Neapolitan Ice cream.....With a Little Extra Chocolate

Another child begins a journey

2009-08-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

A member of a forum I frequently visit (daily) got the horrible news that her 3 year old daughter has Leukemia. She hasn't been told if it's ALL or AML or what subtype but obviously they are in shock and very scared. Please pray for them, the little girl's name is Gigi and her mom is Laura. They are a lovely family.
Also another board member of the same forum went into labor on the 24 and her baby is in critical condition. Please pray for them as well, baby's name is Joaquin and mom is Amy.

Sad Day.

2009-08-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

Elizabeth Dunford is being laid to rest today in her hometown. I found a beautiful video tribute to her online. I'm feeling a bit angry right now. Why do these precious kids have to get cancer?? I guess I'm also angry that Elizabeth was cancer free when she died. She really died from the complications of her transplant, which she never would have had to have had it not been for the cancer. I know we've made SOOO many strides and advancements in treating pediatric cancer, I see it everytime I go to work, but children are STILL DYING. There are still those few who react differently to the drug or have a particuarly aggessive type. Please pray everyday for more cures and better treatments to be made. I know researchers are working everyday at St. Jude to find cures, I see their labs and equipment and read their articles and it really is amazing how far we've come. But we need a 100% cure rate. Please pray.

A new angel in Heaven

2009-08-19T04:25:00.000-07:00

I'm breaking my silent streak to pay tribute to a very special little girl named Elizabeth Grace Dunford. She was diagnosed with AML M7 on March 17 of 2008, and exactly 17 months later on August 17, she went home to be with Jesus. She was 2 years old. I never met Elizabeth, but she has touched my very soul in a way I thought not possible. I first noticed her name on the labels of chemo I made at St. Jude and I decided to see if she had a caringbridge page like many of the patients do. I probably shouldn't do this, because I start to feel a personal attachment to these kids when I read about their day to day struggles. Elizabeth went through SO MUCH, she did regular chemo, then had a haploidentcal bone marrow transplant in which her daddy was her donor. She was so doing SO WELL, until she developed hypereosinophilia and her skin began to sluff off, once that was controlled, her liver started acting up and it was eventually found out she had post transplant lymphoproliferative disease which is like another cancer, actually the most common type to have after having a transplant. Elizabeth went to the ICU after suffering some seizure type activity, and the angel baby never woke up, but she knew her family was there with her all the time. Elizabeth was extrememly loved not only by her family, but by everyone who came in contact with her at St. Jude. A lot of people are grieving for a loss greater then words can express. Elizabeth was like a beautiful bird that flapped into our drab little cage and made it wonderful, even just for a moment. It was wrong to try to cage her though, and now she's finally free, fly sweet Elizabeth, fly.

2008 in Review

2008-12-31T19:51:00.001-08:00

Hummm what happened in 2008?? I got my Canon rebel XTi which has brought me lots of joy and happiness. I completed my 2nd and 3rd semesters of pharmacy school and got initiated into Kappa Psi and got my silly nickname. We had a leap day, had a nice snowfall in Memphis, W FINALLY got a new cell phone, my dad turned 50 and I drove from Memphis to Sedalia for the first time, I changed my blog name and had my 100th post, me and W celebrated our first wedding anniversary, I turned 24, and W graduated from UT with his BSN degree. Some not so fun things happened as well, my car broke down completely, W's truck was hit in a hit and run, and we went through our first rough spot during our marriage. I'm excited to see what 2009 brings us.

Someone? Anyone??

2008-12-31T19:40:00.000-08:00

I need blog help, how do I extend the width of the text area of my blog? NONE of my pics ever have enough room to show up, I want the whole screen width!!!!! help!!!!!!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-31T19:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2008 for me was wonderful, so wonderful in fact I do believe it may be the best Christmas I've had in years. I left Dec. 22 by myself to drive the 3.5 hours to Clarksville to be with my immediate family consisting of Mom, Dad, Kelly, and Janice. Along with W, these are my favorite people in the world. I did very well on the drive and turned onto Northwood Terrace around 1:00 pm. I was thrilled to see Precious and Willie Bo (the dogs) and got a little sad thinking about how Lacey aka LuLu would not be spending this Christmas here with us on earth. Me, dad, Kelly and Janice ate Chinese then went to target and kohl's. Kelly is working at Kohl's for the holidays. Kelly spent the night at mom and dad's with me and the next day we slept in and then drove to Sears to look for a sweater dress for Kelly, we found a really cute one. We ate Mexican then dropped off some food for my mom at here work. Then me and Kelly went to a holiday party thrown by Kandi. Kandi was a good friend of mine back in Clarksville and I'm SO HAPPY I was able to attend the party, I saw alot of dear people I haven't seen in awhile and everyone seemed genuinely happy to see me. The next morning (Christmas Eve) I got quite a surprise when W knocked on my parents door at around 10:00 am, I was sooooooooo happy because he wasn't supposed to get there until that evening around 8pm. So we got to spend the whole day together. Christmas was great as well and I got a lot of nice gifts for which I am ingredibly grateful. It was a wonderful Christmas.

The lovely Christmas tree

Me and Kelly wrapping gifts

Me and W on Christmas Eve

Before Midnight Mass

Will got his Cardiac Stethoscope

Me and Sweet Janice on Christmas

Me and W on Christmas

Me, My mom and Kelly on Christmas day

New Photo blog

2008-12-17T10:44:00.001-08:00

I created a photo blog to showcase my photography. Check it out.

Oh how I LOVE....

2008-12-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

getting Christmas cards. I don't know why, but everyday I've been anxiously awaiting the mailman so I can look for Christmas cards. I prefer the kind with pictures the most! I love seeing how people's families have changed, especially the kids! Here are some pics I took of my poor reluctant cats. Enjoy.

He's not really mad at me, just about to fall asleep.

Madison says Merry Christmas!!

My Christmas tree is dying!!

2008-12-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

So it's still a few days till Christmas and our Christmas tree is wilting and losing pine needles by the dozens!! Poor thing. I did some research and realized we were supposed to cute about 1 inch of the bottom of the trunk off so that it would have a clean fresh area from which to absorb water, well we didn't do that and the water in the tree holder has been full for several days now, so obviously the poor tree was not able to get any water. So I got creative and enlisted the help of my reluctant husband who while I held up the tree(ornaments, lights and all) he sawed off some of the trunk so that hopefully our poor tree will be able to get some water and perk up a little bit. It wasn't pretty to say the least though, ornaments were falling off and TONS of pine needles were shed, BUT I was able to put back the ornaments and it almost looks as good as it did before. Next year I know to cut some off the bottom of the trunk before we put it in water.

Flurries

2008-12-10T18:36:00.000-08:00

There were actually snow flurries today for a short while, it beats the rain that's been falling non stop for over 24 hours straight......

Oh Tanenbaum Oh Tanenbaum

2008-12-09T21:51:00.000-08:00

One of my absolute favoritest things about Christmas is putting up and decorating the Christmas tree. I LOVE real trees because that is what I grew up with, there is just something special about picking out the perfect tree and decorating it and giving it water everyday and smelling that fresh pine smell. We got a smallish one, about 6 feet, it is a Frasier Fir, and I love that little thing. If it was up to W, we'd have no tree, but I would be sooooo disapointed if we didn't have one. I can't wait for evening time so I can turn on the lights. I was extremely blessed to get a ton of Hallmark keepsake ornaments from W's mom and those plus the meager amount we had from last year, our little tree is looking pretty nice. I did all the decorating while W took photos of me, well he did trim the tree and put it in the tree stand. Enjoy the photos!

A graduation to remember

2008-12-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

So W finally graduated with his Bachelor's in Nursing. We were treated to 2 ceremonies yesterday. The first was his convocation which was just for the university's nursing students and the students were hooded and given their pins, there were a few speeches and awards given as well. We were blessed to have W's parents, his aunt, his Granny, and Lynn with us for the ceremony and my dad and sister joined us for the graduation. The actual graduation was a University wide event which included Medicine, Dental, allied health, pharmacy, and social work as well as nursing students, and it was more of a traditional ceremony with presentation of diplomas. Both ceremonies were amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed them both. I was lucky enough to be excused from both my classes yesterday to attend the ceremonies. Afterward, Me, W and his parent's and Aunt went a local Italian restaurant and had frozen custard for dessert, it was quite a wonderful day. Here are some photos.

Thanksgiving cookies!!

2008-11-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

So for some reason I've decided to start making cookies for all occasions. But they must be cookies made from cookie cutters so I can have fun decorating them. I made some for the first time today and they turned out pretty good. I'd like to get better at the decorating part, but maybe I just need practice. I couldn't find Thanksgiving themed cookie cutters for the life of me, so I had to make cutout myself and just traced around them with a knife. I made a turkey, a maple leaf, a pilgrim hat, an acorn, and a pumpkin. They were a lot of work and W doesn't even like sugar cookies!! lol Well here they are.

Nashville Zoo

2008-11-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

Me and W went to the Nashville Zoo on Saturday to meet up with our friends the Hughes for a fun day of animal watching and picture taking. We got a semi-behind-the-scenes tour as well since one of our friends knew the aquarium keeper. I got some good pics and it was a beautiful day, but just a tad chilly. We ate lunch at the zoofari cafe and it was surprisingly yummy for zoo food. The highlight of the day for me was the lorikeet exhibit where you can interact with the lories and feed them nectar. Enjoy the photos!

Stephanie and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

2008-11-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Ugh. Woke up to a grumpy husband trying to fix our kitchen sink that has been clogged with pumpkin seeds. Blah. So all I hear is him taking deep angry sighs and cursing every so often until he decides to call a plumber. He's also mad because I didn't change the cat litter boxes yesterday or do any house cleaning. So I get to school pretty early to begin my last minute cramming for a kinetics exam I have today which I virtually did NO studying for. Why you ask would I not study for an exam? I don't know. This happens every semester. I go through periods of burn out where I literally CAN'T make myself study. I was doing SO WELL too, I mean all As and Bs. I'll be glad if I got 5 answers right on this exam, and it's all my fault. *sigh* I did make it to the gym to relieve some frustration, but when I came out I had gotten a ticket. I was pretty mad about it since I've parked there for over a year and never knew I couldn't. It's only 10 dollars, but still. I've also been really irritable and wanting to eat everything I lay eyes on. PMS at it's best. BLah. I am attempting to do some last minute cleaning and do the cat litter boxes before W gets home at 11:30.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

I had a good Halloween this year. Me and W carved pumpkins and they turned out super cute. I carved a kitty cat face and a ghost and W's was just a face he made up, but it was really cute. I had to work on Halloween, but got off around 9:00 pm and ran home to change into my costume and grab a bite to eat. I was a witch. I LOVE to dress up for Halloween :) My costume was a little shorter then I anticipated ( I ordered it online) But it was super cute so I just wore some shorts under it. I then spent a few hours at the Kappa Psi/PDC halloween party. W had to work and didn't get off until 11pm and was too tired to go out, so I just went and met up with some friends. We had a blast. I got home around 1am and had to be to work the next morning at 9:30am, but I got up with no problems thank goodness. I made some delicious pumpkin muffins today and we had meatloaf, sauteed veggies, and mashed potatoes for dinner tonight. Here are some pics.

