The New Year is Here!

Happy New Year Everyone! If you are like me, this time of year always carries a lot of memories, poignant and strong, that seem to swirl around in my head and heart, making me love and appreciate everything I have in life. Have you stopped and considered everything that has been so much a part of your life this year? Have you realized what has molded you into who you are from experiences you have grown from this past year? Has this year held significance in your life? Will you remember this year for something special or something sad? Does the new year bring new hope to you? Is your life changed by the passing of this year? Do you wish that you could change things or do them over again? Have you said everything that you wanted to? Have you regretted not saying the things you wanted? Have you regretted saying the things you did? Did you go after your dreams? Did you stay up late enjoying friends and family? Did you bond closer to people than you ever thought you could? Were your perspectives changed about people and their human nature? Did you sit close to the ones you loved and enjoy their conversation that left you thinking about it for days? Did you get reaquainted with ones you missed? Did you get to meet someone new, someone that will always be a part of your life? Did you say goodbye to someone you love deeply, waiting for their return? All of these things and more have happened to each of us and they are more significant than we sometimes ever really consider them to be. How will you change in this next year? Will you say what you want to, will you rekindle old friendships or make new ones? What will your focus be and will you live great memories like the past year has given you? I hope that this new year brings you all that you had this past year and more!

What's the Topic?

So I went into this cool store in the mall today. I haven’t been in the mall for what seems like ages. It’s been at least a year and I think that the last time I was in there I was on a mission for something that I knew I needed. So, no, I haven’t been in the mall to just walk around and check everything out in forever. Honesty I really don’t like shopping. Goodwill is more my type of shopping center. Anyways, my hubby got me a t-shirt at a store called Hot Topic in the mall. He thought that I liked the band on the shirt and he got it for me for Christmas. When he gave it to me he asked if I had ever heard their music, I can’t recall ever knowing if it was them if I had heard them. So, I decided to return it and get something different. Before I went I asked my friend where Hot Topic was in the mall and she told me. But then she decided to tell me that it was a Goth store and that it was a dark atmosphere in there, she kind of implied that it maybe wasn’t the kind of store where I would find anything good to buy. Well I took the shirt back and there were so many things that I would like to buy in that store. The clothes were all pretty cool and more the style that I like to wear than in most of the other stores I buy clothes at. I could have spent a good amount of money in there and the music was cool and the people working there were really nice. To make a long story shorter, I really dig that store. I guess that I have realized that sometimes I am in to a lot of different things that throw the whole normal viewpoint off of whack. I don’t like to be normal or common, I enjoy finding new and creative things that intrigue me and stretch my horizon. I think that when people get older they tend to stick to the same old thing. They find comfort in the rituals of life and they often get stuck in a trap of contentment. I do enjoy a nice ritual here and there, but for the majority of my time I find ritual just makes me bored and restless. I really never wanted to be like everyone else and I am sure that most people probably feel that way in some capacity. I think that I am a little more on the extreme of being unusual, wouldn’t you agree? ;) My whole point is that I find comfort and energy in enjoying myself and finding things that make me happy, whether it is new or old and I hope that I will always pursue things that stretch me and increase my horizons.

Bloggety blog blogger

Well the semester is officially finished. I just checked my final grades and I did better than I thought. What a relief to be done! It's a good thing too, because I just started getting on myspace and I am an official addict of it. It's amazing how many old friends I have been able to talk to and reminisce with. I always told myself that I wouldn't get caught up in it, that myspace was from the devil and just a way for people to get their identity stolen away. It is really a great thing though. I could spend so much time on there getting the friendships that have been stolen away with time restored. What a great time stealer and saver at the same time!

Almost Done!

The fall semester is almost done! I officially finished my organic chemistry class this morning. I studied all week whenever I found time to look over the notes. I took off on Monday and I got up 2 hours before the test to cram a little more information into my already full head. The test took 2 hours and I finished 20 minutes early. I think that could be a good thing considering that I at least tryed to finish all of the questions.
Did you ever feel a mental weight lifted off of your shoulders? As I walked out of the class I literally felt lighter, I think that I caught myself smiling in fact. And to top it off on the way home from the class I actually thought about not having to do anything for the next 5 weeks. I thought about cooking, and getting together with friends I haven't seen for awhile, I thought about all of the video games that I have neglected for so long, there are new movies that have been in my house for months that I haven't found the time to watch yet, I can finally clean the house like I want to, I can spend that extra time at work making the big bucks instead of studying, and the list goes on. It's funny how something so time consuming can be gone in the blink of an eye.

