happy december!

Welcome, December!

You've been sorely missed.


Along with my favorite month of the year, I'm also welcoming several other things.

Exhibit A: Crazy unseasonal weather.

Um, hello MO. Where is your 30 degree temps? When I go pick out my Christmas tree, I want to wear a hat and mittens. Not shorts and a t-shirt. I'm sorry, this is ridiculous. 

Exhibit B: My biannual sinus infection.

I told Sam on Thursday evening, "My nose is running a little bit, I think I might be getting sick." By 2:00 in the morning on Friday my throat was killing me and it's been downhill from there. Unfortunately there is no rest for the weary, and since I'm still on orientation at work, I cannot miss a day. In fact, even if I wasn't on orientation at work, I'm pretty sure a sinus infection doesn't cut it in the "calling in sick" realm when you're a nurse. Unless you hemorrhaging blood and/or other bodily floods, you best be going to work. Or if you have pinkeye (I don't make the rules).

I blame Exhibit A for said sinus infection. I tend to get them when the weather changes (ie: beginning of spring and fall) but due to global warming I will apparently be getting them much more frequently in the future. Awesome.

 Another side effect of my sinus infection (which I will point out here is not contagious):

That's right. Sam is so afraid of getting sick that he has been sleeping on a blow up mattress in our spare room/his office. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if he said he was going to his parents to spend the night to ward off all infections. Apparently it's hard to take law school finals when sick? Who knew.



In other news:


We got a new kitchen rug, and I'm obsessed. I'm also obsessed with World Market. I'd never been in one until like a month ago and it's the bomb.com

My dogs are still the cutest dogs on the planet. You know it's true. 

Holiday cups at Starbucks make me irrationally happy. So do those nifty little desk organizers in the background. I so appreciate the fact that all ICU nurses seem to share my love of efficiency and organization. 

 I recently learned that my Grandmother (who is also the bomb.com) loves pictures of dead and/or leafless trees. I too share this love. I also love sunsets. And farm fields. And back roads (can you tell I'm homesick?).

Speaking of things that are the bomb.com, so are my brothers. I love them both so much.  Even if they would rather sit down in the basement and play xbox when I'm in town than hang out with me and watch grey's anatomy. I mean really.

 We were getting family photos done but really, I think we did just as good of a job (if not better, ahem), with our iPhones.

Well I think that's the end of this rambling post. If you stuck it out this far, let's just say you can color me impressed. Adios, amigos!

so what...

...if I'd rather watch ABC Family because The Princess Diaries is on instead of watching the Mizzou-Georgia game?


...if I admit to actually watching The Princess Diaries quite frequently? 


...if I had a long to-do list for my first day off in a very long time and instead I watched Sweet Home Alabama and then read one blog (Rockstar Ronan) for 4 hours and bawled my eyes out?


...if I instantly judged the guy at the grocery store from a local med school because he was wearing his white coat at 8:45 in the morning? Dude, you're not impressing ANYONE in this grocery store right now. In fact, you probably just made yourself a target.


...if I made a cake when I knew I'd be the only one home today?


...if I don't love my job every. single. day?


...if I cried last night because Sam burnt my grilled cheese? (I did, and it was totally irrational, and even while it was happening I thought to myself, you're lucky you have someone who will make you dinner at 9:00 when you're exhausted and grumpy and won't even tell him what you want).


...if I make up reasons to go to Target because it has the closest Starbucks to our apartment?

april showers bring...

Some of you may be bummed that the local forecast looks more like this:

The Weather Channel forecast for my zip this week.

than like this:

The Weather Channel forecast for Phoenix.

But I'm pretty happy that they are calling for some rain!

Wanna know why??


Because I don't get to wear these beauties nearly enough!

Let's face it. If you got to wear shiny pink rain boots every time it rained, you'd want it to rain all the time, too!

That being said, be safe in the inclement weather, don't go storm chasing, and pray that the sun comes out for a certain someone's big day on Saturday!

pre-test randoms

I have a final tomorrow in my Community Health class (ugh), so instead of studying...that's right, I'm facebooking, blogging, and g-chatting w/ one of my bffs!


Ready for 10 random thoughts in 10 minutes? Thought so.