17 month old baby boy with DS READING!

2008-10-27T07:28:00.001-07:00

Pumpkin patch

2008-10-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

Me and W FINALLY made it to the pumpkin patch. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but I liked it. It was pretty much just a pumpkin patch and some other field with beans that sorta looked like peanuts and a corn maze and a little stand with fruits and vegetables. It was neat though and me and W had lots of fun looking at all the green pumpkins LOL. I don't know why but I found them hilarious. We picked up some acorn squash, cherry tomatoes, and homegrown apples and of course pumpkins. I plan on making some dutch apple pie with a struesel topping here in the next few days. We ate at a crazy buffet that had Chinese AND southern food. It was OK. LOL but I don't think we'll be going back. OT: Janice went to the doctor and apparently she DOES NOT have high blood pressure. It was taken twice and was about 100/80. We're not sure why it was so high when I took it, maybe because the cuff was a little too small and maybe because she was excited. I'm just really glad she's healthy. Well here are some pics.

Oh me oh my.

2008-10-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

That's what's going through my head right now LOL. I got off work only 1.5 hours ago and I have to go to bed VERY SOON because I have to be to work at 9:30 am tomorrow. I wanted to share about me and Will's day. He woke me up very sweetly this morning and asked me if I wanted to go to the pumpkin patch. I had wanted to go on Thursday but sadly it rained ALL DAY. I was surprised that he offered since he didn't seem really excited about it. Well we got directions through google maps, but something went wrong and we never found it! So sadly no pumpkin patch today, but he promises me we'll do it before halloween. We did eat at Bhan Thai which is a really good Thai food place that Will had never got to try before. He loved it. I have begun the process of putting away all my warm weather clothes and pulling out all my fall sweaters. I hate doing it but love after I'm done. I will also be getting rid of quite of few clothes that are too big for me. That's right, I weigh around 118-119lbs now which is below my goal of 120. Not sure how that happened really. But people have noticed and that feels really awesome. My parents are in Tunica again so I'm going to see them tomorrow after work. I thought I would stay the night, but I may not now since I want me and Will to go to church on Sunday. We'll see. Well gotta go to sleep.

Got a new jacket today....Woot woot!

2008-10-15T21:02:00.001-07:00

I got an email from Victoria's Secret today that today and today only they'd be offering select coats 20% off. I have one nice coat I got from my mom last year, but I've really been wanting a longer one as well so this is the one I chose. Isn't it cute? Now I can't wait for it to get cold. lol.

God doesn't make mistakes.

2008-10-15T19:33:00.001-07:00

A little update...Fall break!

2008-10-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

So I'm officially on fall break until Monday which is sooooooo nice. I do have to work Friday, Saturday AND Sunday though, but that's ok I'll earn a little cash. I got to see my dad and Janice last Saturday and I very much enjoyed it. I took both of their blood pressures and I'm very sad and concerned to say Janice's was 172/104. That's really high, stage II hypertension. I expressed my concerns with my dad about her health and my parents are getting her an appointment to see the doctor. I think she needs a full physical AND a complete blood test to access her lipids, i.e. cholesterol. I don't believe her cholesterol is high, I just think the hypertension is probably caused by her being overweight. My dad has started her on a diet, which is good, but sad at the same time because she doesn't truly understand why she has to be on a diet and she still wants snacks. Thankfully she loves fruit, so my dad has been giving her lots of fruit, which is really good. So her blood pressure is bad, BUT I think with some lifestyle changes and a trip to the doctor for some prescription meds, she'll be at her goal blood pressure in no time which for her should probably be <130-80. I will get to see my parents and Janice again this weekend which is cool.
Will is doing well in school still, he graduates on December 5, then has to take his NCLEX aka board exams to be a certified RN. He wants to work in the ICU at a local hospital here called Methodist North, his been doing his internship there and really enjoys it. I can't wait for him to graduate, I'm so proud of him.
I have also recently decided to start attending church again regularly. I am Catholic for those who don't know, so me not having attended for awhile leaves me in a state of mortal sin. I have to fix this by going to confession, then I will be able to take communion again. I'm SCARED!! I haven't been to confession in quite some time, but I HAVE to do it. Hopefully before Sunday so I can take communion this Sunday. I found a church very near our home, and Will has even said he'd start coming with me (he's not Catholic, though I'd LOVE him to be some day).
My nephew Colby's birthday is October 18, he'll be six years old, I simply can't believe it. I remember the first time I laid eyes on him when he was about 3 months old. He was such a beautiful baby. I'll have to send his card out tomorrow along with my VERY FIRST car payment LOL.
Lastly, I got pulled over today *sigh*. And.....got a ticket, my first one ever!!!! That really sucks because I've been saving all my pay checks to pay my car payments so this is going to be a set back because I'm assuming this ticket will be over $100. :( I guess that's what I get for speeding.

Want a chance to win a prize?

2008-10-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

And find a really cool blog at the same time? I read Renee's blog called life with my special K's EVERYDAY, sometimes more than once a day. She has 4 beautiful kiddos, and she's married to a military man who is currently deployed. Her youngest daughter just happens to have Down Syndrome AND has fought and WON a battle with AML (Acute Myologenous Leukemia). She lives in my hometown of Clarksville, TN. Since I have a sister with DS AND I grew up in a military family, AND I work at St. Jude so I'm an advocate of pediatric cancer awareness, I love her blog for many reasons, but even if I had nothing in common with her, I would still love her blog because she is an amazing writer. So go visit her blog and enter for a chance to win a prize commemerating her 1 year blogoversary!!

Tomorrow I'm hitting the gym

2008-09-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

So I'm almost over my illness, the only thing I'm left with is a deep painful cough that winds up deep from within my core and probably keeps the neighbors awake! LOL I haven't been able to work out since I've been sick which for me has been quite distressing. I'm sort of obsessed with working out now and I just know everyday I'm unable to do so I've undone the work that I worked so hard to do. I think tomorrow will be the day when I start back up, maybe not full force, but something anyway. Getting a good cardio workout always elevates my mood and just makes me feel good. On Thursday morning I am giving flu shots at a local Kroger and I'm sort of nervous about it. I'm certified to give immunizations, but what if I get someone who is REALLY afriad of needles and they freak out, or what would be really bad would be if I stuck myself with a used needle! I'll just have to be careful and go slow and hopefully it will go well. Send me positive thoughts on Thursday morning from 9:30-11:30! Keep W in your prayers he's been a handful lately *sigh* he just always seems mad. I'll update on my Thursday goes.

WHAT?! No medicine cup?

2008-09-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

So on the way home from eating at Chili's, we stopped at Walgreens to get me some Delsym aka dextromethorphan (cough medicine) for my cough. I was shocked and appalled when I got home and realized it didn't come with a medicine cup, and yet the directions stated to take 2 teaspoons. Ok so maybe I'm being picky but the average household teaspoon can measure anywhere from 2.5-15 mLs!!! My point being they aren't really that accurate and this is how people accidently give their children too much medicine! A teaspoon should measure 5 mLs, but if your teaspoon that came with your silverware happens to measure 15 mLs, you'd be getting around 30mLs instead of the 10 mLs that you should have been getting or 3 times too much!! Avoid this problem and the next time you are getting liquid medicine for yourself or your child, stop by the pharmacy and ask for an oral syringe so you can make sure you're getting the correct amount. Thanks and have a great day :)

Late night blogging

2008-09-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

I've been banished to the couch because my coughing is keeping W awake. I've been sick for 3 days now. It's just a nasty cold virus so nothing much I can do except wait it out and self medicate. But now that I'm on the couch, I'm close to the computer so it's very tempting to get on here. Anyway my childhood best friend Amy is going through an extremely difficult time. Her boyfriend died suddenly on September 19 and they aren't really sure what killed him. Please pray for Amy to find peace and strength through this horrible time. Her boyfriend's name was Josh. On a positive note, me and W went to Chili's on Thursday and I colored a pepper and bought the create-a-pepper t-shirt. I made the pepper for Kennedy the cancer warrior! Here it is:

And here is a picture of just ONE of the walls with Peppers people have already done.

Don't forget to eat at Chili's on Monday September 29th because Chili's will be donating 100% of their profits from this day to St. Jude. I think this is just phenomenal. I have my second kinetics test on Tuesday and since I slept about 16 hours of the day on Saturday and Sunday, I haven't gotten a whole lot of studying accomplished so I'll have to really study hard tomorrow. Being sick just sucks. Plain and simple. I thank God I'm rarely sick. Well that's it for now.

Tomorrow is W's birthday.

2008-09-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

W's birthday is tomorrow and I'm getting ready to go birthday shopping for him. His birthday is always sort of a dreaded day for me considering he is EXTREMELY hard to shop for. This time he made it a little easier for me by making a birthday wish list which consisted of nothing but DVDs and CDs. I may throw in a shirt or two as well. :) If it weren't for me, the man would wear t-shirts and cargo shorts everyday. By the way he will be 28 years young. Wow, when I met W he was only 24. I'm a little bit bummed though since he's working on his birthday and we won't be able to go out anywhere. Then I work Friday and he's going out of town this weekend, so I guess we really won't get to go out. Oh well, when I get a chance I'm going to make his favorite dish, liver and onions. I'm not joking, he LOVES liver and onions and begs me to make it all the time. And for desert, he favorite: chocolate chip muffins. Well I still haven't gotten any test grades back and the suspense is killing me! Well I'm off to Target and/or Best Buy.

1 down, 1 to go.

