political correctness

ok so in class on saturday we had a very good discussion about how many people in society continue to talk in politically incorrect terms. as a social worker, it is extremely important that i am aware of the words i say and the way things come out. i have been used to this and so aware of what i say since i was an undergrad about 5 years ago, it just comes naturally now. the problem is that not everyone is so concious about what they say. maybe they don't care, or maybe they really just don't know the correct way to say something. so it is with pleasure that i take the opportunity to educate anyone who wants to be educated right now.



first thing's first...in the land of social work, the first thing that professors engrain in the brain is that labeling people is a big no no. when you label, you are using that label to identify a person, rather than seeing that person for who they are. that label then tends to get in the way. instead, the correct way is to say "a person with - " or "a person who is - "here are a few examples of some incorrect terms:



~ colored

~ mentally retarded

~ autistic

~ handicapped (either mentally or physically)


the politically correct way to say these terms would be:

~african american
~person with a mental disability
~child or person with autism
~a person who has a disability

hopefully this will help you to be more aware of what you say. many people don't know what the right thing to say is, so that's what i'm here for!

sunday night...

i am just about to jump into bed in anticipation of the start of the workweek (yay). but i wanted to post real quick...

i have a ton of new pictures to post from the past couple of weeks. unfortunately, they will have to wait until i have a few extra moments, and it depends on if hubby will surrender the desktop from his final fantasy game.

second - i need to be the good little social worker that i am and post about politically correct terms. too often i hear words and phrases that are so politically incorrect it makes me want to bang my head against the wall. i think most of it has to do with people not knowing what poltically correct terms are, and therefore they don't use them. oh well, such is life. and that's what i'm here for! to educate anyone that happens to read my blog. so to bed i shall go, and stay tuned this week for some exciting new posts!

to a fabulous work week...(and two weeks till april vacation!)

~jen

finding your passion

there have always been things i've loved to do as hobbies, but most of the time i would start something and quickly get bored with it. finding your passion is as simple as going inside yourself and finding things that make you happy. my passions have developed quite a bit over the past few years.

in essence, there are two things i am really passionate about. they are paper crafts (as you might already know), and photography. i have finally made the big jump into officially declaring photography as my hobby with the purchase of my new Nikon D80. it is just so amazing. i can't put it down. i need a vacation just to take tons of pictures! of course, i don't even pretend to know what all the buttons are for, and exactly how to use it, but that will come with time. i will be sharing awesome pictures as i take them, so you can get excited now! here are a few to start off with...

so, what's your passion?...

jennifer lynn

inspiration board

(my inspiration board)


sometimes i find myself struggling to get motivated with things in my life. of course, i'm sure many people feel that way about exercising, myself included! when you find something you love doing, you don't really need any motivation for it, assuming you enjoy spending time doing that activity. but sometimes, you just need that little push in the toosh to get going on things.



this is where my "inspiration board" comes in handy. i absolutely love love love making beautiful things out of beautiful paper, but sometimes with work and school going on at the same time, i get a little burnt out. i really try my best to keep my work area neat and clean (which is a feat in itself) so it is always appealing, but even then, i don't always feel like making cards.



a couple weeks ago, while shopping at target (for paper - shocker!) i came up with the idea of getting a small bulletin board for my desk area. at first i didn't know exactly what i was going to hang on it, but i knew that i would find something to put on it. on the way home i was talking with my husband about what inspires me when it comes to being creative. that's when i had an "aha!" moment. i love having those "aha!" moments. i came up with the idea of cutting out pictures of things that inspire me as i see them in magazines, catalogs, even the internet. there are lots of things that inspire me, so its not a problem finding things. it could be a color, a flower, pattern, word, etc.



i keep the board on the wall where my desk is, and i love looking at it every time i walk by. it helps me get motivated, and it jump starts my inner creative wheels. there was just one problem...i forgot to buy pushpins. but that's okay, because my creative wheels were turning and i found another use for sewing needles!

get inspired...

jennifer lynn :)

the start of something new...

welcome to j. lynn design.

i would like to introduce you all to my greeting card/announcement/invitation company. this has been in the works for a while now - about 7 months i would say.

i have always loved pretty papers and what you can make with them - it's in my blood, really. laugh if you want, but it's true.

i never attempted to make anything until i was faced with the undeniably daunting task of deciding which gaudy wedding invitations to waste my money on. i knew exactly what i wanted, but couldn't find it anywhere. well...unless i wanted to pay over $500 for 100 invitations. i decided to try a few samples and absolutely loved how they came out. i then bought all my paper, supplies, and found time in my life to make countless numbers of save-the-dates, invitations, reply cards, table name cards, and ceremony programs. and i loved every second of it! it was so rewarding to see how other people loved my creations. i figured there must be a way to do this as a side job, but with working full time and going to grad school, where would i find the time? later in life, after graduation, when i get a house, after i have kids. geez, why not wait until i retire?!

i decided that life is too short to not do what you love. that is where my idea of j. lynn design became a reality. i made different types of cards to see how people reacted to them, and to my surprise (or not) people loved them! i already have several orders and i don't even have a website yet! here's to the start of something new...