Disability & Social Work

Within my graduate program and my work as a para in a school, I have been reflecting on disability and social work frequently. I am thinking about how often social workers interact with individuals who have a disability and how well prepared are social workers. It is what lead to my choice of a research topic and is also impacting what I think my capstone topic will be focused on. I think about social work and disability specifically within child welfare as that is my focus area.

I have a sister with disabilities and I have thought about what kind of social worker I would want to interact with her. I also know from working in a school that on a few occasions when a social worker came in to talk to a student with disabilities they didn't know how to interact or assess because the student was non-verbal. This is where I feel growth is needed. Social workers need to be creative in looking for ways to still communicate, assess, and engage with individuals. I would recommend asking to observe in the classroom and how they interact. I would also ask to interview paras in the classroom and the classroom teacher. Ask what staff that student interacts with the most or connects with best and interview those people. As social workers, we need to be comfortable thinking outside the box to get our job done and done well. What is best for an individual to meet their needs. I have also had other experiences in my practicum of social workers not knowing how to work with individuals with disabilities both adults and children.

I know social workers, especially in child welfare,  are overworked but this is not an excuse to simply give up on interviewing an individual who is non-verbal. Social workers are not alone to blame for this. Those who educate and train social workers need to step up on providing training and resources to help social workers do better. Social workers need support to be able to do well in their job. I want to see more research done asking social workers what they need, more research on what individuals with disabilities need from social workers, and what families need social workers to know. Perhaps in the future, I can help achieve this. Right now is not the time but who knows what the future will hold.

Close Friendship

A close friend is so very dear and important. The connection and relationship can feed a soul. I have found friendship to be incredibly meaningful and something that has kept me going. I have found support and also someone who will listen to me and tell me when I need to chill out.

I always wanted a really close friend that I would talk to every day and feel deeply connected with. I had it for a little when I was a young child but then that friend and I went our separate ways. I didn't meet my now close friend until I was a first-year in college. We both are a bit unclear as to what exactly is the moment we connected but at one point we started talking very frequently. We then also became inseparable and were always doing things together.

I also have found that my closest friends are diverse in terms of religion. Some are atheists and non-Christians or a different Christian. I have deeply valued these differences of faith as a way for me to grow and as opportunities to learn but I also knew I wanted a close friend who shared my faith. Then my best friend became an Orthodox Christian and is now also my godsister and that has been an immense blessing. It is incredibly wonderful to share my faith with someone so close to me. We have been able to have theological discussions and share ideas. We also have both been in choir.  As Anne of Green Gables put it she is my "bosom friend".

I have deeply enjoyed our close friendship both in a spiritual and physical sense. But now things are changing, my dear friend has had to move 2 hours away for a new job. It isn't horribly far away but we can no longer see each other every day if we wish too. Visits will require a bit more planning and preparation. I am so very thankful though to live in this modern day and age where we have the technology. We are able to call and text each other every day to stay in contact. This is a new phase for our 7th year of friendship and while I mourn the change I also am looking forward to what is to come.

Meal Prep

I am working a job, going to grad school, and also vegetarian/pescetarian. Make ahead meals are a good plan. Having frozen dinners and then saving leftovers for lunches is important. I struggle to make sure I eat healthy and nutritional food. But I shied away from doing make-ahead meals for one. It felt weird. But I was wrong.

I will admit that I have no idea how to cook for just one person. Also, it is just way easier to make a bunch of food at once. It makes a few dinners and some lunches for work.

If you are going to be getting into make-ahead meals you need to look into pyrex. They have great sized pans for smaller portions when you are making meals for just one or two people. The glassware is also perfect for the microwave at work or to pop stuff in the oven. It is just convenient and versatile. I also created a recipe for bean taco filling which is so delicious I would eat it all the time. My other favorite is a 3 bean chili I made that was just delicious and froze well to have for lunches later. I need to find a lot more recipes for vegetarian or vegan meals.  Vegetarian for most of the year and vegan meals to have during Lent.

Currently, my only struggle is to figure out how to do dinners when I have class from 6:30pm-9pm. It is just a weird time and I am trying to not eat out or eat as much junk food.

Do you meal prep?

An Open Book

I have anxiety. I struggled with it for a while before finally going to my doctor and talking about it. She was wonderful and prescribed meds and referred me to a therapist. I was a bit nervous about taking medication but I have to say that it has greatly improved my quality of life.