2008-09-15T18:54:00.000-07:00

I had my first therapeutics exam today, and I'm not sure how it went just yet. I have to say it was easier then I imagined it would be, but I don't want to predict what I made because I'm usually always wrong. I'm just glad it's over with. I was so brain tired after the exam I went straight home and skipped my management class. I feel a bit guilty about it, but I'll get over that soon enough. I rested at home a bit then went and did my Zumba class. I LOVE Zumba!! For those that don't know it's an aerobic class that's based on Latin dancing and it REALLY works your core, it's pretty awesome, then I did yoga for about 45 minutes and came home. This day has really flown by. Tomorrow I have to have an emissions test done on my new car so I can get it registered in Shelby county, and we have to somehow get my broken down car back to our house so my dad can pick it up on Saturday. He knows a lot about cars and wants to put a new engine in it. Nothing else really interesting happening this week that I know of. That's it for now.

New car and other positive things.

2008-09-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

I guess I should start off by letting everyone know my car started making a rattling sound and the check oil light kept going on and off, even though the car had oil in it, so we took it to our mechanic who told us that something in the engine was cracked and making the rattling sound and we'd have to replace the engine(again) to fix it. Some of you may remember that the engine has already been replaced once and we it hadn't even been in the car for 6 months yet. *sigh* After me and W discussed this situation, we agreed it would be better just to get a different vehicle for me instead of replacing the engine a second time and risking something else happening to the car. This car has been quite a nightmare for me. This is what has happened to it:
1.) Keyless entry mysteriously became "unprogrammed" while car was still under warranty, so we had it fixed.
2.) Keyless entry unprogrammed itself AGAIN conveniently right after the warranty ran out, so I've been w/o keyless entry for the past 4 years......
3.) Air conditioner had to be repaired while under warranty
4.) Brakes had to be COMPLETELY replaced when car was only 2 years old (Not under warranty)
5.) Motor went out in one of the power windows conveniently when the window was down. Had to drive car with trash bag over window until it could be fixed.
6.) Blew a head gasket last year, had to have several hundred dollars worth of repairs.
7.) Broken hose in coolant system (Note: ever since the blown head gasket, coolant system never worked right again, we were having to put coolant in car every week)
8.) At same time the head gasket blew, engine completely failed and had to be replaced...over 2000 dollars worth of parts/labor.

As you can see it's been a wild (and expensive) ride with this car. By the way it's only a 2002 vehicle, but ran like it was from the 1980s! Anyway we went to carmax today and purchased a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, it's red and really cute and perfect for me. We also made sure to get the extended warranty considering our luck with cars. It was a long tedious process, but now I have a reliable, cute car!! Now if I can just make the monthly payments. :)

Cute Huh??

So I wanted to thank anyone who sent me positive thoughts regarding the state of my marriage. I'm happy to report we had a really good day today and I'm feeling very positive. We are going to take advantage of free counseling sessions offered to students through our school. I also have my first therapeutics exam on Monday and I'm pretty nervous, it's going to be difficult.

Lastly, everyone eat at Chili's on September 29 because they will be donating 100% of profits from that day to St. Jude!! I can't imagine a better cause then this...ok maybe I'm a little biased since I work there. Do you realize St. Jude is one of a kind? It's the only place I know of where money is literally not an object when it comes to treating these kids. I've prepared drugs that were $2500 for a small vial! But this drug may be the patient's LAST HOPE, and it may SAVE THEIR LIFE!!! Some may not know that while St. Jude's main patient population are pediatric cancer patients, we also treat children with HIV/AIDS and other catastrophic diseases such as hemophilia, sickle cell anemia as well as a variety of other hematologic and endocrine disorders. The HIV drugs are ESPECIALLY expensive, but give HIV + patients a quality of life that they'd otherwise not have. Also patient's families NEVER had to pay for any treatments not covered by their health insurance and if they have no insurance, well then they don't have to pay! How awesome is that?? St. Jude also provides money for food and basic necessity items such as toiletry items as well as housing. Outpatients stay in either the Memphis Grizzlies house, the Ronald McDonald house, or the target house. Patients also come from all over the world for treatment, just the other day I made some chemo for a young boy from Nigeria with relapsed cancer. Well I'm sure most of you know how special St. Jude is, so eat at Chili's on the 29th and also create a pepper in honor of a a child fighting or a survivor like Kennedy!!

I need prayers and strength

2008-09-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

Things haven't been going well for me and W lately. He's very short with me, ALL THE TIME, doesn't really show affection very much, NEVER offers emotional support if I'm sad or just had a bad day, he's NEVER happy it seems, and I don't think he wants to be married anymore. :( We're both under ALOT of stress lately because we're both in difficult educational programs, I'm in pharmacy and he's in nursing so time and money are scarce at times. I don't know what to do. He said his main two problems are 1.) that I'm a messy person (and I am) and I don't clean enough and 2.) I don't fufill his sexual needs. I admit that I'm messy, but it has a lot to do with me being so busy at school and I do work still also. And about fufilling his sexual needs, I admit I am lacking in that area, I just don't have the same needs he does at this point in my life with so much going on at school. The difference between us is that I'm STILL HAPPY, but he seems to be NEVER HAPPY. He also admitting to me the other day that he doesn't feel he'll EVER want to have children, which is something I MOST DEFINATELY want. I don't know what to do. I need prayers that we'll be ok, I don't want a divorce, but I can't go through my whole entire life with someone who is NEVER pleasant around me and never shows me affection and love and his always mad at me. Also these past few weeks I've been without a car so he's been driving me around and he's really unhappy about it. He hates it and it just makes me feel twice as bad. I don't know what to do.

One Job I'll never complain about.

2008-09-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

Ok so I haven't written in quite some time. I haven't really felt up for it....until tonight. After the recent airing of stand up to cancer, I've been a little sad. I like to keep up with all the caringbridge pages for some of the patients at work, but maybe I shouldn't because when things don't go well, it's very heartbreaking. An 8 year old little girl from St. Jude just got some bad news about her progress. Her name is Mary Kate and you can visit her page here. This leads me to the title of my post. I prepare chemo at St. Jude for kids with cancer. It's a tough job. Sometimes I work for hours on end with no break. Sometimes a child will need a really large dose of a drug and I'll have to reconstitute a large number of vials to get a big enough dose, and my back starts to hurt and it gets hot in my mask and I sweat. Sometimes I stick myself with the needles I use to make the drugs. Sometimes I won't be able to find a child's order and I'll have to go searching for it even though I may have 20 chemo orders to make for the next day. Sometimes something just isn't right and I have to call the child's nurse to figure something out. I check the math on all the doses to make sure an error wasn't made and all this is very time consuming, BUT when I have bad days I always think to myself: This child and their family is trusting in ME that this chemo is made CORRECTLY. They are depending on me to take my time and make sure everything is done right, and that's what I do. To think for one moment that I may play a small part in saving a child's life makes any and everything I do at work worth it. I've been blessed with good health and I'm so very humble to God for giving it to me. I'm broke as a joke and without a car right now, but I'm healthy, and there are so many adults and kids who wish they could say the same. I'll never complain about my job.

What I did for my birthday

2008-06-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

The day before my birthday I was surprised to find out that W had cleaned out my car. This is really a big deal because my car was gross, seriously! Then the day of my birthday I got a card and some ghirardelli chocolate. The card had money in it for a little shopping spree at the mall! Shopping is my favorite thing to do and W even came along for the ride even though he HATES the mall. I bought some new cute clothes and a Coach wristlet that was 50% off. Then that evening we went to eat at Shogun which is a Japanese steakhouse where they cook the food on the grill in front of you which is my favorite! I opted NOT to have them sing the birthday song for me partly because I think W would have been embarrassed haha. Then as a final treat that night we went and had ice cream at Baskin Robbins. Yum, needless to say I had a wonderful birthday. I am blessed. Unfortunately I work all weekend and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before we leave for Chattanooga on Thursday. Here's a pic of me in my birthday suit LOL.

Fun Saturday night....boo for Mondays

2008-06-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday night was pretty much, I got all dressed up and did some dramatic eye makeup :) I met up with Emily, PJ, and Jenna and we went to a hole in the wall bar in Southaven, Mississippi and there was like 5 people there! LOL we only went because Jenna knew some people there, we didn't stay long. Then we went to Silky O' Sullivans where I had the privilege of trying a diver for the first time. A diver is a huge bucket of random drinks mixed together that a bunch of people all drink out of. Pretty gross huh? LOL it was actually really good though and since I knew the people who were drinking with me it was all good. We stayed there for a while, then me and Emily left because it was already almost 2 am and I told W I'd be home around that time, but PJ and Jenna went some other places that night. Today I've been lazing around and not doing much, I did get my makeup organized and have a freezer bag full of stuff I don't want anymore that I'm asking my cousin Kelly if she wants. I don't think anyone besides family would take my used makeup haha. Sadly, tomorrow is already Monday and my fun weekend is over :( Weekends are way too short. I'll be in the chemo room all this week and weekend, but I have Wednesday and Thursday off for my birthday. Yay!

Pay Day!!

2008-06-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

Today was pay day yay!! We usually go out on payday, so after I got off at 2:30 we took Tessa to the vet for her yearly wellness exam and vaccinations (She did pretty well, only put her teeth on W once when she was having her temp taken, but I swear she didn't mean it LOL) we went to the Collierville outdoor mall (It'a a bad A$$ mall seriously) and ate dinner at Corraba's and it was very good, then I stopped at the bare escentuals boutique and bought myself a few goodies with my 20% off family and friends discount. Now we are back home and W is knocked out on the couch. He's been sleeping for about an hour and looks so cute, and every so often he makes cute little sounds in his sleep LOL, the cats are napping with him also. Well just wanted to share my fun day, tomorrow I'm excited because I'm going out with some new friends from work who are also in my pharmacy class, that's it for now!

Just for fun

2008-06-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

What were you doing ten years ago?
It was the summer after my 8th grade year and I lived in Clarksville, TN. I was getting ready to turn 14 and enter the world of high school, I had yet to kiss a boy or have a real boyfriend, that didn't happen until 9th grade.

What are five (Non-work) things on my to-do list for today?
1. Get up by 5:00 am for work
2. Make it through my work day
3. Take Tessa to vet for yearly checkup
4. Go to bare escentuals boutique in Collierville
5. Go out to dinner and have "quality hubby time" at home afterwards

Five snacks I enjoy!
1. Ice cream
2. rice crispy treats
3. fried mushrooms
4. chocolate
5. frosted mini wheats cereal

Things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. Buy a nice home and cars for me and W
2. Donate LOTS of money to St. Jude
3. Buy new home for my parents and Janice
4. wardrobe, makeup, shoes, perfume, anything I want
5. Donate to siamese rescue

Places I have lived
Seoul, Korea
Wurtzberg, Germany
Hopkinsville, KY
Clarksville, TN
Memphis, TN

5 Jobs I have had
1. Cashier at Petsmart
2. Dog bather at petsmart
3. Bather/boarding tech at Muttz Kuttz
4. Student worker at APSU loan office
5. Pharmacy student intern at St. Jude

Who wears bare escentuals?

