Daily Conversations w/ Middle Schoolers

My life has been a roller coaster recently. I have gone from unemployed to doubly employed (but still underemployed) very quickly, and I have also leaned closer to finding out what I really want to do with my life, career wise. :) For two weeks now I have been working as an AVID tutor in a local middle school. Before the job started I always joked with my dad about how he was absolutely insane to work with middle school aged kids every day, but I have come to find out that they have this sort of charm about them that seems to continue making me smile.

Shows have become popular about the silly things kids say, "Kids say the Darndest Things" is just one of the many. I already have two conversations with one student in particular that I found hilarious and I would like to document them.

I have four different classes, two seventh grade and two eighth grade. Both conversations that I am documenting in this blog took place on the first day of tutoring in my 2nd seventh grade class with a student, J.

We were playing a game called "Snowball" that is part "Three Truths and a Lie" but also part snowball fight. Each student, tutor and teacher made a list and threw them into the middle and students had to guess who was who and which statement was the lie. I was sitting next to J, a seventh grade boy during this activity.

One truth a student wrote was "My favorite brand of shoes are Nikes."
J looks over at me and asks, "What is the difference between shoe brands."
I tell him, "Different brands make different types of shoes, for example, the company who makes my shoes [nice dress boots] probably doesn't make your shoes [beat up sneakers]."
J says, "Oh come on, these are the same!" He then puts his shoe next to mine showing "no" difference.
I laugh and say, "I guess they are the same, you would wear these wouldn't you?"
J says,  "Yes, but darn, they aren't my size!"
Rachel (another tutor) says, "Like that is the only thing holding him back" sarcastically.
J looks at her and says, "I'd so rock those boots!"

Later on in the activity someones truth was "I watch the O.C" and since that was a popular show on while I was in high school, many of the students had never even hear of the show.
J looks at me and asks, "What is the O.C?"
I said, "It is a drama like tv show, but it is hard to explain, what shows do you watch now?"
J, "I like spongebob."
Me, "Yea, its nothing like that."
J, "Oh come on, spongebob is like real life, they are adults with jobs, the Krusty Crab is real."
I started laughing, but didn't really have much to say so we started listening to the other students read their papers. Then out of nowhere J quietly says, "I like the Vampire Diaries." This statement by itself was enough to make me burst out in laughter because he didn't seem like the Vampire Diaries type, but then I said, "It is more like that just minus the blood."

Needless to say, I think J is one of my favorite students so far.

I have noticed that there are some students I just seem to click with more than others. One seventh grade student, E, seemed super shy the first week of class, but I connected with her. During week two she seemed to open up quite a bit. We were doing a Costas Levels of Questioning activity about "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and randomly during the group time she speaks up and says, "I think it should be called E and the Three Bears, and I would show them who is boss!" It was great!

I love my job so far. The bratty kids are outweighed greatly by the awesome ones. I hope the rest of the school year goes this well, because it will end with me going back to school to become a teacher so hopefully I can do this full time!

Awesome Website...Little things that make me happy..

Friends,

I think I have found a new favorite website. I may have a lot of these, hence why I spend way too much time on the computer, like Facebook, Goodreads (don't even get me started, I am pretty sure Goodreads will be the topic of a future blog cause it might just be one of the best things out there), StumbleUpon, Twitter...all of these websites are absolutely fantastic, but this new one might just be better.

The website I am writing about must have been around for quite a while so pardon me if you have already discovered it, but I need to write about this fantastic discovery. The website is called "Little Things" the description is "A list of all the simple things we should appreciate." Seems simple right? I began skimming through the website and couldn't stop smiling, reading some of these simple every day things just brought a smile to my face. (I am writing this in bed, lights out, and thought I was ready for bed but decided I needed to write about this.) Here are a few of my favorites from today, trust me...I will probably read all of them but since we are on 435 little things it might take awhile.

