Weekend weddings, and M-Day!

It is hard to believe that we are at this point already, but nevertheless the relative end of summer has arrived! For those of you who might not know, I have passed my Nursing (NCLEX) Boards, and now have my official nursing license - How exciting! I am also leaving tomorrow to attend one of my oldest friends' wedding. I am definately not sure that there is enough space in Michigan to hold SFL, WOT, and our friends family who is definatly as weird as us! lol! From the wedding I am driving down to my new apartment, where I will have a week to settle in before my first week of work orientation. In the midst of that I have a great friend from school coming up for the weekend, and my parents will be coming down a week later. Whew, I swear my life is crazy! It is exciting though to think that I will finally get to have my own place, and not have to move in 4 months. I know that life in the real world can slip into a boring rut at times, however, I am excited to have an apartment to come home to, and I know that work will definately keep me busy for quite awhile.

Well, I know that it was not the most interesting of posts, but I will try to come up with something more creative for the next time. Until then!

Global Warming? Say what!

I don't know about your normal family conversations over the dinner table - assuming you have such events...but I will tell you that we have had some impressive ones. If you have ever eaten at our place you probably remember some such strange conversations, ranging from the creative naming of potential spouses, to the thermodynamics of a fart (eww - SFL we seriously do not need a demonstration!). The past several days have however, considered more serious intrigues. It began when SFL informed us that by next year all car companies will be mandated to only produce vehicles who get at least 35mpg. Now the reason given to the enforcement of this law was that it would help lower carbon emissions which influence global warming. This topic is a very interesting "ball" to toss around in a discussion, and before long the question became what global warming (assuming it exists) is caused by? How much CO2 is truly produced by cars, and in which countries? Is increased mpg the BEST way to control CO2 emission? How much CO2 is normally required on earth for living things (especially plants)? I must note here that I did suggest that we just put a limit to the number of times people can breath per minute, because after all we produce CO2 every time we exhale...however, that suggestion was not really viewed as possible (shame). Nor was my other alternative observation that CO2 might be decreased if we only wipe out the entire earths population.....once again shot down...



Now all these questions are quite interesting, and after one evenings' conversation much reading and research was done, and by the second night several answers had emerged. It always amazes me how creative the human mind is! It also amazes me how often in this age where information is so easy to access choose to remain ignorant. Granted, many topics do not appeal, and yet what a better place to discuss topics that you may be ignorant of than the dinner table? Haha, I feel like a commercial for on ABC for the "family table". Truly though! I suppose that another good point is that you should never believe what you hear ;-) after all CO2 only composes 12% of greenhouse gases (I think thats right...WOT care to verify?), so perhaps there are other gases which would be better decreased. There are so many components to almost any issue you care to talk about, which is the very foundation of debates! No, no I am not saying that this vehicle law should not be put into place, however I am saying that it behooves us to think and talk about those issues which concern our world.

Well, I guess you will never get bored with the number of completely random and separate blog topics that show up....hmm...aren't you glad you don't live in my mind ;-).

Moving on Down, moving on down tooo the south side...

Well it is official! Whether I like it or not I am now a Tennessee resident, and will be moving to my very first job by the beginning of August. I will by working in a Pediatric ICU, I think that working will kids will be both challenging and fun. WOT and I did have to take an unexpected trip down this past week to get my licence, car title, etc to prove my residency so that I could take my nursing exam....yuck! It was a pain!! I loved getting to see DOT and hang out with her for a couple days, but both mom and I were not as excited to sit in the car for a nice 12 hour trip one way. I think that I've put around 3000 miles on my car since the end of April - if my butt never sits in another car it will be too soon!

Well, now that my fate is sealed I have begun packing, and hopefully sorting out what to take now and what to just pack for a later move. *Sigh* I hate packing, but I am excited. Mostly I have realized how fast this summer is going to fly! Also, if any of you are ever coming down my way you will have to stop by for a visit, and see my apartment - which I hope to have decorated cutely ;-). Alright - more later!

Flying By

Isn't that just the story of life hmm? How easy it is to fill our lives with so many things some good, some not, and some just in the wrong order on a list of priorities. I suppose that the difficultly in complexity is when I lose focus of the Lord. Busyness in itself is not bad, too often however are the nights when I roll over to turn off the light on my nightstand, and see my Bible resting there untouched. How tragic would it be if I ignored the prick of the Holy Spirit on my heart? There are so many things in this world that I have just adjusted to - that every now-and-again I wonder if I shouldn't feel something when I see them. For example; just this week I pulled up MSN home page and a story headline caught my eye. At first I laughed at the irony of it, but it has nagged my thoughts this week. It said something like: From the devastating civil war in the Sudan comes good news (at this point I'm thinking oh cool the war ended!)...(read on)...National Geographic shows new aerial footage showing knob antelope are thriving there.

I struck me how misplaced our priorities often are. After all how many times have you seen news on the thousands of people dying in Africa and around the world each day from war, disease, and famine? I know that being stewards of earth is definitely a responsibility given to us by the Lord, but how greater then is our responsibility to the hurting and lost people surrounding us? Granted, we are not all called to fly to the Sudan :-P, but we are all called to be lights in the darkness, to stand humbled in the presence of our God, and to glorify the Lord in EVERY thing that we do. Oh that I might not live my life including God in it - but that I would include my life in the Lord - even the busy parts. Weird thought isn't it.

Mmm, sorry for my rambling. :-) See I'm attempting to actually keep up on here! More to come later - as I get inspired again.

Life Changes Once Again

By now I am sure that most anyone who read my blog in past editions, as since given up hope that I would ever update. However, I am here to say that this record of my doings and where-abouts is far from complete.

I have finally graduated college with my BSN in Nursing, and am proud to say that it was with Honors. My parents and sister came down for the event, and we all had a wonderful, yet exausting time. Leaving was horrid I'll admit. I think I cried enough tears to flood my apartment again; as I drove down the street with the T's standing in their driveway. Mrs. T has called several times and says that Kate still asks when I'm coming home...I miss them tons!!

However, I have stayed fully busy in the few weeks I've been home. I am studing for my Nursing Boards to get my licence (it is so wrong that you have to study AFTER school), and trying to figure out where I'll be working. Right now I am actually leaning towards working in Tennessee as a Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse in a childrens hospital. Along with all the paper work I need to complete, I am also apartment hunting, and trying to get my adult life situated. Mom, dad, and I also just got back home from a wonderful trip to Maine so the parents could go to a rock digging class all week. They had a blast, and I enjoyed Maine! I was hopping ever so much to see a moose...but no - it wasn't to be. Now I can cross off my list of states to see, three more.

It is good to be back home though, and I am back in the swing of reenactments for the summer. We already had our first event, which happened to be four days instead of the usual three because we did an extra school education day that over 400 kids came to from over 4 schools!! As fun as it was, you have NO idea how badly I wanted a shower......

Well, that is about all for now - I will try to be much more faithful in my accounts, and keep you up dated on my work situation. Thank you all for the prayers and thoughts!

The Final Count Down...

My four years at school has finally funnelled into these last two weeks before I walk proudly across the stage (hopefully not to fall) and receive my diploma. As I look back it flew by, and yet when I truely think about it, I can remember soo many things that have happened. Although I have no idea yet where I am going, what I am doing, or when it will be; I do know that I will miss school for all its challenges and opportunities alike. I am hoping to have a nice graduation photo to post here or send to you guys ;-) I'll post more later, as I'm sure you will want to hear all my graduatory news.

Birthday #22!!

Happy Birthday to me I live in a tree I may look like a monkey, but thats because I'm hairy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


lol, ok ok...Well I am officially 22, I know crazy! Things have been busy, as a brief summary -


- I passed my one class (hip hip hooray) - even got a B!
- Spring Break was awesome - my sis is the best and we had so much fun!!! Lots of food, fun, REALLY loud music, bad mom jokes, and laughing.
-Mrs. T is back home (YEA!!) from visiting her sister for 12 days (poor Mr. T) who recently found out she has cancer, so please be in prayer for their family, and for her sister who is not a Christian.
- Once again, we had to plung my bathroom tube which was full of crap....which had backed up from the upstairs bathroom...yuck....it was sooooo gross....
- I went to the most REDNECK Civil War Reenactment ever....I hate to say it, but it was REALLY redneck. I did feel bad though one of the guys actually shot himself in the leg (although it was a blank) and the force of the powder actually put a hole in his leg. He'll need some stitches, so they took him in the ambulance, poor guy.
- I had a fabulous birthday!!!
- I meant to have this really awesome theological post...but I knew it would be exausting...so, you'll have to wait for another time.

Ok, thats about all :-) I'll write more soon!!!

Theres Always a First Time For Hate Mail...

Haha, have you ever wondered what it would be like to get hate mail?


Ah, yes, my fine commenters - I'm sure you never thought (except SFL) that I of ALL people would ever recieve hate mail...sigh...However, there is a time in every persons life that they must make a desision to stand up for something.

Now - granted, I hope that my timing was alright, but I wrote this letter to our undergraduate coordnator to ask for her opinion on how I should handle a situation with a professor; which I felt that the class agreed on..............................well - I guess not the whole class agreed... Although, I got plenty of very sweet e-mails thanking me for standing up to say something, I also got a couple pieces of hate mail...

Hate mail is a funny thing, it bites, it also is intimidating, but at the same time it makes you want to stand up and say - WELL THEN WHY DO I HEAR SO MANY PEOPLE COMPLAINING ON THE BUS!!!! lol....sorry. On one hand I was thinking "well maybe I had bad timing", but on the other hand if I did it after our final people would say that it was only written because the final was hard, and that is not true. Needless to say, I kinda feel like the women who was going to be stoned....hum...of course not for the same thing....bla bla bla

Well, I'm back off to study and sleep, I've been working SUPPER hard for this final :-) I hope it pays off! I'll write more soon.