2008-06-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this makeup, it's practically the only brand I wear except a few select items from Smashbox which I also love, anywho if you're ever curious or already like the makeup, mosey on over to the bare escentuals addicts forum.

This is a look I did with a new kit I got, isn't it pretty??

Too young to miss the past??

2008-06-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

I have recently found my way over to Pandora.com where you simply enter in your favorite band or song and it will generate a "station" that plays that artist and other similar ones. I typed in "blink 182" my absolutely favorite band in high school and when the music started to play I found my self in a place I thought I left behind. All these memories flooded back and I actually felt like I was back in the late 90s early 2000s there for a minute it was nice and sad at the same time. I mean it feels like I was just there not too very long ago and now I'm a big girl in the big ol' world. Where or where does time go? How can I be 23, married, in pharmacy school and working a full time job?? Seriously these are all the things that I always looked forward to but knew were a long ways away, now all of a sudden I'm here. Wow. All I can say is time flies. I remember when I first became aware of the passing of time. I was 9. Then I started getting a little scared at age 12. "I'm only 12 I thought, still a kid, I have plenty of time to soak in this life I call mine." Now I'm going to be 24 next week. Then I think about the things I'm looking forward to now, future children, graduating pharmacy school, buying our dream home and moving wherever life takes us. Before I know it I'll be reminiscing about these dreams and thoughts I'm having now. How does one make the best of the time we have with us right now?? I can't help but want time to pass when I'm working, but when I'm having fun can I slow it down? Sadly no. This is what happens when I should be in bed sleeping because I have to be at work at 6 am tomorrow morning. Life happens, life is NOW. Don't wish away your life no matter how mundane the present is at that particular moment. I wish I could go back to that Monday in 4th period English staring at the clock.............

I think I sleep too much

2008-06-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

The weekend is nearing to an end and would you believe I didn't take a single picture this weekend? Blah, I just couldn't make my lazy butt get up and at em'. LOL I did make it out to target on Saturday though and treated myself to a bare escentuals makeup kit called 100% pure moxie which came highly recommended by the wonderful ladies on the bare escentuals addicts forum. I also managed to give myself a manicure and plan on doing a facial today. I go back to work tomorrow at 8 am. I work the day shift all week I believe which is both good and bad. I like getting off earlier in the day,but I despise getting up early, which leads me into the name of my post. I really think I sleep too much. If allowed I will sleep for nearly 12 hours, I'm not kidding! This is without waking up once. Of course I'm only able to do this on my days off, but is sucks because I feel like I've wasted a big part of my day that I'll never get back. It also makes the day seem incredibly short. Any ideas why? And if I set the alarm, I turn it off and go right back to sleep if I know I don't have to get up for any reason. Well I'm off to take a shower and clean the house before W gets home. He loves coming home to a clean house.

Our Family

2008-06-15T11:58:00.001-07:00

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Lonely weekend ahead

2008-06-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness it's Friday and I have the whole weekend off, but W didn't think he was going to get any shifts this week so he offered to do doubles on Saturday and Sunday :-( That means I'm going to be lonely all weekend because he leaves before I wake up and doesn't get off until 11pm. What will I do with myself? Well I'll tell ya, I'm going to spend some time doing my much neglected hobby...photography. I'm pretty excited about it, I plan on going to the Memphis botanical gardens and a few cemeteries at least, and I may even head out to the Hernando-Desoto county bridge to get some much anticipated sunset shots. I'd also love to get a shot of the Memphis skyline, BUT I really have no idea where to do this, I'd have to go across the bridge into Arkansas and I think I want W with me if I'm going that far. This week has been uneventful, pretty much just work, 2nd shift all week, next week I get to work 1st shift though and I have the weekened off! Two weekends in the row, I'm not going to know what to do lol. It's getting closer to my birthday (June 25) and I still don't know where I want to go out to eat. I enjoy going out to eat SO much, so I must think long and hard about where I want to go. Any ideas? Also me and W will be heading to Chattanooga on July 3 and coming back on the 6th. I should get some good pictures there as well since it's so beautiful. Well that's it for now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANICE!!

2008-06-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my dear little sister's birthday. She turned 23 years and loved every second of it. So as of right now, we are both 23. For those that don't know, Janice has Down Syndrome, and her role in my life has been indescribable. She helped make me the person I am today. Her birthday was spent eating at her favorite restaurant, Olive garden. I did this post awhile back about her so check it out! Happy Birthday Princess!

Prayers for baby boy

2008-06-08T17:20:00.001-07:00

I usually don't request prayers for St. Jude patients because there are just way to many, but I'm making an exception for a baby boy. He is only a few months old, but looks almost like a new born, and he was abandoned at St. Jude. From what I know he was admitted just like a regular patient with his mother, and sometime during his treatment, she left and never came back. The child's father is in prison as far as I know. This baby is not without love though, the nurses are spoiling him! :) Every time I visit the area where his room is, a nurse is holding him or in his room tending to him. I believe he may have leukemia, but I'm not 100% sure. They have even set up a baby monitor with a camera to keep a constant watch over him, so when I come to that area, I get the pleasure of hearing his sweet baby sounds over the monitor. In reality, this child will probably recover and lead a normal life. I just don't understand how a mother could leave her child in such a time of need. This has happened before, babies abandoned at St. Jude during treatment, although it's very rare. A great majority of the parents are very doting and are there for their children night and day. I guess I just wanted to request prayers for this baby that everything works out and he ends up with a family who appreciates and loves him for the blessing he is. I can't give out his real name so we'll call him David. I'll keep everyone posted on this little angel, and I pray he makes a full recovery. Also I was wondering if any one is taking photos of him? I'm sure he'll want baby photos of himself when he gets older and the wonderful nurses who cared for him at St. Jude. Well that's it for now.

Overdue for a new post

2008-06-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Not much as been going on since my last post, but I'll fill everyone in anyway. W finally finished his semester and he made 2 Bs and 1 A and I couldn't be more proud of him. He only has 1 more semester of school, then he's an RN. He'll be able to get a full-time job and we'll have better insurance and it's just going to be good for us. Both of us being full-time students javascript:void(0)
Publish Postgets tough sometimes as you can imagine. Money gets tight also as we pretty much live on student loans, except during the summer of course. Speaking of working in the summer, I have finished 2 whole weeks working full-time at St. Jude and I LOVE IT. St. Jude is my first pharmacy job and I never thought I'd like it so much. Yesterday I worked in the new Chili's care center and I really liked it. We only had 6 patients, but more are being admitted as we speak. I was off today, and tomorrow I'll be in the medicine room again, which is where all the outpatients get their therapies like chemo or antibiotics or whatever they need. Me and W are going to Chattanooga on July 3rd and I'm really excited about it. I LOVE Chattanooga, it's so pretty and there is so much to do. Plus our friends Bill and Terry Hughes live there and we always eat Thai food with them. Yum. Me and W LOVE Thai food. Well that's it for now. More to come as always.

Our Anniversary

2008-06-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

Today marks the one year anniversary of the day I married my best friend. The day of our wedding is somewhat of a blur, but we had a special wedding. We got married in the same church I was baptized, had first communion, had first confession, AND was confirmed in. It's called the Soldiers' chapel and it's located on Ft. Campbell, KY. It's special because I grew up as an army brat, and it's amazing I was able to do all those things at the same church, much less have my wedding there! A wonderful chaplain married us just a few days before he was moving to a different army base, for that we were blessed. One day during a counseling session, we figured out that the Priest was also a part of the same sigma chi fraternity as my husband, that was a clear sign to me it was meant to be. We didn't have very many people attend the ceremony, probably around 50, but all the important people that mattered to us were there. We had a lovely ceremony that lasted about 30 minutes, then we had our reception just a few miles away at a lovely reception hall called Cole park commons. The limo driver happened to know my dad so he ended up staying for the whole wedding and driving us home even though we hadn't paid for that. Another surprise that happened for me was my wedding cake. I hadn't paid the extra 125 dollars for the intricate detail on the cake, and I guess whoever made it didn't know we hadn't paid for the extra designs, because all the intricate detailing was there! I was elated. My last surprise was being lavaliered which means I was officially able to wear my husband's fraternity letters. All the brothers who attended surrounded me and sang the Sigma Chi sweetheart song and my hubby presented me with his white gold letters on a white gold chain. It was a total surprise and I was so happy. We left the next day for our honeymoon where we spent a week in FL. It was great.
Today we celebrated by seeing a movie and going to dinner. We saw the newest Narnia movie and we both LOVED it, then ate dinner at our favorite Japanese steakhouse. We were seated with a strange lot of people, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. I also received a beautiful gift from my wonderful husband. He had a special ring made for me. It has a large pearl in the middle of it which matches the pearl necklace he gave me as a wedding gift, and two very light colored sapphires which match a pair of earrings he gave me before we were married. This ring has a tone of meaning behind it. First of all the pearl-my birthstone AND stone of the month we were married in-June. Secondly, the Sapphires-Hubby's birth stone AND stone for the month we started dating in AND the day he proposed-September. I'm very happy today.

Pictures from me getting my anniversary present

A patched-up pickup truck and 2 speckled eggs

2008-05-24T14:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not busy at work right now, so I figured I would post a little update about the happenings in my life these past few days. We finally got W's truck back, and let me just say it's pretty ugly. haha, the new truck bed is white with all kinds of writing on it, and the rest of the truck is gray with a gray camper shell thing on it. We don't care though, we W graduates this December he plans on getting a newer truck and I for one can't wait! The other day after it rained I was on the porch taking pictures of the water drops on the leaves, and a little bird kept making all these angry type sounds, then I noticed it's little mate hiding under my car making pitiful sad sounds. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I saw the angry one fly into my hanging flower pot which has a dead plant in it. I gently lifted the pot down and I found 2 little speckled eggs inside. My heart was so happy, I LOVE it when I get to see first hand a little family of birds from egg to adult. W was pretty happy about it too. I took pictures of the little eggs which I will post later. I hope they don't get too stressed out from us going in and out of the house. Next week is W's final week and I'm so happy for him to be done, this sememster has been particularly hard on him and I know he's going to be happy to be done. I have finished my first week of working full time for St. Jude and so far I LOVE IT! It's so much more stress free to only be working and not have to go to school. I'm also very anxious to get my first big paycheck as I've become quite fond of Smashbox makeup. I love that stuff. Mine and W's 1 year anniversary is 1 week from tomorrow and we're going to a good place to eat called Texas De' Brazil, quite pricy, but everyone's told me it's worth it as it's all you can eat freshly prepared cuts of meat. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. We're also going to see a movie which we haven't done in ages, AND we're going to the Memphis Botanical gardens during the day to enjoy the flowers AND so I can take pictures. I'm really excited about it. Well that's it for now!

