You heard it here first folks! I've been staying off of my foot (not running on it) for a while, and it no longer hurts! Today will be my first long run on it, so we'll see how it goes.
In other fitness news, Mike and I started insanity this week. It is insane, but not impossible. It's probably a good thing that I'm doing it with him. It is an every day thing. It's good to have a work out partner with programs like this one. We'll see how long I last once I start running more again. Insanity is cardio, so I'm either going to be super buff with super endurance, or super tired....or both!
Finals are coming up and start next week. We've only got about two weeks left of school, and I cannot wait to be done with this semester. After this, I will never have school in the summer again! WOOOOOOO!
Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend.
xoxo
Showing posts with label O.D. school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label O.D. school. Show all posts
July 21, 2012
July 15, 2012
Optometry's Meeting 2012
I went to Chicago June 28th-July 1st to attend Optometry's Meeting 2012. It's where all of the AOA and AOSA get together to learn (CE courses), attend the product expo, and have lots of fun. I love Chicago, so I was pretty excited about this trip.
Four of my close friends came with along with about 50 other students from my school. We had to leave at 4am to make the flight in NYC that was at 7am. The plan was to wake up at 3:15am, get ready, and go. I was already packed, so all I really had to do was shower and go. Thankfully something wakes me up at 4:15am, and I realize I have five text messages and two missed calls telling me that my friends were at my complex waiting for me. *GULP* You know in cartoons when the character's eyes bug in and out really fast because they can't believe what they are seeing? Well, I'm pretty sure mine did that to my alarm clock. I'm never late. Ever. I text them really fast that I'll be down in 5 minutes. Throw my hair into a ponytail, throw on a shirt, jeans, and shoes, grab my bag, and I'm out the door. I was having heart palpitations from the stress of knowing that I might not make my flight, and I might cause us all to miss it. Thankfully my friend that was driving has a lead foot. We made it with time to spare.
Now that that's out of the way, we get to Chicago, and all of us are dragging. First order of business: Caffeine. There was this cute little Cuban restaurant that had cuban coffee that you get in little shot glasses because it's so strong. Let it be known that it kept me going until 3am the next night. It's strong, no joke. Good thing too because every single night there was a party for students, so I had to stay awake!
Oh, side note, when we left the east, we were at the end of a "heat wave". I say it that way because it's been more like a heat tsunami, not a short wave, but I digress. Anyways, we leave the east and it's 100 degrees. We are all excited because we all think we are flying over this so-called wave, and that we would miss the rest of it. Lo and behold, when we get to Chicago, our pilot proceeds to tell us, "It's going to be a hot one folks, heat advisories are just entering the Chicago area until Sunday." Mind you, we were going to be leaving Sunday. So not only did we just experience that last of the heat wave in the east, but we flew right into the beginning of one in the Midwest. Awesome.
We decided to do the traditional touristy stuff the first day we were there. We went to the Bean........and then decided we were all going to melt so we went back to the hotel. I chased a bird to get it's picture on the way back to the hotel. It didn't do much to help me cool off, but the bird smiled! That was also when my friends realized they were hanging out with an infant.
We hung out at the hotel until it was time to go to the Student Quiz Bowl, which is where each school sends one participant to compete against the other schools. We didn't win, but it was a blast, and I loved the t-shirt we got! I even made it work with the skirt I was wearing.
The next day we decided to chill out at the expo. We tried massage chairs, food, wine, and of course optometry related things as well. They even had the FIFA 2014 World Cup there. I got my picture taken with it, but only after I spent about three minutes moving all around the glass case it was in to please the guard. First I was too close, then I wasn't close enough for the picture, then my hand got too close, then my shoe was too close, then my purse was too close...it went on and on. Apparently my hand couldn't be in front, behind, within two inches, or on top of the case. I made all of those mistakes before the picture you see now was taken. The security guard who was guarding it seemed like she hated me. The people in the line were making snarky comments about how I was holding up the line, but I just told them to pay attention because I just helped them from making the same mistakes! They didn't think I was very funny.
The next day we finally got to the Sear's Tower, where we went up to the sky deck. The glass floor that extended out from the building was pretty popular. It was creepy, but it made for some pretty cool pictures from 103 stories up. While I was in the box, I noticed a spider just chilling on the outside of the box. I decided to make him attack Chicago. I started a trend too. Three days after I get home from Chicago, I noticed a friend from facebook went to Chicago, and he took the exact same photo I did. I can't help but think that my facebook posting of the photo a week before his didn't "inspire" him...maybe...a little bit...? Thanks for the credit, "friend".
We also went on a sail boat cruise which gave me some amazing photo opportunities, and we went to the Field Museum for the presidential inaugural ball. That was awesome. Sipping cocktails next to Sue (The T-Rex), eating cheesecake bites next to mammoths. It was quite the experience.
We left the next day after a loooonnnnngggg night out. I think we only got about 1.5 hours of sleep before our flight. Let's just say we all completely crashed when we got home.
It was a great trip all around!
xoxo
Four of my close friends came with along with about 50 other students from my school. We had to leave at 4am to make the flight in NYC that was at 7am. The plan was to wake up at 3:15am, get ready, and go. I was already packed, so all I really had to do was shower and go. Thankfully something wakes me up at 4:15am, and I realize I have five text messages and two missed calls telling me that my friends were at my complex waiting for me. *GULP* You know in cartoons when the character's eyes bug in and out really fast because they can't believe what they are seeing? Well, I'm pretty sure mine did that to my alarm clock. I'm never late. Ever. I text them really fast that I'll be down in 5 minutes. Throw my hair into a ponytail, throw on a shirt, jeans, and shoes, grab my bag, and I'm out the door. I was having heart palpitations from the stress of knowing that I might not make my flight, and I might cause us all to miss it. Thankfully my friend that was driving has a lead foot. We made it with time to spare.
Now that that's out of the way, we get to Chicago, and all of us are dragging. First order of business: Caffeine. There was this cute little Cuban restaurant that had cuban coffee that you get in little shot glasses because it's so strong. Let it be known that it kept me going until 3am the next night. It's strong, no joke. Good thing too because every single night there was a party for students, so I had to stay awake!
Oh, side note, when we left the east, we were at the end of a "heat wave". I say it that way because it's been more like a heat tsunami, not a short wave, but I digress. Anyways, we leave the east and it's 100 degrees. We are all excited because we all think we are flying over this so-called wave, and that we would miss the rest of it. Lo and behold, when we get to Chicago, our pilot proceeds to tell us, "It's going to be a hot one folks, heat advisories are just entering the Chicago area until Sunday." Mind you, we were going to be leaving Sunday. So not only did we just experience that last of the heat wave in the east, but we flew right into the beginning of one in the Midwest. Awesome.
We decided to do the traditional touristy stuff the first day we were there. We went to the Bean........and then decided we were all going to melt so we went back to the hotel. I chased a bird to get it's picture on the way back to the hotel. It didn't do much to help me cool off, but the bird smiled! That was also when my friends realized they were hanging out with an infant.
We hung out at the hotel until it was time to go to the Student Quiz Bowl, which is where each school sends one participant to compete against the other schools. We didn't win, but it was a blast, and I loved the t-shirt we got! I even made it work with the skirt I was wearing.
The next day we decided to chill out at the expo. We tried massage chairs, food, wine, and of course optometry related things as well. They even had the FIFA 2014 World Cup there. I got my picture taken with it, but only after I spent about three minutes moving all around the glass case it was in to please the guard. First I was too close, then I wasn't close enough for the picture, then my hand got too close, then my shoe was too close, then my purse was too close...it went on and on. Apparently my hand couldn't be in front, behind, within two inches, or on top of the case. I made all of those mistakes before the picture you see now was taken. The security guard who was guarding it seemed like she hated me. The people in the line were making snarky comments about how I was holding up the line, but I just told them to pay attention because I just helped them from making the same mistakes! They didn't think I was very funny.
