Hi guys.  I’m sorry that I have not been writing daily.  I’m going through crunch time at school with tests, papers and projects.  I want to make note of some stuff before talking about the Word of the Day.  If you’re on my Facebook, you probably saw two videos of me on the horse.  One is me at the walk and the other one is of me attempting my first trot with nobody right next to me.  I’m pushing myself to trot independently, as scary as it is.  Why?  Because I am a fan of how nineteen-year-old Amy Fleming of Heartland trains and competes with horses.  I admire her and want to compete like her.  That is one of my dreams besides being a school psychologist.  Please check out that one and the Winslow anniversary video.  I’m in that as well.  No disability can stop you from riding a horse.

Let’s connect this to Joel Osteen’s Word of the Day.  Doors open and close every day.  A war hero loses a leg in battle.  My grandfather died and I lost my homework and fishing buddy.  A guy goes bankrupt and loses his business.  Yes, we all had doors closed on us, but God closes doors because He wants to give us something bigger and better.  Let’s say that the war veteran wants to ride a horse, but doesn’t have the balance to do so.  That’s ok because a place like Winslow Therapeutic Riding Center can work around that issue.  Yes, my homework buddy can’t physically help me anymore, but he and the Lord have provided me with equipment like  Bookshare, Learning Ally and CoWriter.  A guy who went bankrupt may find better job opportunities.  Nobody will be left behind if they have a positive mental attitude.

God Bless and Happy Easter

I’ll admit it.  I have negative thoughts from time to time.  I might have said, “I’ll never pass this statistics class”, “Oh, maybe I wasn’t meant to have an intimate, or close relationship with anybody.  Maybe I really am too controlling” or “I’ll never feel safe again without my Grandfather”.  As time goes on, I am slowly but surely realizing that these degradations are untrue.  Osteen said if you think negative, your results will be unpleasant.

So let’s change these examples to positive ones.  “I will pass all of my classes to raise my grade point average.  I had a rough start, but I’ve got time to straighten the road out. ”  “I’m not a controlling person.  He’s just an immature boy.  I can still find my dream guy and I am in no rush to settle down and get married.” “Grandpa may have passed, but he and my dog are still protecting me.” Let positive thoughts fill up your soul and drain out the degrading ones from your mind and soul.

God Bless and let’s prepare for a nice Easter.

I found a job for the summer.  I’m going to work on my church’s magazine.  It is a seasonal magazine, but one of the people that works for it had a baby.  Things have been slow for the magazine so I’m going to try to speed things up.  I’m not sure how art designs work, but I will figure it out.  I have a passion for art so this is right up my alley.  I never worked with shading and toning so I hope to learn that.

By the way, can somebody recommend any good summer reads?  I like to read during the summer and I would like something that I can read via audiovisual.  Thank you.

Alright, you have been friends with someone since elementary school.  You get to high school and the person has changed.  Maybe their fashion has changed or their attitude of drugs and drinking has changed.  Is that friend worth keeping?  What about a significant other who breaks up with you because he thinks that his friends don’t like you?  Is he worth it?

Osteen says no.  If a friend, acquaintance, significant other or anyone else degrades your outlook on life, then they’re worthless.  A candidate for a psychology PhD doesn’t need to be hanging with a gangster.  No, that doesn’t mean be nasty to them.  It just means that you need to associate with people can see eye-to-eye with your reality, dreams and aspirations.  That makes you number one in God’s eyes and His opinion is all that matters.

God Bless you guys!

I’ll never forget the day I received big news.  I was in my skills class and my guidance counselor comes into the room and starts talking about how some people really are successful in life and how the state gives out an award for a being successful in school.  She ended by saying, “And the award goes to Heather Klippel”.  Everybody started clapping and I was astonished. I went home and told my grandparents the great news.

The ceremony was at Orange County Youth Beauru.  There was dancing, dinner and the ceremony.  My aide, grandparents, dad and two teachers went to the event.  One senior from my school district was there.  He was also diagnosed with cerebral palsy but he could walk and talk.  But he sang a gorgeous rendition of the Star Spangle Banner that I will never forget.  I don’t remember all of the reward categories, but my name was called toward the end.  It was a fun day.

I thought I would share a pleasant memory with you.  Okay, now this dates back eight years.  I was in eighth grade and it was the last day of the school year.  We had no class, just advisory.  My eighth grade advisory made me feel very comfortable.  There was one jerk in the group, but she didn’t bother me.  I was having fun signing yearbooks and we might’ve played a game or two, but I don’t remember.

So there were two reward ceremonies; one that awarded extra-curricular involvement and the other was for teachers to reward their students for academic achievement.  I’m watching kids get award after award for extra-curricular activities, perfect attendance and so on and I thought I wasn’t going to get anything.  And then, my guidance counselor starts giving a speech about how some people go above and beyond people’s expectations of them.  And New York gives out an award for courage, character and commitment.  As she’s speaking, I’m wondering who the recipient of the award because I have never received a reward from the auditorium.  The only big award I received up to this point was the Spirit of Success award from New York State and I got that in seventh grade.  But the closing of her speech was, “This award goes to Heather Klippel”.  I covered my mouth as I went up to receive it.  And then, a few minutes later, the principal gave out a reward for the most likely to graduate and my name was called again.  I also got six other awards from my teachers.  It was an excellent end to my junior high school years.

Today, Joel Osteen preached about enjoying today and this chapter of life. I have this problem. I’m always worried about having financial stability, finding a love life, my dream home. Yes, all that is important, but like so many people, I need to slow down. Am I anxious to figure out the right career for me? Yes. Do I crave being independent and owning a cottage? Yes, but I need to have patience. And with that should come humility.

Look at the Virgin Mary. She rode on a donkey, while pregnant with Jesus, to Bethelhem to give birth to the Messiah. He was born not in a hospital, but a stable, a humble stable. Mary didn’t want to give birth in luxury.  No, she wanted to portray humility for us, her children.

Humility should come with buying something like buying  a house, finishing school or getting a job. My take on it-don’t be selfish with goals. If you can’t pursue the relationship of your dreams here and now, then it wasn’t meant to be.  Take one day at a time with humility and everything will work out.

So I will be experiencing something very new this weekend.  My grandmother is going to Atlantic City with her friend and I am staying at my dad’s.  I won’t lie, I’m nervous, but it’s a good experience because I need to learn to depend on other family members to help me.  Plus his house is comfortable.  I hope to have a good weekend and hopefully I will.  I’ll be able to do some schoolwork as well as relax, so it will be fun.

Sorry guys, the spring semester is getting crazy.  I have three projects that I have to do this semester and I need to spend a little more time with homework.  I began my Experimental Psychology and Group Dynamics.  I’m doing the project for Experimental Psychology with three other classmates and I chose to work alone for the Group Dynamics assignment.

My group for Experimental Psychology is really genuine.  They seem really patient with how I need to communicate and the speed at which I type out my message.  I was worried about typing my message out for them at a good speed for them, but they understand that it takes me a while to type my messages and for that I am grateful.  I’m kind of nervous to do it with a group because I have an issue with being able to work with people outside of class since I don’t drive but it will work out.

Now for my Group Dynamics project, I am doing it by myself, which I like because I can work at good speed for me.  I’m doing a movie project on a few military movies; Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, which I need approved and An Officer and a Gentleman. I wanted to do American Sniper, but the professor didn’t approve it, which sucks because I really wanted to see it.  I’ll just watch it for fun.

Don’t let school and work projects overwhelm you.  Break your projects down over the semester and don’t wait until last minute to do them.  Otherwise, they become a bigger task than they really are.