Doug & Charisse

Dishes or Crochet?

2012-02-10T11:13:00.002-07:00

I seem to be asking myself this question more and more these days. Should I do the dishes, or should I crochet? Sometimes I do the dishes. When I do, I'm always surprised at how quickly it goes. (You'd think I'd stop getting surprised after a while...) Other times, like today, I choose to crochet.

Why?

1. Because I'm working on a project that is quite fun.

2. Because the dishes are "soaking" (to use Doug's terminology).

3. We're going to have homemade French Onion Soup tonight so there will be plenty of dishes to do later.

4. Because I'm pregnant so I'm always productive whether or not I'm keeping house.

Score.

Yes that's laundry in the background. See? I don't just crochet.

Oh wait, I folded that yesterday...

But at least I didn't have to get off the couch to take my picture. :)

Sewing and Sports

2012-02-07T07:46:00.001-07:00

So today I'm off to my 3rd sewing class. Totally stoked!! Lately I've taken quite a liking to sewing and have ventured to sew things such as animal pillows and... yeah, that's about it. But hey, it's a start. It's also super fun to have neighbors who will sew with me. Thanks to Katrina (a real neighbor) and Miriam (a neighbor in all senses of the word minus the physical aspect seeing as we're like 7 states away *sigh*)!!

In other words, I came across a sports article that I quite enjoyed. I'm not one to read sports articles generally, but I think you'll like this one:
The NBA Lockout has Increased Injury Rates

What's in Your Closet?

2012-02-04T11:45:00.002-07:00

I wore one of my favorite skirts the other day and said to myself, "self, that was a really good purchase." I bought it when I was 14, years old (I remember because I wore it to one of my first stake dances!) and I have worn it pretty consistently ever since. Crazy, right?

It's shorter now than it was when I was 14... and probably tighter haha.

Then I thought, I think that skirt is the oldest thing in my closet. No! My fifth grade graduation shirt definitely wins. I still wear it (yes, it still fits!) but rarely, if ever, in public...

Look, it still has my name on the back!

I removed everyone else's names... so now it looks weird. Such is the price of confidentiality.

So what's the oldest thing you're clinging on to?

First evers

2012-01-27T11:13:00.002-07:00

Last Saturday, Doug took me to see Bill Cosby! Cosby performed at Durham Performing Arts Center and he was hilarious. Also, he went 40 minutes over his allotted time - awesome!!Thanks, Doug for a fabulous date :).

This week I also went out of my comfort zone and sewed this cute little creature all by myself. That's right. Silky fabric + black felt and yarn = sensory fun! I was a little afraid to sew silky fabrics since I'm such a novice, but it wasn't too hard!

I made lots of mistakes - such as sewing the details on last (I should have sewed them on before sewing the two zebra pieces together...). Actually the only things I did right the first time are, sewing the tail in and cutting out the pieces haha. Still, I am encouraged by my success!

My craft supplies have nearly doubled in size over the last few days. I don't quite know where to put everything.

What should I make next?

Oh boy!

2012-01-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

We're going to have a boy! Congratulations to the 10 other women who learned the gender of their baby the same day as me haha. You're probably tired of announcements but I can't help but share the news :).

Finally I have a wonderful excuse to follow blogs like Sewing for Boys, Boy, Oh, Boy, Oh Boy!, and Made. I may be a little overexcited but I've already started looking at sewing patterns... here are some of my favorites:

via made

via The Train to Crazy

via made

via Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

And I've already started this "little" project I first fell in love with at Maybe Matilda:

via Tales from Cuckoo Land

But I'm using this tangerine orange instead:

This pictures doesn't quite do the brightness of the yarn justice

Despite the small frustrations daily life brings, I'm extremely grateful to have the comforting consistency of the gospel and the delightful excitement of having a baby. Here's to a new adventure :).

Staying in the loop

2012-01-15T12:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to an Autism and ADHD workshop. It was hosted at my church building and put together by church members though some presenters were not LDS and it was open to the public.

I thoroughly enjoyed going to the meeting, mostly because it reminded me of all the wonderful experiences I had student teaching. I love the students I worked with and have fond memories of my time with them!

Also, it's important for me to stay current with my field. Even though I don't plan to work after having my baby, I'm still passionate, and will still be passionate about kids with special needs. Ironically, or hypocritically, I haven't been reading recent news or events regarding teaching those with disabilities - hence no blog posts about it, haha. But hey, as much as I may try, I can't do everything. I just haven't admitted that yet.

So here's a mini story to get back into the groove of things. Jacob was 7 years old when a speech therapist taught him to type and therefore express himself. Jacob is nonverbal and is diagnosed with autism and mental retardation. Well you can read how the therapist taught him to type in this huffington post article. The therapist would ask Jacob to type something, and then she would physically guide him to type out the answer. (At this point in the story I scoffed - sure, she's "guiding" his hands...) Jacob has never been taught how to read and has showed few signs of communication throughout his life. Naturally I was quite skeptical of this whole scenario, and I still am, but apparently, he is now 19 and communicates with his parents via typing. How amazing is that? I gained confidence again that Jacob in fact did learn how to type and communicate with others and that his mental retardation was misdiagnosed. But then why, 14 years later, is the same speech therapist teaching him how to type? If he is intelligent, and can communicate and type on his own, then why does he still need her help?

Two things. 1. I sincerely hope I am misjudging the speech therapist and that these incongruencies are easily explained. 2. Regardless of the truthfulness of this story, people who are nonverbal have thoughts too. It just takes a little creativity to help them express those thoughts.

I'll close with Jacob's own thoughts: "For people with autism, every day is an unending struggle to remember that we are not so different after all. You can help by smiling at us, by welcoming our presence and encouraging our participation. In the end, it comes down to recognizing God's image in every single human being."

What are your thoughts?

Something to show

2012-01-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

My belly popped out!

No one ever talks about how awkward it is to take pictures of yourself...

It's weird how it (the belly popping) happened practically overnight. Sure, I finished a big meal right before this picture was taken, but there is definitely an 18-week old fetus in there!

Oh, and no Christmas pictures to sport, because this is the only one I took:

A darling picture of my nephew, James who forwarded a text to my boss meant for Doug which, in essence, said:

"don't forget underwear!"

a good sign that it's going to be a great year.

Doug saves

2012-01-05T18:42:00.002-07:00

So a tentative new year's resolution for us is to save more money. I say tentative because I don't know if I want to commit to it or not haha. Just kidding, of course I want to save money... Plus, we haven't written down any goals yet so everything is still up in the air. Doug is all about it though, he says to me:

Doug: Charisse, do you want to go to that Indian restaurant for dinner tonight?
Me: If you find someone to go with us, sure.
Doug: You failed! We're not going because we need to save money for the baby. Look, we just saved $32 by not going!
Me: uh... okay.

Oh yeah, I'm pregnant. :) Due date is June 16th.

The Christmas Secret

2011-12-29T07:43:00.001-07:00

So for some Christmas presents I made some amigurumi. That's right, little crocheted animal friends. And let me tell you, it was way fun! Here is a picture of three of them together (I also crocheted a penguin for my sister, because she just happens to love penguins these days):

Aren't they awesome!! I chose these three because each is the favorite of the person I made it for. Wanna see more? Of course you do :)

See Yoshi's thumb?!

It was more fun to make these than to make clothing because they are so playful. Doug actually asked if we could not give them away and just keep them. I was sorely tempted! But now it's too late, haha.

Merry Christmas!!

A Secret Project

2011-12-19T17:25:00.002-07:00

So I've been working on this project for a long time. As in 40+ hours. I loved probably 36 hours of it. Doug kept telling me to buy it/them from Rachel (Maybe Matilda - he said he could get 'em cheap because they are childhood friends, HAH. I wouldn't even give it to him for cheap and I'm his wife!) Still, the results are totally worth it! Unfortunately, I'm not keeping it/them, because they are Christmas presents for The Nelsons and for the LeMaistres. So no guessing until after Christmas!! The picture is zoomed in so that (hopefully) there is no way they could figure it out before time. I'll be sure to post the full picture after Christmas.

All I have to say is that these presents better be loved or send them back because I want them! haha.

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Apparently Doug thinks it's cold in the house.

I swear, the thermostat says 72.

And I'm wearing a T-shirt.

Maybe I'll make him some hot cocoa.

Belated Vacation Update

2011-12-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

So Doug and I have been travelling the world lately. Okay, maybe just the east coast. First off, we went to Boston about a month ago to celebrate Tyson and Jennifer's marriage!

Congrats, you two :).

And can I just say how awesome it is to finish a full days work in NC, and be in Boston by midnight on the same day?!? I love airplanes.

Doug's parents were kind enough to drive us to the Mangum's home (practically in the middle of Boston proper, thought Emily would tell you otherwise) where some touring began. We ate delicious food and walked around their neighborhood that first night. I was a little overwhelmed by how many stinkin' people there are in this world. I'm glad I live in a (much) smaller city, but it was exhilarating to be in the midst of so much excitement.

The next day...

We ate pizza. Go figure :D

They also took us to Mike's Pastry. I didn't get a picture of the delightful cannoli because I kinda scarfed it down. Take my word for it. It was heaven!

And then... we took a walk and saw graves, churches, monuments, and fat squirrels.

Thanks, Mangums for a wonderful time!

Next, we're off to NY for the holidays. Oh how I love Christmastime!

Recipe help!!

2011-12-04T14:45:00.001-07:00

Hey all you awesome homemakers who make delicious, healthy food for every meal, I need help. My dilemma is that I'm not a huge fan of dark green leafy vegetables which I lovingly call "leafies." I would like to eat more of them but I ~~can't really~~ don't really want to stomach eating them outright.

This just isn't too appetizing:

source

Nor this:

source

Do you have any recipes which incorporate leafies into "regular" food?

Oh, and I'm horrible at making salads, probably because the lettuce goes bad before I use it. Or is it because I don't know how to make good ones. Or that Doug doesn't eat salad. I get the feeling its a combination of the three and that they compound each other... Any ideas?

My mom gave me a great suggestion, which might give you a better idea of what I'm looking for: cooked spinach in scrambled eggs. That sounds okay, right? Can you help me??

Dresses, make up, and celebrities

2011-12-02T06:31:00.001-07:00

I've been selfishly reading all of your blogs and hoping for you to post even more without even thinking about something fun to write about myself. (Not writing something about me, but me being the writer.... anyway.)

So don't think I'm weird, but here's a fun, random story. Also, if incomplete and run-on sentences bother you, you might consider stopping here. But if you are bored at work, at home, or at play, read on.

Last night I dreamed that Doug and I got married again. Solely for me to wear a new wedding dress. Haha! Except the dress wasn't even up to my modesty standards, it looked something like this:

source

But a little more flowy, without the train, and I dont' remember it being so low cut. Back to the dream. For some odd reason I showered after the wedding but before pictures with everyone. And then I forgot to put on makeup until we were walking out the door (maybe a subconscious realization that I should put on makeup before going out of the house more than 3x a week?). Obviously I made Doug stop with me so I could at least put on foundation. What a good husband.