P.S. I really just don't do good with hate mail, lol :-P

Rambling Thoughts...

I will put a quick disclaimer on this post. These alone are my thoughts, and as such have the potential to be erred. If you might offended by my comments you may want to forget you know me =P. Happy reading.


Amid a recent conversation with a friend, the topic of movies was brought up. My friend stated that movies today were designed to create an emotional response within you; which under a real-life circumstance would lend itself to a retaliatory response from the viewer. Generally however, due to the nature of films, no response to these evoked emotions are required or possible. The point of my friend was that we should be wary of putting ourselves in situations where we are likely to have our conscience numbed leading to a desensitization towards emotionally charged situations. I had not been prepared to answer this opinion at the time, but tonight I came upon a thought that has caused me to disagree. Were we not created by the Lord to respond to situations in which we were emotionally drawn? Of course! However, it is not only a movie that has this effect. Have you ever listened to a piece of music that touched your very soul? It could have been the rhythm, the harmony, the picture it placed in your mind, the words, or perhaps just the very notes themselves that stirred within you the cry for response. On the other hand a magnificent sunrise, a snow capped mountain, a surging wave, or a breathtakingly beautiful vista call to the heart of the viewer as well. Within every life experience lies an opportunity for our emotional response to drive us to action. I am not just talking about an emotional expression such as tears; I am speaking of joy, anger, fear, indignation, boldness, sorrow, compassion, and courage; such responses as have been experienced by both men and women since God created them. What then prevents us from taking action in response to these feelings, is it desensitization such as my friend suggested? Why then may I ask do those who have never been exposed to such movies fail to respond in action to music, nature, genocides, natural disasters, or death; while on the other hand there are people who are fully immersed in the film industry who seem to display more response to said stimuli. Could it not be that pure sinful human nature causes our hearts to become callused towards the emotions that rise within us? Although it is not impossible to become desensitized and unresponsive through constant emotional stimulation, I wonder if the lack of action is the result of our lack of a relationship to the Lord. Are there not many more non Christians who cry out for action in the face of injustice? Perhaps my lack of an action following an emotion is not solely a result of desensitization from films, but rather a generalized state of apathy. Why should all films, natural beauty, or piece of music require me to idly sit by, convinced that no action could result? My thought is that every time an emotion is raised within me whether by a piece of art, or a stirring story should I not turn to the Lord and ask Him how I might alter my life according. At the very least I can stand aside for a moment to allow the emotion to ring true in my heart, and really think about my response. I do not want to find myself at the end of my life looking back to see a hundred things I wish would have been changed. So often I hear individuals complaining about this, that, and the other thing, but never do they do something about what they believe. How sad it is to think that I could go through life and never allow myself to truly feel the weight of a passionate burden. Granted, action can be draining, and each person has a different call, but let us not forget we are children of the Lord called to live by a higher standard, and called to have the heart, thoughts, and emotions of the Lord. Why was I put on this earth if I never show a single soul the heart of the Creator who placed me here? Hum, I apologize if this seems quite rambling, but perhaps it will make you think, or at least debate these crazy thoughts of mine. Aren't you glad that I usually don't say what is really going in my head? Trying to articulate all this stuff makes me exhausted....lol....

P.S. If my thoughts do not exactly flow so that they are understandable I am sorry, it is late...

Cup of Tea

I have determined that at any point in my day sitting down with a hot cup of something helps to put the world in perspective. I really should suggest it to the greater population :-). Nah - we'll just keep it our little secret. Well, as for life the weeks are flying by which can be a good thing, but it is also a little bitter sweet. After all, come May I no longer get the title of college student. Sure there are plenty of things to look forward to - decorating my own apartment, not having to move every year, work, money, humm. However, there is plenty I will miss which is why I think that I'm sort of in denial; Mrs. T and I both. That is the funny part of life though, it goes on, it is never the same.


Oh - I almost forgot! Everyone give SFL a huge hug, presents, and a song for his BIRTHMONTH!! Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Now granted he was physically born on a single day, but no one knows the day exactly (he's lied about it for years), soooo we celebrate the month instead. This should go right along with my friend Matt who hides his birthday.....humm you strange people....


Oh and wish me luck this week! I am off to the great state of Texas where the sky truely is bigger (although neither my sister nor I have been able to scientifically prove it) for a job interview. We will see, I'll keep you all posted. More soon!!

First Snow Day of 2007!

Well, we usually have one snow day each year, and when it finally does come normal life is put on hold. Snow days are holidays, there's no school and no work, instead families spend time with eachother - each family having their own Snow Day traditions. On our snow day, I spent nearly all day playing out side with the Ts. Let me tell you the next morning my legs were killing me! In the afternoon though, we went to one of the good hills in the area to go sledding, and we found a giant snow squirrel someone had created. Now, in case you have not heard, we have had quite the year for squirrels. Mrs. T had seen several mysteriously dead squirrels - not on the road...and so the story was born of the Squirrel Plague. Not long after Mrs. T's find our pastor's son got this rash over his entire body (which was later determined to be results of a virus), but of course was seen as the human reaction to Squirrel Plague. Thus, when on our snow day we found the snow squirrel we had to recognize it as a monument to all our fellow squirrels lost in the plague of 2007.

Chilly

I can decide if my complete sense of disorganization comes from by desire to graduate, my busy schedule, or a lack of motivation. Perhapes all three to some degree, although I really want to be organized. Mainly, our classes have all these projects that are overlapping, along with the fact that my weekend (when I usually get organized) was kinda shot. Oh well! Lol...I think that tonight when I get home I will sort through all my stuff...

Oh I will share with you a rather hillarious moment brought to you by my slackish self :-). Sunday night around 10pm...yes after I should be asleep...I was up hanging out with some friends watching Back to the Future (such a good movie), when a quote caught my attention. I cannot remember who said it, I'm sure SFL will enlighten me, but I think that Loraine said it. She said "he's my dreamboat". I about choked when it hit me that this is a common reference between my parents...Oh the 80's...I will also admitt that we had way to much fun thinking about how Doc goes 30 years to the future which would be 2015, and what is says about it. My philosophy is that if Doc is correct we might as well stop paying for road and highway maintainence, because we'll be using flying vehicles. Haha, oh what fun.

Alright, I'm off to study a bit, or something.

P.S. You know I thought about doing something very theological...but then decided that I really didn't have the brain power this morning.

P.P.S. So my title makes some sense - it was a balmy 18 degrees this morning.

Really Fast

For the sake of trying to keep up with my blog, this will be a very short post because I have to go set up for church in 5 minutes....Come to think of it I feel like at times my life runs in 5 minute intervals. Enough of that...So my new story - last night -


I was upstairs hanging with the T's, who if you recall are my fabtabulous landlords, and friends. After dinner and plenty of chocolate chip cookies :-) we went to work on their bathroom sink and tub, which ran into some trouble with having random objects dropped down it's drain - thus leading to a massive blockage. We had 6 foot pipe snake, but that was not long enough to reach, so at 9 o'clock at night we called next door to borrow his 25 foot snake...This then led us to a hillarious discussion of snakes...but lets not go there.

Needless to say when all was said and done the sink drained, the tub drained, and the three of us were covered in brown - crap...and smelled like bleach, vinagar, and REALLY nasty crap.

I took a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG shower.....


More later :-)

Update!

Hey all! I'm sure that you had all thought that I must have dropped into some eternal vortex unable of escape - thus explaining my complete and total lack of blogging. Well...I am afraid that you are mistaken. To tell you the truth I am trying to get back into the swing of school, as it is I have been avoiding going grocery shopping like the plague. Things are good though, I do like my classes much better than last semester. Yesterday however, I think that the entire class' jaws dropped when we saw the 19 page syllabus that our instructor handed out...19 pages!!! Talk about assignments!!!

Then this past weekend I went to Georgia for a Vineyard Church Conference for Small Group Leaders. It was a GREAT conference, and it was so fun to get away from Clemson a little. Church is going so well, and the whole leadership team is so excited for implementing more of what we learned over the weekend.

I also have been kept busy fighting the Squirrel Plague which has been taking over the neighborhood. Yes, my friends - the squirrels strike back!! All we know, is that squirrel plague has a strange effect on human children. It causes them to breakout in a red rash all over there body. Humm...................Well at least that is what my friend Matt and I have determined by our very scientific method. You should have heard my pastor - he was like "REALLY! I heard something about that yesterday!!". I about died laughing....trust me it was hillarious.


Alright, I have to leave for Clinical in 5 minutes, so I'd better sign off. I will be back to post more later!!!

The Very Last Christmas Break...

I am back - tired after a week of finals, but now I am up visiting the parents, and enjoying it completely. As for life...Well, I haven't had a life for 4 months (:-P), but hey! I know that this is a short post, but I'm tired, and I want to go torment SFL and WOT some...hehe...I think I'll make them play a game with me, muhahahaha.

Turkey Genocide

To all my fair Turkey lovers out there...still eating reminants of Turkey from two days ago, I beg you to turn your hardened hearts to the woeful calls of the million plus Turkeys killed within the past month. Here is what the newscast should read:

Thursday, November 24, 2006
Over one million turkeys were found slain this year. Their moist, buttered, and brown skin was roasted, fried, and baked across the country today. The people in the spirit of tradition turned a deaf ear to their cries; instead gracefully carved tender meat onto garnished trays beside cranberry sauce. Spokesman R.D. Quill from the Federation for the Liberation of Turkeys stated Wednesday morning. "The slaugher this year is unprecedented, and we call for Freedom to Turkeys across the world!" Unfortunately, the illustrious Mr. Quill was one of the many who fell during Thursday's events. A memorial to the fallen hero will take place next week sometime. And now, please stay tuned for an update on the "hunt for the Grinch".

