Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a great holiday with your family or wherever you are! Thank you to each one of you for being a part of my life in some special way! I love you all! :) See a lot of you soon...

Melissa

All I want for Christmas is....a new transmission????

That's right....my ever-fun Christmas present to myself this year is a new transmission for my car....sigh. What a gift! I've been having some problems with my car for a little while now (so much so that I've recently not-so-affectionately nicknamed her "Lurch") and come to find out, my transmission is about to go to car parts heaven. Yay....I just love spending about $500 on a new transmission. Thankfully, that's all it will cost me since my dad can get a used one and fix it himself (with the help of my brother.) If this will fix my car and help me nurse the poor little thing through my remaining years of med school into the next period of my life where I'm a little less dirt poor, then I guess it's OK.

On a random, amusing note, I'm so not car-smart that I don't even know if this is a transmission or not. I just google imaged "transmission" and this is what came up, so I'm hoping it is! For a girl who's life is made up of so many long and incomprehensible words, I have no idea what the labels on this thing mean... Made me smile!

I need a date...

For a movie, that is....Anybody out there want to go see The Pursuit of Happyness with me when I'm out in SB next week?? I was supposed to go see it with my sister tonight, but she had to bail on the movie (thankfully not dinner! I miss her...) but I still want to go see it! I'm assuming it will be a bunch of girls going, but that's OK! I promise I'll bring the Kleenex....Any takers?? :) Let me know...and spread the word!

Change of Pace

My life is so different when I'm on break! It was weird to me today that more of my time was spent doing non-school things than studying....a little bit of a change! An average day when I'm back in KC is get up at 5:30, get ready, go to school, class from 8 to 3 or 4, come home, eat, study, go to bed. Exciting, I know.. :)

Today I did a lot of things that needed to get done but were fun too (mainly because they weren't school related! Here's a little bit of it....

7:30 am: Wake up (I'm a med student...I'm thorough....yes I included when I got up...get over it!) :) Hehehe

After that, I was able to get a little bit of studying and some research done that I need to work on this break, so I felt productive!

Then I had the distinct "privilege" of spending literally an hour on the phone with my insurance company to find out if my policy covered eye exams....all that to have the last guy finally tell me when I asked him the question I had asked the last several people, "No." Was that so hard??? :)

Then it was off to the optometrist to get a new pair of glasses. I haven't gotten new glasses (contacts, yes) for the last three years, so needless to say my prescription had changed a little bit. It had gone up over a hundred points in each eye since the last exam! The doctor found out I was in med school and told me...you read too much! :)

Once I got home I was able to play the piano which I haven't done in a long time; it's always relaxing to just sit down and play for a long time. I don't think about a lot when I'm playing, so it's a nice break! :)

I'm excited about tomorrow. I have a few errands to run, and then it's off to have lunch with my dad (I'm such a daddy's girl!) and then that night I get to spend time with just my sister. I think we're going out to dinner just the two of us, and then off to see The Pursuit of Happyness. I'll make sure to bring the Kleenex! :)

On Friday I get to see a friend from college that I haven't seen since early this fall and that was only for a few hours. We live halfway across the country from each other now, so it will be nice to catch up in person with her again!

Saturday night is our annual family Christmas thing with my family, my Aunt's huge family, and her in-laws. It's always fun (or at least interesting) to see part of the family each year, and there are some traditions that it just wouldn't be Christmas without!

Sunday's more family stuff, Monday is CHRISTMAS!!!, and then on Tuesday I fly out to SB. Should be fun...for now I'm enjoying the time with the family and all that comes with it. Well, I should head to bed so I can be fresh for my big day tomorrow!! :) 'Night!

Best Commercial

This is my favorite Super Bowl Commercial ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HdR4g8wJvA

New glasses

So I need to get new glasses, and I'm looking at my options of what to get. I've narrowed it down to a few and you're going to have to help me decide!

Or my personal favorite.....

Relaxing

Yesterday morning started out WAY too early. I had finally quit studying the night before at about midnight (long before I thought actually would) because after about 15 hours straight of studying, I was reading things over and over and I still couldn't tell you what I had just read. I decided to just go to bed and get up early and finish the studying I needed to do. Usually I won't do this because I always manage to talk myself out of actually getting up in the morning, but I had no choice because I couldn't focus!

