Giving Thanks: Day 22 & 23

Whoops! Like my sister, I too have gotten a little tired of actually writing my thankfulness posts every day....I don't think I will become a professional blogger anytime soon!


Yesterday, I was thankful that I only have three days of school this week :) Yay!

And today, I was reminded of something I am thankful for every day of my life. As anyone who has been reading this blog knows, the building I work in used to be a church. I was sitting with some kindergarteners today at the end of the day, and one little boy looked at the stained glass windows and said "Where's God? I want to see one with God."
"Well, I don't think that there is a stained glass window of God," I responded. Then, thinking better of my first answer, I said "But there's Jesus," pointing to a picture of Jesus and the disciples. "Do you see him with the halo around his head?"
A different little boy said quietly, "Jesus did everything for us. He did everything for us."


And yes, Jesus did--and I am so very thankful for him.


"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Giving Thanks: Day 20 & 21

Yesterday I was thankful that we have so much and we are able to make a child's life happier by putting together a small shoe box. The joy that these children have always brings tears to my eyes. My mom and I went shopping to buy our items for our boxes this year--it's always fun to imagine the kids opening their boxes and seeing the things we picked out for them, and it's humbling to know how much we have compared to so many around us. My Aunt Faith packed and sent over 40 boxes this year, which inspires me to pack my very own next year. Here's a video about Operation Christmas Child: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG6GU5g76t4. Even though I am so happy for the kids who receive the gifts, I'm also saddened knowing that there are kiddos right in my neighborhood without the basic necessities that I take for granted--a winter coat, school supplies, boots, gloves...the list goes on. I hope some of the boxes that we pack come right back to Buffalo for the kids here, and I hope that if they don't, I can somehow brighten the lives of the neighborhood kids that I've come to love.

This is the most recent picture I have (2008) of my Grandma and her kids: My mom, Uncle Bill, and Uncle Mike

Today I am thankful for family, specifically (today) the Sard side of the family. Like I said yesterday, today was the party for my Grandma Sard's 75th birthday, and I got to see a lot of that side of the family today. 


If I do say so myself, we are a fun bunch, and it was wonderful to share time with them and celebrate my Grandma. We ate pizza and wings, watched the Bills win (!), and laughed a lot. I swapped stories with my aunt who is a teacher, looked at quilt patterns with my Grandma and mom, talked about wedding plans for my cousin's fiancée. It was a ton of fun and I can't wait to see them all again on New Year's (our annual Sard family Christmas get-together!).

Giving Thanks: Day 19

I'm thankful that I'm home safe and sound from a long bus trip, that tomorrow is my last Reading Saturday until after Christmas, and that I get to see the Sard side of my family this weekend for my Grandma's 75th birthday :)

Giving Thanks: Day 18

Today, I'm thankful that I have parents that taught me how to take everything with a grain of salt. It was useful today in many ways...


-When a first grader tried to insult me by telling me "You're a couch!"
-When a kid accidentally dumped over his container of Trix and milk, in the process spilling it all over his hair and arms and the child's arms next to him.
-When a kid asked me if my necklace was made of "chocolate rocks."
-When one girl continually calls me "Miss Joy-anna" (I also hear "Miss Luanne" and "Mrs. Joanna" and my favorite, "Miss Caramel")


I do not think I would be able to work with children if I did not have a good sense of humor and the ability (in general) to take unimportant things lightly :) Thanks, parents!

Giving Thanks: Day 17

I'm thankful that I finally have my very own room at school! I spent a lot of time today organizing and putting stuff together in it...it's definitely not decorated, but I think it will make my enrichment classes so much better. I won't have to run from building to building lugging games, papers, books, etc...and my students will get a little change of pace from their usual classroom. When it's closer to complete, I'll post some pictures!

Giving Thanks: Day 16

I have many, many things to be thankful for today, but because it's almost bedtime, I'm just going to write about one of them: my car!


It may sound kind of silly, but after my little car accident, I realized how much I love my car. For those of you who don't know, my wonderful parents gave me my car as an early graduation present before I did student teaching so I could drive around in a safe and reliable vehicle (not the 16 year old car that I would have been driving otherwise!). It's an adorable blue Honda Fit and it's zippy and cute and perfect for me. When I was getting my car fixed, I was driving around a different car, which is nice, but so different from mine, that it made me appreciate mine even more! Not only do I like it just because it's a cool little car, but because of all of the love that it represents and all the memories that I have in it already.





Various other things I was thankful for today:
-The look on a children's faces when they find out they get to keep a library book for a whole week!
-Leftovers
-The gorgeous building that I work in
-Kiddos :)

Giving Thanks: Day 15

Well! Another Monday has come, and is almost gone. So what am I thankful for today?