Then there were pictures with everyone (dreadful when you don't feel pretty and you're the bride) and get this: waiting for their turn to take pictures was a second wedding party including Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Bahaha. Awkward!! Well of course I stopped to talk with my doppelgänger and we chatted about morals and life goals in which I came away thinking, "I don't look that much like her after all."

source

The end. Hey, I warned you.

Moral of the story: I'm glad I married Doug. I like my original wedding dress better. I should consider wearing more makeup. Even though Emma and I have grown apart, Hermione and I will always be like this.

Asheville

2011-11-15T07:36:00.001-07:00

This weekend Doug and I made the 3.5hr drive to Asheville. The drive was beautiful, I thoroughly enjoyed the mountains covered in colorful trees - but I forgot to take pictures en route! While there, we celebrated Jenny's (Doug's cousin) marriage.

The lovely bride and her father - look at her bouquet!!

The reception was in a barn, reminiscent of the Schoharie pumpkin patch, beautifully decorated with lights. I just wish it had been 10 degrees warmer!

Afterward, they served a nice dinner - my favorite part was the settings! Each person had a unique goblet, and personalized place settings. So classy.

While in Asheville we stayed with Doug's Grandma Christie and spent a lot of time with her, Uncle John, Aunt Heather & Uncle Grant & family, cousin Natalie & family, and cousin Susannah & family. (We don't call them "cousin Natalie", or "Uncle John", those are just there so you can figure our the relations haha.) Heather fed everyone snacks, lunch (zuppa toscana from olive garden!!) and dessert (apple and pumpkin pies!!). We also went to a nearby park where the ~~boys~~ men, couldn't help showing off:

Grant

Doug - he really did get all the way up, haha, I just had bad timing.

Grant

Doug

David, Natalie's boy.

Needless to say, we had a delightful time. Thanks especially to Heather for the food, and Grandma Christie for housing and feeding us! We really look forward to Thanksgiving :).

It's Gametime

2011-11-08T11:52:00.001-07:00

I am such a game person. I don't care if you need strategy or stupid luck to win the game. I actually prefer a mix of both (then if I lose, I don't feel totally ridiculous, right?). Oh, and I really like to win. I'm such a sore loser.

source
$45 new

Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking, "this is boring, what's your point?" Surprise: no point. But I did find a new game that I decided I like - probably because I won the third time we played it (and Doug hasn't won yet, heh heh). Dominion. It's fun because it takes a little while to learn, there are so many variations of the game, there's no "always-winning" one strategy, yet it's still quite easy.

source
$25 new

Another game that I totally love: Word on the Street. Two teams play tug of war for letters. Super simple. Really fun if you like word games. Which I do. :)

Unfortunately, they kind of cost a lot. But if they're on the "want" list for a really long time it means I can buy them, right? That means we only have 3 games: Pass the pigs, Rook, and a deck of cards. Rook isn't even opened, why can't it be a two-person game?! We really just need to get some kids, problem solved.

Anyway, what kind of games do you have? Or do you just "borrow" games from your neighbors like someone else I know...ahem.

The view from my window

2011-11-05T13:47:00.003-06:00

When the shades are open, that is.

Live from the Vandys!

2011-11-03T11:10:00.000-06:00

The Progressive Jingle was stuck in everybody's heads on Halloween - well, actually, the 29th (that's when the parties were, and since we didn't get any trick-or-treaters....); because we were dressed like this:

We didn't think to take pictures of each other to better document our awesome costumes. Awesome and cheap costumes! I bought a white apron for $4, the ribbon was inexpensive, and the phone was $2.50 at a thrift store. The rest is stuff we already had or I printed and taped to our costumes.

On our way to the ward trunk or treat we considered the possibility that no other adults would be dressed up! We were happy to discover that our costumes could easily be transformed into somewhat normal clothing. Fortunately, most adults dressed up, so it was all okay.

That night our friends, the Johnsons, hosted a Halloween party, which was totally awesome. We (six couples) went out for dinner at Chili's all dressed up! Another table was also dressed up and they looked relieved when we showed up as they were no longer alone in publicly celebrating Halloween 2 days early. Needless to say we got a lot of stares and even requests for insurance quotes!

It was a good thing we celebrated on the 29th, because the 31st ended up being a disappointment. Oh well, the more candy for me!!!

Get your crafty on

2011-10-25T09:41:00.001-06:00

Look at me! I got crafty this weekend :).

My mom visited us this weekend and came with a great craft idea she saw at a friend's house.

frame: $ 0.75

paint: 2 for $1

brushes: $ 0.35 ea

letters: $ 1.30ish ea

not bad, eh?

Our front door

Oh and the ribbon is from a red throw that we bought earlier that day - it matched perfectly!!

Are you proud of me, or what?

more Harry Potter, please

2011-10-20T12:02:00.001-06:00

Lately I've taken to listening to books on tape - er, cd - on my way to and from work. Imagine my delight when my mom offered to let me borrow some of her books on tape, including Harry Potter! Now I'm on I end up listening to it wherever I am (especially at home).

I love Jim Dale, I think he's absolutely amazing. Of course, JK Rowling is genius. Reading the books when I'm older, I can appreciate how well-written they are too! It's just perfect. Life is perfect. Sadly, I'm more than halfway through book three and I feel like I just started yesterday! It doesn't matter that I've already read them 4 or 5 times. I'm just as hooked as ever. Thank goodness for a library that keeps me satisfied. I don't want it to end!

Blossoming

2011-10-16T11:56:00.001-06:00

This weekend was Stake Conference (where all the members of my church in Durham gather for one meeting) and Elder Marlin K Jensen and his wife, Kathleen, came to visit. Both spoke Saturday evening and Sunday morning and I thorougly enjoyed their remarks. I'm writing today to share with you a beautiful analogy that Sister Kathleen Jensen spoke of this morning.

Sister Jensen bought a nice green plant, a goldfish plant actually, and put it on the coffee table in her living room. Perhaps it looked like this:

source

She thought it looked really nice and was completely happy with how it looked in their home. A few weeks later she decided to rearrange the living room and consequently, the plant was moved to a different spot. Soon thereafter, Sister Jensen noticed small orange blossoms on her plant, "that looked remarkably like goldfish!" Something changed that allowed the goldfish plant to blossom.

source

She suggested that we might be green and completely satisfied with our life, yet we have the potential to blossom. We are living but perhaps we're not thriving. She encouraged us to find ways to blossom, to thrive. Move out of your parents' house, make new friends, find a new hobby. If you hate your job, look for a new one. Maybe you need more sunshine, or more shade.

Both she and Elder Jensen are great speakers. If you ever get an opportunity to listen to them speak, take it! In particular, Sister Jensen's talks were inspirational to me. I sincerely wish all of you could have listened to her speak, as well! She is the kind of woman I would love to hang out with despite our age difference. Then again, who wouldn't want to hang out with inspirational people. Now I'm rambling. Anyway, I hope that you can appreciate her message via my interpretation.

I also want to add that Jesus Christ wants us to blossom. We may be content with our "greenness", but He has more in store for us. I want to blossom; I'd like to want to do what's necessary to get there. I am grateful for Jesus Christ, my savior who loves me unconditionally and will help me be the best that I can regardless of what I am now.

Comfort Food

2011-10-14T11:25:00.001-06:00

Okay, don't laugh. My all time nostalgic comfort food is a thick cream of chicken soup over rice. Except, it's not really a soup, I only add in a few TBSP of milk instead of a whole can.

Anyway, within the first six months of experimental-dinner-making on my husband, I tried this one out. I thought I was being sweet - a super easy, comfort food dinner. Perfect. I'm sure Doug was nice about it and ate a bowl, but most likely filled up on pizza and/or cereal afterwards! What I do remember is him saying, "you like this??" I had not even considered that other people wouldn't like my comfort food. It's not a particularly tasty dish, I guess my mom made it when I was sick or something.

What's your comfort food? Have you ever made it for other people hoping they would like it as much as you do and were consequently heartbroken? Okay, I wasn't heartbroken. Well, maybe a little...

Twenty Two

2011-10-09T19:47:00.001-06:00

Happy birthday to me! Yesterday I turned 22. Awesome.

Can I just say that Saturday birthdays are the BEST?!

I'm not going to list of all the things I have or wish I had accomplished because I'm not the kind of person to write it all out. But still, birthdays have always been days of reflection for me. So shall we pretend that life is perfect, that I used a sweet camera to take that picture (manual setting of course), and the background is blurry, and the brick isn't really holding up a sewer pipe?

Friday night, Doug and I went out for dessert and stayed up late watching Netflix until I turned 22 at midnight. Okay, I wasn't born at midnight really, but who cares? Then on my birthday we went on a walk in Duke Forest and took some pictures.

It's like we did a photo shoot. saweet.

So lovely!

Later we went to the mall and bought stuff - we were allowed to 'cuz it's my birthday, duh. I bought chocolate and Doug bought a statistics book (which was 5X more expensive than the chocolate might I just mention). We celebrated the rest of the day with Emily and Brad, went to bed late, then woke up late. Let's just say that it was a great day.

I should have TRIPLED this recipe

2011-10-06T19:33:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I decided to try Doug's Aunt Heather's Carrot and Barley Soup recipe. Mostly because I already had most of the ingredients and I hadn't tried it yet. Little did I know that vegetables could taste so good! Okay, maybe I did know, but this soup was super delicious. Doug even liked it :). So much so that this small tupperware was all that was left for my lunch today:

ohhh so tasty!

You want to try it, right? Below is the recipe, with my changes

Heather's Carrot and Barley Soup
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
1 TBSP butter
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
some chopped green onions
1/2 tsp caraway seeds (I didn't have any, so I just ignored the caraway seeds)
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp pepper
1 TBSP flour
3 cups chicken stock
3 TBSP barley (I added 1/3 cup - it gave more substance to the soup)

Saute carrots in butter for 5 minutes. Add onion(s) and continue to saute for 3 more minutes. Add flour and spices and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Add chicken stock and barley. Stir well, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Mine turned out super thick - which I liked, but if you want it thinner, don't let it simmer for so long.

I'll definitely make this again, and soon!

I've been busy...

2011-10-02T19:16:00.000-06:00

Hooray for a new skill and lots of time to practice! Below is my FINISHED cowl and some crochet projects I worked on this weekend.

I FINISHED!

A cute free baby hat pattern I found and wanted to try.
And, in case you're wondering, no.

Another free pattern
It was such a pain I didn't do the other bootie, haha

Um, this is supposed to be a washcloth
I don't know what I'll use it for, if I do..

Did you notice the color pattern? Essentially I picked out the colors for the cute hat, then I wanted to keep my hands busy during General Conference (and stay awake) (which by the way, was totally awesome) and so I ended up making other stuff with the same colors - because, duh, I don't have lots of yarn yet. That was a super long sentence, sorry if you had to read it twice! Anyway, are you proud of me yet?

Now I'm unstoppable, I can do anything.

Independence

2011-09-27T09:16:00.001-06:00

What an absolutely delightful story. It is of a young adult, Justin Canha, who is transitioning to the real world - he also has autism. You will not regret reading all 10 pages of this NY times article! Autistic and Seeking a Place in an Adult World.

