Life as a College Graduate

Too far ahead

2012-02-15T13:28:00.002-05:00

One lesson that I don't think I have fully learned yet is when I need to realize that I'm too far ahead of myself. Often times, okay most of the time, I jump the gun and make decisions or do things without fully thinking things through. The odd thing is that I typically only do this in my personal life. I'm pretty methodical about making decisions/plans-of-actions when it comes to work. There's a lot more thinking involved. However, in my personal life, forget it. Most of the time I act without fully thinking about it. Maybe it's because it's not really my job on the line.

All I have to say is thank God for parents and thank God for Ryan! Those three really put things in perspective for me. I guess I've always been stubborn and insisted on learning things the hard way, whether it be burning my finger on the stove (I have a tiny scar on my thumb from when I was a baby), learning that secrets don't make friends in middle school (this remark means more to my mom and sister), or getting a 4-year degree in a subject that probably won't have a huge impact on my future now. At least with my parents and Ryan, I haven't done anything incredibly stupid or irrational. They keep me in check and grounded.

So, why am I writing this post? Well...you now know a little bit more about me. And to thank my parents and Ryan. So, if you hear me talking about some crazy idea or some unrealistic plan for a 23-year-old, tell me to really think about it. Or ask me questions that I should have answers to. It'll save me some worrying/headaches/heartaches. I'll try to do the same for everyone else too!

When I was a kid...

2012-02-10T16:23:00.002-05:00

I didn't have Facebook. Facebook wasn't introduced until I was in high school and even then, you had to have a college email address to sign up for it. When I was in middle and high school, MySpace was the big social networking site. Even then, my Myspace was so boring that I hardly ever updated it. All I can say is thank God that when I went through my little, rebellion stage of my life (8th grade might I add) I didn't have access to anything like Facebook. Watch below. Please be aware that there is cursing in this video, so if you are sensitive to it you might not want to watch it.

Now, I'm not going to pretend that I didn't talk bad about my parents when I was going through that stage of my life (sorry, Mom and Dad), but at least I didn't do it where hundreds/thousands/millions of people could see it! And...I remember one time (and she may remember others lol) I talked back to my mom, but I never talked back to them the way this girl made it sound! Even when I was mad at my parents, I still said, "Yes/No, ma'am/sir". It was expected of me. Now, as I grow up (wow this goes back to my last post) I have realized that parenting has changed a lot. You can tell by the way high schoolers and new college students act. Let me tell you, I would never get away with half of the stuff they get away with today, even if I tried as a grown adult! I don't know; I guess the world is just getting crazier.

I wanted this for four reasons. First to say kudos to this father! Second to thank my parents for raising me right! Third, as my age group has begun to get married and have babies, I feel like videos like this should be preparation as to what's to come. Let's remember how we were raised so things don't come to the way it is shown in the video. Lastly, I wanted to post this for my future daughter and/or son. Please someone out there show this video to them. Let it be known that if they want to act crazy like this girl did, they are going to receive the same punishment. The only difference: it'll be both Ryan and I shooting that laptop with a full box of ammo each! ;)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Too old

2012-02-09T10:27:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong decade. I mean I'm only 23 and I feel like sometimes I act or even have responsibilities of a 30 something year old.

Why did this feeling come up all of a sudden? Well it's a lot of things. For example, sitting in a meeting as an alumna and just watching others moving forward with an organization is just weird. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that I'm needed as a sounding board, but it's just weird. Also, escorting a student to the clinic because of a small chemical burn makes me feel like a mom. I mean, I am only a few years older than the student!

I don't know. Maybe it's also because people call me miss before my name, especially the graduate students in the office call me Miss Jillian and a lot of them are older than me. It's just weird.

I guess this is just a feeling that I will have to live with and forget trying to fight it. It's not going to change any time soon or as I get older. Just a thought.

No Flu

2012-02-08T15:25:00.002-05:00

I thought this was cute and thought I should share.

Via: TakePart.com/Contagion

Craft Project

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

Hello, world!

I have completed a craft project in the spirit of Valentine's Day!

This goes along with one of my resolutions: Don't just like it, do it! I found this online and thought it was really pretty. I currently have it in my office to 1) bring in some more artwork in my life 2) bring a different kind of light other than the fluorescent lighting above. Anyway, it was a fairly simple project, but I think it looks awesome.

With a suggestion from my mother, I will take orders for a reproduction of this piece for a small price. In addition, all of the proceeds from a sale of a piece similar will go to the Mission of Hope. Please comment or email me if you would some more information about getting one!

Valentine's Day: Love or Hate?

2012-02-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Note: I am cheating this week, simply because I'm too tired. lol. Anyway, I wrote this post about two years ago and I think it is relevant for today with Valentine's Day coming up. Please keep in mind that this is a re-post so not all of the events detailed are from my current life. :)

Some of you may be confused by my title since most of the time when people see or hear the words "Valentine's Day" they often associate it with love, not hate. I have come to see this slowly progressing to Valentine's Day as something regarded as hate.

Last Friday, one of my classmates was wearing a shirt saying "I'm so over Valentine's Day". She said that she got the t-shirt at Target for $4 and she believes it's true. My professor took a quick poll. About 25% of people admitted to "being over Valentine's Day", the rest admitted to being indifferent to the holiday, and then there's me, who did not raise my hand at all. I LOVE Valentine's Day! I love every bit of it. I am actually excited to work the weekend of Valentine's Day at the hotel because I get to help set up all that romantic stuff and see couples together. Ryan and I are having a small, quiet Valentine's Day, but I will eat up every minute of it. I send cards to family for Valentine's Day. I will probably get my Littles something for Valentine's Day. I almost bought cheesy Valentine's card that you give out in elementary school to all of my Preview students and co-workers (I still might!). If I could get everyone a little note for the holiday I would.

Most people assume that I like Valentine's Day because I've been in a relationship for almost 7 years and that we are happy and very much in love. This is not the case because I have always loved Valentine's Day. Many people say that those who love/enjoy Valentine's Day are "disillusioned" by the Hallmark created holiday and that there shouldn't be just one day to say "I love you" or celebrate love. Many people now regard Valentine's Day as "Single Awareness Day (SAD)" because they believe that the holiday is only meant for couples.

These three statements make me very sad. First couple statements: Jillian, you only love Valentine's Day because you are in a relationship. Valentine's Day is only for couples and should be renames "Single Awareness Day". False! Ever since I was little, my parents, my sister and I would always do something special on Valentine's Day. Every one got cards for one another. Chocolates and flowers were always exchanged and there was always a special dinner involved. I distinctly remember one year that Mom and Dad gave my sister and I each a ruby ring in honor of Valentine's Day. This day wasn't about love between two people in a relationship (husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, etc.). This day was a celebration of love between family members for my family. This Valentine's Day, even though I won't be at home to celebrate, we will exchange cards and maybe even flowers, but it will still be a special day to remember our love for one another as family. For me, it also extends to my friends. Many of my friends are considered family to me. I also have another family of which it is completely acceptable to call each other Brother. These special bonds, for me, are also remembered especially during this holiday.

Second statement: We shouldn't have just one day to celebrate love or say "I love you". It should be everyday. Ok. True and False. True, everyday we should take the time to tell someone that you love that you love them. Makes sense. However, why is it so bad that we have one day to make that opportunity so obvious? I mean let's look at it. All holidays are like this. Why do we have one day to celebrate the birth of Christ? What do we have one day to honor the crucifixion? Why do we have only one day where it is appropriate to dress up in costumes? Why do we only have one day when its okay to wear green head to toe? Why is it okay that we only celebrate the founding of our country on one day? Do ya get my point now? Having a special day doesn't mean that this is the one and only day that we should do anything. The holiday is more like an awareness day, and provides an opportunity to be "socially" appropriate.

So, back to the point of my Valentine's Day post. On the weekend of the holiday (because most people are not even going to celebrate on the actual holiday since it is on a Sunday), I will be lovey dovey and romantic and extra loving and extra kind because I love that this is one day where I can do so and not be looked upon like I'm crazy. I will greet every hotel guest with a smile and glimmer in my eye that they have to opportunity to spend a special day at our hotel. I will hug and kiss my boyfriend and let him know how much I appreciate, love, and respect him. I will call my parents, my grandmother, and my sister to tell them "Happy Valentine's Day and I love you". I will let each of my friends that I see during that time how much they mean to me. I will celebrate Valentine's Day with love not hate. So, how will you spend your Valentine's Day?

Resolution Check

2012-01-28T14:22:00.002-05:00

Since I've already posted this week, I figured it would be time to do a resolution check. Here we go!

1) Go camping! Well, we did have some pretty warm weather this past week, but it has definitely hasn't been warm enough to go camping. I guess this resolution will be on hold until at least April.

2) Bake more. I think this is somewhat of a success so far. I have back about 3 dozen cupcakes already this year and at least one cake. In the upcoming week, I have a plan to bake another cake with Justin. Someone have any idea of what kind? Just post a comment.

3) Be more romantic. Well, hmm. Really I should have Ryan do a guest post to check on this. Well, since my resolution, Ryan and I have had at least one date night and another one planned for tomorrow. This is awesome. Some people may think, you live together...why do you need a date night? We may live together, but we don't get to have that quality couple time that everyone thinks. We have decided to have regular date nights so it's just us. :)

4) Pretend to be the paparazzi. Epic fail. I haven't taken a single picture since my resolutions post. I haven't even kept my camera in my purse. It's awful!

5) Have a sit-down dinner party. Nope. I've gone out to dinner several times since my original post, but no dinner party. We haven't had time to clean the house, well except this weekend (which I'll tell you later why I'm not cleaning today).

6) Don't just like it, do it! Another epic fail again. I haven't even looked at Stumbleupon.com at all. Maybe I'll get some inspiration for a cake from there.

7) Be more musical. There's no doubt that I haven't stopped singing in the car, but that's about it. :/ This one is going to be hard.

8) Read a book or two or more. I got through Chapter 3 in Steve Harvey's book, but then I had to stop and read for class. I have one whole book for class completed and today and tomorrow I'll finish another one for class. If you are interested in business, the book I just finished is called The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement. I found it pretty interesting and a really good book. It would have been better if I wasn't so bitter about it being assigned to be read in its entirety in one week. Oh well. The next book I have to finish is called The World is Flat. It's another business book. If you read last week's post, then you know I have added another book to this list, The Hunger Games. Hopefully I can finish it by the time the movie comes out.

9) Share more about me. I think that I've done that. Just read me last post. ;)

10) Blog at least once a week. So far so good! I had one slip up, but I made it up by writing two the next week. Hope everyone is enjoying it!

Ok, now onto why I'm not cleaning today. I did my first cycling class yesterday. Last semester, I participated in a study that required me to workout once a day on a stationary bike. I figured that I had gotten into the swing of working out at least five times a week now and that I should try cycling. Boy was I wrong! It was so awful. My heart and lungs were keeping up just as in every workout that I've done lately, but my legs were killing me. After the hours class, we did some stretching and my legs felt better...that is until I walked up the stairs of my house. This morning my knee hurt so bad that the pain is at a level when I was on crutches last time. Luckily, Advil, ice and elevation are working. Hopefully a couple days of rest will kept me heal to get back into working out by Monday.

Enough for now. Time for homework. :/ Until my next blog!

Overwhelmed

2012-01-23T12:14:00.001-05:00

Have you ever just had a moment where you are in the middle of completing a remedial task and stop and feel completely overwhelmed?

Ok. Well, about 30 seconds ago I was simply updating something on my calendar, adding a dinner to this Friday with some PSP friends, when all of the sudden I noticed everything else on my calendar. Granted, whenever I look at any calendar, I typically see at least one other person's (if I'm looking at my work calendar, I see my boss's calendar and if I'm looking at my personal calendar, I see Ryan's and all of my family's calendars); but just now I noticed that I have soooo much on my own!

So last week I realized I have two entire books (like 1000 pages) to read for class and I had just promised Christie when she visited that I would start reading the hunger games. I have two papers due next week. I have a new class to attend today, which will probably result in another reading assignment and probably another paper. I am desparately trying to stay on top of my daily work-out schedule. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking of all of the laundry and dishes I have to put up. And naturally, I'm trying to have a life outside of school and work!

Oh dear! I'm overwhelmed. Now readers, don't be too too concerned, as I am the master of planning and multitasking, so I know I'll get everything done. But just know, that I'm a little overwhelmed and I had to tell someone, so why not the world. Whew, that felt good to get all of that off of my chest. Back to reading.

:/ I'll blog later when I have survived this week!

As promised...

2012-01-19T18:00:00.000-05:00

As I promised in my previous post, here is the second post of the week to make up for last week. This blog post is about the SOPA/PIPA concerns that I have. What is SOPA/PIPA? You must not have been online yesterday because all over the internet were protests and website blackout against it. For example, Google put a black box over it's logo. Wikipedia completely shut down it's site for the day. About 25% of the friends on my Facebook feed had the same profile picture that representing what might happen if these bills passed. Needless to say, I signed the petition against it.

To summarize, the SOPA and PIPA bills would allow censorship of the internet. Now, please keep in mind that I'm not an expert on this topic, but this is what I gathered from all of the articles that I read before signing the petition. While I would NEVER recommend Wikipedia for a source on a scholarly paper, I would recommend it if you want some more information about this topic.

Anyway, my thoughts on this is that these two bills could drastically impact the way we live. Think about it...one simple example...this blog is something that could be censored if those bills passed. A simple blog. Something that I do in my spare time for enjoyment could be censored if say I put something offensive/controversial/remotely close to copyright infringement (say like posting a recipe). My blog could also be taken down if a fellow blogger on the Blogger domain wrote anything like I said above. Can you imagine that? That's just one aspect. Think about Facebook, YouTube, one article even mentioned Etsy would be majorly impacted by the passing of these bills. That's crazy!

So, what's the purpose of this post. Well, if you value the content of the Internet and the freedom of speech, sign the petition! Just Google SOPA/PIPA or look at a "Stop SOPA" Facebook profile picture to find out how.

Ahhhh!!

2012-01-18T12:01:00.000-05:00

So, I've noticed that a lot of my blog titles are "Ah!" or some version of them. Typically, the title means that I haven't gotten to post in a while. Since my resolution is to blog at least once a week, I post twice this week. (Oh, dear, it's already Wednesday!) Anyway...I did start a draft of a post last week, but I ended up deleting it because it wasn't very good. haha!

So this post is essentially to tell you about my awesome, long weekend. Christie came to Johnson City for the weekend and we had a fantastic time! Her previous trips have almost never been as fun simply because I didn't plan anything. :/ Granted, I had to work most nights and weekends, but this past weekend I actually didn't have to work!

Back to what we did. Friday, she came up and the first thing we did was go look at a house that Ryan and I thought we were interested in buying. Talk about misrepresentation. Let's just say that at least half of the doors that we tried to open resulted in the door knob in one of our hands! The agent showing us the house knew nothing about it and didn't even know how to open some of the doors! Two tips for someone trying to sell their house. 1) Hire a real estate agent that cares about knowing what your property is about. 2) If you're trying to sell your house, don't leave all of your junk all over the place. It might just say to your buyer that you're a hoarder. (Yea, this house looked like a hoarder lived in it.) After the house adventure, we had dinner at Miso's and went back to the house and watched some TV.

Saturday was another eventful day. We ate brunch at IHOP. (Thanks, Christie, for the sneak attack and paying for it!) After that we went shopping at Target, my favorite store ever! We then watched Beauty and the Beast in 3D!!! Can I just say, it was better than when we watched it when we were little! I found it pretty amusing that the audience was composed half of families with young children and the other half were college students our age. It just goes to show you how much Disney impacted our childhood. :) After the movie we headed to Baileys for dinner and to watch the Broncos vs. Patriots game. It was a lot of fun.

Sunday, Christie and I went shopping! We shopped til we dropped. She got a couple of cute things from Charming Charlie's and I got an awesome purse! (If you see it, you'll be jealous.) After shopping we went to meet Ryan, Cat and Keith and went downtown to the Charles to attend an event called the Pie Wars. After having one round of pizza tasting and a couple of hours mingling, we ended up leaving early and went o Baileys for a little bit of trivia.

Monday was the day that Christie had to leave. :( We had an awesome breakfast at Panera, where we saw that realtor! After breakfast, Christie went home. The rest of the day, Ryan went to his lab to do some research and attend a meeting and I deep cleaned the living room, did a lot of laundry, and started re-organizing the kitchen.

Well, since I'm posting on my lunch break, I guess I should eat lunch before it's over! Sorry for more of a recap post. I just had so much fun and was so happy that my sister got to visit. I secretly (well not anymore) hopes she goes to ETSU for PT school so we can hang out more! I'll post another blog later this week. Readers, if you don't see something by Friday evening, someone better comment/email/text me to remind me to do so. I need someone to hold me accountable! :)

New Year's Resolutions 2012

2012-01-05T12:29:00.000-05:00

Okay. Well, it appears that my last post was viewed at least 20 individual times, so I know some of you out there are reading it. However, only two people commented! Since those who commented are the two most important women in my life, I will go with what they suggested...list time! (Christie, I'll do my best to have fun with it.)

Like the past two years, I will have 10 resolutions and they are in no particular order. All of you need to make sure that I keep them! Here we go.

1) Go camping! I had this on my resolution list last year, but I never did it! Ryan and I have the equipment to go, so dang it even if it is in my backyard or living room, I will go camping! lol

2) Bake more. As many of you know, one of my goals (especially for in the next couple of years) is to open a bakery with Justin. I've already started the business planning side of things (well learning about business and starting a business plan), but I need more of the baking aspect! Justin and I have been baking and decorating a lot since last year, but this year we (well I know me for sure) need to bake more. I have lots of recipes and I have only really tried a few. I also need to refine a few recipes. Speaking of which, has anyone been watching 2 Broke Girls? I have and I love it! On the most recent episode, Max revealed that her cupcakes have always been from a box. That used to be me! You can ask anyone who has ever had a cake or cupcake of mine that came from a box...you wouldn't even know, and I've heard they are pretty delish (I'm trying not to sound too conceited but it's not working)! Anyway, I want to make delicious sweets without the box mix and from scratch. Eventually, I will be like the bakers on Food Network and bake from scratch without a recipe. Now, how can all of you help me with this resolution? Request a sweet from me and/or volunteer to eat whatever I bake! The hardest thing for me in terms of practicing and trying new recipes is that Ryan and I cannot eat a whole batch of cookies/brownies/cupcakes or a whole loaf of bread or a whole cake every time I want to try something. If you volunteer to be my guinea pig, I will give you what I bake! (Trust me, get it now while it's free because eventually it'll cost some money. :)) Or, if you want to order something specific from us (we did a 300 cupcake gig for my parent's anniversary party), let me know too!

3) Be more romantic. This one may come across a little strange. Shouldn't guys be the ones who need to work on their romance? NO! I think women need to be more romantic too instead on focusing on dropping hints about how they want their significant other to be romantic. I have noticed that as Ryan has started an official graduate school program, we pretty much see each other in passing during the week days. On the weekends, we both catch up on much needed sleep and often we have errands that we have to run. Anyway, basically, I want us to be able to spend more quality/fun time together and for me to be romantic too! He doesn't always have to be the one to fix dinner or surprise me with flowers.

4) Pretend to be the paparazzi. Once upon a time, I used to love taking, posting, printing and scrapbooking photos. Now, you're lucky if I have a camera with me. I want to get back into taking pictures and finally fit into my Asian stereotype (ya know the people who wear cameras around their necks to take pictures of anything and everything?). So...the goal is to bring my camera with me everywhere. Maybe I can even do a photo blog post! Who knows. How can you keep me accountable with this resolution? Ask me to take a picture of me and you!

5) Have a sit-down dinner party. Yes, I'm cheesy. Ryan and I love to entertain. We have had people over all the time to watch TV/movies, game night, knit 'n bitch, etc., but there has only been one occasion since we moved into our house (3 years ago) when I remember that we sat down at a table and had an entire meal together with Kristina and Emmie (Easter of last year I believe). I want to have another where I cook (Yes, that's right, where I cook and baking a casserole does not count) and we all sit around a table and eat! Who's with me?

6) Don't just like it, do it! Ok. Tell me that you don't have a Stumbleupon.com or Pintrest.com account. Don't know what it is? Look it up and get addicted! Anyway, I have a Stumbleupon account and have over 150 liked pages. Most of them are recipes and craft projects, where others are related to business and wedding stuff (you can never plan too far in advance). However, out of all of those pages, I can honestly say I have done only one. ONE! It was a recipe for cheesecake strawberries. Anyway, it's time to actually do what I liked. I guess it's time to actually pick up sewing. ;)

7) Be more musical. Many of you may not know this, especially if we met in college, but I am a classically trained flutist and I used to sing in choir (yea, back in middle school, but I won a couple of awards so I think that counts). Anyway, since I moved to Johnson City, both have seemed to disappear in my life. I still have my flute and plenty of sheet music, but the last time I played was a couple of years ago. As far as singing...well I sing in the car...when I'm by myself...and on the interstate...when no one's looking. Yes, I'm a nerd, but I don't know why I've become so shy when it comes to singing. Anyway, back to the resolution. I want to pick both back up. But, I'm not making any promises for karaoke!

8) Read a book or two or more. Most everyone knows that I hate to read. I have never liked reading and I doubt that I will ever be a book worm. The only time I ever read is for class or work, but never leisure reading. Even the blogs or articles that I read online have some sort of purpose, not just for fun. Anyway, I have two books that are sitting on my shelf that have been loaned to me. One is Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey (from my mom) and the other is Onward by Howard Schlutz (from Christie). My goal is to have the first one read before the movie comes out. I would like to finish the other one before the summer begins, but that might just be a book that I bring on the plane to the Philippines to read. If I finish both before the summer, then I guess I can start reading those other books that are currently collecting dust on my bookshelves.

9) Share more about me. One thing that Mom posted in her comment is that blogging for her is more soul-searching. There are several reasons why people blog...to post updates about family news, practice writing, and give people an opportunity to get to know who the blogger is. I want to do all of the above. A couple of weeks ago, I read through a lot of my old posts. My tagline even says, "a narrative of a college grad". Anyway, since now I have to manually post a link to my news feed on Facebook (dang you new Facebook!) I want to provide an opportunity to be real and for people to get to know me better. That'll be a little difficult because I'm fairly shy and keep a lot to myself, especially how I feel and think about certain things. I'm going to challenge myself to be a little more open and hopefully have all of you get to know me a little better. That leads me to my last resolution...

10) Blog at least once a week. That's right...I was specific on this one. The last two years I put blog more, which depending on what you define "more" as could mean anything. Once a week, at least. I'll even add not to include a post that only does a resolution check does not count! This one I really need someone to hold me accountable!

There ya go. I have 10 resolutions. Hopefully I can keep them all! I thought of an idea while in the waiting room at the doctor's office today...does anyone else want to start a blog or continue blogging? When I was thinking about blogging, I looked into an option to get daily prompts for some inspiration for blog posts. I didn't find any that actually stuck to a daily or even a weekly blog post prompt. Anyway, I would be interested in typing up some random questions/prompts for a daily/weekly blog post. However, I don't want to do it if no one is going to blog. Okay...convincing time...If you started a blog 1) it would give you something to do when your bored 2) it will help your writing in general 3) it would allow me and others to get to know you better 4) it'll be fun! Let me know if you start one and I'll add you to my blogroll ->

Okay. That's enough post for now. Check back next week for a blog post!

New Year's Resolutions

2011-12-29T01:30:00.001-05:00

With the 2012 right around the corner, I've been thinking a lot about my past resolutions. (See all the way at the bottom of this post). In 2010, I was able to complete 6 out of 10 resolutions. This past year...well...I haven't really thought of how to really sum how well (or not well) I did. So...mini recap of the past year.

January: Stress, school, work

February: Visit family for Mom's birthday, stress, school, work

March: Spring break with Christie and Ryan, stress, school, work

April: quit job, random get-away-from-it-all trip with my best friend, 23rd birthday, stress, school, work

May: graduated with certificate, applied for jobs, look for change in the sofa, went home, stress (different than from above because no more work and MBA schooling)

June: start new job, stress (from new job and MBA school balancing act)

July: still at awesome new job, less stress

August: work, little stress because of school starting for fall semester

September: Mom and Dad's 25th wedding anniversary (super weekend of fun that included 300 cupcakes), Daddy's birthday, Ryan's birthday, school, work

October: school, work

November: school, work, Christie's birthday, Thanksgiving in the mountains of NC

December: school ends for the semester, PAID HOLIDAY VACAY (I'm currently home for the holidays), Christmas, awesome family time!!!!

So, if you couldn't tell from the mini recap, this past year has been soooooo crazy. I can cross off at least four of the items on my resolutions list that I couldn't accomplish simply because too many major life events happened to even think about accomplishing them. What I can say is that I am truly happier than I was a year ago and obviously happier than who I was two years ago. Here's where the mushy personal feelings stuff comes out in my blog post. Feel free to skip to the line break (if I can figure out how to put one in seamlessly). Anyway...I feel as though this was the year to show who I have become, who I am, and who I plan to be. That's kind of a vague statement, but if you asked me back in January 2010 how I've grown over the year, who I was, or where I was going, I would have told you, "I don't know and I don't care to know." The sad reality is that it's true!

Obvisouly, I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately...probably more so this past week because I've gotten to rest a lot and have done quite a bit of yoga. Anyway...I feel like I've matured so much over the last year. I know what I want to do with my life or really at least the direction I want to go in. I have friends around me who support me, not just me, but my goals in life, my dreams of what I could do with my life. Now, I cannot discredit those who were close friends of mine earlier in the year that I have grown apart from simply due to logistics. They have played a lot of how I've grown, especially in the past six months.

Now, how do I know that I've matured and that my life is headed in the right direction? 1) I'm happy! I have never been more excited to go to work everyday. I've never been so interested in learning something that I'm getting my degree in. I'm not just learning, but I'm applying that new found knowledge into everyday! I have been able to spend time with family and friends more than ever since I started college. 2) I'm doing grown up things. I currently have that personal and emergency savings account that I've always said I would work toward. The only debt to my name is a small amount of student loans (I say small, because it is incredibly small for someone who have a 4 year BS degree, a certificate, and already two summer terms and a semester into a graduate program under their belt.) I've thought about investing and retirement (I know...what has business school done to me). 3) I seriously began drawing up some plans for a future business venture. Thanks to some fabulous Christmas gifts, I already have some supplies to add to the business's assets. :) I have even thought about an investment opportunity...more details hopefully to come.

So now what...you ask what are my resolutions for 2012. Well, to be honest, I don't know. I have learned that in the past writing down (or really typing up) some resolutions can be helpful in keeping them. It offers a sense of accountability, even if there isn't anyone reading this blog. However, in the past, sometimes resolutions have to be just erased from being major priorities when major life events occur, like a job change. So...I leave it to you,the reader. Should I make a list of resolutions? If so, should I have ten like I have had in the past two years? Or should I just list as many as I think necessary? Should I be specific or general? You tell me. One thing I do want to do is blog more, but I want to know that I have some sort of an audience because it would be peace of mind that I'm not just blogging to blog. I read a blog a couple of days ago (she probably doesn't even know that I read it) and I loved it because I got to know her better (The author is a new friend that I met early in the semester.). Originally, the idea of my blog was so that I could inform family and friends what I was doing all the way out in Johnson City. Since now it is mostly, work, school, sleep...I need something else to write about. Tell me what you want to hear from me. I want it to be a little more like a conversation. If you want, you can submit a comment anonymously or use formspring to ask me a question. But, please comment on the questions at the beginning of this paragraph! Thanks for reading!

New Year's Resolutions 2010:

1.) Try not to get upset when life has a few unexpected bumps.

2.) Realize that plan b or c or d may work out for the best.

3.) Lose at least 35 lbs. before graduation by eating better and exercising.

4.) Make all A's this semester.

5.) Take more pictures.

6.) Call my parents more often.

7.) Send birthday cards.

8.) Have more laughs and smiles than "grr" moments.

9.) Save some money.

10.) Blog more.

New Year's Resolutions 2011:

1. Keep up the good work on all of the successful New Year's Resolutions from 2010.

2. Don't let too many things go to the back burner. Keep making progress on dwindling down the to-do lists.

3. Become a healthier me.

4. Call my parents more and visit more than just holidays.

5. Send cards.

6.Quit smoking.

7.Go to church more often.

8.Go Camping!

9. Finish my craft projects.

10. Continue to blog about life.

I'm back!

2011-10-19T20:30:00.000-04:00

Ah! It’s been so long…where to begin?