I got up at about 4:45, got ready (i.e., through on my last clean pair of scrubs :-) ) and headed to school. I was able to get a little bit of studying done before I had to take the test at 8.

We were all a little scared for this test for various reasons, but the good thing is now...it's over! :) I'm on Christmas break now, and although I've got some studying for boards and a debate to prep for, I'm taking a few days off. It's nice to have a weekend that I don't have anything stressful or school-related that I have to do! (Although I am up at 7am this morning for some unknown reason....)

Yesterday after the test a few of us went out to lunch just to spend a little time with each other before we all left for break. It was a lot of fun, like always, to see the people that I spend most of my time with at school outside of school! We laughed a lot, and made lots of hilarious jokes (either that or we were all so tired that they seemed really funny....) and it was a good way to unwind after a stressful week!

This is Stephanie, Jessica, Matt, and me....we were going to just get a picture of the girls, but someone at school made a joke that Steph, Jess and I were "Charlie's Angels" (don't ask, it's a long story! :) ) and Matt was Bosley, so of course we had to get a picture together! I love these people!

OK...just the girls this time!

After that, Steph, Paul and I walked around Zona Rosa (another fantastic shopping "experience" in KC!) and shopped for some Christmas presents for a while.

Once I FINALLY got home, I was still exhausted from the past few days and wanted to take a nap. I felt badly though that Bentley had been in his pen all day, so I decided to combine the two! I took a nap, and thankfully he settled down enough and slept right there with me. It actually kept me really warm! :) I love that dog (if you couldn't tell!)....

Then last night, the new TV complete with surround sound was finally set up, so my brother and I watched the second Pirates movie (well, I fell asleep through half of it because I was so tired!). It was AMAZING!

Today I've got a lot to do but nothing stressful. I need to clean my room, bathroom, kitchen, etc. because I've been so busy the past week and a half that I haven't had time to keep all that clean. Since I'll be gone for two weeks I figure I should keep it clean! I'm heading out in a few minutes to finish up (start??) my Christmas shopping. I'm going to hate facing all the crowds, but I didn't have any time this year while school was in with tutoring, ambassador stuff, studying, renal, and everything else to do anything! I know mostly what I'm getting so hopefully it's not too awful.

Tonight Steph and Paul are coming over (they're not leaving KC until Sunday) to hang out and watch a movie (Steph) and play with Bentley (Paul). :) It should be a fun day before I head out to St. Louis for the holidays with the family! :)

Well, I should go get ready to face the masses..... Joy.

You know you're in medical school when....

* It does matter if you are a 3rd or 4th year, people still ask you with horror whether you have already seen dead people (nobody seems to know that Anatomy happens during 1st year)

*Your parents and your friend's parents stop introducing you by your name. They just say: "This is my daughter/son who goes to Medical School".

*Your find yourself telling people that you can't go out on a Friday or Saturday night because you have to study or you are on call.

*The sun rises and you haven't even gone to bed, yet (and it's not because you went out the night before).

*It doesn't matter how much you study, there is always so much more material to learn.

*If you go out of town for the weekend, you take more books than clothes with you.

*You can't wait for weekends.....so that you can catch up on your readings.

*You are more familiar with last names such as Netter, Moore, Grant, Guyton, Robbins, DiGiovanni, Simmons, etc than the last names of your classmates.

*You take forever explaining to people how long you'll be in school for.

*You feel that all your friends from high school chose easier majors.

*You wonder when you'll have time to get married and start a family.

*You can be sure that 80% of your male classmates will marry a nurse and 80% of your female classmates won't marry at all.

*You feel that there are very few things that can still creep you out.

*You drink more coffee than water during the day.

*You miss the days when you knew about current events in the nation.

*You learn of a war starting, after it ends.

*You check the nutritional chart in the boxes of everything you eat.

*Right before exams, you have a hard time remembering why you want to be a doctor.

*Your don't have "back pain"; you have a somatic dysfunction at .....

Sleepless...

I'm trying to sort through all of this.....

Which is all about this ----->

Which means I'll be getting none of this tonight.

