Never say never.

On Friday I hung out with the boys in cottage 3 and 4. Cottage 4 boys are quite different from cottage 3 boys. Cottage 4 boys joke around and have much more of an attitude. It's really funny because there is a older high school boy in the cottage who the younger boys look up to so much. At dinner, I'm pretty sure his name was said 20-30 times. If this kid thinks something is cool, all the younger boys do too. What power he has. Justin (cottage 3 houseparent) and I took the boys in cottage 4 to go get movies and treats for a movie night. We were walking around in the movie store when I saw Justin Bieber Never Say Never. Justin let me rent this movie to watch on my own in my room sometime. The boys got their movies, and off we went....later that evening, the boys finished their first movie and were deciding what movie to choose next...

Me: (in a joking tone) "Hey guys, how bout we watch Never Say Never! Yeah Yeah?"

Silence

Me: "Uhhhh soo no one opposes, seriously...? Ok, vote, who wants to watch Never Say Never?" (this is after they had been teasing me about renting the movie)

About 5 hands raise..out of 8.

Justin: "Okayyy, looks like you voted for Never Say Never!"

(Mix of cheers and moans)

Yup, so a group of 8 elementary and middle school boys voted to watch a movie about Justin Bieber...and enjoyed it. I had nooo problem with that. Made my night. Haha

On Saturday I scheduled to get my hair trimmed at the Paul Mitchell Beauty School. The cut was super cheap, and I figured that I could trust them to trim my hair. The place was nice, and really big. There were probably about 40 people getting their hair cut. The girl who cut my hair did a pretty good job. However, it took sooooo long! Two hours and thirty minutes to be exact. Wow. Good thing I didn't have huge plans for that day. I decided not to cut my bangs short again, cuz they just annoy me. I'm quite pleased with the new look. Still playing around with it.

Later that day I was able to see my aunt and uncle and cousins from Cheney. We played at a park by the YMCA. Fun day indeed.

Give me room.

I have a solution to stopping on hills...it works =)

(and I'm getting better at driving)

I've actually been enjoying the trains around the area. Hutton is far enough away from the train tracks that the train whistles aren't super annoying, but you can hear it in the background. I find the sound soothing and cozy actually-especially when I hear it from my window at night.

The area around Hutton is really pretty. I actually really enjoy "The Valley". There are lots of green hills, fields, and parks in the area. Right up the hill from Hutton is a winery, which is beautiful. The house sits perched on a hill that you can see from the mall (10 min away). Spokane River also runs through the middle of town, so it is nice to see some water.


This week I have been hanging out in Cottage 3. There are 6 or 7 elementary-high school boys there. For a boys house, it is actually really clean, even cleaner than the girl's cottages. I've really loved hanging out in Cottage 3. It is super relaxed and fun. One of the house parents, made a strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert the other night. We ate this while watching "The Biggest Loser" season finale...ironic right? He also made blueberry cobbler for breakfast- greatest idea ever. I actually woke up early enough to go over and eat some. Yumm! I also had the chance to help some of the kids with their home work. Tonight we played Bunco and watched the American Idol Season Finale. Cottage 3 is fun because it is super laid back and not high energy or high stress. I have also enjoyed sitting in on some meetings to learn about the events at Hutton. They are thinking about starting an "on campus learning academy" to provide an alternative option to public schools. The other day, one of the high school girls invited me to go have lunch with her at her during her lunch period. Thumper and I found our way over there, and I hung out with her and met some of her friends. Of course, they all thought I was in high school...haha ohh well. I have also been going to the YMCA, which is about 10 min from here. The facility is quite big and new.

Thats the news!

Sweet ride dude.

Yup. This is my sweet ride. 83 Volvo Station Wagon. What's up.

Yes, it's stick. Yes, I can drive it. I feel pretty successful about that.

Although, I learned how to drive stick only a few weeks ago. (Thanks Ryan). This being said, I am not confident stopping on hills. I definitely scoped out all the flat ways to get to Whitworth, Starbucks, the Y, the Mall (you know, the important places). So far, I made it around North Spokane, and from Whitworth to Hutton. I'm alive. YAY!

I usually never ever name my things. Naming things just seems weird to me. However, due to the ridiculousness of this car, I think it-he- deserves a name. So, this car tends to do this funny thing. When it is working to hard, it makes this really loud shaking sound. The whole car shakes as it tries to pick up speed. For this reason...among others...it has earned the worthy name of......(drum roll please.........)

