Posts Tagged ‘Autism’

10 Websites

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Today is day nine in our Top Ten Lists.  Today we venture into CyberWorld for our Top Ten Websites.  I am taking mine a little different route than Ben, I am going to do my Top Ten Blogs.  So here are they are in no particular order:

  1. Happy in the in Between – This is my dear friend Catherine’s blog.  We have been friends since elementary school.  She is one of the few people in my life where I can be completely real with.  We have been through so much together, and she knows me almost as well as Ben!  She is going to have a baby in December and I couldn’t be more thrilled!  Mikayla and her little one are going to be great friends I just know it!  Her husband is pretty great too.  He has a blog, but hardly ever updates it!  They are one of Ben and I’s favorite couples in the whole world.  Ben and Dave actually grew up together as well.
  2. My Charming Kids – This dear family has endured so much, but throughout it all keeps a positive attitude.  I started reading MckMamma’s blog about a year ago.  She is a mom to four adorable children, the youngest of which has SVT (a rare heart condition).  They have battled her son’s SVT since birth, but even throughout the heartaches she remains positive.  She is also a wonderful photographer, I love looking at the pictures.  Even though I don’t know this family personally, I feel like I do because I read the blog so often!
  3. The Diaper Diaries – In case you didn’t read this post on Ben’s blog, Mikayla is being cloth diapered.  At first people thought we were crazy, but after awhile people just wished us luck!  So far I haven’t had a problem with cloth, I honestly can’t imagine spending fifty bucks a month for disposable diapers.  Anyway, I digress.  This blog is a great resource for those using cloth diapers.  These are also some of my other favorite cloth diapering blogs:  this and this.
  4. Cake Wrecks – I think this blog is hilarious!  The author finds cakes that have huge errors, or are just ridiculously funny and post pictures and comments about them.  The author is very witty.  If you need a good laugh, check this one out.
  5. Joy the Baker – Another funny/witty blogger.  Joy loves to bake and take photos, and combines both in her blog.  Her passion for life really comes through in her presentation.  She has some amazing recipes, and whether or not they are tasty, they look delicious!
  6. Meal Planning Mommies – This is a group of three mommies and their adventures with meal planning.  Recently they have take a blogging sabbatical, but when they were more active they would plan out weekly meals.  They would post the frugal meals on their blog including grocery list, recipes and pictures.  Their recipes were always easy and crowd pleasers.  I hope once they all have their babies (they all had kids and were pregnant at the same time), they get back into the blogging routine.
  7. Jenny Bakes – Another random baking blog (cooking blogs is somewhat of an obsession of mine).  She is not afraid to experiment and admit her mistakes.  I love the honesty.
  8. Friends Blogs – I also stalk read  a lot of blogs written by friends.  Here are some of the more visited ones: Katie, Jenny, Jason, Michelle, Stephanie, Sarah, Cheyenne, and Bella/Jennfier.
  9. The Africa Mercy – This is Ben’s cousin Jana’s blog.  She is not afraid of adventure and will often take off for six month adventures.  Her most recent adventure is working on a Mercy Ship in Benin, Africa.  She is a physical therapy and has been using her expertise to help the people living there that can’t afford expensive medical assistance.
  10. Other favorite websites – Even though I mentioned at the beginning of this post that this would be my Top Ten Blogs, I decided to make Number Ten, some of my favorite websites.  They are as follows:  Craig’s list, Amazon, Autism Society of America, Facebook, The Weather Channel, All Recipes and Google.  I know I am kind of boring, but that is just who I am.

If you are a blog reader and have not discovered Google Reader, you should check it out.  It makes it easy to organize and keep up with all the blogs you read.  Check back soon for Day Ten of the Top Ten Lists.

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Posted in Random |

10 Things (to do before I die)

Friday, July 17th, 2009

Well we have reached day four of our Top Ten journey.  Today’s topic is Ten things to do before I die, my bucket list of sorts.