"In 'Jickey Goes to Behavior Therapy,' Dr. Fanky P. Wolf gets his eyes gouged out by his patient, Jickey, whom he is prodding to make eye contact."
One of Justin's cartoons.

If you don't have time to read the article, watch the video (though it's not nearly as comprehensive): http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/09/17/us/100000000972826/the-practice-round.html

Because this is for real

2011-09-25T15:30:00.000-06:00

Have you ever read a book that you really liked and then halfway through, you realized it was fiction?

What about a movie that touched or inspired you - and then you learned it was all made up?

I'm the kind of person who enjoys fiction and really gets into it, but I get really disappointed when I think a story is real, and then learn it's not. ie: a book I'm reading right now - "out of my mind," or "Charly," or "Harry Potter." Okay, so I know Harry Potter isn't real (or do I??). Like, what if Anne Frank's story turned out to be a fraud? I would be super disappointed. Why? Because she is inspiring! I've learned so much from her and I would hate for it to be fake.

Well, there is a book that I know is real, with all of my heart and mind: The Book of Mormon. I read that book and I do not have to wonder if what I'm reading is made up. It is a record of the lives and faith of people who lived in ancient America. It is a testament of Jesus Christ; that He lives and that He is our Redeemer. I invite you to read it and then ask God for yourself if it is true.

Request a free copy of The Book of Mormon

Perfectionism or Impatience?

2011-09-21T11:32:00.003-06:00

Which one will out?

Here is my Maybe Matilda crochet project thus far, all 2 or 3 inches of it. And already I am faced with a dilemma.

Notice that I finally found pillows that match the couch!! :)

Will I cave to my perfectionist or my impatient tendencies? Because neither can live while the other survives. Maybe I'm being a little melodramatic. Still, it is a problem that caused me to stop my work until I figure it out (that's my efficiency/laziness coming out - after all, it's only 4 rows! haha). You see, on the fourth row I learned something about my crocheting technique; I learned how to keep the stitches tighter by crocheting in front of the project instead of on top. What? That doesn't make sense? Well, the result is that the stitches on the first three rows are looser than the rest of the cowl will be.

So if I were a perfectionist, I would patiently undo, then redo the project. But if I were impatient, I would just keept going and hope the original looseness wouldn't show. Especially because I've already started over twice.

What would you do?

Hurry up and tell me, already!

College for students with disabilities

2011-09-15T08:29:00.002-06:00

In this ever advancing world, bachelors degrees are replacing high school diplomas as the minimum job requirement. This generally means that if you plan to have a decent job - one with a salary that can support you (and your family) - you need to go to college. "Your mom goes to college." (It just felt like a good time to say that...)

So what does this mean for people with disabilities?

Background: The law requires that, if eligible, people with disabilities receive special education services until age 21 - though that does not include college (I'm unsure whether by going to college they automatically unqualify or if they are still entitled to other services). College is a whole new world. "Child Find" is no longer in effect. Meaning that the state, university, or any organization is not required to "identify, locate, and evaluate" people with disabilities. Thus, students need to take initiative if they want accessibility and adaptions from teachers or the university itself.

Issue: I'm not here to argue whether students with disabilities (specifically intellectual disabiliites) should go to college - I would strongly advocate for them to receive support in completing a college degree if they desire. In fact, I'm not going to argue at all (sorry Doug and Brian). I just found this really cool program and I want to share it with you.

What I think: I think this program is awesome: REACH Realizing Educational and Career Hopes is located at the College of Charleston, South Carolina. It is a 4-year post-secondary program designed for people with intellectual disabilities. The College of Charleston provides tutors, mentors, and a supported internship during the junior and/or senior years. I am excited about this program because I hope it will give these people the skill set they need to get a job, retain it, and to do the job well. It is common knowledge that having a job provides independence, a sense of accomplishment and self-worth, and personal development; what more could you want?

Reed Hahne

Reed Hahne is a student at Utah Valley University. He also has Down syndrome. One of my professors, Tina Dyches, talked about him in a speech she gave at BYU. She played a video of Reed and this what he said:

I am a young man who goes to school at Utah Valley State College, where I have a 4.0 grade point [average]. I have to work extra hard in college to earn good grades. I told my mom that there are two things about college that I don’t like: homework and tests.

I also am a young man with Down syndrome. That is one of my characteristics. It is a part of who I am, but it is not all of who I am. All of us are distinct individuals. Some of you are tall or short. Some of you have blue eyes and blond hair; others of you have black hair and brown eyes. Some of us have to study hard to get good grades, while others have to work really hard to be good swimmers and runners. Everyone is gifted in some way.

I just finished performing in the musical Ragtime. I love school and I love performing. I want the same things that all of you want in life. I want to be happy. I want to have opportunities to get a good education and a good job. I want people to listen to me and respect me for my abilities and knowledge. I have many characteristics. I am fun to be around—I love people and making new friends. I’m good-looking. I’m a leader and a self-advocate. I love learning new things, trying new foods, and going to new places. Some other gifts that people with Down syndrome have are [things such as] we have lots of love to share, we are loyal and affectionate, [and] we help all of you to slow down and learn lessons about what is really important in life.

I know that I have Down syndrome because it is part of God’s plan for me and for the earth at this time. I have been told by the Lord that I was sent here at this time to perform special work that only I could do. I have been told that I will have influence upon people that no one else could possibly have and that the Lord has a great work for me to do. I know part of my mission on earth is to be a teacher for other people with disabilities.

It is really hard for me when people look at me and see only the Down syndrome. Sometimes people talk to my parents, asking them questions about me when they should talk to me. I have opinions. Sometimes people call each other “retards.” This is so very disrespectful in so many ways. If a person has a disability, it doesn’t mean that they can’t learn; it just means that they may learn a different way and that some things might take them longer to learn. I think people get in the habit of calling names and then use disrespectful words without realizing their meanings.

Nauvoo was my second mission. My first mission was at the institute of religion in Orem. Then I went to Nauvoo. While I was there I was called to be an ordinance worker in the Nauvoo Temple. I learned all of the temple ordinances. This really surprised many visitors to Nauvoo. I also performed, and I learned all of the scripts for the historic sites. It surprised people that I could do all of this. When we are given a chance, people with disabilities can do so many things.

It is important to look at each other and see our strengths and know that each of us is a child of God. He loves us, [and] He has given us potential and opportunities to grow on this earth.

I have a testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and President Hinckley. I read the scriptures every day. Thank you. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Read or listen to the speech here. I also encourage you to read this article from UVU which talks more about his academic story: Student Success Story. From his words, it is evident that Reed has self-confidence and that he works hard and succeeds at school despite his personal challenges. He inspires me to work hard to believe in people, and to see people for who they truly are.

Past the point of no return

2011-09-08T09:49:00.000-06:00

I just did something a wee little bit scary, exciting, adventurous, etc. Needless to say, I'm going out of my comfort zone on this one and trying something new. Crocheting! with Maybe Matilda (who is actually one of Doug's friends from NY and is a totally awesome person besides). She is offering a crochet along (haha, every time I type crochet I spell it wrong and have to redo it..) and I signed up! Crazy, right? I don't even have ~~needles~~ hooks!

Okay, truth is, I have crocheted before. I made a bath soap holder (don't ask), and some flowers that I attached to hair pieces. And I do have hooks, they're in Utah - Maria is sending them to me - I just haven't picked them up in 3 years. So now that you know the truth, I'm still a little "scurred" (as my Anu would say!) but I'm committing myself, hence the post.

So this is what we're making:

what color(s) should I do??

Will mine look that cute? Probably not. Will I ever wear it? eh, perhaps. But the adventure is on and there's no turning back. I needed something new to break up the humdrum of moving in, getting a new job, starting a new calling, learning where the grocery stores are, and meeting new people.

Wanna do this with me?? Please do! I'd love some extra support. I added her button (on the left side of the blog) to make it easy peasy. Just for you. :)

Southern Hospitality

2011-09-06T11:37:00.002-06:00

This morning, I went to the CVS minute clinic to get a shot, and this is what my medical papers looked like when I walked out the door:

Yes, covered in sticky notes. Sticky notes with restaurants ("if you want authentic southern cuisine, go to Ma Ma Dipps!"), grocery stores, a family practitioner, a doctor for Doug, the best (and honest) dentist around, the preschool to send my kids to, and the best private school in the area ("don't go to the public schools!"). My visit ended up lasting 40 minutes because she kept slapping sticky notes onto my papers. I loved it. She was the sweetest woman and told me to come back when I was pregnant so she could tell me which OB to go to and to please come back if I had any questions about doctors, or resources, or anything.

Yes, I think I'm going to like it here.

Satisfaction

2011-09-04T17:19:00.000-06:00

Do you like Indian food? Well I do! And this weekend I was brave enough to actually make some with Emily Ferguson. (I tried before, but let's not bring that up...)

Behold, our Chicken Tikka Masala:

Before

After

We tripled - so we could have leftovers!- the recipe from Allrecipes.com (with some alterations) which had lots of positive comments. We ate it with jasmine rice and flatbread instead of basmati rice and naan. Maybe next time we'll be more adventurous.

The whole process was surprisingly easy and very inexpensive. We spent $26 buying the ingredients (for the chicken, "naan," and drinks) and made 12 Doug-sized servings. TWELVE servings. That's $2.15 per plate, just add rice. Go ahead and say it, we're awesome. Duh, I already know.

Addendum:
This is the recipe we used. We tripled it; you can just change the # of servings at the top of the recipe on the website and it gives you the correct measurements. It took us about 2 hours to make, including the hour marinating time. So, I think it's worth it to make extra servings only once a week, instead of 3x a week - because you know that's how often we'll be eating this now!

Changes to the recipe:

We didn't use any salt except "to taste" per the preference of the individual
We used a little more than 1/2 the pepper it calls for because I'm not really a pepper person
If you like it more spicy, add more jalapenos; and vice verse.
We didn't have fresh ginger so we used 1/3 of what the recipe called for in powdered ginger
We didn't have enough yogurt, so we threw in some milk
Next time I'd add a little more tomato sauce and probably a little less cream.

For the "naan" we buttered and sprinkled deliciousness on flatbread, then broiled it for like 3 minutes. I hope to actually try making it next time - I already have all the ingredients for real naan!

And the pictures are in!

2011-08-26T10:10:00.000-06:00

Let's face it, it'll be a while (if ever) until I get things perfect. So here are pictures of what our apartment looks like today.

What you see on the right when you walk in

I can't decide if I should take that long table away completely...

The den. with chess set

Without chess set... what do you think? Not that it really matters.

The Kitchen, the front door is on the left.

Bathroom

I know, it's not that exciting...

But this is!!! It's my favorite room in the house :) I mean, apartment

And the bedroom

And from the other corner

Pictures, clocks, and lighting are to go up next week - hopefully! I would love to hear your decorating/designing recommendations. I'm not married to my organization, nor do I have a natural eye for these things.

Arrived

2011-08-25T13:00:00.002-06:00

We are finally here!! Well, we got here on Saturday, so I'm obviously a little behind. But I have an excuse.. we don't have internet yet. Fortunately, that will be remedied next week. So, things I love about our place.

