Nice Long Break

I've had a nice long winter break. Life has truely changed over the past few years. My family dynamic is so different now, and it seems I'm always adjusting to it. Here's a cap of my winter break.

I left for Philly the day after finals were finished. (All my finals went VERY well, by the way). I drove with my parents leaving early in the morning and we arrived before dinner. It was great seeing Giselle's new place. I can't believe how much it reminds me of my house in Cincinnati! I mean she had mentioned it, but I didn't understand until I visited. The layout truely is almost identical.


While I was there Andrew really wore me out! He is such a good kid, but he's also 3. One day my mom and I took him to the grocery with us. My mom did the shopping, and I chased him around. At one point I gave him two options: He could walk next to me, or he could ride in the cart. He chose for me to carry him (not one of the options). I realized watching Andrew and Lily that I definitely want to have kids someday... and that I am definitely not ready for that now!!! They are so cute, and so loving... but are A LOT of work. I can't imagine how people with kids continue school, or even how a single parent can do it!

One day while we were there we went to a place called the "Please Touch Museum". Andrew seemed to have a blast!! I have so many pictures of him there... you'll have to look at Giselle's blog for them all! (which I will e-mail her shortly..)














I also got to cuddle Lily and work to get her to sleep. She gave me some wonderful smiles!! Very rewarding. After a week there, my mom and I drove back to Cincinnati. Stopping briefly in Columbus to say hi to Dave.

I spent a few days in Cincinnati, and then came back to Columbus to see Dave. We spent 2 days in Columbus together. We went to Thurmans with our friend Fred, and went to the cheap theatre. It was nice having time without worrying about classes. Then we drove up to Geneva where I spent Christmas. It was a lot of fun. I got to see Dave's family, and we visited with lots of people. Jon and Rachel joined us up there on the 23rd. It was fun having everyone together, although with no snow it didn't feel completely like Christmas! (oh, who am I kidding... I never had snow for Christmas growing up!) We played a variety of games up there.

Christmas day we got ready and had breakfast with Grandma Reeder before opening presents. Then we relaxed for a while, had the wonderful beef roast that Dave made and then went to Grandma and Grandpa Henry's to see that side of the family. I had so much good food I felt like I would burst! It was lots of fun.

The day after Christmas family friends of the Henry's came over and we stayed up late chatting with them. We had a good time. The next morning I drove back to Columbus with Jon and Rachel, and then to Cincinnati. I got to spend my nights with my high school friends, and the day with my family. Giselle's family was staying with us. So I got the couch and a mattress in the basement. It was so busy. But I didn't mind the lack of sleep!

It was so weird because I spent so little actual time in Cincinnati. I didn't even make it to Montgomery Inn!!! I'm glad I spent every night I was in Cincinnati with my friends, and it was nice seeing the effort everyone made to get together. It was strange at home though. And this is not because I didn't have a bed to sleep in. With Andrew and Lily there, we were so busy that we didn't play any games! That's strange. We always play games. I suppose that's just how things change. The games are just different. They have become keeping Andrew happy and watching him shout into his microphone "Go Team, Score Touchdown!" and run around the family room with a football. Or play a game by himself... They have become trying to make Lily smile instead of cry, and listening to her stories. Life is just, different. It isn't something I had anticipated. I never considered what my life would be like when my sisters had children. I figured my life would be the same. But it's not. Family is a large focus for me... I went to Colin's birthday party yesterday. And the highlights were watching Andrew and Colin chase eachother... and making faces at lily where she would smile... and her hick-ups made her seem to giggle at me. Those are the things that touch me now.

So... thank you winter break. You were a nice relief from the everyday pattern of classes. It demonstrated what my life is like now... and what waits in the future!

No more class until next year!

Only 3 tests left. So far I have an A in EEOB... (yes, I got 3 points back on my last exam) and I'm going into finals with two A's and an A-. So I have lots of work to do. My Adolescent pysch final is worth 45% of my final grade. (Yikes!). At least 2 tests are multiple choice! So wish me luck! I'll try to not procrastinate like I am right now!

