Spring Break

It is Spring Break, and it's already flying by way too fast. Since I've been home, I've had a LOT to do, but on the up-side got a LOT done. Funny how that works out. :]
My break started Thursday afternoon when I got back into Charleston, and was a pretty long day. No sooner had I gotten home I was unloading my car all by myself after locking the dogs in the back porch. When I went to close the trunk of my car I looked over to the left and saw my two dogs running across the street. Story cut short, they were a few feet from getting hit by a car and jumped into the pond; they stunk so bad and looked gross afterwards. Not to mention they attempted to dry off by shaking right beside me...bath time for me. Gross!
After that whole mess went down, I just chilled out the rest of the day and hung out with Scott after he got off work. Friday morning I had to take my car into the shop for a routine oil change, filter change (air and oil), tire rotation, and that whole deal. I really keep track of when I have it done and make sure that my car is going to last me for a long time. I can't stand when girls have to have a man in their life do it for them and all this that and the other. Take care of your own car, learn to be independent, and get a little dirty from time to time...don't be such a darn priss.
Anyways, the rest of my day was spent organizing for the huge garage sale I threw on Saturday morning...which was more work than I think I've EVER done in my life outside of the summers I helped my dad install pools for this company. My mom and I baked cookies and sold those too in addition to all of the junk that we had accumulated over the years. You seriously would have thought we were hoarders from the look of our garage, but wouldn't anymore considering how clean and empty it is. We now let our dogs run around in there to get a little bit of 'wild time' when they need it. The rest of the day I actually wasn't feeling that great, and fell asleep on my bed at about 9:30 or so on accident. I was going to go over to Seth's but that didn't happen considering how tired I was. I woke up later and watched LA Ink for a while but went right back to bed.
The time change actually didn't bother me too bad this morning, surprisingly. I went to lunch after church with my whole family (minus Ash and Josh), Scott, and Ms. Stacie. It was great!!
Now it's off to studying for my physics exam next Tuesday, Biochem exam next Thursday, and writing this Organic lab report that's due next Wednesday. JOY.

When it rains, it pours.

When it rains, it pours. I mean that both literally and metaphorically.
Today in Clemson, it was raining and snowing all day long; unfortunately none of the snow stuck and classes never got cancelled, but I enjoyed it while it lasted. Maybe another day? I tell you, there was mud everywhere, and boy was it cold outside! I really hate it though, because you dress all warm for the weather, yet when you step inside of any class they've cranked the heat up so a 90 year old woman would be comfy. I on the other hand, dressed in warm clothing like an intelligent human being was about to die of heat exhaustion in every class. I'd say I'd love for them to fix this issue, but I've been pushing for it since as long as I can remember...and they never have.

Metaphorically speaking of rain, when one thing bad happens, it seems like there's a downstream cascade of other bad things that follow suit. I got a call on Monday around noon saying that my father was in the hospital for severe chest and back pain and that he felt as though they were symptoms of a heart attack. After visiting the hospital and ruling out heart attack, they sent him home with an unknown explanation of the peculiar symptoms. He has a stress test tomorrow, so hopefully we'll find out what's going on soon. Cascading in behind this issue is the ordeal with Mrs. Ernestine (Ern as we call her). She has had cancer for as long as I can remember KNOWING her but after battling it, she won the fight for a while. Needless to say last year or so the cancer returned and with full throttle revenge. Short story, I got a call this afternoon from my mom saying that Mrs. Ern was in the hospital and they had given her 2 hours to 2 days longer to live. Not only can I not see her because I'm in Clemson, but I have no idea at this point if I'll be able to attend her funeral..it all depends on the circumstances. I may be coming home after my organic exam on Tuesday; we'll have to see. Who is Mrs. Ern you may ask? Mrs. Ern is a woman I met from my church when I was in the 7th grade. When no one else was there for my family, she was. She became the closest thing I had to a grandmother and has brought so much joy to my life. She is the woman you'd see every Sunday and say, "Gosh, I'd love to be like her when I'm old." She always dressed to the tee, was the kindest woman I've ever met, and was there for you when no one else was. Although we aren't blood related, like I said, she was the closest thing I had to a grandmother and who says family has to be blood related? God brought us all together to become families in different ways shapes and forms, and it's through those different ways that makes a variety of relationships quite incredible and special. To you, Mrs. Ern, I'll always love you and you are FOREVER in my heart as one of the most amazing women who ever lived.

On the brighter side of things, and MUCH needed considering EVERYTHING that's going on currently, I'll be in Hemingway Thursday afternoon to visit Ashley and Josh, and heading to Myrtle Beach for the weekend with Ashley, Sarah, and my amazing Mama on Friday morning. It's a girl's weekend full of Broadway at the beach shopping, amazing food, beach, FAMILY, etc. I absolutely cannot wait.
Anyways, I wanted to get all of that off of my chest and will try to start posting a little more frequently!!

