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!

Clarity

So Tuesdays are definitely the absolute worst days of the week. And it's only on account of I have classes from 9:30am until 6:45pm...including Physics, Biochemistry, Organic, and Physics Lab. Could there be a more hectic combo? I would argue not. Well anyways there no use in wasting energy complaining about it when I'm the one who arranged the schedule, I sacrificed the hectic mess of a Tuesday for NO CLASSES on either Fridays OR Mondays (yay!), and the worst of the week is now behind me! Today was actually pretty productive though, if I might add. In physics I learned a decent amount of the material he was going over and flew threw the online homework (Mastering Physics). In Biochemistry, my poor poor instructor, Dr. Bodine informed us that he was cancelling class this Thursday and moving the exam to NEXT Thursday because his best friend died. He has to give his eulogy on Thursday during our class and was crying during breaks today. I just feel so awful for this man and pray that the Lord lays his hand on his heart very soon so that the healing process can occur quite rapidly. Losing someone is never a pleasurable experience, but it's a part of life.
Organic went over well as it always does--for some reason that class and I just click. I understand everything Dr. Doerr talks about and we have an exam this Thursday night that I'm not worried about at all. Physics lab...well I just don't want to talk about that so I can continue my splendid mood. :]

I just have a bunch of random thoughts all jumbled up into my head including how much I miss my family, puppies, and Scott...they truly are my WORLD and without them I couldn't do anything. They are like the fuel for my engine always providing me with comforting words that keep me going. I can't formulate words into sentences to describe the love for them and how much I miss them ALL the time while I'm up here. Some couples are so blessed to have their loved one here at school with them, but I think Scott and I are growing to be such a strong couple; being able to not only last but grow closer to each other though we are 250 miles apart. I want to marry him so bad and we eventually will, but neither one of us is or will be prepared to until after we finish school entirely...which will be at least another 5 years. It kind of stinks in a way that we have to wait that long, but I'm excited to see what the future will hold for the two of us...where we'll live, what we'll be, etc. I'm just glad I have someone's hand to hold throughout the whole thing and experience both the ups and downs with!
Another thing that's been on my heart is where I'm going to live next year here at school. The original plan was to live with my best friend Nancy in either an apartment off campus or on campus; it didn't matter. But she was under the impression that I was graduating early and signed on with a current roommate that was randomly matched to live with us. I thought about it and cried a lot thinking I'd have to spend my entire senior year with three random roommates--which would STINK!! My other roommate, Elizabeth whom I've known for a year and a half now was debating between living at home and buying a car to commute to campus or living off campus with me. We went and looked at apartments last week and found one that we really liked only to find out that the first month has to come out of pocket...$337.00 including utilities though and fully furnished. (you can check it out at http://www.myownapartment.com/berkeleyplace/). Because of this circumstance, Elizabeth could not live with me and is now arranging to live at home and buy a car. Back to square one I am. Lease signing day is tomorrow and I have a huge decision to make tonight. I either have to sign on to live at Berkeley Place and get three random roommates, live on campus and get three random roommates, or pray that the Lord comes through TONIGHT with someone for me to live with. Please pray!!! Whatever he wants me to do, I'll ultimately do it.
Anyways, I'm going to make some dinner...probably bacon wrapped chicken filets, sweet potato casserole, and green beans? That's a possibility but we'll see.
--Until we meet again!
____________________________________________________________________________________

You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do

First day of February 2010? YES! I find the first day of every month so intriguing as you can completely start over in any way that you want 12 times a year. You can commit to making a whole month better than the last one and that's what I'm going to do. It's so weird to write 2/1/10 but I'll get use to it roughly ten minutes before it turns 2/2/10...in which case the process will start over again. haha!

So I had a doctor's appointment today to check up/drain my incision and get the biopsy results. My wonderful mother decided to take me to breakfast at Chick-fil-A for my favorite chicken biscuit and sweet tea beforehand and it was just splendid...both the food and spending time with her! My appointment at the Surgical associates was at 9:00 so we waited around for a little bit while we had time to spare...I worked on my Chemistry lab stuff so that I can be prepared for Wednesday morning. Anyways, when I was called back to the doctor's actual room, they asked how my arm was doing and I informed them that it was half the size of a volleyball (NOT kidding) and hurting more than they could imagine. He saw it, slightly shocked and knew we had to drain a lot of fluids out. He numbed it a little bit with a shot and began his draining...4.5 90cc syringes later we were done with this draining 'session.' In case any of you don't know what 4.5 90cc's is in actual understandable terms, that's about 500mL worth or one of those LARGE beakers that you use in Chemistry for you Science people! He informed me that this was the most he had ever seen in his career and I'm kind of glad I hold a record in something finally (wish it was in something else, but I'll take it). He told me about my biopsy report saying that what was removed WAS axillary breast tissue but it came back completely benign (non-cancerous). This was the largest relief I've had in quite some time and am praising the Lord for all of his mercy on me throughout this process. I set up another appointment for February 15th since I'll be home that weekend for Valentine's day and My dad's/Trey's birthdays to see if it needs to be drained a 3rd time. Dr. Lucas (my doctor) said most patients only need it twice, but to make an appointment to be sure. If it starts to swell again this week, I unfortunately have to come back this upcoming Thursday after my Organic exam to have it drained again...let's pray that won't be the case!!
Anyways, for now I'm doing quite well and can actually use my arm to a slight extent to do daily activities again (putting on clothes, showering, doing my hair, having a drink, etc.) but can't lift anything over 5lbs for a few more weeks...it seriously stinks!! My incision is looking great and I'm just so blessed for having a wonderful doctor given to me by the Lord with amazing training to take care of me when I need him.
Thanks to all of you for your prayers including my friends, family, and Scott. You are all amazing; each and every one of you!
I'm going to take a nap for a while since I'm quite tired after the procedure this morning, going to get lunch with Scott and Steven, then hit the road back to Clemson early this afternoon...I'm SO tired of the 4 hour drives but like they say, "You gotta do what you gotta do."
HAPPY FEBRUARY!!