Yay.....

Just looking forward to Christmas at this point!

Ethics

"We model courage by speaking up for what is right without greed or self-interest, accepting the consequences of our wholehearted commitment to ethical behavior, regardless of the opposition we may encounter from others. We model integrity by aligning our choices and behaviors with our highest values, by speaking honestly, and demanding that others speak honestly as well."
--Francine R. Gaillour, MD, MBA, FACPE, Internist

Just a quote from one of our ethics lectures that I found interesting like a lot.

Perspective

This is going to be a short post because I've got a lot to study!

I was sitting here in a study room at school eating my lunch, and thinking about all of the things I have to get done before our renal midterm exam on Friday morning. While I was doing this, I was flipping around a few webpages online and I started reading about this new research in breast cancer that they're doing and a possible new treatment.

While I'm sure most people would definitely see this as a good thing, most people do not get as excited about this as I do. I was reading it and my mind started working about breast cancer in general--how it works, what goes wrong, how it's normally treated, patient symptoms, etc. While I was doing this, I had a moment that I've needed to have for the past several days. I've been so caught up worrying about getting everything studied, everything learned, and all of my committments fulfilled before break, that I was getting incredibly stressed out and and just hoping and praying for Christmas break. When I took the time to slow down and just learn something for "fun" not that had to be learned, I rediscovered why it is I'm here. I LOVE what I get to do. I'm completely fascinated by the human body, how it works, what happens when something goes wrong, how disease affects people, etc. That's why I'm here. I love what I'm doing and what I'm going to spend my life doing.

Anyone who has talked to me and had the misfortune :-) of bringing up anything remotely medical can tell you that it's nearly impossible to get me to stop talking after that! :) My brain starts turning and I just keep thinking of all the different things that are happening; while there's so much I don't know, I'm just wired to find this stuff interesting and with a desire to learn all of it!

I guess all of this is to say, that I just needed a little perspective and to step back and realize yet again how blessed I am to be doing something that is not only interesting to me, but is my passion. Yes, I have a lot to do. Yes, I'm stressed. Yes, I have to learn a lot in a short amount of time. Through all the stress, studying, assignments and tests, I still love this. I love that I'm here, I love what I'm learning and I'm so thankful that I have the capacity and opportunity to learn it all! Just thought I'd share... :)

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”—Howard Thurman

Busy little elf...

Since I am currently massively in debt from tuition loans and living on a fun little budget I am a little restricted on what I can get for Christmas presents this year. However, I still wanted to do something for my friends at school. So, I had the idea to make some home-baked treats and give them as my gifts. Hopefully they like them!

Above is a picture of what I made. In the center are chocolate peanut butter truffles, then sugar cookies, good-old chocolate chip cookies, and lastly Hershey's kiss peanut butter cookies. I hope they taste good! :-) All in all I made about 3 dozen truffles, 4 dozen sugar cookies with homemade frosting, 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies, and about 4 dozen Hershey kiss cookies....whew! I haven't spent that much time in the kitchen in a while! It was worth it though; I really wanted to do something special for the people I care about and when you're on a tight budget, you have to start getting creative!

That took most of the afternoon and now I'll most likely be up late prepping for my pathology presentation tomorrow, doing some more studying and trying to figure out how in the heck I'm going to get everything done/studied that I need to in this next week before renal midterm exams! Should be an interesting/busy week.

Well, I'm off to go spread some more Christmas cheer! :-) Enjoy this incredibly dorky picture of me last year at Laura's house....Hehehe.... I enjoy embracing my weirdness.

Laughter...

There's really no explanation for why I find so much happiness in tormenting my pets by putting various items of clothing on them. Now granted, I think it's beyond cruel (just my opinion) to actually dress your dogs in little outfits and take them out in public. I just do it at home and take pictures for fun! :) I'm really strange here people...

Last night I was exhausted and should have been studying, but to procrastinate, I tried putting hats on Bentley. "Why?" you ask.... Why not? :) This is how fried my brain has been lately. I found it absolutely hysterical.

I'm really only posting these pictures because they made me laugh, and any excuse to laugh is worth it! I hope these at least make you smile! So with that in mind...here are a few pictures that always make me laugh!