She is here!

Can you believe it? I'm an aunt. My younger brother and his wife gave birth to baby Cana on Thanksgiving day. What a reason to be thankful! She is their first baby, and my parents first grandbaby. The little butterball came out weighing 9 lbs. and had a full head of black hair. She is a beauty, with olive skin just like my brother. It was awesome to finally get to meet her after 9 long months, I am so excited to get to watch her grow up and experience all that life has to offer her. Her parents are going to do a great job raising her. They have been and will continue to pray for her everyday and for God's guidance to help them raise her, if they don't then I will, actually I will anyways! I love her already, but this does not make me want one of my own. So the questions can stop before they even get started. I have enough "children" to help in raising that I don't need any of my own. You see, I get to have all of the fun spoiling them and then send them home to their parents!

Good times around here

I've been so busy lately, planning trips, meeting my new niece for the first time, trying to fit in study time for the looming college finals that are coming up in a couple weeks, getting through Thanksgiving at the Dutch(where I work), and overall nonsense. Crazy! Anyways, I have lots to write about, but actually the first thing I want to tell, one of the funniest things that happened to me, was Thanksgiving day at my Grandparents. I can always go there and expect some really blunt comments from my blunt Grandma(whats a grandma to do?), or maybe she will say some things that she really doesn't know the meaning of in this sophisticated new fangled society. Really, I always expect a comment that is so random that it cracks me up without her even knowing what she just said.

To start the story off, I work in a bakery. Thanksgiving is the biggest week of the year for me, I work myself up for this week, physically and mentally for everything we have to do because it is the most intense time of the year for all of us. This thanksgiving was no different for me, I worked come crazy freakin' hours and was overall in a craze from monday to wednesday before Thanksgiving. I worked 25 hours in 2 days and all that jazz. It was a wild time. So there goes...

Anyways, I got to my grandparents house after dinner Thanksgiving day, I sat down with everyone in the living room, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. As soon as I sat down my grandma asks, "So... did you get over your pie making orgy?" I first couldn't really say anything or else I would have bust up laughing. I just brushed it off and answered that, yeah I was all recuperated from the week and that everything went ok. I look around and everyone in the room is covering their mouths laughing and tears are in everyones eyes. It was a classic moment. She had no idea what she had said or what everyone was laughing at. I felt bad, but I think it was best that she didn't find out what an "orgy" was. Later that evening my uncle asked her if she knew what an "orgy" was and she said that yeah she did, that it was some sort of party. We just agreed with her and left her to her merry way. Cherry pie takes on a whole new meaning in Grandmas world.

Hi, my name is Earl

Does anyone watch Hi, my name is Earl? I think that it is one of the best shows out there. It is filled with humor and great one liners, which I am fond of and well known for trying to say. Sometimes it doesn't always come out right. Of all the characters in the show, I think that Randy is my favorite. He is a simpleton, he really only thinks about eating and what makes him happy. Occasionally he has a great word of wisdom, but he never really thinks for himself unless prompted to. His words of wisdom are so true. My favorite was just last week where he said, "If I was in the witness protection program and I got to pick my own name, I'd pick 'CRASH FIST-FIGHT!" So true...so true.

I'm not really angry, I promise

My Hubby said that I was grumpy the other day. Every little thing was grating on me, everything was getting on my nerves. Do you ever really think about the stuff you hide? I've been so busy with work and school and everything else that I haven't had time to show the true emotions that come out of me every once in awhile. They just break free when they can't build up anymore. But isn't that ok sometimes to show your true feelings? I wasn't having a good day. I was raw enough to let out the feelings that I keep locked inside. I didn't care who I would hurt, even though I was not intentionally trying to hurt anyone. If anyone can deal with me on my bad days it only has to be me. I think that I should throw out the angst and turmoil that I have sometimes and come out of hiding if I want to. I wish that I still had as much angst as I used to, now I deal with things easier than I used to. Life came and threw me a few hardballs and I learned to shut up and deal with it. But I wish that I didn't have to deal with it sometimes. Argh.....