So today has been a semi-difficult day for me. Not that anything has gone wrong or whatever the case may be, but I've just felt not so great health-wise. My arm is swollen again meaning I have to have it drained when I go home this upcoming weekend for a FOURTH time. In addition, my throat has been sore, my stomach aches, and my eyes won't quit watering. Oh well...I'm going to take some medicine and pray that I feel better here soon!
On the bright side, I have gotten a lot of Physics studying done and can't wait for this first test to be behind me. I have the same instructor, Dr. Lih-Sin The that I did last semester so I know what his tests are like for the most part...but it's PHYSICS so it's never easy. I'm hoping that I can make an A like I did in the first part but we'll see how that goes! I know that the Lord will give me the strength once again to study what I need to study, how I need to study, etc. He's always there for me and I've truly begun to see that over the past two semesters. I've always been a Christian since I was little but it was with the aid of my parents taking me to church, etc. Never in my life did I have to make conscious decisions to trust the Lord on my own, and make sure that my life displays his works without living in the shadow of my parents. It has taken me a little over two years of college to realize that when I don't trust in him, I can't do anything!
Not only have I learned to trust in the Lord through the hard times, but also through the good times too. Too often in my life (and what I see in others') they ask the Lord for help only when they are in holes that they can't get themselves out of. Ultimately, they don't thank the Lord for that and just forget about him while the good times are happening because they don't 'need him then.' I started praising the Lord both during the good times and the bad times and say thanks when either an outcome I loved came out, or an outcome that I didn't like came out as well. Through things we don't like or want to happen, but the Lord ALLOWS to happen, we get an intangible slap across the face and learn from our mistakes. This semester I have just become so overwhelmingly excited about the things God is doing in my life. Although I cannot explain them to you, I just feel it and know that I don't have to worry about the small stuff, OR even the big stuff for that matter because I'm in his hands and so is my life. The more I go through these classes, the more I KNOW God wants me to become a Veterinarian. Through his help, I'll make it into Vet school and through his help I'll save a lot of animals from a life of despair and tragedy.
I'm learning who my real friends are and how much my family is there for me. I'm learning that my Mom and Dad were right about a lot of things and how much I respect my siblings for things they have accomplished in their lives. If I could take a few traits from each of my siblings, it would make for a truly perfect person. But as God saw it, he divided our best traits among us, which has brought us closer and made all of us best friends as we've grown up. I couldn't ask for a better family and thank them for all that they do.
I mostly wanted to take the time today to just reflect on my thoughts here recently and just let it all out in the open. I'm so excited to see what God has planned for my life today, tomorrow, and so on...and I'll let you guys know when it happens. I'm stoked about going home this upcoming Thursday after class, I'll be getting my organic exam grade back, this weekend is Trey's/my Dad's birthdays' and Valentines Day. Amidst the two exams in Biochemistry and Physics, it should be an amazing week!
Until then!

Oh Monsoon

So it has been raining in Clemson for two days straight now. And not just a little bit either. I'm talking about the heavy rain, not gonna stop, blows in your face so you look like a walking cherry, rainboots and umbrellas don't help because the rain just blows into your boots and the wind makes the umbrella turn inside out like on the movies. I feel bad for those in any kind of drought right now because it rains in Clemson about 75% of the time...and I'm not even kidding. However, on the brighter side of this I LOVE rain. I love rain, snow, sleet, hail, cold iced in days, but cannot STAND and I mean absolutely LOATHE hot days in summer. Who wants it to be above 70 degrees outside, sweating, the sun beaming on your forehead while your scalp roasts, getting into the car and your legs burning from the leather, the sand at the beach, and so on. I just simply hate everything I just mentioned and want nothing to do with it. If you beach bunnies out there love it please move to Florida or somewhere where it stays warm year round and don't complain to me anymore. I'm quite happy where I live because the weather stays cold for a good chunk of the year and rains a lot. Such pleasant weather. :]

Another thing is Valentine's Day. I do not like Valentine's Day at all. Don't get me wrong, I'll go out with Scott for dinner and give him a card and we'll come back to watch a movie with my family or some junk like that, but what's the point? I think people who actually like Valentine's day are people who don't get enough love year round from their men and have to have a holiday for it to actually be shown to them. Sorry to all you girls out there that I probably just offended, but I don't really care. I have the most amazing boyfriend in the whole world and we show our love to each other each and every day. He doesn't disrespect me and treats me better than I could have dreamed of. In addition, he's tolerated me for over four years haha! I just see all of these people around me who are dating and the guys are total donkey-holes to them. I wish I could tell them STOP DATING HIM HE'S A JERK not to mention totally hideous, but in normal society you just don't do that...I wish it were cool to, but it's not. I'm the type of girl that hated high school so got out early, hated proms even more (gayest thing in the whole world out there for you HS students), don't really care for college all that much, and don't want to go to grad school but will because I want a good paying job that I know I'll love. That may seem to contradict itself to you but it really doesn't. I want to be a Veterinarian and help precious four-legged friends, but hate being in school. I'll just push through the next 5 years and I know I'll be quite happy afterwards. I always wished I was that smart kid that got his or her PhD at 15 and got to have a job right off the bat. I'm so tired of hearing all of these old folk saying "Oh no you don't...trust me you'll want to be in school and experience it blah blah blah." Shut up old person! All I care about is having a good stable job that I love/nice pay so I can raise a family in a home without worries, marry my wonderful boyfriend Scott, have a family of doggies and eventually a kid or two, and be with my family family. I will never like school or the process of it...thank GOD I'm almost done.