Okay. So let’s just pick up where I left off.

Summer:

The biggest event that happened in June was when I received a job offer. I was actually very surprised that I got a call for an interview because the application for this particular position was submitted in early February. I figured that I just hadn’t gotten the job and that it was taking some time to send me yet another rejection letter.

Anyway, my job…I work for East Tennessee State University in the Department of Chemistry. Every time I say that to someone, they ask me if I’m a professor. I always laugh. Me…can you imagine me being a Chemistry professor? Ha! Anyway, I’m the Executive Aide of the department. I do pretty much anything that I’m needed to do, like paperwork, course building, permits, interacting with students, budgeting, you name it and I probably do it.

The interesting part of the first few weeks of the job was that my boss was out of vacation my first two weeks. It was kinda weird because I didn’t really have anyone to ask questions or get instructions as to what I needed to do. On the other hand, it was kind of nice to be able to get familiar with everything in the department. As you know me, I began making a list of projects to complete before the school year. More about the job later…

Other than work over the summer, I officially began my MBA program. I took three classes over the summer, which by the way is an awful idea especially with starting a new job. I did fairly well though. One of my classes had only one other person, which was interesting. Overall, summer school was not too bad.

I didn’t do a whole lot of traveling in the summer simply because of the new job. I did get to go to Gulf Shores for my uncle’s wedding at the end of June. I was very fortunate that I could take off work within just a few weeks of starting.

Beginning of Fall Semester:

Back to the job…Everyone told me that August would be very busy because of the start of school. I didn’t really believe them, until August 1 came along! It was so busy and non-stop for a few weeks. Luckily, I had a few months of preparation time before the madness happened.

School for me started at the end of August. I am part-time as of right now (long story for another post). I am taking two classes: Accounting Information for Decision Making (way long title for a class the we meet for maybe a third of the time for) and Economics for Managers (thank God for AP Econ at HFA). Being part time has been very weird especially compared to the summer classes where I had something due every day! Hopefully it doesn’t get too hectic by the end of the semester.

September:

This month was booming! The first weekend was the huge celebration of Mom and Dad’s 25^th anniversary. It was a blast! It was nice being able to see everyone. A huge first for that particular weekend was Justin and my first gig as bakers! We baked over 200 cupcakes for the big celebration. We had a great system going. We learned a lot too. Can’t wait for the next time!

The other major occurrence during this month is that I followed in my sister’s foot steps and signed up to be a participant in an NIH research study! It turns out that I was an excellent fit to this diabetes study (don’t worry I don’t have diabetes). Short explanation of what this study entails: Cycling work out every day for 30 minutes (except weekends) and a mid-section workout on Wednesday. At the beginning and end of the work out routine, I am tested via VO2Max, BodPod, glucose-insulin test and muscle biopsy. So far it has been challenging at some points, but so far I’m enjoying getting into some good habits. I’m almost done with the work out routine, so testing will be in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I’ve shown some improvement from where I originally started!

Now:

Well, honestly, that has been my life for the few months since I blogged last. Hopefully I will get back into the swing of blogging again. So, look for posts about the following soon!

-Phi Sigma Pi Alumni Life

-Plans for the Holidays

-Updates on work life

-Update on resolutions (yikes!)

-New resolutions

-Other fun stuff!!

Leave me a comment of anything you want me to write about.

Graduation Season

2011-05-02T16:21:00.000-04:00

Hello world!

It's been a little while since I've blogging last, but to be honest, not a whole lot has happened since then. However, I wanted to write a post inspired by the "Life Lessons" section of the Real Simple Magazine May issue. It's about graduates. I figured since the title of my blog is what it is (for those reading of FB take a look at the actual blog) and that Saturday marks a year since I graduated college, I should probably write about graduation.

The title of the section I read was along the lines of "What NOT to say to a recent college graduate". I was very curious, as my adopted (not like on paper) brother, Alex, is graduating in a couple of weeks (CONGRATS!). I found that as I read, the more memories of emotions from graduation popped into my head. Not so much the happy memories. In the article, five questions or statements are featured, all of which I heard when I graduated. So, before I continue...if you are attending a graduation, keep these in mind. Graduation is not only a very exciting, relieving, happy time, but it can also be the scariest time for people my age.

1) "What can you do with that degree?"
Well thank you for asking what my Biology degree will do now that I'm not going to medical school...let's see...work in a laboratory, maybe...or go back to school. I hated this question. The article suggests that a better question is "What have you learned that will help you do what you enjoy?" I would agree with this, despite the fact that my answer would have been to hold intellectual conversation with my boyfriend and Phi Sigma Pi Brothers still in that field. :)

2) "You should go to law school."
This one kinda cracked me up especially because one person came to mind when i read this (To that person who will remain nameless, I still love you.) If I wanted to go to law school, my major wouldn't be Biology. The article states that many go to law school because they think they have to in order to be successful. In my opinion, if you want to go to law school, go for it! If you don't, then chances are you probably will not find it as enjoyable or rewarding as going into something that you truly love.

3) "Do you have a job lined up?"
Ha! Kinda funny, especially in my life now where I'm currently looking for a job. While I find the question funny when I first read it, in reality this is probably the most terrifying aspect of being a college graduate. The question that I have always asked myself is where are the jobs that I'm mostly likely to get now that I have a college degree? The answer: Not always readily available at the moment you graduate or the moment you need it. The article suggests "offer them any industry connections you have", which is especially nice for people who need a job say a year after completing college. ;)

4) "The economy has been bad before. You'll get through it."
The article doesn't suggest much other than offering advice through LinkedIn.com (which if you don't have one and are graduating, get one!). I would just avoid anything like this statement all together. "You'll get through it," is great and all, until you receive that letter talking about paying off student loans (which thank God I don't have) or bills that come in that you don't have those student loans/scholarships to pay for.

5) "My fill-in-the-blank relative just got out of college, and she's doing great!'
Fantastic! That just makes me feel even more insecure and scared that I'm not doing all I can to be "doing great". At least that's what I really wanted to say a year ago. Encouragement is great, if you don't have to bring up anyone else. Fact: The average time for an ETSU to graduate with a bachelor's degree is now five years, instead of the traditional four. I would have loved to receive encouragement that said: Ya know, you completed your degree in 4 years, which is impressive. I know you will be able to continue your career as successfully as obtained your degree. Let me know how I can help. That would have been amazing.

Now...before some people get fairly upset with this post, I do want to say that my graduation was awesome. Having family members that came to Johnson City was probably the best feeling I had when I started this new chapter of my life.

But anyway, if you are graduating in the upcoming months, CONGRATULATIONS on an awesome accomplishment! If you have any question, need advice, need someone to listen or anything, especially within this next year, call/email/text me. I'm here for ya! If you are attending a graduation in the next month, think about what you're going to say and what you shouldn't say. This is a time for celebration and welcome to the next chapter in life, not a reminder of how scary the unknown future it.

Will blog soon!

I Quit.

2011-04-12T12:00:00.008-04:00

Ok. Sit down. Well, ok that isn't really a good thing to say since you are probably sitting at your computer reading this blog, whether on the blog website or Facebook. Anyway...I'm babbling. This is going to be a slightly different style of post than my usual...

I did what every college graduate does NOT do...I quit my job. Today was my last day. I won't go into the details on the blog, mainly because I feel like that would be a tad inappropriate and unprofessional, but if you just can't stand not knowing why send me an email or FB message.

How do I feel now? Well, I feel a lot of things. Free. Terrified. Hopeful. Excited. Pumped. Ambitious. Sad. Lonely.

What's next? Well...school is still what I'm doing now. I'm currently searching for a full-time job. Something preferably full-time, in a business field (I could deal with medical again), and enough pay to help pay the bills and save for the future. So if ya know anyone or any company interested in me, you know how to get a hold of me.

Have I lost my mind? Probably, but I am a huge believer in acting based upon principle. That may seem naive, stupid, etc., but I've always done it and I always will. Plus, it's nice to have family support me in my decisions.

Until the new job? I hope to get ahead in what's left of my school semester. I plan on having excellent weekends since I've never really had a weekend that I didn't ask off for. My sister is coming up this weekend and my parents the next. I plan on spending more time with my best friends from my now former work, as this is a strange transition for them as well. House wife, homemaker, personal maid, etc. Yea, I'm going to clean the house top to bottom. You know, spring cleaning. I'm going to attempt to have dinner on the table for Ryan at least once before he comes home from work. Truly come to a better understanding of how awesome Grandmama was for making the home her life...and then hopefully soon...

I'll be back to the crazy busy, constantly working, completely stressed (but the type of stress for a Type A personality), juggling school, work and social life schedules NORMAL life.

Say a small prayer for me please.

Short Update

2011-03-29T18:08:00.000-04:00

So...I've been thinking about blogging for quite some time lately, especially since I haven't really blogged in almost 2 months! I have had a little bit of writer's block lately. (Maybe my bro, Zack, the writer can give me a few tips on how to get over that!) Anyway, I have two papers that I have needed to work on and April is now crunch time both. One is the research paper that I discussed in my previous post. Oh well, maybe a little blogging will inspire me a little bit to actually work on those papers at least get several pages written.

Speaking of inspiration...I attended an executive briefing on Friday mainly because one of the professors that I work for as a tuition scholar requested me to be there. I went to the event with a "this is going to be so boring" attitude, which is fairly unusual for me. Surprisingly, I found the lecture from the guest speaker, Tom Rath, to be incredibly engaging and inspirational! I bought both of his latest books on site and had him sign both! (This may not seem like a big deal, but if you know me you would know that I do NOT, seriously, do not read books.) Not only did I buy them, but I read both within 24 hours. Huge accomplishment for me! Anyway, the books talk about personal strengths and how to use those strengths to become better people, better leaders and better business people (which was the primary focus of the lecture). I took the test and found my 5 strengths to be: Discipline, Strategic, Achiever, Futuristic and Focus. So, if you're interested the books are Strengths Finder 2.0 and Strengths based Leadership by Tom Rath.

School has gone very well. I have straight A's so far, which is excellent, especially compared to last semester. I am enjoying my classes very much. However, there is a downside to enjoying the topics in my classes...the more I enjoy what I'm learning the more frustrated and disappointed I am at work. I won't divulge too much information about what specifically, but let's just say I have learned that there is a lot more to business than making money. Making money is really just a perk of business...people are what matter and what is most important to a business...after all without people there isn't money to be made in business. Oh well, enough of my business philosophy.

So, that's my short update on the major happening in life lately. Hopefully I can write a blog about the amazing adventure of spring break with Christie and Ryan and all of the exciting things to come in April (like me becoming even older...23 on the 15th!). Anyway, hope everyone is doing well. :)

Ah!

2011-02-08T13:03:00.000-05:00

Finally I have gotten a chance to blog! I have been thinking about blogging for quite a while. Lately, I have been fairly busy with school and work, as usual, with an occasional "not feeling well" day. Not a whole lot has happened since I last wrote and I will do a Resolution recap so you readers can check up on how I'm doing. Anyway, there are only a couple of things that have been super exciting in my life.

First, I was able to surprise my mom for her birthday at the end of January (Check out her blog post ---->) Anyway, Christie and I had planned it all out that I would come home after work and meet Mom, Dad, and Christie at the Melting Pot in Nashville. It was very funny because Mom was just chatting away with Christie as I walked down the stairs and stood in front of her for about 5 seconds before she realized it was me. She was so happy! It was great being able to come home to celebrate her birthday. Mom was especially relieved to have an extra set of hands to help with the Mission of Hope booth the next day at church. (If you don't know what the Mission of Hope is, you must ...I mean MUST...check out the Mission of Hope Website. I made it so I'm a little proud of it!) Anyway, later that evening we went to go see Shrek the Musical at TPAC. It was absolutely amazing! I think it was funnier than the movie. I highly recommend seeing it if if comes to your area. It was such a great weekend. I wish I could have spent some more time at home.

The second exciting thing is that Christie, Ryan and myself are going on a cruise for Spring break!!! :) I'm very excited about this. I must give a shout out to my mom for finding a great deal for us. Christie and I had spent hours trying to figure out where we wanted to go and how to spend the week. Naturally, when we looked at the cost of any of our ideas, it came to well over a grand for the 3 of us to go anywhere (not including food!). But, Mom came to the rescue and found a great cruise at an unpublished rate. I don't know how she does it. She needs to teach me (hint, hint, nudge, nudge).

The last exciting thing going on in my life, well at least I find exciting, is a research paper that I am writing for my management class. I'm not going to quite disclose what it's about, but just know it involves the industry I'm currently working in. My professor has been working with me already about my research and I have been more diligent at doing my research than I was in my undergraduate years. My goal is to get published with this research paper. (Who would have thought that I would ever say that!) I do have my reasons for wanting to be published, but I have had a little inspiration from a friend who is heavily into research in his graduate studies in Psychology, Zack Barnes. I've always admired him for his drive to do research in his field, and now I get to do a little of that as well. :)

Ok...I guess its time for the New Years' Resolution Update:
1.) Keep Up the Good Work on all of the successful 2010 Resolutions. So far, I think I'm doing pretty well at these. In my opinion the successful resolutions have become habits, so hopefully I will continue to go on track with these.
2.) Don't let too many things go to the back burner. I have been pretty successful with completing all of my to do lists. I am doing great and keeping up with the school work. My house is clean, deep cleaned in most rooms! I have even had 2 of my annual doctor's visits already. Oh wait...come to think of it I still need to get that blood work done to complete that basic check-up. Hold on let me put that on my calendar...
3.) Become a healthier me. This one has been a little hard the past couple of weeks. I have to say it's been a while since I've worked out. Hopefully I can jump back on track once some things settle down. I also hope to go to that Weekend Warrior Yoga this Saturday. I guess it depends on my work schedule. Anyway, since that last time I did an update, I have lost 10 lbs. I haven't weighed myself in about 2 weeks, so hopefully I have lost a little more since then. I can say that I am fitting into the jeans that are a size smaller comfortably. :) I think I'm getting there. My new doctor thinks so anyway. Hopefully by the next time I can give you more of an update.
4.) Call my parents more and visit more often than holidays. Well I went home at the end of January which is awesome! I do get to talk to my parents more often than I did last semester. I haven't been able to call Christie as often however, due to our crazy conflicting schedules. Sometime I get to talk to her online, during class :/ We'll work on that...
5.) Send Cards. Ok. Hopefully, Mr. Dave E. got his birthday card in the mail last month as well as my mom this past week. I'm soooo excited about this! My co-worker, Nate, and I are going to send out good-ole-fashioned Valentine's to our other co-workers. I'm pretty excited about that. Hopefully I can find some cool ones.
6.) Quit smoking. Ha. I love this one. For those just tuning into my blog this week, I am not, nor have I ever, been a smoker. However, one of my best friends and co-workers, Justin, quit on January 1. He hasn't had a cigarette since! I think I have been fairly supportive (you would have to ask him). I can say that I am super proud that he has come this far!!! I believe in a couple of weeks he steps down to a lower level on his patch. Hopefully it's not too too difficult. I'll be there though even if it is.
7.) Go to church more often. I cannot lie about church. This has been difficult for me so far. I've slacked a little on the devotional readings and really going to church when I went home was the last time I went. I need a little bit of prayer for this one. I can say I pray more...not that I ever stopped praying, but I have prayed more and not just when I need something. Hopefully this can change...soon.
8.) Go camping. We will table this until at least April.
9.) Finish my craft projects. Well I did get a chance to knit a couple of rows about two weeks ago on a scarf that is way over due. I would really have to micromanage in order to fit this in. I may have to wait until Spring Break or the summertime before I can really work on this resolution.
10.) Continue to blog about life. Well readers, I think you are the judge of this. :)

Well...that's about it so far. Crazy busy life, but I can definitely say that I'm enjoying almost every aspect. :) Have a great week and hopefully I can blog again soon!

P.S. Who tried my smoothie recipe?

Recipe I had to share

2011-01-13T17:10:00.001-05:00

As you readers know, I'm currently on the South Beach diet as part of keeping with my New Years' resolution to be healthier. Well Ryan and I have come along several new recipes, but this one was sooo delicious I couldn't keep it to myself. In the mornings, sometimes I feel a little rushed so I can't exactly eat a serving of eggs and turkey bacon, let alone wait for it to cook. So, this recipe has been a blessing for those busy mornings. Try it. Ya never know...you might like it!

Morning Mocha Smoothie
1 cup of vanilla, low-fat yogurt (if you get plain then it isn't as sweet)
1/2 half of 1% milk
2 tbsp of chocolate syrup (yep, this is part of my diet)
Instant coffee, to taste
6-10 ice cubes
*1 tbsp of peanut butter: This isn't part of the original recipe, but Ryan and I like this extra yumminess.

You can find the original recipe in South Beach Diet: Supercharged under Day 14 of Phase 1.

Hope you enjoy!

Week 1: Recap

2011-01-09T00:33:00.001-05:00

Ok. So, not too too much to recap, but I figure that the first week is the hardest to keep New Years' Resolutions. So let's see how I've added up so far.

1. Keep up the good work on all of the successful New Year's Resolutions from 2010. Well, so far I think I have continued to be successful in these.

2. Don't let too many things go to the back burner. Keep making progress on dwindling down the to-do lists. No, Mom, I haven't made that doctor's appointment yet, but that's partially because I don't have the new insurance card. So, that's still at the top of one of my many to-do lists. Maybe I'll research that a little more today. But! I have crossed off clean the house...well pick up the house. My living room, kitchen (minus one load of dishes), hallway, room, and bathroom are all picked up. Pledge and my vacuum will be my best friend today. That'll be it in terms of cleaning. I will need to reorganize, but at least it's clean for now.

3. Become a healthier me. I have worked out a total of 4 times since the last time I posted using the EA Active 2 game for the Wii. Now let me just give you a little review, and Ryan can totally back me up on this, it is a real workout. If you are truly looking to get in shape and work out but don't have the money for the gym, or walking isn't cutting it, or the Wii Fit is only good for having some fun, then this is the game for you! (Gosh, I sound like a salesperson. Good thing I'm going into Business.) I get so much out of my workouts and I'm having a lot of fun. In addition to working out, I have been drinking lots of water, which is something that I have always been horrible about doing. I'm at least up to 6 glasses a day. :) In addition to working out, I have been eating much healthier. Ryan and I are currently following the South Beach diet. We both have been successful on this diet before so we are trying it again. I haven't really been craving too much, not sweets surprisingly. I have been craving chicken wing, garlic Parmesan chicken wings with some ranch dressing. I know, that's very specific, but that's what I want. Ryan and I will be on Phase 1 of the diet for another week, then we can start reintroducing good carbs and fruits. Yay!

4. Call my parents more and visit more than just holidays. So I think I have done better. I have called Mom at least 4 times this week, which is better than 1 or none. In terms of visiting, well, hopefully soon. We will just have to plan on that later...

5. Send cards. Well, it's only been a week and I haven't had anyone to send cards to! I do have one particular birthday coming up in the family in the next couple of weeks and then a very special one on the 3rd of February (cough:Mom:cough). Let's see how I do come week 3.

6.Quit smoking As of today, Justin has been smoke free for 9 days!!!!! :) I have given 1 inspirational quote of the week so far (I hope he realizes it was from me). I am just so proud. It is nice because now it's not just me supporting, his step-dad, and his boyfriend are quitting at the same time. I'm so proud of all of them! :)

7.Go to church more often. Well...church tomorrow? Maybe? I can say that I have been reading my devotional book and this other Christian book in the mornings when I get up. That is better than before. I am starting to reconnect more. I won't go too much into my testimony quite yet, maybe some other post.

8.Go Camping! Considering it's about 9 degrees outside, at least 2 inches of snow on the ground with a 50% chance of more snow tonight, then 100% chance on Monday, there's no way I have even started on this resolution. Check back on this one around April.

9. Finish my craft projects. Almost bought some fabric to make those place mats, but I decided to pass. I've been focused on some of my other resolutions so this one kinda goes on the back burner. :/ I know, one of my resolutions is not to let things sit on the back burner. It won't be too bad for one week...right...right?

10. Continue to blog about life. Well, readers, how do you think I'm doing on this one? :) I kid. I kid. I actually enjoy blogging. I just wish I had a little more to write about other that what I think is my boring life. I guess in the future I'll have things to write about like having a house, weddings, babies (no I'm not pregnant so don't start the rumors now...I meant like waaaay in the future), and I don't know, being a millionaire! lol. That would be nice. Oh, but while I mention that, Justin and I spent some time dreaming about homes that we would love to live in. Just check out: www.sothebysrealty.com. You will fall in love with at least one house, if not several. Be careful. It's addicting. :) Anyway, it's time to turn in now. I have to get up and work out. Goodnight world!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T00:00:00.119-05:00

So...I know it's a little late, but there are some excellent reasons as to why this post is so late (I mainly blame the hotel craziness of New Years' Eve and Day, but I won't divulge further.). New Years is an excellent time to look at how far we've come during the previous year and set some goals for the future. I'm sure a few of you (well hopefully a few b/c I don't know who reads this really) remember last January, I made a few resolutions for the year. Throughout the year I tried to post resolution checks so someone, whoever is out there reading, would keep me somewhat accountable for my resolutions. So...last resolution check for 2010...

1.) Try not to get upset when life has a few unexpected bumps. Well, I think over the course of the year, I have done much better in comparison to other years. I did have a little bump in the road around October, but I think we have gotten past it...well I think. I guess we will see after having a few more conversations in the upcoming week.

2.) Realize that plan b or c or d may work out for the best. I could say that this has been the resolution with some pretty hard core evidence that I have accepted this resolution. I am currently in graduate school for Business Administration and I absolutely love it! There are some other minor plans that have changed, but I'm just rolling with the punches (definitely last night included). Look here 2 for 2! I say that's pretty good so far for New Year's resolutions.

3.) Lose at least 35 lbs. before graduation by eating better and exercising. Ok. Epic Fail! If anything, I've gained weight this year. I blame it on the stress...and I guess me being lazy...and yea. Maybe in 2011. :/

4.) Make all A's this semester. Almost, all B's, but for not having any business classes previously, I think that's pretty good. Also, I have applied much of what I have learned in my classes to my job, which has been awesome.

5.) Take more pictures. School...work...sleep. Pretty sure that none of you would like pictures of that. Seems to be my life right now. Now I did take several pictures on the Philippines trip and some other occasions. They are probably on Facebook. So...I will say that I did take more pictures...ok I will give myself half credit. So what's our tally...2.5 out of 5...well that's still half!

6.) Call my parents more often. Oooo. This is a tough one to determine. I'm going to say maybe another half credit. My mom would say, "No, no, no. I never get to talk with her! She's a complete stranger!" I kid, I kid...kinda. It's kinda interesting. I PROMISE to do better this year, I promise!

7.) Send birthday cards.Another one of those epic fails! I even failed at this on Facebook, and it reminds me who has a birthday! Ok. I will send birthday cards or e-cards next year. hopefully.

8.) Have more laughs and smiles than "grr" moments. Definite Check, thanks to family, friends, and an awesome set of co-workers!

9.) Save some money. Ok. This one I kinda cheated. Well the first 6 months, Ryan and I saved quite a bit of money, but we blew it on the Philippines trip. But!...I recently received a generous gift for Christmas from my Grandmama's Legacy fund. I am happy and proud to say that I have put all of that money in a savings account and will not be touched until I am ready to buy my wedding dress. (Yes, I already have a few items budgeted for that one day eventually, and thanks to Grandmama I will be able to buy the wedding dress that I have budgeted for.) So...check.

10.) Blog more. Well readers, you be the judge. Ok...well, I'm counting this as a check.

Ok. Drum roll please! That's 6 out of 10! :) I think that's pretty good for keeping New Year's resolutions. Now for this year's list.

New Year's Resolutions 2011:

1. Keep up the good work on all of the successful New Year's Resolutions from 2010. This includes: saving money, "rolling with the punches", laughing and smiling more, etc.

2. Don't let too many things go to the back burner. Keep making progress on dwindling down the to-do lists. This includes big things like making that doctor's appointment (see I remembered, Mom) to small things like making sure that our living room is vacuumed. I know cleaning definitely went on the back burner in the past 6 months (If you don't know me very well, let me just tell you I'm kinda OCD, but you would not be able to tell from my house!)

3. Become a healthier me. I figured instead of a very specific resolution like lose 35 lbs or workout 7 times a week, etc. I'm just going to say healthier. Ryan and I are going to start eating healthier (starting Monday because today was kinda a bust with all the craziness at work). I bought the EA Active 2 Workout game & Just Dance 2 for the Wii so hopefully I can get back into the exercising routine. Nate, one of my co-workers, also said he would come workout with me at the CPA sometime because exercising is one of his resolutions. (Ha! Now it's publicly known so we both need to be accountable!)

4. Call my parents more and visit more than just holidays. For 2010, I only received a half point, but this year I am going to do better. Mom, this means we probably need to set a time that we talk because before it was 10PM my time (which I work now during that time).

5. Send cards. I love sending cards. One thing that I truly appreciated when Grandmama and Ate Jean sent me notes throughout the year, even if it was just to say "Thinking of You". I have to do better. Lots of their cards touched not only me, but others. So, let me keep with the legacy. January birthdays, check your e-mails and/or your mailboxes. You should receive something from me. At the least, a Happy Birthday on Facebook.

6.Quit smoking...Ha! Got ya. No, I do not smoke, however, a particular co-worker of mine (cough::Justin::cough) is going to quit starting yesterday. I have been a horrible support of the last couple of times that he has tried to quit, so this time I will be super supportive. If needed, I will use tough love! (Be ready, Justin!) So, if you have quit before or have supported someone who has quit, please give me tips! Ok...homework assignment to my readers: What is your favorite motivational/inspirational quote? Your answers may help me be a better supporter!

7.Go to church more often. I need to make time in the busy schedule for God. I used to be very active in church, but now with school, work, sleep (see a trend of my life?). So...church. Definitely a must. People, hold me accountable for this!!!

8.Go Camping! So Ryan and I have all this camping stuff and we have never used it (Relay for Life does not count!). So, sometime this year, even if it is just once, we are going camping.

9. Finish my craft projects. So I have been working on several knitting projects since the summer (Sorry, Alex. I will have your scarf made sometime before next fall!) I also have told myself that I was going to learn how to sew. I received my Grandmama's sewing machine and I really want to learn. My first project: place mats for the dinner table. According to a "how-to sewing" book, place mats are the easiest to start learning. Hopefully I don't botch it.

10. Continue to blog about life. I know that sometimes I feel like my life is so boring since it's mostly school, work, and sleep, but I would hope that someone out there is still reading and wanting to know more about what's going on in life. :) Plus, it's a nice little way to document life's little changes, miracles, surprises, etc.

All right. There we go. Set up for the New Year 2011! I'm ready. Any suggestions, comments, questions, please comment on my post (or for my Facebook readers, like my note so I know you're reading).

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Bitter Sweet

2010-11-08T23:39:00.000-05:00

If you were blessed to know my Grandmama, you would know that she made the best homemade sourdough bread. She baked bread for every special occasion dinner, birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. I first learned how to make her bread when I was in the sixth grade trying to raise money for my trip to Hawaii as a student ambassador with the People to People organization. Since then, I had not made her bread and here's why...

Many of you may think that this bread was mix the ingredients and throw it in a bread maker...oh you are so wrong. This bread is very time consuming and needs a little elbow grease. I'm surprised that my Grandmama could continue to make the bread in her last months, but then again, she was a very strong woman. Anyway...first, the yeast used for the bread has to be feed every 3-5 days. If you're like me, I have a hard time taking a vitamin every morning. After feeding the bread, it is a 3 day process until you get a chance to put it in the oven (then I won't mention how it should sit in the bread pan smelling deliciously calling your name for a while before you cut into it).

When Grandmama passed away, one of the things that I said I would miss the most is her bread. I loved the way it smelled, the way it tasted and the way it just made dinner complete. I said to myself that I would make Grandmama's bread for Thanksgiving, even though it had been years since I attempted to make it. In a conversation with Mom after the funeral, she had mentioned that she thought that Uncle Wayne or her had thrown the starter (yeast) away from the fridge/freezer because it wasn't any good due to the lack of feeding (due to the Alzheimer's) and that we would just leave the bread making with the memory of Grandmama. I cried for hours after we had that talk because I wasn't expecting her to say that. About a couple of weeks later, Mom called and said she found the starter and revived it! I was so happy that I had the chance to taste that wonderful bread again.

