Sharing to Much?

Happy National Adoption Month:  To promote awareness for children in foster care in the United States. It began  as National Adoption Week in 1976 by Governor Michael Dukakis and it was declared by President Reagan in 1984. Then it was expanded to a whole month by President Clinton. 

The Adoption Series will feature those in the adoption triad: The Birth Family, Adoptee, Adoptive Family. There may be differing opinions among those in the adoption community and that is ok. It is important to respect other's opinions and sometimes one can learn from someone's different opinions. 

This week in The Adoption Series: The Adoptee. The following post was written by me, Liu Miao. I am a Chinese adoptee. I love to blog and eat. Adoption is very important to me. I love to help bring awareness and educate others about adoption. I have a lot of opinions about adoption, but it is so important to hear from other adoptees, adoptive families, and birth families so this is why I started The Adoption Series.  

Please Remember that this post doesn't represent the opinions or experiences of all adoptees. This post only represents my experiences and opinions. 

Most of use social media to share about our lives to friends and families. Social media is also used to keep connected with people. I have noticed in the adoption community that there is a tendency to share about adopted kids and their journey. Sometimes these accounts are public too. No I don't think it is always bad to share about your adopted kids. Sharing on social media can encourage another fellow adoptive parent, bring awareness about adoption or help educate someone about adoption.

I think that there is a point of sharing too much online. Adopted kids have a special story and sometimes it isn't appropriate to share it verbally or online. There comes a time when the kids need to be the one to share their story especially as they become older. You may say that my kids are very young. I would suggest that one doesn't share to many details about their story to the public ( unless it is like the doctors or another situation calls for detail).  Some kids may not care if their story is shared. It depends on each person. I would suggest asking your kids because sometimes they may be afraid to hurt your feelings.  Even as an adult adoptee, I don't always share the specific details of my adoption story because there are some details that don't need to be shared on the blog or Instagram. Remember before posting or speaking with someone, is this a detail that needs to be shared? If my child was an adult, would they be ok if this detail was shared on social media or verbally to someone.  Just something to consider.

~Liu Miao~

College Life Lessons

Currently I am in my last year of undergrad. My experience are different from those who attend a big university and my university is very small. There are so many lessons that I have learned while in college. I do not claim to be an expert or have all the answers, but I wanted to share some life lessons from college.

• Take advantage of the student resources such as the gym, printing, computer labs, tutoring, writing center, and career center. This is where some of your money goes towards. These resources are very help for college classes, applying for jobs or graduate schools, and finding a job.
• Make connections with professors and or TAs. This is helpful for two reasons. First, talking and asking questions can help you understand the class better. Second, professors are more willing to write recommendation letters if they know who you are.
• Join an organization. This is great because it allows you to relax and have fun. Classes are so important but having some fun is also important. This also allows you to make new friends that have similar interests.
• It is ok if you change your major. People change as they grow older and this includes their interests. Sometimes a person discovers new interests and realizes what they want to do as a career. I do recommend changing your major before it is too late so you don’t have to take extra classes. I changed my major at the second semester of sophomore year. I wasn’t affected by changing majors since I was taking vote classes up to the beginning of my second semester of sophomore year.
• Writing papers are actually important. Many jobs require some form of writing and it is important to present your thoughts effectively whether it is for a book, marketing, a proposal.

I would love to hear your life lessons from college!

~Liu Miao~

These are a few of my favorite things

Hello readers! Today I wanted to share a few of my favorite products that I have discovered . I love it when I can find a great product and want to share with you guys. Who doesn’t love finding great products? This list will include a variety of products. Note: This post is Not Sponsored by the brands mentioned in this post.

• Milk Bones : minis. One box is around $4 and you get like 200 treats. I love using them for obedience training with my dog.

• A selfie stick. Yes I know this sounds a little selfish ( no pun intended). You can do more with a selfie stick than just take selfies. Selfie sticks can be used to record videos. 

• Bluetooth earbuds. I recently got a pair for my birthday and I love them. They were $21 at target. 

• To All the Boys I’ve loved before series by Jenny Han. I checked out the series at my library and I loved it. I also watched the movie. It is nice to see an Asian American girl as the main character and she isn’t portrayed as stereotypical Asian girl. 

• GRE: prep, practice, flash cards. This app is really helpful and free. It gives explanations to problems, see results , and it has review concepts. You can do practice tests and mini quizzes by subject ( quantitative and verbal). The only bad thing is the app doesn’t include help in the writing section. 