There are a few things that stick out about this website, not only are they just things that make me (and probably you) happy, but it is colorful, simple, yet totally meaningful. It is the perfect combination, whomever created this blog, created a masterpiece. As I wrote that sentence I realized it might be my fatigue talking, I might not enjoy this website nearly as much when I am not half asleep, but I am pretty sure I will still love it. Also, another reason this is making me so happy, I was in a pretty foul mood throughout most of today, (caused mainly by my lovely brother) so anything to make my day better was greatly needed.

400. I think immature moments with my friends is the number one thing I miss about college, these moments will be the nights I remember for the rest of my life, and will always wish I could get back. Whether it be forking Delta Chi's lawn, watching drunk people from the Chi Omega porch, or running through campus in the middle of the night to escape raccoons, I will always remember these nights. My littles & Jenn will also remember these nights, Chi Omega, I miss you, Friends, I miss you more! Thank you for these wonderful immature nights where we catch sponges on fire or stay up late Chat Rouletting, those are the nights I will never forget! 

404. I believe this is something that will make anyone feel great, but this might also be something that isn't as simple as it sounds. Something I accomplished that people thought I couldn't was getting my first job, as lucky as I got, people thought it would be a struggle, but I decided I wanted a job, applied and had a job three days later. (too bad this isn't the story of my life right now.) I might add an addendum to this blog later, because I am sure there are other moments that I accomplished something someone told me I couldn't, but I might be too tired to think of one. 

407. This is something that without fail will always make my day, and it is something that my father and I also like to point out every time it happens with the phrase, "Good thing we got here when we did." Haha. 

419. I love movies. In Chi Omega people all knew about my epic movie collection, and watching a great movie is amazing. There is nothing worse than walking out of a movie theatre upset that you wasted $10.00 and 2 hours of your time. Last night I went and saw "Crazy, Stupid, Love" with Ashley and it might possibly be my favorite movie of the summer besides Harry Potter (of course). It was a perfect mixture of comedy and romance. I loved it. Plus, looking at Ryan Gosling for two hours is a good night in itself. 

424. No explanation needed. :)

425, I would say re-reading a book is the perfect form of pure enjoyment. You know what to expect but you are still putting in the time and effort to experience it again...books are amazing. 

427.....getting sleepy...amazing.

431.

I <3 my pup. 

Goodnight!

Things I want to do this summer!

Unless I decide to go back to school or become a teacher, this will be my last summer off (or partially off cause I am still hoping to acquire a job semi-soon.) So I have quite a long list of things I want to do this summer, here it is. If anything sounds particularly interesting, let me know and we can probably do it together!! Lets see if I can accomplish all of my goals and do everything I want to do.


1. Go to Sunriver (PLANNED: July 14-18) (It was pretty AMAZING!!)
2. Attend Portland Brewers Festival (8.1- Was pretty awesome!)
3. Go on at LEAST 5 hikes.  (7.10- 1 hike down, 4 to go)
4. Read at LEAST 5 more books. (8.3 - 4 book down, 1 to go)
5. Attend The Bite Festival.
6. Play at least 10 tennis matches.
7. Play 2 rounds of golf.
8. Go to the new Evergreen Water Park.
9. Go to the beach for the day.
10. Hike on Mt. Hood.
11. Take Sabby to a dog park. (7.8- DONE, already gone 3 times)
12. Go to the Melting Pot.
13. Finish Sophomore year Scrapbook.
14. Go Kayaking.
15. Make a pie from scratch.
16. JELLO SHOTS!!  
17. Best Friend Movie/Gossip Night! (8.3- DONE!!)
18. Host a BBQ. (7.4- DONE)
19. Beat my brother at beer pong. (He is too damn good.)
20. Go to OMSI.
21. Attend 3 movies. (8.1- 4 down, 0 to go)
22. Go to Street of Dreams.



I know there is more, this list will get longer as I think of them. Lets make this the best summer ever!

Lots of Feelings...