It's in a "good" area. The surrounding neighborhood is lower income, older, smaller houses built on cul de sacs (I had to look up how to spell that!). So, I see that as a good thing.
nice carpet
washer and dryer
dishwasher (other than me!)
pool and gym in the complex
the apartment complex is gated
helpful maintenance workers
we're a 10 minute drive from Duke
washer and dryer... again
we have a piano!
church is like Utah church

Things I don't like quite as much.

the smell that currently resides in our kitchen and living area
our friends are all over the world instead of next door
we don't have internet yet
NC has hurricanes
and earthquakes
and is hot hot hot
church is like Utah church

Do you know what I mean about Utah church? Let me tell you. And keep in mind that it's in both categories, so it's more of a thing I noticed. Our ward is huge. There are lots of University students, young couples, and BABIES. The Sunday school president introduces the Sunday school teacher (I've only ever seen that in Utah). They have lots of callings, and a variety of callings - probably because there are so many active and willing members. There is an advertising committee - again, going with lots of talented people - and this means that we have cute, decorated billboards. Actually, cute billboards are something I'm seeing all around nowadays, but I'll probably always connect it to Utah because I saw it there first.

Fun, random fact: yesterday, every single car (5) in our row had a license plate from a different state. I see NY license plates everywhere!! Weird, right?

Oh, and Maria's at college now. Weirder...

yup, her...good luck!!!

I can't wait to show you pictures of our apartment! Once I get things organized, I'll post some. :) Then you can compare with wymount. haha. hahaha...

Moving Truck

2011-08-16T06:04:00.000-06:00

The moving truck comes today! Which is crazy because last week we had only enough stuff to fit in our car - now we have more than we've ever had. We bought a bed, dressers, and TV from my dad. We were given a couch and matching chairs, kitchen table and chairs, side tables, a coffee table, my childhood rocking chair, and Doug's piano by our families. We are upgrading to quality stuff!

I'm getting quite excited to design and decorate our new apartment. I'm even more excited for the dishwasher, washer, and dryer that will grace our new home. Oh, life is going to be grand.

On the other hand, I will miss all the family and friends that are in New York. Doug's parents generously let us live with them this summer. I admit, I was a little apprehensive at first, but they are so wonderful, fun, and busy that living with them was stress-relieving. (Though it probably wasn't that way for them!) Doug's grandparents and extended family was so close too! I especially loved getting to know Carrie and Sophia (and John too, I guess...haha just kidding).

we're cute

My family was only ever an hour's drive away at most, and it was delightful spending so much time at the lakehouse with them! I'm really going to miss living so close to Sarah, Daniel, and Maria. Maybe next summer :D.

Now I look forward to living closer to Grandma Christie and Grant and Heather. The Fergusons and Stricklans are also in NC! What fun, what fun.

After a long day of work...

2011-08-09T07:28:00.000-06:00

This is what I'm looking forward to tonight!

Greer, Arizona - miraculously untouched by the Wallow fire

2011-07-29T11:44:00.000-06:00

I always thought Arizona was beautiful and this trip proved it to me once again. The above picture from a sunrise hike that the older cousins did on the first day of the family reunion. As are these:

Sunrise, moonset.

Everyone (who went on the hike) is in this picture except for my cousin Ben who is taking the picture.

My mom's handsome parents

Back home.

Welcome to the family

2011-07-26T11:16:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago Doug and I spent the weekend at the lakehouse. The lakehouse is always a fun place because it's vacation all the time, no excuses. Our favorite vacationing techniques include: playing chess, napping, watching movies, swimming, napping, eating delicious meals, and waterskiing.

Yes, this is Doug on one ski! He got up on the first try this year. Last year he spent two weeks trying and practicing and he finally got it! My family has now officially accepted him into the group :).

Our newest member of our family cost a heck a lot more than a few weeks and gas money for the boat:

Still, we are super excited for this new purchase - the biggest one-time purchase we have made. Ever. Bonus, this Mazda is registered (unlike some other people I know who have this car whose registration has expired...). Duke, we'll be coming in style.

$3.62

2011-07-14T12:14:00.002-06:00

Oh yes, you can buy happiness.

an educated guess

over the counter medicine

$3.62

goodbye, perpetually dry lips!!

Improving Diversity

2011-07-12T15:25:00.003-06:00

Diversity. What makes someone diverse? Is it inherently good; something to be desired? Is there a cost for achieving diversity?

Background

source

Some criticize special education classrooms for having too many Latino and African American students. The same criticize gifted and talented programs for having too many White and Asian students. Accordingly, the district officials in New Haven decided to change their process of identifying gifted and talented students in order to improve diversity in their program. Their previous process, "resulted in a disproportionate percentage of white and Asian GATE [gifted and talented education] participants, while black and Latino students lagged." Their new process has two ways of identifying students: 1. academic achievement 2. referral by teacher of having other talents such as creativity and leadership. Officials then accept into GATE the highest performing 5% in each racial group.

Issue

Is this new process a fair way to determine GATE participants?

What I think

I have two big umbrages. (That's way more fun than saying, "I take umbrage with two things.")

source

One: Superintendent Kari McVeigh stated, "We know through research that giftedness and talent is equally distributed across all ethnicities." Fortunately he didn't say where to find the research so we could check up on his sources. His assumption may very well be true on a worldwide, or even nationwide, level but at the school district level, there is undoubtedly more variation in the distribution of talent and ethnicity. Two: They claim their process has led to the "remarkable results" of proportionate participation of race and gender in their program. I am more inclined to believe that taking the top 5% of each group had more to do with it. The results are not as remarkable when you force them yourself.

I think this top 5% of each group business is unfair if GATE's priority is to challenge gifted and talented students (as determined by talent). It is unfair when students who have worse scores are accepted into the program instead of those who scored better. The intellectual test the students take is blind to race and gender. I do believe there is value in diversity of talent and experience; therefore, I wholeheartedly support the second way they identify students. Now, if their priority is to provide equal opportunities for all ethnicities, genders, and other subgroups, then just call it that. Don't pretend your pseudo-science gets you there.

**Imagine if the process for determining eligibility for special education included taking the bottom 5% of each ethnicity, gender, and subgroup and putting them into self-contained classrooms to make the numbers proportionate to the population. To the unhappy parent: "Sorry, we have a new policy which places your student in this classroom in order to provide him/her with enriching experiences."** Students should be placed in environments where they learn the best regardless of the color of their skin.

Diversity. There is more to a person than their race and gender. Diversity is good and can provide valuable experiences but, it should not be forced.

Summer

2011-07-10T11:14:00.001-06:00

My summer so far has consisted of:

reading
skiing
losing at chess
teaching Sunday School to 9 year old munchkins
swimming
spraining my ankle
watching movies
babysitting
hanging out with the fam(s)
eating homemade food!!!!
resting

What my summer should have also consisted of but hasn't quite yet consisted of:

looking for apartments in NC
hanging out with friends
taking ballet classes
looking for a job in NC
watching more movies
getting certified to teach in NC
re-reading Harry Potter for like the 7th time
playing the piano
buying a new car (story to follow)
more resting

Just so you know...
broken computer = boring posts without pictures = fewer posts.
Maybe I'll have it back again in 2 weeks. Fingers crossed!!

By then I'll be able to tell you all about the fun adventures I'll have in SLC with the LeMaistres and AZ with my extended family. Hopefully Doug will make it through Sunday School flying "S S O L O" (only solo in the literal sense of course).

Until then, have fun reading blogs about interesting people with interesting lives. Like blogs of those who are having babies...which seems to be everyone except me these days! Or check out the blogs I have links to - I really like those ones!

Something I obviously need to work on.

I'm losing track of the days

2011-06-29T19:53:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Monday and today is the 27th. Right?

Being a "mom" is taking over my life. And I'm only "mom" for less than 30 hrs/week. (except for last week...48hrs.)

*sigh*

I have to say, I am so grateful for this job. It gives me something to do, it pays well, and now I have 3 more kids to love :).

If you will ever work with kids or if you have siblings this book is a MUST:

My mom recommended it to me (along with 3 other parenting books) after a particularly rough day 3 weeks ago. It was my mistake to wait so long to read it! I agree with the praise of this book: "Run! Don't walk to your nearest bookstore." In this case, Amazon is selling it for $8.53. It has completely changed the way I will work with kids for the rest of my life. And this is after I got a degree in Special Education, after I had taken multiple courses on behavior management. UH MAZE ING. I'm a changed man - er, woman.

Maria

2011-06-24T09:54:00.000-06:00

Congratulations on graduating, Maria!!

You are officially a young adult. How does it feel?

I'd just like to point out that Maria graduated with high honors and a Principal's award. Plus, she looked pretty in that red gown... ya stood out, girl! No really, you were beautiful.

This calls for some celebratory exlamations:

skadoosh

A phrase I learned from the coolest people in town: the kids I babysit

scoo00oop

Christina and Brian..duh

awwjeah

freshman ward saying..

wicked

that high school phase

Anyway, congrats!! I am so excited for you to head off to BYU and follow your dreams (even those you haven't discovered yet). I hope you have an awesome freshman roommate, like I did, who will help you get out every once in a while. Right, Emily?? You've grown up to be a radiant, confident young woman and I love you. All the best!

The blind will hear and the Deaf will watch

2011-06-15T19:32:00.001-06:00

Since Delfina brought it up, and I think it's a wonderful topic, I want to discuss the benefits of special needs students getting involved in extracurricular activities. Two different articles were published this week on this very discussion!

In this article, Chianese is a ballet teacher for the blind and visually impaired. In the second article, 3 Deaf young adults take a karate class. Most blind or Deaf people do not consider themselves as having a disability. Still, because special education is my discipline, and I may work with Deaf/blind students who have a disability in addition, I want to incorporate these techniques and philosophies into my teaching.

Ballet for the blind. I love it! I know how much joy ballet brings me and I think it's great that teachers are thinking out of the box to share that joy with people who wouldn't naturally participate. When asked if she enjoyed ballet, one student said that "she discovered muscles she never knew she had." That's exactly what I say every first class of the season! That tells me that this student is having fun and exercising at the same time (that's what I mean when I say that!). I imagine that strenuous physical activity would be difficult as a blind person; but it could be fun in a controlled setting like holding on to a bar in the ballet studio, or feeling tape on the floor to guide yourself. I know from personal experience that dancing gives me confidence, it makes me feel beautiful and accomplished. In fact, that's exactly why I do it (as I've said in several previous posts). I'm so glad that people have made the impractical happen.

The karate class is a very similar scenario. While I disagree with several of the assumptions made in the second article, this statement made sense to me:

“They [the Deaf students] learn incredibly fast,” said Joan Lopas, who serves as their interpreter, along with Tori Robinson. “Karate is a visual language. They pay attention to every move.”

It makes sense that Deaf people would be more attentive to body movement than hearing people and that they might learn quicker. Similar to doing ballet, it is logical that learning karate, and legitimately earning belt rankings (sorry, I don't know karate lingo!) creates a sense of accomplishment and confidence. See what can happen when pedagogy is modified to the student?? I love my job. (Technically, I don't have a job. But it's my job. My responsibility. Yeah?)