Fall break is when I received the starter. When I arrived back in Johnson City, I feed the starter and began the process for the first batch. I prepared myself because I figured I would be super emotional. I continued the 3 day process and actually left the bread in their pans overnight. The next morning I cut into a loaf and it smushed as I cut into the bottom. The top half had cooked through and had a good flavor, but the bottom of the loaf was dough. When Ryan saw me and the loaf, I lost it. Cried for a few minutes at the thought that I would never be able to get the recipe right and that I don't have Grandmama to walk me step by step through the process to figure out what I did wrong. That night I talked with Mom and she told me something to try on the next one...

After I feed the bread, I started mixing the yeast and the other ingredients to make the dough. I was mixing it in a bowl with my hands and I remembered how the dough would always stick to Grandmama's hands. Then I remembered the photo. Grandmama had a photo in her kitchen of me in pajamas with knee high striped socks mixing the dough and putting my hands up to show her the dough sticking to my hands and laughing. When I remembered this, I burst into tears. Definitely not what I was expecting nor not the best time with dough all over my hands so I could wipe away the tears. I just kept telling myself, "No tears in the dough. Don't cry in the dough..."

Well, today was the day that I could get the bread in the oven. I baked it this morning and didn't cut the loaf until this afternoon. The first loaf (of the four) was much like my first batch, cooked on the top and doughy on the bottom. But the second loaf cut beautifully. It was cooked all the way through and had the same smell and taste. Again, I cried in Ryan's arms.

So...if you get to taste my bread, which all of my fraternity Brothers will get a chance on Saturday at the Alumni Thanksgiving dinner, know that the bread not only has the hard work of myself, but a piece of my Grandmama. I do miss her very much, but at least I can remember and honor her by baking her amazing bread.

Almost a month!

2010-09-21T10:02:00.000-04:00

So I've been a really bad blogger, but I do have two really good excuses: full time employee at the Carnegie hotel and full time graduate student at ETSU. :)

Basically this post will be about how my last three weeks have been. One word can describe those three weeks: BUSY! Let's see, we will start with...

Work
Since the last post I have continued to train our two new people. They have continued to learn a lot about the Carnegie and they are doing well. Business has picked up quite a bit lately. (We are sold out tonight and we will hopefully sell out tomorrow!) It should pick up even more during the month on October. Not a whole lot is going on other than conferences and weddings every weekend. I know that next weekend will be really busy because of Storytelling. That'll be exciting though. Oh, some people might not know this, but Ryan is currently working in banquets at the Carnegie! Is is now a full time employee at Student Support Services and the Carnegie. :)

School
School has been going very well. So far I have an A in Economics (and I was two weeks ahead last week, but now I'm only a few days ahead). I'm enjoying it, but I'm glad that I had Mrs. Robinson for AP Economics because I'm understanding it more now. If I hadn't had that class, then I probably would be very lost. Accounting is not as scary as I thought it would be. I haven't had any tests yet. It became an online class, so I'm having to teach it to myself, but so far I'm on schedule and I'm understanding everything. Business Statistics is super boring. It's the only class that I actually have to attend in a classroom setting. It is my least favorite of all of my classes. It isn't so much the professor or even the material; it's my classmates. Most of the people in my program are students who didn't just graduate from college (which apparently is a very rare thing to go straight into grad school after college). A lot of class time is spent doing Excel and Minitab tutorials, which is a pre-requisite for the course. Oh well, I guess I can consider myself to be ahead.

Extracurriculars
So I have joined the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA). I thought it would be a fairly formal organization, but man was I wrong. Apparently there are over 300 members that have paid dues and are classified as members, but only about 20 people are actually "active"! I just think that is crazy considering most of the organizations I've been a part of have some sort of attendance requirement. Oh well, I guess it'll be one of those things that pad my resume. I am still staying active in Phi Sigma Pi as an Alumna. This Sunday, I'm giving a seminar to the future Bigs of the Chapter. We will see how that goes. I'm a little nervous about it, but I know everything will go well and I'm very happy to do it.

Outside of the formal organizations, I've been preparing for the Grey's Anatomy season premiere on Thursday! I know, I'm on of those people who obsess with a tv show, but I've kept up with this show even during the crappy season of the writers' strike. Justin has been coming over after work several times because we are trying to finish watching Season 6 before the premiere. Only 12 more episodes to go. ;) We will get it done.

Well, that has pretty much been my life for the past few weeks...school then work then sleep. I do miss my family quite a bit though. I don't get to talk to Mom every night, even every day. I really miss that. At least tonight I will be able to call her since I don't have work or some crazy meeting or whatnot. I have been able to talk to Christie more often, well over the internet. Last night we talked quite a bit about the Young Women's Retreat. She has a lot of great plans to implement for the next year. I'm so proud of her and I'm very excited to be a part of it.

I guess that's it for now. Hopefully I will be able to blog a little more often. Have a great week everyone!

Excited!

2010-08-29T13:29:00.000-04:00

Ok. Call me a nerd/dork/geek whatever, but I'm super excited for school to start tomorrow! For those who haven't read my last post, I have decided to go back to school and get my Master's in Business Administration. No, I haven't decided exactly what to do with that particular degree yet, but I feel like God and life will lead me to it when the time comes.

Tomorrow I will start classes with Accounting. I'll be honest. I'm a little intimidated my this particular course. Tuesday I will have Business Statistics, judging by my homework for the first day, it'll be just like Prob & Stats from undergrad. My online class isn't available to me yet, but hopefully it won't be too bad.

Anyway, just needed to blog a little bit about starting graduate school. Wish me luck!

“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.”
-Sarah Caldwell

Life Changes

2010-07-23T23:55:00.002-04:00

Ok. So I know I haven't finished my posted on the Philippines trip, but I can save that for later. It's been over a month since I've blogged so it's time.

So the blog...well in May I didn't really know what would happen to this blog because I had decided to take at least a year off from school to reevaluate some things in my life. So...here we go...

These past few months have been interesting. It hasn't really felt like summer too much because I've been working quite a bit, probably about the same as last year, but it still feels like a lot. I have had many opportunities to strengthen old and new friendships from college and from work. As of today, I'm simply just a college graduate working at a local hotel for now...

I have been thinking seriously for the past month about my next move in life. Ok. The suspense is enough! ;) So, as soon as I get my acceptance letter (which should be at the beginning of next week) I will be attending East Tennessee State University Graduate School. I will be taking classes to get my Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (which clears me of my prerequisite classes) and will continue next year toward a Masters in Business Administration. Surprise! Well, I know some people saw this change coming and I know several others are thinking, "Wasn't she going to be a doctor?". So...here are my reasons in choosing this.

Reason number one. This really came to mind when Mr. Erikson started talking about creating a non-profit organization for the Mission of Hope in order for our mission to expand. I, thinking to myself, thought um, who has any idea how to even start a non-profit organization or even run it? So that was kinda stuck in my mind. Reason number two. Jobs. I love where I work, but I know that I can't be a front desk girl forever (it doesn't actually allow me to live an abundant life if you get what I mean). A Masters degree in Business would be a little more incentive for promotions (hint hint) and future endeavors that may be in store for the Carnegie. Reason number three. My co-worker, Justin, and I joked that one day we would open a mega-store that included a bakery and duct tape emporium. Well, some major changes happened at work and we got to talking on one very slow evening (July 4th, people go travel on that holiday!) and seriously thought about opening a bakery (Justin makes AMAZING cakes)and even looked at available spaces to open one. But, I got to thinking again that I don't really know anything about opening a business, but it is something that I have always wanted to do. Reason number four: Right now, I am very excited about getting this degree, however, if I decide to pursue my original dream of becoming a doctor I will have the business skills to open my own practice as soon as I'm done with residency. Most doctors don't have these skills and that is a major reason why private practices fail.

Ok. So those are my reasons. MBA here I come! I will probably post when I have a little more of an idea of how this upcoming semester is going to pan out. But until then, I'll be taking donations for tuition, books, business course fees, etc. ;) Blog later!

Day 13: And we're back in Manila

2010-06-20T08:39:00.000-04:00

So after breakfast, we all went to the airport to get on a quick (like an hour, which seemed like 30 minutes) plane ride back to Manila. Once we got back to AUP, we ate lunch. Can you tell one of the themes of the trip is eating? :) Anyway, we had a good 4 hours before we had anything planned so the "kids" updated Facebook, blogs, and started working on the pictures.

At 5 we headed back to the house that we had been staying in. AJ and David, two of the working students officers, were at the house. We were working on waiting for the others to arrive as well as food to arrive. We had planned to have dinner with the working students one last time before we had to leave for the United States tomorrow. It wasn't until 6 where everyone arrived and we ate dinner. The hour was another window into the world of the AUP working students. I'm sure I will have several more stories for later posts, but I will tell you a couple that I learned about during the hour before dinner.

One of the working students who arrived early was Amy. She is an English major looking to teach elementary school. She started at AUP in 2004. We discovered this when we asked her about her uniform. She had come to the house after arriving from her classes. (She had two 3 hour classes back to back.) She was wearing a plain white blouse, similar to the one that I wear for work, with AUP stamped on each of the buttons. She also wore a dark blue, knee-length skirt with black shoes. Mrs. Darlene asked her why she did not have a stripe across the blouse and why it did not have "Adventist University of the Philippine" and her name embroidered on the lapel. She responded that she started school before they changed the uniform and that she could not afford to buy a new one. She continued on as we asked her questions. She is a 23 year-old student who worked in one of the faculty houses. She acts as maid, cook, laundry service, and anything else that they need around the house. She works everyday, but did not tell us how many hours she worked a day. She said that is the second oldest of eight siblings and that her older brother is also a working student at the store. The last bit of her story that we got to hear is that she is planning on graduate in 3 semesters, including this one. Hopefully she will be able to pursue that easily in the upcoming year.

Another student that we had been spending time with is AJ, or Alain John. I do not know as many details as Amy, but I can tell you that he is very bright. His major is mathematics, which is an unusual major to have even in the States. I believe he is planning on teaching. I believe he has a natural talent to do so because he taught all of us an easy trick using our hands to do multiplication (ask me and I'll show you sometime) and a new card game (a little more complicated than black jack). I heard him talking with Mrs. Darlene when he said that he works 45 hours a week because he is required to based on the number of credit hours that he is taking (12). He works as a monitor in Eastern Hall, probably equivalent to an RA at any university, which most RA's will tell you that 45 hours a week holding a position like that is probably no where close to the actual amount of hours it takes. He has always been very cordial with us and he is very curious. He told us that we will definitely see him next year.

So after dinner, we had time to chat with some of the other working students. The current and former presidents of WSA (working students association) presented each sponsor with a certificate of appreciation. We each gave a little speech. After that we took lots of pictures and shared a special prayer over the sponsors, counselors, and the working students.

Now...I'm writing this as merely a summary of what happened this evening. However, like my mom told the Eriksons and Alex, you cannot truly grasp the joy, appreciation, hope, love, etc. until you experience it first hand. One thing that came to mind as we began to pray is the a verse, "I see God in you" by India Arie. I have always been a more spiritual person than religious and I probably always will be. When I was at the small church in Cebu, I felt out of place because I didn't know Bible verses or we discussed SDA subjects that I disagree with, however, this was not the feeling tonight when we talked about praising God and praying. I felt something more. The words "joy" and "hope" and "faith" cannot describe it. It was such a powerful feeling that you could see in each of the officers' eyes. It's something that is missing from most people who claim to be religious or spiritual. So...here's a little pitch...if you want to experience something so emotional, powerful, spiritual, awesome then email me because we are coming back next year! It is definitely something that I would call once in a lifetime. I did not get the same experience this year as last year and I'm so glad that I came back! I'm excited to do this again! So, like I said, if you are interested, especially if you have felt spiritually moved, let me know and we will start planning. :)

So now what...Alex and Christie are currently playing basketball with several of the working students. The "adults" of the group are meeting with the guidance counselors to discuss some business about sponsoring some students (this will be in the next post). Ryan and I are sitting in one of the rooms. I'm obviously working on finishing this post and will start working on pictures here in a little bit. Ryan is doing some research on a couple of last minute things for our trip. We will probably start packing tonight and finish up tomorrow. We leave for the airport around 6:30PM to catch a 12:10 AM flight back to Seoul-->LA-->Nashville. There are still several exciting things left for tomorrow and definitely for some future posts! So let me give you a quick taste...

-Sponsored students and details
-Traveling back
-Seoul city tour, hopefully better than Hong Kong and more like Cebu City
-Fun Facts that I've learned throughout the course of the trip
-22 Travel Tip for the International Traveler from the 22 year old (I'll try not to make them the same as last year and what I had posted already).
-My thoughts overall and my favorites and least favorites
-How you can help/get involved for the Mission of Hope 2011 trip

Blog tomorrow! :)

Day 12: Sabbath

2010-06-20T03:22:00.000-04:00

Today is the Sabbath. We had breakfast at the hotel. It was surprisingly very delicious. I had a mushroom omelet. It was yummy. We then got in the van and headed to a more rural part of Cebu to attend a church that my Lolo Val attends. Lolo Val is one of my relatives (His wife, who passed away a few years ago, and my dad's mom were sisters) who moved back to the Philippines after spending most of my life in Kamloops, Canada. I had not seen him since elementary school when we visited him and Lola Becky in Canada. I believe it was about a 2 hour drive, so I of course slept the whole way.

The church was a small church with about 15 members. Apparently one of the customs in Cebu, well at least this SDA church, was to have the visitors run Sabbath school and the church service! We were definitely not prepared, but we somehow pulled it all together. For church, Alex, Mr. Don, and Uncle Prom gave "sermonettes" and Christie and I did "special music" by singing one of the songs we learned in camp. It was an interesting experience.

After church, we went to the house that Lolo Val is staying. It is a bigger house in the American style. There were Filipino marble floor and higher ceilings. We sat at a big dining room table and had lunch that was prepared by one of his helpers. It was very delicious, especially the crispy chicken and fried fish. At lunch, Lolo Val talked about many instances in his life. He then gave us a tour around his house and showed us some pictures of some paintings that he did earlier in his life. After a quick tour, he took us to his farm where he is building a large 4 bedroom house. His farm had a pig farm, 20 of which are pregnant. He told us that he sells that piglets when they are 3 months old for about 2400 pesos. He also has about 50 roosters, used for cock fights. His nephew showed us a practice cock fight. It was pretty intense. Also on his farm, he has over 20 medium size dogs. They protect the pigs, roosters, and house at night. It is very obvious that Lolo Val is the pack leader of the group. :) After spending much of the afternoon with him, we said our goodbyes and headed back to Cebu City.

After arriving back in the hotel, Ryan, Dad, and Uncle Prom went to a barber shop to get haircuts and shaves (they were only 50 pesos!). Everyone else relaxed back at the hotel until dinner. At dinner, I had chicken soup, which was pretty good. Everyone else pretty much got chicken or fish. It was a pretty good dinner. After dinner, Ate Glad had arranged for very one to get massages in their rooms, and a manicure and pedicure for Christie and I. It was a different experience. I'm so used to going to a spa, like Austin Springs Spa, that I didn't really know what to expect. The pedicure was really just a clean up of the nails. It was the same for the manicure. I guess I'm just spoiled. The massage was interesting. They used this menthol type liquid mixed with lotion. It was like Icy Hot, minus the hot. Christie and I were shivering the whole massage! Oh well. It was a different experience.

After our massages everyone headed to bed. Tomorrow we are heading back to Manila to spend our last night in the Philippines. We will be meeting with the guidance counselors and the working student officers. There will be a couple of last minute surprises that I will blog about tomorrow! :)

Day 11: Beautiful Boholano Beach

2010-06-20T03:05:00.000-04:00

We decided to spend the morning at a local beach in Bohol. As we traveled there, we stopped at a statue that signified the Conquistadores (the Spanish "settlers", to use an American term,) and the Padres (the church leaders) sitting around a table talking about the Philippine islands. This statue represents when the Conquistadores and the Padres agreed that the Padres would "Christianize" the people while the Conquistadores would "rule over" them. Ryan, the History degree holder, would be able to tell you a little more about it.

We finally got to the beach. It wasn't too hot. Let me try to describe it as detailed as possible so close your eyes, well I guess you can't do that if you're reading, but picture the beach scene. We walked onto the beach resort filled with locals in bamboo and palm leaf dining areas. The tan sand was course because of the shells, but not too hard that you couldn't walk barefoot. The air smelled of a mixture of salt from the ocean, savory meat being grilled, and warmth from the sun beaming on the sand. After setting our stuff down at a hut that overlooked the water under the shade of tall palm trees. The wind was lightly blowing enough to cool off those sitting in the sun. The water was a crisp baby blue in the shallower parts of the water and a deep, dark blue in areas were seaweeds rested. The water was as warm as bath water, well bath water that had been resting for about half and hour. The sun glimmered off of the water and illuminated the sand at the bottom of the ocean where you could see schools of fish. Looking down the beach was like looking at a postcard. This was a typical Filipino beach. I've never been disappointed with any of the beaches that we have visited in the Philippines. They all look like postcards. They are all breath taking. Pictures cannot describe enough to truly enjoy the beauty of these beaches.

It wasn't too hot, but Uncle Prom bought us all ice cream to cool us off from the heat. After a short snack, we headed back to the hotel for showers and lunch. After lunch, we packed back into the van and headed toward the "Super Cat" pier. We took the Super Cat ferry to Cebu, another island in the Philippines. The ride was about an hour and a half long. The sun had begun to set, so we were dropped off at a mall while Ate Glad checked-in and dropped our suitcases off at the hotel. We bought several items at the SM (Super Mall), including some shoes for me :) and some other souvenirs. After shopping, and being a little creeped out by a very "friendly" Filipino, we got back in the van and headed to dinner. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet, which should have been a hint at the quality of food, and then headed to our hotel.

At our hotel, the guys got some shakes from the restaurant that was downstairs and we all chilled in the room for a little bit. The guys got bored with what Christie and I were watching, so they went upstairs. Christie and I watched Slow Burn on tv. It was a pretty good movie. The beginning was kinda slow, that's why the guys left, but the rest of the movie was really good. Tomorrow is Sabbath. We will be traveling to a different part of Cebu for church where my Lolo Val is staying. Blog tomorrow!

Day 9 & 10: Bohol!

2010-06-17T08:56:00.000-04:00

Ok. So I'm combining the two days because really there isn't much to say about Day 9. Day 9 was pretty much another travel day from Hong Kong back to AUP. The airport in Hong Kong was so nice and very comfortable. One of the nicer airports that I've been in, which is too bad that the airport was the best part of Hong Kong. Oh well. After arriving at AUP, we ate dinner and I went to bed because I'm feeling slightly under the weather I think because of the smog. Hopefully I'll feel better in a couple of days.

Today (Day 10), we woke up at 4:30 AM! It was a very early morning to catch an 8:00AM flight to Bohol, PI. Bohol is one of the southern islands that is supposed to be very pretty. Ate Glad and Uncle Prom are traveling with us this time, which is very nice because we all feel a little bit more comfortable because they know this area fairly well. I slept the entire flight, which we good recovery for waking up so early and for my health.

After checking into the hotel, which might I add is just beautiful and much more accommodating than the one in Hong Kong, we jumped in a van to do another city tour. This city tour was much nicer. Our first stop was a place with tarsier monkeys. They are the smallest monkeys in the world and they are just adorable. Christie and I have decided that we need one for a pet. I got some really good pictures of some of the cute things so hopefully soon I will be able to share them with everyone. After visiting the monkeys, we went to go eat on one of the rivers in Bohol. It is a tourist attraction where people get on a bamboo boat and have a lunch buffet which riding down the river. It was super enjoyable with fantastic food. During the river ride, we stopped at one pier where locals were singing and dancing. At one point they started singing and dancing the Tinikling. This is a traditional dance of the Philippines were typically two individuals jump through bamboo sticks being pounded together. (You should youtube it. I'm sure there's a video of someone dancing it.) Well, anyways, in high school for international day, Christie, Ryan and I, as well as several other friends, performed the Tinikling with the help of Ate Glad, Nittie and Nennette. At this pier they invited some of the visitors to attempt the Tinikling (which is harder than it looks). Christie and Ryan went out there to show them their stuff. Christie looked flawless and Ryan did a great job as well. Everyone was so shocked to see that a white boy could do the dance and so well! :)

After lunch, we headed onto the area of the Chocolate Hills. These hills are left over coral reefs that are in the shape of Hershey Kisses. They are also brown because no vegetation can grow on the hills. We climbed several steps (I mean like 300 steps) to the top of one mountain overlooking the hills. It was so beautiful. I have several pictures at this site as well. After spending some time at the top and trekking back down to the bottom, we enjoyed some ice cream at one of the shops. After the hills, we went to a couple of shopping place to buy some souvenirs that were priced very well!

Now, we are back in the hotel and have enjoyed a very large dinner. I'm headed to bed now so I can get some sleep before we travel again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have some internet access there! :)

Day 8: First…and last Day at Hong Kong.

2010-06-16T00:17:00.000-04:00

Well, a summary of today would definitely be interesting…or frustrating. In the morning we ate breakfast and boarded the tour bus that a travel agent booked for us. It was described as a “City Tour” that visited several shopping markets, the floating market/Aberdeen, and Victoria Peak in addition to some of the sites that we would see along the way. It was supposed to be a 4 hour tour…So I know you’re thinking that it sounds like a great tour why are you foreshadowing a “but”. Well, we start our tour. Naturally there are several spoiled little kids, who were old enough to know better. There were several Filipinos, which makes sense because the travel agent that we used was from the Philippines. The guide spoke English; however, his grammar was very poor and his jokes were below par. Our first stop was the “Avenue of Stars”. It is basically a little road with handprints in the cement, just like in Hollywood. This road was right next to the harbor, so that was a nice view of the huge skyscrapers. Since we are in Hong Kong, we didn’t recognize many names. It was limited to Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Our next stop was an hour long and it was at a jewelers. Let me just say, after listening to screaming kids on the bus, I was not happy to hear that ¼ of our tour was going to be spent looking at jewelry, described as using blood diamonds (if you don’t know what that is go watch the Leo DiCaprio movie, Blood Diamond, which I highly recommend as a movie anyway). Our next stop was a 30 minute stop at a “snack store” in a very sketch building. (We had to go through the delivery doors, go up 5 floors and down a hallway with dim lighting and only one door. It was sketch!)

Next stop was the floating market…aka “floating restaurant” which was about 100 yards away from the pier. It was supposed to be a 20 min boat ride (which was optional because it was $50 HKD/person to ride the boat/sampan. The Eriksons went, but the rest of us did not participate considering having to pay for anything after paying for a tour is ridiculous! The last stop was at Victoria’s Peak overlooking the city. That sentence pretty much sums up that experience. So after all of the frustration of a very poor tour…it got even better.

So, we found out that we had to drop the rambunctious kids off at some water park and another family at Disneyland. We were going to be dropped at some market in the middle of the city…here’s the catcher…they weren’t going to bring us back to the hotel! We had to find a ride back! Basically, we through a huge fit in front of several people and had the tour guide and driver bring us back to the hotel instead of dropping us off and removing the “mandatory tipping” that we were supposed to pay. We tried to give a tip to the driver when we arrived at the hotel, but he was so mad that he didn’t even accept it. The whole morning was pretty much a terrible way to spend touring Hong Kong. So…before I describe the rest of our day, let me give you a piece of advice if you ever plan to travel to Hong Kong. DO NOT USE WIN’S TRAVEL AGENCY LTD! They will screw you over. I blame that company and not our travel agent, because 1) the guide was incredibly unprofessional and tried to place all of the blame on the travel agency instead of trying to help 2) our tour last year, using the same travel agent, in Bangkok was fantastic! 3) The whole itinerary of the tour was a simple ploy to get you to spend money where they wanted you to spend it.

Anyway, even though our morning was pretty awful, we did have a good rest of the day. We decided to be a little more adventurous by trying to find the so-called “good shopping”. We managed to get directions to the subway, which was really not complicated to use. We traveled to Mong Kok market. It was huge. Tons of vendors. The prices were decent. You could tell that the vendors knew what other vendors were selling. I really wanted to get a nice mahjong set, but there were only a few places to get a nice one and they were asking $40 USD for it and would not lower the price. I should have got it anyway, but oh well. I can live without it. The rest of the family got a lot of nice things for fairly cheap prices. This was the place to go for the “good shopping”. However, I didn’t find as many clothes, shoes, or purses like I did in Bangkok which was a little surprising.

After shopping, we ate at another restaurant with pretty good food. We then caught the train back to our hotel and most of us just passed out. Overall, I’m very surprised at Hong Kong. It was definitely not the place that I thought it would be. The people are unlike any other Asian people I’ve ever met. They are actually really rude. Finding suits is not as easy as everyone said it would be which is kinda sad because all of the guys were planning on buying suits. Right now, the smog is really getting to me. Johnson City has such fresh air that even Nashville sometimes makes me congested. Here it’s worse. So, if you haven’t gathered from my blog post, it’s nice to say that I visited Hong Kong, but I will probably never come back. Goodnight all. Blog tomorrow!

Tip # 9: When booking a tour, make sure you know what you are getting so there are no surprises. It might even be better to venture out without a tour guide.

Tip # 10: If you know in advance that everything, including the language people speak, is in Cantonese, make sure to bring a dictionary. Even though Hong Kong is one of the business capitals of the world, nobody we met spoke good enough English to understand that we were lost.

Day 7: Welcome to Hong Kong!

2010-06-16T00:16:00.000-04:00

Early this morning we arrived at the airport to catch our flight to Hong Kong. Our flight was only 2 hours. We arrived here around lunch time. I’m currently sitting in our hotel room, which is…well…interesting. First, I want to say that it’s been over two years since I’ve slept in a twin size bed, and even then I was sleeping in an extra long twin size bed. Our hotel room is about half of the size of my kitchen back in Johnson City; I know many of you can picture that because you’ve been in my house!  The bathroom is very small, smaller than my half bath at the house and it has a shower in it. I’m a little bit surprised at the hotel. The service is ok as far as I can tell so far. The lady who was supposed to meet us at the airport to take us to the hotel just kinda stood around under Daddy finally asked her a question simply because she wasn’t doing anything. We didn’t even know she was the one we were looking for! Oh well. I guess I’m just super spoiled by my previous stays in luxury hotels (because they are so affordable internationally) and by my current job. (Carnegie crew, the room that my sister and I are sharing is smaller than our bathrooms at the hotel. No joke!)

So, after getting checked into the hotel, we started walking around trying to find a tailor to make suits for the guys. We were all told that the suits would be so cheap and that they were all hand tailored. Well…needless to say…after walking around we have yet to find a suit place that is cheaper than $1500 HKD ($200 USD). So, I guess we are just looking in the wrong place.

Our hotel room overlooks a park, which we visited very briefly. Let’s just say, after studying Zen Buddhism for my Ancient Religions class and being with a philosophy minor student and a graduate holding a History degree, it was a bit difficult to completely take in the beauty of it all with a camera and video camera constantly looking for “Kodak moments”. We, and I mean the students/recent grads, will probably go back before we leave to really take it all in. One thing that I did get to notice is many men playing mahjong in the park. We got to look at one of the tables just to see what it was all about. I would really like to get some mahjong tiles as a souvenir. Hopefully I can get some when we take our tour tomorrow.

Well, not too much left to say about today. It’s sprinkling (as the hotel staff here said, “freshly showering”) right now. We will go eat dinner soon and then probably come back here to rest. So, goodnight!

P.S. You will probably be reading this post later this week because internet, even through an Ethernet cord, is about $5 USD/hour! Poor Christie has to finish some homework for her online class, so we will have to pay some money for her to do that. 

Tip #7: Check to see what you are actually getting. We could have done a little more research about where we were staying. I didn’t realize that there is an InterContinental hotel here in Hong Kong, which I could have gotten using my employee discount, and we would have had a little bit nicer (larger) of a room. This is the same for the internet situation.

Tip #8: Don’t take an online class when you are planning on leaving the country for a mission trip. (I’m not trying to pick on Christie here. It would just have given her a little more peace of mind if she didn’t have to worry that she has to have some stuff due in a couple days where we have to pay for internet.)

Day 6: Surprises, Surprises!

2010-06-16T00:11:00.000-04:00

Today’s the day! We had our big party with the working students this evening…but first let me tell you about our exciting morning.

