What's Up

I've been very busy lately. I had a 5-week-long break in December from school, and took a nice relaxing trip to California. Now I'm definitely back to the same old busyness of a full time college student, studying to be a teacher (one of the hardest professions, I swear), and still working 20 hours a week.

School has been going great so far, but I am still in the first week. As someone studying to be a teacher, this quarter I am beginning my practica. A practicum (plural: practica), is when I'm in a school observing and assisting the teacher. This quarter I will be teaching at least one lesson in the 1st grade classroom I'm observing, and I'll need to plan this lesson ahead of time to be reviewed and graded by my instructors and practicum supervisor. I'll be in Cedar Wood elementary once a week from 12:00 - 3:30pm, so only a few hours. I'm really looking forward to what this quarter brings. LOTS of homework, but I'm ready! I have an Educational Psychology class, an IT class that only meets once a month, and the Foundations of Education class.

Work has been busy as well. I've been working under 20 hours most weeks but the days I work are long. If I work the morning shift, then I'm out of the house from 6:30am until 9:30 at night. At least with these shifts, I get several hours to relax at school and get homework done or put some makeup on before class. When I work the noon shift, I'm out of the house from 11:30am until 9:30pm, but with this shift, I have to rush from work (I get off at 4:15), to the bus to get to school on time (which starts at 5). Thankfully I'm getting my license and my own car soon, so this rushing to catch the bus will change!

I'm also getting a new job soon. I've decided to become a paraeducator with the Everett School District, for better hours; more pay; and most of all, to start working with kids and gaining new experience that will someday aid me as a teacher. I had been working on my applications for some time. The initial application I had finished and submitted by mid December, but I needed to write a resume and letter of introduction (I didn't have those or need them when I applied at DB), I needed to get 3 letters of recommendation, and submit pictures of my AA degree and transcripts. After those were turned in, I had an assessment with "what would you do" scenarios to complete. I finally completed all of that on Sunday night (1/7), and the next day I received an email asking if I was still interested in one of the jobs (life skills at Lowell Elementary), that I had applied to. Of course I said yes, and an interview has been scheduled for next Friday. Today (1/12), I got a phone call and another interview set up on Thursday for Lowell Elementary's preschool assistant teacher position. When the interviews come closer, maybe I'll make a post explaining what these positions mean, their hours, and pay, and which ones I'm leaning more towards. I may also get more interviews set up after the holiday. It's funny to me that they're both in the same school. Lowell Elem is 6 minutes for my house, so it's very ideal. I was hoping for Madison Elem, which is within walking distance, but I'm not picky!

I had no idea that this would move so fast. Because a paraeducator position is 30+ hours, Monday through Friday, I will not be able to work at DB anymore. However, I haven't put in my 2 weeks yet because I don't know the outcomes of the interviews, and I will keep working at the great job I have until the even greater one starts.

Something else fun that is going on this winter is Lakeside Bible Camp! Last year I cabin led senior girls (10-12 year olds), for a week during the summer, and this weekend I'm cabin leading jr. high. Next month I'm cabin leading girls camp, and the weekend after that I'm a gopher for high school camp! I'm really excited. Since I have summer quarter at school, I may not be able to cabin lead summer camp for a couple years. However, I want to do as much stuff during the winter as a can!

Thanks for reading my ramblings and I hope you guys learned a little bit more about what's going on with me! Maybe you cared, maybe you didn't. But now you know, haha!

H.L.W.

Hello 2018

2018 is here! If you read my last blog, you know that 2017 was a big year for me. There were many ups and downs. Haven't read it yet? Here it is: https://loveeverythinggood.blogspot.com/2018/01/good-bye-2017.html

Today I'm going to be leaving 2017 in the past and write about my goals, hopes, and excitements for the year 2018. I hope to have lots of adventures. 

