Live by these

• Someday everything will make perfect sense. So for now laugh through the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason. -unknown
• There are things we don't want to happen, but have to accept; things we don't want to know, but have to learn; and people we can't live without, but have to let go. -unknown.
• What's the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable. -unknown
• The key to happiness is letting each situation be what it is instead of what you think it should be. - unknown
• Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars. - Bryan Littrell
• People are often unreasonable and self centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies. Succeed anyway. What you spent years building, someone can destroy overnight. Build anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world your best, and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see in the end it's between you and god. It was never between you and them anyway. - MotherTheresa    
• Be who you are and say what you think, because those that mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss
• A girl should be two things; classy and fabulous. -Coco Channel
• A successful woman is one who can build a firm foundation out of the bricks others have thrown at her. -unknown
• Once you stop learning you start dying. -Albert Einstein.
• You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have left. -Bob Marley
• There will be times you feel like you have failed, but in the eyes, heart, and mind of your child, you are super mom. -unknown

So these are some of the most important pieces of advice I can give you that I have found to help be through tough times. I have found that taking a little bit from all of them and mixing them together into one big pot works well and should get you through. It won't be easy, life never is. But no matter what's going on it will be ok. Give it some time and give yourself some time. It may be cloudy now but it won't rain forever.

Staying in the hospital.

So, a little excitement happened in my life overnight. I spent the night in the hospital. I have got to admit that the staff is super nice and really caring. I loved my nurses and at this particular hospital you get a patient care assistant that is assigned to a nurse and is there to help the patient and their family with anything they need. My care assistant spent most of the time not actually catering to me but to my husband. Coffee, pillows, food, blankets, anything he needed she was right there with a smile on her face and a caring word to get it for him.
Hopefully I get to go home today but if not atleast I know I am cared for and that I'm not just some patient with a symptom. I have a name and feelings, my comfort matters to the people who are charged with looking after me. I could not ask for a better care staff.
It is still a hospital though, tests take forever to be read, doctors are busy with a lot of patients, and sometimes everything doesn't go as planned. My IV is in a wierd spot and the tape kind of itches, my feet can't seem to stay warm. Though the food is really really good.
I am getting to go home so I'll wrap this up. Just waiting for them to come take put my IV out and give me my discharge papers.

STRESS!!

Stress: (noun) A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances...

Yep. That's me. Normally I try to live a simple and minimally stressful life... Somehow that backfired. Stress can be a very stressful thing. This particular post is just to let you know that I may be a little spotty with my school work and there will be days when I spend all day on school, and there will be days that school work will be the last thing on my mind.

I have been trying to work on all my assignments and get everything done. I have four classes this semester; English, French, History, and Biology. All classes that I like and find interesting and fun... but for some reason I can't bring myself to focus on anything lately. Sometimes life can get to you that way. It is hard to work though when you feel like everything is trivial compared to what is going on in the moment. You have to force yourself to take a step back and figure out what is actually important.

School is important. Family is important. Right now they are both number 1. I need to get through school so I can help support my family and make a better life for them.

This I believe first draft.

   I believe a woman should be capable  of doing anything a man can do. I once read where someone had said: "a woman can do anything a man can do. She just has to do it twice as well to be considered half as good." This quote actually inspired me to start my college career.

   I did not start our going after a degree in teaching. I actually started out in diesel tech. When I was growing up my dad was a mechanic and my mom could do anything he could. I was four when my dad and I built my first car. There is no conning this woman in to believing that the blinker fluid needs to be changed.

   Just ask my husband, I can do anything he can do, and give birth. I believe that women are able to do it all, just because they may not want to, doesn't mean they can't. Being independent is a good thing. Yes, I do believe that men should take car of women, but what happens when a woman doesn't have a man?

   A man living alone is expected to fix the plumbing,change the oil, and fix a flat. Women should be able to do these things too. Not only does it make a woman more independent and self sufficient, but when she starts a family with a man she has a lot more to bring to the table. I can recall many days when my husband would leave for work and tell me that when he got off work he was going to fix something. I would say about 50% of the time, I would have it done for him when he got home.

   Being a woman who is well rounded in her skills is important to me. I believe that every woman should be able to do at least the basics. It will serve you well not to be all stuffed animals and glitter, but actually get a little dirty every once in a while and get things done.


*now this is just a (very) rough draft. I WILL turn this into a wonderful essay in the next week or so.