I am a big advocate for medication if you want to do it for your mental health and as long as you work with your health care provider. Someone asked me why I decided to do meds when I was such a hippie kind of person. The answer is this. If I could have knocked my anxiety out with lavender oil and meditation and all the other hippie and homeopathic remedies for anxiety I would have. But they were not working. Some of the use to work as a coping skill but they stopped because my anxiety got to a point when I could no longer self-manage it.

I was averaging 3-4 panic attacks a week and one day had 4 in one day just one after the other. It was exhausting. I was anxious all the time and if I wasn't anxious I was exhausted from being anxious. I also had a lot of fears about things some more irrational than others and it was much harder to reason with my brain that my thinking was irrational when I was so anxious about everything.

I also don't like the particular faith groups who say that you should just pray and it will all be better. If that were true I would be able to teach on how to pray away a panic attack but it doesn't work like that. Yes, I find prayer to be soothing and can help to calm me down now, but I am not already highly wired on anxiety. It is helpful as a way to cope but not as a solution or cure.

Now on medication, I have been able to do things and function in life in ways I didn't even realize were possible. I didn't know that not everyone felt on the verge of a panic attack looking at a syllabus for the class. I didn't know that most people didn't experience anxiety when going through a drive-through. It is a whole new world.

Sisters and Berets

During the winter I became obsessed with crocheting berets. I think they are super cute and fashionable. I love this particular pattern I found because it creates a braided look. I did end up modifying it to look more the way I wanted it too.

I ended up making a hat for my little sister as well. I had to drastically change the pattern to fit her head size since her head is smaller. I am not sure it turned out quite as well as I wanted it to but she loves it and that is what matters.

Sometimes as sisters we do not always get along. We get frustrated with each other but in the end, we love each other very much. She is the one I watch Merlin and Pride and Prejudice with. She is always excited about the little things with me.

She is also my sister with disabilities. This makes things hard sometimes. When I want to take her out and do sister things with her I notice if there is an accessibility issue. She uses a wheelchair and I have to make sure she can move through space. We recently took a sister trip to Ulta and I don't know if it is just the Ulta I was at or all Ulta's but there wasn't a push button to open the door. I also noticed that the spacing in the isles makes it hard for a wheelchair to move. My sister is in a small child size wheelchair but a full-sized adult one or some of the motorized wheelchairs would have a lot of difficulties moving through the store. It made me think about who our society deems worthy to be considered beautiful and who is allowed to access the beauty products and industry.

Pizza Appreciation

I love pizza.

It is a well-known fact among my family and friends that I love pizza. I would eat pizza multiple times a week if allowed. Typically when I go to pick out a restaurant none of my friends are surprised when I pick a pizza place.

One of my close friends gave me a keychain that has pusheen eating pizza because I love cats and pizza. I have a mug from a friend that says "but first pizza."

I enjoy watching documentaries about pizza and learning about different pizza cultures that exist in the world.

This picture of The Pizza Bible is from when my best friend and I went on a road trip and came across the book in a restaurant. It was very interesting to flip through and learn about different types of pizza.

What is one of your food obsessions?

Favorite Podcasts

1. History Chicks

A wonderful friend at my church suggested this podcast to me and I have been OBSESSED. I love it so much. It is a podcast done by two women who focus on women in history or women related to historical topics. Some of my favorites have been about Hellen Keller, Nelly Bly, and Jane Addams. They have also covered women I have never even heard of. If you are into history and are a feminist wishing to find a podcast with a focus on women in history told by women this is the podcast for you.

2 Art Curious

I have always been interested in classical art and analyzing it as well as art history. Jennifer Dasal does a wonderful job of telling the strange and fascinating stories from Art history. I loved her Van Gough podcast and her podcast about Artemesia probably ranks in of my all-time favorite episodes of all podcasts.

3. What Should I Read Next

I am sure for most book and podcast lover's Anne Bogel and the What Should I Read Next podcast are not new. I find this podcast interesting for finding book suggestions as well as exploring the diverse world of books and readers. Anne Bogel is great at providing a no-judgment atmosphere that makes you feel comfortable.

4. Reading Women

If you are a feminist reader and looking for more books by and about women this is a great podcast to listen too. I have found this podcast provides a great discussion of women in literature and how historically it has been a genre dominated by men but this podcast seeks to shine a light on women writers and stories about women.






Have you listened to any of these podcasts? What podcasts do you listen to?