THUMPER.

Yes that's right. This was inspired from the classic Disney movie Bambi.

Thumper and I will have a great summer, I'm sure.

Picture perfect.

The campus here is beautiful. There is an admin/staff building with the office and staff rooms upstairs. This is where I live.

I have my own room and share a bathroom with one other lady. My room is quite big, but cozy at the same time. It reminds me of my grandma’s old house.






The four cottages are lined up around a big grassy field and playground. I’ve already spent a lot of time out there playing with the kids in the evenings.



There is a barn which used to house lambs that the kids used in 4-H. There are no longer any lambs, but the barn can be used for summer activities.

Swimming is a favorite summer activity. This outdoor pool will be so fun!

The lane leading up to campus is beautiful with the cherry tree blossoms blooming. I slow down every time I drive up this lane just so I can enjoy how pretty it is. (This pic was taken from my car, so the quality isn't very good)

For more pictures check out Hutton Settlement on Facebook!

Intro to my summer.

Welcome to my blog!

I’m excited to share about my job at Hutton Settlement and whatever other fun summer activities come up as I live in Spokane for this summer. I found the job at Hutton Settlement from an internship fair at Whitworth. I just asked what they were about, what their need was, and it ended up being a great fit.

First off, Hutton Settlement is an “orphanage” or “children’s home”. Some of the kids have parents, but the home life isn’t ok to be in. I guess you could think of Hutton as a long term foster home. Kids ages 5-18 live here in family structured homes. There are 4 cottages where the kids stay. Each cottage has 6-8 kids in them. There are two boy and two girl cottages. House Parents are the two people who act as parents for the house. They cook, clean, attend to the needs of the children, develop house rules and routine, and act as a parent figure for the kids. The house parents give supervision and help create a household setting for the kids to live in. Something cool that I’ve noticed is that each Cottage operates somewhat differently. The households are run in different ways so it feels like a neighborhood. For example, one cottage may allow the kids to read certain books that another cottage wouldn’t allow. I think this is really cool because it allows the house parents to have their own say in how they want their house to be run. As far as approaches to parenting and discipline/correction, Hutton uses the program called “Common Sense Parenting”. I watched the instruction videos and they seem to be a very effective way to approach discipline/parenting.

I really love Hutton’s mission which is: “to nurture, educate, and prepare children who are in need of a safe and healthy home”. What makes Hutton stand out to me is that they not only care about the immediate needs of the children, but they want to prepare them to be effective and competent citizens. The kids are involved in the community through extracurricular activities and through service projects. For example, some of the residents are involved in maintaining a garden where food and flowers are grown and given to local food banks in the area.

You can read more about the history of Hutton Settlement at: http://www.huttonsettlement.org/

Let me share a bit about my job. My primary focus this summer will be working as a K-5 Remedial Education Coordinator (fancy way of saying I’ll be a tutor for kids who need some extra help and kids who want to excel). I’m still in process of figuring out what this position will actually consist of. I will be getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of the kids and develop lessons to fit what they need to work on. In addition, I will plan and participate in activities for the kids during “1-4 activity” during the summer. This portion of time allows the house parents have a break, and gets the kids out doing something fun. I’ve been thinking about doing a “scrapbook the summer” or baking activity. There is pool at Hutton where I will lifeguard and teach swim lessons. From talking to the kids about their favorite activities, swimming seems to be the top pick. I’m guessing I’ll be at the pool a lot. The nice thing is that it is an outdoor pool- hello sunshine! These jobs/positions will start when the kids get out of school in mid June.

Until summer starts for the kids, I will be hanging out in the cottages in order to get to know the kids and staff. This past week was my first week at Hutton, and I was assigned to get to know the staff and girls of Cottage 1. These girls are primarily in elementary school. It was fun to see the different personalities and figure out the routine of the household. I did a lot of “hanging out”. The relief house parents had the tasks and work pretty much under control. I was able to help the girls with their homework during the study time. We also played some games, ate dinner together, played outside on the playground, and watched movies. It was weird to not have a task or goal to accomplish. However, this was/is a time for me to get to know the kids and build relationships with them. This past week I also hung out in Cottage 2, which consists of teenage girls. The routine and atmosphere of this house was definitely different than Cottage 1, so I am excited to spend more time in each cottage to see how they work.

So yup, this is what my summer looks like. Keep reading to hear fun stories and stay informed about my life.