*********
As for me, I am enjoying my break from classes and early morning very much! It is hard to believe that in another three or so weeks Christmas break will be here!! Yea!!!! Alright, well I am off to do whatever I want to :-). Till next time...

Hay Rides and Square Dances

Yea, so I know that you will all be overwhelmed by two blog postings within one day, but I can't help it; try to stablize yourselves please.

I had to post and tell you about my very fun night last night. I got an invite by a friend to go hang out with a Christian group of college kids, because they were putting on this big square dance and hayride. It was a blast, we hung out with about 80 kids and danced till we were exausted, and then we braved the cold to take a hayride. It was awesome because the sky was so clear that you could see every star, it was so beautiful. However, it was freezing and I think that my fingers were ice cubes by the time I got back (hehe). I seriously realized that I needed to get out a little, because this semester has been busy I really haven't hung out with anyone so I think that I needed it. Well, anyway that is my little summary of my night, it was so much fun! :-)

Debates With the T's....

Good afternoon my faithful commentors! How goes it in your unique, individual, worlds?

Well this week, I was reminded that I have failed for far to long to introduce you to some friends of mine - pardon a' me (my French is atrocious). Without adu meet the T's; Mr. and Mrs. and their four little ones. Yes, they are my favorite Landlords, and my family away from home. The T's have been absent from my humble internet abode, however my fabulous blog topic this time around would not be complete without the recognition that the T's spawned (hehe - SFL, its your favorite word) this topic. Thus, everyone say hello to the T's!


As for the topic which you have all been so patiently waiting for, I expect some excellent dialoge.


Mr. T informed me the other night that it is very unAmerican to not have a Christmas Tree at Christmas. Now, my question to him was why the Christmas Tree? And why is the Christmas Tree "American"? Why not Stockings, Eggnog, or Snow? After all, is Christmas another cultural holiday or does it mean something else? I am sure that there are plenty of stories about the history of Christmas, and to me they may or may not be true. However, if Christmas truely is a "pagan" holiday like Halloween should we treat it the same way? Should we not celebrate it, and celebrate Hanika instead? Hummm, any ideas commentors, or shall Mr. T remain uncontested?

My Future

That sounds like such a large monumental concept does it not? "THE FUTURE". After all, think about your future; the hopes, dreams, and possibilities that at times seem so unclear, and at other times seem to lead us in a straight line. I know that this sounds appears to be quiet theoretical, but as I am gaining more life experience I am beginning to understand the absolute trust we must have in the Lord. Little 'ol me has all these plans, where, when, and how my life is going to work...when in reality I cannot make one thing happen on my own, without the Lord. This leads me to think how ironic it is that for all the plans I make and could never put into action; I get so offended at the Lord when he changes those plans. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with plans, goals, and great ideas; instead I think that for me I just need the reminder to always trust that the Lord knows those good plans that He has for me, and if I follow Him, and keep a heart tender to His leading I will live in a way that pleases the Lord, and ultimately will satisfy my heart.

Ahh, I love a good contemplative moment...:-)...As for life, I am actually in the midst of deciding where I might go upon graduation. I tell ya' there are so many choices! My friends at school are determined to keep me here, my family and friends at home (ie. Jess #1, parental guidences, and Heather) will kill me if I don't move back home ;-), and I have job offers and opportunities from across the country. I hate choices...lol...Well, this is true, whatever decision I make doesn't have to be perminant, and will only open other doors for me. Anyway, I got to go to a very fun conference on Saturday, and see my MUMMY!!!!!! Yeah!!!!! We had a blast, and got to listen to hours of info relating to nursing and jobs, etc. I find it quite entertaining to see a couple hundred nurses and nursing students interacting. I think that my favorite part of the conference was when this one nurse was answering a question about why there is not some way to make IV ports unique to the tubing so that nurses can't make mistakes and put something like Ensure into an IV line instead of a gastric tube where it should be...because this has happened. The nurse replied with, "actually the two different tubes don't fit on the IV port...however nurses are known for their creativity and if something doesn't work they WILL find a way." Nurses are so use to having to work with things that don't work, having to be creative, and having to think out side the box, that sometimes its to our death...er...to the death of whoever we put Ensure in their veins...cough! Anyway, it was funny to think of how creativity can sometimes be a negative, and the nurse reminded us, "if something doesn't work or fit right, before you MAKE it work you should first check to make sure that it SHOULD work". Ah, such a simple idea, and yet at times how we forget...lol.

Well, I apologize for the delay of a recent posting, and for the length of this one. Enjoy, and comment well! :-)

Ode to Mom...

Just so you, my faithful commentors do not think that I spend all my time on UTube, I preface this blog with the explaination that the song I am about to share with you was actually showed to me by a friend, which I there by loved for reasons you will understand after listening to it.

Also, before my Ode I'll give you a little update. I have actually been sick for what feels like a month. At first I had a nasty cold two weeks ago, and then on monday I came down with Strep. Monday was also the day that I got a chunk of my leg out, and six stitches put in (it looks cool). The leg was due to a mole that the Dr. found and thought that it may lead to Melanoma cancer, thus he wanted to take my flesh...You know I am seriously contemplating starting a body scar collection, after all I get a new one about every year. Hey I could even get tatoos to go along with them describing the weird cirrcumstances surrounding the scar. Hummm......Well anyway, please excuse my lack of writing I will hopefully be up to speed soon.

Enjoy!

Ode to Mom - The EBAY song...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5L6XsGV7kRg

Ode to Mom...

Just so you, my faithful commentors do not think that I spend all my time on UTube, I preface this blog with the explaination that the song I am about to share with you was actually showed to me by a friend, which I there by loved for reasons you will understand after listening to it.

Also, before my Ode I'll give you a little update. I have actually been sick for what feels like a month. At first I had a nasty cold two weeks ago, and then on monday I came down with Strep. Monday was also the day that I got a chunk of my leg out, and six stitches put in (it looks cool). The leg was due to a mole that the Dr. found and thought that it may lead to Melanoma cancer, thus he wanted to take my flesh...You know I am seriously contemplating starting a body scar collection, after all I get a new one about every year. Hey I could even get tatoos to go along with them describing the weird cirrcumstances surrounding the scar. Hummm......Well anyway, please excuse my lack of writing I will hopefully be up to speed soon.

Enjoy!

Ode to Mom - The EBAY song...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5L6XsGV7kRg

White and Nerdy...lol

Ok, I know that my title probably has you raising those eyebrows, is skeptical amusement and question, but please bare with me. Yesterday, I was introduced to one of the funniest songs that I've heard in the longest time, so I have to share it with you. It is so you SFL, and totally reminded me of Audrey's "I was born a small black child" line. Anyway, I hope that you laugh for all you are worth, and please don't take it for more than its worth...it is only a song. Have fun, just follow the link! :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO7HhkGTJf4&search=white%20nerdy%20funny

Fall Has Arrived

Ah, I am back again; finally. To my defense I have spent the last two weeks studying for my 4 exams, taking care of ill patients three days a weeks, and entertaining Velvet (woof) - she says hi.

This week we have had several very nice days, with beautiful Fall temperatures, sunshine, and blue skies. These days are truly the nicest of the South. Thursday I had to go get my senior yearbook picture taken, because someone's parental guidences insisted that for historical purposes I must have at least ONE yearbook. Personally I thought that there was no need for historical records, but hey, I may thank them in years to come.

My adventure this week was on Tuesday. I got ready to go to the monthly Oncologic Nurses Local Chapter Meeting which was going to be at a restaurant about 45 minutes away, and which I was actually excited to go to. After all, how often do you get a free steak dinner as a college student? So, you understand my excitement at the chance to go. Anyway, I get all ready, drive there, and go inside. When I get there the hostess tells me that they don't have a dinner party under that name, but that they would call the other restaurant in the area (30 minutes away), because perhaps my locations got messed up. I should have just called it a night, but I felt bad because I had said I was coming...I should have just gone home...Nevertheless, I drove another half an hour to get to the other facility where they said there was an Oncology group. When I get there, there was a group, but not my group...So, I drove home...After two hours of driving and no steak dinner I got home again. I know that its a disappointing story, believe me I felt it, and next time I will just skip the whole thing if I can't find them. :P

Well, that was my main adventure this week I know that it was a riveting story, but it was the best I could come up with.

By the way, if you haven't seen the new movie Akeela and the Bee you should rent it, because it is such a cute movie about spelling. SFL I think that Akeela is definitely Word Power - sorry, she knows more big words than I've ever heard...lol, enjoy!

Finally

Yes, ok so I finally got around to posting. I'm back to school and all the work that goes along with it. Actually, it has not been bad yet, although I'm sure it will. I love my fabulous apartment - Velvet likes it too she has finally settled in, and loves the walks we take around the block.

As far as new and exciting adventures one funny thing happened last week. I went on a hike with my family upstairs and their friends, so we had 9 kids (5 weeks to 7 yrs) and three adults heading out into the woods. We found this great water fall with pool and spent about a hour playing in the water; the kids loved jumping from behind the waterfall. We had a blast, and then it was on to the trail. The hike was suppose to be about 2 miles long total, but after climbing the heights (during which we felt as if we were in the Sound of Music climbing the Alps - "The hills are alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With the sound of music....Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."); we finally reached the peak only to find that they meant 2 miles one way. By this point it is getting to be evening, and we are all aware that none of the dads know where we are, or when we should be home, we almost panicked because we weren't sure if we could get nine children back two MORE miles home, but the sheer fact that we had to come back down won over our doubts. Thus we sat everyone down for a refueling of GORP (good old raisins and peanuts; aka trail mix, but I like GORP better), and prayed that God would get us down the mountain. Heading back down the kids did amazingly well, all but three year old Hannah who was so tired that she fell asleep in my arms and I carried her down the mountain...all two miles of it...Needless to say, my arms hurt the next day. :-) As you can see by my documentation we all made it safely down, and determined to never attempt that one with kids again.

