Church Changes

Today I'm going to be sharing some things have been on my heart recently. I have not shared much about this big life change; but my family, primarily my parents and I, have been transitioning from our Crossway Fellowship church home to Reach Everett.

Reach Everett is a new church plant in Everett based out of Reach Kirkland. I feel very strongly in my heart that God is calling me to be a part of this church plant, but it didn't start out that way.

I was baptized at Crossway. I have had very close friends there. I have watched babies be born and grow up to be little people. I have been going to that church through my entire teenage life, which included some of the hardest and the best moments I've known thus far. In the beginning, in late September, when my parents were considering transitioning from Crossway, I was against it. I didn't want that for me. My heart felt hardened towards leaving Crossway, ever. I had never felt at home at a church before Crossway and it gave me so much anxiety and sadness over the thought of leaving it.

But God changes hearts, and he radically changed my mindset. There is nothing wrong with Crossway's ministry, but I feel like my whole life, God has been preparing me to become a part of Reach's mission. It's all part of God's story and His mission, but I have a huge heart towards the Everett city and the Everett School District (especially as a Lowell Elementary para and WWU-Everett student).

Reach has the same heart towards reaching the Everett city that I do. We don't want to buy a separate building for our church gatherings. We want to rent a spot inside a school or owned by the Everett School District, so that everything we pay towards a building is benefitting the schools and the surrounding communities.

Since mid-September, my parents and I, as well as most of my siblings (most of the time), have been going to two churches every Sunday. Crossway starts at 10am and Reach is currently at 5pm. So we've been having very hectic, busy Sundays lately.
Once Reach gets a building they can have Sunday morning services in, hopefully by Easter, I'll be transitioning completely to Reach. I'm already mostly transitioned. I don't really attend Crossway anymore unless I'm in the nursery. I'm in the nursery twice more and then I won't be participating in the Crossway ministry anymore. My mom, sister and I will most likely keep going to the Everett Gospel Mission, a ministry that Crossway does once a month, for the foreseeable future, because we love those ladies and kids and we're very invested in that ministry. My mom and I see these ladies out and about around Everett all the time.

I'm currently in the children's ministry already at Reach because they have such a huge need for childcare helpers; they have LOTS of little kids and babies! I am in love with the people at Reach and so excited to see this journey continue. I already have close relationships bonding, and I've been able to get coworkers from Dutch Bros to attend as well! 

I am so grateful to God that he changed my heart and made me so excited for Reach.

HLW

The First Week as a Life Skills Para

I'm not going to sugarcoat it. This has been a hard week! Especially because over the weekend I'll be at Lakeside Bible Camp as a gopher for High School Weekend. But let me start from Day 1.

MONDAY

I arrived to school early - at 7:15am to meet with my VP and life skills teacher to discuss expectations for the day and answer any questions I may have. I didn't have a lot, since I had visited the classroom already and met most of the kiddos. Since a couple kids were absent, the day was pretty chill. Of course every child had their moments. I chased a little boy around the playground for over 10 minutes, weaving in and out of 4th graders, because he had taken off running in a part of the playground he's not supposed to be. But these kids are truly amazing.

If you don't know what Life Skills is, it's typically a separate classroom where a teacher and several paras are working intensively with students who have severe disabilities. It's not just a classroom, but a variety of services that are offered. Because of the needs of these students, they are typically separated from the mainstream classroom in all areas. Some of these specific students are pulled out of the classroom for lunch or speech/language with professionals; however, professionals also come into the classroom to work with the students as a whole. Many of them are nonverbal, and a couple communicate with sign language. Each child is so unique and each one has a different set of unique needs. In this specific classroom, the students are in 1st - 3rd grade.

The day went by pretty quickly. We pick up the kids from the buses at 8:20-8:30 and then head to the classroom. Throughout the day, they have three recesses, breakfast, lunch, and two snacks. They have times of unstructured play, and more intensive teaching as well as sensory stations. Each student has different goals they are working on. Because of my SPED (special ed) classes I took last quarter, I'm familiar with these kinds of goals, IEPs, and BIPs. I met lots of new people, became acquainted with the layout of the building, got mail, used the copy machine, etc. I have a 40 minute lunch break in the afternoon and then we get the students to the buses at 2:50, and the day ends quickly after that. Everyone is very welcoming and kind. I'm excited to become part of the Lowell team!

I am so thankful for this new job. It will be so much easier now to make a schedule and budget when I have a set salary and hours. At Dutch Bros, everything was up in the air. I made minimum wage; tips were never dependable; and hours were always different every week. Now I get weekends off, and when I don't have class, my late afternoons/evenings are free for "me time" or homework. This quarter, I only have classes on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and Monday evenings once a month. This will change with the new quarter, but until the end of March it's steady.