The next day we finally got to the Sear's Tower, where we went up to the sky deck. The glass floor that extended out from the building was pretty popular. It was creepy, but it made for some pretty cool pictures from 103 stories up. While I was in the box, I noticed a spider just chilling on the outside of the box. I decided to make him attack Chicago. I started a trend too. Three days after I get home from Chicago, I noticed a friend from facebook went to Chicago, and he took the exact same photo I did. I can't help but think that my facebook posting of the photo a week before his didn't "inspire" him...maybe...a little bit...? Thanks for the credit, "friend".
We also went on a sail boat cruise which gave me some amazing photo opportunities, and we went to the Field Museum for the presidential inaugural ball. That was awesome. Sipping cocktails next to Sue (The T-Rex), eating cheesecake bites next to mammoths. It was quite the experience.
We left the next day after a loooonnnnngggg night out. I think we only got about 1.5 hours of sleep before our flight. Let's just say we all completely crashed when we got home.
It was a great trip all around!
xoxo
June
June, oh June.
It was probably the hottest month I've ever experienced here on the east coast. It consisted of me running a lot, mixed with sweating even more, mixed with rehydrating less than necessary. I was basically dehydrated the entire month. Hah, it's funny now, but it wasn't then. I woke up thirsty, spent the day thirsty, and went to sleep thirsty. No matter how much water I drank, I could just never catch up! I lost 3-4 lbs each run on average, and that's just because even if I woke up at the crack of dawn to run, it was still 92 degrees with 100% humidity. I learned to go on a run, and immediately jump into the pool when I got home. That was fun. Cooled me off quick, and sometimes I would even get some swimming in for extra exercise.
It's still hot, but I'm learning to drink eight glasses of water a day. Dehydration headaches are not fun!
One good thing about all of the running is that the runs have gotten longer and smoother. My speed is increasing tremendously, and it's just because of the mileage I'm getting in each week. So far it's between 30-40 miles per week. The scenery around here is pretty breathtaking as well. I've taken a couple pictures of my running path that I've included in the wrap-up collage.
Chia, remember that? Well, I've been eating it and/or drinking it consistently since I started using it. I really notice a difference in my energy level, and it is suuuuppppeerrr good in my oatmeal.
Between studying and studying I realized I needed some kind of artistic outlet, so I decided my nails would be it. I did an ombre glitter polish. Turned out pretty fancy, but was a super pain to remove. Anything for beauty, am I right? *cue cheesy smile now*
Summer
school is rough. It's even rougher because it's mandatory and you have
to actively participate. I've been stabbed in the eye, poked with a
metal thing, and had a needle stuck into my tear duct while releasing
saline through my nose into my mouth. It tasted wonderful....not.
I'm pretty much over summer school right now, but I'm still truckin'
along. The only good thing about going to school in the summer is 1.)
the drive (yes I know I shouldn't be taking pictures while driving), and
2.) seeing the little baby ducklings in our pond! I love them soooo
much.
A new fro-yo place opened up nearby. Anyone who knows me knows that when I moved out here, I fell in love with frozen yogurt. The fact is, I love fro-yo, but I hate the pricing. You think $0.25 per oz is cheap, until you end up spending $11.00 on a bowl once you weigh it. Whoops...haven't been back since. It's probably a good thing.
I got Mike tickets for the Childish Gambino concert, and of course it basically tornadoed on our walk to the outdoor concert. We were huddled under a flimsy umbrella for about 10 minutes in hurricane force winds, rain, and lightning. It was just like in the movies, except way less glamorous. I bet you can't guess what we did when we found out the concert was cancelled!!! Obviously got fro-yo. *it wasn't from the same $11 place*
I tend to really get some great pictures of the surrounding area on my phone while I run.
The baby geese are one of the most amazing things I've seen on my runs. I've been running past them for months now, and they are not babies anymore! It was so cool to see them grow, and they are now ready to fly away.
I also live by a castle, so one day the clouds were aligned, and I got this perfect shot.
Oh, and obligatory Tip Tip when I get home. See! It's so hot even she has to cool off on the tile!
May 25, 2012
Travels
Summer is finally here, well not really, but at least it feels like it. High 80's and full humidity make for some very stuffy days. I've been running like mad around here lately. Trying to keep to running at least five miles per day. So far, so good. When I was back home, I got a ton of running in. I love being able to walk out my door and go on for miles. It's a comforting feeling. Running in the warm air, and my body warming from the inside out is just a great feeling. Now, when the temps hit 90...that's a different story. I actually have a couple stories about running in terrifying heat. One that comes to mind is when it was 90 degrees out, and 100% humidity, and I was hoping to run ten miles, give or take depending on how I felt. I was convinced I was going to pass out, but I kept talking to myself, literally speaking to myself, saying "You aren't going to die if you keep running, if you stop, you will die." Guess my mind games worked, because I ran the entire ten!
I've started back up at school again for the summer. That week-long break sure rejuvenated me....yeah...right. I remember when I had the entire summer off....oh boy do I miss that! The one good thing about this summer, is that I have a pool! It opens Monday, and you bet your bottom I'll be there! I've always been a little fish during the summer, so I can't wait to spend the entire summer running, swimming, and studying....wait that last one doesn't fit. I'm looking forward to running an insane number of miles with my swimming suit underneath my shorts and t-shirt, and crashing into the pool when I get home. Cannot wait.
I've recently read Born To Run by Christopher McDougall, and boy if that doesn't motivate someone to run, nothing will! I also started eating chia seeds, the supposed miracle supplement/food to ultra-marathon runners, and now me! Mike and I first got them at night, and eating them was a mistake! I was up until 2am. They are a super food that packs a serious energy punch. Great for running, and great for tired students that don't want to see 3-year-old patients at 8am, i.e. Me. Here's my chia seed recipe that I've been using to consume them.
Just let the seeds soak in the water juice, and stir every five minutes for about 15 minutes. Then you can let the juice sit in the fridge for up to a couple days. The chia seeds get a gel exterior so drinking them is super easy, and the texture is fun. If anyone ever drank Orbitz, it's kind of like that. Worth trying, plus they have a super amount of antioxidants and omega-3's in them. Side note: Consult your physician if you are taking blood pressure meds before trying them.
And before I bid you all adieu, here's my weekly wrap up of what I've been doing besides running, relaxing, and getting back into the swing of school. *Warning: tons of photos ahead!*
R-L, top-bottom:
Obligatory cat picture
My Broad Street Run 10 miler medal, nicest one yet!
The most colorful set of packed luggage I've ever had, spring is here!
Beaut-i-ful clouds on the flight home
Family farm love
Pearl Ice Cream, best vanilla bean ever
Granddad's Bluff tourist shot
Beautiful valley, i.e. My home.
R-L, top-bottom:
Good ole Wisconsin cheese curds
Goose Island at dusk
Chia Fresca
My favorite running road
Grandma's teacup
Sunset in Wisconsin
I've started back up at school again for the summer. That week-long break sure rejuvenated me....yeah...right. I remember when I had the entire summer off....oh boy do I miss that! The one good thing about this summer, is that I have a pool! It opens Monday, and you bet your bottom I'll be there! I've always been a little fish during the summer, so I can't wait to spend the entire summer running, swimming, and studying....wait that last one doesn't fit. I'm looking forward to running an insane number of miles with my swimming suit underneath my shorts and t-shirt, and crashing into the pool when I get home. Cannot wait.