Mmmm...that clay's some good eatin'!!Yeah, we do this to all of our pets! Hehehe....There are no words....

Ummm...what's with the crazy guys in the background...I swear we couldn't get a picture that night where everything was normal!

Good times...NEVER give me caffeine....

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter." e.e. cummings

"Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh." W.H. Auden

College food

As I sit here eating my microwaved bowl of Progresso's attempt at vegetable soup, I'm thinking back on my usual meal choices. While the soup isn't horrible (I was lazy last night and didn't feel like actually MAKING anything for lunch and just grabbed the soup out of the cupboard), it's definitely not anything like home-made. Whiel I know this isn't shocking, I'm thinking back to the things I usually eat....Hot Pockets (ugghh), Noodles from a bag (equally as delicious), frozen food, etc. etc. etc......This is when it hits me that I have been eathing college food for the last six years of my life and there are no signs that it will stop anytime soon.
Since it's pretty much just me when I eat, I don't want to cook a lot of food for one person. Mainly, though I just don't have the time to cook. I swear I have eaten macaroni and cheese in every possible form imaginable.
I miss the days of high school and earlier where I could always expect something homemade for dinner and decent food in the fridge. Now I look in my fridge and see a pathetic assortment of yogurt, juice, cheese and whatever else doesn't spoil in a week. :) I miss home cooked food! I think that's one of the reasons I love holidays so much now; I love being able to go home and have all of the foods that I haven't had since the last time I was home....forget presents for Christmas, pass the ham! :)
There's really no point to this post other than the fact that I've realized that I have no idea when the endless parade of macaroni and cheese, frozen dinners, and anything that can be heated in 2 minutes or less will stop. I'm pretty sure that the next two years of med school will be much the same if not worse since I'll be taking most of my meals to the hospital. Then residency....let's not even go there! With all the nutrition lectures we had during Human Development, I'm convinced that one of these days I'm going to get scurvy....so, if you see me with a peg-leg, a patch over one eye and a parrot on my shoulder, just blame it on the hot pockets and spaghetti-o's.
Or I could find someone who would do all that stuff! I should take out an ad....

Wanted:
Single, Christian male who cooks, cleans, has no problem with never seeing his significant other, thinks scrubs are hot :), etc. etc. etc. OR single man with chef/housekeeper.
Hehehehe....
OK, I've wasted enough time...pathology notes await....yippee.
Hopefully the next time I write I'll actually have something to say and won't just be wasting time. Feel free to move on to other blogs where the people actually know how to write, sound intelligent and have a point!

You just have to laugh...

On a lighter note than the last post, I just thought I'd share the "fun" that was my day today. I just got to the point where I had to laugh, because SO many things were going wrong that it was actually kind of funny.

This could only happen on a Monday.

This morning I got up early because we had our first renal test and I always get to school early to make sure I miss traffic and so I can study for about an hour before the test. While carrying all my things out to the car this morning, I noticed the juice I was bringing along had dripped a little bit, but no worries, it brushed right off my coat.

When I get out of my car at school I realize...."My lunch is still sitting in the fridge at home....sigh...I guess I'll just buy it today."

I walk into the classroom and sit down to study notes. As I take off my jacket I notice purple stains all down my scrub pants and on the bottom of my coat...evidently my grape juice had leaked a lot more than I thought! Great...I have these on all day and it's a long day! Oh well....

I go to take the quiz which I had prepared a lot for....it was one of the worst tests we've had in a LONG time! There were several questions with multiple right answers, several questions that we've never even heard of the topic before, and it just got better from there. Fantastic! :)

Our first lecture after the test was on Medicare; at one point in the lecture we were taught how basically the government is decreasing the amount they pay doctors for their services and by the time we're practicing most of our patients will be on Medicare. Fantastic....$200,000 in debt and not getting paid for the work I do. I'll look forward to it.

One more lecture and I can make it to lunch.....I guess I'm going to the cafeteria to buy it. It's OK in the long run. I have cash left from buying dinner the other night, I'll just use that.

Fast forward to lunch....looking through my wallet....I left the cash in my jacket at home! Grrr....I guess I'm going to the ATM.