Evans Bahrain

Well, in honor of my cousin going into Bahrain for the Naval forces for the next year, I would like to display some of the things that Evan gets to see for the next year to make us all miss him even more.... The first is the gorgeous beach that Evan will see everyday.
Next is the yummy food Evan will eat everyday.
Oh, there is the raceway in case Evan ever wants to see fast cars.
Did I mention the fun festivals Bahrain has, with floats and everything?
There is also the cool stamps that one day we can all hope to see in our mailbox as we await letters from Evan. It's nice to see a little glimpse into the life that Evan will be living.

Medical Examinations?

First-year students at Med School were receiving their first Anatomy class with a real dead human body. They all gathered around the surgery table with the body covered with a white sheet. The professor started the class by telling them: "In medicine, it is necessary to have 2 important qualities as a doctor. The first is that you not be disgusted by anything involving the human body." For an example, the Professor pulled back the sheet, stuck his finger in the butt of the corpse, withdrew it and stuck his finger in his mouth." Go ahead and do the same thing," he told his students. The students freaked out, hesitated for several minutes, but eventually took turns sticking a finger in the butt of the dead body and sucking on it. When everyone had finished, the Professor looked at them and told them, "The second most important quality is observation. I stuck in my Middle finger and sucked on my Index finger. Now learn to pay attention."

You can do well or go to Iraq, your choice!

I just recently heard that John Kerry(former presidential candidate mind you) was speaking at a California college to an assembly of students. He somehow made the terribly rude comment to them that, "If you study hard(in college) you can do well, if you don't you get stuck in Iraq." Kerry claims that it was a botched up joke that went bad, way bad. McCain and other political figures were asking for a general apology from Kerry. Kerry claims that the administration should be apologizing to him. But he also said the White House was purposely twisting his words and asserted that it is Bush who owes troops an apology for a misguided war in Iraq. Meanwhile, in comes Ohio Democratic Representative, Sherrod Brown, twisting everything and saying that Republican Senator, Mike DeWine, and other Republicans are merely trying to change the subject. "The people who should apologize are George Bush and Mike DeWine for sending our troops into battle without body armor and without examining the cooked intelligence," Brown said. What is this world coming to? How did Kerry manage to turn everything around and point fingers at others when he clearly feels this way and is only trying to cover up his mistakes? I don't care if you are a Republican or a Democratic, what Kerry did was wrong, so stop blaming others for your crime. Own up to it man! I don't know much about politics but this goes out of the scope of politics and right into another realm of humanity. I did hear that he recently made an apology though, thanks alot Kerry.

Hillbilly Medical Terms

Ok, maybe these are a little cheesy, but I admit I had a good laugh after reading a few. So here's to maybe making your day a little less dreary. And here's to hoping that we never meet any Doctors we visit who think that these are real terms!
Benign................What you be after you be eight.
Bacteria...............Back door to cafeteria.
Barium.................What you do with dead folks.
Cesarean Section.......A neighborhood in Rome.
Catscan................Searching for the cat.
Cauterize..........Made eye contact with her.
Colic...............A sheep dog.
Coma...............A punctuation mark.
D&C................Where Washington is.
Dilate.............To live longer than your kids do.
Enema.............Not a friend.
Fester............Quicker than someone else.
Fibula............A small lie.
G.I.Series.........World Series of military baseball.
Hangnail...........What you hang your coat on.
Impotent......Distinguished, well known.
Labor Pain..........Getting hurt at work.
Morbid..............A higher offer than I bid.
Nitrates...........Cheaper than day rates.
Medical Staff.......A Doctor's cane, sometimes shown with a snake.
Node....................I knew it.
Outpatient..............A person who has fainted.
Pap Smear................A fatherhood test.
Pelvis...................Second cousin to Elvis.
Post Operative...........A letter carrier.
Recovery Room....Place to do upholstery.
Secretion.......Hiding something.
Tablet..........A small table to change babies on.
Seizure..........Roman emperor who lived in the Ceasarean Section.
Terminal Illness....Getting sick at the train station.
Tumor...............More than one.
Urine...............Opposite of mine.
Varicose............Near by.
Hospital............The biggest building in town, other than Joe's feedwarehouse or Franks lumber mill.