I love adventures, they make your life so spontaneous! Better yet, they cause you to press yourself to a new level either physically or mentally. I think that too many people get concerned with the goal and not the ride there. Life is an adventure we need to enjoy it, and see mishaps as adventures (right Jess ;)). There my lovely soapbox....

What Are Men Good For Again?

Ok, strange, but perhapes appropriate title...I'll let you make your own judgement call on that one after you hear my story.

Here goes...I was at work, and I was sitting reading the a little medical history, when I stumbled upon some questions that the Doctor had asked the family. Interested I read on;

Category: "Physical signs and symptoms"
Doctor's Note: " Family states that patient is able to dig holes, mow the lawn, and carry out other household chores."

Ok, I might not be the brightest crayon in the box, but how often do you have to dig holes as part of your daily chores? Unless of course you are a ditch digger...this however is not the case...Needless to say I was sitting there cracking up at the fact that neither laundry, taking out the trash, or any other number of normal chores were mentioned. No, instead ditch digging was the first item on the list. Hahaha...Sorry, ok, I'm done.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.................

Texas and the Mule!

Weird title I know, but what else have you come to expect from me! Anyway, we have been away on a fabulous family vacation to the great state of Texas; where as my sister has stated - "The sky really is bigger in Texas". The weather has been great, and the few thunderstorms gave us the opportunity to snuggle inside with a good book. Much of the week was taken up in exploring the 3,000 acre community/ranch that my great-aunt and uncle live on. I have also determined that the only way to see all the beautiful rolling hills, big blue sky, and rugged terrain is by mule. No, not the four legged equine type, but the off-road; four wheel drive kind. Its a great name for a handy vehicle, and I love standing in the back bed part- dad driving - there is no better way to travel!

On another key, you should see the animals. There are around 3,000 deer on the place, and they eat right out of your hand. Everywhere you go you'll see them and their cute fawns grazing. There are also Black-Buck Antelope who are much chunkier than their deer relatives. Cows, sheep, foxes, armadillos, skunks, occasional mountain lions, horses, and ducks also inhabit the ranch. There are humming birds galore, and plenty of other birds for the avid aviary fanatic. As you can see I had my fill of wildlife! Unfortunatly all good things must come to an end, and so tomorrow we head home. I keep threatening my aunt and uncle that I going to come live with them...for some reason they don't seem quite as enthused! :-)

Well for now pictures and memories will have to do till my next visit to TX.

P.S. Unfortunately I wish I could decide which part of the West I like best! They are all very different, but all very enjoyable. I will post some pictures and you can make up your own mind!

June 14th

A date will have to suffice for my title today because I am entirely out of fresh ideas. I know that my posting has been lacking, but due to work, and much desired R&R I have neglected my blog...sorry...

As to my life:

Work at the hospital is good, busy, and rewarding. I am also trying to decide what I want to do with myself after school. Work, an externship, the peace-core, military nursing, immediate grad-school, missions, etc. I one way options are nice to have, but on the whole it only means that now I must decide what I am suppose to do.

As a random side note....I think that I may have finally come to a revelation as to why abilities such as vocials, instruments, dance, etc are so appealing to us as humans. I believe that every person has emotions that are initiated by the hearing, seeing, smelling, or experiencing; these emotions - a built in responce, a trait of the Father - long to be expressed. Singing, dancing, playing are direct expressions of emotion, and thereby allow all to enter into a place of worship/holy expression of love to a Heavenly King. What an awsome responsiblity the Lord has given those individuals, and yet do we not all have giftings that can somehow or another express our feelings? Emotion gives passion to actions, and reaches out to others. Ok, enough random rambling...lol...

More later!

As requested by popular demand...Drumroll please!!!!!

SFL in tights!

Ah yes, the truth is out...hahaha....

Enjoy my dear readers!

Home again, home again!

Well, I'm back home, and enjoying a little R&R :-). Actually, I've been getting really for work, and another wonderful summer of reenacting! I know...its so exciting!!! Well, at least try to understand...

As for Merle, no, I have not forgotten about him I just haven't learned to load my camera pictures on my computer yet. Sorry. He did however, tell me to describe a quite remarkable story which transpired not but two days ago.

It was Wednesday morning, and Merle was upstairs doing what all people doing the in morning, and as he was he told me that he heard this strange noise down in the living room. I know that you don't know Merle very well yet, but he is very curious, and well, he went to go check it out. When he looked through the stair railing you will never believe what he saw! Merle described this huge brown squirrel sitting on the couch holding an acorn not three feet from a broken window. Now you may be wondering what happened to bring a squirrel into Merle's house, but I tell you it did not take Merle long to figure it out. You see the nut which the squirrel held was the giant acorn that sat in decoration on the mantle of Merle's living room! Yep, the stupid squirrel had busted through Merle's window in attempt to reach the acorn. Who has an acorn sitting on their mantle you ask? Please! What kind of question is that??...Weird I know, but you can believe Merle he is good with the details. ;-)

More later...

Finals Week

Well, we're two days into finals week and I can't wait till I'm on the road home. I hate finals...I also hate 40% cumulative finals, and 10 research study critics, and research proposals, and periods, and professors who only give two tests and a final, and, and, and.....Give me a minute I'll think of something else...Sorry, I just finished a 100 question MedSurg final, and found out that I missed an A in Gerontology by a point. Perhaps dwelling on the negative is not a good idea, after all not getting a 4.0 semester is really disappointing, but not the end of the world.

On a lighter note I will have a picture to post on here as soon as I figure out how to transfer pictures from my camera to the computer. I have a friend to show you his name is Merle...he's green. Hehehe, I've peaked your curiosity now haven't I. I can see SFL getting very excited, well you'll just have to be patient.

Anyway, good luck to all my commentors experiencing finals week I'm sure you will all do great! I'll post more later!!

Oh, Sunny Day!

I hope that you all had a fabulous Easter, mine was nice enough although I wish that I would have gotten to go to a Sunrise Service; they are my favorite. I love really early on a summer morning when there is just a hint of coolness in the air and mist kinda hides the sun...Not to mention it gives me a really good excuse to go hang out in a graveyard. I mean at anyother time of year I would just be considered strange, but Easter, its tradition! :-) It is so fun to go read all the names of dead people, especially if it says something interesting on the stone. Just for your information if you die please put something worth reading on your stone, otherwise Jess 1 and I will make up really interesting stories about you... I mean think about all those people, and Jess 1 and I are probably the only people who ever cared to look at their grave...apart from the actually funeral itself. Anyway, while I'm on the topic of graveyards there is a really neat one at home that has this mosoleum (spelling?) which contains an entire family, and Jess 1 and I had a blast the other summer, trying to piece together who died first and who was related to who and how. Yeah I know were strange, but come on perhapes it is the authors in us, but I like to imagine people's life stories. Ok, enough of dead people...sorry...

Anyway...

Ahh yes, beautiful summer weather has finally reached my happy home, and now I'm ready to leave. My perfect temperature is about 75 degrees, and unfortunately we were at about 90 degrees the past two days...way too hot for me. I guess it is nice though to through on a t-shirt and not have to wear a jacket in the morning, but still I wish it would just stay a tad cooler...

Ok, well since I'm at the computer lab, and there is a line I should sign off.

"School Days, School Days, Dear Old Golden Rule Days..."

Due to the fact that I could sense impending doom were I not to post an update soon, I have finally gotten around to it. Afterall, I have been productive today, and thought I would contiue with a posting.

Well, school is school, and fortunately it is wrapping up. We are all registered for classes next year, and unfortunately I will have to be up at 5 am three days a week...joy...One good thing, we finish our last week of clinical this week (YEAH), and have our lab final next week. Then before I know it I'll be done!!! It is hard to believe, it flies by...

Today I've been cooking up a storm for a family in our church whose mom is having a baby in 6 weeks, and is on bedrest (well...suppose to be at least). Anyway, I am taking dinner this wednesday and next. I love to cook but it is just not the same cooking for yourself, so I was very excited to have people to cook for. I made choc. chip cookies, stuffied shells, corn, and garlic bread, yummy! I have had so much fun, and my roomy is excited to try it too.

Oh, yeah, how could I forget...I'm 21 now!!! Yea!!! Lol... I guess me and Jesus can turn water into wine now...legally, although I definately think that the drinking age is nonexistent in that part of the world. Oh well, random thoughts from my mind.

More later...

Happy Birthday!!!

Yeah!!! Ok, so I'm almost 21, 1 hour and 53 minutes counting!!! It is very exciting, and for one of my presents I got an amazing little digital camera, so now I can bambard all your e-mails with annoying pictures of me doing strange and unusual things like brushing my teeth....Muhahahaha!!!! Lol!!! Ok, so I won't really bombard you, but I am very excited. Also, Jess # 1 sent me the best smelling lotion, sented water, soap, and lip balm...Hummm...Anyway, I'm going to watch the new Pride and Prejudce (don't worry I won't convert, the old will always be better!), then SLEEP :-)...Tomorrow I'm swamped, and I will get to hang out with my friends to eat cake and ice cream how fun I know. Acually this is a bad weekend to be busy because I have a MedSurg test on Monday, but oh well. I will study Saturday night maybe and Sunday. Ack, to many things to do not enough time. Ok, well I have to go more later. Sorry SFL that you had to wait so long I will post more soon.