I've recently read Born To Run by Christopher McDougall, and boy if that doesn't motivate someone to run, nothing will! I also started eating chia seeds, the supposed miracle supplement/food to ultra-marathon runners, and now me! Mike and I first got them at night, and eating them was a mistake! I was up until 2am. They are a super food that packs a serious energy punch. Great for running, and great for tired students that don't want to see 3-year-old patients at 8am, i.e. Me. Here's my chia seed recipe that I've been using to consume them.
Rach's Chia Fresca
1-1.5 cups of lime juice (I use "Simply Lime")
1 cup of water (to dilute the juice a tad)
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
Just let the seeds soak in the water juice, and stir every five minutes for about 15 minutes. Then you can let the juice sit in the fridge for up to a couple days. The chia seeds get a gel exterior so drinking them is super easy, and the texture is fun. If anyone ever drank Orbitz, it's kind of like that. Worth trying, plus they have a super amount of antioxidants and omega-3's in them. Side note: Consult your physician if you are taking blood pressure meds before trying them.
And before I bid you all adieu, here's my weekly wrap up of what I've been doing besides running, relaxing, and getting back into the swing of school. *Warning: tons of photos ahead!*
 |
Obligatory cat picture
My Broad Street Run 10 miler medal, nicest one yet!
The most colorful set of packed luggage I've ever had, spring is here!
Beaut-i-ful clouds on the flight home
Family farm love
Pearl Ice Cream, best vanilla bean ever
Granddad's Bluff tourist shot
Beautiful valley, i.e. My home.
Good ole Wisconsin cheese curds
Goose Island at dusk
Chia Fresca
My favorite running road
Grandma's teacup
Sunset in Wisconsin
-I hope you all get to travel a lot this summer, even if it means running the furthest you've ever run in a place you've rarely been to! That's still traveling to me!
-xoxo
December 8, 2011
Supplementation
I've just recently become interested in skincare, and more particularly, my skin. Right now, I could pass for a 16 year old with my child-like skin, and I figured if everyone
thinks I look so young now, if I don't take care of my skin, I will look
16 one day, and 37 the next. Blech. I figured I should be milking this genetic gift for everything it's worth, right? So I began reading up on the topic.
I thought I was pretty well off since I wash, moisturize, and exfoliate on a regular basis. Plus, I already do a service to my skin for disregarding the need to be tan
during the summer months. Instead I relish in my ability to stay
completely pasty white, and blind people on the beach. However, I've learned it takes more than an ability to become transparent and some face wash.
Every single article I've read about having good skin emphasizes the fact that you should be taking at least one multivitamin a day, and because I pride myself on my skin, I decided now was probably the time to start supplements.
Here is the holy grail of my vitamin situation. I take a daily multivitamin (yes, it's chewable because I'm a baby), fiber gummies because the multivitamin doesn't include fiber (I thought it was called "multi" for a reason, Super tip: the gummy actually helps get the chewable multivitamin bits out of my teeth, a-thankyou), and omega-3 fish oil capsules. You'd think if I could swallow a monstrous fish oil capsule, I'd be able to swallow a vitamin. Guess not. I haven't really noticed a difference yet, but I'm sure the inside of my body is thanking me...or at least that's what they better be saying.
I'm also primarily taking the fish oil for my dry eye situation, and my doctor suggested "Nordic Naturals" because they are the purest and best fish oil capsules on the market. Supposedly they don't make you burp up "fish burps" which sounds extremely nauseating, and I had no idea they existed until I started researching fish oil. I'm happy to say I have yet to experience one, so I would recommend Nordic Naturals if they prevent one from the nastiness that is a "fish burp". They also have liquid fish oil which also seems unbearable, but if you can't take the gigando capsule, then it's an option. Only draw-back, they aren't cheap. Looking back, I probably shouldn't have bought them at a Whole Foods since everything there is marked up 200%. Next time, I'm ordering from Amazon.
Remember when I said I had dry eye? Here's that situation:
Gel drops galore, Pataday, ointments, oh and I had to buy a humidifier because my eyes were so dry in the morning that my lids were basically glued to my corneas. Sweet. No one at the clinic can figure out the cause, but they think it's something with the air here because at home, I don't have dry eye. Oh and I tried punctal plugs, which is where they stick a piece of plastic into the tear drainage system to block it and keep the tears on your eyes longer. That didn't work. I'm a medical mystery!
xoxo
June 6, 2011
Busy Bee
Hello again folks! It has been awhile. Sorry about that! I’ve been busy with finals, then moving, then my clerkship, then my wedding. Whew!
We’ll start where I left off! Finals. Dun dun DUNNNNNNNNN..... It wasn't that bad ;) They went well. Grades came back very good, so I’m pleased with that. I’m now officially a second year optometry student!
The day after finals (and a very fun night out in the city I might add ;) ) we moved back home for the summer. We stopped in Ohio for our half way rest stop with the boy’s family for a day, which is so totally needed. A seventeen hour drive is zero fun in one day. The gas prices were also ridiculous. It was $4.53 in one city!
Of course the kitties came with too! They were just peaches. They both slept almost the entire way in their cute little kennel situation.
So precious.
They have also been getting along at home as well. They both sleep on the bed with me at night, so they must love each other more now than ever. I think the drive helped them bond. Lily is still eating Tip’s food, so we’re trying to put her on a diet. If anyone knows anything about how to keep a cat from eating, puhleeasssee let me know! She’s turning into a large lump of fuzz. Yeesh.
Home has been nice and relaxing. It’s been somewhat warm weather, and not too humid yet. Let’s hope it stays that way for the wedding! No rain or may flies! ICK. The only real weather problem recently was a tornado. That old native American legend “where three rivers meet, no wind can defeat” decided to stop working a couple weeks ago. There was an EF-2 tornado here in the city no less, and it definitely defeated a few blocks. I’ve never seen tornadoes in the city, only in the country, so it was surreal. The worst part was that we have no basement here, so when the siren went off, we had to drive to the boy’s house for safety. I honestly had no idea what was going on, and my mom had to inform me that there was a tornado siren. (The same siren signals a fire truck leaving the station in PA, so I was confused for a moment.)
We get to his house, and he was gone. I immediately start getting scared. Mom was gone all morning, and I was left without a car, so he came to rescue me from my unsafe location when the siren went off (thinking Mom was still gone). Little did he know that she had come home, and we were already on our way over. I was freaking out a tad because the news had just spotted a tornado about a mile away from where I live coming towards my house. No phone calls were going through either. I stayed upstairs waiting for him to get home, but I knew he would go inside my Mom’s to find me which would take even longer. About five minutes later, I see him speeding down the street into his driveway. He noticed the cat carriers were gone, so he figured we went to his house. The kitties bonded during the storm too. J
We stayed upstairs, along with his dad watching the storm pass. It was crazy windy and really scary outside. Later we found out that a tornado ripped apart a couple blocks close to downtown. Thankfully no one was hurt.
Speaking of storms, right now in my hometown in IA and NE, there is some serious flooding of the Missouri river which is impinging on my Aunt and Uncle’s house, and might possibly affect my Grandma’s house. I’m very scared for them all. My Aunt and Uncle live right on the river, so they have already sand bagged the river side of their house. I guess it could last all summer which is tragic. I talked to my Grandma today, and she said it could affect her house as well which is far away from the river. I really hope it doesn’t get to either, especially my Grandma’s. I love her house. I’m hoping the boy and I can still make a trip to see her this summer. I’d swim there if I had to.
