Spread The Word To End The Word: March 6th, 2013

Huh? What's that mean?

Allow me to explain. Better yet, I'll just tell you exactly what their website says because I think it explains it perfectly.

"Our campaign asks people to pledge to stop saying the R-word as a starting point toward creating more accepting attitudes and communities for all people.  Language affects attitudes and attitudes affect actions.  Pledge today to use respectful, people-first language." Taken from this site

Personally I have a strong disliking for the "R-word". I think it's highly offensive. What people don't realize is that even though they maybe aren't talking about a person with a mental disability, it can still hurt people. They don't understand how much damage a word can do. It's the same as calling something or someone "gay". While the terms mean two completely different things, they both can hold a lot of negative power. I wish people would understand how much damage their words can do.

Here's a video with the very famous Johnny Knoxville:
I love how he talked about making "The Ringer" changed his life. Eddie makes great points too. There are so many more videos out there and I could post them all day. But the part that really matters is raising awareness for the cause. Pledge to stop using the R-word, get your friends and families involved and make a difference. I love being a part of Best Buddies, it has gotten me to be more comfortable with people with disabilities and taught me that they just want someone to be their friend or "buddy". They don't care about your grades, the clothes you wear or the car you drive. They just want someone to go shopping with or go grab a pizza. My buddy loves both!

This is only my first year in Best Buddies and I have met some many great people! I don't always run around saying "guys I met these awesome people". I truly mean the people I have met are super awesome.  We are even planning to do a mud/foam run this summer! Combing two of my favorite things: friends and running.

My other "buddy" as I call him is a my super sweet 12 year old cousin. Sorry ladies, he has a girlfriend. I know, he is such a stud.

He is just a bundle of energy and can bring a smile to anyone's face. I was lucky enough to live by this guy for about a year and it was awesome. He gives great hugs and makes us all appreciate how lucky we really are.

This posted turned kinda long, but if you can't tell, it's something I'm really passionate about. If you could, please take the few minutes to pledge to end the word. Today is the annual day of awareness, but this shouldn't be limited to a one day event. I encourage you to take the pledge and get other involved.

I hope everyone had a great day and thank you for taking the time to read all of this!

Ashlyn

Listen Up: Week #6

Since it was snowy and yucky out, I did my best to stay put. Whether or not I got any homework done was another story...

But I was listening to some pretty enjoyable music. I'm not really sure how to describe this week's artist besides that they have a very unique sound. I'm gonna skip the random filler talk because I'm lacking the creative juices tonight.

Warning: this music is great on all occasions

Florence and The Machine: Ceremonials

1. Only If For A Night
2. Shake It Out
3. What The Water Gave Me
4. Never Let Me Go
5. Breaking Down 
6. Lover to Lover
7. No Light, No Light
8. Seven Devils
9. Heartlines
10. Spectrum
11. All This and Heaven Too
12. Leave My Body
13. Remain Nameless
14. Strangeness And Charm
15. Bedroom Hymns

I know, I'm all full of words tonight. Eh not so much. Maybe tomorrow will have something more exciting in store :)

Goodnight Friends!

Ashlyn
  

Playin' in the Snow

I would usually have a Listen Up! post for you today, but I'm gonna skip it for now. 


Today I had two more observations: one at the high school and one in the elementary school. The high school one was pretty painless since all they did was watch a movie so I couldn't even see to even take notes. Which is totally okay, high school is not an age I am interested in. For me, I'm all about the little ones. So I loved every minute of my time I spent in the preschool room today. The teacher was the sweetest. She had come to speak at a meeting I went to and talked to us on how she was using iPads in her classroom. I really liked how she ran her classroom and was so patient and gentle with all the kids.She had a special treat for them today: take a trip outside in the snow! After everyone got bundled up, we headed out to check out the flakes. It was so fun watching them make observations about the snow, patterns our shoes were making and how slippery it was. On the way back inside, one of the girls was having a hard time walking. Her boots were extra slippery so she grabbed my hand and walked hanging on to me all the way to the classroom. That was pretty cool, here I was a complete stranger but she wasn't afraid to reach out and ask for a hand. Punny punny. 