What do YOU do at 11:30 pm?

2008-05-20T21:33:00.000-07:00

I unwind from work and eat canned peaches, yum. I don't like the ones that have any trace of brown on them from the pit and they must be perfectly formed, I don't like the stringy gushy ones. The ones that don't meet my criteria get put back in the fridge where they will inevitably get eaten by the bottomless pit also known as my husband. NOTHING goes to waste around here. I'm happy to report that since I've been out of school, my insomnia has gone away and I don't find myself sleeping until noon anymore. I seem to wake up at exactly 9 give or take 10 minutes, every morning. I can deal with that. Next week I work a 7:30-4:00 shift all week so that might mess up my sleep cycle a bit. Well that's it for now.

BORED....

2008-05-20T08:07:00.000-07:00

W got home from school early this morning, at around 9:00 am, my happiness was quickly gone when I realized he has to study because he has an exam tomorrow. What does that mean for me? Well that means I get to be very quiet and have the TV down real low so he can concentrate. I can't really go anywhere because money is tight until Friday when I get paid and I don't want to waste the little bit of gas we have left in my car. I've already cleaned the house spotless so I'm pretty much just surfing the net and reading blogs which can only last so long. *sigh* I am pretty excited to be making us lunch though (sad huh?) I thought about giving myself a pedicure to accompany my cute new spring shoes, but in order to do that I have to get up off the couch. :)

MY 100TH POST!

2008-05-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've reached my 100th post. I've greatly enjoyed having this blog, it has provided me with therapy and a way to unwind. W's family left on Sunday and today is my first day of my "40 hr/week" work schedule. I'm excited to be working so much so I can earn a little money, but worried at the same time that I'm going to hate working so much. We'll see what happens. Today consists of me doing minimal housework and mowing the lawn, then going to work at 2:30 and getting off at 11:00 pm. We received some good news from W's car insurance. They will be paying us a substantial amount for the damage incurred to W's truck by the hit and run driver. We were able to find a replacement truck bed and all the other parts needed for the truck at a local strip lot called "U-PULL it" for a decent price. Looks like my days as a chafeur will be short lived, and I so much liked getting up at 7:00 am to drive W to school in a sleepy stupor. Along with my newfound source of money (decent paychecks) I've come up with a long list of home improvement projects and other things I simply want. We'll see where that takes me. Well for now I leave you with some photos of one of my favorite subjects, flowers and animals.

I wish I had a maid

2008-05-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

My white coat ceremony went well last night, it was nice to see my parents and little sister, it lasted about 3 hours though, and W was getting antsy. All in all it was nice though. Finals went OK, I would have liked to have done better in a few classes and I am .02 points away from a B- in one of my classes and I don't think the professor is going to bump me up so I'll probably end up with a C+, which should be my only C this semester. W's parents and brother and brother's girlfriend are coming tomorrow (actually tonight at midnight, but we won't see them until tomorrow) so you can imagine what I'm doing today...ALL day. Yep you guessed it, cleaning like I've never cleaned before. Not necessarily because they're coming, although I would have cleaned anyway, but because of finals and everything I've been doing for school my house has seriously suffered as a result. It took me two hours to clean the living room! I've been cleaning for 3 hours and I've got a little bit done so at least I'm making progress. I'd sure like a maid though, anyone want to volunteer?

Me and my wonderful dad, notice the matching dimples? :)

Me and my beautiful Mom, she's done so much for me.

Me and the best little sister a gal could ask for

Me and my super hot husband

Me getting my white coat!

Nearing an end

2008-05-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

I have 1 final today and 1 tomarrow and I'm done until the end of August. That makes me pretty happy, but I know next year is going to be even harder. My parents left Clarksville today and should be in Memphis by about noon. They are staying in one of the casino hotels in Tunica. They've graciously said that they won't come to my actual house because with all that's been going on lately I have had NO time to clean the house. W actually did some cleaning yesterday, though, while I was working. I'm pretty excited about the white coat ceremony tomarrow, but dissapointed that it's scheduled during American Idol. HAHA but it's ok, I will live. We still don't have W's truck back, and really don't know what's going to happen with the whole situation. The estimation from the insurance company for repairs is about 1500 dollars, BUT the truck isn't worth that much(I won't get into my views on putting a price on something you rely on for work and school) so we are unsure right now what's going to happen. The part to repair the truck bed can't be found at the moment because it's an older model truck, but our mechanic is still looking. Well that's it for now, just wanted to get some therapeutic writing in before my final in 30 minutes.

Update on my finals

2008-05-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

I've finished 3 finals and I have 2 left and my white coat ceremony is on Tuesday and my parents are coming into town on Monday. I haven't even had a chance to clean my house AT ALL yet. I also found out yesterday that I'm scheduled to work all weekend and my next final is....MONDAY! When will I study? I have no clue, I sent out an email to all the other student interns hoping that someone would work for me on at least Sunday, but I haven't gotten a reply yet. :( I'm hoping for the best. I also decided on a name for our hamster. Her name is Sweety Peach. LOL I love it, but W thinks it's corny and wants to call her peaches. I told him to call her what he wants, but her name is Sweety Peach. I've been working on her cage, it's going to be pretty cool when the aquarium top I ordered comes in. I'll be sure to post pictures. I also wanted to mention that a fellow blogger just got some not so good news about her 2 and a half month old baby boy. He may have a degenerative neural disease that doesn't have a great prognosis, it's only a preliminary diagnosis and I'm sure his family is waiting on pins and needles for the results of the blood test which won't be back for about 6 weeks. The baby's name is Nathan so please keep him in your thoughts. Prayers are appreciated.

I changed my blog name

2008-05-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to change my blog name for a awhile and it came to me suddenly today when I had my second bowl of Neapolitan ice cream for the day. I always have just a little bit more chocolate ice cream and I save it all for last. Why not just get pure chocolate ice cream? Because it's never as good as when you save it for last, then I can really savor it. I then thought I could apply my Neapolitan ice cream theory to my life, and it works! My life is Neapolitan ice cream, all the different aspects are equal, but I add just a little bit extra of my favorite, as I do with things in life. I indulge myself when and where ever possible. But as with the ice cream, the good things are never as good if you don't get through all the other stuff first.

Introducing our new pets

2008-05-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

On Friday me and W got 2 baby black bear hamsters. I've never kept hamsters, but W had them growing up. I always had guinea pigs when I was a kid, but so far I'm madly in love with these little black bear looking creatures. They're both females and sisters from the same litter. Unfortunately they've been having a few arguments and one seems to be a little bit more submissive than the other so we separated them. They're as cute as they can be though. We don't have names for them yet, I just can't think of anything!

The most precious little girl.....

2008-05-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

came into the pharmacy with her mom on Sunday. I asked them if I could help them and this little probably 4 year old girl pipes in and says "I need my G shots" in the cutest little exuberant happy about life voice I'd ever heard. It certainly brought my spirits up to a new level. To think a child seemed happy to be picking up shots, also she was bald and had a face mask, so she must have been at vulnerable part of her therapy and she was just as happy as a little peach. Her mom beamed with pleasure and for good reason. This child has kept her spirits up and continues to make others happy even while undergoing extensive chemotherapy. Also I *think* I saw a little tiny girl with T21 in the cafeteria. She was precious as she could be and made my heart soar when I saw her. She also had a tiny infant sibling with her and they shared a radio flier red wagon. Too cute. She had a full head of blond fuzzy hair, but wore a face mask so I'm unsure of what therapies she was getting. Her parents were very young and looked worn out. I hope they can through this ok. Well those were the high points of my work day on Sunday.

Not happy with W right now

2008-05-03T18:37:00.001-07:00

I come home from work and W has decided that we need to switch our security system company and that the people to install it are coming over any minute. I'm pretty angry because one, I didn't agree to switch the company (they were selling door to door for goodness sakes) AND the house was a WRECK because I haven't had a chance to clean because of all my exams and three I just got off work. Before I can even complain about it, around 6 people storm into the house and start drilling/installing stuff and I haven't even taken my shoes off from work yet! Who installs security systems at almost 9 o clock on a Saturday night? He's gonna get it.

More bumps in life's road

2008-05-03T12:42:00.000-07:00

I had my first final yesterday so now I'm that much closer to being done with my P1 year. I'm pretty excited about it. My white coat ceremony is on May 13 and after that I plan on spending the summer working full time at St. Jude. That's actually where I'm writing this from. Anyway life in general is good, but sometimes things happen and you have to wonder why. Last night after getting off at 11 pm, I was at home relaxing on the computer and I heard what sounded like a big crash with glass breaking outside and then immediatly a car speeding off. It startled me something fierce. After recovering I thought to myself I hope that wasn't mine or W's car. I'm sure you can imagine where this is going. I didn't go and check on the cars right away because it was storming/raining/miserable outside. I told W (he was half asleep) and I guess we just both decided to wait till the morning, what would we do at 12 am anyway? Well when hubby gets up to go to work this morning I hear him leave the house to check on his truck (it was parked on the side of the road and my car was in the driveway, so we figured if anything, his truck would be damaged) and he starts swearing. I felt like a ton of bricks hit me. So he calls the police to file a report and then calls his work, insurance company, etc. Not really anything the police can do since there's no way to find the perpetrators, AND he only has collision insurance because he has an older truck(from 1987). But he can't drive it as the damage it incured was pretty much getting the whole right tail light ripped off and the police officer said that unfortunatly he'd probably get pulled over. The insurance may help us since it was a hit and run, but they think the damage may be cost more than the truck, BUT how can you put a price on a vehicle that you relie on to get to work and school? AND we have a 200 dollar deductable which we can't afford. And to make matters worse, W had to miss a double shift at work today since he was unable to drive his truck and I had to have my car to go to work, we lost out on money we really needed. *sigh* I know worse things could have happened, but it still pretty much sucks.