I’ve also been doing my summer clerkship for school. It’s three weeks long, and 105 hours of work. I have one week left. Woo! Then I can finally have a summer….sort of. I also have 18 optics lectures to finish before July 25th for our summer optics course. Well, I’ve already done four. Of course I’m trying to get them done a.s.a.p. Blah. What happened to my “summer”?
What else is going on….oh yeah…the wedding! I can finally let my life be consumed by my creative ideas and wedding planning! I love it. We’ve gotten almost everything done. I can’t wait! We are both incredibly excited for everything! It’s coming quite fast, which can be good, and bad. Good because we can’t wait! And bad because that means I almost have to start my summer semester on the East again…
I’ve been doing a lot of wedding prep too. Floral appointments, dress fittings, finding shoes, make up practice, hair practice (soon), skin care, exercise, etc.
I run a lot so fitness isn’t really an issue, but I’ve started doing Pilates. Phew! It is so hard. I actually use videos from YouTube because it’s free, and I can get a full 40 minute workout from them. After the first day I could barely move. I had no idea I was so out of shape! There is this one move that works your shoulders. You barely move, but man, does it work! Hopefully I don’t have man shoulders by the wedding.
Also, as I’m sitting here I have white strips on and a green mud face mask. I look quite attractive I must say. I would take a picture but....no I wouldn't take a picture. It’s funny how ugly you have to look in order to look good later on. Ick. This mask smells weird too. And how about these little white strips. Does anyone else have the problem where it seems like once they are on your teeth you start salivating like mad?! I mean come on! They are only on my teeth, and I definitely don’t want to eat them, so I have no idea why that’s my body’s reaction to them. A couple more weeks of these, no longer. The boy is also doing his boy beauty routine, which so far consists of nothing different than normal. ;)
Oh! I almost forgot! The boy, one of my bridesmaid’s and I went to a festival this past weekend. Her boyfriend was playing in a band at this fest, so I finally got to meet him which was awesome. We also ate tons of fair food (yum!), and watched the locals. It was about an hour and a half away in the middle of nowhere USA. The main attraction of the night was a “burn out” where you have 15 seconds to burn out your car’s tires. Whoever makes the most smoke, wins. Just burning tires…for the fun of it…ruining tires…for the fun of it?....I don’t think I’d ever willingly sign up for that contest. Of course I can make a fool out of myself anywhere, and I thought the smoke was from a chicken-Q (chicken barbeque), and I really wanted to eat some chicken. A nice couple at our table set me straight, while laughing a little. The boy said they probably thought I was some silly “city girl”. Cue pouty girl "humpf" right now.
I’ll leave you with this. The other day at work flowers were delivered…for me! I’m only there three weeks, but in that time, I got flowers! Of course they were from the boy, reminding me that it was our last “dating” anniversary. Seven years of dating. I guess we didn’t get the traditional seven year itch. Instead we got the itch to get hitched! He’s so sweet.
May 3, 2011
Catch up
That's right! Two more weeks of school, well mostly finals, until I'm done with my first year of optometry school. I have two finals this week, and three next. It went incredibly fast, and I can't wait to be back home.
Since I've gotten my new phone, I realized I've taken way too many pictures. Some are great, others are....well, not so great, but I figured since I've taken so many, I could at least post some so you guys can see what I've been up to lately. {Hint: mostly studying, but procrastination can produce some wonderful photo sessions}
Our friends from Wisconsin came during their spring break in March. We took them all over the city. Here's just a picture of the Liberty Bell because it's stereotypical Philadelphia. I also found out Pennsylvania is spelled wrong on the bell. "Pensylvania." The story is that they hadn't decided on the official spelling of the state when they were making the bell, so the maker's (Pass and Stow) decided to pick one. They chose wrong. It's like the blu-ray HD-DVD debate of the 1700's.
We also did the famous "Geno's vs. Pat's" cheese steak contest. It wasn't really a contest because the winner didn't win anything...but I think the winner was Jim's (who ironically wasn't even part of the contest). We ate at Jim's the day before. I still prefer Jim's over Pat's or Geno's.
In early March two friends from school and I went to the Vision Expo in NYC. Here's just a picture of part of the amazing Marchon exhibit. The trip was topped off by my friends winning an iPad and iPod. I didn't win anything. I got a hot dog in consolation.
The boy and I have slowly been trying to get the cats closer to each other. Here's just one of our ideas to make them best friends forever.
*Also, we know Lily has an eating problem...she got through her entire bowl by the time Tip had barely started hers.*
Here's our most recent attempt. You can tell they really love each other.
Tipsy also has a new thing that she does. She sleeps, and then randomly out of nowhere she meows super loud and wakes herself up. She's probably dreaming, but the boy and I think she has a slight form of Asperger Syndrome. If you spent any time around her, you'd think so too.
Remember when I went snowboarding in the Pokono's mountains? Well when the boy and I drove to Ohio for Easter with his family, we drove through the Pokono's Mountain range. Breathtaking, wouldn't you say...?
Just for the record, I'm now calling the bluffs at home, mountains. Yes folks, I live next to mountains. I've already referred to Grandads bluff as Grandads mountain. It went over well.
I've also gotten better at cooking, and I know it might not seem like much, but I'm pretty darn proud of those grill marks on my grilled turkey and cheese. I didn't even use a George Foreman....Yeah. Skill.
Storm that scared me during our trip home from Ohio. Yeah..I'm 24 and still afraid of tornadoes.
This is the trail I run now. It's pretty gorgeous, and it reminds me of home. It's normally a great running trail, however, this morning there were two people that were...eh hem...having relations in the middle of the trail. Seriously. It was probably the fastest I've ever done a 180 in my life.
Since I've gotten my new phone, I realized I've taken way too many pictures. Some are great, others are....well, not so great, but I figured since I've taken so many, I could at least post some so you guys can see what I've been up to lately. {Hint: mostly studying, but procrastination can produce some wonderful photo sessions}
Our friends from Wisconsin came during their spring break in March. We took them all over the city. Here's just a picture of the Liberty Bell because it's stereotypical Philadelphia. I also found out Pennsylvania is spelled wrong on the bell. "Pensylvania." The story is that they hadn't decided on the official spelling of the state when they were making the bell, so the maker's (Pass and Stow) decided to pick one. They chose wrong. It's like the blu-ray HD-DVD debate of the 1700's.
We also did the famous "Geno's vs. Pat's" cheese steak contest. It wasn't really a contest because the winner didn't win anything...but I think the winner was Jim's (who ironically wasn't even part of the contest). We ate at Jim's the day before. I still prefer Jim's over Pat's or Geno's.
In early March two friends from school and I went to the Vision Expo in NYC. Here's just a picture of part of the amazing Marchon exhibit. The trip was topped off by my friends winning an iPad and iPod. I didn't win anything. I got a hot dog in consolation.The boy and I have slowly been trying to get the cats closer to each other. Here's just one of our ideas to make them best friends forever.
*Also, we know Lily has an eating problem...she got through her entire bowl by the time Tip had barely started hers.*
Here's our most recent attempt. You can tell they really love each other.
Tipsy also has a new thing that she does. She sleeps, and then randomly out of nowhere she meows super loud and wakes herself up. She's probably dreaming, but the boy and I think she has a slight form of Asperger Syndrome. If you spent any time around her, you'd think so too.
Remember when I went snowboarding in the Pokono's mountains? Well when the boy and I drove to Ohio for Easter with his family, we drove through the Pokono's Mountain range. Breathtaking, wouldn't you say...?