Alive To Tell the Story

Can you believe it? My day ended up with a sort of perfect justice of exactly how crappy it really was after the aforementioned Theatre exam(if you haven't already, read my last post, I kind of posted twice in a short time span). I had just finished my other college class, got into my car, turned it on... you know the old bit. Anyways, I was pulling out of the parking lot onto the main road that leads to home and low and behold, one of my classmates from my other class was behind me in line and he ran into me! Apparently he thought that I was going to pull out in front of the person barreling down the road in the lane I needed to turn in to. So, he wasn't paying any attention to me and he started to go. Next thing I know I feel a lurch forward and hear metal hitting metal, or maybe that was plastic hitting plastic. I look into my rearview mirror and see him covering his face with his hands in shock that he just hit me from behind. We both get out of our cars and see that nothing major happened to either car. His car was actually worse than mine, a crack in the plastic fender and some scrapes. My car took it like a man and had a little blue paint on the fender. We both decided that we were fine and that we could go on our merry way and that was the end of it. I kind of forgot to tell my husband the first 1/2 hour we were together when I got home and I remembered as we were hugging in the kitchen. Something triggered it and I said, " Oh, by the way I was in an accident today!" Well he kind of flipped out on me for not telling him as soon as I walked in the door. But when he realized that no damage was really done then he was ok with it. And I'm alive to tell the story!

Life Is Staged

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwilling to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered Pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
-As You Like It, Shakespeare

I am in Theatre, a way of seeing, this semester at Kent State. My nursing coordinator told me that it is a requirement for my nursing degree that I am working on. I'm not really sure why? I tell people that it is so that I can learn to lie to patients when they are on deaths door. My nursing coordinator also told me that this class would be an easy "A" grade for me. Well now that I just finished my first exam I beg to differ. I really HATE short answer and essay exams and this one was all of that(and a bag of chips), 5 pages later(front and back) and 1 1/2 hours of examining, I am pretty sure that I'm not sure at all in how I did. My mind is fuzzy and I haven't been able to see anything clearly for 2 hours since the exam. That "A" seems harder than I thought. In my studying last night for the exam, I did come across this script from, As You Like It, and I thought it really said a lot about a mans life in a short span. It puts everything into perspective; you start out as a baby not knowing many things, you grow up and learn everything and think you are "master of the universe", then you realize it was better when you were young and didn't know everything, so you start reverting back to when you were a baby and sleep all day and have others feed you. Wisdom, it's a scary thing, you have to go thru so much to get it and when you have it you sometimes wish that you could take it back.

Winter Creeps In

Are we ever ready for winter? This year I am more than especially not. This year winters approach just seems different, I feel like the summer went by too fast and the time I was able to be outside was not enough. To think that we have to bear down for another long winter already fills me with depressing thoughts. Although I do like many things about winter, I mainly just can't stand being cold anymore. In my ripe old age of 29 I hate to get up in the morning out of my warm covers, I hate to come home to a cold house and start a fire that will warm the house slowly till, when it's time for bed, I am warm and toasty. I know that my sweet husband has already started saying "Have I mentioned that I can't stand winter?" which I will invariably hear everyday for the next several months until we see some green grass and warm days again and I think that drives me more crazy than anything!

"Strange we never prize the music till the sweet-voiced bird has flown; strange that we should slight the violets till the lovely flowers are gone; strange that summer skies and sunshine never seem one half so fair as when winter's snowy pinions shake their white down in the air!"
-Mary Riley Smith