I am extremely frustrated right now mostly with myself but also with a friend (I probably shouldn't be angry with this friend but I am).

I have so many thoughts swimming around my head right now and so many contradicting feelings that I can't even seem to put them into words. Or, I can put some of them into words but I probably shouldn't because I find myself to be a non-confrontal sassy bitch. What is my meaning do you ask? I think and write really sassy, rude, things, but when it comes to confrontation, I hide. I never bring up my real feelings or say what I really think, because when I do, I say something that I wish I could take back and it doesn't seem to get the conversation anywhere. Also, I apparently don't have any courage because even when I really want to say some pretty nasty stuff I can never actually bring myself to say it. So how do I handle conflict? I ignore it. I ignore the problems and shut myself off. Most of the time I don't even try to fix them, I just hope they will go away.

I have a certain friend that I really need to talk to, I need to ask if our relationship can be salvaged, I need to figure my shit out and talk about it. I need to fess up to my laziness and my wrongdoings, I need to explain my fatal personality flaw that is eventually going to get me into some serious trouble and most of all I need to apologize, not over text, not over Facebook, I need to really apologize, and this apology will start the real conversation of our issues.

BUT...conversations like this aren't easy. It is never easy to admit you are an asshole. It is never easy to start a conversation knowing you are in the wrong, and it is never easy to start a conversation when you know someone you truly care about is hurting and it is largely your own fault. None of this is easy and none of it is fun, it just plain sucks. It is easier to pretend that their aren't problems and that everything is perfect just the way things are, this isn't true. Life is never easy and everyone messes up, some more than others. Everyone takes people for granted even though we all know that it's wrong. After I speak to this friend, I will blog about my feelings on taking people for granted but they need to hear it in person. I happen to do it way too often. I don't know why and this is a huge problem, but I do it to more than one person.

Of course this entire blog doesn't apply to my family. I can fight with my family like no other (I still hold back some of the most nasty stuff) but I don't hold back nearly as much as I hold back with other people. I think this is because I know that whatever I say (within reason) might piss my family off but at the end of the day they will remain my family. Some friendships aren't like this, and they shouldn't. What is the point in being a friend with someone who says horrible things to you. There isn't a point so in order to remain "liked" I have to hold back, and this leaves me hiding instead of fighting. There should probably be a meeting point in the middle, I need to be able to stick up for myself when people treat me wrong but I also need to keep my bitch under wraps. Will I ever learn? Or will I stay a non-confrontal sassy bitch?

Time will Tell...

Now off to bed..Tomorrow is another day!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Beware: Sort of Spoilers. Nothing too  bad but I don't want to be the one to ruin a book for anyone. 

I was expecting this book to be amazing. Normally I don't pick up books that seem to be all the hype, it took me like three years to start reading Harry Potter, two to start Twilight, and quite awhile before I picked this book up. I have never really thought about why books that are talked about constantly and instant hits turn me off, but unfortunately they do. I got sick of Amazon recommending this book to me, every one talking about it, and every time I look at top selling books it being right there. The final straw was my best friend recommending it to me, she told me her roommate said it was one of the best books she had ever read, so of course now I had to get it. I felt like the book The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo literally slapped me in the face until I sat down and read it.

My first thought after Day #2 of reading this book, was "seriously people, what is so special about this book?" I ended up looking at reviews to see if others had the same response and most said that the first 50 pages were boring but it picks up after that. Those reviews were lies, the first 300 pages were boring. Yes, eventually the story picks up. Yes, the ending is somewhat surprising especially because the real mystery isn't the one you think you are solving, but...it wasn't anything special. On a five star scale I give it a three, it wasn't awful but it wasn't amazing.

Something I did find interesting was even though I wasn't completely impressed with the book, I went out and got the other two in the series. I am not really sure why I did this, especially because I finished this book in January and they are still sitting on my shelf (and one is actually lent out right now.) But there was something, I am not sure exactly what it is that intrigued me. I have also heard that the second is better than the first and so on. Hopefully it gets better, if it starts off any worse then it will be a waste of the money I spent to purchase it.

