Snapshots

Hello there all,

The theme of this week has been food and preparation. You'll see what I mean.

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The Lowdown:

1.) Some street art that I spotted on my rock hide adventure this week. I saw A LOT, but I didn't want to bombard the blog with all of my photos.

2.) Made mulled wine for Friendsgiving this year. It is one of my favorite festivities during the holiday season. I forgot to take pictures at the event....must have been having too good of a time.

3.) Our kitchen has been a non-stop making, baking, and cooking zone this week. Much. more. than. normal.

4.) I had to take a picture of this telephone pole. It reminds me of the Gum Wall in Seattle. I pass it at least once a week, and I never noticed it until the day that I snapped this shot.
5.) The Pumpkin Pie Playdough that I made was a hit with more than just my nephew. The adults played around, too.

6.) Today, I dedicated the day to cleaning and getting some holiday decorating done. 

-Autumn

Holiday Music

Hello there all,

It is that time of year (when the world is full of love...). So, I bring you my playlist of Christmas songs that I jam out to each year. Some of these are old favorites, and some are ones that I have discovered within the last couple of years.

No matter what. These are guaranteed to get you cut loose and enjoy the holidays this year.



Happy beginnings to this crazy, beautiful season!

-Autumn


https://play.spotify.com/user/liketheseason/playlist/1ul91c8muvgYXHKZISagb9

Surviving Thanksgiving

Hello there all,

Thanksgiving in my family is usually celebrated with plates and plates of food and loud yelling from football enthusiasts. However, incase you can't tell, I'm not really a football type of girl. And the mister isn't really a football type of guy, so we have devised a plan for this Thanksgiving. We shall call this mission: Surviving Thanksgiving.

What is the execution plan?

1.) Load up on a billion board games. 

Board games are a bit of a hobby in this house these days, and one of the things that I am the most excited about is having some time to play these games. Games that I'm going to make sure that we include are Caverna, Lost Cities, and Scrabble. Hmm, I should probably think of some better storage for our games, too. The games are filling the top AND bottom of our coat closet.

2.) Pumpkin pie playdough- I'm constantly trying to buy my first place as best aunt to my nephews. This Thanksgiving, Pumpkin Pie playdough is my attempt at winning their love. The recipe that I made is based on this recipe, but I changed it just a smidge.

            What you'll need?

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 2.5 TBSP of Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 2 TBSP of cream of tartar
• 1 TBSP of cinnamon
• 2 cups of water
• 2 TBSP of oil
• food coloring (optional)

            What you'll need to do:

1. Mix together all dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another bowl.
2. Heat the wet ingredients over medium-high heat in a pot. You are heating the liquid until the liquid warms up and before it starts to boil. There is a big gap here.
3. Throw the dry ingredients in with wet ingredients and mix well. You should start to see the dough coming to life.
4. Remove from heat and wait until dough cools down to the touch.
5. Knead the dough a bit. It is now ready for play time, and it will leave your hands smelling delicious!

3.) Thankful Memories
It is common for people to reflect on what they are thankful for, however, I am adding a bit to that to make it more reflective. This year, I am going to start a tradition of writing down what we each of us is thankful for, and I'll put it into a scrapbook. This way, we'll be able to peruse it on future Thanksgivings. I just cut some construction paper and wrote " (Insert name here) is thankful for..." and on the bottom, I wrote "...in 2014. It gives a clear indication of who/when the list was created, so we don't have to try to interpret that later.

4.) Laptop with movies.

Just in case we find a nice quiet spot, we'll bring a laptop to watch some episodes of a thing that we've been watching together or to watch some movies.

Overall, there doesn't need to be too much needed planning because Thanksgiving is about being together, but it certainly helps being together when you have a plan!

-Autumn

Snapshots

Hello there all,

Here is the week in review through little glimpses. This was a pretty uneventful week, but it was also good with all of its simplicity. In the past, I worried when life wasn't chaotic and crazy because it felt like life was losing substance and growth. However, what I am learning is that when you find a perfect mix of simplicity, you can grow more and explore the person that you want to be.

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What's the deal?

1.) The Supreme Bagel from Bagel Land in Portland. We didn't really go out to eat this week which is a rarity for us. This is one of the only places that we went.

2.) I have been drinking a ridiculous amount of coffee this week. Usually, I try to not drink it because I don't like to be reliant on caffeine. However, there has been quite a bit of coffee this week. It hasn't been to deal with lack of sleep or anything. The reason that I've been doing it is because I just like coffee.
3.) Teepa Snow conference which literally changed how I work with my residents. I seemed to have such positive experiences with residents today.

4.) Lurve is lovely, and i am obsessed with Instagram right now.