The common thread in these two articles is that participation and success in these activities leads to increased confidence. I love that. One of my biggest goals in life is to raise confident children -- so that concept really speaks to me. Often, kids with special needs are seen in their disabilities rather than in their abilities. I believe that a lack of confidence and knowledge of self-worth is a direct result of others not believing in them. Involvement in these activities, especially when the activities are scaffolded to the students' unique needs and supported by someone who believes in them, will hopefully help these students feel more confident. Who knows, maybe that confidence can spread to other areas of their lives!

See? Like that :)

Beyond proud

2011-06-14T21:13:00.000-06:00

Douglas, my man, you are incredible. You have accomplished so much in the last few months I have to brag to everyone else.

Most recently, he graduated SUMMA cum laude (BYU incorrectly awarded him magna initially due to clerical errors).
He completed a BS and MS in 5 years of school.
He will attend Duke in the fall for a PhD in stats. Only Doug...(actually, about 10 others).
A year ago, he was published in some biochemistry scientific journal that I don't know. Still cool.
Two months ago he received a personal email from the currently most famous statistician in the world, Bradley Efron, who said about Doug's paper, "This is impressive work, I hope it does get published soon." His email is a rejection of Doug's paper because it's not a good fit for the journal and would "get a better review in JASA."
Ditto with another journal.
As an intern, he is currently working at the GE Global Research Center in the statistics department.

On a different note

He caved in and took me to Europe. :D
As a result of Europe he wears more fashionable clothing.
He successfully did our taxes (by outsourcing, but still).
He remembered our anniversary.
His GE basketball buddies have officially welcomed him to the league after seeing some sweet moves.
He has tricked my little siblings into loving him more than they love me!!

I'm sure I forgot something. Oh well. Doug is awesome and I'm so proud to have him as my husband!

I don't mind a little humor in my life!

2011-06-12T13:46:00.000-06:00

This truck was stopped in front of me so I snapped a picture!

I find this quite hard to believe...

2011-06-08T18:14:00.003-06:00

This article reviews the CDC study that found 1 in 6 US children (ages 3-17) have a developmental disability. I haven't read the actual study so I will be brief about this.

Background

There have been several studies showing that autism, adhd, and other diagnoses are more prevalent now than ever. The common man criticizes those findings saying, "they are finding what they want to find" or "autism is not more prevalent, but now that we know more about it, we can better find it."

Issue

True or not true: autism, adhd, and/or developmental disabilities are more common now than 10 or 20 years ago?

What I think

No. The article mentions causes behind the rise in diagnoses: "Researchers said the increase may be due in part to more preterm births and parents having children at older ages. They also said that improvements in screenings, diagnosis and awareness have pushed the numbers higher." If anything, I think it's the latter. I find it hard to believe that cases of these disabilities are rising by 30+% per year! At this rate, in a few years, all of our children will have some diagnosis.

What struck me was how the data was collected: "The surveys are representative samples of U.S. households and asked PARENTS to report diagnoses of ADHD, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism, seizures, stuttering or stammering, moderate to profound hearing loss, blindness, learning disorders and other developmental delays." PARENTS. Did you catch that? Do you see anything wrong with that? I do. Parents are not doctors and (no offense please) without the training and experience, can we trust their diagnosis of their own children? Yes, they know their child better than anyone. Yes they can research up on adhd (click here to learn what the symptoms are and you'll find that all children show some or most of them at one point in their lives). But I can't trust these surveys to accurately represent the disabilities that these children have.

Note: I am not discounting the reality of these disabilities, this is why I went into Special education after all...just the sudden and extreme rise in numbers.

Am I being unreasonable? What do you think: is the rise in cases of autism, adhd, and developmental disabilities legitimate?

Coincidencental irony

2011-06-06T19:55:00.001-06:00

And I sprained my ankle today. Unfortunate, especially given the most recent post...

More like: Ballet4never!!

Ballet 2 stay

2011-06-05T14:19:00.001-06:00

There is something about New York, summer, beauty, classical music, that makes me want to dance. Maybe it's just life that makes me feel that way. Or maybe it's just me. Whatever the reason, I want to dance again. And I get to!

I got a job this summer (which justifies the cost) and my wonderful employer is flexible (which means I can get to class on time). And a wonderful husband who supports me in things I want to do. So I'm set.

Ballet is a favorite hobby of mine. For me, it is a way to stay in shape, feel beautiful, relax, and enjoy myself. I used to wonder (and I guess still wonder) if I would be able to do ballet throughout my life. My first AOL screen name was ballet2stay. I dreamed about one day having a studio in my basement. (Alongside those dreams were dreams of teaching math in underground backyard hideouts to the neighborhood kids... I've been a teacher at heart for a long while I guess.) But as you know, my degree is not in dance education, but special education. As you also know, once we have kids, I will be a full-time mom. Never again will my schedule revolve around my ballet classes. But hopefully, throughout my life, there will be pockets of time where I can dance. This summer is one of those pockets, and I'm going to fill it.

~Ballet4now

Just another day

2011-06-01T20:39:00.006-06:00

Doug looks good in this picture. I, on the
otherhand, should have worn makeup...

Again, this would be pretty if I had worn makeup.
Sometimes 10 minutes of sleep seems worth it...

I love him.

Everything seems grand right now. I love Doug. I can hardly picture my life without him. It's crazy how sometimes life is a roller coaster. Some days I'm happiness in a bottle. Other times I'm a doubting Thomas. I'm just glad that I have constants in my life: Jesus Christ & His gospel, Truth, and Doug.

The Lakehouse

2011-05-30T12:29:00.003-06:00

The view from our shore

No, this post isn't about the movie, The Lakehouse, although I quite like that movie. Instead, Doug, Jenny and I went up to my family's lakehouse on Saturday and had a great time!

Playing frisbee in the water

Tubing

Lil' D

About to fall

Falling...

Fallen

Me and Jenny...

Apparently we had an exhausting day! :)

I had a blast! The water was "refreshing," the food was tasty, and the company was great! The Dennis family brought their boat and pulled us around all day. Doug, Maria, and Sarah tried "wake surfing" and Jenny tried wakeboarding.

HOORAY FOR SUMMER!!

Brownies

2011-05-25T13:47:00.001-06:00

Have you ever been caught like this:

Has your face ever looked like this?

Maybe this???

Given that the ratio of kids:adult(s) licking batter pictures I found on the internet was about 30:1, one might conclude that licking the brownie batter from the bowl is somewhat socially ... inappropriate? immature? Jenny made some delicious brownies today (actually, the batter was delicious, I haven't tried the actual brownies :)...) and I had a lick. Or a spoonful. Maybe multiple spoonfuls, who knows? Anyway, I thought about my friends (my age-ish) who would (also) look at the sink with regret when the bowl is being rinsed and I didn't think of very many.

Am I wrong? Do you also lick the batter? Or am I truly alone in this fun activity??

A new day!

2011-05-23T13:09:00.000-06:00

Today is Doug's first day at work. His internship in the GE R&D center's statistics department to be more clear. Conveniently enough, Doug's dad works there too. Exciting, right?

Doug outside of the Statistics building of Aachen's University

So while Doug is doing "Statistik" I'm watching Bones. And I've cried in at least 2 of the last 4 episodes! What is wrong with me?? Really, there are things I could - I mean should - be doing. But I'm still getting over jet lag. right?

Germany: all-in-one

2011-05-17T13:35:00.002-06:00

Germany, the second part of our trip, was so amazing. I am really looking forward to going back someday - even for a few years at a time. :) That's actually a pretty big deal for me. Before this trip I was super timid about international travel (mostly because of the language barrier and culture change I think), but now I realize it's not that hard! I loved the landscape, the sites, and meeting Doug's friends.

We picked up a car on our last day in Paris and Josh drove us all to Germany. Once we crossed the border, Doug noticeably changed. He sat up straighter, looking closely at where we were, and was quick to translate every sign or store we passed (kind of like when you were little and finally made the connection that road signs had words that you could actually read! Don't pretend that didn't happen to you).

Doug found us places to stay in church members' homes throughout our whole stay in Germany! As a result, it was by far the least expensive part of our trip (thank goodness because the food in Italy was way expensive!) and, for me, the most fun.

Castle in Aachen
It looks like it grew
from the ground!

Here is a brief itinerary of our sight-seeing in Germany:

Monday

Drive to Aachen
Abendbrot (literally: evening bread - a light dinner of meats and cheeses on delicious bread) at the Eglys'. They spoke perfect English, so it was an easy transition for me, Miriam, and Josh.

Tuesday

Drei Lander Eck

Breakfast, klar (of course)
Aachen tour - by David Egly (he's a year or so older than Doug and often went on splits with the missionaries. He's really cool and introduced us to awesome German music!). We saw drei Lander Eck (three-lands corner), Aachener Dom (Aachen cathedral), the university, ate a doner, and went to their local castle.
Schwester (sister) Egly made us a fantastic dinner: Rouladen (Doug was hoping beyond hope we would have some in Germany :D). Thanks, Eglys!!

Rouladen!!

Wednesday

Kolner Dom (Cologne Cathedral). The second largest cathedral in the world - second only to St. Peter's basilica (which we saw the next week)
The cool dude who draws perspective art on the sidewalk. The real one!!

still don't believe me?

"uh..really really tall?" ~Donkey

Wednesday night

Abendbrot at Lohbeks' in Schwelm. Intense abendbrot I should say. Holy moly, it was amazing! Plus, the Lohbeks were great company.

This is only the left half of the table...

Doug is still talking about this

Sleep in Wuppertal at Wehrend's and Rehnert's. Schwester Rehnert had a really cool garden! Someday I'm going to have one too, I've decided.

Thursday

Wuppertal tour by Gabriela (She's the one who organized our sleeping arrangements for Wednesday night too!) with Alfred. Doug knew both of them well from his mission.
Schwebebahn, authentic rot kohl with potatoes and goulash, and old, beautiful houses in the neighborhood.

Thursday night

Thursday night we slept at Kerstin's house. Doug met her on his mission, and Miriam and Josh are best friends with Kerstin's sister (Tine, who lives in Texas). Crazy, right? Anyway, they have the cutest kids (four) and the youngest three only speak German. We taught each other how to count German/American money. We exchanged animal names, and did each other's hair(s?). Maya (I think that's her name), the oldest, helped me immensely with translation - she's in a 5th grade bilingual class and is super smart! She just finished reading all the Hunger game books and has read all the Harry Potters several times! We have a lot in common apparently. One boy (4 years old) looooved to talk. I learned to respond with ja (yes) or mhmm or wirklich (really)? He didn't seemed to mind. However, that didn't cut it for the other daughter (8 years old). I would do my best but she would get frustrated with me and often resort to having Doug translate. One question though she didn't want to ask Doug insisting that "it's for her." Her question was, "Do you want to have kids?" Haha. So cute! I can see why she wanted to ask just me. She spent a lot of the time interrogating Miriam about her baby. Presh. Is it obvious enough that this was my favorite part of Germany??