We went to “shoot the rapids”. I was under the impression that this would be like white water rafting. WRONG! We left really early in the morning and had a 2 hour drive to get to the actually place we were “shooting the rapids”. Everyone was provided with a life jacket, which gave us some awesome tan lines, and a hard hat. No really, it was a hard hat with a chin strap! There were little canoes that fit a total of 4 people, two of us and two canoe guides. The guides paddled up the river, which was a nice little ride. So, you’re probably wondering where the “rapids” come in. Well, the rapids came when there were very rocky areas. We were paddled upstream for the first part of the trip. Now, I’m not talking a little extra effort to get up the river, I’m talking these guides were literally jumping out of the boat and pushing the canoe with two of us in it over big rocks with shooting water pushing against us. Those guides were incredible! Christie asked one of our guides how often they had to make the trip up and then down the river. He told us that they did the strenuous trip once every ten days for two reasons. 1) There were 2000 boatmen. 2) It is such a tiring job that they need the other 9 days to recover. I felt so sorry for them! At the end of the travel up the current, all eight of us got on a raft and headed under the water fall. It was so much fun, despite the fact that I almost lost a contact! We had Mom’s waterproof camera so we have several good shots with of that experience. After the falls, we traveled back down the river, which was much easier to control for the guides. Overall, it was a great experience.

After “shooting the rapids”, I love how I have to put that in quotations…people will correct you if you say take a canoe on the river or go to the falls…anyway, lunch was at Max’s. Max’s is a sit down restaurant with some of the best fried chicken in the Philippines. I remember eating there twice last year, so I knew what to expect. Ryan, Alex and the Eriksons tried halo halo which is a Filipino dessert. I will attempt to describe it (I do have a picture of it.). It is an ice cream bowl filled with shaved ice, coconut milk, ice cream, jello, pieces of fruit (bananas, jack fruit, coconut, etc.), sweet beans, and sometimes chocolate sticks. It is a very different dessert where apparently, “every bite is different”. It was a very enjoyable lunch. After lunch we went back to the university to prepare for the big event.

Around 5, we headed to the gym where we were having the party. Mylene, Flor, and Ester (the guidance counselors of the working students) decorated the gym with lots of balloons and set up chairs. In the middle of the room was a big, buffet table with a beautiful flower and balloon centerpiece (I don’t know why I never thought to mix flowers and balloons) and at the front of the stage there were two tables decorated with bright table cloths and flower centerpieces for the sponsors. When we arrived, not all of the students had made it into the gym because many could not get off work until 6. The working students had planned the whole event and started the program with some praise and worship after we arrived.
The program then consisted of several musical numbers of groups of the working students and then “testimonies”/words of encouragement from all of the sponsors to the students. After that part of the program, we ate a really large dinner. There was food to feed over 600 students! (Mom said that we paid $1400 for the whole banquet. To think that the amount of money that we spent on a banquet for 600 is less than most people who have their wedding/banquet at the Carnegie for ~100 is amazing! We were also able with that money to buy a very special treat, ice cream popsicle that the working students rarely ever get. Ester told us that when they went to go buy 600 ice cream popsicles they had told the store clerk that it was for the working students’ party and they gave them 1000! It was so great to see the community helping these students as well.

Game time was after dinner. This started with a balut eating contest between Daddy, Ryan, Alex, Christie, Ester, and Nelo (one of the helpers during our stay). If you don’t know what balut is let me describe it to you and then you will know why I did not participate.  It is a delicacy in the Philippines so the winner of the contest received 12 balut. It is a fertilized duck or chicken egg that has been boiled. It looks like a regular egg that you would get in the store; however, inside of the shell is the “soup” as Alex described as, “Ramen noodle soup with about 5 packets of the seasoning in it,” and an embryo of a duck of chicken. Some have feathers, beaks, feet, eyes, etc. already. Most Filipinos love it! It was so funny for all of the students and the rest of the people on the trip to watch this because of the faces that Christie, Ryan, and Alex made. It was obvious that they will probably never eat balut again. I believe Nelo won by eating 4 balut eggs.

After the balut eating contest, we did some marching, which is equivalent to our dancing (more like line dancing) in the States. It was a lot of fun, but it was soooo hot! After marching, Mylene prepared the students in lines to receive the gift bags that we had made to distribute. We gave bags to over 500 students that night. The most popular colors among the students were purple and pink (even for the guys). They were so surprised and very appreciative for the gift. After distribution of the bags, we gathered recipients for the rice program and gave each 2 kilos of rice. There were about 144 of these students. We then gave away uniforms to each of the freshmen (113). Many of the older students watched as we handed each person a certificate to be handed to the tailor and many of them told us that it took at least one semester of work just to even purchase a uniform and that these freshmen were so lucky. For those who did not receive rice and a uniform they were allowed to look at the clothing that we had brought over and that had been sent to the university from the Color Family sponsors. So, in summary, everyone got a bag and either rice, uniform, or piece of clothing. It was such a fun time! I am so glad that we got to do it. Tomorrow we are headed out to Hong Kong! Blog then.

P.S. My parents and the Eriksons are already planning next year’s trip.  If you are interested in helping by donating money, clothes, school supplies, etc. either email me or talk to me. It takes about a year to plan for a mission trip like this, so please don’t hesitate.

Day 5: Mission of Hope- Sabbath

2010-06-12T09:07:00.000-04:00

Today was the day that we spent most of our time in worship. We woke up at the same time as yesterday to go to have breakfast in the cafeteria. I had quite a surprise when I saw that oatmeal was already on the table. Now, I’m not a big oatmeal person because of the texture, but the oatmeal we have was a little finer than the oatmeal in the States. It also had all of the extra stuff (sugar and milk) added so it was very good. After breakfast we came back to get dressed for church.

Church was your typical Sabbath school, well despite having everyone in the sanctuary divided off by pews, and what Christie and I used to call when we were little “big church”. Today they had a special service 1) for Philippine Independence Day and 2) National Women’s Ministries Day. All of the speakers were women. Now, there were a few differences that I noticed. I remembered from last year, but I will elaborate, that the sanctuary is in a very large building, but the walls consisted of large windows instead of being bricked in. Fans were mounted on each vertical structure and were scattered in between the pews instead of air conditioning. The service was about 2 hours long, which is unusually long for a Seventh Day Adventist church service. Mrs. Darlene said it was a typical service from the 60s in the US.

Lunch was a potluck at the house. All of the guidance counselors of the working students made food for us, including some chicken adobo and beef. Needless to say, the boys and I were definitely happy to see some real meat for lunch! After lunch we toured about the campus to see some of the working student dorms. To give you an idea of what the living conditions are in a dorm room there are typically 10-12 people living in a, I would say, 400-500 sq. ft. room. There are bunk beds and lockers for each individual. Bathrooms are a community bathroom at the end of the hallway or in the basement. These spaces and drastically different from the dorms of the non-working students who live in about the same size room with only 2 to a room, private bath, with maid and laundry services. It was an eye opener for everyone, especially those who had not visited last year.

After siesta time, we went to a sun-down service in the gym run by the working students. Ate Glad and Uncle Prom were the speakers. They had great encouraging stories for the students. You could just tell that the students appreciated their words. Dinner was held after the service back at the house with all of the officers because not only did we have dinner prepared from the cafeteria, but we had so much left over from the lunch. Each officer got at least one plate of food for dinner as well as a to go box for tomorrow.

Now, the rest of the group is giving English classes to the working students and will probably be there for another hour. And why are you not with them you ask? Well…dehydration has hit me fairly hard. Water, that is bottled water, isn’t exactly readily accessible, especially on Sabbath when the store is not open for business. I definitely did not have enough to drink so I am here at the house. I’m very fatigued, but thanks to the speaker at church, Dr. Tobias, she gave us a large container of water to keep me hydrated, at least through the night.
So, I have noticed a couple of things as I’ve been blogging. One, I have left a few fun things and facts out, but I have written them in my journal to write down. Two, I haven’t really written anything that pertains to how I’ve been feeling personally. Every post seems to be a summary. Well, now that I have a little bit of time, I will elaborate on a few of those things.

Let’s see. Where to start. Ok. Well let me start with a description of the beautiful trees here at AUP that you will definitely not find at ETSU’s arboretum. One is the fire tree. It was not in bloom last year so we didn’t notice it, but this year we have gotten the chance to see them. They are fairly large trees with several branches. The flowers on the tree are bright orange (not like UT orange) but almost a neon orange. It is one of Ate Glad’s favorite trees. Another tree that one of the working students’ officer, Hana, introduced me to is the “calachuchi” tree, otherwise known as the plumeria tree. Its leaves look like something from a magnolia tree, but the flowers are the size of my palm with the most fantastic smell. They are quite beautiful. Can you tell that I hold a Biology degree?

One thing that was mentioned in Sabbath school was class participation. Students, listen up! So, in the US class participation is typically 10% of a course grade. If you talk, actively take notes, etc. you get full credit for participation. You can ask questions, give your answer whether it is right or wrong, state your opinion and it all counts positively toward your grade essentially. Well, apparently here in at AUP class participation is a little different. If a professor asks you a question and you answer “wrongly”, then points are automatically deducted. Correct answers don’t really go toward an increase in the class participation grade because a student is expected to know those answers. So, be thankful that in your classes, well I guess at least in my classes, it was ok to be wrong in stating an answer because it is part of the American way of learning.

Another thing, this is kinda straying toward a persuasive side…many people get upset in the States when someone does not know English. Business is conducting using English only and this is throughout the world. In the Philippines, when Marcos was president, he mandated that Tagalog would be the national language of the Philippines. However, now, English is required of the students, faculty, and pretty much anyone holding a decent job here in the Philippines because, as Uncle Prom stated, “English is the business language of the world. If you don’t know English, you don’t conduct business.” In my opinion, I’m a quite saddened to here this. Growing up, I was not taught Tagalog mainly because no one thought I would ever need it (we never thought we would be traveling back to the Philippines). However, I remember listening to my dad talk with his sisters or other family members. I loved hearing him speak because the language is so different from what I was exposed to at Meigs and Hume Fogg (Spanish, French, German, Latin, etc.). The thought that in say 100 years no one will be speaking Tagalog for the sake of business is very sad to me. So, keep in mind that the majority of people are causing many countries to abandon their heritage (i.e., language) for the sake of business. Many cultures have already lost their languages forever, which may have been useful in the future.

Ok. On a less opinionated, preachy note, I want to talk about some of the feelings that I have had over the last couple of days. First, I am still very excited about what is to come! Despite the very hot days and rainy afternoons (It is currently thunder storming outside); I am enjoying my stay here at AUP. The strongest feeling that I have is awe. The working students definitely cause me to feel awe. To think that my biggest worry in life, currently, is what my next move in terms of career is, is so small compared to some of the working students’ worry as to when their next meal will be. The idea that many American students are embarrassed to be going to school for 5 years instead of 4 is so small compared to the 10 years it takes for many students to finish just an undergraduate degree! Even though these worry weigh heavily on their hearts, they still smile. They are very gracious to the sponsors, which are what they identify us as, and we really haven’t done anything yet! All I can say is that I’m so happy to be a part of this mission trip. If I could express/show/have you come here and experience the joy and strength that these students possess, I would.

Tomorrow I will be giving a “testimony” and encouragement speech tomorrow right before we hand out the bags. I have been restless as to what I should say other than, “Keep up the good work.” I think I will share my story. Explain that they aren’t the only ones with worries and that we must keeping praying and having faith, which for me is extremely difficult in this part of my life, that God will have his plan revealed to us and that He will always provide, whether it is food or guidance. I think that’s what I will say…
Well, I’m off to bed, I’m getting a little more tired so I’m going to have another banana and bottle of water. Hopefully the thunder and lightning won’t keep me up. Post tomorrow!

Day 4: Mission of Hope- Preparation Day

2010-06-12T08:29:00.000-04:00

A summary statement for the day would be that today was preparing for Sunday night. My day started out with waking up to the rooster’s call, seriously. The sun was just rising when I got up this morning. I don’t really know what time it was. Around 7:00 AM, we went to the cafeteria to have breakfast. The food was very good, but I am already starting to feel the effects of not having my usual amount of coffee. (No caffeinated beverages are served on this campus. I won’t have a soda or coffee until Monday!) After breakfast we came back to the house and started to unpack the suitcases filled with supplies and the eight boxes that we sent over earlier this year.

Before packing each bag with supplies, we looked around and estimated how many supplies we had and I said a little prayer that we had more than we had budgeted for and originally counted. Earlier in the year we planned for 400 working students. We wanted each student to have some school supplies and some basic toiletries that would be packed in a bag of some sort. A few weeks ago, the guidance counselors of the working students said that they were expecting around 600 students this year. Mom and Mrs. Darlene we have lunch at that time and they prayed about it. We were also told about 2 weeks before we arrived that there were 17 officers of the Working Students Association. We found out today that there are 25. We were a little discouraged because we had not planned so this morning at breakfast, as well as last night, we decided exactly how we were going to pick and choose who gets what. I remembered last year that we had only supplies and backpack for 300 and somehow 400 students received them, so I said the little prayer for God to show us some miracles again…

Before packing all of the smaller tote bags, we wanted to fill up the backpacks that we had gathered for the officers with the first pick of the supplies. Mom and Ate Glad started counting and counted 25 bags! Mom, with Dad agreeing, said she had only purchased 17 backpacks and only packed 17. But we had the 25 bags and filled them with good school supplies, toiletries, and a note from the group. After that we made an assembly line and started to fill up the other tote bags. Each student, on Sunday evening, will receive a tote bag, 2 spiral notebooks/notebook paper, 3 pencils, 1 pen, 1 pencil sharpener, 1 folder, 1 ruler, 2 bars of soap, 1 shampoo and conditioner, 1 toothbrush, 1 toothpaste, 1 comb, and a wash cloth. Now, keep in mind that a bag packed like this would last a typical American for maybe one month for these working students they are so frugal in the use of these items that they may last for over a semester to a year. Some of the students from last year still have some of the supplies that we gave out! As we continued, Christie and I started noticing that as some supplies were diminishing (like toothbrushes because they are very difficult to get donated) we still had plenty of bags left to fill. So, we both decided to count the completed bags. We had 420 completed bags and we were still filling them up with a huge stack left to start. By the end of the morning, we had filled 600 bags full of supplies (and don’t worry, if someone didn’t get a tooth brush, ruler, etc. we supplemented with addition supplies that were extra). 600 bags! 2 miracles before lunchtime! All that I can say is that God is good.

After lunch, we took a tour of the clinic because we had a lot of medical supplies that were donated by Mrs. Darlene, an RN, and were given via inheritance from Ate Jean, who passed away last May. I can’t really describe in words how shocked I was by the clinic, so you will have to take a look at the photos. Maybe I’m being ethnocentric, but I don’t know how they practice medicine effectively and efficiently. I know that when I worked at the hospital I was responsible for 26 patients at some time; however, I had monitors and people watching monitors on all of the patients so if any of them became critical (especially since I worked on the ventilator unit) I could respond quickly. Here, there are no monitors. Blood pressures are taken the “old fashion” way without digital screen. Heart rates are calculated “the old fashion” way. Oxygen levels are only taken when absolutely needed because they do not have many pulse oximeters. How they do it, I don’t know. We saw the x-ray department which is an area that my parents were very excited to see because they are radiology technologists. Mom cried heavily at the sight. The x-ray unit is an old military x-ray unit (probably from Vietnam or even from one of the earlier wars). The aprons that they are using have no lead in them. (Which for you who don’t know much about radiology, let me explain why this is what made Mom cry. Lead aprons are used for protection of internal organs, especially glands. Every time a patient has an x-ray they are shielded by using aprons because of the high amount of radiation that a patient is exposed to. This radiation, even from one x-ray especially old units, can cause cancer because it kills cells and/or mutates them. Lead is what the aprons are filled with.) We then saw labor and delivery, which was basically the same as the bedroom that I’m sleeping in now. Again, words cannot describe what we saw in the clinic. This will probably become another project of ours in the future.

Anyway, on to a happier note. After lunch, because we had worked so hard the morning, we got to take a nap! ;) After nap time, we went to eat dinner with the guidance counselors and the officers of the working students. After dinner we all came back to the house. We introduced ourselves and then had each of the officers introduce themselves. I write about each person’s personal story because there were 25 of them; however, I can tell you that most of them have been going to AUP for the past 4 years. Only one is planning on graduating in March for sure. One is currently praying for a sponsorship because she has an internship that she must complete before she graduates, which means she cannot work in order to pay for school and food. One person has been going to school for 5 years and is expecting another 4 years to go. The most unique major of all of the officers, well I guess in my opinion, is Filipino. This major consists of learning the various areas, cultures, etc. of the Philippine islands. I believe she will be pursuing teaching after obtaining her degree. So, I guess it would be equivalent to a major in Anthropology. After introduction, the Torch Bearers, the choir of the working students, came in and sang to us (this put us around 50 people in the living and dining area). When they left, we handed out the officer bags, gave them 3 laptops, and gave the guidance counselors gifts.

So, we had a very blessed day. Needless to say, we are all exhausted and I am once again the last one to go to bed! ;) Tomorrow is Sabbath so I don’t know exactly what we have in store, but I will definitely blog about it. Goodnight! (Well, I guess really good morning to you!)

Day 3: Mission of Hope

2010-06-12T08:28:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention in my last post. I was slightly adventurous and got Korean style beef, also known as bibimbap, for dinner and kimchi for breakfast. The breakfast was excellent. I am so looking forward to eating yummy, authentic, Asian food! ;)

And back to Day 3. We arrived in Manila around 11:30 AM. We took our hour ride to AUP and got checked into our rooms for the trip. Mom, Dad, Christie and I are sharing a house with 2 bedrooms. Ryan and Alex are in one of the rooms of the alumni “hotel”. Mr. Don and Mrs. Darlene are on one side of a duplex next to Ate Glad and Uncle Prom. As soon as we unloaded we went straight to the cafeteria for a “merienda”, otherwise known as snack time. Oh, but Alex can tell you that this was not any ordinary snack. It was basically a meal. There was rice, pancit (a Filipino noodle dish), a “beef” tofu dish (I don’t really know how to describe it. This campus is all vegetarian.), caramelized bananas and fresh pineapple. It was very delish!

After snack time we all came back to our houses. Some took naps, I was definitely included in this group, while others greeted some students would delivered our boxes to the house for tomorrow’s preparation. It was kind of nice because it started to rain heavily so it was a nice pitter patter on the roof, at least for me, and it lowered the temperature significantly. After nap time, we went straight back to the cafeteria for dinner with the advisors of the working students. There was soooo much food. Let me try to remember. Well, there was rice as always, another “beef” tofu dish, vegetables, macaroni and cheese (not your traditional Easy Mac), watermelon and “buko” (coconut) pie. It again was very good. I didn’t eat much because I ate so much at snack time. I guess I will have to prepare for that in the upcoming days.

Currently, all of us are back at our houses and almost everyone is in bed but me. I took a shower, a much needed shower because it is extremely hot, even more so than last year, and rainy. So back to the shower (get your mind out of the gutter! ), if you’ve never experienced showering in a third world country you will probably not believe me. Ok. You walk into the shower. You see three knobs, a large box above the shower head, bucket and pail. Mrs. Darlene has already looked and immediately asked how to shower. I, over the many mistakes from last year, have learned quite a bit about these showers. The knobs are for hot, cold, and use of either the shower head or the other spout. The box above the shower head is to heat the water before running through the shower head. Now here’s the kicker. The bucket and pail is for exactly what you think it is. See, last year I didn’t think I needed to use it since the shower head was working perfectly with warm water. I saw it as just a think taking up space. That is until we went to Palawan last time and I was in the middle of shampooing my hair when a rolling brown out occurred (that is no electricity). Needless to say, I don’t like cold showers especially when washing my hair even if it is 90o outside. So, the bucket is the first thing I fill up before doing anything else.
Moving on, I know that just about everyone but the kids (and I mean Alex, Ryan, Christie and myself) were talking business about the mission trip over dinner. I don’t know exact numbers or anything, but I do know that we have a major work day ahead of us. Hopefully I will be able to post about specific numbers and things to give you a better picture of the work we are doing here. So, as I say good night after an exhausting day I want to say good morning to you because I know you are just starting your day, we miss you guys already and we got here safe and sound! (My computer is still set to the Johnson City time so I have an idea as to the time difference.)

P.S. I’m not quite sure if I have internet access here. We have a phone, but it doesn’t work. I don’t know if that means that the actual phone doesn’t work or that the line isn’t working. So, if you are reading this, it is probably a post that I wrote earlier and when I got internet access added it to my blog. 

Day 2: Mission of Hope: Yet Another Travel Day

2010-06-09T16:41:00.000-04:00

Ok. So I don't have too too much to say because we traveled literally into the next day. We just completed our 12 hour flight and are currently sitting in the Seoul, Korea airport waiting for our last flight into Manila.

The flight was not too bad. It didn't really seem like a really long flight. It is probably because I slept a while. I did watch a few movies. I watched some Korean movie about these 3 old ladies who rob a bank trying to get to Hawaii. That was a pretty good movie. Too bad I have no idea what the name of the movie is. I also watched Shutter Island. Great movie! Of course, I'm a big fan of Leo DiCaprio, but the plot was pretty good as well. I started watching Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief. I've watched about an hour before we landed and it got cut off, so hopefully I can watch the rest on this flight.

Ok. now time for tips!

Tip #5: Bring an adapter for headphones on the airplane. I personally hate airplane headphones. They are uncomfortable and just poor quality. Christie bought Ryan and I some really nice headphones and an adapter that works for the plane. Ok. Now for you people who don't fly very much...the airplane has two plugs for headphones, one to control the left and one to control the right side of the headphones. As you know, the headphones we typically buy only have one jack, but there's an adapter! YAY! I highly recommend them.

Tip #6: If you are typically one who goes to the bathroom fairly often or drinks a lot of fluid, take the aisle seat. I've been at the window seat the past two times and I will probably opt for the aisle seat this time because I hate climbing over Ryan and Alex to use the restroom. Plus, I like to walk around the cabin (well, on this last flight).

So like I said, we are just waiting. Nothing too fantastic. Hopefully I will get a chance to blog later on today about Day 3! ;)

Day 1: Mission of Hope

2010-06-09T16:31:00.002-04:00

So today was a travel day. Our first flight left Nashville at 4 (because it got a little delayed). It was a pretty good flight, as most Southwest Airlines flights have gone. It was a little bumpy throughout the flight. We arrived in LAX and got our 16 checked bags fairly quickly and made our way to the international terminal of the airport. We had dinner, which let me just tell you that eating in LAX is like eating at a sit down restaurant. It is pretty expensive. Anyway, we checked into our Asiana Airlines around 2040 (midnight Eastern Standard Time). That was chaotic. Well it was busy anyway because practically the entire Korean symphony was trying to check in, but when you have 8 people checking 2 bags each and being required to weigh the carry-on luggage it can get pretty crazy. I must be spoiled, thank you Carnegie Hotel, but I was not very impressed because of the check in process. Attendants were rude and made everything more complicated than need be. I guess I have to wait until I finish this flight before I can form an opinion about the airlines as a whole.
Ok. I have gathered quite a bit of tips over my travels and I am still picking up more. So over the course of the trip I will write them all down as I think of them instead of just having one large post with a bunch of them. Anyway…
Tip #1: Weigh your bags ahead of time. It is much better to figure out how to rearrange stuff at your house than it is when you are at the check in counter. (It might just make the attendants a little happier too.)
Tip #2: Check in one at a time, especially if you are in a big group. I have found, with 8 of us, that it if we checked in one at a time with our two bags and our carry-on it would have made a huge difference in our experience at LAX.
Tip #3: Be on time. I’m currently sitting in the LAX terminal # 123 and watching several Australians running to catch their flight. There is a reason that people stick to the “be there 2 hours early” rule.
Tip #4: Try to remain calm. I know that I get very frustrated here at the check in counter and I just have to walk away and let Mom deal with it. Sometimes I run my mouth to much, which doesn’t exactly help in most situations.
I had another tip in the back of my mind, but with it being 1:17 AM (Eastern Time) and we are waiting for a 12:20AM flight (LA time) my mind is just about mush. :) Ok. Well. I’m going to attempt to stay awake for the next couple of hours before we get on the plane. Hopefully I will get a chance to blog tomorrow. I’m so excited to arrive in Manila, PI! 

Day 0-Mission of Hope 2010

2010-06-07T21:41:00.001-04:00

Ok. So I've titled this Day 0, like one of my other posts, because really I have begun my vacation by traveling to Nashville, but we won't actually be leaving for anywhere until tomorrow at 3:35 PM.

There are a couple of things to blog about even though the mission trip really hasn't started. I've gotten a lot of questions recently about various aspects of the trip, so hopefully I can answer those here! :)

First, I have had several people ask about getting to the Philippines. Well, the easiest way to describe it is to give you our itinerary. Tomorrow we leave at 3:35 PM from Nashville to Los Angeles (ETA: 6:00 PM). We have a 6 hour layover in LA (oh my goodness I didn't realize that) and then we will leave at 12:20 AM for Seoul, Korea (that is South Korea and ETA: 5:20 AM). We will get right back on another plane to Maila, Philippines (ETA: 11:50 AM). So, if you figure out using all of the times (in their correct time zones) that's over 21 hours of actual flying time, that is not including layovers. When arriving into the Manila airport, we will still have around an hour drive to our final destination, Adventist University of the Philippines, my dad's alma mater. Yes. It is going to be a very long trip that will probably be exhausting. To put it in even more into perspective, just think we are leaving in the afternoon while it is still daylight and then arriving to our destination around lunch time while the sun will still be shining. So we have to sleep on the plane in order to obtain an easy transition and not be tired for the activites planned on the day of arrival.

Next question...who's all going with you? Well, there will be a total of 8. Mom, Dad, Christie, Mr. and Mrs. Erikson (a couple from Madison Campus SDA church), Alex (long-time family friend), Ryan and myself will be traveling together for the entire duration of the trip.

Next question...what exactly are you doing on the trip? What is the "mission" aspect of the trip? Well, easy answer is...go visit http://missionofhope2010.webs.com. The website contains detailed information about why we started this mission trip, who's going, what our projects for this trip is, and photos from last year's trip. But, if you don't really have time, I'll summarize here. :) As previously stated, Adventist University of the Philippines (AUP) is my dad's alma mater. We will have designed projects to specifically help students who are classifed as "working students". This particular group of students work full time (and I'm not talking your generic 30-40 hours a week, I mean 60-70 hours of labor) while trying to attend classes to obtain an undergraduate degree. These students work to support their education. Many of them do not have uniforms, which are required by the university, so they make do by sharing. Most of them eat only one meal a day because meal plans and food costs, just like in the States, are expensive. What we consider as necessities/toiletries are often luxury for these students. So, what are we going to do about it. Well, we have set out 3 main projects. We are providing basic school supplies (something any average US college student would use in a month), toiletries, and a food buffet for 400 students (there are a total of 600 working students so the officers and guidance counselors and figuring how to divide the supplies accordingly). The next project is to provide regular clothes to these students. The last project is to provide about 100 students with uniforms. We obtained all of the supplies through donations of the actual items or raising money in order to purchase these supplies. In addition to these projects we will be providing worship services, English classes, and providing encouragement for the students. It is going to be a rewarding experience and I'm glad to be sharing it not only with those who are going with us, but with all of you who are keeping up with my blog.

Next question...are you spending all of your time doing mission work? Short answer. No. While most of our trip will be spent providing some sort of mission work, either with the working students or with other remote churches on other Philippine islands, we will be taking a couple of days trips for vacation time. However, you will just have to keep reading to see what kind of adventures that we will be participating in!

Ok. I think those were the major questions that I have received in the past few days. Feel free to leave comments or shoot me an email with any other questions or to just leave a comment.

Now, I am just finishing up with last minute errands and packing and preparing for the next couple of days mentally. Hopefully, I will be able to blog tomorrow...maybe somewhere in LA or Seoul. :)

Packing

2010-06-02T12:38:00.000-04:00

So, first I just want to say that I should definitely have a pat on the back fro blogging so much since I've graduated. I mean really. I have almost surpassed that amount of blog posts in the past six months than I did all of last year. Too bad Facebook seems a little slow of uploading them to my profile so the dates seem a little weird. Oh well.

So today's subject...packing. So I've started my least favorite part of traveling, packing. I currently have 3 suitcases, 1 small ziploc baggie (for carry on toiletries), 1 back pack, 1 purse, 1 wallet, and four different lists of what I and Ryan need to pack laying out on my bed. (Thank goodness I have a queen size bed to fit all of this.) So like I said, this is my least favorite part. Even though I have lists of the things that I want/need to bring, I have this gut feeling I'm going to forget something big. I don't really know what that is yet (obviously), but hopefully it's just hunger pains. ;) So comment question for you guys...what is the worst thing you've ever forgotten on a trip?

