Well it hasn't quite been a month, so I'll call this a win!
I have become a lazy slob. No, seriously, I've barely been biking at all (other than to/from work) since two weekends ago. On that weekend I biked a lot - to work (2.3 miles), to a potential place to live next year (2.4 miles), back home (4.4 miles). Then I biked from my house to Nathan's (12.3 miles HOWEVER I got lost and went an extra 2.2 miles). That was all just on Friday (total = 23.6 miles)! Then on Saturday Nathan and I biked back to my place (another 12.3 miles, no getting lost this time!). On Sunday I biked from Nathan's to Anoka where my mom and sister were having a spaghetti feed fundraiser (for the 3-day walk for breast cancer) - that was 15.9 miles. So for that one weekend I biked 51.8 miles, and that felt like a lot. Over three days. I haven't done nearly that much since then, and in exactly a month I will be biking three times that much over 2 days. I am so screwed! I did order bike shorts - that were "delivered" but I never received so now I'm dealing with USPS to get that sorted out. I also took Addy on a bike ride - that was fun for me but not so much for her! I think I'm going to try to get her used to it, it was fun!
Finding a place to live has also been vexing. I'm pretty committed to one girl to room with, but she has a 75# dog that is making it difficult to find a place. At least for only 2 people, and it has been incredibly difficult convincing a third person to join us. We've had 2 people turn us down and 1 just completely ignore our request. Disheartening to say the least, especially because I found a seemingly perfect place (that I biked to) that has 3 BR. It's $1250/mo, which is good for 3 people but a bit steep for 2.
Europe has been fun, but challenging. There is just so much to plan! And I'm definitely not one to just get there and "wing it." I did that on the cruise with Nathan for the most part and that meant that most of the stops were spent wandering aimlessly. I don't plan on making that mistake again, but it does mean a lot of research to do. So far I have hostels and travel booked for Amsterdam, London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, and Vienna. Still have to get things setup for Prague, Berlin, and Copenhagen. I did book my flight home though, so I will be back in the States on August 16, just in time for my sister's bachelorette party on the 17th (that's been another mess in itself, but not really worth mentioning). Haven't booked any tours or attractions or planned anything in detail yet though, that's still on the to do list.
Work has also been fun, but challenging. I've been writing a protocol paper on a protocol I've never done before, so that was interesting. In more of the fun category, I've finally started working with mice again! Yep, less than 2 months left and I finally start a mouse project. Working with the mouse people at the U has been a challenge - getting card access to all the restricted areas a hassle, not to mention all the quarantine rules, but it brings back good memories of working at the VA. Just the good ones, because no one was ever being mean when the mice were out.
My classes have been proceeding along. I am so excited to be done with Chemistry - easily the worst class I've taken since graduating. Each test is 20 multiple choice questions, generally ones that require a lot of equation making and solving long problems with multiple steps, with easy places to mess up. And of course the answers you get if you mess up a single step are all potential choices - and no partial credit. So if I solve the entire problem but forget to subtract at the end (say I solved for the amount of gas released and the question asks for the amount of gas left) I get it wrong and lose the same amount of points as someone who just completely guesses. It's completely disheartening, and I almost always run out of time on these tests - usually I'm a fast test-taker. Right now I'm averaging a B in the class, but the final is worth about a third of my grade and of course it's cumulative. Ugh. On the other end of the spectrum, Physics has been a breeze. I don't know why, but physics just makes perfect sense. All you have to do is find the right equations and input the numbers and bam, answer. It's probably all the algebra. Anyway, my physics final is on Saturday and my chemistry final is on Tuesday. So one week from today I'll be done with classes until vet school! That's pretty exciting.
I think the weather has finally started to normalize. We haven't had snow in over a week! At least here, but down in Rochester they had a ridiculous amount of snow last week (well over a foot). Mom's car got stuck in the driveway - and this was in May. It's raining tonight, but rain is acceptable to me. Just no more snow. It was supposed to be thunderstorming, but I haven't heard any yet.
Here's hoping I don't fail my finals, can find a place to live next year, and get everything figured out before I leave the country!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
April? Are you sure?
I mean, if there's still snow on the ground it can't have been that long since my last post in January, right?
WRONG! It's freaking mid-April and there's snow on the ground and snow in the forecast for tomorrow! I can't handle this endless winter, it's got me so far down in the dumps.
So, lots and lots to catch up on. I'll try to just hit the highlights:
Vet school:
I'm in! I was accepted at the U of MN for the class of 2017.
This was after the interview I had January 24th - my mom came up and we spent the day together. The interview day was horribly timed, info session at 8am, then nothing for hours, then tour+lunch at noon, my interview was at 1:15 (had to choke down my food after the tour), and there was a final tour at 3:45 but we elected to skip it. The interview went pretty well (obviously, since I got in). One of the interviewers was a Gustavus grad who worked in research, so that was helpful - had a few talking points with him. Found out about my acceptance on February 15th - they called and emailed me.
As far as the other two schools, Oregon has me on an alternate list (like a waitlist, but unranked) and UW-Madison put me at #45 on their waitlist. Made the choice pretty easy for me - and I think my friends in the area and Nathan especially were grateful for that decision.
