Finding Christmas Cheer

It's the end of another busy busy busy semester...YEAH, let the celebrations begin!!!!!!! I had two final student events to attend Saturday (yes, I had to work on Saturday, blah!) but luckily they were both located downtown. I'll be honest, as nice as these two events are the thought of devoting my Saturday to work was not appealing. So to change my attitude around I decided to take the train in early and have a little fun with my new camera! I went with a mission of finding Christmas Cheer in the City and it turned into a fun morning and helped put me in a cheery mood for my work duties :) All in all, a great day and I'm actually glad this is how my Saturday turned out!

How great is this, Scarf Building Buddies :)Santa playing at Portland Saturday Market

Colorful Winter Wear at the market...I love how cheery the colors are!

Christmas Cupcakes...yum yum!

Tom McCall watching over our city's beloved Christmas tree

Cute, Cute, Cute!!!

Even the fountain statues are dressed in their holiday best!

A Week With A Purpose

I do campus programming and one of my favorite weeks to host every year is Homeless Awareness Week. Bringing awareness to the issues and realities of homelessness is something that I have been doing on a yearly bases since 2000. It's exciting to see two completely different programs I've started for two colleges and I can honestly say that important programming like this is why I love to do what I do! I really enjoy working with local agencies here in Portland who are helping people without homes and I am so excited to see students want to volunteer their time, energy, and resources to helping others beyond themselves. We had a full week on campus and here are some of the highlights of what I organized :)

PhotoVoice Exhibit:Sisters Of The Road is one of Portland's flagship organizations for helping people in need and doing it with amazing care, dignity, and respect. A few years ago they gave some men and women camera's for a week to document their life without a home and now it is a traveling exhibit and one that we are proud to display for them! I even met Dan, one of the photographers, and he shared quite a bit with me when we were setting up the display the things he was able to overcome by the help given at Sisters of the Road.

Voices From The Street Book Sale:Part two of the PhotoVoice Exhibit is a new book that is a leading resource and fact sharing book on issues surrounding homelessness. I cannot wait to dive into my copy as the facts are taken from Portland...what a great way to learn more about our city and the needs of our neighbors!

Movie Showing:
WOW...Homeless in Paradise is a remarkably well done movie on the reality of homelessness as it follows four individuals and their journey to living on the streets and what keeps them from an improved life. I was so excited when our librarian called to tell me she bought this for our campus as she thought it would be a great addition to raising awareness and she couldn't be any more correct...it's powerful and thought-provoking!

Collection Drive for Rose Haven Womens Center:Students collected a car load of items to donate to Rose Haven, an INCREDIBLE community and intervention center for women and children without a home and survivors of violent relationships. Sister Cathie (director of the center) came and spoke on how she has dedicated her life to serving woman in need and shared story after story of women and children she helps just a mere few blocks from our campus. The stories were absolutely heartbreaking and all of us left with wet eyes, Sister Cathie included. We were able to donate a large amount (a car load!!!) of feminine hygiene and baby products to help assist the tangible daily needs of the woman and children but still there is so much more that they need, things like a listening ear, a safe place, and most importantly people and services they can trust!

Volunteer Opportunity:
The week ended with a handful of students volunteering alongside our campus director at Operation Nightwatch, a local center for people who are lonely or don't have a place to go in the evenings. I haven't heard how it went but I am sure all involved had an amazing evening of giving to others!

Say Cheese

One of the random jobs that has fallen into my lap at work is being responsible for ID pictures for our campus community. I'll tell you this, taking ID pictures is one of the least favorite parts of my job but I wouldn't mind it if I was the person who had to take his picture this week...Welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the world of Higher Education!

Today Is A Day When I Love My Job...

Today, even with all its insanity, was a great reminder of why I love my job! Myself, a wonderful colleague, and an amazing student all hosted our 2nd Annual Family Day! Last year we created this event so our students who have children could bring the kiddos to campus to see where mom or dad is spending so much time...it's a really fun day complete with crafts, science experiments, food, and piñatas! So much fun!!!










One of the reasons why I love my job is because I get to work with some absolutely phenomenal students! Today could not have been a success without students stepping up and volunteering to help...they give so much of their time and for that I can never say enough thank you’s :) Because of their help, our new academic year is off to a great start and I'm totally jived for what is ahead!

Ending The Week On The White Salmon

I ended one of my busiest weeks of the year by taking some students white water rafting on the White Salmon River. This is my second year of taking this trip and as last year, the river did not disappoint us! This is by far some of the best white water rafting I have ever done and the river has one of the only class 5 waterfalls in the nation that outfitters can take people over...it's pretty amazing!!

Ready or not...it's waterfall time!!

"Riding The Bull"