Snow!!

 I could go on and on for hours about this, but it was one of those moments when I was so thankful for the school I'm at and working towards a degree in something I love. Do I doubt my choice sometimes? Yes. Do I wanna quit and just give up? Well yea, don't we all? Do I regret really going after what I want? Never. There will be many more hours of observations involved, more papers to write and more tests to pass. I know this is something I want to do and I know it won't come easy. It's gonna be work, but I'm ready. I just have to remember when I am having a rough day, think about in a few years what I will be able to do. All my years in school have taught me everything I know, with a few life lessons thrown in. My favorite one my grandpa tells us, "Don't take any wooden nickels". 

I found this image on Pinterest. You didn't think I could go a whole post without talking about Pinterest did you? 

Source

I kinda really like this message here. Bottom line, I may not know exactly what my future holds, but I'm ready. Bring it on.

I was all over the place there, but thank you for sticking with me.

Ashlyn

What's for Dinner?

Since the weather is not so nice, I wanted to make something warm and toasty tonight. And I found the perfect recipe the other day. The best part? I had all the ingredients in my fridge already. I love when this happens. 

Found this gem on Pinterest: Bubble Up Pizza!

What you'll need (keep in mind, when I make something, I am usually only cooking for myself, so I would maybe double this if you are looking to feed more):

Jar of pizza sauce (I had a jar already open, it was the perfect amount!)
1 can biscuits 
Cheese 
Pizza Toppings 
Spices

Fire up that oven to 350.

  

Cut biscuits into quarters. This would be super fun for kids to do!

Mix sauce and quartered biscuits together.

                  

Put into a sprayed pan.

Cover with cheese and toppings to your liking. I left off toppings, but this would be great with just about anything you like!

I have a favorite seasoning my dad gave me that I always put on pizza, so this went on after the cheese.

 Cook at 350 for 20-25 mins. 
 

Remove from oven let it cool before serving.

 

It was really hard to wait for it to cool, I wanted to eat it right away.

 
This will definitely be added to my dinner rotation. It's very easy and is just plain good. I served this with a side of American Idol - it's boy's night. I can't wait to see where this season goes. 

It's almost the weekend! We are getting snow tonight, everyone is hoping for a snow day. I'm not getting my hopes up. 

Ashlyn

Listen Up: Week #5

I'm a few weeks behind.

Will you ever forgive me?

I will just jump right into the music. Wait that sounds cheesy.

Today's album is by an artist I have grown to like, Miss Ellie Gouding!

You may have heard "Lights" on repeat this summer. My current fav is "Anything Could Happen". As I was watching last week's episode of Grey's Anatomy, I thought I noticed her distinct style towards the end of the show. After some researching, I confirmed it that "Dead In The Water" was featured in Grey's.

Here are the tracks from her album titled Halcyon.

Don't Say A Word
My Blood
Anything Could Happen
Only You
Halcyon
Figure 8
Joy
Hanging On
Explosions
I Know You Care
Atlantis
Dead In The Water
I Need Your Love (Feat. Calvin Harris)
Lights


So if you are tired of your current tunes, add these in your regular rotation. I'm sure they will bring some excitement to your day!

On the school side of things, I had some classroom observations today and a meeting tonight with NAEYC. Lots of good stuff.

Off the finish up homework before bed! Goodnight friends!

Ashlyn

Like I was saying

After Skinny Man got his Valentine's Day goodies, I would share them here. 

But first I would like to show you the pretty flowers I revived because he did a great job picking out something he knew I would love:

I'm a lucky girl!

Here is what I made for Skinny Man.

