Education (Week 4 Blog)

This week's blog concerns education. I chose to write about it because obviously, it's something we're all interested in as we are all working on our Bachelor's degree. This is a little bit of a different spin on education though. I'm writing about FREE education. See Below

So a few weeks ago I was at the doctor's office and picked up Reader's Digest to keep me occupied while I waited. The little book was so full of such good information that I simply could not read everything by the end of my appointment. I ended up going to the grocery store to buy my own copy and ended up reading the entire book by the end of the night. I even purchased a subscription! One of the articles in the magazine really inspired me. Here's why.

The name of the story was "College for Free". America's top professors are putting their courses online. STOP! What do you mean free I thought. I'm paying hard core cash to get my education and you can get a University education for free. I thought I had lost my mind! Unfortunately I cannot obtain my BSN degree fro free, but I can continue to get an education without paying a fortune for it. I continued reading and learned the author of the story decided to do an experiment where he would try to learn as much as possible in 30 days. he accomplished this through several different online sites. (See Below)

Khanacademy.org (My favorite of all the sites listed)- Mostly math and science courses all taught by one man named Salman Khan. He was once a hedge fund analyst with multiple degrees from Harvard and MIT. Now he has his own web-site and shares all of his knowledge for free. (Mostly science and math) I think this site is amazing for parent's and junior/high school students too. It's great for parents to review algebra to be able to help their kids through their homework. Step by step process on each different type of problem. Not to mention it has great practice problems for the CAHSEE high school exit exam! My son is in physics right now. I've convinced him to use Khan Academy as a supplement to his current course. It's absolutely AMAZING!!! If you look at nothing else I talk about... look at this website!

Openculture.com- Has free audio books and language lessons. Has 150 free textbooks, and 340 free movies all online!

Youtube.com/education- Go to this website and then click "channels" It takes you to Stanford University, UC Berkley, and UCLA to name a few. All have free university courses. It also has courses available from 300 colleges and universities from 10 countries in seven different languages!!

Academicearth.org- Has just about everything you would want to learn (chemistry, psychology, international relations, law, test preparation). It even has 6 free video courses on medicine and healthcare, one of which is human anatomy dissection.  

Ok... I've gone on long enough. For some reason, making education free makes its interesting for me. It makes me want to carry my laptop everywhere and learn as much as possible. Overall, all of these sites seem to have something to offer to everyone young and old alike. Trust me... you have to check it out. 

Vacation (Week 3 blog)

This week I chose to write about vacationing. For most people, planning a vacation is exciting and fun; not the case for me. Let me give you a little background.

I grew up in St. Louis Missouri. My mom and dad' passion was going to the river almost every weekend. I hated it. I really hate sand, didn't like the muddy water, and didn't like the fact that I could never bring a friend. As a family we never went on a "true vacation." It was just the usual trip to the river (30 min away), or maybe we would go to the lake (3 hours away). There was no Disneyland, or Six Flags, or New York. 

Six years ago I somehow saved up enough money to go on my own family vacation to Hawaii. OH MY GOSH! It was amazing. I cherish the memories of that special time with  my family. Since visiting there, my daughter has decided that she now wants to go to college there. (Expensive, but an excellent way for me to visit her and the island)! So basically, I've been on one "true vacation" in my entire life. 

Here I am again, I have a little nest egg of money saved up, but don't know where to go. This is why vacationing is complicated for me and my family. (More background....) Me and my boyfriend aren't very outdoorsy. He doesn't swim, I don't like sand and the salt water makes my skin itch. My kids are completely opposite. They love the ocean, snowboarding, would love to go camping though they've never been. Basically they like just about anything adventurous. Having said that. How do I figure out an affordable vacation for the week of July 3rd thru July 9th that has plenty of stuff for everyone to do? Hawaii was great. There was so much to do and see. My boyfriend ended up getting in the ocean to snorkel with his giant life preserver on  so even though he can't swim he was willing to try. I can handle the sand for a while and maybe a little ocean water, but I want something else to occupy my time as well. 

We've tossed around a few ideas, but none of them seem "good enough" to all of us. The Grand Canyon sounds nice, but I'm physically not up for that (2 bad knees), the kids weren't thrilled with the idea either. A cruise would be nice, but none of us wants to be stuck on a boat and it can be pricey. All of us would LOVE to go to Atlantis, but it's $19,000! HELP SOMEONE!!!!!! PLEASE~!!!!~!!!!!!!!!!  

Overwhelmed (Week 2 Blog)

Definitions of overwhelmed:

1. To overcome completely in mind or feeling.   http://www.thefreedictionary.com/overwhelmed)

2. To cover or bury beneath a  mass of something. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/overwhelmed

3. To overcome by superior force or numbers. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overwhelm

 Ever have a day where you just can't seem to get everything finished? The laundry is piling up. The kids are hungry and you don't have time to cook dinner. You have racing thoughts about how you're going to get your homework done? All of these things equate to being overwhelmed. Hence.... that's where I'm at today. Sometimes being overwhelmed is a good thing. Being overwhelmed is a pressure that causes you to take action. Having said that... I'm going to turn my lemons into lemonade and turn being overwhelmed into a positive. 

My positive quote for the term overwhelmed:

"Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds." 

Orison Swett Marde

MY Rastafarian Snowboarding son

My First Blog

My most cherished Bible Verse: Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper and not harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."

When everything in your life seems chaotic and hopeless and you have nowhere to turn this is the verse to get you through.

When I thought I couldn't make it through:

child custody issues, financial issues, health issues, getting through nursing school, figuring out how to obtain my Bachelor's degree, the stress of a new job,  JEREMIAH 29: 11 GOT ME THROUGH IT! There is a hope and purpose in everything we do and in what is done to us. Trust in that.