Just for the record, I'm now calling the bluffs at home, mountains. Yes folks, I live next to mountains. I've already referred to Grandads bluff as Grandads mountain. It went over well.
I've also gotten better at cooking, and I know it might not seem like much, but I'm pretty darn proud of those grill marks on my grilled turkey and cheese. I didn't even use a George Foreman....Yeah. Skill.
This is the trail I run now. It's pretty gorgeous, and it reminds me of home. It's normally a great running trail, however, this morning there were two people that were...eh hem...having relations in the middle of the trail. Seriously. It was probably the fastest I've ever done a 180 in my life.
April 16, 2011
75%
This week has been an interesting one.
It started out with a trip to the local mechanic because I heard a suspicious thumping sound coming from my front left tire area. Usually my car problems are not at all what you would call, quick fixes. I've had my new car for about a year and a half now, and so far so good, but I was just waiting for the one repair that would break this little girls piggy bank.
When I brought the car in, the mechanic took it for a drive. He comes back and informs me that there are two screws in my front left tire. Nope, not just one....two. That explains the tapping noise. I leave it there to get fixed, and he calls about an hour later telling me that 1.) the two left tires were put on backwards....(don't ask me how my previous mechanic managed that one) and 2.) the back left tire also had screws in it. The good thing was that they repaired my current tires. It was repaired within the hour, and I was off with a tiny dent in my piggy bank. I was happy :)
Thursday as I was walking out to my car to go to my two mandatory classes that day, I notice that my car looks tilted. In my head I'm thinking, 'Another flat?', but since I just had two tires repaired, I assumed it was just some optical illusion. Wrong.
You heard me right. Another flat. And on a completely different tire. Back right one this time.
I had a friend from school swing around and pick me up so I wouldn't miss class, and the boy was just getting home from school. He was amazing. He took the flat tire off (which from what he says was quite the workout. Read: it was rusted on, and he had to donkey kick it off), put on my donut tire, and drove it to the mechanics to get it fixed. This tire also had screws in it, and I needed to buy a new tire this time. Shucks, I thought I was done paying for tire repairs. There goes my happy piggy bank.
In the words of the mechanic, "You aren't the unluckiest person I've ever seen, but you're close." Oh good.
Three out of four. 75% of my tires had screws in them. I thought someone had to be doing this to me. I started getting paranoid.
What did I run over? A construction site? Nail gun? What did I do to this mean person stabbing screws in my tires? Do I have an arch enemy in Philly that I don't know about yet?
You guessed it, it was none of the above.
The security guard at school eased my fears. Some smarty-pants contractor dumped a box of screws in one of the only entrances to my school, and he failed to clean them up. I guess over 50 people have had screws in their tires. Some even had screws in all four.
The worst part is that we can't get compensation from anyone for this since it's unknown who didn't clean up their mess.
In happier news, remember that dodge ball game I mentioned a bit earlier. Well that game was today, and my team won the entire tournament!
It started out with a trip to the local mechanic because I heard a suspicious thumping sound coming from my front left tire area. Usually my car problems are not at all what you would call, quick fixes. I've had my new car for about a year and a half now, and so far so good, but I was just waiting for the one repair that would break this little girls piggy bank.
When I brought the car in, the mechanic took it for a drive. He comes back and informs me that there are two screws in my front left tire. Nope, not just one....two. That explains the tapping noise. I leave it there to get fixed, and he calls about an hour later telling me that 1.) the two left tires were put on backwards....(don't ask me how my previous mechanic managed that one) and 2.) the back left tire also had screws in it. The good thing was that they repaired my current tires. It was repaired within the hour, and I was off with a tiny dent in my piggy bank. I was happy :)
Thursday as I was walking out to my car to go to my two mandatory classes that day, I notice that my car looks tilted. In my head I'm thinking, 'Another flat?', but since I just had two tires repaired, I assumed it was just some optical illusion. Wrong.
You heard me right. Another flat. And on a completely different tire. Back right one this time.
I had a friend from school swing around and pick me up so I wouldn't miss class, and the boy was just getting home from school. He was amazing. He took the flat tire off (which from what he says was quite the workout. Read: it was rusted on, and he had to donkey kick it off), put on my donut tire, and drove it to the mechanics to get it fixed. This tire also had screws in it, and I needed to buy a new tire this time. Shucks, I thought I was done paying for tire repairs. There goes my happy piggy bank. In the words of the mechanic, "You aren't the unluckiest person I've ever seen, but you're close." Oh good.
Three out of four. 75% of my tires had screws in them. I thought someone had to be doing this to me. I started getting paranoid.
What did I run over? A construction site? Nail gun? What did I do to this mean person stabbing screws in my tires? Do I have an arch enemy in Philly that I don't know about yet?
You guessed it, it was none of the above.
The security guard at school eased my fears. Some smarty-pants contractor dumped a box of screws in one of the only entrances to my school, and he failed to clean them up. I guess over 50 people have had screws in their tires. Some even had screws in all four.
The worst part is that we can't get compensation from anyone for this since it's unknown who didn't clean up their mess.
In happier news, remember that dodge ball game I mentioned a bit earlier. Well that game was today, and my team won the entire tournament!
April 1, 2011
Updates
I know you've all been on the edge of your seat for the past couple of days waiting to hear how my practical went...;)
I passed!
That basically seals the deal of first year. I just have to pass my finals, and I'll be done with my first year of optometry school. I don't see any problem with doing that!
Still studying for my exam on Monday, but then I have four weeks off before finals! I'm participating in a dodgeball tournament with some friends during that time, going to one of the boy's family member's house for Easter, and hopefully making the trip to D.C.
In completely unrelated news, I still fail at cooking. I couldn't microwave cream of wheat for some reason. It said two minutes, and I was talking to the boy as it was cooking. Came back after two minutes and its all lumpy and still super soupy (haha). Got all mad that it wasn't working out, start reading the directions out loud so the boy could see it wasn't my fault, and that I can actually follow directions.....somewhere "stir every 30 seconds" showed up. Whoops.
Hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm going to be studying my brain off. I really think it's going to fall out soon...
I passed!
That basically seals the deal of first year. I just have to pass my finals, and I'll be done with my first year of optometry school. I don't see any problem with doing that!
Still studying for my exam on Monday, but then I have four weeks off before finals! I'm participating in a dodgeball tournament with some friends during that time, going to one of the boy's family member's house for Easter, and hopefully making the trip to D.C.
In completely unrelated news, I still fail at cooking. I couldn't microwave cream of wheat for some reason. It said two minutes, and I was talking to the boy as it was cooking. Came back after two minutes and its all lumpy and still super soupy (haha). Got all mad that it wasn't working out, start reading the directions out loud so the boy could see it wasn't my fault, and that I can actually follow directions.....somewhere "stir every 30 seconds" showed up. Whoops.
Hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm going to be studying my brain off. I really think it's going to fall out soon...
March 29, 2011
Under Pressure
Hello all.
Sorry I haven't updated the blog lately. I can honestly say I've never been so stressed or studied as hard as I have this last semester ever in my entire life.
I'm too busy stuffing my face in books, notes, powerpoints, and exam rooms.
I had three exams in a three week period, now I'm studying for my last exam out of those three (Monday). Let's not forget about finals in four weeks. Four exams within one week. Joy.
I also have my 35 minute practical tomorrow. I have 35 minutes to conduct a full exam. I'm pretty much permanently shaking out of nervousness right now. This practical basically decides if I pass or fail first year.
Talk about pressure.....actually...let's not.