SPRING BREAK!!!

Yeah! I am almost a couple hours away from Spring Break, and thought I would write to declair my excitement. As to the only two blog suggestions I recieved; first I don't think that my dear Mary would appreciate any reference to a future mate, and secondly, as much as I don't mind a story posting I am not sure that I have the mental ability to start one right now (you can help me). However, please feel free to make further suggestions. Anyway, I am trying to get through the last two classes of my day before I leave to see my wonderful sister and IHOP girls. Ahhh, the day drags on....I guess I should never wish away any moment, but it is really hard not to just skip class...Perhapes since there is only going to be ten or so people in class our instructors will let us out early....PRAY....lol. Well, I'm off to search the web and waste time till my second class.

Back Again

Hey all! It is only a couple days to Spring Break and I am about ready to die! PPPPLLLLEEAAASSSEEE let me LEAVE! It seems like Spring Semester will never end, because there are 10 weeks before our first break. I guess the only good thing is that after break we only have 5 weeks, YEAH!!! Perhapes I am looking forward to break because I have a nasty little sinus cold and have been sneezing like there is no tomorrow. Actually, now that I think about it it is kind of funny to think of me sneezing...

Well, new topic...humm, I'm trying to think of a new topic...yeah....lalalalalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Nope, boring...Can't think of anything interesting...lol...Any topic suggestions my faithful bloggers?

Continue...

Ahh, yes I am back to add to my lists! Yeah!!! Aren't you excited to hear more meaningless stuff? Oh, and by the way I must make an addition of places to go...Australia, because obviously Jessica #1 will want me to come visit her and her dashingly handsome Aussie husband!

10 Things I love:

1) Porch Swings (I never want to own a house without one...)
2) Sunsets and Sunrises (I can't decide which I like better, because a beautiful sunset makes me think of a day well done, relaxing totally at peace, and enjoying Jesus; I love sunrises because it feels like no one else on the earth is awake yet the day is fresh and new, and you can smell the morning...)
3) Lilies and Tulips
4) Easter Sunday (I am one of those strange ppl who actually enjoys going to the graveyard)
5) Family dinners (theres nothing like 'em)
6) Reading (a good book is worth, or might I say contains a 1000 words, lol)
7) Snuggling in a really warm blanket on a really cold day
8) The smell of a camp fire, actually any burning wood will do...
9) JESSICA #1!!!! lol, :-)
10) Getting total new and awsome revelation from the Word! It's like seeing for the first time, I love the feeling.

13 Things I've Done (I'm sure there's more but these were interesting):

1) Learned to fence (On Guard! lol)
2) Wrote an award winning story (ok, so I was 14...)
3) Showed horses and dairy cows
4) Shot rifle, shotgun, pistol, and bow (I like bow the best...)
5) Been overseas
6) Taken 5 years of dance (tap is the greatest! :-))
7) Broken a window (it really wasn't my fault! I swear!)
8) Baby-sat my friends kids for 2 whole weeks while they were away (Whew!)
9) Been camping in a flood, tornado, blazing heat, and extreme cold ( you know the insane part? I still like it...Humm I missed the Newman Camping Hating gene...)
10) Swam on swim team
11) Played soccer
12) Nutered and Declawed my own cat (With the vet of course *do not try at home*, sorry Jess...Still love me?)
13) Cut my finger off

My Favorite Music (Humm, thats hard):

1) Almost any worship music and Contem. Christian
2) Bagpipes (I know, stupid, but hey...)
3) Classical
4) Country in moderation (you can't go to school in the South and hate it)

8 Things I'm Just Plan BAD At (I'm sure there are more of these too):

1) Shutting up...(enough said on that one, lol)
2) Spelling (yuck!)
3) Doing things the easy way
4) Acting "girly" (hehe)
5) Tact...yeah...
6) Running Marathons
7) Speaking Foreign Languages (maybe English too for that matter)
8) Drawing (I try, but...)

Ok, that should keep the great sfl busy for awhile!

Finally

Yes, I've heard your calls for commenting material, and I am very sorry to have deprived you for so long. Bluntly, the Olympics have been on, and I have watched them every night instead of blogging...sorry...Just be glad that they are almost over.

Well, in deciding what to write about, I have determined that the "list" is the blogging fad right now (i.e. 10 things I like, 10 things I want to see, etc), and so I want to join in :-).

- 5 Places I want to see:

1) Grand Canyon
2) Prince Edward Island Canada
3) Scottland
4) Italy
5) Boston

- 10 Things I want to do:

1) Visit every state in the US (working on it...)
2) Get married (maybe...eventually...)
3) Graduate from college
4) Drive on the Left side of the road
5) Go skiing
6) Own land
7) Use snowshoes
8) Ride a motorcycle (not fast...lol)
9) Go as far as I can go with the Lord
10) Be a published author

- 5 things I hate

1) Spitting on the side walk (gross!)
2) People who don't know how to drive their motor vehicle
3) Poor english (even I fail here...)
4) Swearing
5) 60s clothes (lol, sorry Dad...)

Ok, I have to go now, but I'll try to add to the list later! Enjoy!

Thoughts of Snow...

The weeks fly by, partly due to the fact that we only have lecture Mondays and Fridays, and partly because the rest of the week we have clinical and lab which makes the days seem to disappear. I was hoping for snow this weekend but I don't think it will happen unfortunately. I love snow, and although it is very nice not to have to tramp though it to school everyday, I still miss seeing it. I love waking up in the morning and seeing snow falling outside my window blinds, and hearing the snow plow go by with it's distinctive sound of metal on pavement. To bundle up and go shovel snow on the driveway, which soon becomes almost a neighborhood party as the designated "shoveler" from each house braves the cold. If school has been cancelled kids will be running down the deserted street adding the joyful music of laughter to the rhythmic scraping beat of shovels. The physical work makes you exhausted and by the time you finish the driveway a new layer of snow mocks your efforts, and reminds you that in another three or four hours you'll be shoveling again. Back inside the smell of something warm and good makes the work worthwhile, and I make myself a cup of hot chocolate to heat my frozen fingers. Soon my dog begs to go outside and standing by the door I laugh as she jumps through the snow unable to capture the illusive snowflakes that seem to disappear as soon as she has them. The universal gray sky of a winter day fades far too soon into the dark charcoal gray of evening. Making note of how much snow has fallen by the height piled on the back porch railing, my back accurately tells me how much all that snow weighs. Another day is over, and yet the snow continues to fall, mindless of the time, the day, or the lives lived. My favorite thing is when it's very late at night and I can't sleep. The house is dark and quiet, and I can just sit by the window and watch the snow silently cover the ground, sparkling as it falls around the single driveway lamp. Everything is so still, then far away carried by the stillness comes the faintest sound of a snow plow, or the distant bark of a dog. It's as if you are the sole observe of a sacred moment in time that only the starry sky and barren trees attest to. What a God who would create something so beautiful. It is truly as if all of nature cries out the beauty and goodness of the Lord. How often I forget to enjoy that which God has created all around me. I get so wrapped up in the temperature, or in the inconvenience, that I forget to just sit back and lose myself in the beauty of Jesus. "Humans are the only creatures concerned with time" a quote that I recently heard someone say, and how true it is. We get so busy in our lives that we don't have time to live. Yes, there are days where the weather is anything but beautiful, but in reality enjoying life it is not about the external conditions which uplift our hearts. Instead it is about experiencing the beauty and glory of Jesus, which transforms even the dreariest of days into a celebration of life, love, family, and creation. What a God who made a world in which to reveal Himself to man through each encounter with nature. It is as if God rejoices in our exploration and appreciation of that which we are surrounded by. I suppose that was a rather long means to an obvious ending, but you did request another addition to the blog, and so I have heeded your long awaited request...enjoy.

Back for More

Thank you my dear commenters for remembering your place on this blog. Hehe, no I love watching your conversations, and I love you all. It seems as if time is flying by, and I guess that is a good thing as it will bring me closer to seeing you all again. School is insane as always, but I love our Med-Surg class because our instructor is hilarious! In clinical yesterday she was telling us stories of her self administered rectal tubes (if you don't know what that is look it up), and by the end tears were running down my face I was laughing so hard - not to mention the fact that I will never look at a straw the same way again... Perhaps her creativity and funny stories comes from the fact that she was a nurse in Vietnam and has been teaching for years. Whatever makes her entertaining, I don't care all I know is that she makes class fun.

As for the rest of my life apart from school...Wait! I don't have a life apart from school, who am I kidding! Lol, ok maybe I have a small life one that consists of playing computer games, cleaning, and sleeping as a method to prevent total mental burnout. Actually this semester has such a different feel to it than the Fall term, and so I am still trying to adjust.

Alright, I'm off to class for our very first test of the semester, whoho! :-) More later...

Ratings

Before long, my once harmless blog is going to need a disclaimer to read, and will have a PG-13 rating. Skulls, gangrene, carbonic acid! Really guys (girls) control yourselves...well, it is pretty entertaining, however I sense that none of your blogging pertains to me, instead my mine is a mere host for all of your irrational conversations (I feel so neglected...).

Anyway, I thought that you all might like something else to do, so I made a quiz for you to take. We will see who knows me better (although I will admit SFL has the upper hand)...Have fun all! :-)

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/yourquiz.php?quizname=051226115532-264564

Stories From the Hospital

What you ask has made me so slack in regards to this fabulous blog? I shall tell you.