• Canva app. I use this app to create images for my blog and Instagram. You can create flyers, posters, images for Twitter (cover) ,Facebook (cover) YouTube, business card, logs, kindle image, album covers, Instagram stories filters, and Snapchat filters. There are different templates or create your design. There are something things you can buy but you have so many free options in the app.

I would love to know what your favorite products. Have a great day.

~Liu Miao~

Snacks to bring to college classes

Snacks for college classes.

Hello readers!

College classes are starting soon. Some students may have started already depending on the university. Who eats in their college classes? I eat in most of my classes because my classes are during times I would normally eat. It is important to be considerate of others when eating in class. Foods that are noisy for example chips or foods with a strong aroma can be very distracting.

• Fruit. I love eating grapes or melons. It is helpful to have the fruit cut up in smaller pieces.

• Chocolate is also another great snack to have. It is helpful to open your chocolate before class so you won’t make too much noise. Sometimes I put my chocolate in a small container with a lid so I don’t have to deal with wrappers from the chocolate.

• Smoothies is a great snack. It isn’t to noisily. This is also a healthy snack option. Please don’t slurp with your straw when you get to the end of your drink.
• Peanut butter sandwiches or other types of sandwiches are good options. Sandwiches are generally not noisy when eaten.

I hope that everyone has a great year. What are some of the snacks you bring to your college classes? 

Have a great weekend

~Liu Miao~

Life Update

 

Hello readers. Today I thought that I would share what is going on  in my life recently. It has been awhile.

 I finished my Junior/Third year of university. Time has flown so quickly. I started blogging towards the end of my first year of university. Now I only have two semesters left! This summer I am studying for the GRE and looking at schools to apply for graduate schools. IF you have any tips for the GRE or graduate school application, please let me know.  In the fall, I will continue with a research project and we hope to get a paper in the process of publication in the spring. I love the field os psychology and learning Spanish.

I am also training my own service dog. Her name is Mi Gemela Dulce which translate as My Sweet Twin. Currently she is learning basic obedience and doing good with house training. I am also working on teaching her tasks that she will need to learn. We are working on retrieving things.(Future tasks will include: Retrieving things, helping with shoes and clothes, pushing buttons, pulling doors, finding someone when I have a bad fall. I hope to get her approved for light mobility when she is old enough.) She enjoys going to puppy class and she is almost 14 weeks old. The puppy class helps socialize her with unfamiliar dogs and gives me tips on how to better train my dog.

Isn't she the cutest? She is not hyper but does have moments of energy. Whenever she is very tired, she will lay down wherever she pleases and does not move. I would love to know your tips about training dogs for service work.

What are you doing this summer? I would love to hear about it.

~Liu Miao~

What's in my purse: Spoonie Edition

Hello readers! I hope all of you are well.. Today I will share about what I keep in my purse as a spoonie. Remember every Spoonie is different and what to carry in their purse/bag will vary. I like to use a tote bag or a medium size crossbody bag. Here is what I keep in my bag:

• Water
• Tylenol
• A snack (sometimes more depending how long I will be out)
• My insurance card
• A pen and sticky notes
• My phone
• Socks
• Hand sanitizer
• Wipes
• Kleenex
• Something to fidget with if I am in a lot of pain. Like a stress ball to use during classes.

I would love to know what you keep in your bag as a spoonie?

Have a great day!

~Liu Miao~

What's on my iphone?

 



Hello readers, I thought this would be a fun post to write. I love seeing what kind of apps people have on their phones. I have an iPhone because my friend gave me her old iPhone when she upgraded to a new phone. I have the IPhone 5s. Even though it’s an older phone , it works really well. I currently do not have it connected with data. I just use wifi and most places have wifi. I have phone that is connected to a phone plane so I can call and text without needing wifi. My real phone does not have the ability to have apps nor is it touch screen. (None smartphone aka dumb phone)So I use the iPhone to use apps. It is cheaper to pay for a none smartphone than it is to pay for a smartphone. Now on to the fun part.

I have all my apps on two “pages” on my phone. I like to keep my phone screen neat and organized.

 

Here are pictures of the apps in the folders. PicsArt is my favorite app to edit pictures because it doesn’t leave a watermark on your pictures after editing. I love spanishdict because I can get word of the day and learn new Spanish words. It also comes in handy when I need to look up a word in Spanish. Blackboard is used by my university. Yes I know that I have a lot of messaging app but I use all of them. WhatsApp, WeChat, Messenger,and Kakao Talk are great apps to message friends that are international or if you are traveling internationally.

I would love to know what apps you have on your phone. Have a great day!

~Liu Miao~