Relaxing on the Rhine

Friday

We took a cruise on the Rhine. It was gorgeous! We enjoyed castles, relaxing our feet, and enjoying the German landscape. For 8 hours, the money was well worth it!

That night the Kleins graciously opened up their home to us. The next day they took us to see the Frankfurt temple. I was impressed at how busy it was!

Saturday

After our Frankfurt excursion, we visited the Nowak family (cool, young people with kids... are you seeing a trend in how I define cool people? haha). Bruder Nowak also did splits with the missionaries. He even would wake up and go running with Doug and Elder Woodward (can you picture Doug going running every morning? me neither). They took us on a lovely tour of Darmstadt.
They fed us abendbrot that night and we slept at his in-laws house - the Pilz family. The Pilzs have such a beautiful home. I started planning how I could live like that someday!

Hundertwasser hous. Super cool!!

Sunday

CHURCH! hurrah. Miriam and I went to Relief Society. ALONE. Don't forget, this is in German! I was worried they would ask us to introduce ourselves so I had Doug write down how to say some stuff. Fortunately, they forgot that formality, or didn't notice us, or we didn't notice when they asked about visitors (haha...). Either way, I didn't have to suffer through that. Miriam wrote down the words we recognized: about 15. I think the lesson was about how you view yourself? oh well. Doug translated the Sunday School lesson. Bruder Pilz gave it, and the lesson was truly inspiring. Sacrament meeting was also successful. The missionaries bore their testimonies. I could understand most of them, their German isn't that much better than mine, after all.

Now, back to the real world. We arrived home (VanDerwerken house) at 12:30 early this morning. After sleeping in a real, King-size, delightfully comfortable bed, we learned that someone had stolen our credit card information in Rome and fraudulently tried to charge at least $2400! Don't fret, Capital One intervened just in time and froze the card before the funds could be accessed (phew!!). Needless to say, I'm glad to finally be home, sad to end our adventures, and excited to start a completely new stage of our life! I'll post about Italy (which was amazing, yet disappointing) and then get back to posting about regular life.

Paris: Sightseeing Highlights

2011-05-08T23:27:00.001-06:00

We left Paris a week ago, but this post was so daunting, and I never had a long enough time with the internet to get it done before now. So finally! Like the title says, this post only shows the highlights. I faced a conundrum: I could write a post everyday detailing what we did or I could post millions of pictures (which I did take, I assure you) or I could show just the highlights but risk you being disappointed in the lack of detail. I'm risking it. I also could have been all artistic and everything by organizing pictures and stories in a creative way. However, I decided that I would rather enjoy my time in Europe, IN Europe and not on the computer all the time. So this is what you get - I hope it's enough!

Notre Dame

The view from the top of the Notre Dame

Those birds are real scary!

Saint Chapelle

The Louvre

masses of people trying to get to the Mona Lisa

Eiffel Tower

From the tippy top!! In the direction of Majuro Island - where Jenny was born :)

Walking around

The Phantom of the Opera - Opera

Update:

Now we are in Switzerland. Today we drive to Cinque Terre. WEAJKFDAFDJSKOHYEAH! I'm super excited about it, if you can't tell. Germany was so wonderful, I can't wait to tell you all about it. I hope someday we get to live there for a few years!!

Lapse

2011-05-06T00:47:00.000-06:00

Life in Europe has been just so exciting! We've seen so many things, and visited so many people. We generally get up at 8 or 8:30 and go to bed around 11. Meanwhile we are sightseeing. Do you see any space for blogging? Me either. I will try my hardest to update you in a timely manner, but for now, this is all I have.
Today we are going on a cruise on the Rhine - jealous?
We leave for Italy on Sunday, driving through the alps.
Then, a week in Italy and a flight home on the next Sunday.
Hopefully I can write again before NZ!

Love,
Charisse

Paris: Food

2011-05-03T15:55:00.000-06:00

Ah, the food! Close to our apartment was a Boulangerie (Bakery) and an Intermarche (Market). We ate baguettes, meat, and cheese for half of our lunches and doner kebabs for the other half (per Doug’s request!).

a doner kebab


At the doner shop

One morning we went to the Boulangerie and I didn’t know what to get. I let about 5 people go in front of me and these were essentially their orders: “Pan de chocolat” “Pan de chocolat” “Pan de chocolat” “Pan de chocolat” “Pan de chocolat.” I knew what to get.

Pan de chocolat

Thursday night we ate at a restaurant close to Form de Halles where I ordered these:

Saturday night we walked down Champs Eleesse and did some shopping (shoppin’ shoppin’ too, if you know what I mean). Anyway, we went down a side street looking for a less expensive restaurant and found ourselves in one of the most ritzy places in Paris. (We often saw REALLY nice cars. Like, I can’t even spell them. Daniel would have had a hay day!) So we picked a decently priced Chinese restaurant in this neighborhood. It was beautiful!

Like Emily Bingham - we haven’t eaten at a bad restaurant yet!

Paris: Adventures

2011-05-03T02:13:00.000-06:00

Public Transportation
Because we didn’t have a car, the public transportation system was the best way to get around. It was surprisingly easy to navigate and we didn’t get really lost ever. Aren’t you proud?!

I didn’t take any picture of the metro/RER system for two reasons: 1. I didn’t think of it. And 2. It was filthy. As Doug said throughout the trip, “Urine Europe” (say it out loud). It’s so true, it smelled like urine and alcohol almost everywhere we went in Paris. Gross! Also, more often than not, the floors/ground were covered with trash. Needless to say, Paris is a dirty place.

Doug entertained us with his pronunciation of Paris train stations. My favorite was how he said Chatelet les Halles. It is pronounced “Shut-eh-lay lay all.” He would say, “Chayt-let less hall-ess.” Pricless.

Friends
The Saids met up with us (me, Doug, Miriam, Josh) on Thursday and stayed with us throughout our stay. We were super glad to have them along - aside from their company, they both are perfectly fluent in French and had a GPS. Plus, they live in Norway, so we’ll take any chance we get to see them :).

Mike and Emily Bingham currently live in Paris and they invited us over for dinner Friday night. She made a delicious chicken lasagna and we relished the American company. Their children are super cute. The oldest boy was best friends with Daniel when they lived in NY and it’s amazing to me how much he’s grown up!! The oldest girl looks just like Emily and the other are just too precious. I’m so impressed with their French also! Thanks for having us over, Binghams!

Getting to Paris

2011-04-27T23:52:00.000-06:00

We made it to Paris!!

I am currently eating a banana and enjoying the lovely view from our apartment window:

Taken just a few moments ago. It's overcast today with a high of 65 and a low of 43. Perfect.

I'm in heaven.

Getting here was a little stressful though! I've been traveling since Monday night, and Doug has been traveling since Friday afternoon. Needless to say we are so happy to actually be here.

Once we got to customs, we were in a different country. For example, as we were boarding the plane there were two lines: 1. US Passports 2. Regular Passports. Haha - I thought we were still in NY... On the plane we were obviously in the minority, speaking English, and I found myself wishing that Jesse (and Catherine, of course!!) or John or Ryan (all of whom speak Russian) were with us. Alas, we survived the Russian airport and Aeroflot. I was unaware of a few cultural differences (ie: the toilet paper doesn't go in the toilet) but all that really mattered to me was that we arrive in Paris with all of our baggage (said: be-gej, duh.). Which we did. Hurray!

Let the festivities begin.

Graduated!

2011-04-23T23:58:00.001-06:00

We are graduated!!

We began the graduation festivities Wednesday night after our last finals at Carrabba's with the whole stats crew (stats masters students and their spouses/kids).

Yum!

Commencement was on Thursday (we barely made it, haha!) we sat in the 2nd row.


Richard G. Scott and Cecil O. Samuelson gave great talks!

I'm usually not a big picture person, but here you go anyway!

It was really fun to walk across the stage, even though the gowns are quite silly. Also, my parents and Doug's dad flew all the way out! It has been so fun having them here. They are good packers too ;). I can hardly believe we've finally made it to this point. Everything -from graduation, to packing, to saying goodbye - feels so surreal.

This is us standing in front of Shelby, which is stuffed with a lot of our stuff! Ready to face the rest of our lives. BYE PROVO!!

Ahh!

My new "thing"

2011-04-18T16:56:00.004-06:00

Someday these two are going to get together:

And these two:

Or maybe these two:

I can feel it.

Bones is my new favorite TV show. In fact, I'm waiting for it to come on right now :). Miriam got me hooked and I just realized she's been holding out on me (by keeping the 3 seasons she owns from me). Just Kidding!! But seriously, I'm only in Utah for one more week. How am I supposed to watch 3 seasons in one week? sigh.

Don't worry, I won't miss Bones more than I miss all my friends!

heh heh.

Therapy

2011-04-12T14:21:00.002-06:00

This is awesome. I wish opportunities like this were available for all people, not just those with special needs! (oh wait, they are...still, it's super cool) I think that activities like these: painting, sculpting, interacting with animals, etc, do a lot for a person's self esteem.

Source

I'm definitely not the expert on the impact that an animal can have on a person's health (please step in if you are) but I believe that it is beyond beneficial. I know of several families who got a dog primarily to help their son with autism cope. One mother specifically said that her son does not stutter when he talks to their dog, but he does when he talks to people. Animals simply don't judge people and I think that if you feel misjudged or misunderstood a lot, animals can be a relief from person-person interaction.

Source

P.S. I learned that it's called Animal Assisted Therapy. Here's a cool website about it.

And the packing begins.

2011-04-10T11:01:00.000-06:00

Here would be posted a boring picture of a corner of boxes that have already been packed. Alas, my computer is not recognizing the SD card and will not upload my pictures. Consider yourself spared.

Fortunately, most of those boxes are being left for Maria to pick up when she gets to BYU. I can hardly believe that she is old enough for college. And that I'm old enough to be graduating!! Weird. I'm looking forward to being done with my bachelor's degree, but at the same time, I'm really going to miss BYU. Mostly the "bucket-loads of library databases!" Hah, you think I'm joking.

Seriously though, Doug leaves in TWELVE days to drive out to NY with his dad. And we fly out of JFK in SIXTEEN days to go to PARIS. And then we move on to a completely different chapter of our lives. I'm 8 parts excited, 2 parts anxious.

What dating might lead to...

2011-04-05T14:53:00.000-06:00

So I have a friend, who has a friend, who has a cousin, who is dating this boy.

Didn't fool you? Okay okay, she's my friend, pure and simple. Dating here is defined as exclusively dating, boyfriend/girlfriend type dating... in case you were confused. So I just wanted to ask your opinion on a small matter.

They have been dating for a month (friends for longer, of course) and he is planning to fly out to her home and stay with her for a week or so during the summer. She told me that and I said, "what, are you guys getting married or something?!" Because I think that is a bold move and shows that he means serious business. But maybe I'm overreacting. Of course I'm all for them getting married (assuming he's a good guy...I haven't met him yet) but I don't know if she realizes the reality of the situation.