Fun at the Memphis Zoo

2008-04-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

Me and W took advantage of "Tennessee Tuesday". Every Tuesday the zoo is free after 2:00 pm for Tennessee residents. This was our first time visiting the Memphis zoo and we really enjoyed ourselves. We are animal people already, but they had a lot of animals that we had never seen. The only disappointment was that the zoo charges an additional 3 dollars a person to see the panda bear exhibit and we didn't know that so we didn't bring any extra cash. We do plan to go back on another Tuesday and see them though. I took over 300 photos and didn't get very many that I like. I think it was because it was very bright and sunny out and a lot of my exposures were certainly no perfect. But I'll share a few of the pictures that I thought were ok.

My husband likes expensive toilet paper......

2008-04-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

Lately we've been on a budget because, let's face it, it's the end of the semester and all my loan money was spent several weeks ago. So we're in the grocery store and I leave W to go get the meats and he says he's going to get the paper towels and toilet paper that we needed, when we go through the checkout I realize he bought 13 dollar TP!! Seriously to me that's too much. It was Charmin quadruple roll or something and our TP holder doesn't even hold those huge rolls. *sigh* husbands...he claims he didn't know it cost that much....

What an eventful day!

2008-04-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

I had an exam today at noon and I studied more for it than the previous 2 that I took for the same class. It was HORRIBLE! It was so hard and had to guess on a bunch of them. So that was the first bad thing that happened. I didn't get done until 1:00 and that's when the annual student appreciation day festivities ended. So I didn't get any Corky's BBQ for lunch. They also had those big blow up bouncy things for us and me and my friend DID get to play on those, I felt like a kid again, it was so much fun. Then I came home to relax until work at 5:00 pm and that's when the day got real bad real quick. We had soooooo much chemo to make. I literally made chemo for about 6 hours straight and I spilled methotrexate all in the hood and it's like a bright neon yellow color. I had to change my gloves like a gazillion times. Then my eye was itching at work and I was probably rubbing it too much and my contact fell out!! I can see in a building with only one contact, but driving home in the dark while it was raining was really scary. I was supposed to attend the annual relay for life which is a fund raiser for cancer AND I bought a luminary for Kennedy Garcia from Life with my special Ks and I really wanted to take a pic of the luminary for her mom. I was planning on going after work(I got off at 11) since the event lasts till 6 am tomorrow, but it's lightning and thundering outside! *sigh* And on top of that there was construction and delays going on all the way home. Since the interstate I use is so busy, they usually do any work that needs done during the night and on weekends. Well I finally got home and I'm really glad this day is going to be over soon. One really good thing happened today though, I got a little raise! Almost 50 cents which for me is a lot and I was already making a decent rate. Well that's it for today.

A new goal

2008-04-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

I have a new goal and it is to run a half-marathon. Sometimes it sounds unreal to me when I read it. Me? Run a marathon? I can't even run a mile without feeling like I'm going to die, so why do I want to run a half-marathon? I have several reasons. I want to drop a few pounds and get healthy and into shape, and I want to support St. Jude at their annual marathon in December. I also just think that it would make me feel wonderful to be able to accomplish such a goal. The best thing is, W has said that he will train with me, although he has no interest in running the marathon. I printed off some simple training programs from www.runnersworld.com that are for extreme beginners and my first goal is to be able to run for 30 minutes straight and according to the program, I should be able to do so in 9 weeks. Then I'll go from there. I also wish to purchase a book called "The non-runners marathon trainer for women", my friend bought it and said it really helped her. I will be updating on my progress weekly and hopefully I'll be able to start on Monday.

Flowers anyone?

2008-04-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

My dad's 50th Birthday and trip to Sedalia

2008-04-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I finally found time to post about this little mini trip we had. We left last Friday and I drove THE WHOLE 7 HOURS by myself, I was so proud. W had a test on Monday so I let him have that time to study. We got there around 9:30pm and Janice RAN as fast as should could to me and gave me a BIG hug, it was pretty sweet. Then my little niece Delaney ran up to me and gave me a hug, she's 3. I was feeling pretty good :) Kolby my 5 year old nephew is a little shy. We then went to my sister's house and went to bed. The next day was the party and it went amazingly well. I got to see lots of family I haven't seen in a while like some of my cousins and their children. One of my cousins had a little baby boy with T21, he is 7 months old now and his name is Owen. He's absolutely precious and we got some great photos of him and Janice. That night me, my sis, her husband, and my uncle Jim decided to go to the cemetery to see my Oma's grave, the scary thing is, is that it was night time! I had to be coaxed into going, but I overreacted, it wasn't that scary. All in all it was a good trip albeit too short. I also wanted to share some pictures.

Will update soon!

2008-04-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been active, we got back on Sunday and I have an exam tommorow so I've been studying, but I want to write about my dad's party and the trip to Missouri in general and post some pics I took. I will update tomorrow afternoon!

TGIF and we're getting ready to leave!

2008-04-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

As soon as W gets home, which should be in about 15 minutes, we're heading off to Missouri to attend my dad's 50th birthday party. I'm pretty excited considering I'm going to get to see family I haven't seen since my wedding last June, and some I haven't seen since before that. I'm particularly excited about seeing my niece and nephew, Kolby and Delaney. They are 5 and 3 years old respectively and I don't get to see them all that often. The bad part though is that it's going to be a supershort trip since we're getting in probably around 9 tonight, having the party tomarrow, and leaving early Sunday morning, but we can't miss any school and W has a test on Monday, I have one on Tuesday. So we're already giving up study time, but I couldn't miss this. :)

Yay Jason Castro!!

2008-04-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

Ok I'm doing my weekly viewing of American Idol(first season that I've followed by the way) and my favorite Jason Castro just did an incredible rendition of "over the rainbow". I love that song sooooo much and the judges gave him praise and I'm happy for him :)

Today

2008-04-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

Just a few things to share, first of all in walmart today in front of me in the self-checkout line, a man was buying a bouquet of flowers and a box of midol buwhahahahahaha I found that quite hilarous and had to hold in my laughter. I also went to the doc today and he prescribed a medication for my insomnia. I will pick it up tomarrow, but honestly I have some reservations about taking it. It's a tricyclic antidepressant, but mostly used for insomnia now and the doc says it works very well, but I'm worried about some kind of crazy side effects. Oh well, I guess if I get side effects I can just go back to the benadryl. That's all for today!

Rain rain, GO AWAY!

2008-04-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

So it's been raining here in Memphis for a while, and it usually rains during the day AND night without stopping. When I drive to and from school on the interstate I can see extensive flooding, luckily I don't think anyone's homes are involved at this point, except maybe..OURS. I may have written awhile ago about the flooding in our living room. It's gotten progressively worse because it's been raining so much, and as of right now our furniture in the room are all on cinder blocks. The rug is pretty much ruined though and stinks to high heaven. We really don't know what to do, this problem about the house was NOT disclosed to us before the purchase of the house and we both feel the previous owners HAD to know about it. I thought it was strange that the floor was tile in the living room, but now it makes sense because they knew the room flooded. We are probably going to seek the help of a lawyer that specializes in these sorts of things, but how can we prove they knew about it? Also we don't have the funds at the moment to get the problem professionaly fixed and who knows how much it would even cost. Of course we don't have flood insurance either so we tossed around the idea of trying to get it, then claiming the damage. Who knows at this point. I just wish it would stop raining!

Crash and burn....

2008-04-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

So I didn't do so hot on my last lab exam, and the sad thing is I thought I did so much better!! oh well I can recover from it.

Insomnia or Insanity???

2008-03-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

LOL hopefully it's not the latter. Ever since we've moved here, I've had trouble getting to sleep and I just can't quite put my finger on the reason. Our bed is comfy, I'm perfectly comfortable in this house, everything seems ok. I think my problem is that I think too much at night when I'm trying to sleep. I think about what I did that day, what I have to do tomorrow and all kinds of things. Maybe this is keeping me up? I lay awake for hours sometimes trying to sleep and mostly I don't get to sleep at night until after 1:00 am. *sigh* As a result, getting up in the morning is really hard and I usually end up oversleeping. This morning was the last straw, I slept through all 3 of my classes this morning, can you believe it? I was so upset and disappointed with myself. I guess I'm going to have to see a doc about getting on a sleep aid, to hold me over until then, I got some benadryl. I hope I can sleep tonight.

Grains of gratitude

2008-03-30T18:51:00.001-07:00

1.I'm grateful that I made it through the first week of school after spring break and I'm that much closer to being done!

2.I'm glad that I made it through W being away for 3 days and I was responsible! I fed the cats when I was supposed to, made sure doors were locked/lights were on, you know the normal stuff people do that W usually does. LOL I'm really glad he's back.

3.Glad that I made it through the pharmacy Olympics which I regretfully signed up for. It went over an hour longer than it was supposed it and I had a whopper of a tension headache, but I'm just glad it's over.

4.Happy that Fred's pharmacy put on an awesome dinner at the Memphis zoo for us, it was nice to be able to socialize with friends and get a free dinner.

5.Lastly I'm grateful I made it out to the Kappa Psi formal last night, it was a blast and I was considering not going just because I didn't have a date. Well that's it for this week.

Kappa Psi formal

2008-03-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

So last night was the Spring Kappa Psi formal and it was mucho fun, except that they ran out of alcohol after I had only had 2 drinks. It was fine though because I was driving home so I couldn't have a lot to drink anyway. Those 2 drinks were just enough to take off the edge. Anyway I spent most of the night dancing with my girlfriends and dancing partner Joseph. I'm also happy to report W came home today from his Chicago trip. He had a good time and he's sleeping peacefully on the couch next to me right now. Lastly I wanted to share some pics that I took of myself before the formal.

Crazy night at work

2008-03-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

Last night I got to work at around 5 and didn't leave until midnight. It was crazy to say the least. Me and Matt worked about 6.5 hours straight making chemo for the kids. I LOVE making chemo, and it makes the time go by oh so fast. I feel really good about what I do. Matt is graduating in May and he's trying to decide if he wants to work at St. Jude as a pharmacist or go to Methodist hospital. I hope he stays at St. Jude, I'll miss him if he leaves! He's taught me so much. *sigh* But anyway I did get a nice surprise when I got to work, I thought I was supposed to work this weekend, but I don't work until next weekend! I was seriously happy to be able to sleep in this morning. I'm sure next weekend I'll be singing a different tune though. hehe. My little sister Janice is getting her hair cut and highlighted this morning and I so wish I could be there to see it. She LOVES getting her hair done at the beauty salon. After her hair is done my dad is taking her out to lunch so she's going to have a good day. My dad loves Janice so much, I think it's because of her that he decided to quit drinking and lose weight(he's hasn't had a drink in MONTHS and he's lost over 30 lbs so far!) Janice is definitely a happy girl and has my dad wrapped around her pinkie. It makes me happy to know she's happy, she deserves nothing less. Speaking of dad, he's turning 50 April 15 and were having a party in Missouri where most of his family lives on April 12. Me and W are going to make the 7 hour drive and I'm SOOOO excited to see everyone and especially my niece and nephew who are 3 and 5. I'm going to a formal for Kappa Psi tonight, I'm excited but I won't have a date as W is still in Chicago. I haven't gone to a function solo in a LONG time, but I think it'll still be fun. I wanted to share a few pictures because I think it makes blog entries mucho interesting. The first is of a church in St. Augustine, FL that I took on Christmas eve last year. I edited it a little bit. Can you believe I took this shot with a point and shoot camera? yep it was before I got my Canon 400D. The second pic is one I took of Madison jumping after a toy, don't you love the way her claws are outstretched and her mouth is open. Hehe she's crazy.