Books! I'm so thankful for the wonderful world of literature in which I have the privilege of working. I was barcoding and organizing books in the KCCS library today (not necessarily my favorite of tasks), and it's made me think about how lucky I am that I get to spend my days around children's literature--my favorite genre! I love the beautiful illustrations in a picture book, the unique and eye-catching covers of chapter books, and the fantastic characters and plots of both! Now, of course, there is some not-so-good literature (like Cat Party, which--wait, have you already guessed it? is a sight-word book about cats having a party) but there is also wonderful literature like The Phantom Tollbooth and The Mysterious Benedict Society and Click, Clack, Moo that open up a whole new world to children (and adults!).

Yes, I love books, of all kinds. And so does the rest of my family...in fact, if you want to see my sister's take on the world of literature, you can read her blog at http://thecheerfulreader.wordpress.com/. I would write more about how living in a family that kept a book in every room, relished the idea of a reading supper, and thought going to a bookstore before a vacation was the bee's knees may have also contributed to my love of books, but now I'm off to read a little bit of Pride and Prejudice and hit the sack!

Giving Thanks: Days 9-14

Oh no! In the hustle and bustle of last week, I forgot to do my thankfulness posts. Be that as it may, there were many things I was thankful on those days, but there's one thing that I'm so thankful for that I'm going to use it for all of those days...I'm going to be an aunt!

I'm sure that pretty much everybody who is reading this blog already knows this, but my brother and sister-in-law are soon-to-be parents!

Here they are over the summer :)

The baby is due on January 26th, and I could not be more excited that I'm going to have a new little nephew in just a couple of months!


In fact, one of the reasons I didn't post for the past week is that I was preparing for the shower (as well as taking the GRE...something I was NOT thankful for). My sister and a family friend and I were hostesses of Shelley's New York baby shower. It was a ton of fun--we played games, ate lots of yummy food, and Shelley opened up a ton of presents! Seeing all of the little hats and diapers and onesies and books and everything else adorable and baby-y made me so happy. Baby Ben is going to be one loved and wonderful nephew!


So, in conclusion, I think that my nephew-to-be is wonderful enough to warrant using up six days of my thankfulness posts :)

Giving Thanks: Day 8

Today in school I was helping out one of the kindergarten classes during math time (I was mostly just sitting in the back and fielding all of the questions like "Will you tie my shoe?" and "Can I go to the bathroom?" so the other teacher could actually teach). The class was learning about position words like inside, outside, under, over, etc. To help them learn the words, they were playing a version of "I Spy" in which the spy-er had to use some of those words to describe the object.


I had just gone over to the back of the room to see if one little girl, who had been falling asleep, was awake enough to re-join the class. She was sitting on my lap, and suddenly, I hear this coming from the front of the room: "I spy with my little eye something that is white. It has purple on it." (Note: I was wearing a purple shirt.) "It is on a chair and under a person."


By this point, I am laughing, the teacher is laughing, and all of the kids are looking around for what this thing could be. Quickly, though, they noticed my laughter and all started pointing at me and giggling.


Yes, that's right--I was the white thing with purple on me, sitting on a chair with a child on my lap. It was really funny and cute...and, what's even better, that kindergartner used the words "on" and "under" correctly!

Anyhow, today I'm thankful for all of the funny comments that kids make that brighten up my day :)

Giving Thanks: Day 7

Alright, even though I occasionally complain about these, and I don't relish the idea of working on Saturdays, today I'm thankful for Reading Saturdays, also known as Royal Readers. Part of my job at the King Center is planning and coordinating these Saturdays, and I've come to really appreciate the time that I get to share with the students who come to these Saturdays. There is a core group of kids who come every week, and I love getting to spend time with them in an informal, fun setting.

I'll just give you a quick overview of what we do at a Reading Saturday: the kids come at around 10:15 (some come a lot later, some come earlier) and we color pictures for about 20 minutes. Then we go up to the library (see earlier post for a picture) and read a book as a group. Each Saturday has a theme--I've done Ezra Keats, apples, Halloween, Arthur, and Dr. Seuss, and I have a lot more to plan! After we read together, the kids split up into groups and go to read with a Houghton volunteer (also something I'm very thankful for!) while I usually set up the craft and the snack. Then they come to the cafeteria and do a craft that relates to the theme, and then we have a snack! They go home at around noon, and then the cleanup begins! 

Modeling the fancy glasses we made in honor of Arthur and his glasses.

Coloring a haunted house!

Look at that smile :)

Some of the kids, hard at work.

A decorated bag all ready for the snack!

I think he thinks this is a smile...adorable.