The day just got even more fantastic from there, but honestly (I know it doesn't sound like it) but I was laughing at this point because all I could think of was, "Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays!" :)

Well, that was my light post for the day. If those are the worst things that are happening to me I guess I should be thankful. :)

Who am I?

Note: Before reading this, please know that I am not trying to write this in a cocky way at all. I hope that things that are said here are taken in the spirit with which they were intended. Of all people, I have no delusions about exactly who I am. I'm not at a point where I can be totally open about all of the not so pretty things in my life, but trust me when I say that they are there and I am making attempts to deal with each issue. I am not trying to make myself sound like anything more than I am. I am only who I am because I have been blessed with so much. :) OK....now I'll actually start the post!

The last few weeks I've been thinking about a lot of things in my life. Things from my very distant past, things from the more recent past, and my future have been dominating my thoughts. Questions like, "What have I become?", "Am I becoming who I say I want to be?", "What needs changing in my life?" and a thousand others have been flooding my brain constantly it seems. At the center of all these questions, there is one question...."Who am I?" Today...right now, as I sit here typing....Who am I? What are the things I can say about myself that are true today? It seems like to me in many situations past and present, I have been obsessed with constantly "apologizing" for who I am and who I want to be. In order to please those around me, I have apologized...for things that are a huge part of who I am! This shouldn't be the case, and in order to stop apologizing for things that I have no business feeling bad for in the first place, I need to know who I am!
With this in mind I sat down to write out a list of who I am; now before I post this list, I feel like I should reveal a few things. I am not perfect (shocker, I know) and I know this; while I am aware of this, I am not ready for the rest of the world to come face-to-face with that painfully obvious fact. With that in mind, I haven't fully disclosed EVERYTHING that I am on here. It's mostly positives with a few necessary negatives thrown in, but please don't think that I'm trying to say I'm perfect. I know I'm not, but I'm not able to face all of that openly yet, so please have some patience with me while I work towards who God has for me to be! Here goes....

I am:

I am…a child of God no matter where I’ve been, no matter what I’ve done.
I am …loved by God and seen as being worth His son’s death
I am…created uniquely; there is no one exactly like me now or ever.
I am…created for a purpose that is SO much bigger than I can imagine.
I am…blessed with a family that loves me and supports me daily.
I am …blessed with friends who make me smile daily with cards, messages, phone calls, trips, and so many other things.
I am…blessed to have a reason to laugh daily.
I am…forgiven for every mistake and bad choice I’ve ever made.
I am…completely passionate about medicine and can’t wait to see where my road in life leads me.
I am…willing to make sacrifices for what is important to me—family, friends, career, purpose, and my goals
I am…a work in progress.
I am…guilty; I have done many things I shouldn’t have but am trying daily to learn from the mistakes and move on.
I am…a girl who’s been hurt a few times, but is learning to work through each situation and find the lesson in it.
I am…a girl with goals, an education, and ambition…get over it! :-)
I am…not always as strong as I’d like people to think I am.
I am…more stubborn than you know.
I am…determined to succeed.
I am…determined to follow my calling in life, even though I’ve taken a few detours along the way.
I am…trying to make amends for things in my past.
I am…working to become who God wants me to become.
I am…an adrenaline junkie who lives for all things ER! :-)
I am…going to be in Toledo, OH a year from now on rotations in a hospital and so excited about it!
I am…2 ½ years from having the title “Doctor” before my name.
I am…completely freaked out about the previous statement.
I am…taking the first step of the national board exams in 6 months….also freaked out about that too!
I am…just like every other girl who wants to eventually find someone she can trust, who treats her like a princess, and is not freaked out by what I want to do with my life….is that too much to ask? :-)
I am…learning the lesson of patience for the millionth time.
I am…blessed with people I see daily that care about me and make me laugh when things are tough.
I am…blessed to be at a school that I love, learning to do what I’ve dreamed about doing for so long, and finally getting where I’ve always wanted to go.
I am…blessed to know (at least I believe) what my purpose and direction in life should be and to have the ability to pursue it.
I am…blessed beyond any words I can think of to have a Father/Abba who loves me, would do anything for me, and loves me in spite of the thousands of times I’ve let Him down and turned away from everything He’s ever wanted for me.
I am…a person who’s been given more second chances than I could ever deserve.
I am…not yet who I am supposed to be…but I’m on my way!
I am…a weird, quirky, sarcastic, stubborn, loud, hyperactive, ditzy (sometimes), blonde (usually :-) ), Christian daughter/sister/friend/med student/family member/human being that’s done apologizing for being who she’s been created to be.