The past few weeks have kept me quiet busy adjusting to our schedule of classes. Unfortunately, unlike Mary I have not had exciting skating escapades and adventures (although I would have enjoyed them). Instead three out of five school days I get to wear scrubs because we have clinical, or lab. The one thing that is great about this is that three out of five days you do not have to decide what to wear! I will make a comment though, I do not know who thought it best to make nurses wear white scrub pants and colored tops, but it should be the opposite! The worst is to be walking around campus and see a nursing student - who must have gotten changed in the dark - wearing floral print underwear which I might add is VERY visible through white pants. At least with a white top you could wear another shirt underneath it, but you can not wear an added layer under pants. You would think that my logic made sense, but does anyone care obviously not.

Anyway, we spend the majority of our time wearing scrubs, and fortunately I love our instructor she is hilariously funny, and she loves to tell stories of nursing student flubs and interesting situations. She is very down to earth and relaxed which is great because then it is easier to feel like you can learn and make mistakes. The only think bad about clinical is that we have to get up at 5:30 am Thursday morning! Mary be glad this is not you....

Other than school I try to relax some, and just hang around the house. Oh, I am sooooooooo excited, because I am going to KC for spring break!!!!! My girls there are already planning, and we are going to have a blast I can't wait. I think that 3/4ths of my internship is still there, so there will be LOTS of hanging out, oh I miss them! That will allow me to work at home this summer, and reenact with MARY!!! Yeah!!!!!! I am so excited to see her! We will terrorize solders and spend lots of time complaining about the heat. Then we will watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2 together!!! Yeah!!! Come to think of it, I am pretty much excited about anything that doesn't relate to school...Yep, I guess at this point anything that can get me through 15 weeks of tests is exciting.

Well, that's all for now!

My children....

Dearest Mary, as much as I love you my children are not up for adoption. Verni is still young and very impressionable, and Veronica is too cute. I may allow you to adopt any future children (Vern Jr, Vanessa, Violet, Vikki, Valerie, Vladimir), however we will cross that bridge when we come to it. I have a long history with my children, and despite what you may think, there is a man somewhere (only one) - I prefer to imagine him lost in some barren stretch of Texas - and he may have a say against the adoption...

Note: Lest you think that I am an abusive parent I would like to remind you that Verni and Veronica are figments of my parents imagination, and are included along with Vernon, Texas, penguins, and protestant Nuns. You may not be familiar with my reference, and this is fine just ignore it.

Heading back to reality; I've been mulling some ideas, but I can't quite form them into verbalized thoughts yet, so you'll have to wait for any true revelations. :-) One thought - It amazes me how you can live your life thinking that you have experienced so many things, only to find that every effort you made to open your own eyes has only led you into a kind of false realty or false perspective. You think you are looking out of a new window, when all you've done is to look out of another part of the same window. How do you live apart from personal prejudice, experience, and preference? Can you separate yourself from it to truly see from another's' view, should we separate ourselves, or is a new approach on life only found by the touch of the Holy Spirit? How often do I think I see the full picture only to find that I've been staring at my own finger? Humm, it really struck me this week, that my whole life I have approached every situation and person from my background and limited understanding without realizing that although the Lord uses our life as an element to our growth and maturity, that is just the beginning. I'm sure this sounds strange, and maybe I'm the last to understand this, but I am starting to truly see that I have been looking at the world through my eyes and the lens of Christianity, without actually experiencing a eye "replacement" to where I am looking through the Lord's eyes! What a different that would make! I'm not saying that I haven't had wonderful life experiences, I guess it is just that as much as I have heard the "new creation" concept before it has never really caused me to think like I have been. There is a time for everything, and you may not understand a thing I ramble about, but that is ok, because it is my rambling...

More later! Have a great night!! :-)

Back to the books, errr...blog....

Hello all,

I know that you have long awaited my return, and I apologize for the wait. Although there are definite positives of school, currently I am trying to enjoy the last days of Christmas break. I hope that you all had a delightful Christmas and New Year's Eve, I certainly did despite them being quite different from our family norm.

I fully enjoyed seeing my good friends at the beach, and the weather wasn't at all bad either! :-) When our two families get together all insanity breaks out, and we spend the entire (well, almost) time laughing. Poor mom, Audrey, and Aunt Carol they were recovering from Bronchitis and surgeries, and were trying so hard not to laugh... Anyway, we had a blast, and spent so much time in the pool and hot tub that I'm surprised that we're not permenately wrinkled! One of the things we did this trip, was play this game called CashFlow, which is a fun game aimed at teaching financial principle that will help you get out of the "rat race" of income verses expenses. Contrary to all appearances it was actually a fun game, and we played for hours. As part of the game, you can randomly fall on game board spots that help to show things that can happen in real life, and are costly. Poor me, I have a feeling that I will never live it down, but I fell twice on the BABY spot...Yes, I became the single mother of Verni and Veronica (long story with the names...don't ask...). I guess it was hilarious as we all joked about what I'd been up to, it was all terribly unfair! Not that I don't like kids I do, but the connotations..........Despite this I loved the game, and we all laughed more than what was good for us! :-)

Not back at school I am fully enjoying my peace and quiet! It is kinda nice that there is only a couple people around, or maybe I just love not having to fight for a parking spot *wink*...

Till later!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to my faithful commenters! Another year has come and gone. It never fails to amaze me how fast time flies! That is one of the depressing facts of school breaks. No matter how much you look forward to break, school always seems to be at your door. Oh well...

As for entertaining facts I must tell you about Friday night.

Friday night I went to stay the night at my aunt's house by request of my three younger cousins. After a nice dinner out we decided to do a little Christmas light admiring. Our family has the tradition of singing every Christmas carol we can think of (SFL insists on singing purposefully off key), so I started sing Jingle Bells. Before long the cousins and I were singing as loud as we could.

As an intermission/side note I would like to state that the phrase "act your age" is a relative phrase. After all, how does one know definitively how to act each passing year? Does one act your FELT age, ACTUAL age, CHINESE age, or EMOTIONAL age? See what I mean, it is so confusing!

Anyway, back to the story....

Had I cared I might have noticed the fact that my uncle was quickly loosing all tolerance for the song. Nevertheless I was blissfully ignorant. Therefore, my uncle suddenly turned on the radio full blast in the attempt to silence us. We all screamed and plugged our ears, but refused to stop singing at the top of our lungs.

Now, here is another note...I am not a person to give a challenge to. The more you try to stop me the more I put my mind against stopping. I know that it is a nasty little trait, but I am VERY stubborn...

Anyway, we refused to stop singing, and before we knew it my uncle had rolled down the windows, and turned on the air conditioning on high! Brrrrrrrrr....Unsuccessful in his attempts my uncle started slamming on the brakes until the car was jolting back an forth like one of those puck rocker cars that is spiffed up so that it literally bounces up and down.

Needless to say by the time we got home we were loosing our voices, freezing cold, our ears were ringing, and we were laughing so hard tears were rolling down our faces. It was hilarious.

I guess it was a good substitute for the family outings we usually have... Well, Merry Christmas to you all I hope that you have all had a blessed Sunday celebrating the birth of Jesus.

A Sad Christmas...

As you all know, one of the parental guidences has fallen ill with a nasty case of Bronchitis, while the other guidence has broken one of his molers. How fun is that! Ahh, thus Christmas will be a sad affair this year, as the parents probably won't be coming until the 27th...:-( Se la Ve (no clue on spelling). I guess that this year it really has hit that Christmas must be about Jesus and nothing else. Well, so far plans are still on for Mertle Beach, Yeah!

Jess #1: I have your presentS, (you can't tell me not to get you any) but they won't arrive until after Christmas I'm very sorry!

Note: Remind me to tickle my cousins until they laugh to death....Muahhhhh....

I'm so smart I suprise me...Isn't that a great quote! :-)

Anyway, pray for the mother and father that this little big bug will go away, and so we can enjoy hanging out at the beach...Oh ya, you might throw a prayer or two in for Keith I. that I won't kill him at M.B., but that is mostly irrelavent...;-)

See ya! Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday Jesus!

Cookies!

Yes, today was Christmas Cookie day, and the house now smells wonderful. It has brought back the yummy memories of Spotted Dog, which as you may wonder is further explained on Mary's blog as our attempt at an English pudding. We were making cookies to take to a shelter on Christmas day, because we always go and do something on Christmas. I love getting to spend part of Christmas loving on others! Anyway, pray for my mommy she has the head flu (no fun) and our Christmas and family vaccation may be cut short or altered. NOOOoooo! Well, Merry Christmas to all, and I will be posting soon with some more fun and activities! ;)

No Presents!!

Yes, I have done the unthinkable! I have not done any Christmas shopping, and it is five days till December 25th. Usually I am not such a slacker, but this year with school it has not been possible. Thus, I am left dreading the drive to the mall, and surrounding stores. Yuck! I hate shopping...More to come later.

BREAK!!! YEAH!!!!

I have several things to address this posting. First of all, the secret of the acronimes (I think that's the right spelling) shall not be revealed, and there is no SOT among us (it's up to the reader to break the code). Muahhhhh...

Secondly, I give a warning to my faithful commentors that this "Grape Lover" and SFL have a long history and may cause a stir.

Thirdly, I would like to announce that I have successfully passed my all my classes this semester. YEA!!!!! (Jesus pulled me through this one!) Anyway, it is a HUGE relief to be finished, and I mean to fully enjoy my break. Well, I'm tired, so I'm going to call it a night.

T'was The Night Before Christmas (part 3)

And then, in a twinkling, before I did know
The prancing and pawing was heard on my floor.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the duct pipes Dr. Howe came with a bound.

She was dressed all in scrubs, from her head to her foot,
And her clothes were all ironed without ashes or soot.

A bundle of test books she had flung on her back,
And she looked like a dictator just opening her pack.

Her eyes -- how they twinkled! her dimples how merry!
Her cheeks were like roses, her nose like a cherry!