1) I need to start studying for my boards. Really, really, really need to get on that.

2) If I don't get an interview for a job in St. Louis I will be a) devastated and b) not seeing Sam for 2 months, most likely. It's one of those things where the stars have aligned and decided that we should have "off" weekends at different times, and with his finals coming up...it's not looking great. Good thing I'm so busy right now!

3) I've been watching American Idol and this gentleman:

source

is my favorite. He plays the piano! and sings! so it's a huge shocker that I love him. He reminds me a little bit of someone else I love (Andrew...).

4) I went out on the town the other night and saw a lot of random people...a friend from school...my brother (hello, awkward)...and one of my college roomies (Kendra)! Oh how I've missed her!

Not from that night, but isn't she gorgeous?!

5) I just discovered that my other college roomie has a blog! It's much more polished than mine. If you are interested in healthy living, Michelle is an AMAZING inspiration! She is an avid runner and if I had a tenth of the motivation she does to run (and eat healthy), I'd be much further along in my "500 miles in 2012" plan.

Roommates all 4 years of undergrad...I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since we last lived together!

6) I can't stop thinking about the Hunger Games. So many people didn't like it and it makes me wonder if I overlooked a lot of details in the books. I did read them really fast (I finished the first in 5 hours), so I may need to go back and reread them!

7) I got to go to A's dress fitting this weekend and she looked GORGEOUS. I can't wait for the actual wedding!!!

8) I came down with my semi-annual sinus infection this week. I hate how it knocks me out of commission for a few days. I need to learn how to combat them faster since doctors usually won't prescribe me antibiotics ("It's not severe enough." Well, sir, maybe not for YOU), and I have a feeling that my next job won't be as flexible as my last in terms of sick days.

9) I am on the hunt for a new series to read...or even just a new book. Any suggestions?

10) I should maybe start studying for that final now....

Oh what a week!

When it rains, it pours.

Seriously. It's apparently monsoon season here in Missouri, and it has rained for like the last 5 days. I shouldn't complain because it's at least not snow, but c'mon. Where are my beautiful spring days?

Taken on my run by the lake this week.

On Tuesday I went out to start my car and whaddya know? It didn't start. Luckily my parents were out of town and my brother was in town so I had 3 other cars to choose from. I came home from class and whaddya know? It started right up. Needless to say, I could tell that something was wrong and that something was definitely NOT the battery. I know the difference after having a car that had to be jumped roughly 37 times in one semester at Mizzou.

I had my community health rotation this week, which meant I was following a nurse around in my car Wednesday and Thursday. My car held out until I was on my way to meet a friend at the Plaza yesterday...went into Quik Trip to change out of my professional clothes, come back out...and my car is, for a lack of a better term, dunzo (Laguna Beach anyone?). My brother came to try and jump it, that doesn't work (remember how I said I KNEW it wasn't a battery problem?) and we ended up having to have it towed 30 miles back go Smithville. Yikes. What a hefty tow bill that was...

Anyway, one new starter later, my car is good as new (minus the broken AC...).

It would be easy to say that this broken down car ruined my week, and normally I would let it. However, a lot of excellent things happened this week, so I'm going to let those overshadow the bad :).


First, my mom's tumors are still shrinking! Woo hoo. For those of you that don't know, my mom was diagnosed with melanoma 6 or so years ago (when I was a freshman at mizzou), and after some ups and downs, she was cancer-free by the time I was in my fall semester of my senior year. Unfortunately, cancer fights dirty and it came back with a vengeance during the spring of my senior year. Fortunately, she had some an amazing doctor at KUmed (the only time I will praise KU is in terms of the hospital) who linked her into NIH, where she's been going since August of 2010. Now she's pretty darn close to cancer-free again. If you know anything about metastatic melanoma, you know that's pretty awesome.

Second....

May the odds ever be in your favor!

Happy Hunger Games! I love that my nursing friends nerd out about all of this stuff as much as I do, and we went to the midnight premiere. I really liked the movie, though I know others who did not.


That's about all the excitement I can take for one week. I'm going to chalk all of the rambling in this post to the fact that I only got about 4 hours asleep last night. Well worth it to see The HG at midnight!

strange but true facts

Do you ever stop to think about the qualities that make you you? I was thinking about this a lot this past weekend because I drove to St. Louis (and back!) so I had a solid 8 hours of thinking time. Dangerous when you're freaked out about a lot of things.