TUESDAY

The day starts at 8am. We don't pick up the kids until around 8:20, and once they're down from the buses, it's all hands on deck. We only had 5 kids out of 7 today, but one girl is in and out, so most of the time we have 4 students. Today was so fun! I felt like the first day I was so new and unsure of my surroundings I didn't have a lot of fun. The kids were quiet yesterday and not used to me. Today, they were chatty and fun! Of course we had a couple issues. Kids ran away, recess was FREEZING, there were a few tantrums, and some scratching, throwing food, spitting and yelling (life skills is not for the faint of heart). But I love getting to know the individual students and their personalities and quirks. One of the students loves Psy's Gangnum Style so we danced to that song for several minutes. We played dress up. At the end of the day, we talked about the crafts we'd do for Valentine's Day and what to expect. I'm really excited for Wednesday! I will only be working until 11:30 because I need to be in Bothell at Cedar Wood Elementary at noon for my practicum. Thankfully we're doing all the fun crafts in the morning!

WEDNESDAY

Very busy day overall. We spent the morning doing lots of crafts. My favorite was when we took off all their socks and shoes and painted their feet in red, and then made footprints in the shape of a heart. We all had a lot of fun with this one, even though it was so messy! At 11:30 I went to my Bothell school, and then at 3:30 I went to my college. I go from school to school to school on Wednesdays, but I love it!

THURSDAY

So far this was the hardest day I've had. The students were crazy and we had a lot of pretty severe behavioral issues all day long. But the kids are still cute. They are still fun and quirky. And after today, I still love this job and I'm so thankful for the change.

FRIDAY

I now know why people love Fridays more than any other weekday! Friyay for sure! It was a shorter day, and thankfully most of the kids were happy for most of the day. It's been a loooong week and now time for a long weekend! I have Lakeside Bible Camp tonight through Sunday and then I get Monday and Tuesday to relax (lol), but mostly get chores and rabbit stuff done. I do have to say though, I'm excited to see my kids again!
I do have to say that the funniest thing that happened today was that one of my students, during independent art work, made an Afganistan flag with his paper. I could spend all day talking about the quirks of this student, but I do have to say that made me laugh.

I hope you guys have a fabulous long weekend!

HLW

New Job Excitement!

I have officially been hired by the Everett Public School District!

I completed my applications and everything on January 7th. The next day, I was contacted by the assistant Principal of Lowell Elementary and asked if I was still interested in one of the jobs I applied for as a paraeducator in life skills. Of course, I said I was. We scheduled an interview for that next Friday, the 19th. A week later, I was called by the same school and asked for an interview on the 18th for an ECEAP preschool position. A few days after those interviews, I had another call and interview with Emerson Elementary. Then, around the same time, I was offered a tour of the Life Skills classroom and I met several of the students in that room. I fell in love instantly, and my heart knew that even if I was offered all three jobs, I would choose Life Skills. Annette, the VP, and I have been staying in contact but a couple weeks went by with no word.

A couple days ago I was offered the preschool position. Then, just last night (2/7), a lady named Linda from the Everett School District HR gave me a call. She said that I was in the unique position that Lowell Elementary was offering me two separate positions - the assistant preschool teacher position, and the Life Skills position. She asked if I wanted either of them or one more than the other. I was so excited and took the Life Skills position! Linda asked why I chose this position. I said that I had a heart for kids with disabilities and I had met the students and fell in love. She seemed really excited for me, too. She said that Annette would be in contact with me soon and give me more information.

Annette emailed me that night and welcomed me to the team. Then she asked me when I wanted to start! I had no idea that this new job would get started so quickly and suddenly. I had to call my boss Teal and discuss this with her before I could make additional plans with Annette and the school district. Today (2/15), I'm at HR to fill out paperwork and get more information about how much I'll be paid, and what benefits are like. I'm meeting with a lady named Debra Wisniewski! Wisniew is derived from Wisniewski, so technically we have the same last name, how funny is that?!

Anyway, it looks like they want me to start on Monday! That means that I will potentially not work at all next week at Dutch Bros. I would've worked on Saturday but I took that day off for Lakeside Bible Camp's high school weekend. So my last day at DB (for the season), is Saturday the 24th!

Since paras don't work during the summer, I will be needing to get a summer job in just a few short months (about mid June). Thankfully, Teal said that I may be able to work again at Dutch Bros through the summer! This would be the best case scenario, because I wouldn't have to get accustomed to new management or the training of a short summer position. Because we're SO MUCH busier through the summer, Teal likes the idea as well because it means she doesn't have to train a new person and I already know all our regular customers and am comfortable with the job.

So I'm not leaving Dutch Bros completely. But for the next several months, I'll be on a new adventure. I am so excited to see what its in store at Lowell Elementary. In another post, I'll go into more detail about the specifics of the job itself. Not everyone can work well with children with special needs. But I am very comfortable with them. We connect well. I understanding that children with special needs are sometimes considered harder to love, and I want to be someone to tells them they are loved. They are worth it. They are special because they are who they are, not because they have "special" needs.

I'm super excited to see what the future has in store. I had my first day today and I'll talk more about it in another post!

