Day 25 and 26: There is still some time

Here I am late again. After getting on to all of my fellow twenty somethings about posting and I missed a day. I suppose that's what I deserve. Any how I'm making the post for two days now.
The picture for my Christmas Day is not too exciting just a picture of my view while driving to visit Granny Eyre and her family for a couple of days.

For day 26 we are supposed to show our favorite quote or bible verse. For this I chose a quote from my favorite non profit organization founder. For those of you who don't know, my favorite non profit organization is To Write Love On Her Arms and the founder is Jamie Tworkowski. This is a screenshot of the quote post in its entirety.

I have had this exact quote poster hanging up on my wall. This post quote has inspired me to keep going even when I feel like giving up and giving in. Some points that stick out the most to me are....
"This life – it’s not a contest, not a race, not a performance, not a thing that you win. 
You are here for more than grades, more than a job, more than a promotion, more than keeping up, more than getting by. 
You do not have to fake it. There is still some time for love to find you. It’s not too late. You’re not alone. It’s okay – whatever you need and however long it takes – it’s okay."

Quotes to Live By

Something I really like to do is make list and my writing reflects this in many ways. So for this post I am making a list of quotes because something else that I really like to do is look up quotes. I find that with quotes people are saying what I cannot but wish that I could. Here it goes a list of my top 10 quotes. I hope that they are as encouraging for you as they are for me. 

1.      "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." Thomas Edison

2.      “If your heart is broken, it's okay to say your heart is broken. If you feel stuck, it's okay to say you feel stuck. If you can't let go, it's okay to say you can't let go. You are not alone in these places.”

3.      "Just as a man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live without hope. If dreams reflect the past, hope summons the future." - Elie Wiesel

4.      “Such is the influence which the condition of our own thoughts, exercises, even over the appearance of external objects. Men who look on nature, and their fellow-men, and cry that all is dark and gloomy, are in the right; but the sombre colours are reflections from their own jaundiced eyes and hearts. The real hues are delicate, and need a clearer vision.” Charles Dickens 

5.      “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” J K Rowling

6.      “Hope whispers in the kindness of friends. It whispers in those who stand by you and hold your hand as you take the first steps towards recovery. It whispers in those moments of simple joy and those moments where you cannot help but smile and laugh. Hope whispers in the words of health professionals who show you that recovery is possible and give you the tools to get there. It keeps whispering in those long dark nights, and it tells you that your story does not end here. These are golden moments that the darkness can’t steal.”

7.      "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." - Albus Dumbledore

8.      “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” – Mary Anne Radmacher

9.      “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...” Dr Seuss 

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” C.S. Lewis

Water, Goodbyes, and Bears; Oh My!!

Hello friends! There are so many things I would like to share with you. I have been procrastinating on writing this blog (imagine that right?) but now is the time. For a random person in history once said, "There is no time like the present." I wonder who wrote that, google time...

Five minutes later and I find these things about said quote 1. Georgia Byng said it. 2. It is an idiom. 3. It is a proverb. 4. The proverb has been traced back to G. Legh's Accidence of Armoury (1562).

Okay so this week marked the beginning of June some highlights real quick include, my BestFriend on earths Birthday. Shout out to Cathy aka Granny Eyre!, the spottings of black bear(s), and the release of The Fault In Our Stars movie, book by John Green. 

The spotting of the black bear(s) is actually legit. No, I have not personally seen it but the local newspaper and pd have been posting about it or them. I imagine seeing a black bear just wondering around your neighborhood could be a bit scary.( I went to Gatlinburg TN. once and as my dad was driving us around cades cove we saw a couple from a distance though.) It was just a very strange question to be asked first thing Monday morning, "Have you seen the bear?" Umm... Can I get a glass of milk before I answer this question please. 

Wednesday or yesterday, maybe even today might have been my favorite day this week. My friends in the three year old classroom that I help out with had their first water play day of the summer on Wednesday. I got excused from kitchen duty during that time. I went outside and my friends were jumping and running through the sprinkler the teacher had set up. I was having a good time just watching the kids enjoy themselves but then I noticed one of the kids did not look very wet. So me being who I am decided to pick the little boy up and hold him over the sprinkler to get wet. He enjoyed it very much which was great except all the other kids started asking me to pick them up and do the same thing. Unfortunately for them I am only one person. I am not sure who's idea it was but somehow I managed to be the one holding the sprinkler up to the metal slide making a super slipping slide. It was great, the kids loved zooming down the slick slide and plopping down in the muddy puddle at the bottom. Lesson learned from this experience however is that from now on I will not be wearing bluejeans on Wednesdays. My legs got all chapped up from the wetness I had to deal with the rest of the day. 

Thursday, I again had the opportunity to take a break from kitchen work and play with the children outside. This time with the four year olds out for their free time we had basketball. If you remember being four at all you might recall the whole aspect of sharing and how you probably did not want to. Well that still stands true today. With five children in the class and only three basketballs it posed a bit of a problem but we worked it out. We played steal the ball and run away from Ms. Amanda. Pretty self explanatory so I won't go into much detail except to say I need to teach these guys how to dribble. It was fun just bouncing the ball with them and trying to help them make baskets.... Uhoh here comes the five year olds outside to play. I think I have become known around the cdl as the labor student who likes to play tag. As soon as they got outside the five year olds were wanting me to run around and chase them. I love it! It allows me to run around, roaring like a dinosaur and not be judged for it, added bonus the children love it as well. Once the five year olds got started playing the four year olds joined in as well. 

I find it very interesting, the differences in children just a year apart, how they are developing physically. The five year olds for the most part have more control of their running around not falling or tripping over their feet as much as the four year olds.

I would never admit this to the children but I was very thankful for them calling breaks so much, I needed to catch my breath just as much as they did. I think some of them might even have more stamina than I do. 

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere. Something I have grown to learn is that children love catching bubbles. The joy in a childs face when they catch a bubble is precious. The last two days during afternoon playtime I have got use the bubble wand and make bubbles for the children to chase. I highly recommend bubbles for everyone. They can ease your stress. 

Goodbyes. I don't know what to say about them except that I do not like them. Unfortunately this week I have had to say goodbye to many of my little friends. In the one year old classroom (my babies) I am losing five friends this summer. Two had their last days this week and one of my favourite little girls is not coming back in the fall. The others will be leaving to stay at home soon. It makes me sad when my little friends leave because it means I won't get to see their smiling faces, watch them grow, walk and babble. Or even play ball with them. One year olds especially love to play ball!

In other exciting news: My tomato plants are growing big and strong! They are just going to be little cherry tomatoes but still yummy. Also I went to Lexington with Sarah and Clare on Tuesday evening. It was good to hangout, eat some dinner, and go to Plato's Closet. Even though Plato's didn't have any long sleeve shirts or cargo pants it was still ok. To make the night more interesting, the three of us were just chilling at Starbucks, when Katherine just pops out of the pushes. It was good to see yet another friend around and just catch up with the group. Hopefully it won't be too long before I get to see Cathy and Megan again. 

Signing off for now.

Captain Fun Something