What do you think?

a) he wants marriage
b) he doesn't have anywhere to go for the summer
c) he just wants to be really good friends
d) something other reason that I can't fathom

Medicating children with Autism

2011-04-04T14:24:00.002-06:00

I realize I haven't posted about Special Ed. in a while. That's because I really haven't come across anything too exciting and controversial. I also realize many of my sped posts seem to be about autism. That's probably because a heck a lot of the new research is about autism, most of my experience is with students who have autism, and it's super interesting to me. So here's another post about autism.

Source

Background: Because autism is prevalent in our society (1.1% of children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to the center for disease control and prevention (CDC)) more and more people are looking for solutions, treatments, etc. Parents make up a huge portion of the population looking for treatments. Unfortunately, parents are not an unbiased party and tend to look for someone or something they can blame (MMR vaccines is a common one - which the British Medical Journal declared fraudulent earlier this year by the way) and some miracle way to fix it (diets, behavior therapies, sensory therapies, and others).

Issue: A new analysis of studies has concluded that most of autism treatments "fall short;" meaning that they are not effective for populations of people with autism. Note: there have been individuals who have had successful results with medication. Recently, there was a small breakthrough in research that may connect autism to a single gene (HOORAY! - though my excitement may be short-lived, this "breakthrough" has happened several times before). Let's continue with the assumption that we have not yet found a one-all be-all solution and ask ourselves: is it worth it to medicate your child with autism hoping that this particular medication will work for your child?


If you immediately understand this picture, you understand autism. haha. A common trait found in autism is stacking, organizing, piling, lining up, etc.

What I think: This is a super tough question for me. I do not have a child with autism so it is hard to go with my gut and say "no I would not medicate my child." Not because I don't believe in medicine and not because I'm okay with the behaviors that come along with autism, but because research currently shows that they do not work. If the medication did not have any side effects, then sure, no biggie. But there are side effects. Big ones. And I don't think it's worth it to medicate my child when the chance of it working is smaller than the chance of serious side effects.

But, like I said, I am not a parent of a child with autism. I'm not the one with sleepless nights because my child wakes up in the middle of the night, unlocks the door, and wanders outside. I'm not the one who deals with the random tantrums, with the headbanging, with the lack of communication, with the social ostracism from church and community. I'm not the one with the heartache of watching your child rejected by his peers. I'm not the one whose child doesn't say "I love you too." Of course I would want a solution. I just don't believe that the solution can currently come through medication.

By the way...

2011-03-30T12:08:00.000-06:00

The first time I heard/saw "btw" was in Sunday School... I was 14. Apparently it was a life-changing experience because I remember where I was sitting (in the 3rd seat from the left) and what what happening (attendance). Okay, moving on.

Why do we substitute "btw" for "by the way?" It makes sense when typing, but vocalizing "btw" seems a little silly. Because it's more syllables than just saying it! Think about it. By-the-way. Bee-tee-dub-ul-you. (That's officially how you spell w, btw: dubulyou.) So to shorten the "bee-tee-dub-ul-you" people say, "bee-tee-dub" and sometimes you'll hear "bee-tee-dubs." I'm just saying. But "bee-tee-dub(s)" is just as efficient as "by the way" (same number of syllables). So there must be a coolness factor in saying "bee-tee-dubs." Then, I figure, if that's the cool thing to say, it might be the cool thing to type!

btdub.
btdubs.
btdubblicious.

Eh, maybe not. Why not just dubs? Because then posterity would wonder, "how in the world did we get from 'by the way' to 'dubs'?!" We wouldn't wanna stress them out. dubs, we're going to Duke.

TRULY Looking for the Good

2011-03-25T16:11:00.000-06:00

I am currently taking a class on the Presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This week we read and talked about Howard W. Hunter, the 14th president. I was really impressed with the sincere love he had for Christ, his family, and even for those he met only briefly. My teacher (Lawrence Flake) related a story to us from Elder Huntsman's point of view. Unfortunately I don't know where to find the story so I will attempt to tell you what happened in my own words.

President Hunter, age 85 (source)

Elder Huntsman was driving when he passed by President Hunter's home and felt impressed to stop by and see how President Hunter was doing. Elder Huntsman inquired, and President Hunter replied that he had just though ill of someone and because of that thought he felt physically sick. President Hunter asked for a blessing to help him overcome the thought.

Can you imagine being so sensitive to the Holy Spirit that you are physically affected when you so much as think a bad thought about someone else? I am inspired by President Hunter to be more Christ-like, to look for the good in others.

President Uchtdorf reminds us that we can choose to look for the good:

Dieter F. Uchtdorf (source)
"We have a choice. We can seek for the bad in others. Or we can make peace and work to extend to others the understanding, fairness, and forgiveness we so desperately desire for ourselves. It is our choice; for whatever we seek, that we will certainly find." (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Looking for the Good", Liahona, March 2011, 4–6)

President Hunter exemplifies the person just described. He chooses to look for the good. In the same talk, President Uchtdorf said:

"There is no end to the creativity, ingenuity, and tenacity of those who look for reasons to criticize. They cannot seem to release their grip on grudges. They gossip and find fault with others. They nurse wounds for decades, taking every opportunity to tear down and demean others. This is not pleasing to the Lord, 'for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work' (James 3:16)."

I do not want to be like that. I am reminded of the children's song, "When I am Baptized" (Children’s Songbook of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 103).

"I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain
And ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again.

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away,
And I can be forgiven and improve myself each day.

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.
I want to be the best I can and live with God again."

I want to be clean. I want to be the best I can.

Date night

2011-03-23T23:16:00.002-06:00

Doug is romantic. Didn't know that? It's true :).

The Martha Graham Dance Company came to BYU! And Doug was nice enough to take me to see them. We sat in our seats (great seats by the way!) and Doug said, "I'm really going to try to appreciate this." Fake it 'til you make it, right? I'm so lucky :). It was really fun to watch them. It was amazing, I felt my creative juices start to flow by just watching them! Crazy, right?

We make a great couple. Don't you think?

I'm not quite sure if Doug appreciated the dancing, but I sure did. When I see such talent I almost wish I had been more serious about ballet in college and majored in dance. If I could get a second undergraduate degree, that's what it would be. Or statistics. HA just kidding.

Blonde moment

2011-03-21T12:03:00.000-06:00

I've been using:

Instead of:

See the difference? I didn't... I can't help but laugh at myself.

Haha, who does that?

I can only get better!

2011-03-19T12:55:00.001-06:00

HAPPY 169th BIRTHDAY, Relief Society!!!

Today, our local Relief Society celebrated the 169th year since its founding. It was actually March 17th, but we're close enough. The women of our ward got together and learned how to make fondant and decorate cakes - cupcakes, as it were.

Cake #1 - the frosting was more textured, but it melted a little because it was so soft!

Cake #2 - the middle was a pink flower; again, it melted. but you can kinda see it, right?


Here's a closer look at the weaving.

It was super fun! And easy. Obviously mine aren't the best, there were some really beautiful cupcakes that other women did. Still, I'm pretty proud of what I did accomplish - I can only get better! Now I'm trying to decide if I should eat them, or save one for Doug...

I'm so glad to be a part of such a wonderful women's organization! I don't know of any other women's organization that is worldwide (170 countries) with more than 5 million members.

As a side note, before Utah was made a state (1847-1852) women were voting in political elections. Utah women lost that right to vote when Utah became a state (ironic, right?). In 1870, women again received their suffrage and could hold office in 1880. And yet again the federal government took that right away with the Edmund's Tucker law in 1887. It wasn't until the 19th Amendment in 1920 that they could vote again (source).

Anyway, all I'm trying to say is that I love being a woman in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I have greatly benefited from the Relief Society across generations. My mother and grandmothers and great-grandmothers were members of the Relief Society too. What a legacy of strong, talented, loving women.

Books don't have to be expensive

2011-03-18T12:04:00.000-06:00

I'm not one to spend a lot of money on books or movies. I love sales and inexpensive stuff in general. But sometimes, Target or Walmart really do not have the selection or quality I'm looking for - especially in infant, children, or YA literature (I guess I'm kind of a snob).

So, I turn to Borders. They have a fabulous selection of really great reads. The problem: I'm buying at a retail price. Boooo. Fortunately they treat their members really well. Hooray! I get emails with coupons pretty much every week. I swear, I have never bought anything at full price (unless I'm in a hurry and didn't plan ahead). For example, this week I have a 33% off coupon for any item AND a 50% off coupon for a blu-ray. It's awesome. Like, really awesome. Oh, and membership is free - you just have to walk in the store and ask.

Why not buy at a second-hand store? The thing is, when I buy books/movies, I'm usually buying them as gifts. And used books just don't cut it. Especially if it's a baby book. GROSS. I have to admit, Amazon is probably a really good alternative too. But can you get How to Train Your Dragon, blu ray (including regular DVD) for 16.50? nope, though you can get it for 23.

Anyway, all I'm saying is I'm a happy camper when I get quality books at discount prices.

Grad School

2011-03-15T13:02:00.001-06:00

Doug and I will graduate in April. Doug will have his master's degree in Statistics and I will have my bachelor's in Special Education. That's in 5 weeks. FIVE WEEKS! Hooray!

and then what?

3 weeks in Europe. Italy, Germany, and Rome. What a nice little vacation ;). After that, Doug has a paid internship this summer at GE's Research and Development center in Niskayuna, NY (my hometown, saweeeeet). And then on to grad school.

Where, you ask? That has yet to be decided. But, I am pleased to announce that Doug has been accepted to PhD statistics programs at Texas A&M, Cornell, Duke, and Harvard. YES!!! We opened Doug's acceptance letter (Harvard) at 10 AM this morning.

Don't believe me?

BOOYAH. My husband is the smartest husband ever. Congratulations, Doug!!

Maybe I was wrong.

2011-03-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ipads and Autism - Still, I maintain my previous opinion. I would like to see some real research done on this issue.

People with Disabilities in the Media - I thought that people were being portrayed incorrectly. Fortunately, this is changing. (Kudos to Brian for being right :).)

Sickly Singing

2011-03-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

Doug has a mild case of the flu which has lasted four days now. Obviously his sickness brings back childhood memories because he has asked for: apple juice, toast, apple juice, chicken noodle soup (I've never heard him request that before!), TV, and more apple juice. It's apparent that he has a fever because: he hasn't touched the freeze pops in the freezer and didn't scarf down the pizza the the LeMaistres kindly brought over for him.

Anyway, Doug has reported having crazy thoughts, so crazy that he can't even put them into words (and that's saying something!). Saturday evening, Doug crawled into bed, wrapped all the blankets around him and started singing. I was in the middle of brushing my teeth but I had to grab the camera and record it:

Some pop cultcha:

And a little bit of classical...

This is priceless.

Common sense, please!

2011-03-04T23:20:00.004-07:00

Background:

Behavior management is a crucial component of a special education classroom. In fact, on some days I felt like I spent more of my time managing behaviors than teaching academic content! Some common (and general) techniques to manage behavior include: positive reinforcement, self-management, charts and contracts, and restraint and seclusion. Restraint and seclusion often include putting a student in a timeout room, buckling a student into a seat (with the intention of keeping him from getting up), holding a student still, or intentionally blocking a student's path. Because of the potentially harmful nature of restraint and seclusion, it is a very debated topic. Currently, Oregon's legislature is looking at passing a law to ban most use of restraint and seclusion.