She has come from the very beginning--what a cutie pie!

A silly picture in the library.

Giving Thanks: Day 6

Today, I got to go over to my friend Connie's house (who lives just a couple blocks away from me in Buffalo, and who is also an AmeriCorps member) and eat a yummy dinner and watch Pocahontas. 


So today I'm thankful for fun movie nights with lots of laughing and reminiscing--who knew Disney movies seem so different when you watch them as an adult? (Also, who knew that Disney would add a song into a classic movie for the tenth edition--a love song between Pocahontas and John Smith http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiuBw_kj1-U? It was very disconcerting to see. On a different note, who knew that someone would care enough about Disney princesses to rate them on their outfits? And who would have thought that Pocahontas would win? http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/celebrities/gallery/2255/fashion-report-card-disney-princess-looks) It was a lot of fun, and very silly, and I'm thankful to live so close to such a wonderful friend and be able to watch old(ish) movies together :)

Giving Thanks: Day 5

I almost forgot to post today, and since I'm about to go to bed (this is one reason I do NOT love working on Saturday mornings), this will be a short and simple post: Today, I'm thankful that I have a cozy, warm bed to get into on nights that are cold and miserable. I'm thankful for the beautiful quilt that my Grandma made for me, which keeps my toes warm, and the pretty floral pillow (which she also made) that I can sit against when I read, and the duvet that my mom crafted for me out of an old comforter.


So that's where I'm headed now :)

Giving Thanks: Day 4

Today I am very, very thankful for exterminators. Now, a few weeks ago, I thought that an exterminator was a luxury we didn't need. We had caught three mice (all in the girls' kitchen) already, and I blissfully (ignorantly) thought to myself, "Ha! We've got this problem under control. Who needs some exterminator anyway?"

But yesterday, that all changed.

You may be asking yourself why, so I'll tell you: the exterminator came to our house yesterday and removed to very large RATS from our basement. 

Not rats like this, unfortunately. Maybe this I could have dealt with.

Or like this...aww, a teddy bear!

Our rats were more like...

THIS! Not that I actually saw them, but I can just imagine. Ew.

Which is why I am SO THANKFUL  that Houghton sprang for an exterminator to get rid of these rats!

Giving Thanks: Day 3

Let's see...what am I thankful for today? 


I'm thankful that I live with a group of awesome people, and tonight is house dinner, which we have once a week. Usually, we eat in for house dinner--a couple of people cook something delicious and we all gather together and eat up :) Yum! We've had all different kinds of food at our dinners--Mexican, Italian, Indian, Irish, Tex-Mex, African, Mennonite, and we're planning many more. We talk and laugh and discuss our work and life and it's wonderful--even when we don't eat until 9:00 and I have to go to bed at 10:00. 


Tonight we're really living it up and going out to eat...mainly because none of us feel like cooking :) I don't know where we're going yet, maybe the Anchor Bar, or Pearl Street Grill, but I'm sure I will have fun!

Giving Thanks: Day 2

Today, I would like to give thanks for the school calendar, because it meant that I got today off! Hurray for Election Day, even though I don't live in the county that I'm registered to vote in, so I didn't vote...but despite my bad citizenship, I'm still thankful that I got the day off to sit around, watch Gilmore Girls, study for the GRE, write lessons, make a delicious dinner in the Crockpot (which I can smell right now!), and do laundry. So thank you, King Center Charter School, for observing somewhat silly "holidays" like Election Day.

Giving Thanks: Day 1

A wonderful woman in my church posted a challenge on Facebook yesterday to post something we are grateful for everyday until Thanksgiving. So, I'm taking her up on the challenge! Jenny Sam, this is for you :)

Here we are at Jewel's wedding!

There are so many things I am thankful for, but I'll start with my friends from college, namely Jewel, Connie, and Emily. We've been faithfully (with few exceptions) emailing each other every Monday with updates about our lives since we graduated from Houghton in May. These girls were some of my best friends in college and it has been wonderful to continue our friendship.

At graduation, being silly :)

Many more things that I'm thankful for to come!

Dangerous Chiles

Last night, I was making dinner for our house--White Chicken Chili. Sounds simple, right? So, I'm chopping up onions and peppers and garlic, and as I'm cutting up this pepper, I taste a little piece to see how hot it is. It said at Wegman's it was "warm to moderately hot," I had never had it before, but it was a green chili.

It looks so innocuous...

It was VERY HOT. 

My mouth was burning and my lips felt like they were blistering!! I was all alone in the house, so I was running around, trying to figure out what to do. I grab a glass of milk and drink it, so my mouth feels better, but my lips still kill. I drink TWO glasses of milk, and I decide to get a third one, just to soak my lips in (I know, it was ridiculous).