5.) Last weekend, I found a dress that I've literally been dreaming about almost my whole life, and it looks awesome on me. Woot! Double woot? It was being sold at a thrift store.
6.) I've raved about how good these muffins are. On Sunday, I will be making some more.
7.) We have been making Christmas lists left and right, and I cannot believe how soon it is until the day. I l

-Autumn

Work Thoughts

Hello there all,

Today, I went to this incredibly spirited, educational, and inspirational talk lead by Teepa Snow today. Many of you are probably like: who? If this is so, you can check her out here. She is an occupational therapist with an incredible understanding of people inflicted with dementia. And incase you are not aware, I work as a life enrichment coordinator in a memory care community. It was so wonderful to hear her speak because she really understands what is going on with those with dementia. Hearing her talk made me really contemplate why I love my job.

During the presentation, Teepa mentioned "dementia is not just memory loss-it is brain failure," and I think that this is an important thing to understand. Individuals are being stripped of the moments that form their identity, and they are also losing their skills that keep them independent. Daily, I am so lucky to be able to be there to create some happiness in their whirlwind of decline.

Yes, there are days where I feel like I am going to pull my hair out. However, when I put it into perspective, they must be having a much more difficult time! Their sense of familiarity and comfort is being stripped, and they are losing the language and muscle ability to control activities of daily living. Working with these people, I get just a moment of creating happiness and joy in their life. Additionally, they teach me so much about patience and educating. These individuals have gone through decades more of time than I have, and they have beautiful stories and advice to share. Constantly, I feel like they are giving me these sweet nuggets of information that they have learned throughout the years. They teach me things that took them their whole life to learn.

While having dementia, you lose filters and inhibitions that you had in the past, and this can create problems (saying harmful things they wouldn't have said before,  etc.). However, I feel like it creates these genuine moments with residents where they are willing to try things that they would've thought childish or immature in the past. They are so appreciative for the little things and beautiful moments, and you really impact their entire day by giving them just a moment of happiness.

There is a quote from Maya Angelou that I constantly come to when thinking about my approach in working with my residents.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
-Maya Angelou

This quote is so incredibly true in the world of a resident with dementia. They will not remember the moments that you had, but they will have the feelings you give them. Therefore, it is important to gift them happiness. They deserve it during this dark and lonesome period.

-Autumn

Everybody Loves Mail

Hello there all,

Let me tell you a little secret of mine. As a kid, I used to sit and wait for the mailman to come. He was the sweetest elderly fella named Jack, and I loved waiting for him to come to deliver the mail. The mail was rarely if ever for me, but there was some sort of excitement about getting these pieces of paper from around the world. Now, this love didn't go away as I grew up. Being a teenager, my dad and I would race to the mailbox to see who could get to it first.

Nowadays, my love has somewhat died down. The thing is that mail now=junk mail and bills. Mail has lost its fun quality, and a week ago, I decided that I wanted to get that feeling back and to give it to others. I asked friends on Facebook who wanted some a letter, and I busted them out tonight.

There is a very important truth about mail, and it is that everybody loves it. There is something so beautiful and exciting about receiving a letter from someone. The person that wrote that took time and energy to sit down and create something for you. This personalization and thoughtfulness of letters is getting lost to this technological age. There isn't as much sentimentality or effort required for someone to send you a text or an email. Sending someone mail says: I care and I'm willing to take some time, so you know it.

One of my residents has love letters that her husband and her wrote to each other during World War 2. They are the sweetest, most romantic and genuine gestures, and we are losing that. My old soul mourns the death of mail, and it is screaming for it to make a resurgence. This is why tonight, I dedicated some time to write some letters to some beautiful people, and I hope that those letters mean to them what letters mean to me.

Try writing just one letter to a friend/family member today. I can guarantee you that it will change their day! 

-Autumn

Snapshots

Hello there all,

This hasn't been a majorly exciting week. I'll be honest, but it was still full of beautiful moments.

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Here is the scoop:

1.) I am seeing/feeling the Winter holiday season pop up everywhere, and I am usually anti-any holidays before Thanksgiving. However, I am ashamed to admit that I am already starting to get into the mood. Whenever I see these trees lit up in Portland, it awakens me to the change of season soon.

2.) A sweet tumbler that a pretty neat-o co-worker got me.

3.) An adorable set of magnets that one of the Mister's co-workers got me from Korea. She is a sweetheart.

4.) Went to go see the movie Boyhood, This movie was unlike anything that I have ever seen because they shot this film over 12 years using the same cast over the 12 years to show aging over time naturally. It was so neat, and it was ridiculously "real". Yes, I feel cliche and silly using that word, but it is true. The movie was beautiful. There was some portions that seemed a little long, but I would strongly recommend it. Do it.

5.) It was just a smidge cold around here.

6.) Exploring one of my favorite buildings in all of Portland.

7.) This week was for cupcake/muffin making-mostly eating in this house.

8.) The kiddo and I went to grab beer and pizza. They are a couple designed from the gods.

9.) We made this recipe for stuffed acorn squash. However, we used vegetable crumbles-italian sausage instead. This meal was meat friendly.

10.) My residents can really make me heart swell. Today, they made these adorable garlands to put in the houses. I love them.