The Issue:

Restraint and seclusion can definitely be taken to the extreme--abuse. As in this case:

"DES MOINES — After failing to finish a reading assignment, 8-year-old Isabel Loeffler was sent to the school's time-out room — a converted storage area under a staircase — where she was left alone for three hours. The autistic Iowa girl wet herself before she was finally allowed to leave."

This (in)famous story is one of several in which a child a child dies because of their teacher's insanity. This year, in Oregon: "The proposed law would ban prone restraints—in which children are face down, mechanical restraints such as duct tape, handcuffs, or straps, and chemical restraints including medications and drugs." [my opinion interjected: WHERE IS THE COMMON SENSE? This is obviously unacceptable and begs me to wonder how these people have been in the education system so long!!]

Teachers who use this method (in humane ways) to manage their students' behavior often have "difficult" students. In other words, students who behave such that they put themselves and others in danger. Consider this recent story. An 8-year-old boy is arrested, and suspended (for the fifth time) due to his behavior at school. The story does not give much detail but this it presents a valid concern and need for restraint.

What I think:

I believe that the way a teacher manages behavior is in the teacher's control, not the students'. (Honestly, I have spent less than a year in the classrooms, so my experience with implementing these principles is still limited.) I firmly believe in establishing a positive environment and applying positive techniques in order to prevent misbehavior. I worked in a classroom of students who have autism (and students with autism-like behaviors) and consequently, I learned a lot in behavior management. I believe that a teacher can be effective without the use of handcuffs, time-out rooms, duct tape, or chemical treatment. (I've seen time-out rooms and chemical treatment used, not in my classroom, as regular consequences for certain students when they misbehave.)

Fortunately, the extreme stories mentioned above are far and few between. Unfortunately, they are not far and few between enough because we have to establish laws to prevent it. I am glad for the teachers out there who use common sense and who recognize that these students are human beings, not animals we spray in the face or shut up in a room when we don't approve. I pray that everyone can recognize that they are people first, disability second, and treat them as such.

Lots of Awesome Things.

2011-03-01T14:16:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER (if parenthetical statements bother you, don't read this post)

Last Thursday was stinkin' awesome.

Doug passed his defense. (and will soon be published x4)
Maria learned of her acceptance to BYU. (Cha-ching!)
I got a 63 on a midterm. (okay, not so awesome)
We drove up to Ogden. (again, not so awesome)
We began a weekend full of family fun. (super awesome)

Snow skiing is a family favorite. This year, my family came to Utah to ski - which has, literally, the best snow on earth. Especially this year (ahem, week)! We had a blast. Thursday night, Doug and I drove up to Ogden where we were staying (thanks, Nelsons!).

Daniel, Maria, Mom, and Sarah at Temple Square

Friday, I went to Snowbasin with my family:

Apparently, Maria doesn't much care for my face.

I even tried snowboarding. It was harder than I expected...

The quality isn't great (horrible actually), but you can tell that I'm about to fall down.

Anyway, the snow was perfect. So perfect that it might have found its way into my mouth. Don't judge, sometimes you just have to follow your heart!

Saturday was for the experts: Maria, Daniel, and Dad (in no particular order). and I tagged along (I used to be the best, now I take 4th place haha- cest la vie). At Powder mountain they groom only one trail. Awesome. For those of you who have not experienced that much powder, it's intense. Daniel looked like he was bathing in snow (except for when he was going off jumps...every other minute). I fell like fifty times. But I rocked like 100 times. Booyah.

Here is a clip of my last run (much of the powder had been skied through and thus manageable). Sexy, right?

That's what I thought.

Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

2011-02-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

I love the message that this video captures; it is true.

One part that really stood out to me was the quote from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin:

"We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won’t, for He sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming"

("The Great Commandment", General Conference, October 6, 2007).

Even though I do not fully comprehend my potential, I know that Heavenly Father does. He sees me in terms of forever; He sees Doug in terms of forever. It is only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and after all that I can do, that I can hope to become like Him and reach my potential. I am learning to have that eternal perspective, to see myself and others through God's eyes.

Dishes

2011-02-19T21:53:00.002-07:00

You know it's time to do dishes when your silverware drawer looks like this:

I think it's time to invest in plastic-ware.

ipads - do they really help?

2011-02-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

There is this new technology fad in the field of special education: the ipad. Don't believe me? Google search, "ipad autism" and you'll find hundreds, if not thousands, of relevant, recent results.

Background: Much of the population that I work with is nonverbal. Communicating with them and teaching them requires a little bit of creativity :). Technology has been one major avenue that people with disabilities communicate with others. Quintessential example: Stephen Hawking. He uses the DecTALK. He enters text with his cheek, the DecTALK transforms that text to speech. Through this communication device, Hawking has changed the world of science because of his talents.

Issue: Ipads are the new thing. Practically every week I hear/read a story about ipads in special education classrooms. Teachers are writing grants and studying the use/effect of ipads in the classroom. The ipad has obvious benefits for students with disabilities. 1. There are many apps for educational, enriching games for children. 2. It can be used as a communication device. 3. It may engage children in ways that teachers have not been able to. 4. It is extremely inexpensive (compared to the tens of thousands of dollars other communication devices cost). It seems like the ipad is perfect. But what happens when teachers expect to have an ipad for each student in their class. It's hard to argue against the growing evidence that the ipad works.

Special education graduate student Mary Beth Litsey helps a student learn how to use a specially-modified iPad designed to help improve the communication and social skills of children with autism.

What I think: I am instinctively apprehensive and almost critical towards the idea that technology can solve everything in the field of education. I think special educators tend to be more prone to this technology philosophy; we have lots of problems that we can't seem to solve, so maybe technology can do it for us.

My personal opinion is that there is not an "end all be all" solution. Each child will have their own needs and their own strengths (even within the autism spectrum). In my student teaching, we informally experimented with the ipad and a couple of our students. We tried to engage them with apps similar to those in the videos below. We tried to use the ipad as a communication device. We prayed (at least I did) that this would be the breakthrough we needed to get to this child. We only tried for a month, so maybe we needed more time, but we didn't see any success. On the other hand, I sincerely believe the ipad can be the device that opens up these children to our world so that we can truly see their talents.

In many instances, technology does help, but that does not mean it will be useful for every student, or that every student needs and ipad to be successful. I think teachers, districts, and parents need to determine if an ipad is needed on an individual basis.

Real stories:

A boy with autism participates more fully in his classroom:Taylor Parrish finds his voice using technology

Abbey, a young girl with autism, plays with the ipad:

Abbey asks for water:

Valentine's Days

2011-02-14T22:26:00.001-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day(s)!!


Heart-shaped French Toast :) for Sunday breakfast.

I woke up to a dozen roses this morning!!

Doug's computer (on each heart I wrote a reason why Doug is so awesome)

On our way to a suprise dinner...


Surprise! Doug got us reservations to the best Italian place in Provo.

Thanks, Doug!

Hair cut

2011-02-14T22:04:00.003-07:00

Hey, I got a hair cut! About 5 inches. These two pictures actually don't compare very well. The first one was taken in October 2010 and my hair has grown about 3 inches since then. Also my hair is curly in the first picture and straight in the second. Plus, the second one doesn't really look like me for some reason... Anyway, if you want to see the most recent picture of me with curly, longer hair it's at: Facebook. I can't figure out how to copy/paste picture from the new facebook format :(. Anyway, I haven't posted any recent photos of me, so here's for posterity's sake.

Before:

After:

I realized how much I miss having straight, healthy hair. (My hair is still curly, but after I cut it, she straightened it.) It's soft, pretty, and natural. Alas, I'll just have to wait for it to grow out. No more perms!! Still, it was fun for the first month or so.

hulu... plus?

2011-02-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

So Hulu is awesome. We've watched lost, psych, the good guys, law and order LA, and random movies. Lately, I found the health channel - hooray free workout videos, hello rock hard abs! Unfortunately, we've pretty much exhausted all the free stuff (and we heart free stuff).

So I've been thinking, what about hulu plus? $7.99. Unlimited tv shows, movie watching, and workout videos. But doesn't netflix do the same exact thing? Do you have experience with either netflix or huluplus? What do you do to satisfy your movie fix?

Mothers

2011-02-07T13:33:00.001-07:00

Baby hungry? Me? Never. Okay, maybe once...

Motherhood is something I have looked forward to my whole life. And living in Wymount, where half of the women in my quad are pregnant or had a baby in the last two months, does a lot to remind me how close that stage of my life is. And I am so excited.

Shauna is one woman in my quad and the mother of an adorable little girl. She recently wrote a post titled, "Christlike Mothers." She begins with: "I am a wife, a mother, and a homemaker. We have been taught that these are among the most noble callings. But let's be honest, sometimes it's a bit of a struggle to find nobility in changing diapers, cleaning bathrooms, and sweating over home-cooked meals, (both figuratively and literally.) I felt this keenly when my baby was just a few months old. By then the novelty had worn off, and we were in the thick of it." Her post connects these "little" things to what Christ did on the Earth. I encourage you to read it! (Picture taken from Gospel Art Book)

I know that motherhood is a divine calling. But unlike a lot of other callings and responsibilities in the church, this one does not seem as spiritual. I think my feelings stem from a combination of the world's perception of being a mom and reality. Currently, I am looking through "honeymoon goggles" if you will. I think that having a baby will be as easy as I first thought marriage would be. (Actually, marriage for me is pretty easy... so that analogy doesn't hold, but do you see what I mean?). Obviously I know having children will be difficult, but I haven't yet experienced it; and I really only see the good things from the women in my ward.

So I guess what I'm saying is: Shauna's article helped me realize that even though being a mom isn't glamorous, it is apparent that it is a very Christlike thing to do.

In conclusion I'll just say that I am so grateful for my mom. She planned on and prepared for motherhood way before she actually became one. I know that I wasn't an angel child (although now I am, right mom?), I know there were people who scoffed at her in the grocery store or on the subways, and I know there were many 36+ hour days. It's not like she couldn't have done something more lucrative, elite, or comfortable. She wanted to stay at home, teach us, and help us develop character. She knows the value of being a mom and she is the best mom in the world!

You can stop reading now if you want. Below is what I wrote about motherhood on 6/29/2009. (To me it's interesting to see how my perpspective has changed.)

Why be a mother? Why go through the physical pain of pregnancy and giving birth? Why put up with children who won't listen to you, or suffer from the sorrow that comes from children having gone astray?

I thought of the standard, generic answer: because there are rewards that come along with it, which ultimately outweigh the costs. Well, that is definitely true but the ideas my teacher and other classmates gave are much more insightful and I would like to share them with you. One reason that really stood out to me was that by being a mother, you gain charity. Let me try to explain. As you experience the physical and emotional pain because of your children, and through all the sacrifices you make for them, in some ways, you can feel how the Savior feels about us. Because He loves us, He suffered for us that he may know how we feel and that he can succor us. As we sacrifice for our children, we might be able to better understand the deep love the Savior has for us. Mothers make a special sacrifice, sacrificing their bodies and putting their lives on the line to bring life into this world.