Walk on the wild side.......

2008-03-27T19:11:00.000-07:00

First and foremost I'd like to lament that W left today to go on his annual "man trip" with some of his buddies from his Sigma Chi fraternity. *sniff sniff* He'll only be gone until Sunday so I'm pretty much being a big baby, but I've never slept in our house alone before so I'm skeered. LOL but I'll live. Fred's pharmacy hosted an event tonight called "walk on the wild side" at the Memphis zoo for pharmacy students. I debated going since I have an exam tomorrow, but I'm really glad I did. It was lots of fun, they provided us with a Mexican themed dinner, plus we got to see a sea lion show and I also saw the polar bears, an armadillo, a barn owl, and some sort of python. We also got goodie bags and door prizes were given away, sadly I didn't win anything. Unfortunately I'm suffering from a severe tension headache right now as I type, and my extra strength Excedrin has yet to work. I'm also a tad bit disappointed that I have to work tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday(I only work every 3rd weekend so I really shouldn't complain). I love my job, but it's still work. Well best get to studying.

Meezer Pleaser

2008-03-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

W might rejoin the Army

2008-03-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

The Army Reserves Nursing corps is offering RNs a $30,000 sign on bonus(well $10,000/year for 3 years) and $50,000 in student loan repayments which would totally pay off W's loans, we'd still have mine to pay off, but having his out of the way would be a huge relief. Also when he starts Nurse Anesthetist school, they'll pay him $1900/month for living expenses. That would pay all our monthly bills and we'd have some left over and W wouldn't have to work. Also it wouldn't be active duty either, he'd be in the reserves. He'd only have to work 1 weekend per month and 2 weeks per year. Also he'd owe them 1 year of service for every 6 months he's in Anesthetist school, so I think he said he'd owe 6 or 8 years. We'd also get to use Tricare insurance which is better than the school health insurance we use now(which isn't necessarily bad, just kind of pricey), and we'd have access to the commissary and PX where all the merchandise is tax free. The major con is obviously the chance of deployment, but we don't even know for sure that he would get deployed, especially if we elect a democratic president(I'm hopeful), but people deal with spouses being deployed on a daily basis, so I think I could handle it(I'm sure it'll be a different story if I get put in that situation, but I'm trying to be optimistic). W also said he'd enter in as a 2nd lieutenant(he'll have a bachelor's in nursing) and when he graduates anesthetist school, he'd be some sort of officer(he'd have a doctorate). All in all I think this would be a great opportunity for us. The extra money would be phenomenal as well as the other perks that come with it. What do ya'll think?
PS-I forgot to mention W already served 4 years active duty AND has been deployed to Iraq before so I'd be a piece of cake for him.

I'm learning how to photo edit!

2008-03-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here's my first attempt at using a blur overlay to create a "dreamy" appearance. I'm really starting to learn this stuff. The last one doesn't have a blur overlay, I just enhanced the coloring.

My face is mad at me

2008-03-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

but I'm not sure what I did to make it so mad. Let me start with a little background information. I've ALWAYS had mild to moderate acne since I became a teenager, when I was 16 my mom got some proactiv for me and it worked great, until I moved out and couldn't afford it anymore. Anything else I've tried that comes from walmart DOESN'T WORK. I thought the Olay cleanser I was using was going to work, but sadly I started to get those painful under the skin cystic pimples about 2 months after starting it. I guess I should also mention that I started a new brand of birth control pills, and I think that may be what's causing so much turmoil on and in my face. I was getting multiple cystic pimples everyday, well those have pretty much stopped (knock on wood), but now I've got hundreds(I'm not exaggerating) of whiteheads on my face. For those that don't know, whiteheads are like blackheads, but they're closed so you can't really squeeze them and they take FOREVER to heal. Another thing, I've NEVER had acne on my cheeks, only on my forehead and chin area, well the other morning I woke up to find tons of little red bumps all over my cheeks. I'm not exactly sure what they are, but in that moment I realized I have to do something, I can't go out in public like this!! I've made the decision to order Proactiv since it's the only thing that seems to work. It was pricey, but if you order it off ebay, it's a little cheaper than ordering off the website. So while I'm waiting for it to some, I dug up an almost empty bottle of the cleanser and the toner and lotion that I had left over from when I used to use it. I was excited because I didn't know I had it. I started using it today, and I plan on going to the walk in clinic at school tomorrow morning and pleading with them to change my birth control prescription. It's unfortunate too since I was having no other side effects. *sigh* Well that's about it, I feel so much better after writing about all this.

Grains of gratitude

2008-03-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

I skipped my grains of gratitude post last week because I was in Clarksville and I sort of forget. So I'm doing this weeks for 2 weeks worth.

1.Grateful I've been on spring break since last weekend. I needed a break more than you can imagine, I was seriously burned out on school, unfortunately I think the break came a couple of weeks too late LOL. It was so nice being off and being able to lay around though.

2.I'm really happy I got to go to Clarksville to visit my family. It was a good visit.

3.Grateful I got to get my hair done while I was in Clarksville. There's a place called "It's a hair thing", and it doesn't look like much from the outside, and I don't think they do ANY advertising, BUT the prices are super-reasonable and the results are fantastic. My hair always looks great when I leave, and I have really hard hair to highlight and style. If your in the Clarksville area, check them out, they're on Dover Rd.

4.When I got back home, me and W went to Old Time Pottery and I got a few things for the house! I was really excited. Getting new things for the house always motivates me to clean it. :)

5.Grateful I got my cat project done. It turned out pretty good, and I found the perfect frame for the pictures. I'm starting a new photography project pretty soon, so we'll see how that goes.

6.I found a Digital photography school thing online for free, and I'm learning lots of stuff about my camera.

That's all I can think of right now! Happy Easter Everyone!!

MMMMMM spaghetti!

2008-03-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready to make spaghetti. What's so exciting about this you may ask? Well W doesn't like it NEARLY as much as I do. I could eat it every few days, but he only wants it every couple of weeks, so I was pretty happy when he agreed to eat it tonight. He is so spoiled isn't he?

World Down Syndrome Day!

2008-03-21T09:13:00.001-07:00

Today is world Down syndrome day, March 21 was chosen because it is the 3rd month which represents the 3 copies of the 21st chromosome and of course the 21st day represents that chromosome. I would most definitely say my life has been changed for the better having a sister with Down syndrome. I grew up knowing that all kids are different and never took a second look if I saw someone who was different. I also think I'm a really sensitive person because of my sweet little sister. I consider myself blessed.

This is an old pic from 1987 of me and Janice. Wasn't she adorable!

Back in Memphis

2008-03-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

I got back home yesterday at around 8:00 pm. I wasn't planning on leaving Clarksville until this morning, but I got a little too homesick and decided to leave early. I did have a great time in Clarksville, though. I got to see my parents and of course Janice and my parents' dogs, Precious, Willie BoJangles, Lulu, and the fat cat, Kit kat. Me and Kelly got to hang out and have a good time doing what we love best, shopping and eating. All in all it was a good trip, but I was ready to get back home. I lied awake last night listening to the rhythmic breathing of W next to me and realized how lucky I am. Life is good right now. Today we went grocery shopping and to Old time pottery(I Love old time pottery!) I'm planning on going on a picture taking outing tomorrow if the weather is good. In the short few days I was gone, things started to get a little greener around here. Kind of exciting. Spring is here!

I'm in Clarksville

2008-03-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

So I'm in Clarksville, the place where I had my coming of age. I lived in this house from the ages of 12 to 23. Since my dad retired from the army when I was 12, Clarksville was the longest I've ever stayed in one place, so when people ask me where I'm from, I can confidently say Clarksville. I could never say I was from anywhere when I was younger. I had an uneventful drive up here, 3.5 hours of boredom. I did see a funeral procession on the interstate, strange eh? Me and my cousin/sister Kelly went to a friend of ours house to help her with her 9 year old daughter's birthday slumber party. It was a spa party complete with facials and nail paintings for all 6 9 year olds. I enjoyed a day out of my regular life full of studying and working to paint a little girl's nails and I beamed at her delight at looking beautiful. I also got up to date on my Hannah Montana knowledge. Then yesterday we ate lunch with my dad and Janice at the Chinese buffet and me and Kelly went shopping afterwards till we were so tired we had to retreat back to the house. I've been spending quality time with Janice, she just keeps taking my hand and holding it to her face and kissing it. LOL I think she's happy to see me, and I her. I bought her some Transformer bubble bath, she seemed rather pleased with it. Today I'm just hanging out at my parents' house, Kelly had her first day of class in the LPN program and won't be home until later. I'm dreadfully missing W, and can't wait to see him on Wednesday, why is the lonesomeness so much worse at night? I think we're going to eat Mexican food as a family tonight so that should be fun, well that's all for now.