Told my boss about my acceptance, and she was thrilled for me. I had been dreading telling her (basically handing in my resignation) but all that stress about it was pointless! Of course now I'm super busy at work since we're trying to tie up my project before I go, but it's still a good feeling knowing your boss cares more about your future and your life than just thinking selfishly about how it would affect their lab.
Of course I still have pre-reqs I need to complete in order to attend next fall - Chemistry II w/lab and Physics II w/lab. I'm in both courses right now (8 credits) and I have no idea how I'm finding the time to do all of the homework, study for the tests, do the labs and the lab work, along with everything else. The chemistry lab is easily the worst part of the whole thing - I'm partnered with two freshmen (18!!) and I feel like I'm babysitting every lab session. Only about a month left though, just have to stick it out.
I'm also trying to figure out my living situation for next year - looking for a cheap apartment/house to rent that allows dogs (for my future roommate and possibly my future dog) near the St. Paul campus. So that's fun.
Europe:
I'm going! I set up a route, have found traveling companions, and started booking tickets and hostels, so it's really happening. Right now the plan is Amsterdam-London-Paris with Nathan (meeting Sarah in London and my mom and sister in Paris), then Paris-Rome-Florence-Venice with Megan and mom, Vienna-Prague with my former coworker Amanda, and finally Berlin-Copenhagen with my friend Michael. It's going to be an epic trip - from July 3 - mid-August. Trying to plan that has been a huge ordeal, but it's just on my list of things to get done!
Health:
Well this one has fallen by the wayside a bit. However, Nathan and I (foolishly?) signed up to participate in the MS150 bike ride from Duluth to the Twin Cities. That is happening the second weekend in June and we may very well die. Been trying to start training but it has been extremely difficult with this ridiculous weather we've been having. Of course that's no excuse to not get to the gym, but it's much easier to convince myself to bike outside when it's nice out than to convince myself to go to the gym at any time. I also need to fundraise for it - not the crazy amount that my mom and sister (Sara) have to for the 3 day walk for breast cancer, but hey if you reading this want to donate $5 feel free to go here and do it! It's for a good cause.
Other news:
Amanda is engaged - getting married on my birthday.
Sisters have been having trouble organizing a good date for Megan's bachelorette party.
Had an Italian exchange student (Fabio) work in our lab for a month - very nice and friendly, had a crazy landlady.
Katie did not get into her Masters of Nursing program - very sad. Decided to instead try for an Associates in Nursing.
Brian (Nathan's brother) may be moving to the cities after getting a job at Polaris.
Nathan decided to stop fostering for BCRMN after Ocean (Dutch Shepherd) was adopted (not because of her, just so he can put more time and energy into Jackie, who needs it).
Mom and I made some pretty mosaic pieces at a woman's house in St. Paul - mom a light yellow/green themed mirror and myself a peacock.
Mom and dad were thinking of buying a house near St. Paul campus for me and Sara to live in, that idea fizzled out.
I decided to stop working at Como Zoo - I was having trouble finishing all of my homework and stuff on the weekends when I'd have it. Just needed that extra time.
I think that's the majority of the highlights. There are probably some major things I'm missing but it's good enough for now!
In conclusion, STOP SNOWING MINNESOTA, IT'S TIME FOR SPRING!
WRONG! It's freaking mid-April and there's snow on the ground and snow in the forecast for tomorrow! I can't handle this endless winter, it's got me so far down in the dumps.
So, lots and lots to catch up on. I'll try to just hit the highlights:
Vet school:
I'm in! I was accepted at the U of MN for the class of 2017.
This was after the interview I had January 24th - my mom came up and we spent the day together. The interview day was horribly timed, info session at 8am, then nothing for hours, then tour+lunch at noon, my interview was at 1:15 (had to choke down my food after the tour), and there was a final tour at 3:45 but we elected to skip it. The interview went pretty well (obviously, since I got in). One of the interviewers was a Gustavus grad who worked in research, so that was helpful - had a few talking points with him. Found out about my acceptance on February 15th - they called and emailed me.
As far as the other two schools, Oregon has me on an alternate list (like a waitlist, but unranked) and UW-Madison put me at #45 on their waitlist. Made the choice pretty easy for me - and I think my friends in the area and Nathan especially were grateful for that decision.
Told my boss about my acceptance, and she was thrilled for me. I had been dreading telling her (basically handing in my resignation) but all that stress about it was pointless! Of course now I'm super busy at work since we're trying to tie up my project before I go, but it's still a good feeling knowing your boss cares more about your future and your life than just thinking selfishly about how it would affect their lab.
Of course I still have pre-reqs I need to complete in order to attend next fall - Chemistry II w/lab and Physics II w/lab. I'm in both courses right now (8 credits) and I have no idea how I'm finding the time to do all of the homework, study for the tests, do the labs and the lab work, along with everything else. The chemistry lab is easily the worst part of the whole thing - I'm partnered with two freshmen (18!!) and I feel like I'm babysitting every lab session. Only about a month left though, just have to stick it out.
I'm also trying to figure out my living situation for next year - looking for a cheap apartment/house to rent that allows dogs (for my future roommate and possibly my future dog) near the St. Paul campus. So that's fun.