Where is it you're traveling...I can already hear that in my head from someone who hasn't been keeping up (just jokin'). On Monday, Ryan and I will be heading back to Nashville. On Tuesday, Mom, Dad, Christie, Alex, Ryan, Mr. and Mrs. Erikson, and me will be flying to Manila, Philippines. (BNA-->LAX-->Seoul, S. Korea-->Manila) We are headed back to my dad's home country for a mission trip. We will be working with the working students at the Adventist University of the Philippines, my dad's alma mater. These working students work full time (I'm not just talking a simple 40 hours of checking people into and out of a hotel, I mean hard labor of maybe 60 and 70 hours a week) and are trying to go to school full time. School supplies and basic necessities are a luxury for many of these students. Part of our mission is to bring school supplies, toiletries, clothes, etc. to these students. We will have several surprises for the students and will spend worship and have seminars (learning to speak English) throughout our trip. We will be returning back to the US on Tuesday, June 22.

My goals, well in addition to those set out by the Mission of Hope, are simple goals and hopefully easy to obtain. Last year, I didn't realize that I would have easy access to the Internet in most of the places that we stayed. So, this year, I hope to blog more. It may not be everyday (mainly because I will be in several remote places). I want to share this experience with as many people as possible. Two, I want to take more pictures. Tons of pictures! Mom and Dad did a great job last year, but I want to take more! Lastly, I want to have a small get together when Ryan and I come back so I can show some close friends some of the photos and souvenirs that I bought from the trip. Anyway, I've procrastinated enough on packing. Maybe I can run to the store for some last minute items instead of packing... ;)

Blog from the couch

2010-05-30T19:18:00.000-04:00

Hello world!

First, I want to apologize in advance for any spelling or grammatical errors in this blog because the pain medicine that I am currently taking makes me a little woozy and a little less preoccupied with fine details.

Anyway, so let me just tell you what my past week has been like. So on Monday, we had our first Knit & Bitch. It was a lot of fun! I finished a pair of baby booties for Christy (which she loved). I have made one other bootie and hopefully I can finish the other one tomorrow. Well, that Monday, I was having a little bit of pain around the back of my jaw. It got a little worst as the day progressed, so I figured, since I am going to be leaving the country in a few weeks, that I should see my dentist. Guess what? Wisdom teeth. They started to come in. I've told everyone that I blame the last hygienist that saw me (not my regular) because she had to mention that hopefully they didn't come in when I went on the mission trip. I seriously told the receptionist never to schedule me with her again since she kinda jinked me.

So, now, two days after my wisdom teeth surgery, I've been sitting on my black chase (which is a perfect spot to recover from any surgery) watching tv, eating jello and pudding, taking all of my medicines that make me woozy, and sleeping. I'm in a little bit of pain right now, but hopefully this last round of pain meds will kick in soon.

Well, my concentration for the moment has been used up now, so let me close with saying thank you to everyone who kept me in your thoughts and prayers as I went through my surgery and recovery process. Hopefully I'll be up and about in the next day or so! :)

What's Up, Graduate?

2010-05-23T13:53:00.000-04:00

Ok. So it's been 2 weeks since I've graduated. I haven't really blogged too much about life really because honestly, I'm been keeping busy! ;)

Most of my time is consumed by work, but I have spent a lot of time spending some quality time with Ryan and some other friends. It's nice to be able to spend time with people without having to think about school in the back of my mind.

This past week hasn't been too eventful. From my last post, you probably could tell that I helped host a baby shower at the Carnegie hotel with some of my other coworkers. Other than that, I've just worked, because we were a little short staffed this week. Ryan and I did some shopping. Patio furniture in particular. I had budgeted some of my graduation money for fixing up our small outdoor area and because Ryan and I found an incredible deal on a bistro set at Lowe's we were able to buy some other things (dog running cord, grill cover, patio set cover, outdoor lighting, etc). We've eaten several times outside now, including last night in celebration of Emmie's birthday! We hope to spend so more time outside now, so if anyone wants to hang out, you are welcome over. If you want us to grill something, on our new grill might I add, bring food and we will provide the cooking and company. ;)

This week is going to be fairly busy as well. I have 40 hours of work this week!! (Thanks, Joel. ;)) I also have an interview with ETSU for another job so I can make a little more money and the perks of being an ETSU employee such as access to the CPA (the gym). Monday, Emmie, Keith, Ann, and I are having our first "Knit and Bitch" where Emmie is going to teach Keith how to knit and we all do whatever projects we are working on while talking about everything in life, the good, the bad, and the ugly, hence the name. I have two projects that I will be working on. One in particular is going to be really difficult, but I'm going to try. I will blog more about it later. I'm kinda doing it as a surprise for someone. ;) Hopefully on Wednesday, since Ryan is going to have a long and late work day, I will spend some time with a friend or two at the house.

Ok. So far this blog doesn't really say much other than I'm currently working a bunch and socializing. Well for the family who is probably thinking...what's next? What are your goals for the future? Etc. Well, this paragraph is for you! I, being the type A-personality and OCD, set small goals for myself each week. Working out and cleaning the house is two of those for the upcoming summer. I am researching into some potential graduate school opportunities as well as seeking jobs using my current degree. (I even seriously thought about applying for another CNA job working in a surgical office. I still might.) Not too much progress yet, but there is still time. I'm not settling. I promise.

Well, that's all for now. It's starting to hit me a little that I'm a graduate. Oh, I guess that means I need to go pick up my diploma tomorrow! Well, off to work...

Dear Lili

2010-05-16T18:20:00.001-04:00

To the first daughter of Christy and Lee.

Miss Lili, I just wanted to write a little note to you. Today, your mommy had a baby shower at the Carnegie hotel. Let me just say that so many people are so excited for you! Your mommy thinks that you will love lady bugs, so the whole room was decorated with red and black balloons, table cloths, streamers, and even lady bug bubbles. Justin even made a Mommy and Baby lady bug cake and small lady bug cupcakes. We had so much yummy food that Chris, Katey, and I set up for the party. Your mommy even got presents, just for you! Hopefully, when you get older where your mommy can read this to you or you can read it, you can just know that a lot of people are so excited to meet you and that even though you haven't been born yet, we all love you very much! I know your mommy, daddy, and big brother are also very anxious to see you. It's been so much fun as you grow in mommy's belly and I can't wait to meet you!

See you soon,
Jillian

P.S. Try not to arrive too early when I'm out of the country. ;)

*Note: This is for those of you who do not know who this blog is for. Christy is on of my coworkers who is expecting to give birth to Lili on July 7th. Today, the Carnegie crew had her baby shower.

Congrats to Me!

2010-05-11T12:58:00.000-04:00

Saturday, May 8th, I graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Biology. I say goodbye to my undergraduate career to start a new chapter of my life. As you may have noticed, I've changed the blog name to "Life as a College Graduate". (If you are reading this on Facebook, I encourage you to take a look at the original blog at http://jazzeyq.blogspot.com)

This weekend was a great weekend for me. I got to spend time with a lot of family (Mom, Dad, Christie, Grandmama, Uncle Wayne, Auntie Menie, Uncle Steve, Auntie Delma, Uncle Tony, Alex, and the Alexander family). I received many congratulations, gifts, and words of wisdom for this next chapter of my life. The most popular question was, "Does it feel any different being a graduate?" The answer is, for now, not really. I don't think that it will hit me that I am no longer a student until, probably, later on this month when I have the choice to wake up at a decent time to start my day or sleep in, when I realize I don't have to stay up late to finish homework, or when I realize that I can actually hang out with friends on a week night, but I'll blog all about that when it happens.

What's next...that's another big question that I don't really have an answer for. As of now, I am taking a year off from school and working. It's hard to write down what exactly I'm feeling about the whole situation, but just know that I have seriously thought about this decision for quite some time. I know that God has a plan for me and that hopefully within this year of figuring out what's next He will guide me into the right direction.

So, what happens next in terms of the blog? Well, now that I have some time on my hands, I will try (I know I promise this all of the time) to blog more. I probably won't every day or even every week because I mean, what will I write about when nothing really new is going on. However, I will write about my baby steps forward, the hardships, the exciting experiences that I may have, and practically everything that I feel is relevant to this new chapter of my life.

Thank you everyone for the congratulations, support, and encouragement! :)

Stress, StReSs, STRESS!!!!

2010-05-01T23:23:00.000-04:00

So, I have be prescribed, by my boyfriend, to not do anything tonight. First, let me preface this story with why I have been ordered to chill out on the couch by Ryan, and coworker and good friend, Joel.

Yesterday, around 7:30 am, I woke up with an incredible charlie horse in my left calve. When I tried to stand up after it stopped throbbing, the charlie horse shot up to my neck. I couldn't stand. Not what I needed when I had fifty million things to do that day. So I needless to day, I was wheeled around in a borrowed wheelchair by my awesome Brother, Sara (that is Fraternity brother;)) and I dealt with the pain of all of my muscles being contracted on my left side.

Anyway, many ask, "What's stressing you out". Simple answer. Life. So yesterday was my last day of my undergraduate career. It's incredibly bitter sweet. It's awesome because I'm done and can say that I have a bachelor's degree in Biology with a minor in Humanities. However, it's very bitter because next Saturday, not only am I graduating, but it is very symbolic of how now I'm supposed to be moving on with my life as an adult, which for me is terrifying.

For those of you who do not know, I did not in to medical school this time around. I have not taken my MCAT again this semester, so I won't be able to apply for the next year either. I am not intending to go to graduate school this year because I have not researched into graduate school, I haven't taken the necessary tests, and I haven't filled out the application. So what's next... I'm living in Johnson City and working. Don't get me wrong. I love Johnson City and I have the best job that I have ever had, but it just feels like what's next? I don't know.

In addition to the whole "what does my future hold for me?" weighing heavily on my shoulders, but I also have the next week to face. I only have 2 finals, but I have 3 papers stills to write (don't worry I can write them probably in one day). It's just a little overwhelming, but now that I type it out it doesn't really seem like a lot. Two, graduation. I'm so excited about a few things, but I'm super worried about a lot of things. Deep inside I'm hoping my family are so impressed with the hotel. I think it's awesome, even if I'm an employee (I swear I'm not sucking up, I just really love my job). I hope that I will be able to walk across the stage at graduation (but if I don't I'm holding Genesia to what she said that she'd wheel me across that stage). I have to clean. I mean, when I get off of crutches I can do that so quickly, but still all of the preparation for graduation. There's another piece of graduation that has been on my mind, but mom and Christie have tried to keep me from weighing me down, so I'm not going to write about it.

Anyway, that is what has been going on in my life the past week or so. Just to get everyone up to speed and kinda explain some of my weird moods lately.

Hopefully I will have some pictures and posts up later.

Jillian

P.S. After next week I'm going to have to change the title of my blog. I've thought about it. I think it's going to be "Life of the College Graduate". What does everyone think?

Day 0

2010-03-08T00:29:00.002-05:00

I said that I would probably get a chance to blog before I started my spring break trip. Anyway, Day 0. I can’t really call it Day 1 because that would assume that I have already started my break. I currently, at 9:36 PM, am on a plane on the way to Tampa. Today I worked a 7 to 3 shift and took a short nap before Ryan and I were taken to the airport by a great friend.

According to the Allegiant flight attendant we will land in approximately and hour and twenty minutes from now. Hopefully we will land earlier or the flight will seem pretty quick because I know that I am very tired and would really like just to crawl up in a warm bed before driving to Miami tomorrow.

So, a little bit about the trip so far. ;) I know, how can I already have something to say about a trip that I just started at 6:30 this evening when I left my house? By the way, Butch is being taken care of at home by Amber until Tuesday evening and Zack and Cori until we get back, so even though Ryan and I will miss him terribly he will be well taken care of. Anyway, it was just interesting going through the airport. I’m sure many of you having been through the Tri-Cities airport. It is nothing like any airport that most people travel through. As I constantly tell guests at the hotel, it really is only necessary to be at the airport an hour before the flight is expected to depart because there are only 7 gates and going through security is a breeze, unless you are traveling on Allegiant (of which we are) then you need to be there 2 hours in advance.

It was busier tonight than I was expecting, especially for Sunday. The airport is a great place to people watch. At our gate there were several different people. I know that on our flight the ETSU tennis team is joining us. I have met the coach several times, but I don’t think he recognized me. It’s probably the street clothes. Lots of people that I have met at the hotel don’t recognize me if I’m not in my monkey suit, yes, I call it a monkey suit. ;) Anyway, there was a family of at least 3 if not four generations. The youngest was a little rowdy but nothing like the two children that my co-worker and I witnessed throwing a huge fit right before they were supposed to walk in a wedding last night. They were funny. I saw an old co-worker from the Student Health Clinic getting ready to spend Spring Break in Florida. She and her friends looked very excited. I’m assuming that most of these passengers are getting ready for Spring Break; at least because they all look eager to go and they are around my age.

So, as I retire to playing Solitaire for the next several minutes, I leave you with the travel tip of the day: Don’t expect airport food to be any good, especially at a small airport. Dinner for me: Cheetos. So far this diet of mine is looking grim for the week. Goodnight, probably blog tomorrow!

P.S. I’m going to try to be one of those stereotypical Asian and carry my camera around and take pictures of everything, so enjoy these from the plane!!

This one's going to be a doozy!

2010-03-01T12:11:00.000-05:00

Ok. So it's been two whole weeks since I blogged last. Well, let's just say today I'm in a blogging mood. Ever since I watched Julie and Julia (awesome movie to watch on a full stomach might I add), I have wanted to blog something. This is my first opportunity to blog because I've been so busy!!! Anyway, I think it is really awesome that a blog had that much impact. I hope someone is reading my blog out there. I mean I know my mom does, but is there anyone else? This blog is for everyone. Anyway, I'm ranting.

So I was thinking earlier this morning that I'm going to have to change the name of my blog soon. I'm thinking "Life of the College Graduate". Maybe something else not so generic. I don't know. I guess it will depend on where life takes me at this point. Hopefully I will know soon where I might be. Ryan and I are just waiting on a letter. A simple letter. Not an email. I, on the other hand, am waiting on a phone call, but that's a blog for later.

So, these past couple of weeks have been very busy. School, work, Phi Sigma Pi (when we meet), Relay for Life, friends. Ah! So much to do and not enough time. I'm kidding. I'm managing pretty well. I've been down a little bit that past couple of days, but I, with the advice of a great friend, dressed up a little bit. Well, I guess if you can count doing my hair, making my make-up look a little better and putting on a new necklace counts as dressing up. Ryan and Butch helped start the day great too! Today is a good day. Busy day, but a good day.

Ok. Let's see what to update on other than my resolution check. Well school...Well school is school. We had a snow day last week. That was nice. Other than that it's just school. Work. Can I just say I love my job? Listen (well I guess read) to this. The Carnegie Hotel is sponsoring the Relay for Life team that I am co-captain of! (Yes, I just ended a sentence with a preposition, but according to Mark, I can do that.) Anyway, this is great! Ted and Meredith and the owners and pretty much everyone helping cannot possibly imagine how grateful I am for this sponsorship. It takes a lot of weight off of my shoulders. Anyway, there will be more information about Relay for Life soon. Some of you will get letters. Most of you will get e-mails. I will definitely blog about it, so be checking your mailboxes (that is physical and virtual). Phi Sigma Pi is rolling along. We've had a couple canceled meetings, so not a whole lot of new news. I have met several of the Delta Initiate class. They are going to be a good class. I'm really excited about them. I have my last little of my Phi Sigma Pi experience (unless our Chapter decides to do Alumni Big Brothers, who knows). She's very enthusiastic and I'm very excited to have her as my little.

Well, there's not much left to say now...Spring Break is next week! I might be able to slip in a blog before then, most likely after then. I'm sure it's going to be awesome! I can't wait. So now...

Resolution Check!
(My resolutions are in purple.)
1.) Try not to get upset when life has a few unexpected bumps. Ok. I've done poorly on this the past couple of days, but I'm turning a new leaf. Today is a new day. The past is the past, well at least that is what everyone is telling. I decided to let go of a few things today, so hopefully I can get back on track with this resolution.
2.) Realize that plan b or c or d may work out for the best. Ok. Honestly, I can't really comment on this one yet. Hopefully the next blog I can.
3.) Lose at least 35 lbs. before graduation by eating better and exercising. Congratulations to me because I have already lost 10 lbs in the past two weeks. I have definitely been eating better. Last week was a struggle because it was so busy, but only 1 major disaster (stupid chocolate cake that makes me feel some much better). The first week of my diet I worked out every day on the Wii fit. This past week not so much. Tomorrow, I will start working out on it everyday again. Hopefully that works!
4.) Make all A's this semester. The new laptop should help with that. Let's see. Philosophy of Art-well no assignments turned in yet. Animal Physiology-solid B right now, maybe even a B+. Vertebrate Embryology- B+ (I have a lab test this week! Maybe I can bring that up a little more.) Computers, Technology, and Literature-well no grades yet, but definitely A work. ;) Ok so I need to do a little bit better. Let's see how I do.
5.) Take more pictures. I finally have another great camera so hopefully these posts will contain more photos. I'm doing bad on this. I've packed my camera so many times, but yet. It hasn't been used too much. :/ Maybe Spring Break will provide some more opportunities.
6.) Call my parents more often. Since I've started work at the hotel I haven't been able to call every night, sometime just once a week, but with my new phone I will be a little more inclined to call even when it is late. I think that I'm doing better. I call every time that I don't have to work until 11. I need to add Christie into this resolution. We definitely need to talk more than the once a month that we've been doing.
7.) Send birthday cards. I used to send them all the time, but I lost the list with everyone's birthdays. Now that I have the list again so maybe I can keep it up. Ok. bad. Well no I don't say that! I sent out Valentine's Day cards! There haven't been any birthdays since my last resolution check except for my mom and she got a "card" in her present on the front page. That so counts.
8.) Have more laughs and smiles than "grr" moments. I'm at equilibrium. (I'm a Biology major I'm allowed to use this word.) But today is a good day so hopefully more laughs and smiles.
9.) Save some money. (I tend to spend my paycheck in the week that I have it instead of saving it.) I've already started my $5 fund (ask me about it if interested). :/ No more money. Dieting is expensive. But the good news is that I am one payment away from owning my washer and dryer! ;)
10.) Blog more. This one everyone who reads this can poke at me to keep this resolution. Seriously, bug me if you haven't seen a blog in a while. Well, what do you guys think? ;)

Well that's it for now. Sorry for the long post. Just had blogging on the brain today. How do ya like the new background? Anyway, I hope everyone has a fantabulous week! Blog later! ;)

Valentine's Day: Love or Hate?

2010-02-09T12:17:00.000-05:00

Some of you may be confused by my title since most of the time when people see or hear the words "Valentine's Day" they often associate it with love, not hate. I have come to see this slowly progressing to Valentine's Day as something regarded as hate.

Last Friday, one of my classmates was wearing a shirt saying "I'm so over Valentine's Day". She said that she got the t-shirt at Target for $4 and she believes it's true. My professor took a quick poll. About 25% of people admitted to "being over Valentine's Day", the rest admitted to being indifferent to the holiday, and then there's me, who did not raise my hand at all. I LOVE Valentine's Day! I love every bit of it. I am actually excited to work the weekend of Valentine's Day at the hotel because I get to help set up all that romantic stuff and see couples together. Ryan and I are having a small, quiet Valentine's Day, but I will eat up every minute of it. I send cards to family for Valentine's Day. I will probably get my Littles something for Valentine's Day. I almost bought cheesy Valentine's card that you give out in elementary school to all of my Preview students and co-workers (I still might!). If I could get everyone a little note for the holiday I would.

Most people assume that I like Valentine's Day because I've been in a relationship for almost 7 years and that we are happy and very much in love. This is not the case because I have always loved Valentine's Day. Many people say that those who love/enjoy Valentine's Day are "disillusioned" by the Hallmark created holiday and that there shouldn't be just one day to say "I love you" or celebrate love. Many people now regard Valentine's Day as "Single Awareness Day (SAD)" because they believe that the holiday is only meant for couples.

These three statements make me very sad. First couple statements: Jillian, you only love Valentine's Day because you are in a relationship. Valentine's Day is only for couples and should be renames "Single Awareness Day". False! Ever since I was little, my parents, my sister and I would always do something special on Valentine's Day. Every one got cards for one another. Chocolates and flowers were always exchanged and there was always a special dinner involved. I distinctly remember one year that Mom and Dad gave my sister and I each a ruby ring in honor of Valentine's Day. This day wasn't about love between two people in a relationship (husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, etc.). This day was a celebration of love between family members for my family. This Valentine's Day, even though I won't be at home to celebrate, we will exchange cards and maybe even flowers, but it will still be a special day to remember our love for one another as family. For me, it also extends to my friends. Many of my friends are considered family to me. I also have another family of which it is completely acceptable to call each other Brother. These special bonds, for me, are also remembered especially during this holiday.

Second statement: We shouldn't have just one day to celebrate love or say "I love you". It should be everyday. Ok. True and False. True, everyday we should take the time to tell someone that you love that you love them. Makes sense. However, why is it so bad that we have one day to make that opportunity so obvious? I mean let's look at it. All holidays are like this. Why do we have one day to celebrate the birth of Christ? What do we have one day to honor the crucifixion? Why do we have only one day where it is appropriate to dress up in costumes? Why do we only have one day when its okay to wear green head to toe? Why is it okay that we only celebrate the founding of our country on one day? Do ya get my point now? Having a special day doesn't mean that this is the one and only day that we should do anything. The holiday is more like an awareness day, and provides an opportunity to be "socially" appropriate.

So, back to the point of my Valentine's Day post. On the weekend of the holiday (because most people are not even going to celebrate on the actual holiday since it is on a Sunday), I will be lovey dovey and romantic and extra loving and extra kind because I love that this is one day where I can do so and not be looked upon like I'm crazy. I will greet every hotel guest with a smile and glimmer in my eye that they have to opportunity to spend a special day at our hotel. I will hug and kiss my boyfriend and let him know how much I appreciate, love, and respect him. I will call my parents, my grandmother, and my sister to tell them "Happy Valentine's Day and I love you". I will let each of my friends that I see during that time how much they mean to me. I will celebrate Valentine's Day with love not hate. So, how will you spend your Valentine's Day?

First Couple Weeks of the Last Semester

2010-01-27T13:12:00.000-05:00

Ok. So it's the middle of the week for my first full week of classes. (Last week was still a short week due to MLK day.) Now I can update on the classes and life and such.

Classes...well, let's just say that I'm glad it's my last semester. I am taking 14 hours and yet I still find myself on campus more than Ryan, who is taking 16 hours (he get's Mondays and Fridays off!). I have two Biology classes, which I may find interesting later on in the semester. They are both 3 hours long so it is very difficult to be excited about the topics. I am also taking Computers, Technology, and Literature. It is going to be a fairly easy class, but I haven't made up my mind if I will like the class. I'm just indifferent, which brings me to my next class, Philosophy of Art. (According to Francis Hutcheson, my last sentence would be false.) That class is a big headache. The class is so diverse. Five of us are there to fulfill our Humanities minor. A few are there as graduate art students with another few there who are philosophy majors. The most vocal, in my opinion, are the art major students, who make up the majority of the class. There's too much thinking involved. It does add something to Ryan and my dinner conversations. Overall, it is a pretty rough semester and I'm not sure if I'm going to enjoy it.

Work has been excellent. I've been sick with some sort of virus the past week and a half, so I have missed a few days. We recently did a major collection of supplies to bring to Haiti. Lately, we are preparing for Valentine's Day and the upcoming wedding expo in a couple of weeks. Overall, things are going well at work.

Resolution Check!
(My resolutions are in purple.)
1.) Try not to get upset when life has a few unexpected bumps. This seems to be going well. Not too much to worry about now.
2.) Realize that plan b or c or d may work out for the best. Well, I continue to pursue those other plans, but no news yet.
3.) Lose at least 35 lbs. before graduation by eating better and exercising. Eh, well, ya see... It's hard to diet and exercise when you're sick and trying to get back into the routine for school and stuff. Maybe February will be better.
4.) Make all A's this semester. The new laptop should help with that. As far as I know I'm doing well.
5.) Take more pictures. I finally have another great camera so hopefully these posts will contain more photos. Ok. I haven't really had that many opportunities, but it is supposed to snow heavily this weekend so maybe some snow pictures in the future.
6.) Call my parents more often. Since I've started work at the hotel I haven't been able to call every night, sometime just once a week, but with my new phone I will be a little more inclined to call even when it is late. Hm. This one is a tough one to answer. I've called every day that I have been off work, I think. I still need to work on this one.
7.) Send birthday cards. I used to send them all the time, but I lost the list with everyone's birthdays. Now that I have the list again so maybe I can keep it up. I got Elizabeth a card, but not Dave or Louden or a couple of my kids. :/
8.) Have more laughs and smiles than "grr" moments. Check!
9.) Save some money. (I tend to spend my paycheck in the week that I have it instead of saving it.) I've already started my $5 fund (ask me about it if interested). Great!
10.) Blog more. This one everyone who reads this can poke at me to keep this resolution. Seriously, bug me if you haven't seen a blog in a while. Well, I'm doing well with this one because I'm blogging now. ;) That's 3 blogs in one month!

Well that's all that I have for now. Hopefully I can put some more pictures up later. Stay warm!

P.S. How do you guys like the backgrounds?

Snow

2010-01-09T20:25:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't really have any awesome pictures of the fabulous snow (because I'm feeling a little under the weather and the 12 degree environment doesn't help), but I can blog about it. I just read a little bit ago that Mom and Dad got some snow in Nashville so I decided to blog about our snow here in Johnson City.

Well we got a little bit of snow in early December, but we had a large snow on the weekend on December 18th. The weather channel kept saying that we were going to get somewhere between 3 to 10 inches (yes, such a great estimation of what to expect). Ryan and I were planning for a Christmas party, so we went to Walmart right before the snow was supposed to hit (it happened to land on a payday). By the time we got out of the chaotic Walmart, the snow had already begun covering the roads and the cars. It took us about 2.5 hours to travel 6 miles back to our house. I packed a bag and Ryan took me to the Carnegie hotel, where I work. I had to work the next morning so the company allowed for its employees who had to work the next morning and/or the night of the snow to stay there (I guess so there were no excuses to call into work). The roads were slick because salt didn't make it out on the roads before the snow hit because it had been raining beforehand. It was just a crazy mess. We got about 6 inches of snow that weekend and it was just chaos.

It hasn't snowed near as much as that weekend, but we have gotten several more days filled with snow. We currently have 2 inches here at the house accumulated from the past few days. It is still snowing. We weren't really sure what to expect this time because the forecast kept changing from "worse than it was the weekend before Christmas" to 0 accumulation expected at all. I guess we will just see. The current forecast is no more snow until next weekend, but that could all change tomorrow. I'm hoping that it snows like crazy on Wednesday night because I would find it hilarious to see school get canceled for the first day back. :) Anyway, hopefully next time more pictures and more news about snow!

The New Year: 2010

2010-01-01T22:35:00.000-05:00

This will be the year of changes and hopefully opportunities. There are so many things that will happen this year and I am very excited and pretty optimistic about them. This post is pretty much what to expect in future blog posts as well as some resolutions (I've heard that if you make your resolutions public then you are more likely to keep them.) Anyway, on with the post...

First, I would like to say that I will be completing my last semester as an undergraduate at ETSU in May! I am so excited about graduating! Can you believe that it has already been 4 years since my last walk across the stage? We have already begun planning with graduation weekend, especially since Mom and Dad are here in Johnson City for the weekend! Hmmm. I guess I will have to change the name of this blog after May. A little more about graduation...I will be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Humanities. What will I do with that degree? Only time will tell. :) At the moment, I am going where life takes me and hopefully oppportunity will be knocking at my door soon.

Soon after graduation, my family will be traveling back to the Philippines for another mission trip in June. We are already ahead of the schedule when it comes to collecting school supplies and donations for school uniforms, but we are continuously working on collecting more funds for transportation and collecting clothing donations, especially pants. We are very excited to go back. If you would like more information, please visit www.missionofhope2010.webs.com.

Ok. Now for some resolutions. Promise not to laugh!