Everything is normal....almost

2008-03-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

After my exam this morning I picked up my blood test results from the health center. Everything was in normal range (just as I suspected) except my triglycerides(NOT what I expected). They were 193 and normal is 0-149. I'm not overweight but my eating habits are not so great. I'm not worried I just need to start eating better and exercise, easier said then done. I'm going next week to get the echocardiogram done and that'll be the end of my medical stuff, LOL I'm not used to all this. On a positive note, I'm going to Clarksville on Saturday!! Our last day before spring break is Friday, and I'd leave that day, but I have to work so I'm leaving Saturday and probably coming back Wednesday unless I miss W so badly that I have to come back sooner. Any idea on how NOT to miss your husband so much? Anytime I'm away from him for even 1 night I get this really sad homesick feeling. Anyway it'll be great to see my family and I'm getting my hair done while I'm up there. Yay! I need a new do badly!

lump update

2008-03-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Ok so I went to the student health center today and when Bill Cosby...er I mean the doctor (LOL he looked JUST LIKE Bill Cosby) came in he felt around on my little nodule and didn't seem the least bit concerned(just as I expected). He commented that I've probably had that bump for 10 years and it's common, etc. He pretty much just told me to watch it(as I suspected), but at least I can rest easier now. On the other hand I told him about the heart palpitations I've been having, and that caught his attention. I think he must be interested in the heart, because he talked at length about mitral valve prolapses and other things. I told him these palpitations have been going on for years and he thought it was funny I came in for that little bump right away, but waited YEARS to get my heart checked LOL. He listened to my heart, then listened to my heart with me laying down, then listened with me laying on my side and he heard nothing out of the ordinary, of course I knew he wouldn't since no one ever has before. Some heart issues can't be heard though, so he ordered a complete blood workup to rule out some other problem, then he'll send me for an EKG. I'm not worried since my mom has a mitral valve prolapse, there is no treatment and it usually creates no problems for the person, you just simply need to take antibiotics prophylatically before invasive procedures to prevent endocarditis. Not a biggie. It's an inherited condition, so if I have anything, it's probably that. He also said something about a 24 monitor to determine what sort of palpitations are occurring, but with my luck I won't have any palpitations during that 24 hours since they don't occur everyday. Well I'll get my lab results back tomorrow and will probably get scheduled for my EKG. I'll keep this site updated.

lumps and bumps

2008-03-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

Friday evening I just happened to be touching the side of my head and I felt a small lump under my skin. It's located right in front of the top of my ear and it's about the size of a pea, and hard to the touch, but not painful. Of course I freaked out, with everything going through my head including cancer. I think it could be 1 of 2 things. I think it's either a swollen parotid lymph node or a subcutaneous cyst. Of course I have no idea. But if it is a swollen lymph node, then why is it swollen? I am not sick(that I know of), so then the freaking out begins all over again as things like lymphoma go through my head(no pun intended). I wish I knew what it was, so I think I may get it checked out tomorrow. It is very small, and I don't want to be one of those people that goes to the doctor for everything, I like to self-treat if at all possible. But what if it is something serious?

Grains of Gratitude

2008-03-09T18:45:00.001-07:00

I almost forgot to post my grains of gratitude for this week, it's been a long hard weekend at work and I'm exhausted.

1.I'm grateful that this is my last week before spring break. I REALLY need a break from school for a while.

2.Grateful that I had a productive weekend at work and learned lots of stuff!

3.Grateful I made a 90% on my Med Chem test(although I don't think I was as lucky with my pharmacology test).

4.Grateful for an awesome husband that decided to clean the house while I was at work yesterday.

It's a blizzard!

2008-03-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

Ok it's officially snowing what seems to be a mix of snow AND ice, not quite as soft as snow, but not wet and yucky. Also as my luck would have it, the college closed at 2:00 pm! *sigh* my exam was at 11:00 am.

Rats!

2008-03-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

Not only did I awaken to a snowless, cold, somber morning, I think I bombed my pharmacology exam I just took. Why oh why could it not have snowed? Then I'd have a few days left to ponder over the mess of antibiotics, antifungals, and drugs to cure your worms, oh the injustice.

The Maury show today

2008-03-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

Ok, I confess, I'm addicted to the Maury show when they have paternity tests. I'm not sure why. Today a woman was on the show, and she revealed the secret to her fiance that their 2.5 year old son may not be his because she had cheated on him 1 time. Their son just happened to have Down Syndrome. This man had been a wonderful father ever since the baby was born and really wanted to be the father. When they brought out the results, the test showed that he WAS the father! That man was sooooooo happy, he jumped up and down and cried and it was very heart warming. Then they brought the little boy out and he saw the audience clapping and he started clapping and laughing and smiling, it was THE CUTEST thing I've seen in a LONG time. Seriously I got a little teary-eyed. I'm happy they had this on the show, because maybe when people see this, they'll think to themselves that babies with T21 ARE wanted and loved just like any other typical child.

New Celly for the Hubby

2008-03-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

W's phone finally went Ku-put today. How sad you may think, but he's had that darn phone since 2003!! FIVE years! LOL I was on him all the time about how ugly, out of style, not cool, etc it was and I finally got my way and he got a new one (only because he had to). It's of the flip variety, with a camera *gasp* I never thought I'd see the day. It's still not as cool as mine which boasts a camera, AND an MP3 player for my own personal listening pleasure. Yeah my phone rocks my socks off.

This is what his phone looked like (haha just kidding!)

It looked more like this, may ol' faithful rest in peace.

Winter weather advisory

2008-03-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

I love the term "Winter weather". What does that entail? Ice? Snow? Sleet? Extreme cold temps? Shelby Co. is under one of these advisories but I'm not buying it. I went to the dry cleaners today in a mere light cotton cardigan and the weather was rather mild, and yet our county is lit up in white on the TV screen. *sigh* I'll believe it when I see it.

Photography projects

2008-03-05T21:31:00.000-08:00

My interest in photography has greatly expanded in these past few months. I LOVE taking photographs, I just feel so good when I'm looking through that lens capturing life's moments. I put a little ad on craigslist looking for someone to take bridal photos of, for free of course, and someone emailed me back. It looks like I'll be taking some bridal pictures as soon as the weather gets a little nicer and things get a little greener. I'm both excited and scared at the same time. I've always wanted to do this, but I'm so afraid of not getting any good shots. I don't think that will happen, but what if it does? I'm just going to have to put my fears aside, because I HAVE to be comfortable around people I don't know. I think after the first session, it will get a little easier and things will come more naturally. I'm also worried about getting the lighting right, that makes a HUGE difference. I'm a big fan of natural lighting and that's mostly what I used, but I wonder if I need something else? Well I'll be doing lots of research before the time comes. I can't wait!

Siamese if you please.

2008-03-04T19:14:00.001-08:00

It snowed today.......

2008-03-04T15:17:00.000-08:00

and yesterday it was in the 70s! My body isn't taking the false alarm very well either. She was certain that when I went outside without a coat on yesterday that spring was coming, but then today I had to bundle up with my winter coat, and it snowed so hard I needed an umbrella. This sucks to put it plain and simple. I want some warm weather or at least some consistent weather. I hate not knowing what to wear every morning without going outside. I love Tennessee, but this weather is driving me nuts!

Grains of Gratitude

2008-03-02T13:30:00.001-08:00

This week was pretty uneventful, but I ALWAYS try to think of at least a few things to be grateful for, it put life into perspective.

1.Grateful that my patient presentation on Wednesday went ok, I knew almost all the questions I was asked.

2.I'm really grateful that I got to celebrate a good friend's birthday with other friends, and eat great food.

3.Grateful me and W got our taxes done and we're getting a refund!

4.Grateful I've been with W for 9 whole months, and we got to celebrate at Old Venice Pizza Co.

5.Grateful I got to have a little me time yesterday to take pictures at Memorial park and the National cemetery, taking pictures is so therapeutic for me. I love it.

Photos cont'd

2008-03-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

More visually stimulating photos

2008-03-01T21:44:00.000-08:00

Did some more cemetery visiting today, Memorial park is more of a modern cemetery with flat tombstones and lots of gardens and fountains, not my cup of tea, I prefer older rustic looking cemeteries, BUT I found two little goldfish in one of the fountains AND a Canadian goose just walking around enjoying the sunshine. If that's not cool than I don't know what is. I then revisited the National Cemetery, this time without W so I could take my time, and got some good shots. Me and W then went to dinner at Old Venice Pizza Co. Good stuff.

9 months!

2008-03-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

Me and W have been married 9 months today! I can't believe it's been that long wow.

Leap day!

2008-02-29T12:32:00.001-08:00

I had to post on leap day because we won't have another one in well.....4 years.....right? I had a blast last night at Chili's celebrating my friend Joseph's birthday. There was about 15 of us in total. I like Chili's for multiple reasons, first of all their food is awesome, and secondly, they do A LOT for St. Jude. We have a new Chili's care center that should be opening soon that I believe was funding entirely by Chili's. I can't wait to see it in action! And one day a year they donate all their proceeds from that day to St. Jude. I love eating there. Before we ate, me and my friend Melissa met at Target and did a little shopping. I got 2 pairs of dress pants for 19.99 each! I was beyond excited. Target makes a pant called modern fit boot cut, and I love them! I've gotten way more expensive dress pants from express and Victoria secret, and I like the Target ones way better. I have to wear dress clothes sometimes 2 times a week for site visits and patient care class, so I can never have too many dress clothes. Also I found a belt that's....get ready for this.....REVERSIBLE. I thought that was pretty awesome, it looks like a dress belt, but you can wear it brown or black. I was pretty excited. Well I'm about to go to work (yay!) and I get to wear a new pair of scrubs :) Joseph is in the blue-striped shirt

My friend Melissa in front of Chili's

Me!

Life at the moment......

2008-02-28T13:27:00.000-08:00

is pretty uneventful. I guess that's a good thing, no news is good news right? I finally got my $200 scrub allowance from my work so on Tuesday I had a grand time picking out new scrubs. I had this idea that I'd photograph myself in each set and post a "scrubapalooza" post. They're pretty funky, but I like wearing funky scrubs to work. Keeps things festive. We also went to get our taxes done the other day. I was pretty excited to be filing my first joint taxes...yeah I'm a big dork. We got a decent refund coming, but sadly we weren't able to deduct anything from our mortgage yet, we haven't paid enough yet since we just bought our home in July, but the lady said next year we'd be able to. She also advised us to start saving all receipts from anything we buy for work, property taxes, gifts to charity, etc so I have 2 whole receipts saved from a lab coat and set of scrubs for work. LOL. I had my first patient to present on Wednesday, she was a 41 yo female who's had Crohn's disease for over 20 years. I did really good on the presentation and knew ALMOST all the questions they asked me. I made some cool stuff in lab this week, a lotion for acne, Kaopectate, and a troche aka a gummy candy thing with medicine in it, the one I made had benzocaine in it. I made the mistake of sleeping in this morning, I have a class from 8-10, but I decided to skip it today and slept in till 9, the whole morning I was having dreams about being in class with my pajamas on and not being able to find my class, and stuff like that. I think my body knew I was supposed to be in class LOL. My good friend Joseph turns 20 today (yeah he's a baby) and a bunch of us are going to Chili's tonight to celebrate so I'm excited about that, well that's it for now, got a bunch of tests coming up so posting will be sporadic!