Europe:
I'm going! I set up a route, have found traveling companions, and started booking tickets and hostels, so it's really happening. Right now the plan is Amsterdam-London-Paris with Nathan (meeting Sarah in London and my mom and sister in Paris), then Paris-Rome-Florence-Venice with Megan and mom, Vienna-Prague with my former coworker Amanda, and finally Berlin-Copenhagen with my friend Michael. It's going to be an epic trip - from July 3 - mid-August. Trying to plan that has been a huge ordeal, but it's just on my list of things to get done!
Health:
Well this one has fallen by the wayside a bit. However, Nathan and I (foolishly?) signed up to participate in the MS150 bike ride from Duluth to the Twin Cities. That is happening the second weekend in June and we may very well die. Been trying to start training but it has been extremely difficult with this ridiculous weather we've been having. Of course that's no excuse to not get to the gym, but it's much easier to convince myself to bike outside when it's nice out than to convince myself to go to the gym at any time. I also need to fundraise for it - not the crazy amount that my mom and sister (Sara) have to for the 3 day walk for breast cancer, but hey if you reading this want to donate $5 feel free to go here and do it! It's for a good cause.
Other news:
Amanda is engaged - getting married on my birthday.
Sisters have been having trouble organizing a good date for Megan's bachelorette party.
Had an Italian exchange student (Fabio) work in our lab for a month - very nice and friendly, had a crazy landlady.
Katie did not get into her Masters of Nursing program - very sad. Decided to instead try for an Associates in Nursing.
Brian (Nathan's brother) may be moving to the cities after getting a job at Polaris.
Nathan decided to stop fostering for BCRMN after Ocean (Dutch Shepherd) was adopted (not because of her, just so he can put more time and energy into Jackie, who needs it).
Mom and I made some pretty mosaic pieces at a woman's house in St. Paul - mom a light yellow/green themed mirror and myself a peacock.
Mom and dad were thinking of buying a house near St. Paul campus for me and Sara to live in, that idea fizzled out.
I decided to stop working at Como Zoo - I was having trouble finishing all of my homework and stuff on the weekends when I'd have it. Just needed that extra time.
I think that's the majority of the highlights. There are probably some major things I'm missing but it's good enough for now!
In conclusion, STOP SNOWING MINNESOTA, IT'S TIME FOR SPRING!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Welcome 2013!
Well, bad me. I was on a roll back in November and then I apparently forgot I had a blog and just didn't do anything.
Quick recap of the rest of 2012:
Thanksgiving I spent at Nathan's in North Dakota. We ate food, hung out, vegged, played Cards Against Humanity, etc and so on. We took my car because Nathan's heat didn't work and I wasn't about to drive 4.5 hours each way freezing my butt off!
Mid December I was busy cramming for my finals. Microbiology wasn't so bad - it wasn't cumulative just the last of 4 exams. I did have to finish our "Skim vs. Whole Milk" project (more bacteria in skim, who'd have thought?) and give a presentation on it, but it wasn't bad. Plus we got to use a notecard for the exam. Case in point, aced that class. Physiology was another can of worms entirely. 50% of my grade for the class depended on that last test, which was 2/3 new material and 1/3 review of the entire semester. Not to mention the fact that the questions were terrifyingly specific details - no overarching themes or general topics. I pretty much bombed it, at least by my standards. I got a 76% on the final exam - but here's the good news. Apparently everyone did poorly because with the curve, my 76% translated into an A-, bringing my final overall grade to an A. I feel like I dodged a bullet, but that class was terrifyingly intense.
Also in December my grandma down in Florida had been stuck in the hospital for weeks and my parents decided to fly down to see what the situation was. Well it wasn't good, so my mom took charge, packed them up, and flew them up to Minnesota. I met them at the airport and helped keep company and load things into the car. They drove back down to Rochester and got grandma settled in at the Charter house and my grandpa took over my childhood bedroom.
The week before Christmas Nathan went back to ND to celebrate with his family - but I didn't trust his car to make it there and back (it had been to the mechanic and needed thousand dollar repairs made). So I did the crazy thing and offered to trade cars with him for a few days. Driving his car just through the neighborhood or the few blocks to the post office was a terrifying experience. When he finally got back the weekend before Christmas he came to my apartment to swap back and his car died for real. There was no saving it. Luckily his insurance covered a tow so he got it back to his garage. That weekend he and I celebrated a mini Christmas. He got me a board game (Mice & Mystics), a wonderful new office chair (it's seriously awesome), and the third QC book (he's gotten me the 1st two previously).
On Christmas Eve we drove down to Mankato and celebrated Christmas with the Koenigs/Kehoe clan. We had done a "draw a name" gift exchange this year with the caveat that the gift had to be homemade. Well Nathan, myself, and a few other people took this to heart but the rest of them threw in gift cards and other store bought items! Even my mom, who's the craftiest of us all! We ate appetizers all day, played with the puppies (Ben's beagle puppy Penny and Travis' chocolate lab Bauer plus the two shih tzus), played pool, and just hung out until it was time to drive back to Rochester. Drove back, parents picked up grandpa, and we headed out to late mass at Holy Spirit. We arrived far earlier than we needed to (apparently the 9pm Christmas Eve mass isn't nearly as crowded as the 4:30 or the 7), so my sisters and I took the boys on a tour of our elementary school. My 8th grade class picture is still hanging up in the hallway outside the library, oh the good old days! After mass we went home, put on PJ's, and of course watched White Christmas.
