Two Months.

Two months from today, my friend is getting married. Two months. From today. She's getting MARRIED?!?!?

MARRIED, People!!

When the heck did this happen??

Keep on singing,

All Glory, Laud, and Honor

Keep on singing,

Willing to Try

I didn't post yesterday. It was a long day. I was really tired. I was stressed. I was full of questions. Today, I'm better. It was still a long day. But I'm not as tired or stressed. And those questions that were bugging me? Well, they're still not answered. But they don't bother me anymore. I guess it was just one of those days.
Yesterday, I tried out Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I had heard about it on some blogs and then my cousin mentioned it to me last week on our spring break trip. She said it was tough and she's thin so I knew it would be hard. Man, is it hard! I did it again today and I am sooooo sore!! And, of course, the day I try this new workout our scale malfunctions. Good times. Oh well, I'm willing to try pretty much anything if it'll work. We'll see how this goes.
Keep on singing,

Project March Update 2

 Last week was . . . a disaster in terms of Project March. I got absolutely no room cleaning done, devotions and journaling went out the window, and while I didn't gain any weight, I didn't lose any either. I'm blaming it on the fact that the first half of the week I was sick and the second I was on spring break, but that, as I said, is just an excuse. This week has been better. I have done devotions and journaling everyday except Sunday (I was still on spring break :P ). I haven't had much opportunity to clean my room because I've been so busy with school, but I haven't let it get any worse either. The diet and exercise has been going great! I've drank my 64 oz. of water and exercised every day. I've even managed to stay inside my calorie and carb ranges! In addition to the weighted hula hoop, I have added another new form of exercise, and it's much more fun than your basic walking--more about that later perhaps. Project March will definitely be extending into April, May, June, ect. However, it's gonna be worth it!

Keep on singing,

Breathe, Just Breathe

I'm just a little bit stressed right now . . . Okay, that's a lie. I'm really stressed right now. It just really hit me how much work I still have between now and the end of the semester. Add to that the stress of trying to lose some weight before the wedding and prepping for the summer and you've got one stressed Johannah! I just keep telling myself to breathe. God will get me through I know, but right now. Whew. Stress!

Keep on singing,

Wouldn't It Be Nice

 I've had this song stuck in my head since watching a movie at my cousin's house last week. It's so cute :)



Lyrics:

Wouldn't it be nice if we were older?
Then we wouldn't have to wait so long
And wouldn't it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong
You know its gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together

Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up
In the morning when the day is new
And after having spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night through
The happy times together we've been spending
I wish that every kiss was never ending...

Wouldn't it be nice?

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray... it might come true
Baby, then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do...
We could be married and then we'd be happy,

Wouldn't it be nice?

You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only makes it worse to live without it
But let's talk about it...

Wouldn't it be nice?

Keep on singing,

13 Things That Made My Spring Break Amazing!!!

1. Family

2. Gourds!!!

3. The Coolest Bookstore Ever!

4. My Own Personal Copy of One of the Coolest Books Ever  from the Coolest Bookstore Ever!

5. Coolattas

6. Flip-Flop Weather - See Photo #1

7. Walks in the Battlefield

8. Chick Flicks

9. Pistachios from Free Food

10. Laughter

11. Our Own Personal Gourd

12. A Random Picture I Took That I Love

13. Oh, and Did I Mention Family??

 Keep on singing,

Grace Alone

Keep on singing,

And So It Continues

Today, I am home. The spring break trip is over, but it was wonderful! And the sweet menfolk in my family cleaned up for us while we were away. But, my room is still a mess and there is homework and other work to be done. And so it continues . . .
I'm going to work tomorrow on my spring break post, maybe I'll do something like last year.

Keep on singing,

Philosophy of Education

One of my assignments for my midterms was to write what my professor calls a "Philosophy of Education" Basically why are schools and teachers important and what is a teacher. Here's what I submitted. Haven't gotten my grade back yet so I don't know how I did :P

Schools are an important part of our society because they are instrumental in the shaping of our youth, the next generation, the future leaders of the world. Because of this, schools must be diverse in their areas of instruction insuring that they are producing students who are accomplished in many subjects. In order to teach all students well, the schools must implement a variety of teaching methods because every student learns differently. Some students are visual learners, some are auditory learners, and some are tactile learners. By using a diversity of teaching methods, teachers can insure that each student is not only learning but also enjoying the process. Teachers must instill in their students a love for knowledge. Often when talking about teaching, we refer to a “love for learning.” I believe that this is a misnomer because often the learning process is not enjoyable. Rather, it is a love for the joy that comes from grasping and comprehending an entirely new concept that teachers must foster in their students. Teachers must give their students a love of knowledge, a desire to know and be intelligent, and the learning will follow.


Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines “teach” as “to impart the knowledge of [a subject]” or “to guide the studies of” (“Teach,” 2010). The job of a teacher is, first, to impart knowledge to the students. In order to be a good teacher, teachers must have a comprehensive knowledge of the subjects they will teach. Mere passing is not acceptable. Teachers must strive for excellence in all that they do so that they can be a model to their students. Bandura’s theory of observational learning says that students learn by observation especially from those that they admire or relate too. Teachers must display competent knowledge of the subject matter or the students will lose respect for the teacher and the teacher will lose the power that they have to be a model.

Secondly, the job of a teacher is to guide learning. In the Madeline Hunter model for direct instruction, there is a section for guided practice. This is key to student learning. Teachers cannot simply instruct the student and then walk away expecting the student to grasp and understand instantaneously what they have just been taught. Teachers must guide their students, ensuring that each student does learn the material. A good teacher is aware of each students individual needs and abilities, fully aware that they every student, at some point, will need help.

Teachers, especially teachers of lower grades, must instruct their students in the basics of math and grammar. If the student can master the basics, continuing their education will be much easier. We, as a country, are producing students who are functionally illiterate. While they can read and text and instant message, they cannot write. They are unfamiliar with the intricacies of their language and have little or no knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. I have worked with second and third grade students who cannot even tell me what a noun or adjective is. It is the responsibility of a teacher to produce students who can function as a valuable part of society—students who are knowledgeable and professional. Teachers are not a catalyst for societal change. Rather, teachers produce students who can be catalysts for societal change. A teacher’s job is not to tell students the problems in the world and how they must fix them but to produce students who are capable of seeing problems in society and formulating their own solutions. In order to do this, students must be well grounded in basics of education—reading, writing, and arithmetic.


Keep on singing,

Spring Trip!

Today . . .

We're Off . . .

Just Me, My Cuz, My Aunt, and My Mom

,M

My Mom's Taking the Picture :)

Headed To . . .

Meadowbrooke Gourds . . .

Weird? Maybe . . .

Fun? Definitely! 

Keep on singing,

Happy Wednesday!

Today . . . 

We're Off! . . .

Just Me . . .

And My Mom

And Some Tunes

And My Sunglasses

And Maybe . . .

Some Coolattas :D

Keep on singing,

Sniffle

 I planned on posting everyday in the month of March. And it was going soooo well! Until I got sick. I had been writing a whole (or almost a whole) weeks worth of post on one day, usually on Sunday afternoons. Well this Sunday I woke up S I C K. I missed church! You know a Ritter is sick when they don't make it to church. And I slept almost the whole time my family was gone! My throat started feeling really soar on Wednesday (I blame the kids from the after-school program :P ) and then on Saturday I had to go to class in the pouring rain. So, it's not big surprise that I got sick. However, it's still not fun! Anyway, I was in no mood to write blog posts Sunday night!
Oh well....30 days of March isn't bad :D
This week was also the start of both my brother's and my spring break! So, I'm headed to Pennsylvania tomorrow to spend some time with my cousin and Aunt and mother. For the past few years we've gotten together and done something on spring break. We always have tons of fun and I can't wait to see them!
My brother's decided to work on the beautifying the back yard this week and tearing up the carpet in our living room and upstairs' hallway. He's finished the hallway and has started the living room.

The goal is to eventually get the floor refinished. Till then we have a lovely area rug that will go down as soon as the carpet is up! Can't wait :)


Keep on singing,

How Can I Keep From Singing

Keep on singing,

Signs of Abuse--a Hug??

As many of you know, I've had 8 weeks of Saturday classes. The last one is today! I can't wait to be free on Saturdays again! Of the four classes, two were really boring and two were really interesting. One of the interesting classes is the one that finishes up today, Health Issues. Last week we spent over half the day talking about how teachers are "mandated reporters." All that means is that if we have any justifiable reason to believe that a child in our classroom is being abused or neglected, we must report it. When you think about it, that's a pretty huge responsibility. Especially when you consider, as one of the mom's in the class shared with me, such a report makes the life of a non-guilty parent a living hell. Because of this, it's important to know the signs of abuse. So my professor covered that. There were the common signs you'd expect--frequent bruises and fear of any physical contact. But, also on the list, there was a least one sign I didn't expect to see--too much physical contact. That caused some questions in the class and not just from me . . . if a child is quick to hug me he might be abused? Wow. Talk about a new way of thinking.

