in the schools in certain parts of the United States, educating children and parents about healthy eating habits and healthy lifestyles. If only they could educate parents, children and teachers everywhere!

5. It was really weird to go my Miss Lutz. It made me feel old.

6. This is going to be a difficult job, but I also think it will be rewarding and it will give me many days of real-life experience with children which will hopefully prepare me for my future work. I'm nervous about what my future days as a substitute will hold, but I'm excited that I am stepping out into the unknown and learning countless new things.

That's all for now folks, hopefully I'll have more stories of my journey to tell you about soon. Tomorrow I am going to work as a teacher's aid in a classroom at the Early Childhood Center. I'm excited about working with even younger munchkins!

The Farmer's Daughter

A few thoughts on gas.

No. This post will not be about flatulence. You're as bad as my kids at school

Yesterday when I arrived in Berea, gas was $1.81.
Yesterday when I left Berea, gas was $2.29 at the same station.
That's almost a 50 cent jump.
What in the world is going on here?

A couple of weeks ago, I was buying gas in Richmond because it was 20 cents cheaper there.
Last week I was buying gas in Berea because it was 20 cents cheaper there.
Why is there a 20 cent difference among similar gas stations 20 miles apart? Why can't I rely on one town to be cheaper?
That's too many twenties for this twenty-something.

While finding magazines for a project at school, I came across a TIME magazine from 2 February 2015 that had an article entitled "The Cost of Cheap Gas". The author cites four causes for cheap oil, and thus cheap gas:

1. Domestic production surges due to fracking.
2. OPEC, the Saudi-dominated cartel that adjusts oils supplies, has not limited production despite price changes.
3. Less oil is consumed in the United States.
4. Americans are driving less and cars are getting better gas mileage.

Apparently it's a win-win for citizens and the economy. For houses that heat with oil/gas, as much as $767 could be saved this winter. That money can then be put toward a new car, appliance, clothes, dinners out, or any number of things which will in turn help the economy. They predict that lower oil prices could push the US GDP up a half-point.

The lower prices could create other budgeting problems for oil-producing countries and countries that rely on more expensive oil. There's also the fact that fracking in the United States is contributing to that, which could harm the environment. There's also job loss in Texas due to unprofitable oil-containing land-buying.

There are definitely pros and cons to these lower gas prices, but I like when the prices are low. What I don't understand is why the prices are jumping up and down so quickly. Could someone please explain that to me?

Granny Eyre