Christmas morning dawned and we all hung around and ate some of mom's humongous breakfast - waffles, eggs, quiche, bacon, ham, hashbrowns, cinnamon rolls, the list goes on. Finally we got to pick up grandma and then the real fun began! PRESENTS! I won't go into the details with the list (how selfish am I?) but the major things were a bike rack for my car, a video camera, a hand made apron, and a few other awesome things. Hung out the rest of the day, ate breakfast all day, we were going to go see a movie (Les Mis) but everyone wussed out on me when they discovered how long it was. At one point my uncle Jeff and aunt Gail showed up from Des Moines as a surprise for my grandparents, so that was nice. We also played Wii Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune - that was pretty fun
The day after Christmas (mom's birthday), Nathan and I went and looked at new cars for him in Rochester. We checked out a Honda Fit and a Toyota Fiesta. While the name, color, price, and overall look of the Fiesta were more my style, the interior of the Fit won Nathan over. We didn't test drive any of them there and he didn't buy anything but it was a good learning experience. After that we headed to Culver's (had a nice little chat with Steve - owner) and had lunch with Hannah. Got caught up on a lot of stuff and she got to meet Nathan so that was fun. After that we went back to the parent's house, hung out for a bit, and eventually headed back up to the cities. Had to drop off Addy first and and then drove over to Chanhassen Dinner Theater to meet up with Nathan's parents and see Bye Bye Birdie. The show was pretty fun, the food was good, and it was a decent night.
Back to work on Thursday and Friday - although the lab was like a ghost town. I basically just did what I needed to do and then went back home. On Thursday Nathan and I went to a Honda dealer and he test drove a Fit - he liked it but the dealership wasn't nearly as friendly as the one in Rochester. That weekend I drove back down to Rochester for the Coughlin family Christmas. I spent most of Friday night hanging out with Jackie which was exceptionally nice. Saturday was the big event, house jam packed full of people. It was nice seeing the whole family together. We ate Mr. Pizza, did the gag gifts (I got a very nice light up Santa picture - I gave outhouse salt and pepper shakers), the boys played poker, and we all played the Wii. On Sunday I went and saw Skyfall with Jackie and then drove back home to the cities.
New Year's Eve day I went in to work, but that night Nathan and I drove down in his new Fit (he bought one over the weekend) to Kyle's house. We hung out with a bunch of people (some drunk and annoying, others sober and annoying) and ate Buca di Peppo's and other appetizers, played Cards Against Humanity and WiiU games, and watched the ball drop. Not the best night ever, but it was nice to get out a be a bit more social.
New Year's Day I went in to work again, along with the rest of the week. Was rough getting back into the swing of things, but I did receive some excellent news! I heard back from Oregon State (I'm still under consideration) and the U of MN (they want to interview me)! So that was exciting. I also acquired a spare cat. Sybylla's neighborhood cat dubbed "Thomas O'Malley" - super friendly, was pretty much abandoned when his rightful owner moved out. He seemed to be in rough shape so we flea collared him for a few days and then captured him and moved him in with me. Addy's not thrilled about it but she seems to be getting used to the idea. He's very nice and friendly and ignores her hissing and growling. I managed to get the rescue Secondhand Hounds (where I got Addy) to host him while I foster him, so hopefully he'll get fixed soon and then adopted. He's super sweet but I don't really have the room for two kitties. I'll attach a picture of him to the end of this, tell your friends! (see here)
Here's what I'm hopeful for 2013:
1. To be at a healthier weight than I've been in recent memory
2. To travel across Europe this summer on the road trip of a lifetime
3. To begin veterinary school and the start of the rest of my life
Lofty aspirations, but we'll see how it goes!
Quick recap of the rest of 2012:
Thanksgiving I spent at Nathan's in North Dakota. We ate food, hung out, vegged, played Cards Against Humanity, etc and so on. We took my car because Nathan's heat didn't work and I wasn't about to drive 4.5 hours each way freezing my butt off!
Mid December I was busy cramming for my finals. Microbiology wasn't so bad - it wasn't cumulative just the last of 4 exams. I did have to finish our "Skim vs. Whole Milk" project (more bacteria in skim, who'd have thought?) and give a presentation on it, but it wasn't bad. Plus we got to use a notecard for the exam. Case in point, aced that class. Physiology was another can of worms entirely. 50% of my grade for the class depended on that last test, which was 2/3 new material and 1/3 review of the entire semester. Not to mention the fact that the questions were terrifyingly specific details - no overarching themes or general topics. I pretty much bombed it, at least by my standards. I got a 76% on the final exam - but here's the good news. Apparently everyone did poorly because with the curve, my 76% translated into an A-, bringing my final overall grade to an A. I feel like I dodged a bullet, but that class was terrifyingly intense.
Also in December my grandma down in Florida had been stuck in the hospital for weeks and my parents decided to fly down to see what the situation was. Well it wasn't good, so my mom took charge, packed them up, and flew them up to Minnesota. I met them at the airport and helped keep company and load things into the car. They drove back down to Rochester and got grandma settled in at the Charter house and my grandpa took over my childhood bedroom.