Silent Weekend

This past weekend I participated in a "Silent" weekend with other Kent State students involved in ASL classes. ASL stands for American Sign Language, if anyone was wondering, and there are 6 different levels of the class at this point that can be taught. I am a baby in ASL 1 and most of the people there were at least ASL 2 or 3. To see the difference in just one semester more is scary to me because they were so much better at signing than myself. Many of the people there were deaf as well. There was NO talking during any of the group activities, which was daunting. Hence the meaning "Silent" weekend;) It was a gathering for students and deaf people to get together and have a nice relaxing weekend. I actually felt far from relaxed at times though, I had a good time, but it was very stressful going there and knowing only the basics of signing. I was happy that everyone was really patient and eager to work with me and my fellow ASL 1 classmates. It is encouraging, to say the least, that I am able to have a short basic conversation with a deaf person, when just a few short months ago I would have been clueless in talking with them, and it would have scared me to death to even try. The weekend was gorgeous and I loved camping out. I haven't had the chance to camp this summer and it was just what I needed to get a little more relaxed and ready to get thru the rest of the semester. The top picture is of the entire group on the last day, minus a few that left the night before. The bottom picture is just a few of my classmates trying to sign to each other. This was an experience that I would have never done on my own, but because of it being a requirement for my ASL class, I am so glad that I did. It is hard to break out of your shell when you don't have to.

My new backpack

It seems that my dear husband finally found himself his ultimate backpack on E-bay that he's been wanting for years, he had this 50th anniversary Kelty backpack tagged for what was probably 2 years, and when it came out into the market years even before that, he wanted it then, but just didn't buy it for whatever reason. Anyways, when he was sent the e-mail that his backpack was up for auction, he immediately put a bid in. Every other time he was outbid in the first few days, but this time his low bid got him his dream pack. The U.S. postal service sent it to us a few days later and I've never seen him so happy as when he opened that package with his new backpack in it. He said that it was all of his birthdays and christmas's combined in to one. WOW! Maybe a little exaggerated, but that's the way he is, you have to know him. So, needless to say, I aquired his old backpack. It is new too, but it wasn't the one he really wanted in the first place but he got a great deal for it figuring that he wouldn't ever get his "dream" pack. It was his second option, thrown away for the beauty of another. Honestly though, I really like it. I can't wait to get out on the trail and give it it's first "trail" run. It is green(which is my favorite color) and it isn't as big as his new pack so that means that he will have to carry more of the weight when we are on the trail together. I sure am glad that he got his dream pack! I think I got mine too!

College Daze

Of course the real burden of college has started this semester for me. The panic of fitting in everything in my busy life overwhelms me when I realize that things that I normally do, like laundry, washing dishes, vacuuming, sleeping, eating, etc. all get pushed to the wayside as work and college collide. Unfortunately by this Saturday I will have worked 12 out of the past 14 days, and had about 3-4 hours of sleep each night. Which is entirely my own fault, but sleep doesn't seem to matter as much lately. I used to need an extreme 8 hours of sleep each night to function. The fun part is maybe I don't realize that I'm not functioning, hopefully lack of sleep has helped me to miss the things I would see if I was functioning on high capacity. Maybe I am more focused on the issues at hand in my life instead of worrying about the dishes in the sink or the fact that I can't find any clean jeans. I always have been on the side of perfectionism and when I started college I was so worried that I would not be able to get any studying done because in my mind the housework would need to be done before the other, more important, things. I guess what I am trying to say is that I love this high pace, never rest life that I am in right now. Who knows, I may even miss it one day!

"You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you live to be a hundred."
-Woody Allen

I Love Fall

Where I get my best thinking done

Halfway down the stairs"(written by A.A. Milne, sung by Robin on The Muppet Show)

Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I sit.
There isn't any other stair quite like it.
I'm not at the bottom, I'm not at the top.
So this is the stair where I always stop.
Halfway up the stairs isn't up and isn't down.
It isn't in the nursery, it isn't in the town.
And all sorts of funny thoughts run round my head.
It isn't really anywhere, it's somewhere else instead.
Halfway down the stairs is a stair where I sit.
There isn't any other stair quite like it.
I'm not at the bottom, I'm not at the top.
So this is the stair where I always stop.

Here it is

Well, I've given in to the whole bloggin' thing. I guess that I thought that my time wasn't quite spent on enough activities at this point in my life and I needed a little extra to add to my list of things I can't miss out on. I'll probably never slow down to the pace that I'd like to someday envision for the future so I may as well embrace the fact. One of the main decisions in doing this is the new laptop I ordered that I hope to recieve tomorrow, hurray! I told my husband that I am probably one of the few females on the earth to be so excited about electronics, more than most at least. So this new venture should be exciting if I can ever find the time to collect my thoughts and get them out in words.