Book Reviews??

I have decided that because I am doing so much reading, and sometimes my life doesn't seem to be interesting enough to talk about. I will sometimes review the books I have been reading. This blog really is just to keep me somewhat entertained when I feel that I have something to say.

First off...I have always enjoyed reading. As a child instead of staying up late at night watching endless hours of television, I would go to bed and then continue to read, sometimes it would even get me in trouble. But, when I went off to college my amount of time dedicated to reading for pleasure began to take a nose dive. I was talking to my dear friend Rachael and also my mother about this once, I think that I didn't read as much for pleasure during my college years because even when you are not doing homework or attending classes your mind is still focusing on what you should be doing. And when you decide to take a break you want to do something that is absolutely mind-blowingly fun (sporting events, sorority events, etc.) or something completely mundane. Something that takes absolutely no brain power at all, like watching television.

As much as reading in enjoyable, it takes effort. For me reading an entire book is an accomplishment, because it means I took the time out of my (previously) busy life to sit down and work out a book. As much as reading has always been easy for me and I have always loved talking about what I have been reading it still takes more effort than many of the other things I can spend my time doing. Something that has always been weird to my family, is I set page goals for the day. I will wake up and be like today I am reading 50 pages (sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't.) This is probably due to the fact that I am a little obsessive compulsive when it comes to some things (to do list, short term goals, etc) and also due to the fact that I am still a pretty slow reader. It will astonishes me how my mom can read like 100+ pages an hour. I am closer to 40 maybe 50.

Anyways, all of this rambling does have a point. I think I am going to start reviewing some of the books I read. If anyone is actually reading this, and you have read the book please respond, I love knowing what others think about them. In high school a group of friends would go to Jazzy Bagels to discuss Harry Potter books after they came out and I absolutely loved it. I am also interested in joining a book club or possibly creating my own, because I just enjoy talking about books that much.

Thanks for reading!

Gradutation Frustrations...

While growing up, you are asked the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" It can change every five minutes and no one will even think twice because the question is all about hopes and dreams. When you are almost 22 years of age, a recent college graduate, that question has become as commonly asked as "How are you doing today?" and you know what, I have no answer. I attempted to work with a college career counselor during my last term of college to find out which jobs would best suit my interests and skills. We came up with a few options, working in Sports in the event planning or marketing sectors, becoming an event planner (weddings, brunches, parties, etc.), or going into Public Relations. Why didn't I think about this before I chose what to major in. My degrees are in Sociology and Liberal Studies (History & Political Science) these qualify me for jobs in.....nothing. Maybe I could become a Historian, oh wait that means more school, I could be come a teacher or professor, oops that requires more school as well, or go into Sociology research, again..more school. I don't want to go to school anymore. I am ready to start my life, figure out what I am going to do, and begin to stabilize. But is doesn't seem like that is going to happen. 


My current tally is 29 different jobs applied for. Out of these 29 resumes sent, applications filled, and cover letters created, I have received 4 call backs, and only two interviews. I am beginning to be extremely discouraged. Not only do I have no where to look and no experience, but I have no clue what I want to do. 


It is hard for me to talk to my parents about my search because they just want me to get a job, one is more understanding than the other, but neither or them really ever struggled to find a job. My best friend already has a job lined up because she started working for an awesome company in high school and has remained and employee and all of my college friends are still in school (and still have quite a bit to go.) I decided to backtrack today and re-apply for the job I had in high school even though, honestly, I don't want to work there, I was sick of the job 6 years ago and I seriously doubt that this time will be any better. 


Tomorrow is a new day, I have puppy class which I am looking forward to, my favorite NHL team plays, hoping to keep them from elimination and I will have a fresh set of new jobs to apply for. Here is to tomorrow being better than today. 


Thanks for reading!