The week before Christmas Nathan went back to ND to celebrate with his family - but I didn't trust his car to make it there and back (it had been to the mechanic and needed thousand dollar repairs made). So I did the crazy thing and offered to trade cars with him for a few days. Driving his car just through the neighborhood or the few blocks to the post office was a terrifying experience. When he finally got back the weekend before Christmas he came to my apartment to swap back and his car died for real. There was no saving it. Luckily his insurance covered a tow so he got it back to his garage. That weekend he and I celebrated a mini Christmas. He got me a board game (Mice & Mystics), a wonderful new office chair (it's seriously awesome), and the third QC book (he's gotten me the 1st two previously).
On Christmas Eve we drove down to Mankato and celebrated Christmas with the Koenigs/Kehoe clan. We had done a "draw a name" gift exchange this year with the caveat that the gift had to be homemade. Well Nathan, myself, and a few other people took this to heart but the rest of them threw in gift cards and other store bought items! Even my mom, who's the craftiest of us all! We ate appetizers all day, played with the puppies (Ben's beagle puppy Penny and Travis' chocolate lab Bauer plus the two shih tzus), played pool, and just hung out until it was time to drive back to Rochester. Drove back, parents picked up grandpa, and we headed out to late mass at Holy Spirit. We arrived far earlier than we needed to (apparently the 9pm Christmas Eve mass isn't nearly as crowded as the 4:30 or the 7), so my sisters and I took the boys on a tour of our elementary school. My 8th grade class picture is still hanging up in the hallway outside the library, oh the good old days! After mass we went home, put on PJ's, and of course watched White Christmas.
Christmas morning dawned and we all hung around and ate some of mom's humongous breakfast - waffles, eggs, quiche, bacon, ham, hashbrowns, cinnamon rolls, the list goes on. Finally we got to pick up grandma and then the real fun began! PRESENTS! I won't go into the details with the list (how selfish am I?) but the major things were a bike rack for my car, a video camera, a hand made apron, and a few other awesome things. Hung out the rest of the day, ate breakfast all day, we were going to go see a movie (Les Mis) but everyone wussed out on me when they discovered how long it was. At one point my uncle Jeff and aunt Gail showed up from Des Moines as a surprise for my grandparents, so that was nice. We also played Wii Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune - that was pretty fun
The day after Christmas (mom's birthday), Nathan and I went and looked at new cars for him in Rochester. We checked out a Honda Fit and a Toyota Fiesta. While the name, color, price, and overall look of the Fiesta were more my style, the interior of the Fit won Nathan over. We didn't test drive any of them there and he didn't buy anything but it was a good learning experience. After that we headed to Culver's (had a nice little chat with Steve - owner) and had lunch with Hannah. Got caught up on a lot of stuff and she got to meet Nathan so that was fun. After that we went back to the parent's house, hung out for a bit, and eventually headed back up to the cities. Had to drop off Addy first and and then drove over to Chanhassen Dinner Theater to meet up with Nathan's parents and see Bye Bye Birdie. The show was pretty fun, the food was good, and it was a decent night.
Back to work on Thursday and Friday - although the lab was like a ghost town. I basically just did what I needed to do and then went back home. On Thursday Nathan and I went to a Honda dealer and he test drove a Fit - he liked it but the dealership wasn't nearly as friendly as the one in Rochester. That weekend I drove back down to Rochester for the Coughlin family Christmas. I spent most of Friday night hanging out with Jackie which was exceptionally nice. Saturday was the big event, house jam packed full of people. It was nice seeing the whole family together. We ate Mr. Pizza, did the gag gifts (I got a very nice light up Santa picture - I gave outhouse salt and pepper shakers), the boys played poker, and we all played the Wii. On Sunday I went and saw Skyfall with Jackie and then drove back home to the cities.
New Year's Eve day I went in to work, but that night Nathan and I drove down in his new Fit (he bought one over the weekend) to Kyle's house. We hung out with a bunch of people (some drunk and annoying, others sober and annoying) and ate Buca di Peppo's and other appetizers, played Cards Against Humanity and WiiU games, and watched the ball drop. Not the best night ever, but it was nice to get out a be a bit more social.
New Year's Day I went in to work again, along with the rest of the week. Was rough getting back into the swing of things, but I did receive some excellent news! I heard back from Oregon State (I'm still under consideration) and the U of MN (they want to interview me)! So that was exciting. I also acquired a spare cat. Sybylla's neighborhood cat dubbed "Thomas O'Malley" - super friendly, was pretty much abandoned when his rightful owner moved out. He seemed to be in rough shape so we flea collared him for a few days and then captured him and moved him in with me. Addy's not thrilled about it but she seems to be getting used to the idea. He's very nice and friendly and ignores her hissing and growling. I managed to get the rescue Secondhand Hounds (where I got Addy) to host him while I foster him, so hopefully he'll get fixed soon and then adopted. He's super sweet but I don't really have the room for two kitties. I'll attach a picture of him to the end of this, tell your friends! (see here)
Here's what I'm hopeful for 2013:
1. To be at a healthier weight than I've been in recent memory
2. To travel across Europe this summer on the road trip of a lifetime
3. To begin veterinary school and the start of the rest of my life
Lofty aspirations, but we'll see how it goes!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Mawwage
Weddings, engagements, marriage.