If you haven't read my post about making goals for my 19th year, you can find it here: https://loveeverythinggood.blogspot.com/2017/11/19-things-for-19-years.html

I'm going to be using my biggest goals from that post as my 2018 goals. I don't believe in resolutions. They rarely last and just don't mean as much to me as goals. Goals are realistic, require steps, and just seem to make more sense. I googled the definitions of both terms and resolution means: "a firm decision to do or not do something." Goal means: "the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result." A goal requires hard work. A resolution is all in your head. Maybe you see the definitions of these words differently, but this is what they mean to me.

All these goals are adaptions or variations to the goals I made for my 19th year. To see the full list, click the link above. I chose the biggest ones that I want (or need) accomplished. These goals are challenging. They will take lots of hard work. I don't believe that you can do whatever you set your mind to, because there are some things that humans just can't control or have power over. But I do believe that an attainable goal that has measurable steps and challenges you to be better than you are, can be reached with hard work and determination.

1. Read my Bible and journal daily. Pray continually without ceasing.

2. Read, read, read for FUN. Put down your phone scrolling on Facebook and read.

3. Become a paraprofessional (paraeducator). So far my applications are in and now it's just the waiting game!

4. Buy a car and get my license.

5. Buy a camera.

6. Travel. Even if it's somewhere close, go exploring.

7. Take care of myself. Work out regularly. Cleanse and detox. Find balance between being alone and being with family and friends on days off. Get lots of sleep. Take my vitamins. Prioritize my physical and mental health. Get outside. Get more massages. Do more hot yoga. (This goal is seriously LOADED).

Thanks for reading some rambles and goals. What are your goals for 2018? Are you a resolutions or a goals person?

#goals,

- H.L.W - 

Good Bye 2017

Welp, bye bye 2017 (imagine here a waving hand emoji). It's been one crazy year. It's been all the things and ALL the feels.

Today is January 1st, 2018. I've been reading through my journals over this past year to remember everything that happened. While I do have a good memory, there are so many things this year that slipped through the cracks. Today I'm going to talk about everything that happened in 2017. The good, the bad, and the ugly. In my next post, going up next week, we'll talk about everything that I hope will happen in 2018 and the reiteration of some main goals I hope to accomplish this year.

January 24: Met Travis Boersma

January: New community group

April: Crossway Women's Retreat

May: Shed

June: Graduated with High Distinction (3.70 GPA). I had a grad party and no one from work showed up.

June 19th: Accepted into Western Washington University's Woodring Program!

June 24 - July 3: Cabin leader for Senior Girls camp at LBC

August: VBS

August 21st: Solar eclipse 2017! I was working with Maddie, Taylor, Katelyn and Erika. Taylor had brought in solar eclipse glasses and we got to enjoy this opportunity with customers. It was a pretty cool shift!

August: DB Coacha in Medford, OR. This was my first concert as well. Daya opened for Macklemore.




September 11: Driver's permit

September: Joined the leadership team at my youth group for our middle school group

September 22: Hot yoga for the first time with my boss

September 25: Started school at Western Washington University at EVCC

October 29: Started going to Everett Reach Church

November 5: A mother rabbit of mine died. In December, another rabbit of mine passed away from unrelated causes. I actually had to put down the second one, because she was paralyzed.

November 9: Sam told me she was leaving and broke my heart

November 11: I turned 19

November 18: One year ago I was hired at DB

December 13: One year ago DBEverett opened!

December 14 - 21: California adventure! My first plane ride! In CA we also had sushi for the first time.


December 24 & 25: We had a white Christmas!



The year was filled with firsts, new friends, loneliness, and loss. I started taking better care of myself; worked out on a regular basis; didn't eat sugar for a large portion of the year; and started seriously saving money for school, trips, and hopefully a car. I started blogging because I had lots of opinions and things to say especially now that I'm in Western. I have read lots of books this year for fun because I used to be an avid reader and I missed it. This has been a huge year. It's been fun, it's been terrible at times. But it's been worth it. It's another year in the books.

I'm going to be honest, I'm glad it's over, and excited for changes and new adventures in the coming year. What's your biggest highlight of 2017?

So long,

H.L.W

P.S. I have a couple posts started about my California adventures, and I hope to post these (with pictures!), scattered throughout the month. It was a busy week and too much happened to just write one blog about it.