Her droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And she just couldn't wait to have us give it a go;

The stump of a septer she held tight in her hand,
And she looked like a king come to take over the land;

She had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when she walked like a bowlful of jelly.

She was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw her, in spite of myself;

A wink of her eye and a twist of her head,
Soon gave me to know I had something to dread;

She spoke not a word, but went straight to her work,
And past out all the test books; then turned with a jerk,

And keeping her eye on the clock on the wall,
She collected the tests, as each student recalled;

Soon she sprang to her office, to the lab gave a call,
And then as we waited our hearts became small.

But I heard her exclaim, ere grades revealed to our sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

(YEAH! I finished it! Enjoy faithful readers!)

The Night Before Finals

(The second - short awaited installment)

Tore open the door and poked out my head.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen leaves

Gave the lustre of mid-fall to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature notebook, and fine tiny scantrons,
With a hundred old circles, so perfect and round,

I knew in a moment it must be test time.
More rapid than eagles these finals they came,

And they whistled, and shouted, as I called each one by name;
"Now, Patho! now, Pharm! now, Assessment and Fundamentals!

On, professionalism! on Clinical! on Total testing, and Lab!
To the top of the library! to the top of the Ed Hall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!
"As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the Hall-top the courses they flew,

With a bag full of books, a laptop and coke.

(Next time: The conclusion)

Finals

T'was the week before finals and all through the house
Not a creature was sleeping, not even a mouse;

The sneakers were lain by the doormat with care.
In hopes that the last final soon would be there;

For three hours the students are snuggled in bed,
While visions of textbooks danced in their heads;

And mamma in her kerchief, and SFL in his cap,
Had just settled down to pray through my tests;

When out on the porch there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the peephole I flew like a flash,


(Stay tuned for the next episode of The Week Before Finals)

Thanksgiving '05

Hey all!

First, I must comment on my comments which are outrageously funny. Keep up the good work. Oh, P.S., SFL you are a slacker! It has been almost a month and you still have not sent me any rocking pictures...shame, shame, shame...

As far as my life it continues to be a whirlwind of activity. For Thanksgiving I had almost a week of lovely (still far too short) vacation with the Grandparents. It was so fun, getting to relax a bit...well, if you call tearing up a cement sidewalk, digging post holes, placing poles, and mixing and pouring cement relaxing. Yes, I managed to get a little dirty - scratch that - a little dusty this week, but it was great fun. You see my grandfather is putting in a fence for their dogs, and I got to help him so he didn't have to do anything heavy. The first post hole we filled with cement was a learning experience, as we had not bothered to see which way the wind was blowing. This left me pouring an eighty pound bag of cement while Boppa sprayed water in the hole, the whole time a huge cloud of dust got into every area of my skin. I couldn't breath leaning over the dust to pour the cement, and when we were finished I thought that I'd cemented the inside of my lungs, but it turned out alright, and a shower washed it off. The second post was much better, and I can proudly say that the posts look great. The second job was to break the sidewalk, and load it into the tractor bed. It only took three trips to get all the broken cement and the pile of dirt, and we dumped it down the hill were all the water from the driveway drains. All in all it was a new experience that was tons of fun, and it let me burn off all those calories from Thanksgiving! Anyway, I'm back to the grind, and have so much to do before finals which are coming in two weeks!!! Yikes!

I hope that was a good enough posting I'll try to keep up better, but until then I expect to see lots of comments!! :-)

To Order

I apologize for the lack of bloggage, but I have only been MOSTLY swamped. I will attempt to keep up with my accounts for the sake of my faithful readers and commenters. Oh, Make sure you check out Jess #1's blog, she's awesome!! www.maryscraziness.blogspot.com

As an explanation for the lack of SFL response, he is here (with his lovely wife) visiting me. It has been great. Last weekend the three of us went to Asheville, NC to rock dig. For three days we hiked through the woods, got covered in dirt, found some cool rocks, explored downtown Asheville, and thoroughly enjoyed each others' company. The leaves were absolutely beautiful, and at one location we had to drive down this steep, really bumpy road to get to an old abandoned mine that they filled with H2O. Although we had fun we didn't find anything to great, and so we headed back up the road (I was hoping that we wouldn't have to get out and push, b/c I wasn't so sure that we could make it up). However, due to SFL's excellent driving abilities we made it to the top and got to enjoy a breathtaking view of the mountains all in color (we even got to see some turkeys crossing the road). It was great. We got some great pictures, and awesome video footage too, they are very entertaining...

Then I was back at school and working my tail off, you have no clue how many times I prayed that Thanksgiving would hurry up and get here. Oh well, I'll make it through! God's kept me going for years already, he can get me through pharmacology, Pathophysiology, Health Assessment, therapeutic interventions, and Professionalism.

This weekend my family was back for more, and you'll never guess what they did. They show up at the apt., and make me come outside. Attached to either front window of the van, flew a Tiger flag. Upon SFL's side was one of those airport tube things (the ones that show the direction of the wind), and on mom's side was a very cute flag. Mom goes, "guess who picked what." It's pretty self explanatory. Saturday we fully enjoyed the Ballgame, YEAH we won!!! SFL and I almost lost our voices, but we had a blast. Game day is always so fun, b/c I have never been at a place where fans are so dedicated. Anyways, it has been amazingly fun having the fam. here, and I only wish they weren't going home today. However, before you know it it will be Christmas break!!! Yeah!!

~Me

11/1/05

I have determined that dates make excellent titles, and as I have a nasty cold I don't have the energy to create an original title. However, I am getting very excited about the fact that my parental guidances are arriving on Friday, and staying for a week, then it's one week before Thanksgiving Break!! After Thanksgiving it's only two weeks till finals, and then off to Christmas Vacation!!! I can't wait! :-) Hopefully I'll survive all my classes till then.

Speaking of Christmas, I need to go shopping sooo bad. I don't have a single Christmas gift. Oh well, I'll get it done.

Our church had their annual All Saints Day Festival which was tons of fun. I got to spend the entire day playing with my friend's kids, awe, they're SO cute! I love going to visit them, I mean who wouldn't like to have three kids running all around, and the fourth crying? Hehe, I love it.

Anyway, I hope that gives a little update for those individuals (you know who you are) who are addicted to my blog. Actually, I can't decide if it's creepy or not to have someone stalk your blog...Humm...I guess I don't mind, it is pretty entertaining.

My life as I know it!

Ok, so it has been entirely too long since I posted! Between this post and the last so much has happened (albeit insignificant to most).

First of all, we had Fall Break which was fun, although I mostly studied. Actually I went on Tuesday to the house of my great friends from church, and we made applesauce! Yummy!!! It was a wonderful Fall thing to do. Their kids are so great! I love my church family, they challenge me so much to go hard after Jesus.

Second, I had to go to the dermatologist (no fun), because after the whole skin cancer thing I have to keep a sharp eye out. Yeah, so I went, and after a head to toe I had him take off a spot on my right arm. This is the part where I feel stupid (no, I couldn't have one day without such an experience)...Ok, so he numbs the area, cuts it off, etc. I'm fine here...Then when I'm getting ready to go I get light headed (starting to feel stupid). I get a nurse and she lays me with my head lower than my feet to allow the blood to come back to my head. After about ten minutes I'm back to good, but definitely feeling like an idiot (what's new). I guess my body just reacted a little negatively (psychologically and physiologically) to the anesthetic. Oh well, at least I get another cool scar on my arm! Yeah, I know weird opinion of scars, but hey if you're gonna have so many you might as well start a collection! :-)

Other things of note:

- My rommie wants me to publicly refute the claim that she is a grinch, I'll admit there has been marked improvement in the Christmas spirit. Go Ashley!
- I got a great phone call from some of my IHOP buddies, oh I miss everyone!!
- My parents are coming next week!!!! YEAH!!!! I can't wait!
- We started clinical in a nursing home this week, how fun! We get to wear our scrubs, and next week we're giving flu shots.
- My sister is AWESOME, but then again everyone knows that! :-)
- Jess #1 is drop dead gorgeous, and since it's my blog she can't say anything otherwise...*muhahaha*...
- My father lies. His frunkin shrontal lobe is too small.
-I got to have dinner with my un-related aunt, uncle, and cousins. They're awesome, and I get to see them again after Christmas!!! Yeah!
- Classes are hard.
- God is teaching me humility and sacrifice - ouch! It's REALLY good though.

That's about it. Nothing earth shattering, and as always I'm busy. Thanks for reading my blog! I need to keep up with it better, but it is fun to have. Alright, ciao guys!

Rain

Well, we are officially drowning in rain today. Although I love rainy days, I so wish that I could spend the day curled up watching a great movie. Oh well, instead I'm in the computer lab waiting for my class, and trying to stay dry. Our whole nursing class is having a fit about the fact that we have a Pharm test next week (Thurs) that we won't finish the material on until that Wednesday. I don't really care one way or the other, so we'll see what happens. It is amazing how much transpires over the course of a week. I don't feel like I can even blog because so much happens, and I don't have the energy to type it all out. Yeah, I'm rambling I'm going to go play Spider Solitaire...:-)

Never Ask For Want You Don't Really Want

This is a narrative regarding an event that took place Monday night. As a precursor, and disclaimer I will remind you to watch what you wish for. Now on to the story.