I've been keeping optimistic, working my butt off in school (getting all A's and B's so far), and practicing my little heart out for this practical.
Let's hope tomorrow goes well.
I'll post an update if I remember. Just writing to make sure everyone knows all is well on the east coast!
<3
Sorry I haven't updated the blog lately. I can honestly say I've never been so stressed or studied as hard as I have this last semester ever in my entire life.
I'm too busy stuffing my face in books, notes, powerpoints, and exam rooms.
I had three exams in a three week period, now I'm studying for my last exam out of those three (Monday). Let's not forget about finals in four weeks. Four exams within one week. Joy.
I also have my 35 minute practical tomorrow. I have 35 minutes to conduct a full exam. I'm pretty much permanently shaking out of nervousness right now. This practical basically decides if I pass or fail first year.
Talk about pressure.....actually...let's not.
I've been keeping optimistic, working my butt off in school (getting all A's and B's so far), and practicing my little heart out for this practical.
Let's hope tomorrow goes well.
I'll post an update if I remember. Just writing to make sure everyone knows all is well on the east coast!
<3
March 11, 2011
Boston
Well hello again! It's been a very long time since I've been able to blog. Life got pretty busy. Three exams in two weeks meant that studying was the only thing I was doing. The boy guesses that I probably studied 60 hours per week. Icky.
I had a neuro exam, cardio exam, and clinical skills exam. Did great on them all! Now I've got the same sort of schedule again, except it's three exams in three weeks. Hopefully that makes all the difference! Neuro, respiratory/renal, and optics. After that we have four weeks without an exam. Good news except we also need to study for finals because we have five exams in three days or something crazy like that.
Anyways! What's happened in the time since we met last? A lot I must say. Here we go.
My spring break is currently in session. It started March 4th. On Friday, the boy and I decided to take a trip to Boston to see our friend, we'll call him Harvard. (It was technically Cambridge, Mass because Harvard goes to..you guessed it! Harvard Law). See, NYC is a great quick weekend trip. Two hours and you're there. Boston....not so much. It's definitely within driving distance (especially since before it would be a plane ticket plus rental car away), but trusty google maps told us the total trip time would be six hours. I thought, "Google maps is always a little slow, it'll probably be 5.5 hours at the most."
Driving there was fun. The boy has never seen NYC, and we drove right past it. He got a great look at it, and I think he was a little taken aback at how he was actually seeing NYC. We actually got to cross over from Jersey into NYC using the George Washington Bridge as well! Something I've always wanted to see.
GW Bridge.
The rest of the drive consisted of me craning my neck to see the ocean for pretty much the entirety of the trip. I've never actually touched an ocean yet in my life (saw a few flying to China), so it was going to be an amazing experience when I did. I got excited a couple of times, but all of my "Oh my gosh! THERE'S THE OCEAN!"'s turned out to be bays or lakes. I could always eventually see to the other side. Once I saw on the GPS that we were getting further away from the ocean, I gave up.
The next exciting (not really) moment was when we passed into the "Boston area". See, we went through four metropolitan areas. Philly, NYC, Hartford/New Haven, CT, and Boston. I never really thought about it, but now when I do, we could have never avoided rush hour leaving at or before noon in Philly, so I should have expected it, but I didn't. We were enjoying the lovely Bostonian forests when we notice a bit more traffic. That bit turns into a TON, and this is what we're stuck looking at for eight miles {Read: ONE AND A HALF HOURS} Yes, it took us one and a half hours to go 8 miles, well 7.8 but who's counting now? This is what we got to look at for that amount of time.
We finally made it to Harvard's house after driving for 7.5 or 8 hours. We decided to relax there for the night (after eating some amazing thai food) because we knew we were going to have a big day walking around Boston the next day.
We started the day walking around Harvard Law and Harvard Yard. Pretty normal campus, except they have tours going around at all hours.
After Harvard showed us around his stomping grounds we rode the train into Boston. We followed the freedom trail around for most of the day. Here are some pictures of historical stuff.
Sam Adams Grave. Second Photo: This was the church all the Declaration signers attended.
Good shot of the boys in the church. Second Photo: Boy is obviously the best photographer seeing as he completely misses the statue, but gets most of the cement in this one.
This is the outside of the church we were in.
George Washington on his pony.
We got home on Sunday. It was a great trip. Can't wait to go back when it's not so cold/windy.
Other things that are going on. Rita's opened up again. Rita's is this amazing slushie/frozen yogurt shop that mixes it all together into goodness. It's weird in Philly though because they don't call it slushie, they call it "water ice". In a Philly accent it sounds more like, wooaauuter ice. It's annoying.
I also finished a painting over spring break for my friend. It let me tap back into my creative side for a moment which was nice and relaxing.
School starts again next week. Our friends from my undergrad are coming to Philly tomorrow! I cannot wait to see them. They are staying for a week (while being in D.C. for some of that week as well). That should be fun.
The girls are getting along just fine. They actually sleep on the same bed now, and the hissing has stopped. I knew they would love each other eventually!
I'll leave you with a shot of our new bed. If you look closely you will catch Lily trying to steal Tipsy's food.
I had a neuro exam, cardio exam, and clinical skills exam. Did great on them all! Now I've got the same sort of schedule again, except it's three exams in three weeks. Hopefully that makes all the difference! Neuro, respiratory/renal, and optics. After that we have four weeks without an exam. Good news except we also need to study for finals because we have five exams in three days or something crazy like that.
Anyways! What's happened in the time since we met last? A lot I must say. Here we go.
My spring break is currently in session. It started March 4th. On Friday, the boy and I decided to take a trip to Boston to see our friend, we'll call him Harvard. (It was technically Cambridge, Mass because Harvard goes to..you guessed it! Harvard Law). See, NYC is a great quick weekend trip. Two hours and you're there. Boston....not so much. It's definitely within driving distance (especially since before it would be a plane ticket plus rental car away), but trusty google maps told us the total trip time would be six hours. I thought, "Google maps is always a little slow, it'll probably be 5.5 hours at the most."
Driving there was fun. The boy has never seen NYC, and we drove right past it. He got a great look at it, and I think he was a little taken aback at how he was actually seeing NYC. We actually got to cross over from Jersey into NYC using the George Washington Bridge as well! Something I've always wanted to see.
GW Bridge.The rest of the drive consisted of me craning my neck to see the ocean for pretty much the entirety of the trip. I've never actually touched an ocean yet in my life (saw a few flying to China), so it was going to be an amazing experience when I did. I got excited a couple of times, but all of my "Oh my gosh! THERE'S THE OCEAN!"'s turned out to be bays or lakes. I could always eventually see to the other side. Once I saw on the GPS that we were getting further away from the ocean, I gave up.
The next exciting (not really) moment was when we passed into the "Boston area". See, we went through four metropolitan areas. Philly, NYC, Hartford/New Haven, CT, and Boston. I never really thought about it, but now when I do, we could have never avoided rush hour leaving at or before noon in Philly, so I should have expected it, but I didn't. We were enjoying the lovely Bostonian forests when we notice a bit more traffic. That bit turns into a TON, and this is what we're stuck looking at for eight miles {Read: ONE AND A HALF HOURS} Yes, it took us one and a half hours to go 8 miles, well 7.8 but who's counting now? This is what we got to look at for that amount of time.
We finally made it to Harvard's house after driving for 7.5 or 8 hours. We decided to relax there for the night (after eating some amazing thai food) because we knew we were going to have a big day walking around Boston the next day.We started the day walking around Harvard Law and Harvard Yard. Pretty normal campus, except they have tours going around at all hours.