I've been watching a lot of The Tudors - which is all about King Henry VIII who had 6 wives and how he acquired (and disposed of) those wives. One of my favorite characters is the Lady Mary - Henry's eldest daughter by his first wife Catherine of Aragon (who later becomes Bloody Mary). In the latest episode I watched, she quarrels with the current queen Catherine Howard, who claims that Mary is jealous of her because Mary is older than she is but is still unmarried. This leaves Mary distraught and she lashes out at the queen and later cries with great sorrow for her fate. And seriously, it's so sad that the grand life goals of the women in this time was to marry well. So that's all about marriage.
Last night I watched a Twilight marathon - the first four movies alone in my apartment. Was up stupid late finishing them but it was kind of fun. Then today I went to see the latest movie, Breaking Dawn Pt 2 in the theater (again alone because everyone had either already seen it, lived too far away, or just refused to go with me). Anyway, those movies all lead up to the whole idea of a soul mate, someone to spend eternity with, etc and so on.
Then finally, tonight after I got home from the movie I received a phone call from my sister, informing me of her engagement. It wasn't a surprise, they'd been ring shopping and venue hunting etc for the past few weeks, but still. It's happening.
That's really all.
I've been watching a lot of The Tudors - which is all about King Henry VIII who had 6 wives and how he acquired (and disposed of) those wives. One of my favorite characters is the Lady Mary - Henry's eldest daughter by his first wife Catherine of Aragon (who later becomes Bloody Mary). In the latest episode I watched, she quarrels with the current queen Catherine Howard, who claims that Mary is jealous of her because Mary is older than she is but is still unmarried. This leaves Mary distraught and she lashes out at the queen and later cries with great sorrow for her fate. And seriously, it's so sad that the grand life goals of the women in this time was to marry well. So that's all about marriage.
Last night I watched a Twilight marathon - the first four movies alone in my apartment. Was up stupid late finishing them but it was kind of fun. Then today I went to see the latest movie, Breaking Dawn Pt 2 in the theater (again alone because everyone had either already seen it, lived too far away, or just refused to go with me). Anyway, those movies all lead up to the whole idea of a soul mate, someone to spend eternity with, etc and so on.
Then finally, tonight after I got home from the movie I received a phone call from my sister, informing me of her engagement. It wasn't a surprise, they'd been ring shopping and venue hunting etc for the past few weeks, but still. It's happening.
That's really all.
Monday, November 5, 2012
I'm Gonna Wreck It!
I went and saw Wreck-It Ralph tonight and it was really fun! It was funny, and touching, and an overall good movie. Well done Disney!
I'm also updating so I can beat my record low posts of 17 last year. That's right, I only posted 17 updates in 2011! That's pretty sad, and with this post I'm up to 18 for 2012.
Another reason for this update is to avoid studying. I have a couple of tests coming up, in Physiology and Microbiology, and I just don't want to study for them. I'm not too worried about Microbiology - it's one of 4 tests plus we have tons of quizzes and homework projects to boost our grades and I did really well on the first two tests. It's really Physiology I should be stressing about.
Here's the problem with Physiology: I don't go to class. I know I should, but ever since I realized that he posts all the notes online and doesn't stray from that information for the tests (as evidenced by my first test - aced it) I've decided that sleeping in over that hour is far preferable to sitting in a boring classroom. The notion would be that I would just teach myself the material from the notes as we go and show up and ace the tests. But that's what the entire grade is based on - 3 tests. Two of them (100 points each) are during the semester and the cumulative final (200 points) at the end. I did well on my first test but the next one is coming up a week from today and I haven't gone over the material at all. So while all my peers in the class are studying over the material I'll just be learning it for the first time. Awful, I know, but it's pretty much what I did for the first test and I got a 94. Just to throw that into perspective, the class average was 72. Sigh. Darn you procrastination!
Speaking of which, I still haven't even finished my stats! I was supposed to finish it before my Micro and Physio classes started and when I lost most of my work due to a technological issue I just haven't felt like doing it.
Watching "Switched at Birth" and drinking hot Tang - I am just so lazy!
Went home this weekend (and took Addy with me). Friday night went out to Applebee's with Megan and her friend Emily K. Stayed up late watching movies/TV and then got up early on Saturday to go to the free Cinemagic kid's movie with Megan (Happy Feet 2 - pretty good!). Out to eat at Beetle's (delicious but took forever) then back home for more TV and laziness. Sunday followed the trend - although Megan and I went and got our hair cut. Mine actually got chopped - 8 braided inches donated to Locks of Love. Was hard to pull the trigger (wanted to wait until summer) but Megan convinced me to.
Lame and horribly written paragraph about my weekend, but meh.
Go see the movie! Good stuff.
I'm also updating so I can beat my record low posts of 17 last year. That's right, I only posted 17 updates in 2011! That's pretty sad, and with this post I'm up to 18 for 2012.