1) I think a lot about getting in car accidents. This stems from the fact that I got in a pretty bad one in Chicago one time (luckily everyone was fine, albeit sore and shaken up for days). It was pretty much all my fault, and I'm a much much MUCH more conscientious driver now than I was in my early driving days. I flinch every time the person in front of me even taps on their brakes.

2) Checking my email is like a nervous tick. Pretty self-explanatory. Replying to my emails? Not a nervous tick....

3) I'm terrified of deer. Terrified. Keep them far far far away from me.

4) I get irrationally excited about really little things...and those little things include using up post-it notes, pens, and the holy grail: chapstick. Just did that for the first time EVER today. Usually I lose it before I can use it all.

5) I don't really like much on TV, so I usually just watch Friends on DVD. I've watched the whole series through at least 5 times in the past 3 years.

6) I'm intense. There isn't a really good way to describe it otherwise. I'm lucky enough to have people in my life who get that, who appreciate it, and who love me anyway.

7) Silence is NOT golden. I can't sit in a room without the TV on or music playing. I can't fall asleep without something playing in the background. Harry Potter on tape is my weapon of choice for falling asleep. I don't even care if that makes me weird.

What makes you you??

dear blogoverse...

I'm sorry I haven't written lately.

You see, I'm stressed. Maybe you got that from my last post about insomnia. I'm happy to report that the exercise and sheer exhaustion from school are fully kicking in so I've been sleeping better. I'm going to save you the bore about the things I'm stressed about, because I could type for a really long time and then you would also be stressed at the end of the post.


So what's makin' me happy lately?

This handsome man (preparing for an afternoon at the Missouri History Museum).

My favorite cat, Ms. Maddie.

A fun new hat from J. Crew (on super sale!).

Trivial Pursuit with my parents...Sam and I got "trounced" and by "trounced" I mean we lost at the very end after my parents got super, super lucky ;). At least we filled our whole pie! I call that a success.

A trip to the American Girl store with my cousin for some doll beauty care.

No lie-- Ms. Molly McIntire joined the party. Pretty sure these people thought I was a crazy 24 year old who still played with dolls...In my defense, it's not my fault that when I was 7, Zach unbraided her braids and they have NEVER looked the same. Now she's perfect. And not to be touched by anyone, ever. Okay fine. I'm a creepy 24 year old (who does NOT play with dolls).

This cutie who is getting oh so big.

Pretty winter sunsets.

Knitting projects.

This is an awful iphone pic..sigh.. but this sweet puppy makes me happy because SHE is so happy to see me :). 

Why are you happy lately?

insomnia.

When I was a baby, my parents took me to my first check up and the doctor panicked. He said, "how often are you feeding her?! She isn't gaining enough weight." My mom replied, "Well, I just feed her when she wakes up. She sleeps a lot."

I slept all. the. time. They had to start waking me up (you are never supposed to wake a sleeping baby, or so I hear) to feed me. If it was dark outside, I was asleep. Forget those sleepless nights for my parents, those didn't come until Zachary came along. If the sun went down at 5:00, so did I.

Which brings me to now. I'm still ready for bed super early. Tonight I was in bed, with the lights out, at 9:30. What happens is that...

1) I am stressed. I like to play off that school isn't that hard for me, and it's not. College sucked big time because chemistry and biochem were like taking Mandarin Chinese lessons for me, but otherwise I've been blessed as far as learning goes. It's always come pretty easy. However, being in nursing school means that I have to worry about and take boards at the end of the year, and that terrifies me. I didn't do great (understatement) on the MCAT, which was the last big test that meant something about my life. Doing poorly changed the entire course of my life. What if I don't pass boards? I can't change my entire life again, nor do I want to do so. I actually like nursing.

2) My brother listens to weird stuff all night. I love my brother dearly, but seriously, it's weird stuff. Like video game soundtracks or something. I know what you're saying, "just close your door." Can't--I get claustrophobic in a room with the door shut. No one in my family sleeps with their door shut. Nick tries to (which would alleviate the weird music thing), but since he has epilepsy I like to be able to hear if he is having a seizure (which has happened more than once).