It was Monday night around 8pm, and I was headed home from lab (lab had been moved from Friday to Monday this week). As I neared the apt. Kelli and Ashley were so excited and told me to look into out living room window. Ahh, yes, our Halloween tree was put up, and stood light with black and orange. It was all very exciting, and so the neighboring boys (who Kelli and Ashley party with) came to see it, and scoff at a tree in November. Anyway, I was standing inside and Kelli was leaning on our open door letting mosquitoes inside (we have really bad mosquitoes). Thus, I asked Kelli if she wouldn't mind shutting the door. Kelli went to shut the door with her backside and slammed her face into our TV which sits directly in front of the door, but facing the side wall. At first we all gasped, but Kelli was laughing and saying that it didn't hurt, she was ok. The next thing we knew, Kelli has blood running down her face, and we all run to the bathroom to get toilet paper to stop the bleeding. A minute later we looked at the cut, and she had gashed open below her right eye, about a half-inch cut that looked pretty deep. Ashley freaks out and calls her dad, while Kelli is trying to get a hold of her mom. We decide that Kelli needs stitches and so we head to the hospital. One our way Kelli's mom calls and we learn that Kelli is not under their insurance any more. So, we head home to wait and see if Kelli could just go to the campus med. Center tomorrow since the bleeding had slowed. Later on that night Kelli talked it over with her mom, and just decided to go to the ER to get stitches. It was crazy! Anyway, Kelli ended up with four stitches and a big black eye. Fortunately she's fine, but I learned my lesson don't ever say that your life is boring unless you are ready to face what may happen. Wow, it amazes me what can happen. We all got a pretty good laugh out of it anyway!

Well, that's all for now! I'll post more later!

I can't think of a title...

Finally my week crammed with tests is over, although I have two tests this week, so I wouldn't say that I'm off the studying hook. Oh well, before I know it, Christmas will be here! YEAH!! Speaking of Christmas, the roomies (except for Ashley - she is a self-proclaimed grinch when it comes to Christmas) really got in the Christmas mood the other night, and it was decided that the Christmas tree should go up early...VERY early. Thus, our very cute three foot tall Christmas tree arrived from Kelli's house last night. We even have a pickle to hid in the tree, because (I have now been educated) the "find the pickle" game is a Christmas tradition! Our joy was soon cut short by our resident grinch when she forbid us to put the tree up yet since she hates the holiday anyway. Kelli, however is a worker of miracles, and convinced Ashley to allow the tree if it was a Halloween tree first. Although I do not support the Halloween season, I can't really change the fact that most of the USA celebrates this holiday, and actually decorates for it! Yes, at first this was unbelievable to me (the only holiday my mother EVER decorated for was Christmas), but I have seen the good in it, as it has made a way for the Christmas tree (more appropriately the Holiday Tree) to be put up. Ahh, I love Christmas! We had the house blaring with Christmas music Friday night, and we've already made plans to attend Kelli's aunt's ornament party in December. I'm soooo excited! It will be so much fun!

I think that I have been forced into a holiday mood, out of shear scholarly pressures....Humm...Yeah, whatever, I'm just rambling now. Anywhoooo, I'll post later, and maybe it will contain more interesting events than the Christmas tree saga.

Studing...or at least trying to....

Verbal Communication - involves the spoken or written word. - I'm good at this form of communication.

Non-verbal Communication - Gestures, facial expressions, body posture, body movement, voice tone, rate of speech, use of silence, and dress that communicates a message. Humm...what messages am I sending right now?

Sorry, I got caught up in my studing! Unfortunately I have three tests next week, which is going to keep me really busy. Still I thought I might update, even if it's short, and not nearly as interesting as bed baths! :-)

Till later!

Pharmocology and Kittens

Hello again!

Well, yesterday was my first pharm. test, and I was unsure how it would be, but I got an A, so the studing must have paid off! I love that class, but I know that it'll be hard, and take lots of work. On a side note, this morning when I walked outside we had the cutest kitten walking by our door. I wish we could have pets, because it was the most loving cat, just rubbing and wanting to be petted. I hope its there when I get home, because I'm gonna give it some food, and maybe take it to the animal shelter, so it'll have the chance of a good home. Awww, I want a kitty!!!!!!!! :-( I miss my kittys! If you have a good cat they provide eternal entertainment and effection. *sigh* You should have seen it, you'd have wanted to keep it too!

Anyway, I can't talk about the cat any more or I'll keep wanting it. :-) I'm actually waiting for my last Friday lab to start at 2pm, and figured I had time for an update. Oh, we had to take turns practicing giving bed-baths on each other this morning in my first lab, and I actually thought that it would be more ackward than it was. We have a good lab group, and we had lots of fun. For all the baths I've given working at the hospital, it was good to get a feel for how the patient feels. It gives you a better sense of empathy for their situation. Therefore, if you would ever like me to give you a bed-bath I can, but you might have to pay me!! :-) We also got to feel each other yogurt, brush each other's teeth, and a variety of other things. Yeah, it was funny!

I can't wait for the weekend though, I am so tired!!! It has been a long week, and fortunately the roommates are leaving so I'll have the apt. to myself. I think tonight will be a brownie, movie, lazy night!! Yippy!! Ok, so I have plenty to do this weekend, but tonight! Adios to books! Hola to relaxation!

I'll write more later....

Put on your walking shoes!

Well, even in the bubble we call school no Tiger is unaware of the damage from hurrican Katrina. Although we didn't get much rain, we are watching gas prices soar, and gas stations running out of fuel. Needless to say, most people are staying put, conserving gas, and waiting to see what happens. I am amazed at how fragile the economy is, and how this event has threatened what we once relied upon. Other than our personal focus on the news, life here on campus remains unchanged. Classes, assignments, homework, food, and sleep remain our staples in life as we try to out-last a nasty cold cycle. Two of the roommates have a cough and runny nose, I am hoping that I stay healthy, wealthy (yeah right! Did you see how much books cost this year?), and most of all wise! :-)

I have to go and study, because my first test is next week, and I want to ace it! Leave me lots of comments (all two of you who read my humble blog)...Love ya!

Another week gone by!

It is amazing how fast time flies!

Here I am, and a week has already flown by. School is going to be hard, but so far I like it which is good. The only hard thing is that all my classes resolve around the same topics not allowing me any subject changes when I'm studying. I guess there is some difference b/w the classes, but it doesn't feel like it as if you had math and english.

Anyway, what can I say life is boring for the most part. I study, go to class, eat, study, study, study, sleep, and the cycle goes on. Weekends are the hardest I like school days better, because there is a feeling of purpose and progression.

Thursday is FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) which is one of the highlights of my week, but this week I almost didn't go. Although I'm not an athlete, most of the ppl who come to FCA aren't. Sure there are ppl who are just there to look pretty and find a guy, but there is great worship and teaching, and the leadership has a heart for the Lord, so if you want to encounter Jesus you will. Anyway, I was going to go with the roomies, but they went out, and I really didn't want to go by myself. How stupid is that? Not to go because I feel awkward going alone! Thus, I went, b/c it was time to grow up. I have a cute napkin hanging on my tack board that says "Put your big girl panties on & deal with it", and it was definitely one of those moments! I actually had a great time, and on the walk over met a freshman who was walking alone too, so we joined forces and went together. It was great fun. See how the Lord provides if I would just get over myself and live unashamedly! Hehehe, my life...what can I say in the midst of the mundane God shows up and suprises me. I love it!! :-)

Back to School...

Yeah, so I can hardly believe that I'm here already! Summer flew by!! After 16hrs. of driving, I have arrived and amazingly accomplished all my unpacking. I am exhausted though, I don't even want to move from my seat...

I like my roommate, but I don't think that she's a Christian...we'll see, hopeful there will be no problems. Anyway, I think that it will be a great chance to love these girls, but even though I'm excited my heart hurts as I miss my KC girls. However, I'm am really determined to work hard and do well this semester. I want to live with excellence and that includes school, so pray for me that I will not sway under the pressure of "relaxation & procrastination".

Well, school starts Wednesday and so until then I'll be cleaning and messing around. Maybe I'll do some crafting...Hummmm...I'll try to update soon, love to all!

Mumford & Tinker

Well, it's about time that I update this thing, seeing as Mumford was two weeks ago, and I just got back from Tinker. Mumford was too HOT! As I look back on it I can't even believe that we made it through, because the heat was so bad. Yes, it was fun, and the battle was really good, but the heat index was at least 100! Tons of people come to Mumford, and I was so glad that we got to talk to people and give out tracks.

Tinker was much better heat-wise, actually we had the perfect weekend for Tinker. Tinker is a super small event, but it'll grow. I loved the smallness because we got to fellowship with all the other reenactors. I love to reach out to people on these weekends, only I want to be bolder about sharing the my Hope of Salvation with people. Over all, we had lots of fun! Jess #1 and I are crazy, and are getting better at reading eachother's minds (hehehe :-)). We can entertain ourselves to easily...it's scary...

Yeah, I can't tell everything that happened in two weekends, but use your imaginations it was fun.

Flowers

Actually, my post has nothing to do with flowers, but its a great title, is it not?

Back to my life, I am currently trying not to procrastinate studing for my review tests once I get back to school. However, most everything else around here seems ten times more interesting than memorizing bones and vitamins...well, maybe studing is more interesting than watering plants which we've been doing a lot of. I think that our house alone is depleting all the NY state water resources! Our plants drink a lot, believe me! However, I will say that we've been able to enjoy the "fruits of our labor" as beans and beets have graced our table all this week, and my new herb garden is growing and putting herbs in all our dishes. Yum!!

As for me I miss IHOP like crazy, and although my family is suppose to be here right now things are pretty dry. Maybe it's just me...I guess that it is hard to see individuals growing, but the corporate body not coming together. The Lord is so good though, and He has perfect leadership in all things. Who am I to say that things should be different? I guess that I need to pray more...Next week one of the worship leaders in the area has been to IHOP and is doing a Harp & Bowl night, and I am sooooooo excited about going! Also, the Friday night coffeehouse downtown has been going on, and has been an awsome event this summer. No, not everything is dry! :-) Ok, that's all for now...Sweet dreams all!