1.) Try not to get upset when life has a few unexpected bumps.
2.) Realize that plan b or c or d may work out for the best.
3.) Lose at least 35 lbs. before graduation by eating better and exercising.
4.) Make all A's this semester. The new laptop should help with that.
5.) Take more pictures. I finally have another great camera so hopefully these posts will contain more photos.
6.) Call my parents more often. Since I've started work at the hotel I haven't been able to call every night, sometime just once a week, but with my new phone I will be a little more inclined to call even when it is late.
7.) Send birthday cards. I used to send them all the time, but I lost the list with everyone's birthdays. Now that I have the list again so maybe I can keep it up.
8.) Have more laughs and smiles than "grr" moments.
9.) Save some money. (I tend to spend my paycheck in the week that I have it instead of saving it.) I've already started my $5 fund (ask me about it if interested).
10.) Blog more. This one everyone who reads this can poke at me to keep this resolution. Seriously, bug me if you haven't seen a blog in a while.

Well, that's all for now. Have a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year and Decade! :)

Thanksgiving Break

2009-11-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

I have just come back to Johnson City from home in Nashville about 8 hours ago. I'm so glad that I got to spend time at home. I wish that I could go visit more often, but with school and work, it's a little difficult. Anyway, to tell you about my break!

Ryan and I went home on Tuesday after I got out of my Physics test (the one thing that kept me in Johnson City for an extra day). It was pretty late when we arrived in Nashville since we didn't leave here until about 7 (Eastern Time). I couldn't tell you much about the traffic because I slept the entire way! When I got home Mom and I talked for hours. I don't think we even went to bed until 1:30 the next morning. It was nice to catch up.

Wednesday, Christie flew in from Tampa that morning. Daddy was off of work in the morning, so the entire family just hung around the house. Dad went to work around 2 for his 16,18? hour shift! Then us girls went to get our hair cut we went to eat at Toyama. (Yay sushi!) Again it was another late night.

Thanksgiving was great, as usual. We had a little later of a Thanksgiving because Dad didn't get home until 8:30 that morning. While he slept, Mom, Christie, and I cooked just about all of Thanksgiving dinner. I cooked the Pumpkin cheesecake, jello pretzel thing, banana pudding (Mom's famous, secret recipe), deviled eggs and the potatoe casserole. Mom claims I made a giant mess, but it was not too bad, nothing that a dog couldn't just eat off of the floor. ;) (I'm trying, Daddy, to help you with you case for a dog!) We ate Thanksgiving dinner around 1 at Grandmama's house. It was very yummy. I, again, ate WAAAAYYY too much and wore the wrong pants ;). We then just hung around Grandmama's house until about dinner time. We then packed up and went home to fix a plate (not me!) and watched Up. Christie had wanted to see it since she got home, so we decided to do that. It look amazing on Mom and Dad's high def. TV (Sony of course!). It was a great story. I will probably get it on Blu Ray sometime after Ryan sees it. Then, after several late nights and a long day we went to bed.

Christie had a fairly early flight back to Tampa because she had to work on Black Friday, so we woke up early. Luckily, Mom didn't want to go busting down the doors to the stores that morning! We did shop all day (I know me shopping on Black Friday! I swore I would never.). We got a lot of things for Christmas. I think we are pretty much done. I still have a couple of things, but I will probably have to wait until payday. :)

Today was basically a traveling day. As soon as we got back to Johnson City, we unpacked the car and I got ready for work. This week has been a long, but great one. It really did go by too quickly.

Let's see, if I write what I am going to post about next time, I'm more likely to post...for next time:
-Christmas decorations
-Christmas shopping??
-Fabulous Christmas decorations at the Carnegie
-Induction?
-whatever else comes to mind

Goodnight!

Wow. Twice in one week!

2009-11-18T14:30:00.000-05:00

I know. I just blogged yesterday, but I'm in the mood to write and I have some time. I've been at home all day because I have been feeling a little under the weather with a low-grade fever. I'm hoping it will go away soon since I have to work tomorrow morning. Ryan has been taking care of me for the past few days. Anway, I'm sitting here curled up in my heavy blanket with Butch, who is sound asleep with his head resting on the arm of the couch. I got online to get some inspiration. I have a memoir due next week, but I have had very little inspiration, so I decided to look over some of my blogs and some of my mom's blogs hoping that maybe something will spark my eye. It's always been pretty easy to write a blog, which in reality are just short memoirs. The hard part about this particular assignment is that we have to incorporate various quotes that have caught our eye in our reading assignments. Most of the quotes that I have picked are due to some bitter senitments that I feel are not worthy of writing a memoir over, but I won't elaborate on it. Either way, writers' block sucks.

So some other things that have been happening in life that may not be as big as in my last post. Well, life has currently been filled with school and work. If I'm not at school, then I'm at work. If I'm at neither, then I'm probably torturing myself be sitting through meetings in which I have no speaking rights, watching TV that I have recorded because I'm too busy to watch the show live, or sleeping. Lately at work they have been decorating for Christmas. There are currently, since I've been in the hotel, 6 Christmas trees set up, and I have heard that there will be more! I've never seen the Carnegie during Chistmas time, but I'm sure it will be beautiful. Many of you might be asking yourself, isn't Jillian the one who can't stand to see anything Christmas before Thanksgiving? Well, yes, that hasn't changed, but in this case I have no control. :) Besides, I'm ready for a little cheer in my life. Who knows, when I gain a little strength maybe I'll start decorating the house for Christmas.

For family that I haven't talked to recently, I turned in my medical school application. After some long, tedious hours I have turned it in. I'm waiting now. I don't really know what is worse: filling out the application or waiting for a reply and hoping not to get that dreaded rejection letter. Unfortunately, I have had a little bit of a pessimistic outlook on life recently. I'm hoping for things to look up. In the mean time, I am currently working on my application to osteopathic medical schools, thinking about a masters program that ETSU offers, TFA, and a potential job opportunity with PSP. Who knows what is to come.

Anyway, I think that is all for now. Sorry for kinda the gloomy, boring post. I'm just bored. If anyone has some ideas on what I should write about for my memoir, just leave a comment! ;)

Catch Up

2009-11-17T18:51:00.000-05:00

Ok. So I'm still a slacker. Oh well, at least I will be able to elaborate on just about everything that I listed in a previous post, so bear with me. :)

1) Posts about Fall Break
     Fall Break was fantastic. I was able to get off work for a few days and go to Gatlinburg with Mom, Dad, Christie, Alex, and Ryan. We had sooo much fun. The cabin was wonderful. The weather was pretty nice. We did the usual and walked about the Gatlinburg strip. We also went to a gun range to practice some shooting. My favorite part of the whole break, other than getting to spend time with family and friends, was the food! I missed Daddy's Filipino food and Ryan's grilling and Mom's desserts! Hopefully we will get to get away again soon.

2) Posts about the fabulous new friends I have made in the past few months
     These friends would have to be from POLO. I have made several amazing friends over the past few months. This past Preview, I have gotten closer with several of the older leaders. Even though I missed my co-leader, Shawn, very much, we still had a great Preview. It's been great. Since I went inactive from PSP, I have been able to spend more time doing things with POLO. On Thursday, we have our Thanksgiving dinner, so maybe I will be able to put up some pictures from that!

3) Posts about Grey's Anatomy and Private Practive
     There's not much to say about it. The Writers' blog has been less than, how do I say it nicely, entertaining this year. Grey's Anatomy has been better the last couple of episodes, but the first few of the season were rough. I have really enjoyed Private Practice though. It's more like the original Grey's in terms of plot. Remember it comes on tomorrow!!!

4) Posts about Halloween parties
     Ryan and I had a Halloween party on the night of Halloween. We had a great turn out. We had a lot of fun chatting, watching scary (and one not so scary) movies, and eating food. We had some great decorations. We had so much fun that we hope to host another party around Christmas time (hint, hint: Ugly Sweater/Secret Santa Christmas Party. This idea came from some of my POLO friends last year.)

5) Posts, hopefully, about some amazing day trips
     Unfortunately, I have not been able to get away long enough to do some day trips. Maybe sometime soon. :(

6) Posts about my first true experience camping
     Again, no time.

7) Posts about the brilliant colors that the leaves display
     This year, the leaves changed after fall break. It was pretty. I think the leaves and the colors were prettier in previous years, but they were still nice! Since Ryan and I live where there are lots of trees, there are leaves all around the house. Many of them are bright yellow. They are huge! I haven't taken any pictures, but I know there are several on Facebook. :)

8) Posts, well maybe just a mentioning, about a special license I'm about to receive!
     Well, I haven't had the money to do that yet. :(

9) Posts about family updates!
     Mom is doing well. She has been very busy working on the new catalog for her job. Dad is doing well also. He seems to be staying busy too. You should look at Mom's blog to see what they have been up to. They have had great fun with the fall leaves. Christie is doing well. I am sooo excited to get to see her in about a week. She turns 20 on Saturday! This makes me feel old. Well, I have felt old since the beginning of the semester, but we won't go into that. ;)

10) Posts about Butch updates!
     Butch has been doing well. He has loved all of the extra company that we have had over at the house. A couple of weeks ago we had a little incident with our neighbor's son's pitbull. When Ryan was walking Butch one morning, he saw the pitbull. Well, Butch thinks he's a very larger Rotweiler, which obviously he's not, and decided to jump up to play with the pit bull. Well, the playing lead to a bite that left a gash on Butch's should. It looked more gruesome that it actually was, but we took him to the vet anyway. With a little pain medicine and some anitbotics, he is healing well. :)

11) Updates on how school is going
     School is almost done! ;) I have gotten to that stage where I am ready for new classes. I have enjoyed these and I'm ready for new ones. Next semester I will be taking Vertebrate Embryology, Animal Physiology, Philosophy of Art, and Writing/Literature/Technology. I'm really looking forward to it.

12) Posts about Homecoming
     I had a lot of fun for Homecoming. I participated with two groups. The first event that I participated in was co-ed flag football with PSP. It was so much fun, even though we were badly beaten. The next event that I got to participate in was dodgeball with POLO. It was so much fun. We made it to the third round! The last event was Homecoming King and QUeen campaigning for POLO. Johnny, our POLO representative got Homecoming Prince!

13) Posts about anything! (I'm ending on this number because it is my favorite number! I know I'm weird, but if you would like to put it this way, it's Halloween season!)
   Well, I am officially caught up for now. These are going to be a hectic few days. I have to write a memoir, a video summary, and a manuscript for Cell Bio due next week. I have a test next week too. Hopefully, nothing else will come up soon. Well, next time...maybe if I write a list then maybe I'll stick to the blogging...Thanksgiving dinner x3 (POLO, PSP if I decide to go, and the real one at home), trip back home, work, and the Ugly Sweater party!

Until then!

See I told You

2009-10-11T17:23:00.000-04:00

See! I posted that I would be better about writing a blog. ;) Let's see how well I keep up with it this time.

Not too much going on this week. I had a couple of tests, physics and cell biology. One was fairly easy and the other, well, we will see on Tuesday. :-/ Anyway, I do have a busy week ahead of me. Well, kind of. On Tuesday, I will officially have a Grand Little, when he receives his pin. (I think it's Tuesday. Don't freak out, Cade, if it's not Tuesday.) His Big is soo excited and so am I because I get a Grand Little!!! I know some of you guys don't quite understand what's going on, just know that it is a fraternity thing. Pictures will be posted later on!

This weekend is when the fun begins. On Friday, I have a wedding to go to. My friend from the health clinic, Allyson, is getting married!!!!!!!! I have heard wonderful things about her fiance and on Friday I will finally get to meet him. It's a formal wedding, so I get to go dress shopping sometime this week. ;) Pictures from the wedding will be up sometime later too. On Saturday, one of my little's, Carrie, is getting married! Unfortunately I will be out of town, but I have already seen her dress and I know the wedding will be stunning! I am soo excited for the both of them. I wish them the best of luck!

This weekend, after I attend Allyson's wedding, I will be heading out with Ryan to Gatlinburg. I will then meet my family there. We don't really have any plans, but we do have a cabin there. I am really excited about it. There will be a lot of family time, great food, and a few surprises. ;) Again, pictures will be posted later. (Can you tell I'm going to try and work on my whole picture taking too? lol). Anyway, that's all for now!

What's to Come

2009-10-01T13:56:00.003-04:00

Ok, now that I've updated the past three months of my life in the span of a few hours let's let the past be the past. October first. Here in Johnson City the weather is beautiful, or so I've heard. Fall is in the air. As some Preview leaders say fall air, the crisp leaves, the smell of new sweaters and hot chocolate are some of their favorite smells. I have not experienced them first hand yet because I have been couped up in the house due to the illness that almost every one of my co-workers have had. Today should be the last day. No fever, less nausea, a little bit stronger, almost over it. Hopefully I'm over it. So anyway, what's to come...

1) Posts about Fall Break
2) Posts about the fabulous new friends I have made in the past few months
3) Posts about Grey's Anatomy and Private Practive
4) Posts about Halloween parties
5) Posts, hopefully, about some amazing day trips
6) Posts about my first true experience camping
7) Posts about the brilliant colors that the leaves display
8) Posts, well maybe just a mentioning, about a special license I'm about to receive!
9) Posts about family updates!
10) Posts about Butch updates!
11) Updates on how school is going
12) Posts about Homecoming
13) Posts about anything! (I'm ending on this number because it is my favorite number! I know I'm weird, but if you would like to put it this way, it's Halloween season!)

Anyway, thanks to all that read my blog! Hope you enjoy. I promise that I will keep up with it! ;) (I know I always promise that, but maybe I'll actually keep it this time.) Leave me comments with questions, comments, what you think about my post, etc. It makes me feel good inside to know that someone out there is reading this! ;)

P.S. I saw up close 3 members of the Fray and actually talked to one of them, and NO I wasn't at the concert and I didn't see them on campus. ;)

September

2009-10-01T13:08:00.003-04:00

Oh, September! One of the busiest months. Well, for me it seems like almost all of the months are busy. lol. The first weekend of September was awesome! Ryan and I got on a plane and headed to Destin where we would meet up with Christie, Mom, Dad, Grandmama, Uncle Wayne, and Shelley. I hadn't been to Destin since Paw Paw died, so it was quite a trip down memory lane. We ate at the Back Porch where almost all (Christie decided to be the odd ball) of us ordered the amberjack sandwich. YUM! We ate the cheese puffs at the Lucky Snapper. And of course, we spent several hours at the beach. Mom and I, as usual, got sunburned while Christie evened out her tan. This trip was about Grandmama. She had a blast! It was great to see her happy and in great spirits. Hopefully we can do this again.

Toward the beginning of the month, I made one of the biggest decisions that I will probably have to make the entire semester. I know many of you have heard that I am part of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity. I have had many great memories and I have several amazing friends that I would not have met if it weren't for this organization. Well, the weeks leading up to school starting were rough. The week that I came back as an Active Member (the week after Labor Day) was awful. The next week I decided to go inactive. It was the hardest thing I had to do. I felt as though a step back from the drama (that I'm still being dragged into) and disrespect would be one step forward to an awesome senior year. I still have been working with the Initiate committee and participating in some service events, such as the Backpack Attack for Teach for America, but I hope to fully participate next semester. Let's just see how things go the rest of this one.

September for the most part has been school and work. Full time student with a full time job. Not too shabby. There has only been one crazy moment in September. Last weekend, on Saturday, I received a phone call around 11:30 AM, but I was in a class so I couldn't answer it. After getting out of class, nearly 5 hours later, I checked and my sister had called. Well, Ryan said she called him too. This was out of the ordinary. Most of the time when people call me and Ryan something is wrong. I called her and she picked up. I asked her what was wrong. "Um...um...I-I-I...um," she answer. "Ok. You can spit it out now. What's wrong?" I replied. "I-I-I'm..m..m..in..th-th-the hos-pit-al,"she stuttered. I broke down into tears. My bubbly, talks-a-lot sister, was stuttering for a reason I didn't understand. She slowly said she hit her head and that she was frustrated because she had so much to say but couldn't because it took too much effort. It all made sense to me why she called me, why Mom texted for me to call her when I got out of class and why she and Dad didn't pick up the phone when I called them back (they were on a plane headed to Tampa). "Pl-ple-please, do-don-don't cry," she begged, but i couldn't help it. I told her I would call her back so I could gain some composure. Here I was hundreds of miles away from my sister and at least 2 hours away from my computer (I was in Rogersville at the time) to search for the next flight out to Tampa from the hole-in-the-wall Tri-Cities airport! As hours passed by I got word from Mom and Dad that they were there and that she was okay. The next day she seemed to be doing better. I can't remember off of the top of my head, but she was discharged that day (or maybe the next). I've talked with her a few times since then and she seems to be doing well, other than a massive head and neck ache, which makes sense. So, if you were wondering about what was going on, now you know. Mom's blog has a little different perspective. I can't wait to see her later on this month! Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she heals. :)

August

2009-10-01T12:09:00.017-04:00

August was a busy month. At the beginning of the month, I found that Christie was coming home, so I went home too! We had a great time. Great food, great shopping, and great company! One night we ate out with Grandmama, Uncle Wayne, and Shelley. It was Asian cuisine, and I thought it was okay, but we all enjoyed having dinner together once again. Daddy and Mommy took off work to hang out with Christie and me. It was nice. We went shopping all over the place. We got a few things for school and some other knick knacks. Above are some pictures from that week. Can you tell that our family loves Marble Slab and Red Robin?? Look how long my hair is in the first picture! Can you tell Christie has spent way too long in Florida by her tan (Gosh, Christie!). It was probably the greatest week of that month.

A week before school started, I received another week off; however, it is not how most people spend the week off. During that week, I began my final training as a Preview Leader. It was so much FUN!!! It was great to hang out with friends who I hadn't seen in forever (Kirsten, Scott, Johnny, my Co, Shawn, Ellen...) Although there was much time spent sitting through presentations, long hours of dance and skit practice, and eating Main Meal, I had a lot of fun. I got closer to several people that I would expect to. I was one of the leaders of Group 2. The students were great. I haven't seen many of them since school started, but I hope to get together with them soon! (I'm trying to get a date so we can grill out Group 2!) If you are on Facebook, check out the videos of the Preview Dance and of Risque Business. I'm in both! ;)

The last week on August, school started. I only have two on campus classes and two online classes. I never knew how awesome online classes were! I wish I would have found out sooner. Too bad there aren't any online Biology classes. I would have gotten my entire Biology degree online. In addition to school, I was preparing for several things to come in September!

July

2009-10-01T11:59:00.005-04:00

I know. I haven't blogged in what it seems like years, but due to illness I have time to recap what has been going on in my life! First off, what do you think about my hair? This picture was taken at the beginning of June. Since then I have added maybe 3 more inches of hair. Slowly but surely. I can at least get it into a ponytail without having to use heavy duty gel. :)

July wasn't a very busy month for me. Most of the month consisted of working 40 hours a week at the Carnegie, which I didn't mind because I have a great job. I did have to work on July 4th, but that wasn't too bad. It was kinda slow at the hotel. Other than that I did get to work a little with Phi Sigma Pi and had a couple of booths during orientation. We will see how that turns out next semester (most of them were freshmen so they can't rush until next semester).

One thing that I was very honored to be a part of was I was a bridesmaid for one of my Brothers, Danielle Brewster. I helped with flowers and decorating the reception area. She was such a beautiful bride! I'm so glad that she invited me to share a part in her special day!

New Job ;)

2009-06-15T21:08:00.004-04:00

Today was the first day at my new job, the Carnegie Hotel. I was hired last week. I get great hours and great pay. I love the job too! It is very similar to what I do at the health clinic for my scholarship job, except instead of patients, they are hotel guests.

I also took a tour of the hotel, and I must say it is absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend staying there, and I'm not just saying that because I work there. ;) We have some pretty great rates and packages. lol. Oh, I've gone into my little front desk associate bit. ;) Anyway, I just wanted to blog to let everyone know that I have started a new job and that I have a perfect first day!

Check out where I work at http://www.carnegiehotel.com

Tips for the International Traveler

2009-05-27T20:07:00.000-04:00

Since Mom has gone into detail about our trip to Southeast Asia and there are plenty of pictures, many of which I have written captions for, I do not feel the need to write a blog for everyday that we have been out of the country. However, I do wish to blog about some things that I have learned or really been aware of along the trip. So, in this blog, you will find some tips, in no particular order, for anybody who plans to travel outside of the United States. Hope you enjoy.

1. Try not to be ethnocentric (Ethnocentric. Adj. characterized by or based on the attitude that one's own group is superior). You will learn a lot more and appreciate more when you have an open mind about the culture that you are visiting.

2. Research about where you are traveling. Know some basic information about the country you are visiting, for example, the type of currency, the type of government, the exchange rate, and special/interesting places to visit. If for some reason you do not have access to an Atlas or the Internet (which I doubt since you are reading this blog), ask someone. The more you know, the more you will appreciate some of the other information that you find along your vacation.

3. Be respectful. This goes back to doing a little research. For example, it is very acceptable and polite to shake the hand of a Filipino; however, it is uncomfortable for a Thai person to touch another person, especially foreigners. Simple things, such as a hand gesture or taking pictures of certain objects, may be offensive in a certain culture. Be sure to ask or find out what are the most common differences between the US and the country you are visiting.

4. If traveling to Southeast Asia, DO NOT rent a car. The traffic rules are very different. In fact, they are more like guidelines. Note: (specifically for Jesse K.) Asians drive extremely well. It is the Americans who have road rage, get in everyone’s way, and do not drive well.

5. If dealing with a foreign currency, bring a small calculator. It will help you with figuring out how much things are in US dollars.

6. Find out if bartering is acceptable in various places.

7. Either travel with a person who speaks the native language or get an English speaking tour guide. Often times it is easier to shop or order food outside of the hotel. You can also learn a lot more about the culture and the history of the country that you are visiting. Having a tour guide will also give you access to various venues/programs that are cheaper than those offered at the hotel.

8. Bring a journal. Jot down different facts about something you’ve learned. Write down locations that you wish you could have spent more time at. Write down various things you wished you would have purchased. Write down the places that you want to visit. Write down the dishes you liked. Write down anything you want. You never know when you are going to travel back to that country or what you will be asked when you get home.

9. Do not expect everyone to speak English. Speak clearly, not louder (just because they can’t understand you doesn’t mean they’re deaf), when speaking to someone who only has a limited knowledge of English. Note: A big smile often means that the individual has no idea what you are saying. ;)

10. Try different foods. In Bangkok, we saw many types of fruit that were very ugly fruit on the outside; however, they were very sweet on the inside. You never know what might taste good.

11. Also in regards to food, do not assume that you know what every dish tastes like. A picture of udon noodles in Bangkok may not have the same flavor as rice noodles in Manila.

12. Note: Just because a dish does not taste like it does in the US doesn’t mean that the dish is cooked wrong. In fact, what you have had before have probably been “Americanized”, even if it is cooked by someone from that country. (Example. All Chinese food restaurants in the US, even if prepared by a Chinese cook, have been modified to fit the American taste buds.)

13. Bring toilet paper. Not all bathrooms will have toilet paper, even in the malls and airports. Also in regards to bathrooms, bring a small bottle of hand sanitizer. Just think…if the water is not safe to drink and you wash your hands in that water and then eat, then what was the point?

14. Bring earplugs. This sounds like a really crazy idea, but when you don’t bring them, you will find yourself next to a screaming 5 month old because it is tired and hot and hungry, and you are tired and hot and hungry too and all you want to do is sleep, but you can’t thanks to the screaming baby. Trust me. It’s nice to have them handy just in case.

15. Be brave. Leave the hotel. Don’t spend time hanging out at the hotel pool if you are in the middle of the city. There are plenty of things to see outside the hotel.

16. If it is safe, go to the market. You can find many things at very cheap prices. You will also be able to find very unique items that make great souvenirs.

17. Do not talk American politics. Even though in the United State an Obama supporter can sit next to a McCain supporter in peace, it may not be that way in other countries. Be careful and respectful of what you say about American politics.

18. If you find a unique piece of clothing or different smelling perfume, buy it. It may be in style 6 months to a year later in the States. This is your time to be fashionable for much cheaper than you would find back at home.

19. Appreciate the things back home more. We take so much for granted. Take an opportunity to reflect on what we take for granted back home. It will make your vacation more regarding.

20. Be a tourist. Take pictures. Ask questions. Try new things. 9 times out of 10, the locals will know that you are visitor whether you act like it or not. Might as well get as much out of the experience as you can.

21. Lastly, have fun!

Well. That’s 21 tips from the 21-year-old. I have had a lot of fun traveling and it has truly been a blessed experience. I cannot wait to come back to the Philippines. I will probably write more about various aspect of my trip when I get back home. Have a wonderful week!!! ;)

Much love,

Jillian

A Simple Thanks Will Do

2009-03-03T18:38:00.002-05:00

When is the last time you said thank you? I mean really think. When did you say thank you and honestly meant it? Or was the last time you said thank you was because you felt guilty? Did you say thank you because everyone else was doing it?

Over the course of the past semester I have, along with several others, worked hard. Poured my heart and soul into a lot of things. Some may think that I do things to make myself feel better. Some think that I do it to receive praise. Some think that I do things irrationally. But most of the time, I do things because I care, not about myself but about others. That may seem a little conceited, but it's true. I love helping people. I love making people smile and give people the opportunity to have fun. I grew up in a family who always planned fun things and always did things for my benefit, either for me to learn, to give to my community, or to bond with those that surrounded me.

However, there is one small part of my experience from this semester that aches my heart. I've seen hard work gone without a single thank you. I've seen people put their sweat and tears into planning things or doing things for others and yet they receive no gratitude whatsoever. I, myself, have experienced it. Have I heard thank you in the past few weeks? Yes, I have; however it is from those who don't have to say thank you because they show their gratitude. Remember, actions speak louder than words. I have also heard thank you from those who felt guilty about maybe hurting my feelings, which I don't truly find sincere.

Why am I writing this? Well, two reasons. First, I almost made a terrible mistake. I was very upset about some things and I had decided that I would step down as team captain for my Relay for Life team. I figured why plan something that I truly care about to get my heart broken by those who don't simply say thank you for anything, big or small. I had my mind made up. I told my closest friends and my mom. I was going to quit. Then, yesterday I received a beautiful letter than touched my heart and made me cry. It was from my wonderful grandmother. She thanked me and told me how proud she was of me for being a team captain in memory of Paw-Paw, my grandfather who died of cancer when I was 9. I realized that I was so upset that I lost sight of why I was relaying. Needless to say, I am still team captain of my Relay team. I have turned a new leaf and have found new excitement in planning Relay this year. I'm not going to let anyone stop me from having the best time and the best Relay for Life team.

Secondly, I am writing this to make people aware. I want to make people aware that a simple thanks will do. Just a thank you for making dinner. Thank you for worrying about me. Thank you for spending so much time trying to fix something that went wrong. Thank you for caring. Not a thank you because I screwed up and I feel like I have to say thanks. Not a thanks with a tone of a 5 year old telling their parents sorry for disobeying, but a thank you. If that's too much to say, then show it. Give someone a hug. Wash the dishes. Smile. Spend time with the one who you want to thank. Anything. Just remember, a simple thanks goes a long way.

To all who read this, thank you for taking time out of your day to read this. Thank you all who have truly appreciated me and thank you for being my driving force.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-17T10:09:00.002-05:00

This post will be about how wonderful my Valentine's Day was. Ryan and I spent the whole day together. It was great. We got to sleep in and when we woke up we went to Ihop for brunch. It wasn't too crowded, which was nice. We spent about an hour just talking and eating. It was a very enjoyable breakfast/lunch.

After brunch, we headed over to Austin Springs Spa. We had a spa day, including a couple's massage! It was great. The ambiance was amazing. There were rose petals everywhere, and it was just a great relaxing environment. The staff was great too. They were so ready to make Valentine's Day so special for all of the couples there.

We spent a good three hours at the spa. After that, we went to Olive Garden, which was crazy!!! There were a ton of people there, but we decided to wait the hour and a half since we were craving Olive Garden for weeks. As soon as we got seated, the service was excellent. The food was awesome, and the company was as expected fabulous. We took our dessert to go and spent the rest of our evening just watching tv at the apartment.

This was a wonderful Valentine's Day. Ryan and I had been planning this for a while. It was our Christmas/Valentine's Day/6 year anniversary present to each other. Can you believe it? 6 years in less than a month! It was a great day to just stop and be with each other without having to worry about anything.

Well, that's all for right now! Blog later!

This Past Week

2009-01-22T19:25:00.002-05:00

Well, as most schools, ETSU had a holiday on Monday due to MLK Day. Well, little did I know, but Tuesday, we got another day out of school due to...SNOW!!