After Harvard showed us around his stomping grounds we rode the train into Boston. We followed the freedom trail around for most of the day. Here are some pictures of historical stuff.
Sam Adams Grave. Second Photo: This was the church all the Declaration signers attended.
Good shot of the boys in the church. Second Photo: Boy is obviously the best photographer seeing as he completely misses the statue, but gets most of the cement in this one.
This is the outside of the church we were in.
George Washington on his pony.
We got home on Sunday. It was a great trip. Can't wait to go back when it's not so cold/windy.
Other things that are going on. Rita's opened up again. Rita's is this amazing slushie/frozen yogurt shop that mixes it all together into goodness. It's weird in Philly though because they don't call it slushie, they call it "water ice". In a Philly accent it sounds more like, wooaauuter ice. It's annoying.
I also finished a painting over spring break for my friend. It let me tap back into my creative side for a moment which was nice and relaxing.
School starts again next week. Our friends from my undergrad are coming to Philly tomorrow! I cannot wait to see them. They are staying for a week (while being in D.C. for some of that week as well). That should be fun.
The girls are getting along just fine. They actually sleep on the same bed now, and the hissing has stopped. I knew they would love each other eventually!
I'll leave you with a shot of our new bed. If you look closely you will catch Lily trying to steal Tipsy's food.
February 27, 2011
Busy
Hello all!
I've been so hideously busy lately, which is why there haven't been any new posts.
I had my Neurology exam last Monday (went well), a practical on Thursday (also went very well), and tomorrow (Monday) I have another midterm (clinical skills). I also have my Cardiology midterm on Friday.
Needless to say, I'm quite busy. I'm hoping to post Friday because that's when my spring break starts! The boy and I are heading to Boston :) Can't wait!
Updates soon!
P.S. The kitties are getting along....nicely!
I've been so hideously busy lately, which is why there haven't been any new posts.
I had my Neurology exam last Monday (went well), a practical on Thursday (also went very well), and tomorrow (Monday) I have another midterm (clinical skills). I also have my Cardiology midterm on Friday.
Needless to say, I'm quite busy. I'm hoping to post Friday because that's when my spring break starts! The boy and I are heading to Boston :) Can't wait!
Updates soon!
P.S. The kitties are getting along....nicely!
February 15, 2011
Sweet Saint Valentine
Happy {a little bit late} Valentine's Day everyone!
This Valentine's Day was a huge cooking success.
I'm sure you're wondering how I got so good at cooking in such a short amount of time from my last cooking mishap. Well, I didn't get any better. The boy cooked. That was my lovely valentine's day gift :) Much needed I may add. Homestyle cookin' was exactly what the doctor ordered after all of this studying craziness. I have a neuro anatomy/neuro pharm test Monday. Super pumped for that. Not. Boy got a cute little hand-made (with the help of photoshop) Valentine's message.
Anywho, he made a super yummy chicken pot pie, and we had caramel carrot cake as dessert.
Here are some tasty photos of the meal.
Also, an unexpected Valentine's Day present for the both of us came yesterday. Engagement photos! I have such a life-consuming amount of studying left to do before Monday, so I'll leave you with a few to look at.
We've got a million out-takes of this one.
Enjoy the love!
This Valentine's Day was a huge cooking success.
I'm sure you're wondering how I got so good at cooking in such a short amount of time from my last cooking mishap. Well, I didn't get any better. The boy cooked. That was my lovely valentine's day gift :) Much needed I may add. Homestyle cookin' was exactly what the doctor ordered after all of this studying craziness. I have a neuro anatomy/neuro pharm test Monday. Super pumped for that. Not. Boy got a cute little hand-made (with the help of photoshop) Valentine's message.
Anywho, he made a super yummy chicken pot pie, and we had caramel carrot cake as dessert.
Here are some tasty photos of the meal.
Also, an unexpected Valentine's Day present for the both of us came yesterday. Engagement photos! I have such a life-consuming amount of studying left to do before Monday, so I'll leave you with a few to look at.
We've got a million out-takes of this one.
Enjoy the love!
{Engagement Photos by the amazingly amazing Sarah Schultz Photography}
February 7, 2011
The day the lights went out
This past Sunday I decided to hit the gym with the roomie for our long run of the week. We are training for a 10 mile run, (even though we missed the deadline). But that's besides the point. Nearing the end of our workout, I receive a call from the boy. "Power went out again." (Again meaning, twice in the same week.) In the last week our complex has experienced three fire alarms and two power outages.
Now, I don't mean to quote fairy tales here, but come on...hasn't anyone heard of 'The Boy who cried Wolf'? I think it's safe to say that if there were ever a real emergency here, 98.76% of the occupants would sit inside and keep going about their business. Of course during the first thousand fire alarms, the boy and I freaked out like the world's ending, and took them very seriously every time. This, of course, included getting shredded to bits by Lily cat, shoving her in her kennel, and trudging down nine floors of stairs. Just to get downstairs and realize it was fake, or in a different wing, or a burnt pie, or anything that is the smallest thing ever to set off a fire alarm. I can now see why our neighbors just peek their heads out, check the corridor for smoke, and once they see nothing, they close it and try to drown out the sound of the alarm. Which, by the way, sounds like a semi-truck mixed with the loudest, shrillest beeping you've ever heard.
Back on track. After boy informs me of the situation, I think, 'Great. Three o' clock on Superbowl Sunday. Superbowl starts in 2.5 hours. The Superbowl, mind you, that the Green Bay Packers are going to be a part of, and being from Wisconsin, it was required to watch. No power. Boy won't be happy.' I just hoped that by the time we get home, it's fixed.
Nope. We walk into our lobby only to realize the elevators don't work, and there are people stuck inside. Glad we weren't part of that mess. We walk across the entry way to the stairs, and this is when I regretted running that extra half mile. Nine floors up, and we are almost hyperventilating and pretty sure we are going to die. We made mental notes to run the stairs more often as cross-training. We make it into our apartment, and realize our water isn't working that well. I thought it was the worst thing ever, and boy had to help me put it in perspective. At least it wasn't a zombie apocalypse. I find a way to sponge bathe in the shower, and I decided it was time to study with the guys upstairs, three floors.
I walk out of our apartment, study gear in hand, and this is when I realized I am still afraid of the dark.
That's a dark tunnel of doom right there. And this was the corridor I had to traverse to get to the stairs.
Now if that doesn't scream horror movie, I don't know what does. I felt like I had just entered into a scene from Left 4 Dead.
I get brave enough to walk up the stairs. There was zero light, and I was using my tiny little blackberry screen to guide me. I was waiting for the zombie to magically appear, but it didn't happen. I finally make it to their floor, and walk down their hallway. Somehow I ended up behind someone with a flashlight, so he guided me halfway, until we split paths. Their hallway was completely dark, and silent, so I tried to get to their room as soon as humanly possible. And then, it happened...
Something grabbed my ankles and grunted. I was pretty sure I had just met my zombie. Turns out, it was just the guys I was going to study with.
I'm planning my revenge as we speak.
Now, I don't mean to quote fairy tales here, but come on...hasn't anyone heard of 'The Boy who cried Wolf'? I think it's safe to say that if there were ever a real emergency here, 98.76% of the occupants would sit inside and keep going about their business. Of course during the first thousand fire alarms, the boy and I freaked out like the world's ending, and took them very seriously every time. This, of course, included getting shredded to bits by Lily cat, shoving her in her kennel, and trudging down nine floors of stairs. Just to get downstairs and realize it was fake, or in a different wing, or a burnt pie, or anything that is the smallest thing ever to set off a fire alarm. I can now see why our neighbors just peek their heads out, check the corridor for smoke, and once they see nothing, they close it and try to drown out the sound of the alarm. Which, by the way, sounds like a semi-truck mixed with the loudest, shrillest beeping you've ever heard.