-Autumn

Recipe:garlic spinach hummus

Hello there all,

I have an unnatural love for hummus. Now, I'm talking: "if I sit down with a tub, there will not be any left in 20 minutes" type of problem. I especially have a soft spot for King's Harvest. It is insane how delicious it is, but what is even more ridiculous is how much we spend on hummus which is much cheaper to make. In the past, I was always reluctant because we didn't have tahini (sesame paste) on hand, and I didn't know where to get it. However, we recently went to a Pacific Islander grocery store, and they had a big tub. I was a little too overjoyed to finally be able to make my own hummus.

In this house, we have a garlic love that would make vampires cringe. We put so much garlic on things that would probably make others shutter, but we love it. So, I knew that I wanted a garlic hummus. I found this recipe from Pinterest, and I used it for my structure to start my recipe off of. The reason that I decided to add spinach to the recipe is because we had a ridiculous amount of spinach at home, and it never hurts to sneak in some veggies.

The ingredients:

• 1 can (15.5 oz) of garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas)
• 1 large handful of spinach
• 2 TBSP of Olive Oil
• 3 TBSP of minced garlic
• 3 TBSP of Lemon juice
• 2 TBSP of tahini
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/4 tsp of black pepper
• dash of crushed red pepper

The steps:

1.) Wash the garbanzo beans off and drain all liquid from the beans.

2.) Put all ingredients together (minus the crushed red pepper) into a blender cup or a food processor.

3.) Pulse the ingredients until desired texture/consistency.

4.) Pour into desired eating container and sprinkle some crushed red pepper on top.

5.) Eat your nommy hummus and think about how awesome you are. Pretend that you are in a middle eastern country if you prefer. Just get your eat on.

Fun Sort-of related story:

Our can opener and I fight regularly. I am not quite sure what it is, but I speculate that the can opener hates me. Whenever I try to use the dang thing, I usually end up hollering to the kid and asking for him to help. In my past, I had a different style can opener, and I cannot seem to comprehend the baffling mystique of the stupid can opener. However, tonight, I figured it out! The mystery somehow made sense, and I actually hollered "YAY!" when I got it, and yes, there was much kitchen dancing. What is a kitchen for but for dancing?

Happy can opening,

Autumn

Appreciation Station

Hello there all,

With the current inclement season of stuffing your face and Facebook statuses listing things one is thankful, I can't help but think about appreciation and thankfulness. Truth be told: I think appreciation is one of the most important things that we human beings understand and spread. Through our appreciation of each other, we are able to celebrate and understand each other better. Additionally, by acknowledging and appreciating what we have in life, we are able to realize the bountiful life that we live.

It can be incredibly difficult to practice appreciation during certain times. For example, if you are locked out of your house and have to wait outside in the rain, it is hard to appreciate that situation. However, Appreciation Station: you have a house to be locked out of. It is all about perspective and at times optimism, but I think that these things grow from appreciation.

At work recently, I was asked to go through and review my 5 core values. Now, I had a lengthy list to gander at, but I kept coming back to appreciation, and appreciation became my top value overall. I know that we aren't going to disagree that appreciation is important. I know this, but I think we often forget how important it is to say what we are thankful for. November shouldn't be the only month that we practice appreciation. It should be an element to our very being that we don't even think about it. Looking at the world with the spirit of appreciation is such a tranformative experience because it allows you to see how great things really are in your life. We can't just sit around and discuss how important it is. We need to actively act.

Today, when you are going for a walk or a drive, list as many things that you are thankful for that you can think of. Do not stop until you can no longer think of things that you are thankful for. If you feel inspired, ask others or tell others your appreciation for them. You know why? They will appreciate hearing that you appreciate them. You will be surprised at how this simple act of listing what you are thankful for is. You WILL look at the world with a different lens. If you feel like going crazy, try doing this more than today and carry it with you. It can be your new commute tradition.

Let's take care of ourselves and appreciate the little things and recognize the big ones,
Autumn

Snapshots

Hello there all,

Here is the last week in review because a picture is a lot better than reading a thousand words

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The Sitch on the pictures:

1.) My brother and my nephew being adorable with each other while we were all out having dinner for my other nephew's and my birthday.
2.) An adorable beer can bicycle that the mister made me. It was originally a part of the birthday scavenger hunt, but he liked it too much to wait to give it away.
3.) I cracked the Mister's Mulan cherry. We then learned all about how your duty is to your heart in Mulan 2.
4.) I am slllllowly getting the hang of my sewing machine.
5.) This week has been a particularly rough week on public transportation and I. This is why I wrote the article about surviving the commute: as a reminder for me.
6.) Remember, Remember the 5th of November.
7.) The boy knows the way to this fat girl's heart: donuts.
8.) A big highlight for me was Growler's Hawthorne AND Ft. George retweeting, favoriting, and responding to a tweet about this blog. The little things.

Hope you have a good rest of your week,
Autumn