He had mentioned he might like a tie blanket. After seeing fleece on sale at JoAnn's, my best friend helped me pick out the right amount of fleece. Skinny Man is tall and skinny. I wanted the blanket to be long enough for him at it was! Before I tied the blanket together, I sewed a special message inside on a scrap piece of fleece. From the outside, no one could see it, but he could find it and know where it was. 

Max helped me over winter break on this project.

I'm really sad I didn't snap a picture of the handmade book. Basically, I picked up some brown bags at the dollar store and 2 pieces of felt. Typed a few notes on note cards. Printed some pictures. Decorated the cover. I found this idea here, but I modified it and was very happy with the results. It was something simple, but I think he really liked it. I was worried he would find it girly and lame, if he did he kept it from me. I joked with him that he can read it every night before bed. 

After hearing that his lightening cable was tearing, I immediately knew something I could add a personal touch to something he uses daily. 

While this one was very easy to complete, it was very time consuming. I'm not complaining because it will help the cord stand up to everyday ware and I know he will get a lot of use out of it. He talked about getting a new cable earlier this week and I tried to differ him from purchasing one and ruining my plan. Luckily I think he was pretty surprised to see what I came up with for him. 

Since we would be seeing each other on Friday, he got his gifts from me when I "tried" to surprise him at school. I had told him I was stopping home first before leaving to pick him up when really I was already parked outside his building. My plan was working perfectly until he heard a siren in my end of the phone and then heard it go past him. It almost worked. Either way, I know he was very happy to see me. 

Even though it was well below freezing we made a stop at Red Mango tonight. Any fro-yo fans out there?

This girl is going to bed. Goodnight all!

Ashlyn

Hey Good Lookin', What's Cookin?

Hehe. I'm so clever. But you wanna know what's more clever? These cute little cupeycakes. Yes I just said cupeycakes. They are just too cute, I can't help it.

During the hours I spend on Pinterest, I found the recipe for Chicken Pot Pie Cupcales here. I made a few modifications based on what I had on hand.

Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes 

Adapted from: Heather  

Featured on: Sunny Slide Up  

2 cups of cooked chicken breasts diced (being the lazy college kid I am, I opted to buy pre-cooked, frozen chicken breast that was already diced. Thanks for doing all the hard work for me Tyson))
1 can cream of chicken soup (again went for a low fat, less sodium option here)
1 cup frozen mixed veggies (didn't mess with this part, gotta get those veggies in there)
1 can biscuits (I bought a 4 pack and just used one, but the original recipe calls for 2. Being as I was the only one eating them, I was afraid to make too many.)
Sprinkle of pepper (Original called for a bunch of spices I didn't have, I also don't like when things get too salty)
Sprinkle of cheese (Original calls for 1 cup, I felt that was a bit much since I scaled back the number of biscuits I made)

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. If chicken is frozen cook according to package instructions
3. Make sure you use a big bowl here! Add cooked chicken, frozen veggies and soup. Mix it all up.
4. Spray muffin pan
5. Put biscuits in the pan. I flattened them and then put them in, but do however you please.
6. Scoop mixture into the biscuited pan. Yes, I'm making up words here.
7. Add pepper and finish with as much cheese as you you
8. Bake for 8-10 mins

Notes: You kinda have to watch them, because depending on the biscuits you are using, they all bake at different times. Also they might bubble over since this original recipe was intended for more biscuits.

And now for you visual learners:

I know this looks gross, but keep going, it gets way better!

Spray good!

Pile all the yummy stuff in. Try to make it as even as possible.

Bake 'em up.

Now the most important part: post to social media and brag to all your friends. Because that's what cool people do of course.

Lucky for me, I have some leftovers for the rest of the week. Hooray! I love that this is a fast, easy meal. It's nice to be able to throw together some simple ingredients and make a warm meal. This will be made more now. I think I can even get my roommates to eat it to, as long as I do some without the veggies.

I have my first clinical observation hour tomorrow at 8am. Going to the high school. If I remember correctly just about everyone hates that time of day. Should be fun! 

Ashlyn