before bed

now i lay me down to sleep, i pray the lord my soul to keep. and if i should die before i wake, i pray the lord my soul to take.

this is something my mom and i used to say every night before i went to bed when she was tucking me in. it's in a preview for a movie right now on tv (it's actually a horror film which is kind of strange) and i heard it and it made me think of those nights. so mom, if you're reading i hope you remember those nights too. and it was when i only had a twin bed and it fit right in that nook in my room. those were some good nights. sometimes i miss being a kid. love ya mom!

what a blast

this weekend i went home for saturday and part of sunday. it was great. michele is in town and it was great to see her. all five of us, six including mike, were together which doesn't happen very often: mom, dad, michele, elizabeth, mike, and me. a lot of fun. then the rest of the gang come over and we enjoyed good conversations, a good game of trivial pursuit (even though the boys team won), and great food. everyone pitched in and it was a fabulous night. we even got to stay up late and play video games. i love being around family. all the cousins are so grown up it's hard to believe. and then this morning i enjoyed a nice breakfast with the whole family again and then had a nice trip back to school. it was nice to get off campus, see my family, and enjoy amazing food. i can only hope i have many, many, many more times like these in the future. i know we get older and get busier but you always need to make time for family. love to all. 

don't quit just yet

so it seems like people are having trouble finding the face. a little hint. it's actually a picture of a guys face from about his forehead to right under his nose. it's not like a picture made out of beans or anything. but it's frustrating right? well you're experiencing what children with learning disabilities, primarily those with visual impairments, feel like everyday whether in school or even on the playground. but keep trying! you can find it!

can you find the face?

tonight in my special education class (no, i'm not in a class for special education students, i'm learning about special education and different disabilities as well as how to teach students with special needs. just wanted to clear that up), we did a lot of brain teasers as i would call them. brain teasers in all different areas including visual perception, auditory perception, oral expression, and reading comprehension. such things included finding the hidden face in a picture of coffee beans, figuring out a number sequence when you only have the initial number and the final outcome, and making sense of a paragraph with nonsense words. some of them were hard! i really got frustrated and worked up that some people were able to figure it out faster than me or just able to figure it out. i thought it was a really great way to show how frustrated students with learning disabilities feel in their everyday classroom if accommodations aren't made for them. Things such as not being able to copy down the notes off the board because of visual impairments, or not being able to understand the teacher correctly because of auditory blending. Things that are very common to someone like myself but can be the hardest obstacles for others to overcome. i'm really enjoying this class and the way the professor presents the material. it's definitely a class that has opened my eyes and my mind and something that i may seriously take into consideration for future career plans. 

me, a grown up? nah...

i have been accepted to study away in australia and i have declared my major. it's scary being a grown up. about 8 or so more weeks of school this year and i will be half way done with college. WHAT!?!?!?!?!?! that's insane. i just turned 20. i can't even believe it myself. i certainly don't feel like a grown up. this is weird. i'm still playing softball like i did as a kid, i'm still very much dependent on my parents, and i like to act silly pretty  much all the time. well hopefully i can postpone this whole grown up thing for a while. and let me give you all a pat on the back, those of you who are grown ups in my eyes, because you're doin' one hell of a job. (yes this even includes you sarah, alex, amy, and lisa, and my sisters). for right now i'll just keep trucking along as i've been used to and wait until the last possible second to when i have to become an adult. an adult, that's even weird to say.

SNOWDAY!

snowday today!!!! for the first time in a VERY long time the school was closed today due to snow. this doesn't happen often because the school is so small and it's so easy just to walk everywhere. today i got to sleep in and didn't have to worry about much. it was a great way to start the week! it reminds me of all the snowdays in high school....

trinity days

this weekend we had off from classes on thursday and friday. most people go home so campus was dead except for athletes. it was nice to catch up on some sleep and to just hang out with some of the girls. practices went well, we even got outside one of the days. on saturday my parents came to visit which was awesome! i miss them a lot at school. they picked me up and we went shopping for my birthday and then to margie and jeff's house for dinner. the food was AMAZING as usual, so much better than campus food. we saw their granddaughter sophia who is quite adorable. i slept there and we had anything fabulous meal in the morning. it was a great way to end the weekend. very nice indeed.

countdown to florida:  12 days!!!!!