October Happenings

Is it seriously October already?! Time seems to be just flying by lately. I feel like the days are just merging together and I can't even blink without seeing a week go by. It might have something to do with how busy I have been keeping myself lately.  

My family has settled down in Minot, North Dakota. It's a gorgeous city, about 42,000 people. I love it there and can't wait to be there over winter break. We are living in a brand new town house. It's a lot different than Wisconsin, but it's a good change. It's weird not going home to Spooner/Hayward but honestly, I'm 100% ok with it. There are few things there that I will miss and someday down the road, I will go back to visit. It does suck to not be able to go home when I want. I can't bring home laundry any weekend that I want or have a home-cooked meal when I want one either. Speaking of home-cooked meals, I just really want my dad's hot wings or my mom's tator-tot hotdish. Like, PLEASE, I just want some. But what's super exciting is that I get to see my family the weekend of the 25th... ONE WEEK!!!! :) Yeah, I'm excited. My cousin, Tabatha, is getting confirmed in Fargo, ND. My family is going to go there for that. Fargo is closer to me than Minot, so I'm going there that weekend to see everyone! It's still a 6 hour drive, but definitely worth it! This is also right after my birthday (Oct 24th), so we get to celebrate! Super exciting!

I'm well into my second year at UW-Stevens Point and I'm keeping very busy. This year, I'm still on our Hall Government which has been such a great experience. We have been putting on hall programs and making the Residence Hall a fun place to be. Recently, my friends and I put on a "Breaking Bad" Program. It was the series finale, so we wanted to have everyone get together and watch it. For those of you who watch the show, you know that Walt makes blue crystal meth to support his family while he has cancer. So, as college students, we thought it would be a great idea to impersonate the meth (in a non-drug-like way). We made blue rock candy!

I've also been doing some fun fall things! Apple orchard and Pumpkin Patch!!

Within our Hall Leadership Team, we recently did some "warm fuzzies" to give to each other. Every person got 10 names that they had to write a compliment about. I just wanted to share how sweet some of the compliments I got were. It makes me so happy to know that I'm surrounded by positive, loving people!

Like how can these kinds of things not make you feel GREAT?! I love that we did that. It was a definite confidence booster and made you feel so good about yourself!

Another thing I've recently done has made me feel really good. October is actually Down Syndrome Awareness Month! So I decided to inform my hall about this topic. I've taken time to hang up posters around the hall with some facts about Down syndrome on them. Some of them are just intended to make a person smile. I want people to be informed and educated on Down syndrome. More and more people with Down syndrome are out in the world with jobs, going to college, and changing the world. Here are a few pictures of the some of the things that I've posted around the building that I live in.

I think this is just amazing! People with Down syndrome are living 35 years longer than they did 30 years ago!

I can't help but smile every time I see this. Positivity is AMAZING!

I think this is something that's very important for people to read. It has some things that many people are unaware of that are crucial to a person with Down syndrome. 

This is a letter from a boy with Down syndrome who I went to high school with. I worked with him almost daily. He sent me this letter that he had been working on. He taught me so much more than I ever taught him. 

That's the end of my Down syndrome spat. I just love Special Ed :)

Speaking of Special Ed, I was recently admitted into the Univ. of Wisconsin- Stevens Point's School of Education! I didn't have many doubts, I'm in very good standing GPA wise and don't have a criminal background :)! So I'm in my last semester of Gen. Eds and then I have all Education courses next semester! I'm really looking forward to it. This semester, I feel like I'm drowning in homework. I have some time-intensive courses but I know that I can get through them. I have learned that it's all about how you balance your time. I've had a meltdown, or two. Ya know that feeling you get when everything piles up on you and you feel like you have no time to just sit around doing nothing? That's how I've felt this semester when it comes to my homework. It sucks, but my schooling is the reason I'm here and it helps me stay focused. 

Go make something happen. Life As I Know It. 

Thanks for reading!