Mountain & Trees

One of the most amazing things about living in Washington state is the amazing nature we have here. We have mountains, ocean, and forests. Not just ordinary forests though, no, we also have rainforests.

My friend and I on our summer road trip stopped at the Olympic national park to visit one of the rainforests. It was so amazing to see. There are so many species of plants and trees that I had not seen before. While many of the trees were evergreen trees they often had visible roots because there was so much moisture in the air.

I have always loved trees even as a child. I wanted to grow up and be a scientist who studied trees. It was the only thing I thought about doing science for. I enjoy the forests and the shade. I love living in Washington where the trees are green all year round. I have gone to visit places where the trees are bare and brown during the winter and it is so depressing. Having green all year round all around us is so wonderful. I appreciate it more and more.

I also love the mountains. Nothing quite compares to them. They are majestic and rise above. I often think about versus and stories in the Bible that involved mountains. Where I live, there are also volcanoes so you know that this beautiful thing can also erupt and destroy everything. This used to terrify me more as a child but not as much anymore. I wonder if this is me getting too comfortable and easy with life or if my childhood anxieties have shifted to other things. More present worries about paying bills, stable income, and health insurance cause a more present and immediate anxiety than the distant possibility of a volcanic eruption.

Writing Music

I have started writing lyrics lately and then writing music for them. I am extremely proud of what I have done so far. They are not very good but still as first tries go. I think they are quite good. It has been relaxing for me and I have been enjoying myself while doing it.
I wish I could record them. That would be fun, but sadly I do not have the equipment to experiment with that maybe someday I can.
I have also checked out like 10 0r 11 books I would have to go count them. Three of them are audio books. I am really excited about getting back to reading. I have really missed it in college. I was reading but it was not the fun recreational reading. I have a goal for how many books I want to read this summer before school starts.
I will also be doing some camping this summer which is going to be awesome.
Hopefully I will be inspired soon to write some more interesting content for my blog. For now though I do not have much to tell you.
Love!
~Elizabeth Hamre

Finished First Year!

 

To day I took my last final for school and turned in my last project. This has been an awesome year and I feel like I have grown up so much in the past year. So much has happened and so many awesome people that I have met! It has been an amazing time. I have learned so much.

I love music theory it has probably been my favorite class. I now feel like I really know how to compose music and I understand how it works better. I hope to compose over this summer.

I am planning on writing a bunch of blog posts and reading tons of books. I have lots of practice goals too.

Love!

~Elizabeth

A New Phase in Life

When life takes and unexpected turn and you find that you are not the same person you once were. Even just six months ago I was a different person than I am now. For starters I had not started college yet. I had not met the friends I have now. I am now past my first semester in College and I feel like I have grown more in the past few months than I have in the past year. It is strange.
I feel happier than I have in a while. I have many new friends. I love school and I am doing music. I can say with confidence that the school I picked is the best one for me. It is amazing.
There are a lot of things I could say about my life right now, but for now this is all that needs to be said.
Love ~Elizabeth

Artist John William Waterhouse

John William Waterhouse is one of my favorite artists. There is just something about his art that I find particularly wonderful. Here are a few of his pieces. 

Study for The Lady Clare

The soft tone and gentle curves. 

Not sure what this one is called. 

The flowers. 

Flower Picker

The flow of fabric and the vibrant colors. 

The Crystal Ball

The vibrant red int his one is just so striking. 

Do you have a favorite artist? 

Blessings 

~Elizabeth 

Harry Lloyd was in Doctor Who!!!!

So I have finally joined the ranks of the Whovians. My family has been working our way through the series, we are currently on season 4 with the 10th Doctor. 

We were watching this episode, don't remember the title but it was with Martha, and during a pause that my dad was looking up some other actor on IMDb and we were looking at the cast list over his shoulder. Now this one actor was looking super familiar but I just could not place him. Then I saw the name and my sisters and I started laughing and giggling hysterically.

 It was Harry Lloyd. Not only that but he was playing an evil character.

So here he is. He really was brilliant though pulling of the creepy evil thing. He was so young looking too. 

See here is creepy Harry Lloyd. 

I could not stop giggling after I figured out it was him. The character was just so the opposite of Will Scarlet from Robin Hood. 

Anyway I hope you will forgive my log absence and then me coming back with a totally random post about Harry Lloyd and Doctor Who. 