Have a great week!

Holls B Jolls

First Plane Ride & First Impressions

It's been over a month since I left California. However, I still wanted to document the trip. This is a long post; but there are plenty of pictures at the end, mostly all taken by my sister, and highlights of every day we were there.

The trip started early, with an Express Shuttle van arriving at our door at about 4:07am. Our flight was at 8:12 but we wanted to make sure to get there plenty early since we were flying alone and it was our first time. 

We arrived at the airport at 5:30 and spent some time walking around, getting into long lines we weren't supposed to be in, and finally went through security around 6:30. Sydnie was able to go through PreCheck, so we were separated because I had to go through the normal security. The line was VERY long, but went surprisingly fast. I took about 20 minutes longer than Sydnie did, however, so she waited on the other side. They didn't have us take our shoes off, separate the liquids, or anything like that, which is what I was expecting. Maybe the LAX airport will be different and take longer, but I was surprised. 

After we were both reunited again, we had lots of time to kill before the flight boarded. We got some Starbucks and ate some snacks. We boarded the plane at 7:47. There was one stop before we landed in LAX, in Santa Rosa. This first leg of the journey was beautiful, completely smooth sailing, with views of mountains and the sunrise. We were able to watch some of a movie, listen to music, I read a lot, and slept a little. 

The second leg was much rougher. Since we were in California, we saw so much smoke and burned land from the plane. There was lots of turbulence, and the plane shook. I'm not going to lie, it was terrifying. I didn't know that turbulence is a relatively common and not very dangerous occurrence, but because of the shaking and dipping I was worried we would crash. I had to close my eyes, breathe, and pray. Because of my anxiety, I was a little shaky, and my stomach was turning long afterwards. We didn't crash, of course. We made it to land and Anna picked us up at the curb. 

LAX was not as crazy as I was expecting. I'm sure it's crazier to fly out of, but it was not crowded at all when we walked through. It was easy to find her and we headed to our home for the week. Anna's family lives in Camarillo, about 2ish hours out of LA. It was about 1:00pm, and the drive was beautiful. We took the scenic route and drove along the coast the whole time. We saw surfers and paddle boarders when we drove through Malibu. The houses look so different, very "California-y" and the palm trees!! Honestly everything looked the way Cali does in movies and on TV.

As soon as we got to Camarillo, we needed to pick up the kids from Anna's in-laws' and her parents' house. Both families have pools, orange trees, and the Spooners have an avocado tree. All three families live only blocks from each other. The Spooners and Tabors have dogs from similar litters, and littermate cats.

After picking up the kids from the Spooners', we spent a few hours at the Tabors. Around dinner time, we went to eat at In-and-Out.

That night was pretty chill. After dinner, we relaxed at the house and my sister and I watched TV in bed and went to sleep early, due to our long day.

On Friday, we went to the ocean with Anna, her kids, younger brother, Jack, and sister, Faith. Faith works at the mall in Thousand Oaks, and offered to drive Sydnie and I there to hang out while she was working. We shopped and watched Daddy's Home 2 at the Thousand Oaks mall theater. Their tickets are only SIX DOLLARS so we had to grab that opportunity to see a movie we wouldn't normally watch in the theaters. I spent the same amount of money on both our tickets that I typically spend on ONE here in Everett.

On Saturday morning, with Anna, the kids, her sister in law, and Faith, we went to the farmer's market (which is year-round in CA), and bought DELICIOUS chocolate macaroons! We also went thrifting and played with the kids at a park.

On Sunday, we went to Faith's church in the morning and her youth group's nerf party afterwards. The theme was camo, so we decided to go in Christmas camo. We wrapped ourselves in wrapping paper or hung ornaments on our shirts to become a tree. We won the costume contest and got a prize. After the games, we hung out with Anna's brother George all day. He drove us around looking for my wallet, which I lost (but eventually found), in California. That night, we played games and ate brownies.

Monday was spent mostly at Anna's in-laws' house. We did crafts there and talked on their porch, while being served iced tea by Anna's mother in law :) We went out to eat lunch at a Mexican place beforehand.

Tuesday, we went to the LA zoo. We were going to go to the Santa Barbara zoo which was closer, but due to the fires, that zoo was preparing to be evacuated and so it was closed. That night, Sydnie and I had sushi for the first time with Anna and Faith.

Wednesday was our last day, and unfortunately it wasn't that great. Sydnie and I did not feel well, but at least she was able to go to the beach again with Anna and the kids. Because we had to leave so early, that night was spent saying our goodbyes to Faith, George, Anna's in laws and the kids, and going to bed early.

It was overall an amazing trip. I'm really excited to go back to California this year and do more exploring. Maybe Disneyland next time!

Thanks for reading this LONG post! I hope you enjoy the pictures at the end (@sydnisity & @sydsartpage on Instagram).

H.L.W

P.S. Yes they are all screenshots of her Instagram lol :)