Bringing back the kid in me...

Basically this one course is consuming me this semester...Children's Literature. Not only do I have to read many different books, but they have to be different genres for different ages and I have to write a journal entry on plot summary, literary style, illustration style, my personal response AND get peers to review them too!! As much work as it is, I have to say that I truly do love many of the books that I have read thus far. Being that I've never been much of a reader, this is a huge event for me...to actually enjoy reading!! So what if they're children's books, I'm opening my mind to be like a child's and to enjoy the ride the books take me on.

Here is what I recommend reading thus far:

• Charlotte's Web by E.B. White- LOVED the sacrifical love & friendship between Wilbur & Charlotte!!
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt- a very enchanting tale
• Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix- a sci fi story about living in a society where you can only have 2 children, very interesting & suspenseful read.
• Amelia & Eleanor Go For A Ride by Pam Munoz Ryan- I wish I had their spunk & courage! Very inspiring women! My new heroes!! :)
• The Kid Who Ran for President by Dan Gutman- very charming tale of a 12 yr. old running for president of the YOU-nited States!

I should've known...

Never being the best at journaling in a notebook, I should've known that I would have a difficult time keeping up with our blog here. So here it is...my apology for not keeping up with this in the past, present, and future. So bare with me & please feel free to leave comments that encourage me to persevere and keep my thoughts down on this virtual form of paper. Thank you!

A Stroke of Irony

For the record, Joel & I are normally not this irresponsible. We've just been very busy. So with all of that to say...the car inspection to our CR-V was way overdue. I will leave out the date it expired due to the fact that it's ridiculously embarassing. Whenever we'd think about getting it inspected, it was always inconvenient or at night. Well, Joel called me today to see if I could go to our insurance company to take care of something. Of course, I went straight away to Farm Bureau. As I was driving, I remembered that I needed to get the car inspected. But I said to myself, "self, I'll do it after I go to the insurance company." Well, wouldn't you know it...as I was passing by TJC on 5th Street, I also passed by a cop car, in which I noticed the cop looking at my car. And I just knew...he saw the inspection sticker. But I kept on going and didn't see him coming after me, until I was at the Broadway & 5th St. light. Surprise, there were his lights flashing behind me, so I pulled over on a side street on Broadway. And the officer was extremely sweet and thankfully only gave me a warning. So I thanked him & assured him that I would get it inspected. And thus I did! I couldn't believe the irony of it all! That'll teach us a lesson, eh?

A Vote of Confidence

Yesterday I received a call from one of my professors, Dr. Packer. She had just received a letter about the Bonnie and Scott Palmer Service Scholarship and she immediately thought of me. Basically I have to explain how I have served the community and how it's affected my academic goals and personal growth.

Last semester, I did a powerpoint presentation in Dr. Packer's class about The ARC of Smith County. I talked about all of the programs they have to offer the special needs community here in Smith County and how I participated in some of the programs. Because I worked at Robert E Lee with the life skills classroom, I had the opportunity to participate with my students during after school hours on my own time because I wanted to. I never really considered it a service project because I had a ton of fun! I even invited some of my kids to my wedding and we danced the day away!! Because of my experience with those kids, I decided to go back to school to get my degree in special education.


So for my professor to think of me and take the time to call me about this scholarship was so meaningful and touching to me. She thinks I have a great chance of getting it. It's $500, which I hope to use to join the national honors society and the Council for Exceptional Children. This would be a great opportunity! My application is due this Friday, Feb. 22. So say a little prayer with me that I get it. Thanks everyone!

Hearts are aflutter everywhere.