  1. Deep sea fishing – As a kid we would go fishing regularly on my grandparents farm.  They had two ponds stocked with catfish and bluegill.  We would catch them and then my grandma would fry them up.  Deep sea fishing wouldn’t be quite the same, but I think it would be fun.
  2. Travel to all fifty states – I have made a pretty good dent in this one, but still have a few to go.  I have traveled to 32 of 50.
  3. Go exploring in old castles – This has been a dream of mine since I was little.   I am not sure why, but I have always been fascinated by old castles.  Especially those castles in Germany
  4. Visit historical Holocaust sites – Speaking of Germany…If you know me at all you will know that I have always enjoyed learning about the Holocaust.  I can’t really explain why, I just have been.  I have read books, watched movies and lived vicariously through Anne Frank and others.  To see the historical sites in person would really make an impact I think.
  5. Travel the world – I love to travel, except for the whole driving or getting there part.  I love seeing new things and experiencing a new culture.  If only I could see every corner of the world, wouldn’t that be fantastic?
  6. Live abroad (perhaps in Africa) – Ben and I are actually in the process of working towards moving to Africa in the next few years.  If you are more interested in this check out his post here, here and here.
  7. Adopt a child – When Ben and I first started talking about kids, we made the decision to adopt.  To me this seems like a no brainer.  There is an estimate of 100 million orphans worldwide.  I just can’t imagine not adopting one of these children.  I have a passion for helping others and to me this is the greatest gift I can offer to a child.
  8. Open a bakery or some sort of small shop where I can cook all day everyday – I love to cook, enough said.  Even when I am extremely tired from school or stressed out over something, I come home and cook.  For some reason cooking relaxes me.  For others it might be a nice pedicure or a nice soak in a bubble bath (although I do love a good bubble bath), but for me it is cooking (especially baking).  It would be a dream job to get to cook all day everyday.
  9. Figure out a cure for autism – This one is a long shot considering no one really knows the cause of autism.  In case you didn’t know I just recently finished my second masters in Exceptional Education with an emphasis in autism.  I have also spent the summer working at the Kelly Autism Program (read this for more information about my experiences there).  Autism is another one of those things that fascinates me.  It also troubles me.  Often individuals with autism are extremely bright, but they struggle with communicating their thoughts and ideas.  If only there were a cure, then their brilliance could be shared with everyone.
  10. Go scuba diving – Imagine seeing the beauty of God’s creation up close and personal…that would be awesome!  Plus, fish are cute!

Of course I wouldn’t want to do any of these alone.  I would want my wonderful husband alongside of me every step of the way and perhaps even the Little Misses.  Even if that means we have to wait fifty years to cross off some of these.  What would you add to your Bucket List?

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Posted in Life |

10 People

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

If I could sit down and have coffee with anyone in the world, dead or alive, these are the Top Ten People I would choose:

  1. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Such a powerful man…if only I could pick his brain for thirty minutes.
  2. The Obama Family – They seem like a down to earth family that is working hard to make some positive change
  3. Dr. Seuss AKA Theodor Seuss Geisel – Don’t judge or think I am silly.  This man was a genius and I just love his books!
  4. Bill Cosby – Not only is he funny, but he is smart.  In my book, that is quite a combination and worthy of a cup of coffee.
  5. Anne Frank – I have always been fascinated by the Holocaust, I would love to chat with her.
  6. Rosa Parks – What was she really thinking on that bus?  What would she have to say about the world today?
  7. Helen Keller – She overcame so many obstacles.  I really admire her perseverance and determination.
  8. Abraham Lincoln – On of our most famous Presidents, yet he still got down on the level of children.  Check out this correspondence with Grace Bedell.
  9. Oprah Winfrey – There are things I like about her and things I dislike, but she has a huge influence on our society.  A coffee break might be fun!
  10. Albert Einstein – This one may seem odd to you, but I have my reasoning.  You see, I wouldn’t want to talk to him about his experiments or reasons why he is famous.  Instead I would want to talk to him about autism.  Some people claim that he was a person with autism that had never been diagnosed.  I would love to have coffee with him and see if he had some of the characteristics of ASD.

These are my Top Ten, who would you add to the list?

For those of you interested I have updated my Veggie Patties with pictures.  And here is a fun picture of Ms. Mikayla!

How can you resist that smile?

How can you resist that smile?

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Posted in Random |

Finding your niche

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

I have found my niche.  For the past three weeks I have been volunteering (and when I say volunteering I mean paying to take a class and work for free as a result) at a program here in Bowling Green geared towards working with individuals with autism (ASD).  The program is called the Kelly Autism Program, or KAP as the participants fondly call it.  This is a place that people all over the nation and world are looking at as a model for helping those with ASD.  At KAP students Kindergarten through college are encouraged to be themselves and learn coping skills to manage and deal with their disability. Although I have had to leave my sweet baby every morning for the last three weeks (and three more in July) I feel the experience has been very worthwhile.

For those of you who don’t know, I am currently finishing up a second masters in Exceptional Education (Moderate and severe disabilities) with an Autism certificate.  I have loved this masters and learned so much from it.  The past two years I have had the priveledge of working with an individual with classic autism.  I have learned so much from this student and even found a passion in working with individuals with autism (thus my second masters).  I have found my niche!  I have always known that I wanted to teach, and have loved every minute (well almost every minute) since I started almost five years ago.  However, it wasn’t until this summer, actually this past week, that I feel like I have truly found my niche.  I love, love working with students with special needs, specifically autism and feel like I have the skill base to do so effectively.  They have so much to teach me and have such a passion for life.  They live life to the fullest and don’t care what others think!  It is amazing.

Unlike most of my friends, I have always been confident in my job.  Several years ago we were in a small group of “young married” couples, all of who seemed to reach a transition point in their lives at the same moment.  People were shuffling jobs, moving to new places or just beginning their careers.  Throughout this entire time I seemed to be the only one who enjoyed their job and knew they were “in the right place”.  I still love my job and have confidence in it, but now I can see a different future with my job.  Maybe not tomorrow or ten years from now, but one day I will work daily with individuals with special needs and I will love it as much as I love teaching kindergarten.  I have found my niche and couldn’t be happier!

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Posted in Work |