When I woke up on Tuesday, there were at least 4 inches on the ground. The roads had been icy all weekend, so we all figured we would get out of school at least for that day. Later that morning, Elizabeth, Marc, and I went sledding down one of the hills at the apartment complex. After some sledding, Marc showed us how to make a real snowman, not some dinky one that would only be 6 inches talk. Our snowman was huge! It was taller than me! It is the biggest snowman ever. (See pictures on Elizabeth's Facebook. I'll put mine up sometime.) After playing in the snow, we had some coffee. It was nice.

Let's see. Yesterday was classes as normal. Nothing too terribly exciting. Yesterday afternoon Ryan, Courtney, and I went and put up the bulletin board and flyers for Phi Sigma Pi rush for next month. That was fun. I will stop there about the fraternity stuff because I will just get upset because, if you didn't read my last post go read it, problems have not been resolved and probably won't ever get resolved due to...nevermind. I need to stop.

On a much more productive and entertaining note, tonight Sara and Courtney should be coming over to watch Grey's and Private Practice. It should be pretty FUN! They, including Ryan, are at their Kaplan class right now while I'm taking care of Butch and trying to stay warm. It's been fairly nice because homework hasn't been too bad yet, which is fine with me! Tomorrow should be pretty uneventful as well, but I'm excited to see the weekend!

Hope everyone has a lovely rest of the week and weekend. I should blog sometime next week. ;)

I need some advice

2009-01-13T16:57:00.002-05:00

When you read this, please leave a comment or e-mail me. Thank you.

Ok. Two days before the hardest semester I will ever encounter. Part of me is extremely excited and the other part is terrified, but I'm ready. I'm ready for the challenge.

This is not what I need advice about. It's something that could make this semester better or worse. Growing up, I learned that if there is something worth fighting for, then fight for it. I have kept doing that through my life, however, I have hit a serious road block that makes me want to quit fighting. Now before some of you jump to the conclusion that it is in regards to medical school, have no fear. My dream has not changed. It's actually incredibly small and superficial and yet it has been the hardest thing I have dealt with in the past six months.

As many of you know, I joined a National Co-Ed Honor Fraternity. It has truly changed my life. I have very close friends who I met through the brotherhood. I am more involved in activities and I enjoy classes more because I have study buddies who happen to be my brothers. However, last semester a major conflict rocked our chapter's world. Honestly, nothing has changed. There is a particular individual who has personally attacked me and I feel like I should not verbally respond in fear that I might say something that shouldn't be said. (If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.) That's all I will say about the extent of the issue since it is a personal issue between brothers.

Over the break, the issue was dropped, until 2 days ago. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. I feel as though I should stand up for myself since I, as well as several others, have been wronged, but I also feel as though I just want to quit. I have more important things in my life that require my attention. I've invested too much time to quit the fraternity, but the lack of accountability and support from other brothers have made me wonder if it is really worth it. I'm just having a hard time. What do I do? Do I fight? Do I risk saying something that shouldn't be said? Do I end up losing the friendship I have with some of the brothers that have become some of my closest friends? Or do I forget it entirely? Move on? Quit? I don't know.

I know, this is a childish, superficial post, but really that is all the argument is. I don't feel as though I did anything wrong. No, I know I didn't do anything wrong. You know when you're little and you do something that you weren't supposed to do, but you told your parents that you didn't do it, but deep down you feel guilty because you know it was wrong. Yea, it's not like that. I don't feel guilt for anything I've said or done. So why is this so hard? I don't know. Just leave a comment and give me a little advice as to what to do. What has worked for you if you have been in this situation? What would you do if you were in my situation? Now's the time I need advice that Yoda would give Luke Skywalker or Mr. Miyagi give to his Karate Kid. Seriously. Please comment.

Christmas!

2008-12-26T20:56:00.002-05:00

First, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Holidays!

This Christmas has been great. On Christmas Eve, we opened presents as tradition. Ate Jean was able to join us too that evening. Ryan and Butch also stopped by to change gifts. Christie and I got several things. One surprise gift that I got was a GPS. It will definitely be useful in these upcoming months with various trips. Probably the biggest surprise of all of Christie and my presents was the spa day that Mom and Dad gave us. Mom decided to wrap the reservation slip in a box filled with macaroni in order to throw us off. Today was the day that we went and got a girls spa day. We each got a hydrotherapy session, 1 hour massage, and a wonderful pedicure! It was probably the best massage that I have ever had. I will definitely sleep well tonight. I also got several things that I had on my wish list. I put a few board games so I could bring them back to Johnson City to play with my fraternity Brothers. Out of the three games that I got, it looks like Smart Ass is going to be the most fun. I can't wait to play it with Ryan, Elizabeth, Sara, Courtney, Megan, and Jarrod. It's a great game!

On Christmas day, we went over to Grandmama's just as tradition to open gifts. We got a lot of gift cards. We will be going shopping tomorrow to use some of them. One of the gifts that I about immediately put on that Uncle Wayne gave me was a Seattle Grace Surgery Team sweatshirt (Grey's Anatomy for those who don't get the Seattle Grace reference). I also got a couple of Grey's shirts from Christie. I will be set for January 8!!!

Well, I just wanted to update a little. Tomorrow will be jam packed just like Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and today. We are going to eat breakfast at Panera, go to church, probably eat lunch, go shopping, and as one of Daddy's Christmas gifts we will see the Tale of Despereaux sometime during the day.

Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow!

P.S. For those who like pictures, you will have to go to my mom's blog and shutterfly. I've been slacking this year on pictures. ;)

Home Sweet Home

2008-12-23T11:09:00.002-05:00

I am home! It is my second full day home. Ryan and I left Sunday night after he got off work at 6 to come home a day earlier than planned. It was very nice. I actually stayed awake the whole drive! That's crazy.

It's been nice to be at home. Yesterday, Christie and I spent the whole day together. We watched some tv and then she went to a yearbook signing at school. Once she came back, we went to the pet store to buy another tank for her beta (well, her friend's beta that she is taking care of and is paying her back). She also got a present for Butch! ;) We then went to Providence to buy some last minute gifts. After shopping we came home, wrapped gifts, ate dinner, and watched a movie called The Women. It is a definite rent for all females! It's a mix between First Wives Club and Sex and the City. It was awesome!

Today, I will be spending some time with my daddy and later on with Christie and Mom. This afternoon Christie and I will be spending time shopping (more window shopping today than yesterday) at Opry Mills. Mom and Uncle Wayne will meet us there to go watch Titans Live (?? I think that's the name). It's going to be a fun filled day!

Well, that's all for right now. Everyone have a great day before Christmas Eve!

P.S. I'm hoping to see my brothers (not in reference to my brothers of PSP), Zack and Alex, sometime this break. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge. ;)

Christmas Shopping in Johnson City

2008-12-19T19:27:00.002-05:00

Hello all!

I just got back from another trip of Christmas shopping. I love Christmas shopping. It's so much fun. I don't like shopping on Black Friday, but I do like shopping for Christmas gifts.

However, shopping in Johnson City is not the same a shopping at home. At home, I can spend hours at one mall with Christie and/or Mom and Dad just looking. It's so much fun. Yea, sometimes it's crowded, but it's great! There are tons of stores for a variety of things. Making a wish list to have on Grandmama's fridge on Thanksgiving day is not hard when there are so many options from so many stores.

This year, I have found it fairly hard to do both. I just got back to my apartment from the Johnson City mall. I have gotten a few things for my family. Dad is the hardest to buy for, as always, but here it's nearly impossible. I left at 6 and I'm already back at 7. Here's my experience. Well, I'm by myself because Ryan is working and everyone else is at home (not in Johnson City). I went to the mall to buy my Dad's Christmas gift and maybe find something else to give to my sister. If you have ever been to Johnson City, you will notice that the mall is just one step up from Harding Mall (in Nashville). It's nothing compared to Cool Springs or Opry Mills. First, parking was a nightmare. I tried using my Mom's technique of following someone out of the store to take their spot, however, the old woman decided not to leave until I drove down another lane! I had to park very far away, but I was ok.

When I went into the mall, it was like a football game just got out. The Johnson City mall is the high school hang out of the entire town. I understand that going to the mall with friends to shop and maybe hang out in th food court is fun, I mean I did it, but these high school kids are something else. First, the outfits, craziness. Call me an old fogie, but mini skirts and Uggs are not fashionable, especially not in winter time! It's not cute. Put some clothes on. Second, they congregate in the middle of the walk way. MOVE!! Then they roll their eyes when someone says excuse me. Eh. I know I'm ranting. Ok, back on track. I went to buy the gift that I knew I was getting Dad. Finding another gift for Christie was impossible. She doesn't need a scarf in Florida. She doesn't need another sweater. She doesn't need any teenie bopper anything! So around 6:45, I gave up and drove back to my apartment.

It's not the same as home. I would have spent all day shopping if I were at home, but not here in Johnson City. I guess I'm just ready to be home. I'm going to be going back to Nashville on Monday. I can't wait. Three more days!

Well, anyway, just needed to write a little bit. Hope everyone is doing great!

Kinda Bored

2008-12-16T14:42:00.002-05:00

Hello world!

It's blogging time. I am currently sitting here in my apartment by myself, sick, and eating a popsicle to soothe my sore throat. School is over, YAY, and there weren't any shifts to pick up at the hospital, at least on my floor anyway. All week I will be just sitting here. I could clean, but I don't want to. lol. I've done a few things for PSP for next semester, but there's not much that I can do until the school year starts.

Ryan and Elizabeth are at work. Marc is travelling to Ohio today. Most of my brothers are going back to their homes. Boredom. Ok, poll time. What do you do when you're bored? I know. This is a really random post, but I'm kinda in a random mood. ;) Oh, it also sucks that Grey's Anatomy doesn't come on until January! Not fair! At least I still have House and Private Practice.

Well, enough rambling for now. I'm going to get another popsicle. Maybe later today or tomorrow I will post a more focused, interesting blog. ;)

Have an awesome day!

Finally

2008-11-26T16:53:00.002-05:00

Finally I have a minute to blog. I have been so extremely busy since the last time I blogged. I don't really know where to begin really.

School has been going well. I got an A on that speech that I was talking about and a B on that Micro test. I just got my paper for History of Ancient Greece, with the help of the my friend Jesse, (60% of my grade) and got an A on it! Don't have to rewrite it, thank goodness. I'm currently working on a few papers as well as one last speech. Finals are in about 3 weeks. I have already signed up for my classes for next semester. I'm taking Physics II (and it's lab), Evolution (for my Biology major, not by choice!), Ancient Religions with the magnificent Dr. Burgess, and Eastern Religions. I am just about finished with my minor, and I am a few classes from finishing my major. Next semester will be the least amount of hours that I've ever taken, and I'm so excited about it!

Extracurriculars. Fun, fun! Well, first, I would like to say that Ryan and I had a good start to the 6:30 AM workout routine (until I got sick again). We hope to continue this when my health problems get back to normal. Also, I participated in the intramural volleyball team for Phi Sigma Pi and had a blast! I didn't get to play in the last two games because of the ER visit, but I still had fun through the first part of the season. Speaking of Phi Sigma Pi, well...I have had my ups and downs with the fraternity. One thing that I have loved is getting closer to two particular brothers, Sara and Courtney. We have had so much fun shopping, eating, working out, hanging out, playing Apples to Apples, watching Grey's, fighting with the rest of the brothers, etc. Induction of the Alpha class is next Monday. I am proud to say that Ryan and my little brother, Mary, will be inducted on that day! I'm so excited for them!!!!! You guys know how proud I am of Ryan, but I would like to speak about my little first. Mary has been awesome. She made above a perfect score (she got the bonus question right too) on the National Exam. She helped our team win in the Big/Little Bonding events. Mary has just been awesome and I'm so happy for her. Ryan is the president of Alpha class and has been great at it. I've seen leadership qualities that I haven't seen before in him. He is very well liked among the brothers and he has attended all meetings since he was pinned as a initiate. I'm very proud of him as well.

Lastly, my health. I have had a couple of ER visits since the last post. You can read the details on my mom's blog. They have been kinda scary, but I have been in good hands during both times. I would like to especially thank Ryan, Elizabeth, and Courtney for helping me out last Sunday morning at Starbucks. I have a couple of diagnostic tests next week to maybe help figure out what's going on. Hopefully something is found out soon. I just started work again after a month, until last Sunday.

I am just happy to be home. Ryan brought me home yesterday. I had just been in bed ever since Sunday morning, with the exception of one lab and two fraternity meetings, so Mom wanted me to just go ahead and come home, which I was very glad to do. I slept most of the way home, as usual. Today, I've been out a couple of times with Mom and have been working on a couple of school projects due next week. Christie comes in at 7 tonight. I can't wait to see her. We have so much to catch up on.

Well, that's it for now. I'm sure I'll have another time to blog, but ya never know with me. ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Sorry!

2008-10-24T14:01:00.004-04:00

Ok. So I was doing a lot better at keeping this thing updated, until this month. I think the March and October are my busiest months of the year!

Short update (since I have class in about 30 minutes).

Basically, with all of the medical drama going on with me, I've been playing catch up in classes. I'm doing fine though. I just finished taking a Micro exam, which was much easier than I thought it would be. I'm about to go give a speech for one of my classes. I'm not really nervous; I'm just worried that I might run over time. I mean come on. 4-6 minutes for an informative speech? That's it! I could talk about my topic for hours! Thank goodness it's not about Grey's because I would soooo take the whole class period.

Other than classes, I've been working a lot on Phi Sigma Pi stuff. We have our initiate class. I have two little brothers, Carrie and Mary. I'm having so much fun. Elizabeth and I worked on our first newsletter and it took a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun. I should work on the next issue that I would like to publish on Monday, but I don't know how realistic that goal is. ;) Another fun Phi Sigma Pi thing was mudball yesterday! Homecoming is this week, so Phi Sigma Pi is participating in various ways for the first time at ETSU! Yesterday I played mudball (volleyball in the mud) with 4 other brothers and Courtney's brother (her biological one). Now I know some of you are probably thinking that I'm crazy for playing mudball, especially with all the medical problems I have, but I have always wanted to play, and by golly nothing was going to stop me! ;) It was so much fun. Elizabeth, the designated photographer, should have some pictures up soon.

Really, that's all that's been going on. I've been taking a Kaplan class for my MCAT and making a schedule for next semester (with only 13 hours!!!! the lowest amount of hours I've ever taken). I'm getting really nervous about this whole medical school application process. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

Well...I can't really think of anything else to update on. Oh fall break! I'll save that for my next post. ;) But, for a preview, look at my mommy's blog for her version of fall break.

Blog later!

Hectic Health Week

2008-09-26T12:57:00.002-04:00

Hello world!

Ok. Many of you know that this week has been horrible in terms of health. At the beginning of the month, I had some problems with my heart and respiratory rate at work. I got off work early and went to an urgent care clinic. I was then referred to a doctor. The doctor told me that he wanted to monitor my heart, so he put me on a 30-day event monitor. Every time I had an episode I could press a button and it would record my heart rate that could be sent to the doctor.

Last Sunday, I was at work and was doing fine. Around 3, I started feeling a little dizzy. After cleaning a patient (around 3:30), I decided to press the heart monitor button and send it to the doctor. I was sitting down as I did this. I was very dizzy and had a hard time breathing. Instead of gettting back to work after sending my heart reading, I continued to sit on one of those doctor's rolling stools. My co-worker, Jessi, kept walking by making sure I didn't need anything. Around 4, she told me to call Ryan because I was extremely flushed and she was worried about me. She also wanted to roll me to the nurses' station so the clerical could keep an eye on me until Ryan got to the hospital. Jessi continued down the hall to finish my vitals that I have not gotten for 4 o'clock and sent a nurse to come check on me. The nurse tried to roll me to the nurses' station when I passed out in her arms. They immediately called rapid responders and took my vitals. My BP was 150/98, heart rate 110, blood sugar 90, sat rate lower 90s, and respiratory rate was up in the 40s. Once rapid responders got there, they put me on oxygen (they had to, I mean I was working on the pulmonary floor of the hospital) and go me on a stretcher. They took me to the ER. When I got there, they cut my scrub top (including the wires to my event monitor), got an EKG, and got several vials of blood.

What was really nerve racking for me was the fact that Ryan was on the way and had no idea what had just happen. I knew the nurse had called my mom and probably said something completely ridiculous. And in the back of my mind was what were the patients and patients' families thinking when they saw their caregiver rushed off of the floor after a code had been called.

Apparently, the nurse had told my mom over the phone that I was "non-reponsive and that they were working on me". The reaction was Mom and Dad rushing to Johnson City in record time (for them) and Mom calling just about everyone. I knew that this would happen. The correct thing to say was that I was no really in any condition to talk, but that I was ok and Ryan was on the way to the hospital.

After a few hours, the doctor came in and diagnosed me with vertigo. I was discharged shortly after that. Once I got home, I laid on the couch until Mom and Dad got there. The repeated joke was "If you wanted us to come and visit you, all you had to do was ask! You didn't have to go to the ER!" ;) It was nice to see them.

This past week, I have seen my PCP and he has set me up for a tilt-table test to see if it is truly inner-ear that I am dealing with. Also, I saw him a second time this week. I currently am dealing with walking pneumonia. So, this past week has been sitting on the couch, trying to stay caught up with my classes, and sleeping.

I know this is a long post and I'm kinda being a Debbie Downer, but I wanted to blog to let everyone know what the situation was and that I am ok, just sick. Thank you for all of the prayers! Keep praying. Hopefully I will be back with a better update.

Stay healthy!

The past two weeks...

2008-09-02T09:16:00.008-04:00

I have a day off today (well, I don't have any classes), so I am writing a blog since my mom seems to be keeping up with hers better than I have and she's had it for maybe a week. lol.

The past two weeks have been great! I've been pretty tired, but they have been good weeks. The week before school started I was doing Preview stuff. (For those of you who don't know what Preview is, it is a weekend event for incoming freshman to get to know the campus and students a little bit more before their first day of classes.) Monday started training. Thursday was the first day of Preview. I had so much fun at both the training and Preview. I had an awesome co-leader, Shawn Stewart!, and a great group of students. It was a lot of fun. Shawn and I dressed up at a blue and gold Thing 1 and Thing 2. We had so much fun! Some of my favorite events (as a whole group) were Jeff Dye's act and the hypnotist. Jeff Dye was pretty funny. He had a lot of great jokes. The hypnotist was great as usual. I was so close to being completely hypnotized. Apparently, I was out for a while. I was sitting in my chair and when I opened my eyes everyone was staring at me. I was like, "oh no. What did I just do?" Everyone told me that he had asked those that were hypnotized to raise their arm up and supposedly my arm shot up. My Co was so scared. lol. He was sitting next to me, but when I opened my eyes, he was about five seats down. ;) The whole event was so much fun! Oh and Shawn got Mr. Preview 2008. I was very lucky to have such a great co-leader and group my first year. I have pictures posted on my College Shutterfly if you want to see. I can't wait to do it again next year. Wednesday is going to be our Preview group reunion. I should have another post and pictures up. ;)

The first week of school was pretty nice. I have it scheduled so I only have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I work at my APS job on those mornings and on Thursday mornings. It's a little bit difficult because I do not have a break in between my classes, so i always have to eat on the run or just run to class. I'm enjoying all of my classes, except for Public Speaking. I guess I've had so much experience holding group meetings and such that this class bores me to no end! It also doesn't help that our professor is a grad student who teaches us like we are in elementary school. Oh well. My favorite classes so far are my history classes (Ancient Greece and Christianity) with Dr. Burgess. He is such an awesome teacher. Yes, I'm a loser, and bought all of the books because he has made me interested in both topics. I actually pretty excited about the papers due in those classes.

This week is going to be pretty busy. I have some work stuff (mandatory staff meeting) and club stuff to do. Also, Skye, our regional consultant for our chapter of Phi Sigma Pi, is staying with Elizabeth and I for the week, so I really should be cleaning now, to visit our chapter. I am so excited about Rush in about 2 weeks! ;)

Three random things:
1.) Went to the rheumatologist last week. He believes that I am doing well. There haven't been any problems recently (except for one finger that has been giving me problems, but he is just keeping an eye on it). He's really a great doctor. I felt like he truly cared about me as a patient. Hopefully I can wean myself off of my medicine soon.

2.) Work is boring. ;)

3.) I'm going back on my diet again. This past summer was pretty much junk food city. I excited though. I started on Sunday. If I can get through these next two weeks, Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, then I will be set! I have also gotten a plan for working out at the CPA doing yoga, "Girls Night Out", and boxing again. I'm pretty excited.

I guess that is it for right now. Hope everyone has a great week!

Several Announcements!

2008-08-12T15:56:00.005-04:00

I'm trying to be good by updating weekly. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn't.

My first announcement is that I have uploaded pictures of my apartment on my "College Life" shutterfly page for all of those who haven't seen my apartment.

Second announcement:
We have a "community dog" as my roommate would call it. Ryan adopted a dog from the shelter a few weeks ago. His name is Butch. He is a terrier mix, and we think that he has rottweiler in him because of his markings and stance. He is very sweet and is a very good dog. He only barks when he misses us, he doesn't jump on any furniture other than what he is allowed on, and he is house trained. Butch has made our lives a little less stressful. I'm glad we got him.

Third Announcement:
I have completed my summer classes! I took Organic II lecture and lab over the summer because I was so ready to be finished with chemistry once and for all (except for the MCAT of course). I am happy to say that I got a B in lecture and an A in lab! I am so excited. Hopefully I'll remember all of this information for the MCAT next semester.

Fourth Announcement:
Elizabeth and I went to Nashville for our Phi Sigma Pi National Convention where we received our charter for our new chapter, Epsilon Xi! It was great to come home and to meet new Brothers from across the nation. We have a lot of ideas to bring back to our chapter. Ever since we got back to Johnson City, we have been preparing for an unofficial meeting and setting up various things. We are very excited to start the new semester.

That's all I have right now. There's a quick update of what has been going on lately. Blog hopefully next week!

In Memory of Caitlin Currey

2008-07-29T12:22:00.005-04:00

On July 27, 2008, one of my sister's best friends was killed in a car accident. Caitlin Currey was a wonderful young lady who always brightened any room that she walked into. She always had a smile on her face, even if she was mad, and she had the cutest voice. Christie and Caitlin met each other in middle school at East Literature and I played the flute with her in band. They were both planning on going to Tampa this fall to start college.

In memory of Caitlin, I wanted to share two of my favorite memories of her. The earliest memory that I have of Caitlin is when she was over at our house. She came over just to hang out with Christie. I walked by the living room and heard them giggling. I looked in and they were just playing cards or something and they looked at each other and started laughing as if there was an inside joke. They did this all the time. The last memory I have of Caitlin was at her sister's wedding. She was so beautiful. She looked all grown up and proud. This is where the picture above was taken.

Caitlin was an awesome person. She was very sweet and kind. She will truly be missed. Please keep her family and friends in your prayers.

Update!!

2008-07-21T16:25:00.003-04:00

Wow it hasn't been a month since I last updated! lol. Anyway, there's been only a couple of things going on recently.

July 4th
Mom, Dad, Christie, and Grandmama came up to visit me in Johnson City. They got to see my apartment with all of the furniture set up the way it's supposed to be. We grilled out on July 4th and had pizza for dinner. Christie, Elizabeth, Marc, Ryan and I went to go see the fireworks at Science Hill after dinner. It wasn't like Nashville, but it was fun. We all had a lot of fun playing games, eating out, and just chilling.

Summer Session
The Monday after July 4th weekend, I started school. I am currently taking Organic Chemistry II, both the lecture and the lab. I have lecture everyday and lab twice a week (for 6 hours!!!). As of right now I have taken two of the four tests. My first test I got an unbelievable 99!!! I was so excited. I'm waiting for the results of the second test since I just took it today. It was a really hard test, so I don't think I'll be getting another 99, but maybe next time.

Since most of my time is for school now, I have cut back on my hours at work. Work has been going fairly well. It's nice to have afternoon's off though like today.

Next blog should be a little bit about my Phi Sigma Pi convention next month. Until then, everybody have a wonderful rest of the month!!! ;)

I can't believe it

2008-06-25T14:43:00.001-04:00

Ok. So now I truly cannot believe that I haven't blogged in such a long time! Well. There have been several things going on, so again, as usual, another extremely long (probably boring) post.

Move-In
I have moved into my new apartment!!!! Elizabeth and I moved in the weekend before my sister's graduation. I had been living in a hotel and crashing on Ryan and Marc's living room floor until it was completed. We have completely unpacked and everything. We continue to move things around and hang up various pictures and shelves, so when we finally finish those things I will post pictures. (We should have it done before July 4th so my family can see the finished product.) This apartment has officially moved me into the adult world. I am paying rent, utilities, and making payments on my own furniture! It's exciting, fun, and tedious at times. I love my apartments, especially on days like today when I'm off work and have absolutely nothing to do (especially since Ryan has my car for work). I will continue to post updates about the apartment as things come up.

Graduation:
Going home for almost a week and a half was awesome! Christie's graduation was great! I can't believe that it's been two years since I've graduated. The party was even better. There were so many people and a ton of food. It was great to see all of the cousins and everybody. We had a blast!

Vacation & Christie's orientation:
About two weeks ago, the family went on a Caribbean cruise for a much needed vacation. My parents really needed one out of the four of us. Four move ins/outs, graduation, and graduation party all added to that. Our cruise went to the Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, and Honduras. It was so much fun. The first day, we just hung out on the boat and got a lot of sun (yes, Mom and I were the ones who got sunburned on the first day, but hey, I'm darker than Christie now! ;) ). In the Grand Cayman Islands, we went on a tour that took us to one of two of the turtle farms in the entire world, Hell, and Stingray City. I personally liked Stingray City the most. We got to swim with, feed, and hold stingrays. It was a great experience. When we went to Cozumel, it was rainy, so we just went shopping for the day. Belize was my favorite place. We went cave tubing! It was awesome, especially because we had an awesome guide! There was plenty of shopping there too! In Honduras, Mom and I went on a catamaran excursion with snorkeling while Dad and Christie went on a snuba excursion. Mom and I had so much fun! It was a gorgeous boat and we had a ton of fun exploring the coral reef. We even saw a flounder, which our guide told us was a very rare fish to see at that particular coral reef. We both got a lot of sun (no sunburn) that day. Mom and I also enjoyed shopping there. There were some beautiful mahogany pieces there. We wished we had the money to buy something because it was just gorgeous! I have pictures of the trip on my Shutterfly, so click the link on the left titled "Random Pictures" (Those reading this on Facebook have to go to my original post on Blogger to see them).
After our cruise, we went to Tampa for Christie's orientation. After we left the port, we went to go see an apartment complex that Christie was interested in. It was great! It's like an off-campus dorm. Christie, of course, fell in love with it and signed a leasing agreement with them. It's just right across the street from her college and is going to be a great fit from her. The first afternoon we went to see Billy and Geri's new house. It is beautiful. I loved everything about it. We also got to hang out with the cousins at Olive Garden for dinner. It was very fun! Marcus and Joey are so big now. They are adorable. I can't wait to see the new baby soon! Monday, while Mom and Christie were at orientation, Dad and I went exploring with Christie's GPS. We did A LOT of shopping. I found my new favorite clothing store, Papaya. I have added a link to the left. Dad and I also went to the big International Mall closer to downtown Tampa. It was awesome! The shopping in Tampa is WAY better than here in Johnson City. I have to save up some money for when I visit Christie so I can buy some stuff there. Tuesday we pretty much the same as Monday. Dad and I got to join in on some of the orientation activities, like getting her ID made and going to the bookstore. It was fun. The campus is beautiful. It's so perfect for Christie. I know she'll enjoy it. I've already let her know that she has to start a blog, and try to keep up with it better than I have since she is really far away.

This past week:
I have pretty much been working and cleaning around the apartment all week. My family is coming up to visit on July 4th, so I'm trying to get some last minute things put up and organized. Today is my second day off since I got back from vacation. I just got some fish last night, so I will probably spend the next few minutes trying to name them. They will be in my next Shutterfly album along with pictures of my apartment.

That's all I can think of right now. Hopefully I will be able to update before a ton of things happen again! ;) Bye world!

Since my last post..

2008-05-09T14:07:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am now a brother of the Epsilon Xi chapter of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity. I was inducted on April 21st along with 20 others. It's so great! I have also been chosen to be my chapter's delegate to the National Convention in Nashville! I'm very excited!

This past week, I have moved out of Luntsford Hall and into a hotel for a few days. I'm officially homeless. This week, Ryan and Marc moved into their new apartment, and that is where I am staying now until my apartment is ready for Elizabeth and I to move in. I absolutely love it here! It's very quiet, beautiful, and just awesome! I can't wait to move into m apartment. It's going to be great.