Blessings

~Elizabeth

One the 10th Day of Christmas

I will tell you what I have been doing during the 12 days. :) 

So what have I been doing on this long Christmas break. Well my dad takes off a lot of time around Christmas and New Years. This provided a perfect opportunity for us to do a project that we had been talking about for a long time. The Great Bedroom Switch. Samantha's and my bedroom would become Emily and Abby's bedroom, and Emily and Abby's bedroom would become Samantha's and my bedroom. 

I don't think we quiet comprehended just what we were getting ourselves into. The bunk bed that was in E&A's bedroom had not been moved since it was put in. That was a mess. And my mom and very wisely in my opinion decide that this a perfect time to do a lot of decluttering. We are still working on it. Though the bedrooms are now mostly switched we still need to transfer cloths from one closet to the other. Which is one of the things to go through. 

This is what my bedroom now looks like. My bed is on the right and Samantha's is on the left. The dresser that is mine too. I also have a desk, but you can't see that, or S's dresser.

At this point I must say that having friends is really awesome as that is how S got her bed. I will also say it is an awesome bed. The daughter who moved away had decorated the headboard with Harry Potter Stickers. I almost wanted the bed! But mine had a book shelf for a headboard which is just as nice. :) 

Here is a blurry picture. 

I will admit that I find it funny that she had a Harry Potter headboard with Winnie the Pooh sheets and comforter. :) 

Christ is Born! 

~Elizabeth 

Keep Calm

The Hobbit is coming out tonight!!! :) So excited!!!!!!! :) :)

A Happy November 22nd!

To day is Thanksgiving another year has passed. When ever a major holiday rolls around I find that I always look back to see how things are different from the year before. Overall it is hard to say. I know I have grown up more. I have read more books. Does that count as something different? I am a Senior in highschool.

Anyway. Like everyone else I will share a few things I am thankful for. Someone should come up with some different kind of thing. Maybe I will do that next year at the moment I am to lazy to try and use brain power to think of anything else. :)

• I am thankful for peanut butter hot coco.(really not that hard to make just heat it on the stove with a blob of peanut butter. My friend introduced me to it when I went over to her house to watch North & South :) 
• I am thankful for books. Lots and lots of books. I will just say books instead of particular books as that would be way to long of a list. 
• I am thankful for my family and friends. My family loves me and puts up with me. My friends listen to me when I talk. 
• I am thankful for music. It is pretty much one of my addictions along with books. 
• I am thankful for kind people. They are just nice and we need more people like them in the world. 
• I am thankful for refrigerators, because without them our food would spoil and then we would have to use a lot of seasoning like the middle ages. 
• I am thankful for the internet. It gives me access to information that would otherwise be inaccessible for me, and allows me to connect with other people that I would otherwise never know existed. 
• I am thankful for being alive. It is really great to be alive and living if you thank about it. 

What are you thankful for?
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, or if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving (I know I have followers who are not from the US) I hope you have a wonderful November 22nd! :)
Blessings
~Elizabeth

To day is also the saints day for Saint Cecilia. She is a saint in the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and the Orthodox Church. :) Here is her icon.

Lacy tops

I am not really a fashion posting person, but I enjoy fashion, so I want to share what I like with you all. 

I tend to avoid wearing white. I am constantly in terror that I will spill something and permanently stain it. That in mind, I think I would make an exception to these white lacy tops. They are so cute! 

I really like the two peace dress look. It looks like a dress and a skirt while being just one piece. I love the blue of this one, and the ribbon adds a nice touch. 

This is really not quite a lacy top like the others, but I have included it anyways. It looks so soft and flowing, a little more length would be perfect! I love the girls hair too!! 

This is so nice, the collar is sweet. 

This is a 50s style, and is just perfect. The skirt has a delightful fullness to it. 

The color of the skirt is once of my favorite colors, and the sleeves are so pretty. Not to mentions this girl has amazing hair too! 

What do you think of the lacy tops?

Which of these is your favorite?

Blessings

~Elizabeth

Oh dear!

haha!!! I don't think these people realized what that might be taken for. :) LOL

Look at what I am going to do!

I am very excited about what I am going to be doing very soon! :) The picture below is a clue. 

Very awesomely cool! :)

~Blessings
Elizabeth

200 post!!! and 2

So I just looked at my post count and realized I was past 200! I always seem to miss mile marker posts. Oh well. Anyway, it was happy little moment that I wanted to share with you all. :)

Blessings
~Elizabeth