Another reason for this update is to avoid studying. I have a couple of tests coming up, in Physiology and Microbiology, and I just don't want to study for them. I'm not too worried about Microbiology - it's one of 4 tests plus we have tons of quizzes and homework projects to boost our grades and I did really well on the first two tests. It's really Physiology I should be stressing about.
Here's the problem with Physiology: I don't go to class. I know I should, but ever since I realized that he posts all the notes online and doesn't stray from that information for the tests (as evidenced by my first test - aced it) I've decided that sleeping in over that hour is far preferable to sitting in a boring classroom. The notion would be that I would just teach myself the material from the notes as we go and show up and ace the tests. But that's what the entire grade is based on - 3 tests. Two of them (100 points each) are during the semester and the cumulative final (200 points) at the end. I did well on my first test but the next one is coming up a week from today and I haven't gone over the material at all. So while all my peers in the class are studying over the material I'll just be learning it for the first time. Awful, I know, but it's pretty much what I did for the first test and I got a 94. Just to throw that into perspective, the class average was 72. Sigh. Darn you procrastination!
Speaking of which, I still haven't even finished my stats! I was supposed to finish it before my Micro and Physio classes started and when I lost most of my work due to a technological issue I just haven't felt like doing it.
Watching "Switched at Birth" and drinking hot Tang - I am just so lazy!
Went home this weekend (and took Addy with me). Friday night went out to Applebee's with Megan and her friend Emily K. Stayed up late watching movies/TV and then got up early on Saturday to go to the free Cinemagic kid's movie with Megan (Happy Feet 2 - pretty good!). Out to eat at Beetle's (delicious but took forever) then back home for more TV and laziness. Sunday followed the trend - although Megan and I went and got our hair cut. Mine actually got chopped - 8 braided inches donated to Locks of Love. Was hard to pull the trigger (wanted to wait until summer) but Megan convinced me to.
Lame and horribly written paragraph about my weekend, but meh.
Go see the movie! Good stuff.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Happy Halloween!
Yep, totally suck. Didn't post a thing all September or October.
I'm starting to realize that my lack of posting generally happens when I have real stuff to talk about. Not sure if that's ironic or just sad because it's when I'm bored that all my avid readers (heh, right) get the play by play of every day.
Enough of that.
So I went on a cruise at the beginning of September. It was awesome - went to San Juan, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten. We snorkeled with sea turtles, took ferries, saw dozens of jewelry stores (because that's what you do!), bought souvenirs, hung out on the beach and the decks, ate tons of delicious cruise food, went ziplining over the rainforest, and hauled our bags around San Juan at the very end. It was a great trip, and I came home to find that Vicki had filled my closet with balloons (floor to ceiling, some of them are still around) and wrapped 24 random objects around my apartment (some still wrapped).
Early October Nathan, Chris, and I went to see Louis CK live - for Chris' birthday. He was hilarious live, highly recommend seeing him. And yes, I realize I skipped the rest of September, but I think I spent most of my time finishing my vet school applications and sorting all of that out.
On Sara's birthday (19th), Nathan, Kory, Adam, Megan, Sara, I, and a couple other people went out to Buca di Beppo's for Sara's 21st birthday. Great food, great company, and afterwards they went over to a bar. If there hadn't been a cover I would have gone in with them but I'm cheap so instead I went home.
The next day I got up and decided to make beignets! The French donuts from The Princess and the Frog! My boss had gone to New Orleans and brought back boxes of the mix for us to try to make. So I did! They were delicious fresh, not so great the next day. I brought them over to Sybylla's and shared them with her, her mom, Monkey, and Vicki. We spent the afternoon/evening watching movies, carving pumpkins, and playing games. It turns out we carved them too soon because after a bit less than a week mine grew some gnarly mold/fungus. Looked really cool but wasn't very sanitary so I had to chuck it.
No worries though because last night (Tuesday) I went over to Nathan's and he, Chris, and I all carved new pumpkins! Mine wasn't quite as good as the first one I carved, but still good. Especially since near the end of mine the carving knives broke - poor Nathan only got to do a tiny part before they were broken.
This past weekend I got to go to the dog park twice! The first time on Saturday with Nathan and Jackie (dog) and the second time on Sunday just me and Jackie. After the second trip I brought Jackie back to my apartment to hang out until Nathan picked her up, and I was expecting her to annoy Addy the whole time or for Addy to hide in my room. Complete opposite reaction - Jackie spent the whole time sniffing around or watching Evaine (the rat) or curled up sleeping while Addy proceeded to chase her around, attack her tail, and bat at her from behind/under things. It was adorable! I think Addy felt good about it because she was on her own turf - and it probably helped that Jackie was too distracted to get down to kitten chasing.
Tonight is Halloween! Unfortunately I didn't really get a chance to celebrate it. I worked and then had Microbiology lab. Came home and watched TV and made pumpkin bars (delicious).
I'm planning on going down to Rochester this weekend - maybe go see Happy Feet 2 on Saturday morning for the free kids movie at the theater (awesome).
I'm starting to realize that my lack of posting generally happens when I have real stuff to talk about. Not sure if that's ironic or just sad because it's when I'm bored that all my avid readers (heh, right) get the play by play of every day.
Enough of that.