3) Bella still wakes up in the middle of the night. I'm a really light sleeper, so the minute she jumps off my mom's bed (yes, she will not sleep with me), I'm awake. I feel as if this bodes well for my maternal instincts, but it's so annoying.

4) Sometimes I have to get up for clinicals at 4:00 A.M. If that was the case, I'd be up for the day right now. However, I DON'T HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW and I'm still awake. 

It's no wonder I'm awake for an hour or two every night in the middle of the night. I'm going on an hour and a half right now and I'm really annoyed. I thought I'd been sleeping better since I'd been working out, but that my friends is a falsehood.


Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone take anything for this problem? I'm thinking of trying out melatonin since it's more natural than other things OTC. There unfortunately isn't a solution for shutting your brain off, except maybe meditation, but I've never been good at sitting still. And my brain never shuts off.

pre-test randoms

Tomorrow is our first exam of the semester, so you know what that means... time for 10 random thoughts in 10 minutes! I technically haven't started studying for the test yet, so I am not really taking a study break, but oh well.


1. Right now it is 60 degrees (and the sun is almost down!). So unseasonably warm for Missouri this time of year. 11 months ago we were buried under 2 feet of snow (literally) in what was to be known as Snowpocalypse 2011. I have my window open, my mom is grilling, and Bella and Albert are running around in the backyard and if I close my eyes, I can make believe that it is May 12, 2012 and that I am done studying for tests for school (and just have the NCLEX to worry about!).

2. During my shopping trip with S & J to the Plaza, we hit up Anthropologie and I scored this adorable mug...

...for only $4! What a steal. It is so cute and I wish now I had bought them for everyone I know to give out on their next birthdays. I also wish that I had more than one name so I could have at least 3 or 4 of them.

3. I never did a Christmas/birthday post about everything I was lucky enough to receive. I'm so fortunate to have the money to by myself things I NEED throughout the year, and receive things I just dream about during the holidays. I got everything on my list (did I mention how blessed I am?) including some pretty fly rainboots that I'm really excited about:

4. My brothers are funny.

5. I rented "Friends With Benefits" to watch while studying (super conducive to studying, right?) and now that I know JT is engaged to JBiel, I'm kind of wondering if it'll ruin the onscreen chemistry for me between Mila and Justin.


6. I read The Hunger Games trilogy over break...in 3 days, to be exact. SO GOOD. Not quite HP standards, in my opinion, but if you know how much I love Harry and his friends, you're probably not surprised by that. It was leaps and bounds better than Twilight though. Not hard to do. Don't get me wrong, I am totally on the Twilight bandwagon, but let's face it: not the most well-written story in the world. And Katniss is such a BA heroine (albeit the weird name) , whereas Bella is pretty wishy-washy.

7. My hair is getting to the length where I stop wanting to grow it out and instead want to cut it to this length:

YUCK. This is also maybe the only time my hair has been shorter than S's.

8. I get to see my second true love, Andrew McMahon, sing live w/ my BFF A in 15 days.

 
9. If I spent as much time studying as I do writing pointless blog posts or reorganizing my closet/bookshelf, I would probably get 100s on all of my exams.

10. Yesterday I overdid it a little bit when I was running, and I thought I was going to have all of my muscles cramp up at night. Lesson learned. Only do what I'm ready to do.

Time to study!

Random Sunday

I have a huge test tomorrow morning, and naturally instead of studying I'm doing all other sorts of things.  Therefore, I'm reimplementing the "10 random thoughts in 10 minutes" posts and getting some things off my mind.

1. It bothers me when others don't mind if things aren't organized. I like for everything to have it's place, and it bothers me when it's not in that place. The other day I opened up our "phone book drawer" in our kitchen, and there was SO MUCH STUFF in it: takeout menus, birth certificates, price lists for various salons around town, rulers, scissors, etc. Guess what WASN'T in it...the phone book. Drives me INSANE.

2. Albert smells like vanilla. Apparently he got a bath right before my parents picked him up, but seriously, he smells like Bath and Body Works "Warm Vanilla Sugar". Not a super masculine smell.

