Love for All

We all know what tomorrow is and for many that means spending a nice, quality night out with loved ones. However, for me it means spending time with the one thing I love most: my Lucy. It never fails, this time of year makes me think about love and how I feel about it. There are many types of love: love of a pet, love of a family member, love of a lover, love of a friend.. the list goes on and on. What I would like to focus on in this blog is simply love for another.

There's so much hatred in the world these days and it hurts me to see others being denied rights based on something. For example: students with disabilities are often denied the proper services or education. Think for a second if you were the parent of a child with blonde hair and schools said they couldn't teach to your child because he or she had blonde hair. How would that make you feel? Now put yourself in the shoes of a parent of a child with disabilities. It's not fair to say a child with Tourette's can't be educated in a general education classroom because he or she may be disruptive. What about the child sitting in the back making comments to make every one laugh? Is that not disruptive? Another example is homosexuals. We often deny homosexuals the right to marry. Some people say homosexuals aren't stable enough to marry. Really? Please explain the extremely high divorce rate in America then if you want to talk about instability. Please watch these two videos and just maybe they will impact your life or help open your eyes.

Zack Wahls Speaks About Family

Rep. Walsh Remarks on Same Sex Marriage Bill

As I look back on the meaning behind this "holiday", I cant help but wish for one love for everyone. This is not a problem of our generation, but has been a problem for generations. My favorite band, Hootie & the Blowfish, sang about something similar years ago. Here's a lyric from their song that is relevant to this blog: "One love might make a difference, might take these walls and tear them down. One light might keep on shining if we take one love and  we spread it around." My prayer is one day for everyone to be accepted equally regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, disabilities, etc. It's got to start with somebody. If I'm accepting of others, then just maybe someone else will feel like it's OK to accept others as well.

I know I talk about Lucy a lot but the dog really has opened my eyes to a whole new world. She does not discriminate and I strive to be more like that on a daily basis. I'm beyond thrilled to be spending this "holiday" with my love. I hope as everyone else is celebrating love as well that they open their eyes and hearts to others and help make this world a more loving, peaceful place.

Until next time, it's just the two of us..

Hard Work Pays Off

Life has started to get a little hectic on this end. School assignments are starting to emerge, work hours are increasing, and Lucy has a birthday coming up. Starting this week, I will start going into the classroom at local schools for my practicum hours. I have mixed emotions on this. I don't feel as nervous as I thought I would because I do have a little experience in the classroom, thanks to McNeese State. However, I am very excited to start this chapter of school. I feel mentally I have what it takes to be a teacher but I will soon find out if physically I do. That's an exciting and yet terrifying thought. On top of starting my practicum, I'm also starting to have assignments pile up. Not that I'm behind in any, but my teachers just assign them around the same time as the others. Thank God for having Sunday off because I will knock out at least one, if not both!

On the other hand, work has started to pick up and of course that means more hours (which I'm not complaining about at all! haha). This past week we spent most of the week preparing for the Krewe of Zeus celebration at the convention center. As I was working hard one day, a co-worker from another department came up to me and told me to "work smarter, not harder". Ever since she told me that, I have pondered on that statement. The meaning is obvious, but I can't help but wonder if smarter is more important than harder? In my books it's not. I've always been told hard work pays off and up until my adolescent years, I never understood that. Now that I'm older and more wiser, I can see where hard work is paying off each day for me. My overall thought on that statement is this "working smarter, not harder is good but working smarter and harder is great". I don't know how to not work hard, and I have my parents and coaches to thank for instilling that important characteristic within me.

Lastly, as I have mentioned in the last post, Lucy has a birthday coming up. I've never been one to really go overboard with Lucy. For example, she doesn't get her nails done, or have some immaculate bed, dog food, etc. But I do love that dog and try to give her the best "dog" life I possibly can. So, with that being said, I wanted to do something special for the piglet because she inspires and motivates me everyday. So, after three birthdays, I'm finally going to attempt, with the help of my neighbor and sister, to make Lucy a dog cake for her fourth birthday. I also thought about rounding up her pup friends and taking them to the dog park to celebrate... because Lucy will need to work off the cake afterwards Ha! My prayer is that Lucy will show her well-mannered side and share her cake.. We all know that could be asking too much of Lucy though ;) Hopefully everything will work out so that Lucy can have a special day that she will always remember.

Here is a picture of Lucy's new haircut and also a picture of the cake we are going to attempt to make:

  

That's pretty much the story of our lives at this moment in time. Until next time, it's just the two of us..