So I went on a cruise at the beginning of September. It was awesome - went to San Juan, St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten. We snorkeled with sea turtles, took ferries, saw dozens of jewelry stores (because that's what you do!), bought souvenirs, hung out on the beach and the decks, ate tons of delicious cruise food, went ziplining over the rainforest, and hauled our bags around San Juan at the very end. It was a great trip, and I came home to find that Vicki had filled my closet with balloons (floor to ceiling, some of them are still around) and wrapped 24 random objects around my apartment (some still wrapped).
Early October Nathan, Chris, and I went to see Louis CK live - for Chris' birthday. He was hilarious live, highly recommend seeing him. And yes, I realize I skipped the rest of September, but I think I spent most of my time finishing my vet school applications and sorting all of that out.
On Sara's birthday (19th), Nathan, Kory, Adam, Megan, Sara, I, and a couple other people went out to Buca di Beppo's for Sara's 21st birthday. Great food, great company, and afterwards they went over to a bar. If there hadn't been a cover I would have gone in with them but I'm cheap so instead I went home.
The next day I got up and decided to make beignets! The French donuts from The Princess and the Frog! My boss had gone to New Orleans and brought back boxes of the mix for us to try to make. So I did! They were delicious fresh, not so great the next day. I brought them over to Sybylla's and shared them with her, her mom, Monkey, and Vicki. We spent the afternoon/evening watching movies, carving pumpkins, and playing games. It turns out we carved them too soon because after a bit less than a week mine grew some gnarly mold/fungus. Looked really cool but wasn't very sanitary so I had to chuck it.
No worries though because last night (Tuesday) I went over to Nathan's and he, Chris, and I all carved new pumpkins! Mine wasn't quite as good as the first one I carved, but still good. Especially since near the end of mine the carving knives broke - poor Nathan only got to do a tiny part before they were broken.
This past weekend I got to go to the dog park twice! The first time on Saturday with Nathan and Jackie (dog) and the second time on Sunday just me and Jackie. After the second trip I brought Jackie back to my apartment to hang out until Nathan picked her up, and I was expecting her to annoy Addy the whole time or for Addy to hide in my room. Complete opposite reaction - Jackie spent the whole time sniffing around or watching Evaine (the rat) or curled up sleeping while Addy proceeded to chase her around, attack her tail, and bat at her from behind/under things. It was adorable! I think Addy felt good about it because she was on her own turf - and it probably helped that Jackie was too distracted to get down to kitten chasing.
Tonight is Halloween! Unfortunately I didn't really get a chance to celebrate it. I worked and then had Microbiology lab. Came home and watched TV and made pumpkin bars (delicious).
I'm planning on going down to Rochester this weekend - maybe go see Happy Feet 2 on Saturday morning for the free kids movie at the theater (awesome).
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
August fun times
So I started typing this up on August 7th and am just now finishing it up. I'm going to finish this post up to right before the cruise and hopefully write another one tonight but we'll see how it goes.
At this point the rest of the weekend is mostly a blur - we ate a lot of pie ironed foods, along with a ton of delicious watermelon, went on some hikes and saw some pretty sites over the Mississippi river, and generally had a good time.
The following weekend I drove up to Heath's Resort (had to drive past Crow Wing State Park again!) with Kory to spend a long weekend with the Coughlin clan. Again, very foggy memories, but I had a really great time with my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins! We played volleyball in the sand, ate delicious food, went fishing, tried tubing, swam in the lake, and all sorts of fun activities. I was sad to see it end but it reminded me how fun it was to hang out with my family.
Man this going back and trying to remember things is just reminding me how I need to be more consistent with my updating.
A couple weekends later I drove down to Rochester and spent Friday night shopping for clothes for my vacation. Sara and mom played dress up with me and I walked away with a bag full of clothes. On Saturday morning we drove over to Lanesboro where we met up with the Koenigs. Spent the day floating on tubes down the Root River and hanging out at their campsite. Another good family day.
The last week in August was a very busy week. I had my first Microbiology lab on Wednesday and it went terribly - it was stupid easy but the other people at our table were morons and had no idea how to work a microscope - and the professor did not help at all. Before I left for lab, mom stopped by to pick up Addy to watch her for the next week and a half while I was on vacation.
On Friday it was of course my birthday :P (I feel so old at 25!). Went to work but left a tad early. Walked from work to Sara's apartment where I met Nathan. We then walked to the bus pickup on our way to the State Fair! Once we got there we met up with Vicki and Sybylla and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening at the fair. Eating fried food (got a free deep fried candy bar from Sara), watching lumberjacks, and just having a good time with good friends :)
Saturday morning I volunteered at Como again and afterwards Megan, Sara, Kory, and Adam met me there and we went through the zoo (I had done a similar zoo trip with Sybylla and Vicki two weekends before... the last time I'd volunteered there). Afterwards we drove to Har Mar Mall (very slowly through all the State Fair traffic) and met up with Nathan at Old Chicago. Ate more good food, then went home and cleaned my apartment and packed.
Sunday morning Nathan and I got up at like 4am and walked our luggage to the light rail station. From there we went to the airport and started our vacation!
I probably won't manage to update the cruise stuff tonight, but hopefully I will before too long...
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