This week I have done nothing but work really. There was one day they let me come home because there were too many people on the unit, so I got to help Ryan and Marc move their stuff from storage into their apartment. They have it pretty much unpacked so far. Today I helped out with Orientation at ETSU for the incoming students for the summer sessions. It was fun. I remember how I was at orientation. It was pretty cool helping out. I'm curious to see how the orientation for Christie will be and if it is anything like our orientation. Now, I am sitting in the apartment in the living room next to the window. It's kinda gloomy outside, but its a nice view. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do until Ryan gets off work. I'm kinda tired. I guess I will take a nap since somehow I have updated the blog now. ;) I'm really going to try to blog more often, especially on my days off and Ryan has to work.

That's all for now! Blog soon!

2 More Weeks!

2008-04-16T21:41:00.008-04:00

Ah! I know. I haven't blogged in forever. Ok, I guess this will be another long blog to catch everybody up.

Let me just start with the weekend that was very exciting. The last weekend of March, Mom came up for the Carrie Underwood concert. We had soooo much fun just spending Mommy-Daughter time the whole weekend. We went apartment searching (and found one!), furniture shopping, spa daying, and eating! We had a blast! To elaborate a little more, Elizabeth and I are moving into an apartment in the middle of May. We found and put a deposit on this apartment during that weekend. Mom took us furniture shopping and bought us a living room set. Later on, Mom and I went to another furniture store and I bought my bedroom furniture! The preparations are going by sooo fast! I can't wait!

This month, I have been pretty busy. I've been studying, working on papers, looking for things for the apartment, and working a lot! It's been pretty busy! This past week I was working on Relay for Life things. Relay for Life was a hit! It was so much fun. If you want to see pictures, just click the link on the right named "College Pics". They should be on that page.

Well, I need to go study and start packing. Blog again soon!

Spring Break

2008-02-29T15:34:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone!
I know...I know...I'm a slacker. I'm not very good at keeping this thing updated. I've just so busy and then when I have down time, I just want to sleep. ;) Anyway, Since I haven't updated in like a month, I will recap. Hopefully it won't be too long.
School is going well. I'm making A's which is great! I actually am enjoying Chemistry for once in my life (did I really just say that?), as well as my Ethics and Humanities class. (By the way, if you have any ethics related topics that I could journal about, comment here :)) Genetics...what to say about Genetics. The teacher seems really nice, but I cannot, I repeat, CANNOT understand or listen to that woman for more than 30 seconds. I've stuck to reading the book. Other than that, I will register for the fall semester in a couple of weeks. I'm pretty excited.
Another exciting thing that has happened that I haven't mentioned is that I got a job! I am a Certified Nursing Assistant at Johnson City Medical Center in the Med/Surg department. I have worked 2 weekends so far, and I have a week or two left of orientation. I'm enjoying it. I'm learning a lot, not just about patients and such, but about the interactions between employees. It's really interesting. I can't wait to find out more. I got my first paycheck this week and I was so ecstatic! :) It's nice to be making some money now.
I bet a lot of you have been wondering about my knee since I'm working now. I'm managing it. I'm taking my medicine and icing and elevating my knees when needed. I'm just kinda sucking it up right now. I can't let it stop me from living my life. So, since I have this outlook on life (lol) I have been working out a little bit. Elizabeth and I try to go swimming or go to yoga at least once a week, it we aren't too busy. Recently, Ryan and I have attended a non-credit boxing class offered twice a week. Uncle Wayne, you'd been so proud of the both of us. :) It is actually a lot of fun. We are going to continue to go as long as other things don't conflict with it.
There are two extracurricular activities that I have become very involved with this semester. The first that is near and dear to my heart is Relay for Life. It is the American Cancer Society's annual fundraiser. I am a team captain for the Luntsford Hall Council & Friends Relay for Life team. I have a wonderful team. We have had several successful meeting. I would like to ask of all of you who are reading this, is if you can visit my team and/or personal Relay for Life page (you can find the links to the right of this post). If you would like, please make a donation to either myself or to one of my team members. Our goal as of right now is $1000. I'm very excited. We kicked off our first major fundraising event, the penny wars. So far, 2nd floor is winning. ;)
Another extracurricular activity that I am going to spend a lot of time with during the rest of my time here at ETSU is Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity. Yes, I said fraternity. It is a co-ed fraternity built on leadership, scholarship, and fellowship. We are founding a new chapter here at ETSU and I am part of the founding group. I am currently in the Initiation program and will be inducted in April. I am very excited about doing this. There are some great opportunities and not only can I call Elizabeth my roommate, but my brother. ;)
Well, that's basically it. As of right now, I am officially on Spring Break. First, I don't understand the "Spring" part of it considering we practically got a blizzard all day Wednesday and Thursday morning. There was at least 1 inch of snow. I bet it was more actually. It was too cold to pay attention. Oh, and, snow boots don't always keep you from slipping on snow or ice. We so should have had a snow day, like Davidson County Metro schools (grrr. not fair Christie!) The second part I don't get is the "Break". I work both weekends and Tuesday and Thursday. In between those days I will be working on 4 papers as well and studying for almost all of my subjects and my Phi Sigma Pi history lesson. I know...there's that tiny violin. It's ok though. I wish I could go home a visit for a while, but I figure that I will see everyone in May. :)
I guess that's it for right now. I might blog again over the break if something interesting happens at work or it snows feet or something. ;) Have a good Spring Break everyone who is on break! :)

Recap of Last Week

2008-01-23T16:57:00.000-05:00

Hello all!

I have some time before I have to do anything or go anywhere so I have decided to write the blog that I had promised before. First, I will let you know about my first snow day of the year!

As you can see from the pictures, we got about 2 inches of snow. The first thing Elizabeth and I did was build a mini snowman right outside of our dorm. We also made him a snowdog for company. ;) After building the snowman and having a small snow ball fight with Emily, we headed over to Ryan and Marc's room for breakfast. Ryan made us all waffles! They were wonderful! After breakfast we decided to go to Willow Springs Park and go sledding. You may be wondering how we went sledding. Two words: tote lids. We figured that would be a little bit easier to come by than stealing trays from main meal. We only found one good hill to sled down. A lot of the snow had melted. (There are videos of all of us sledding on Elizabeth's blog. Just click "The Roomie's Blog" under Awesome blogs and you will find them on the top right of her blog. Check them out. They are hilarious.) After sledding, we went to Walmart to get some food to make a warm lunch. Ryan, again, made a fabulous meal for us. After eating, we watched Good Luck Chuck. It was pretty funny. After a while, Elizabeth and I helped Ryan and Marc rearrange their room. It wasn't as hard and I thought it would be and it looks great! The rest of the night was pretty typical, dinner, t.v., then sleep. It was a pretty good day.

I know some of you are wondering...aren't you in east Tennessee for school? How's school? Well, I have finished my first week and a half here. I have attended all my classes, except my Genetics lab due to the snow day. So far, I like most of my classes. Chemistry (both general and organic) is finally making sense to me. I took my first Organic quiz today, and I'm sure that I aced it. Humanities is interesting as usual. My ethics class is going to be fun. I get to keep a journal, and so far I have written so much in it for only having attended 3 classes. The only class that might be a little bit of a challenge is Genetics. I love the topic, after all I thought about being a geneticist when I was younger, but the teacher is a little hard to understand. My book will become my best friend this semester.

Well, that's all for now. I should have an update pretty soon on a job opportunity that I have had and some extra curricular activities. Hope all of you have an excellent night! Stay warm! ;)

A Better Blog

2008-01-17T07:11:00.000-05:00

Alrighty! So I thought my next blog was going to be about my first week of school, but I have something more exciting to write about. SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, Elizabeth and I woke up at about 6:40. We looked outside and saw a wonderful blanket of snow (there will be pictures later. I promise. Elizabeth is going to try to upload some pictures, so check "The Roomie's blog".) on the ground. I then hopped in the shower. When I came out of the bathroom, Elizabeth informed me that ALL CLASSES ARE CANCELED!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!! I still have to go to my APS job at the Student Health Clinic, because nursing clinics and such are still open, but maybe I can get out early. I am soooo excited. I am currently thinking what to do with my day. I think I might try the Lunch Break Yoga, depending on my knee. I will probably also go and play out in the snow for a little while. It is supposed to keep snowing until about 10 this morning. I'm just very excited because these snow days don't happen very often here in east Tennessee. I guess that there is enough snow and ice to keep people from getting on campus. Well, I am off to work. I will probably post again to talk about what I did today. I do know that Ryan is fixing his roommate, my roommate, and me waffles for breakfast this morning! :) Have a wonderful snowy/wintery day! ;)

Christmas Break Part 3

2008-01-08T20:52:00.001-05:00

Alrighty. I thought it would be at least a week before I would post again, but I know a lot of people have wondered about my current away messages today, so I decided to give you guys an update.

Yesterday, I was at a doctor's office, job shadowing a breast surgeon. We went to the second patient's room. The doctor had been talking with the patient. All of a sudden I felt dizzy and my stomach began to hurt really bad. I figured that I could just sit in the chair in the room and be fine, but I never made it to the chair. I blacked out before I got there. They brought me to another room and gave me some crackers and a Sprite. I still didn't think that everything we right. Mom came to the office and we saw the overflow doctor for my primary care doctor (thank God it was in the same building). Well, a whole lot of talk happened and she decided to run some blood work (some for the symptoms then and some to compare with the blood work that I had done to check for JRA) and have an EKG. Well, getting all of that done wasn't too bad, but anyway, I had to wait until today to figure out what the results were.

Today, I received a phone call. The doctor had called my mom and then I got a hold of her. She told both of us that I should go and see my primary care doctor as soon as I can. She said my white blood count was elevated and that my EKG came back showing that my heart rate was slow with a little bit of irregular rhythm and that I needed to be on antibiotics for a bacteria infection of the GI tract. So, of course, I went to go see my doctor.
So, I went to Dr. Owens. She was very confused of the whole situation, so I retold my story. She said not to take the antibiotics because it could possibly do worse. She also said that the elevated white blood cell count, lower blood pressure, and the EKG results were related to the blacking out. She called it a vasovagal episode (a.k.a. fainting). My body just freaked out a little bit. So everything was ok relating to my incident yesterday.

So...that seems like everything is perfect again...but of course...you're wondering about my knee(s). Well, Dr. Owens also informed me that my rheumatologist failed to tell me that I have JRA. They aren't changing any medication or anything since my current pills are working fine. She just suggested to try and become healthier and walk as less as possible (ha! yea right). She also told me I should really think about what I am planning to do in the future in regards to my career. Apparently I need a "low stress environment". I know...you're thinking what I'm thinking...Jillian, low stress? yea right. I'm kinda taking that as lightly for right now, but it's still something I will have to think about.

Well. That has been what's going on for the past couple of days. Everything is going ok. Just pray that nothing else happens! Blog later! :)

Christmas Break Part 2

2008-01-06T11:56:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Years!

Let's see. I left off talking about before Christmas, so I'll tell you how my Christmas went. We had a small Christmas, but it was very nice! One of my favorite things that I got for Christmas was my new Venus (in pink) phone. It came at a great time, because I spilled punch on my other phone and two of the numbers began to stick. It's wonderful. I got a lot of great things to bring back to the dorm with me, like a real tool kit (to replace my dinky one), a cook book, and a shopping bag (so I can help save the environment! ;)). I also got the Colby Calliat CD, which I love, and I bought two CDs I had been wanting with the iTunes card I got (Thanks Ken and Christy!).
From my grandmother and Uncle Wayne, I received several gift cards, which I have used almost all of them, since we didn't have Christmas lists this year. It was very nice being able to spend time with family and having a small Christmas. It wasn't hectic.

The days after Christmas were filled with shopping and preparing for the New Year. Christie and I had a major shopping day at Opry Mills and then at Cool Springs when Mom got off work. Since then, I have been to Opry Mills twice more, once with Ryan and the other with Christie again (for the VS semi-annual sale !!!!) After Christmas we also got to celebrate with a good friend, Aaron, who treated us out to P.F.Changs. We had a wonderful dinner and had a lot of fun. It's great to see him when he and I are both home. :)

New Years. We did a few things for New Years. On Sunday, my family and I went to the Melting Pot to have an early New Years dinner because Dad had to work both New Years' Eve and New Years' Day. It was again, one of the best meals ever (that wasn't made by one of my family members ;)) It was absolutely wonderful. I suggest that everyone save up some money and got there at least once or guys, save about $15 take out your girl to dinner and then take her to Melting Pot for the chocolate fondue for dessert! It is awesome! Anyway, moving on...New Years' Eve Christie and I had a party, which consisted of mostly her friends. We had a great time. We played pool, ate delicious snacks, played Pit and Battle of the Sexes, watched a movie, and of course bring in the New Year, even though we kinda missed the ball drop. ;) After every one left on New Years' Day, we went to Ate Glad and Uncle Prom's house for a brunch. We got to spend some time with them and see Nittie and baby Norah, who is absolutely adorable might I add. (See pics of her by clicking "A Mommy's Blog" on my links.) We had fun.

The rest of this week has been cleaning up the house and just chilling. I have one more week here at home until I go back to ETSU to start my spring semester. (Then, yes, I will be back for the long weekend for MLK weekend.) Right now I don't really have any plans other than watching the playoff game today. Tomorrow, I will be job shadowing Dr. Lawson, a breast surgeon. I'm pretty excited!

Well. That's all for now. I think that there will be one more part to my break that I will post later. ;)

Christmas break Part 1

2007-12-21T21:45:00.000-05:00

Hey guys.

The title of this blog includes "Part 1" because I plan on blogging again sometime during my break. I have a month long winter break from school YAY!

I am back home. I haven't really done much other than Christmas shopping, figuring out what my schedule will be like next semester, and looking for a job as a certified nurse assistant.

Nothing really has happened too much since I've been back. Yesterday I went out with Ryan, Christie, Zack, and Sarah to Opry Mills. We ate at Chili's and then walked around the mall. After dropping Ryan off, Christie and I watched Stick It. It was an ok movie. It was nothing too spectacular. Alex and Zack came over to the house. We watched Mighty Ducks. I was so surprised of how little I remembered about the movie. It had been such a long time since I've seen that movie.

Christmas. When I got home, everything had pretty much been decorated. Our colors this year are blue and silver, school colors of my alma mater, for Christie's graduation. We had our annual Christmas potluck for my parents' Sabbath school class. It was fun. Christie and I pretty much just talked to Angel and Uncle Steve. Other than that, it has just been Christmas shopping. We are normally done shopping for everyone early, but because we are having a small Christmas due to our Philippines mission trip we have had to try to get some small gifts, without Christmas lists. It has been fun though. I have got to spend a lot of time with my dad when he is off in the morning and a lot of time with my mom when she gets off work.

Let's see. What else. Oh, my knee has been doing pretty well. I got the results back from my labs. My ANA titer was positive, but they think it has something to do with my thyroid. Also, the blood test for RA came back negative. So, we are back to square one. I haven't had to wear my giant brace since I've been home (knock on wood). It has been nice.

Well. I think that is it for now! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Thanksgiving Break

2007-11-29T11:48:00.000-05:00

Ok. You guys can let me have it. I know I haven't blogged in a LONG time. I'm a slacker. I'm also extremely busy. It's ok though. Instead of recapping from the last time I blogged, I will give you a recap of my lovely Thanksgiving break.

Tuesday:
I got to leave ETSU after Elizabeth's last class. I dropped her off at the Lebanon exit as usual and then took Ryan home. From what I was awake for, it wasn't too bad of a drive. When I got home, I ate dinner. MMM, my mom's salmon dish. It was so good. After dinner, Christie and I went out and got a couple of movies and got Starbucks (yes, Starbucks is not on my diet, but it was Thanksgiving, I was going to cheat anyway.). We came back home and watched Evan Almighty. It was a cute movie. I think Christie and I enjoyed the outtakes more than the movie itself. It wasn't what I was expecting. After the movie I got to go to sleep in my own bed. :)

Wednesday:
Unfortunately, I had to wake up early to make my doctor's appointment at another doctor, a rheumatologist. I went and he reviewed my lab results from my last doctor's appointment. He told me good new, I don't have Lupus, not that I was worried about that, but away...I wanted to run some more blood tests because he was concerned with my rheumatoid factor. From what he gathered from my history, lab results, and a short examination, he thinks I have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. I haven't received the results for the blood test I took that day, so keep me in your prayers.
I can make one tiny update. When I went to the doctor and got weighed, I had lost 6 more pounds. I have lost a total of 18 pounds! ;) Yay! GO me!
After the doctor's appointment, we went back home and wished my sister, Christie, a happy 18th birthday. I can't believe that she is 18. I just turned 18. At least I though I did. Gosh, I'm going to be 20 in April. Ok, let's not go there. Back to the day. We went to the Cool Springs area to get our hair cut. We then went to the mall and Target to do some shopping before the craziness started after Thanksgiving.
After our day at the mall, we went home to meet Daddy and got ready for Christie's family birthday dinner at Maggiano's. After picking up Ryan and Ate Jean we went and met Grandmama, Uncle Wayne, Auntie Menie, and Uncle Steve. We had a lovely dinner. Christie opened her presents after dinner. She opened everyone's, but Mom made her save her and Dad's for last. When Christie got the box, she paused and decided to tell a story of how she knew that it was a Nikon camera. She said that the wrapping paper was see through and that Mom and slipped up a couple of times. All of us around the table listened patiently and nodding quietly pretending to agree with her. When she opened the box, she found books. Not new book, but books that had been taken right off of her own shelf. She then read their card and immediately responded with a pouty lip and an "I hate you!". We all went to the parking garage to show her her real present, a 2007 White Volkswagen GTI. She was so excited.

Christie, Dad, Ryan, and I rode with her after we all had settled down a little bit. We dropped off Ryan, and then went home.

Thursday:
We didn't wake up too early, at least I didn't. When I went downstairs I immediately saw the circulars of the newspaper scattered everywhere. I knew Mom had already planned the shopping trip for the next day. We left to go to Grandmama's house around lunch time.
Thanksgiving lunch (and dinner) was absolutely amazing. I knew I would be out on the floor since I hadn't had so many carbs in one sitting for such a long time. I concluded, as long as I got to eat Grandmama's fresh bread, cheesy potato casserole, and apple pie and Mom's dumplings and banana pudding, I would be completely satisfied. Boy was I. The food was excellent!
When we returned home and after changing into some comfy clothes, the family watched Ratatouille. It was a very funny movie. I would put it right up with Finding Nemo. I would let that rat cook in my kitchen any day. ;) Christie and I have the running joke of the French chef and his re-enactment of the rats magically appearing. (::Snapping:: whoo. They're over there, and then they're over there!). It is definitely a must watch movie.

Black Friday:
Thankfully, I didn't have to wake up at 3:00 in the morning just to go shopping. Because my family are going to the Philippines in July, we are having a small Christmas in order to help pay for the trip. Mom had decided that there weren't any gifts that we needed to bust doors for, so we left casually after breakfast. We got some party decorations (see Saturday). We then headed to Target and Kohls. I was in need of some new clothes because I had lost a total of 18 pounds as of Wednesday (it's a total of 21 as I write this post). We found several shirts at Target. But that best thing of all was trying on a size 9 pair of jeans (one size less than I used to wear) in the dressing room, then screaming in ecstasy because they were too big!!! I immediately ran out of the dressing room to tell Mom and Dad and find a smaller size. After picking another style, I tried on a size 6 and they fit perfectly! That was the highlight of my day.
After shopping a little bit, Christie called and said that she got off work early because no one was at the zoo. She picked up Zack and they ate lunch with us. After lunch, Christie, Zack, and I went and just walked around Opry Mills. After walking around for a LONG time, we met Mom and Dad at Casa Fiesta for yet another surprise for Christie. She had to wear a sombrero and get whip cream all over her face to celebrate her birthday. It was a pretty fun day.

Saturday a.k.a. Operation Christie's Surprise B-day Party:
In the morning, we went to church as usual. After church Christie was supposed to meet Elizabeth, my roommate, at Opry Mills to hang out since they hadn't seen each other. We dropped her off at the food court. I then called Elizabeth and we met her on the other side of the mall to get the beautiful cakes that she had baked and decorated for the party.

We then headed back to the house to eat left-overs for lunch. Sarah then came over and we started decorating the carport and the rec-room. After blowing up 75 balloons and putting up several yards of streamers, the entire place was decorated. People started arriving. We waiting anxiously in the front yard after I received the phone call from Elizabeth as a cue that she was on Smith Springs Road.

They turned in the drive way and we all saw Christie laughing and almost crying in the passenger side of Elizabeth's car. When she opened the door, she immediately exclaimed "I Hate You ALL!" as we expected her to. We had a great party. There was dancing, eating, and just hanging out. It was so great because Mom, Sarah, Elizabeth, and I had been planning the surprise party for so long. Christie could have sworn that it was going to occur on the next Friday. She had no idea! Christie had the surprise birthday party that she wanted, and the best thing is that we got away with it!

Sunday:
Nothing too special. I just went back to ETSU to continue with classes.

Sorry for the long post , but imagine what it would've been like if I recapped the past two months! :) Hopefully I'll post soon. Much love!

September

2007-09-30T18:31:00.000-04:00

Wow! It's been a long time since I've blogged last. I know. I'm doing so bad. Oh well. It's just seems like I blogged yesterday, and it is August. Now September is over and we're off to October. It's crazy. Let's see. Where to start.

The first weekend in September was Labor Day weekend. I was not planning to go home, but Ryan, Elizabeth, and I decided to go home for the weekend. Christie had planned a deck party, so I got to spend some time with her and some of her friends. It was nice to be home for a visit.

The second weekend, Ryan, Elizabeth, and I went home at the request of Ryan. He was celebrating his 20th birthday on September 10, so he wanted to go home for the weekend. I went home to celebrate Daddy's birthday (even though it was the next weekend). We had taco salad and watched the Titans' game on Sunday. Saturday was such a fun event! Daddy, Mommy, Christie and I went to Coolsprings and just spent the day there. Christie got her formal graduation pictures retaken. We went to the mall, different outlet stores, and Jason's Deli. We had so much fun. Our last stop was Target. I think we had too much fun there. Christie and I still laugh at how Mom ran with a shopping cart down an aisle to keep us from finding her, while Daddy just laughed at the three of us. We had so much fun! I was so glad that I got to go home for Daddy's birthday.

The third weekend in September, Elizabeth, Ryan, and I stayed here at ETSU and watched the Gators vs. Vols game. It was so funny to have two Vols fans in the room with me. Let's just say...GO GATORS!!! They won 59-20. Elizabeth made some awesome chili! The rest of the weekend consisted of shopping at Walmart and sleeping.

Last weekend, Elizabeth and I went to Indian Creek Camp to be counselors at the Young Women's Retreat. We had 11 teenage girls in our cabin. Two of our girls were on crutches (which actually was a blessing) and most of them were freshmen. Elizabeth and I definitely felt the generation gap between the girls. We had beautiful weather and the retreat was very enjoyable. It was nice to get away from school for a weekend.

This weekend, we haven't really done much. Slept mostly to catch up from our missed sleep from last weekend and this week. We just had taco salad for lunch. It has been a pretty good week so far.

Now other things. I know I need to have a few updates.

My knee:
I had an episode one Friday and I was on crutches almost 2 weeks. I went to the doctor and found out not really anything different than before. I am now wearing a $1200 brace and I have just weened myself off of my crutches. I have 3 more weeks of physical therapy. Hopefully I will be able to walk without too much pain.

My diet:
My diet has been going very well! I haven't weighed myself since September 8, but then I had lost 14 lbs. in two weeks. Ryan had lost 17 in two weeks. I will not weigh myself for a while, but I feel so much better. I am finding that a lot of my once "skinny-day" clothes are now clothes I wear everyday (well, when I didn't have this huge bionic woman brace on). I'm excited about fall. I might have to get some new clothes because a lot of the shirts that I have now are too big for me! ;) I will give another update soon.

School:
School has been going well. Not really much to say. The only things that are different is that I am the secretary of Luntsford Hall Council. It's a lot of fun. We have a lot of excellent activities planned. The most exciting one for me is the trick-or-treating in our hall. Hopefully I can take some pictures and post them up.

Well. That's all for now. I will try to be better about blogging this month, but I can't promise anything. :) Much love!

P.S. Check out my college pics of the Young Women's Retreat (and the move-in pictures if you haven't already looked at them). ;)

My First Day as a Sophomore and New Mommy!

2007-08-27T20:19:00.000-04:00

Hello all!

I just wanted to give a little update about my first day today. Today I went to Biology III, Organic Chemistry, and Humanities I. Biology III was pretty good. It seems like the professor is going to be funny, and I think I am going to learn a lot more interesting than that plant biology. Organic Chemistry was not as bad as I thought it would be. My professor seems a little tough, but I think if I just study everyday, I will be able to do well. I am not looking forward to my four hour lab tomorrow (and the rest of the year every Tuesday), but oh well. Lastly, Humanities was awesome! The professor was very personable and very enthused about the subject. I was planning on minoring in Humanities, and today just reaffirmed that that is what I want to do. I'm so excited about that class.

Today, I also started back at the student health clinic for my Academic Performance Scholarship job. It was...let's say...hectic. I got to meet and show around a new girl. It was just extremely busy. Let's just leave it at that.

Lastly, what some of you are probably wondering because of my post title, I have some new pets. Elizabeth and I got a beta fish. His name is Eugene and we have had breakfast with him every morning so far. He's really cool. Ryan and I got two black mollies, one dalmatian molly, and a japanese shrimp for our aquarium that we bought last year. Molly, Ted, Cruella, and Bubba Gump. This morning I got a surprising text from Ryan saying that he found three baby fish. As of right now, we have found a total of five baby fish! We think that one of the black mollies is the mom. We were very excited (except for the fact that we had to go and get another small fish bowl). I can't wait to watch them grow up! ;) Yea, so I am now a proud mom of our fish.

Well, that's all that I can think of right now, but I will blog sometime soon.

Goodnight!

The Start of Year Number Two

2007-08-25T11:28:00.001-04:00

Hello all!

I am currently sitting in my dorm room thinking of things that I need to do. I moved in completely yesterday. My room mate, Elizabeth, moved in on Thursday. She is participating in some Preview activities right now, so I have the room to myself for a little bit.

I have been really excited about my room. I have all new furniture and new hard wood floors. My bathroom also have a new face to it. I love everything about it. Mom and Dad came up to ETSU with me to help me set up. Daddy put up the shelves, picture frames, and calendars. (This is quite funny now because I just now got the memo that I wasn't supposed to hang anything on the walls. Oh well. I guess that there will be a small fee withdran from my dorm deposit. I still like it a lot!) Mom helped me organize and unpack. We made a few trips to Walmart already. It's been really exciting. So far, I have my clothes organized, and my desk is somewhat organized. Elizabeth and I still have quite a bit of rearranging in our kitchen and pantry, but we have a whole year for that. ;)

Anyway, I start classes on Monday. It's going to be a pretty long day for me, as well as Elizabeth. I'm pretty excited though.

Well, I'm going to get back to organizing. I will upload pictures on Shutterfly sometime this week. ;)

Have a great week!

**FYI My school e-mail has changed a little bit. It is now zjmq2@goldmail.etsu.edu! Just to let you know.

2007-07-09T18:28:00.000-04:00

All right. Since my roomie, Elizabeth, has a blog now (check out the "Awesome Blog" section) and is keeping up with it better than I am, she has become my motivation to update my blog.

Let's see. Since the last time I blogged, everyone is back home from vacation. Christie has gotten back to US time and is sleeping during the night. I, for once in my life, am tanner than my sister from my vacation. Today Christie and I worked at Ate Jean's house.

Here is an update for all of you who know about my knees. Just to catch everyone else up to speed, I have had problems with my left knee for about 7 years. During the month of June, I could hardly walk or stand for a long period of time without wearing a brace. So, Monday Mom took me to an orthopedic doctor to get it checked out. We scheduled a MRI for that Thursday, then I would come back to get the results. Well, on Tuesday afternoon I had an event with my right knee. It hurt so bad I couldn't walk. I was on crutches for 3 days. After all of that drama and the MRI, I found out that my MRI of both knees came back normal. I'm glad it's good news, but I am still on a search for the reason why both knees hurt so bad. I currently wear braces on both knees. I walk like a penguin (or a duck if you prefer) and am still in a lot of pain. But, oh well. Just keep me in your prayers please.

Well. I think that is it for now. I just wanted to update. I also would like to direct everyone to my room mate's blog, just to see how's she's doing. :)

Much love!