I am…NOTHING WITHOUT MY JESUS.

Yes, I have flaws, yes I’ve made mistakes, but at the end of the day I’m still just me. There are things I love about myself and things God’s still working on, but I am me and I’m not going to change from who He has for me to be! I love where I’m at, who I’m becoming and who I get to take that journey with. I’m learning from the past and moving forward. From this point on, I make no apologies for the things that have been placed in me to make me uniquely me….If you don’t like me….take it up with God! :-) Thanks for listening to my rant…I’ve been learning a lot lately, and I hope it continues!

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”—Howard Thurman

“Life isn’t worth living unless you’re willing to take some big chances and go for broke.”—Eliot Wiggington

“For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin—real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”—Alfred D. Souza

Winter Wonderland....

OK, So I'm sure you're all about ready to pummel me every time you have to see another picture of my dog, but I'm enjoying taking pictures while he's small....which won't be long! He's growing so fast (how much like a mom do I sound right now....sad.... ;) )!!!

Anyway, I wanted to post this picture a few days ago, but my camera was acting screwy so it took a while. This was on Thursday night...it was Bentley's first time in the snow. If anything, we've established that he HATES snow....It's been fun let me tell you!

It's been an interesting couple of days. I had school on Thursday but with the looming snow storm ahead, they sped things up and I was out of there by about 1pm which was earlier than I thought I would be. Anyway I had the whole "Babies 'R Us" adventure (see post below for that little escapade) :) and then headed home. It got really nasty that night so I was glad I didn't have to go out anywhere; besides, my windshield wipers were frozen into my car and I was unable to chip them out (always a good time) so I wouldn't have gotten very far anyway!

School was canceled on Friday which was good because the roads out by my house were a mess. I spent most of the day bumming around. I should have gotten a lot of studying done, but I had no motivation at all! I didn't end up changing out of my pajamas until around 3:00pm when I got a shower. Last night I hung out with my brother and helped him decide on his most recent purchase..... In about two weeks the 42" monstrosity seen below will be gracing our house with it's presence.

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE living with my brother?? He's really excited and even though it's just a TV I'm really excited for him. This is something he's been wanting for a long time, he's budgeted it all out, researched it and finally he's getting to spend some of his money on something "fun." Most of his time, energy and money for the past year and a half have all gone into the house and while I know he loves his house, it's nice for him to be able to get something that will let him just relax. :)

Today I spent a lot of the day studying and doing various things around the house. Laura was in the area tonight so she decided to stop by and we ended up running some errands, and then picking up a movie and some pizza. It was a nice low key night and now I should head to bed so I can get up and study SO MUCH MORE tomorrow for the test on Monday morning.

Oh, and I also meant to mention.....yesterday I got one of the most sincere compliments I've gotten in a long time from someone I barely even know. Even though I'm sure to that person it didn't really mean that much, when they said it to me it really meant a lot to me especially because of where my head's been at lately. It's always nice to hear something nice from anyone, especially when it's obvious they're being geniune and there's no motive behind it. I guess it just served to remind me to be generous in what I say and how I act around everyone I come in contact with because you never know who you're going to be a blessing to!

Out of my element...

OK, so anyone who has ever met me can testify that I'm not 100% like your typical girl. Granted, I have my "girlie" tendencies like everyone else, but there are a few things that I just don't get in "girl world."

While I'm slowly learning to appreciate kids and think they're cute most of the time I am SO completely not baby oriented. We've had clinics where we've done health screenings and all that on them and honestly, they stress me out! There's no order, you have no idea what's wrong with them if they're crying because they can't tell you and frankly, you just lose all control. :) I know most of you are probably laughing at this, but I am such a control freak and I like things to go as planned! Not so with kids.... (which, seeing God's sense of humor so far in my life probably means that someday I will have kids of my own.... :) )

Anyway, I am not opposed to kids or even having them one day, but right now they just stress me out, as previously mentioned.