On a more lighter note than my previous blog....today is Valentine's Day. I'm not sure how the rest of you feel about it, but I am fond of it because it's an additional reminder to me on how great I've got it being married to Joel. I almost think of it as just another day; because my husband tells me often how much he loves me and is thankful for me. He is one of the most romantic and thoughtful men I have ever known. So how can I expect even more out of him on this 1 holiday out of the year. Especially, since he's so amazing the other 364 days of the year. Of course, I don't give my husband a ridiculous list of things he can buy me. I just appreciate thoughtful gifts and quality time being spent with just the two of us. Since my love language is quality time...my ideal Valentine's Day would naturally include some good, quality Joeloise time. Which also probably means playing games with my beloved, because nothing says fun to me like playing games with the ones you love! :)

Oh, before I forget...Joel wrote me a lovely poem that I would like to share with all of you. He woke me up this morning to read it to me. It was a great way to start today. So here it goes:

Eloise,
You are the light that keeps my darkness at bay
You make all of my sad feelings go away
It's all I can bring myself to do
To keep from crying tears of joy when I think of you
You loved me when I stretched out my hand
In vulnerability to ask you that question grand
It's amazing to think that you chose me
A humble man now barely twenty three
I love you so deeply...with so much passion
And all I want to do it to take care of you
Your heart is in my hands, and I can only hope
That I myself am not a sorry bloke
Though I may be clumsy and oafish at times
I want you to know that I am your valentines.

HOW GREAT WAS THAT?!? Thank you Joel! I love you more than words can truly express!

It's okay if we don't have a lot of money right now to buy each other lavish gifts. I am quite content with this sincere and thoughtful poem that he took time out of his very busy schedule to write from his heart. And I will see him at the end of the day, to spend the little bit of time left that we have before we lay our heads down to sleep. Tomorrow night, we'll go out for dinner to "officially" celebrate V-day. And that's that. Nothing extremely extravagant, but I don't really need that because I've got my Joel. He's a wonderful husband who works so hard to provide for us. He's constantly working on our budget to see how soon we can pay off this debt and that debt. He works as a full time teacher (so 40+hrs. during the week) and then tutors after school at Sylvan Learning Center, on average 12 hrs. a week - some weeks less, but lately it's been more. He works so hard, so that I can focus on just being a student and to finally finish my degree, which means a lot to me! My husband helps me do the dishes from time to time & that in itself is good quality time when we do it together. My husband is my sweetness whom I'll cherish and thank the Lord for each and every day.

I pray all of you have someone like that in your life. It makes life worthwhile, to have a partner in whom you can confide, who serves you just like Christ served the church by dying on the cross. I'm not saying that my husband is Jesus. He's far from being perfect like God, but he's perfect for me and I couldn't ask for anything more. God is good all the time & has blessed me immensely with my beloved husband, Joel Benjamin Ghrist. Happy Valentines Day, my love!

Procastination leads to some kind of production...eventually.

As I sit here scanning through my academic planner, I immediately become overwhelmed. Education majors don't have it easy. I hate it how people say that our major is a joke or they use the stupid phrase, "those who can't do, teach." If you do believe that, then I'm sorry, but you suck. Education is a tough degree. You're constantly asked to read, read, read, create, create, create, do, do, do, plan, plan, plan...and so forth and so forth. I think you get the idea!

I just can't believe how stressed out I get over our many assignments. I have sadly become an "authority addict," where I have a hard time doing an assignment if I don't have someone telling me exactly what they want me to do. Granted, I'm not as bad as some of my fellow students. I just have a hard time starting an assignment without proper direction or guidance. I have one professor who says..."do a lesson plan" w/o giving us a rubric of what he's expecting. Then he gives them back to us the following week, only grading some and not others...for those of us who got a C, D, or F (I got my first C in a long time - not happy), he tore our lesson plan apart saying things we should've have said instead. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for constructive criticism. But why don't you practice what you preach in class about the teacher having objectives and an appropriate assessment. If you don't tell us what you're looking for, how are we doing to succeed in your class? Is that really how you want us to be as teachers? ARG!

Needless to say, I have several frustrations with UT Tyler right now. I won't even bore you with details or more frustration. Plus, I need my blood pressure to go down. :) On top of that, I'd like to sincerely apologize for my first attempt at a blog being an angry one. I promise, I'm not usually like this. If you know me, you should know that this is a very true statement. For those of you who read this entire blog...you are a true & caring friend! My heart thanks you!

More writings from a 26 yr old college student to come...stay tuned!

Eloise