Asian American & Pacific Islander Month Continuation

As posted last week by my colleague Trisha Hernandez, May is the commemorative month to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage. May was chosen as the commemorative month because the first Japanese immigrant arrived in the U.S. on May 7, 1843, and it marks the completion of the transcontinental railroad (May 10, 1869) in which most of the tracks were laid by Chinese immigrants (Library of Congress, n.d.). Rich, diverse, and expansive, the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is…

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Inclement Weather Blues

How often have you heard someone say, “Nice weather we are having today.” In the past, this brief comment about the state of the weather might have been little more than a pleasant, passing thought to many. The sun is shining, people are walking around, getting vitamin D the natural way through the warm rays of the sun.  Thinking back on the incredible freeze that descended upon the state of Texas merely a few short weeks ago, the glorious sunshine…

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Building a Safe Online Community: Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) and is dedicated to bringing awareness to sexual violence in the United States. Organizations across the nation aim to educate communities about sexual assault facts, engage in discussions on prevention, and identify safe places and resources for victims of sexual violence. Let’s begin by looking at a few statistics*: Based on data from the survey, it is estimated that 734,630 people were raped (threatened, attempted, or completed) in the United States in 2018.More…

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What do you miss?

Restrictions are starting to ease – for better or worse. Vaccines are on the rise – thank goodness! I don’t often focus on what I’m missing. I’m not really hoping for a “return to normal” I’m not sure I know what that would look like anymore. For some people it’s hanging out with a group of friends or attending big family gatherings – others miss movie theaters and the energy of live music. For the most part, I’ve been incredibly…

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Stream of Consciousness: Pandemic Stress Edition

It’s March again. As wild as it seems, the normal lives that we were living a year ago have been completely altered by the pandemic. Let’s be real here, it’s been rough. The beginning was exhausting. trying to keep up with all the constant changes regarding COVID regulations, what was considered safe one week, then finding out a few days later that things had changed. The worry of people hoarding food and the fear of not being able to find…

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Indoor Gardening

I spoke about hobbies in the past, and how now more than ever it’s important to keep mental health a priority. Rather than list out a series of hobbies without providing insight about what the activity entails, I thought it’d be best to break each hobby down for you. Starting with my favorite… gardening! A lot of us are in that in-between stage in life where we aren’t completely dependent on our parents and probably don’t live with them either. For most…

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On My Mind…In My Heart

I love texting “Thinking of you” poems to my daughter and son, Juliana & Julian, so they don’t forget that they’re in my heart & on my mind. I thought for today’s blog post, I would share one of these poems with you. I Carry Your Heart with Me by E.E. Cummings I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart) I am never without it (anywhere I go you go, my dear; and  whatever is done…

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Building with Books: The Holiday Edition

Libraries like to celebrate the holidays, too! Here are some festive displays from libraries that incorporate books and evoke the holiday spirit.First, we have some pretty cool snowpeople shared in the thumbnail of this post! From left to right:Sonja Shulz, a high school librarian in Texas, built this great snowmanFrom Gina Sheridan’s blog, “I Work at a Public Library”Courtesy of Irwin Library at Butler University, here’s another snowman built on a base made of reams of paper and sporting a top hat…

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One Tree to Top Them All

Good day, and Happy Holidays to everyone. For this blog I felt like I should do something holiday themed, and there is a small project that I am doing on the side for this year. I have been on Pinterest for far too many years, it is my go-to for inspiration on things to make. I have found my best recipes and craft projects from Pinterest. This blog is showing my current arts and craft project of creating an Eye…

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Online Classes in Quarantine

How I Feel? People think that classes would be a lot easier when they are online, because we are stuck at home every day, right? Well, it’s actually a lot harder than I had expected, especially field base classes that happen to be my higher courses. The lack of motivation I’ve had to complete lesson plans, papers, discussion forums and other endless amounts of work is more than I had anticipated. How can you physically gather yourself to attempt to…

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