Well, our "boss" of the Ambassadors at school is pregnant and having her first child in January and we decided to throw a baby shower for her. I went to shop for her shower gift the other day and found out she was registered at Baby's R Us. No problem...I've been in Toys 'R Us before....can't be that much different, right?? WHOA!!! I was WAY out of my element there....I was wandering around like a guy in a craft fair (or me in a craft fair for that matter..."I don't do crafts!") COMPLETELY lost. There were things I saw there that I don't even know what the heck they were for! I had to laugh at myself, because honestly, a store filled with baby things really shouldn't freak me out that much, but I had no idea where to even start!

Thankfully, one of the women that worked there eventually saw me and rescued me from myself. She asked me what I was looking for, and I laughed and told her that honestly I really didn't know what most of the stuff on the registry was and I was OK with getting whatever. :) I know, a very personal and thoughtful gift right? :) She was able to show me to a few things and I was able to get out of there in a relatively pain-free amount of time.

OK, maybe that's not that funny to most (or any) of you, but I found it amusing and thought I would share!

Heal Over

I've been listening to a lot of KT Tunstall's CD recently and I love the lyrics to a lot of her songs. One of the most recent I've been listening to is "Heal Over." I love the lyrics to this song and keep listening to it over and over. (Another great one is "Other Side of the World.") Just because I'm thinking about them so much recently, here's the lyrics to "Heal Over."

Heal Over:
It isn't very difficult to see why
You are the way you are
Doesn't take a genius to realize
It's gonna take time
But you'll just have to wait
You're gonna be fine
But in the meantime

Come over here lady
Let me wipe your tears away
Come a little nearer baby
Coz you'll heal over
Heal over
Heal over someday


And I don't wanna hear you tell yourself
That these feelings are in the past
You know it doesn't mean they're off the shelf
Because pain's built to last
Everybody sails alone
But we can travel side by side
Even if you fail
You know that no one really minds
Come over here lady


Don't hold on but don't let go
I know it's so hard
You've got to try to trust yourself
I know it's so hard, so hard


Come over here lady
Let me wipe your tears away
Come a little nearer baby
Coz you'll heal over, heal over, heal over someday.

Support our Troops!

I know that so many of you are either related to someone or know someone who is serving in the military for our country right now.

I got this email from a third year student at our school today letting us know about an awesome website that can help make a small difference in these amazing men and women's lives while they serve our country. Please do this! It only takes a second...and pass it on to your friends and family as well.

"There are lots of military personnel who are currently deployed away from home and are serving to protect America's interests abroad this holiday season. I wanted to ask each of you to visit this site http://www.letssaythanks.com and fill out a quick Happy Holidays card that will then be printed by Xerox and sent to the troops. It literally takes 5 seconds and 3 mouseclicks and can make a huge difference."

Thanks guys!

Picture Perfect....

OK, I just realized that I barely took any pictures this weekend, but I'm going to post a few of the ones I did just for fun! Hopefully I'll remember to take more over Christmas break! Enjoy!

My sister Kristen and I on Thanksgiving; she's really not this much taller than me....she had heels on and I had no shoes on.....just thought I had to explain....no I don't have a complex or anything!

My mom and I....if you ever wonder why I'm stubborn and sarcastic, you can thank this woman! :)

Our classic roadtrip picture...good times....

So excited to be going to see friends in South Bend!
This is why you cannot leave me in a car for 6 1/2 hours by myself with a camera....I get bored....things happen....I can't help it that I'm weird! It's genetic.

Continuing the Hacienda/Shopping Cart Adventure....only this time in the Martin's Parking Lot!

The girls and Rich (AKA, Creepy Guy in the Back) at the new Martins....yeah we're dorks. :)

Taking a quick break from our car dancing for a cute photo op! :) I love these girls!

Ladies and Gentlemen....I give you the new Lord of the Dance (or "Laura of the Dance???") Hehehehe....

And lastly, your obligatory "I have the cutest puppy in the whole word picture." I'm not quite sure what Bentley was doing here, but he ended up going to sleep like that.....comfortable I'm sure.... :)