Parle vous Francais?

I took french in high school and I took it again this semester in college, I thought okay I already know this stuff and it fills a requirement for my degree, plus the extra credit hours will be nice. I told my husband it would be an easy A because I was fluent in french two years ago. It's not. out of all the classes I am taking this semester I feel french is probably one of the hardest. I thought it would all come back quick and I wouldn't actually be learning much new stuff. I was very wrong. So I sat dawn and actually thought back to all the "stupid" assignments and activities we had to do and realized though they may have been stupid at the time that they would help me remember in long run. I started copying things from the book and making my notes more organized. I ripped out all the pages I had and started fresh. took every thing and reorganized it. All the numbers are written in one spot and not scattered from page to page. Verbs and adjectives all written out in their different forms all together. Greetings and goodbyes. Now when I look at my notes I can tell what I am looking at and it's not all a jumbled mess. There is space in each section if I need it to add to later in the course and I even noticed my assignments are easier. Instead of thinking "ok what does that mean" it is "ok I remember writing that somewhere. Is that a number or a verb?" Sometimes all you need to be successful is a little reorganization and some colored pens. . . Now if only that worked for anything but school work.

Not sure what to call this one

This week we are supposed to be writing to improve fluency. I haven't really found any interesting topics to write about. I have been thinking about prompts I used to write to and every time I sit down to write I just can't seem to put words on paper. Even now I am having trouble with it. Nothing seems to flow. So I guess in this post I am writing about not being able to write. I know that writers block is a real thing, but I haven't had a big problem with it before. I'm not sure how to get past it, I thought maybe if I wrote about it now it might help and I could at least put some ideas on here. That does not seem to be the case though. So for now I guess this is it and there isn't much here I know. Google here i come for some ideas!

Knowing Your Audience

       My audience this semester is a  currious one. From the questions that were posted to the board I can gather that many are enthusiastic about learning. Some questions were simple "Where are you from?" others really made you think "If you had a one way ticket anywhere, where would you go and who would you take?" There were questions like "Where are you going when you die?" and "Is it second nature to judge someone?" I believe that this audience is engaged in their learning. Most contributed questions that were intelligent and inquisitive. Something that took more than just a word or two to answer. When I was going through answering questions there were many that made me stop and think. I had even had to put off answering a few of them for a few days while I thought about how to answer them. When I was able to answer them i still felt like there was a lot more I could have written than just what I did. Even some of the simpler ones "Who is your favorite musical artist?" are deeper than they appear to be. Most of the answers to this particular question were along the lines of "It changes day to day or week to week." When you think about this question you also have to think what is going on in my life right now and what does this artist say about certain things. How does the music make me feel in the moment and does it relate to something in the here and now? I believe I will have a lot of fun writing to this audience this semester.

Never take anything for granted

I believe that you should never take anything for granted. To take something for granted is to misuse it. To misuse is to disrespect and that is the worst thing you can do. I have taken things for granted before and learned my lesson the very hard way. When you take something for granted you run a chance of loosing it forever and if it something that you deeply care about, that is the worst feeling in the world. When you think you have lost something you love because to took it for granted it not only metaphorically hurts but it hurts physically too. You don't want to do anything but fix what you did and if you feel that you can't then all you want to do is cry. Taking something for granted is to assume that it will always be there and nothing is forever and nothing is for certain. You have to fight everyday for what you want and show everyday that you will do anything to keep what you have, no matter what it takes and what you have to do. Love what you have deeply and without question, fight to keep it, respect and cherish everyday. Show the world that you are here and this is who you are, this is what you have and nothing can take that from you. When you live every day like everything will be gone tomorrow then you aren't taking it for granted, you are showing that you have it and it is yours but you realize that tomorrow it may be gone and you don't want that to happen.

word-count: 271

This I Believe...

This I Believe...

I believe I am a good mother. 

I believe in individuality

I believe in doing your best in all things

I believe people are naturally good

I believe in doing those you love right

I believe in being faithful

I believe there is something more out there

I believe learning something new is the most rewarding feeling

I believe a woman should be able to do anything a man can

I believe children are our future

I believe everyone deserves a second chance

I believe sometimes its best to leave it alone

I believe in counting your blessings

I believe you shouldn't take anything for granted

I believe in family 

I believe nothing is for certian

I believe in love

Okay, so for ten minutes its not a lot but screaming children tend to slow you down when you least want them to.