I run to the fridge and open it up, pour my glass of milk, and as I'm putting it away, the milk FALLS OUT OF THE FRIDGE and spills all over the floor. I'm literally slipping around in milk and my lips are burning and I don't know what to clean the milk up with. I run to my room and grab my normal towels to mop up the mess, which was disgusting. I sop up the milk with my towels and throw them into the washer immediately--so gross. It was exactly like a sitcom...I almost wish there had been cameras there, just so everyone could have seen the utter ridiculousness of the whole situation.

My lips started feeling better after I dipped a washcloth in milk and dabbed it on my lips for a long time. Even though I was in lots of pain, there is no visible damage, thank goodness.

But do you want to know the worst part?

The chili wasn't even that good.

There is one thing that I seriously hate about Buffalo.


The drivers.


First of all, let's discuss the issue of lanes. If there is ever a lack of lines, drivers in Buffalo take it to mean that there are as many as three lanes at any given stoplight. On my way to work, there are about 13 stoplights and 10 stop signs, so I've experienced this many times. There I am, at the red light, waiting, and all of the sudden, a car zooms around on my right. As soon as the light turns green, the person to my right accelerates as fast as possible and cuts in front of me. 


Also, red lights are apparently optional, as are stop signs.


Many of you already know this, but a few weeks ago, I was rear-ended on my way home from work. I was at a red light and a white van hit me! It was surprising and a little scary (both drivers were fine), but the other driver was really nice and accepted all blame. It was rather traumatizing, mostly because I had never been in any kind of car accident before. So I cried a lot, and filed a claim, and cried, and called the insurance company, and cried, and called my parents, and cried. (Did I mention that I was crying?)


Here's my poor car, which is currently being fixed in Fredonia. The bumper was coming off on the right hand side, the rear light was a tiny bit chipped (I didn't even notice, but the Allstate agent did). All told, the damage totaled $1,900! A lot more than I thought it would be--thank goodness for insurance!

Poor Mel.

So, I'm becoming a grown-up, at the expense of my car.

Living on the Wild, Wild, West(side) of Buffalo

I thought, since I'm living in a new place, doing something I've never done, and having lots and lots of adventures, I would start to blog about my experiences! Now, I don't want to promise to blog super frequently, because I probably won't. But I will try!


So, some background. I'm living with 6 other Houghton grads on the West side of Buffalo, in a slightly rundown house on Breckenridge. 

This is the exterior of our house...notice the balcony with our cute plants.

Our porch!

A shot of our neighborhood from the balcony.

And another!

Our small kitchen (we just love having the washer and dryer taking up valuable space...but in all reality, it is very convenient).

I just love Anna's cute spice rack!

Our living/dining room.

And again.

My room! I love the large desk I have.

And again :)

It's been great so far, and we've had lots of exciting things happen while we've been here! Some mice (which we tried to kill with some poison, but apparently we have a very hardy strain), drum practice from the Indian/Hispanic church next door (for hours and hours and hours...), a pizza party for about 20 neighborhood kids, various home improvement projects (painting, shelving, lighting), etc.


I am working at the King Center Charter school, as a librarian, enrichment teacher, kindergarten helper, Houghton liaison, and many other things. 

This is the King Center--pretty amazing, right? Can you believe the city was going to knock this down?

Gorgeous.

I've been working a lot in the kindergarten classrooms, because with 20 or so 5-year-olds, an extra pair of hands is always welcome. I've also done kindergarten testing, which involves lots of rhyming, alphabet recognition, reading very simple stories, and coaxing little kiddos into telling me their answers. I've also been planning for Reading Saturdays (picking out books, planning a craft and snack, making flyers, etc.), which I am excited about. I'm working on organizing the library, which is a mess, and I started teaching enrichment classes last week for second, fourth, and fifth graders.

The interior of the building.

The kindergarten classrooms--it's such an awesome building.

And here's the library--a pretty beautiful place to work!

Anyways....how about a couple of funny stories:


Little girl: "Is you a Grandma?"
Me: "No! I'm not old enough to be a Grandma!"
Little girl: "How old IS you?"


Different little girl: "Do you live with your mom or dad?"
Me: "No, not now."
DLG: "Do you live with a dog, or even a guinea pig?"
Me: "No."
DLG: "So you's all alone??"


Me: "How many brothers do you have?"
Crying little boy, who I'm trying to comfort: "4." (Sniffle, sniffle.)
Me: "Wow! They are so lucky to have a cool little brother like you."
Crying little boy: (Big eyes, adoringly looking at me) "Do you really thing so?"
Me: "Yeah!"
After our conversation, the boy literally skipped back to his class. Love it.