Back on track. After boy informs me of the situation, I think, 'Great. Three o' clock on Superbowl Sunday. Superbowl starts in 2.5 hours. The Superbowl, mind you, that the Green Bay Packers are going to be a part of, and being from Wisconsin, it was required to watch. No power. Boy won't be happy.' I just hoped that by the time we get home, it's fixed.
Nope. We walk into our lobby only to realize the elevators don't work, and there are people stuck inside. Glad we weren't part of that mess. We walk across the entry way to the stairs, and this is when I regretted running that extra half mile. Nine floors up, and we are almost hyperventilating and pretty sure we are going to die. We made mental notes to run the stairs more often as cross-training. We make it into our apartment, and realize our water isn't working that well. I thought it was the worst thing ever, and boy had to help me put it in perspective. At least it wasn't a zombie apocalypse. I find a way to sponge bathe in the shower, and I decided it was time to study with the guys upstairs, three floors.
I walk out of our apartment, study gear in hand, and this is when I realized I am still afraid of the dark.
That's a dark tunnel of doom right there. And this was the corridor I had to traverse to get to the stairs.
Now if that doesn't scream horror movie, I don't know what does. I felt like I had just entered into a scene from Left 4 Dead. I get brave enough to walk up the stairs. There was zero light, and I was using my tiny little blackberry screen to guide me. I was waiting for the zombie to magically appear, but it didn't happen. I finally make it to their floor, and walk down their hallway. Somehow I ended up behind someone with a flashlight, so he guided me halfway, until we split paths. Their hallway was completely dark, and silent, so I tried to get to their room as soon as humanly possible. And then, it happened...
Something grabbed my ankles and grunted. I was pretty sure I had just met my zombie. Turns out, it was just the guys I was going to study with.
I'm planning my revenge as we speak.
January 22, 2011
The kitten that got away
I love cats. I especially love my Lily cat.
As all of my fellow students know, we've been getting bombarded with furniture emails from third year students who are about to go on their rotations. It seems like every day there are five to ten more emails from students selling furniture. I usually just delete them, unless they mention "free", but Tuesday one stood out. It was entitled "kitten". I knew I should probably just delete it, but the animal lover in me didn't allow that to happen. Reluctantly, I opened up the email, and discovered that a third year was giving away her just found, stray kitten. She couldn't take it with her on her rotations, so before she gave it to a humane society, she was checking in with the student body for interest. Humane societies are great, however, in huge cities like Philly, they euthanize over 12,000 cats/kittens a year. That's 33 a day. I sure didn't want to be the reason this kitten was euthanized.
I contacted the student, and we made arrangements to meet the kitten. She sounded incredibly sweet. She was calico, and very little. I made appointments to get her spayed, vaccinated, and tested for feline leukemia (the waiting lists for these things are ridiculous, so I figured I'd set it up now because I could always cancel) at a local low cost vet clinic.
**Which, side note, are amazing things in large cities. Low cost vet clinics. $25 to spay/neuter, pain meds included. $20 distemper and rabies vaccines. $20 Feline leukemia testing. Yes, please. In Wisconsin this was easily over $200.
Back on track. I was set to see this little girl on Thursday. Later that day, the "seller" texted me and told me that she found a friend to take care of her until she got back from rotations. That way she could keep her. I admit, I'd much rather have someone take care of Lily instead of give her away, but I was still a bit bummed.
To be fair, it was probably not the smartest choice for us because it would cause even more problems with transportation over the holidays, but I was willing to deal with it.
I'm happy that the little girl will get to stay with her owner, and I wish them all the best.
Now I just have to get this idea of a second kitten out of my head. Good thing I have school to distract me.
As all of my fellow students know, we've been getting bombarded with furniture emails from third year students who are about to go on their rotations. It seems like every day there are five to ten more emails from students selling furniture. I usually just delete them, unless they mention "free", but Tuesday one stood out. It was entitled "kitten". I knew I should probably just delete it, but the animal lover in me didn't allow that to happen. Reluctantly, I opened up the email, and discovered that a third year was giving away her just found, stray kitten. She couldn't take it with her on her rotations, so before she gave it to a humane society, she was checking in with the student body for interest. Humane societies are great, however, in huge cities like Philly, they euthanize over 12,000 cats/kittens a year. That's 33 a day. I sure didn't want to be the reason this kitten was euthanized.I contacted the student, and we made arrangements to meet the kitten. She sounded incredibly sweet. She was calico, and very little. I made appointments to get her spayed, vaccinated, and tested for feline leukemia (the waiting lists for these things are ridiculous, so I figured I'd set it up now because I could always cancel) at a local low cost vet clinic.
**Which, side note, are amazing things in large cities. Low cost vet clinics. $25 to spay/neuter, pain meds included. $20 distemper and rabies vaccines. $20 Feline leukemia testing. Yes, please. In Wisconsin this was easily over $200.
Back on track. I was set to see this little girl on Thursday. Later that day, the "seller" texted me and told me that she found a friend to take care of her until she got back from rotations. That way she could keep her. I admit, I'd much rather have someone take care of Lily instead of give her away, but I was still a bit bummed.
To be fair, it was probably not the smartest choice for us because it would cause even more problems with transportation over the holidays, but I was willing to deal with it.
I'm happy that the little girl will get to stay with her owner, and I wish them all the best.
Now I just have to get this idea of a second kitten out of my head. Good thing I have school to distract me.
January 17, 2011
WINTER
Most people can't say that winter is their favorite season, but I have come to ♥ it. Mostly
because I took up snowboarding three years ago, and fell in love with it.
This past weekend about 20 friends from school and I went on our first Class of 2014 Ski/Board trip. We went to the Poconos mountain range, and I was so pumped to finally see and board down real mountains!
This however, was what the reality of the Poconos Mountains really are.
Beautiful, yes. Breathtaking...no. 12,000 feet of fresh powder...no.
{Source}
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because I took up snowboarding three years ago, and fell in love with it.
This past weekend about 20 friends from school and I went on our first Class of 2014 Ski/Board trip. We went to the Poconos mountain range, and I was so pumped to finally see and board down real mountains!
This however, was what the reality of the Poconos Mountains really are.
Beautiful, yes. Breathtaking...no. 12,000 feet of fresh powder...no.Regardless of the reality of what Pennsylvania considers to be "mountains", I couldn't have been more excited to finally get some boarding time in this winter.
We went to Blue Mountain Resort. It was a blast. The trails were 100% better than the trails in Wisconsin, and despite the fact that the "mountain" was similar to the bluff sizes in Wisconsin, each trail seemed to last quite a bit longer.
I couldn't have asked for a better day, and even though some bro rammed into me while he was trying to get some sick air off of a little cream puff of snow; it was still a ton of fun. I agree that we need to take advantage of our spring break, and go back.
Photos thanks to Baby Tiggah a.k.a. Vitto
We went to Blue Mountain Resort. It was a blast. The trails were 100% better than the trails in Wisconsin, and despite the fact that the "mountain" was similar to the bluff sizes in Wisconsin, each trail seemed to last quite a bit longer.
I couldn't have asked for a better day, and even though some bro rammed into me while he was trying to get some sick air off of a little cream puff of snow; it was still a ton of fun. I agree that we need to take advantage of our spring break, and go back.
Photos thanks to Baby Tiggah a.k.a. Vitto{Source}
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