I'm sorry if I seem so negative, which I definitely was, but I've had a really rough day full of anger, tears, frustration the whole works and I needed to vent (although everything I vented about was NOTHING I was mad about it still helped). So I'll end on a brighter note because I feel much better...

SMALLVILLE is tonight, which by the way is only my favorite show in the entire world. If you've never seen it, check it out. If you've seen it and hate it, just go crawl into your closet in the far corner and don't come out until you've gained your two sense back. Not only is Smallville tonight, but it's a two hour marathon and stoked is an understatement of my attitude right now. I'm counting down...ONE MORE HOUR!!! Anyways, I'm going to mow down on what I call my homemade potato oblongs and drink my diet dr. pepper (best drink ever). If you'd like to know what potato oblongs are, just ask!
-Until then!

My loves

I thought I'd show you guys just a couple of the people who mean a LOT to me and couldn't live without. This is JUST a few, though. My family, Scott's family, and best friends (i.e Melinda, Nancy, Seth) aren't in here!

My precious baby, Oreo!


My Houdini baby, Cody!


My adopted 'nephew dog,' Nanook


THE love of my life, Scott!


Scott and I together; I love you!


I know this post was rather uninformative but I love these guys so much more than any of you could ever imagine. They bring so much joy to my life ALL of the time and I hope their pictures made you smile!

Ten Pounds of Stress

So the search to figure out what I was going to do as far as housing next year continued; as it had for about a month now. I decided to attend the housing fair today at the Hendrix student center and boy am I glad that I did! Not only did I get numerous free t-shirts, free koozies, free food and drinks, free water bottles, free coffee mugs (nice ones), LOTS of free pens, etc. but I also got coupons for different apartment complexes if I signed on this week. With full intention of signing a lease at SOME apartment this week already, it was down to where the heck do I want to live? Who has a reasonable price, large spacious areas, my own bathroom/at least medium closet, furnished or not, location location location, PRICE (again), discounts, etc. were all what I was keeping in mind. After seeing that many apartment's prices had skyrocketed over limits of $400 those were definite no's since I just don't want to pay that. I was down to Berkeley Place, the Reserve, and University Village. When I got back to my apartment, not to mention all sweaty because it was like 708 degrees out and I had on jeans, a long sleeve shirt, thick socks, and a jacket, I decided to make a pro's and con's list to decide which one to live in. Berkeley Place's prices were $384 after all expenses, fully furnished, utilities included, $50 off of application fees...so ultimately $50 to apply. Medium sized bedrooms/living rooms, small closets, and nice bathrooms. The Reserve's prices were also $384 after all expenses, fully furnished, utilities included, $50 off of application fees...again $50 to apply. Medium sized bedrooms, TINY closets, shared bathrooms, very small living space (Tiniest kitchen I've ever seen too). University Village's prices were $380 after all expenses, fully furnished, utilities included, Application fees waived, and $100 off of first month's rent....ultimately free to apply and $280 for the first month. In addition, it had the largest living spaces/kitchen, had a sunroom, HUGE rooms and closets, own large bathrooms with all new furnishings, etc. Close to the CAT bus stop and right beside the pool/mailboxes. In addition, when I compare how much I'm paying to live ON-CAMPUS this year to living OFF-CAMPUS next year, I'll be saving almost $2,000.00 which is just ridiculously amazing! More descriptions required?
Needless to say I signed on with University Village and got to tour an apartment beforehand with the nicest girl who is in charge of roommate matching. She informed me that she'd put me with someone who has at least one dog so I could 'have' a dog without having to bring him home and make my dad mad, find people who like low air conditioning temperatures, are VERY clean, etc. Everything I filled out on my roommate sheet. If I might say, I am quite excited and can't wait for the upcoming school year to see what God has in store for me. So far he's really had his hand on this whole process from beginning to the middle (not at the end yet) and has just watched over me the entire way. I know that he ultimately has a wonderful plan in store for me and I have to learn patience through time in order to find out just what it is. I've attached a link to University Village in case any of you would like to check out where I'll reside next year!
Until then, take care!


Check it out at: http://universityvillageclemson.com/photo.php

Puppy Sports

So I thought I'd entertain you with a few pictures that always bring a smile to my face. Let me know what you think of them and which are your favorites!

Puppy Pole Dancing? haha!


He dreamed of being an 80's talk show host. Poor guy!


Thirsty?


This actually is a dog that looks like a panda.



Sweet as honey!



Breaking it down now!



Hope y'all enjoyed and goodnight!