3. I despise studying. Considering I've decided to become a professional student, one would thing I would learn to enjoy it. Not so much.

4. I have this thing about books. It's really hard for me to get rid of them, even if I hated them. I can usually find some good in every book, but there have been a few in recent years that I thought to myself "Why are you putting yourself through this torture?!" on page 15. That being said, I never get rid of them when it comes time for a garage sale. Why do I do that? I barely have enough room as it is for the books I DO like. I need to remember this next time I'm purging my room.

5. I need to learn how to crochet. One of my childhood friends make super cute crocheted hats and sells them, and then donates 10% to a different charity each month. Even better! (Check out Crochet4Cause on Facebook).

via iHeartOrganizing

6. I bought some really fun knobs from Anthropologie (the blue one in front) when I was in Houston (which reminds me..I still haven't blogged about Houston. Sorry Anna!) with the intention of having my dad hang them up for me so I could hang my necklaces on them. Haven't done that either. They are currently taking up space on my desk. Sad.

7. Jackie and Sara come visit so sooon! One month and 5 days.

8. Literature reviews are super lame.

9. Potty training a dog is not fun. Especially when your mom says "here, watch him real quick while I get dressed" at 6:45 in the morning, and the next thing you know the dog has peed all over your comforter. Awesome.

10. Snail mail is underrated. I LOVE snail mail. Let me know if you want to be pen pals :)


What's been on your mind lately?

school. sucks.

via

"It means no worries."

happiness is...

I've been in bed for about 48 hours now thanks to a rogue Limeade from Topsy's. Sam told me he heard from his mom that there have been some recent E. coli breakouts, so I'm fairly certain that's the culprit, but regardless, I've been stuck in my bed all weekend, which sounds so great when you're out running around but is MISERABLE when 5 blankets (including one that is electric), some flannel PJ pants and your warmest socks still aren't making you feel better.


So what am I doing to make myself feel better? Showing you the things that DO make me happy.

 Puppy snuggles.

 Gourmet cupcakes, yum.

This picture.

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha (we're so close, so so close).

Down comforters.

My uggs. Don't judge.




What makes you happy? And hope you all had a better weekend than a bout with food poisoning! Wish me luck with the chicken my mom made for dinner...eek.

Dear 18-year-old me...

Remember how I told you I had epic (EPIC) writer's block lately?

Still have it. So I'm stealing a blog idea from another blog I frequent. She did hers at 16, but I think my 18 year old self needs to know a few more things.



Dear 18-year-old me...

...it's okay that your hair is brown. It looks better that color. Give up on any sort of blonde NOW.

...take advanced chem your senior year. Don't be lazy and take a study hall. While goofing around might be fun, retaking three different chemistry classes is NOT.

...Hollister is not where it's at.

...keep up your exercising like you're always, ALWAYS going to play soccer.

...in 2 years, you're going to go to Mizzou. You're going to love it and love the people you meet even more. Therefore, stop crying right now and get excited.

...don't drive to Chicago.

...don't resent the time you spend with your family. In a few short months, you'll wish you hadn't.

...when your dad tells you that you won't even be friends with half of these people in a few years, he's right. Listen to him. You're only actually friends with 3 of them. The rest are now acquaintances.

...you're doing a good job not giving in to peer pressure, but you don't do so hot after graduation. Withstand that pressure and you'll find yourself in a lot less trouble.

...your prom dress is pretty. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

...cherish your night drives with the windows down. You'll still remember them and the girls you danced with in the car.

Love,

23-year-old me.

technology overload?

I am more or less obsessed with Apple and every single one of their products. For example, I currently have this:

And this:

AND this:

And now I'm dying to buy this:

At what point does one say enough is enough? I think I would use the iPad, I truly do. Do I NEED it? No, probably not. Do I want it? Yes, desperately. It would be so convenient to take back and forth to class, especially considering my books are weigh about 30 pounds a piece (I'm not joking, I've weighed one of them and it was 12 pounds). I am, however, completely broke and am living off student loans. Some of my other friends (not mentioning any names) tend to forget that loans are something that you actually have to pay back. I do NOT forget this...but the iPad is so pretty, and so lightweight, and so pretty, and so functional.

I'm probably going to be able to talk myself into this one.