Also this week, I started my field work for my education class. On Monday and Tuesday, I headed over to Queens to help out in an after-school program from 3-6. The after-school kids play outside for the first hour so all I have to do is sit outside and watch them play and talk to them if they want to talk to me. Well, on Monday afternoon as I was talking to some of the older kids, a little first-grader who had not yet approached or talked to me walked over to me and gave me a hug. The first thing that flashed through my mind was class on Saturday. But I was in a Christian school and I thought, no, she must just be a very affectionate child. When we headed inside that day the teacher asked me to help her with her homework so I worked with her for the next hour till her dad came and picked her up. Tuesday, as I sat outside during their playtime she came over and sat next to me and started telling me about her family and her mommy, daddy and brother. I mentioned that I had met her father yesterday when he picked her up, then I asked her if her mommy ever picked her up from school. Her answer broke my heart. "No, because when I'm with mommy she hits me and pulls my hair. And last time I was with her she put a belt around my neck. Now daddy and mommy are fighting over me. The last time she picked me up was Halloween." Wow. Her eyes had filled with tears though she was careful to let none fall. Would you pray for this little girl? For this family?

Keep on singing,

Innocence

This is why I stay.

 Keep on singing,

Attractive vs. Sexy

I wrote on Monday about the realization I've come to recently that it's not wrong to want to be attractive. In coming to this realization, I had to struggle with the ability of a woman to be attractive to a man without "causing him to sin" (a phrase I think we over us anyway) because God clearly commands men (and women) not to lust. To me attractiveness and sexiness are two different things. Even by looking at the dictionary definitions we can see they are different. Dictionary.com defines attractive as "providing pleasure or delight, esp. in appearance or manner; pleasing; charming; alluring" while it defines sexy as "concerned predominantly or excessively with sex." Clearly, being attractive and being sexy are two very different things. However, I still couldn't find a very good real-life example of the difference. That is, I couldn't until I was on my way to school last month. The day before while waiting for the bus I overheard some guy trying to "pick up" a girl (something I hear way more often then I care to). He kept telling her that she was sexy and he'd like her to come home with him. She responded, as almost every woman does in that situation, by ignoring him. This only caused him to get angry and frustrated and more crude. You could tell from the young woman's face that she just wanted the bus to come. But that day, while on the subway, I overheard a man telling a young lady that he "just wanted to tell her he though she was beautiful." Now, clearly, that wasn't all he wanted. But he certainly had a better concept of what women want to hear than the guy at the bus stop. Because, while the woman still didn't go home with him or even give him her number, she didn't ignore him either. She thanked him and had a silly smile on her face for the rest of the train ride. Why? Because women want to be attractive, we want to be thought of as beautiful. But we don't want to be a sex object. That's the difference. And a man can think a woman is beautiful without thinking of her as sexy. Because they're two different things.

Keep on singing,

A Word from the Word on Wednesday

I hate alliteration! But somehow when it comes time to title my posts I have this ridiculous urge to use alliteration! Gah!

Any-who . . . I just wanted to share with you all a Psalm that really struck me the other day. Psalm 146 -
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
While I live I will praise the LORD; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish.
Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever,
Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD gives freedom to the prisoners.
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.
The LORD shall reign forever-Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!

The whole Psalm is really good. We need to remember more often that we need to trust in the God who is all the things and has done all the things listed above. But the part that struck me the most is the Psalmist's assertion that "I will sing praises to my God while I have my being." May that be true of my life and yours!



Keep on singing,

Project March Update

It's the second week of March and Project March is off to a pretty decent start! I've managed to do my devotions and journal every day. I've already lost 2 pounds (which doesn't seem like much, but it is when you haven't been losing anything!! and exercised every day I meant too. Also I've added a new exercise to my routine - hula hooping! It's a weighted hula hoop I borrowed from a friend. She can't remember whether it's a 3lb. or a 5lb., but either way it's a workout! I'm already sore!
My room project hasn't gone quite as well as I would hope. It just so happens that so far March has been a killer homework month. In addition to all the homework I have due before spring break next week I also started my 10 hours of fieldwork yesterday and I have more hours today which uses up my whole afternoon.
However, I have managed to organize 2 of my desk drawers! It looks so much better and it's so much easier to find things! Here are some before and after shots --

Before . . .

After . . .

Before . . .

After . . .

There, much better don't you think?

Keep on singing,