Winter break plans right now... Oh yes, it will be a VERY busy break for me!
8-14/15 Philly
16- Borchers X-mas
a possible end of the weekend in Marietta
18-21/22- Cincy
21/22- 26/27 (somewhere in there)- Geneva
26/27-30- Cincy
Then back to C-bus until classes start (I think Jan 3)

I'll be tired, and I don't care!! :)


Something interesting I saw someone else had a link to so I've decided to try out... This is a webpage where you choose 6 characteristics that most resemble you, and then other people decide which 6 they would pick for you. It comes up with a list of what overlaps with what you thought. Seems pretty cool. If you want to fill it out for me... go to http://kevan.org/johari?name=Andrea+Borchers

SURPRISE!!!

No, the surprise is not that I'm updating twice in one week. (I know that's what you were thinking) The surprise is that I don't have to take my EEOB final next week!!!!! YAY!!! Why?? Because I already have an A!!!! Yes, I'm shocked and amazed! Ok, so if I can't manage to find 1 question misgraded on the last midterm I'll get an A- (92.17%)... but I'm happy with that too, so I'm going to elect NOT to take the final. (and I'm going to work to find that 1 question). So that's my surprise!! YAY!!!!! I'm so happy!!! What a great way to start off my last week of the quarter. Let's hope it continues this way!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had a great long weekend at home. Dave and I went down to Cincinnati Wednesday afternoon after class was done, and stayed until Saturday morning. It was great seeing my parents, Kate Greg and Colin, and Memere, Chuck and Betty. The food was wonderful (as always). And My dad, Dave and I played LOTS of games. Friday morning Kate and I got up early and went shopping! Oh, we were crazy!! But it was nice spending some time with her.

After I came back yesterday I got some of my LOAD of homework done. And then Dave and I went to see Pirates 2. It definitely is just a lead into the third movie, but was still pretty good. (definitely worth the 1.75).

This week will be my last week of class for the quarter. So I have to see about holding onto my A's. I'll find out my EEOB score for my second midterm sometime this week (I'm not expecting a great score). I have a paper to write for Adolescent Psych. I have homework to do for Psych Research Methods. And I have 3 chapters plus lecture in EEOB. Oh, and the rest of my Stat HW (which I haven't done, because we haven't talked about it yet!). YUCK. Then I have 2 Finals a week from Monday (my two hard ones... my two non-psych/ non multiple choice). Oh JOY.

So something neat that I saw online today... For the top 10 Winter Family Getaways, Kiawah Island is 8th! And on another thing it said that Kiawah is the 2nd most romantic beach.

I must be a senior!

Wow... I had heard about this thing that happens when you are a senior in college, and now I know it's true. TONS of people are getting engaged. Now, you may not think much of this but so far this MONTH I know 4 people who have gotten engaged! Crazy I tell you! I mean none of them have been that big of surprises (they've been dating a long time and seem happy), but still, in 17 days that's a lot. So I just had to write something about it.

My midterm yesterday ROCKED, I only missed one question! I wish I could say the same about my Stat. quiz today. Yikes! Oh well, I just have to kick butt on the final!

So I'm really building my resume this year... I can now add that I am a co-chair for scholars day and am on an advisory board for the ambassadors. Now don't worry, I'm not really over committing myself. I have been one of the main planners for the event the past two years, and now they decided to make committees and I now get the title of co-chair for that committee. As a chair I have to go to a couple more meetings with the advisory board. Fortunately, this committee only works until January 20th, then scholar's day is over!

Speaking of building my resume, I need to find a good format for mine. I want it to look good for graduate school. I've heard people say that it shouldn't be more than one page, but then I need help deciding what I should leave out. I have about a year to figure it out... but I want to start it this year.

Well, time for me to get back to work! Another long day tomorrow... class followed by studying with Jessica (a girl in my EEOB class and also a Bio-sci scholar... who happens to have gotten engaged last week).

Nice LONG weekend

So at OSU we get one long weekend a quarter... actually during fall quarter we get 2 long weekends (which is why we start 3 days earlier). This was our first long weekend, the next is for Thanksgiving. It was lots of fun. I went with Dave up to Geneva on Friday. He got to go hunting in the afternoon Friday, and then in the morning and late afternoon Saturday. Unfortunately for him the only thing he got was an 8 point... tree branch. Poor Dave. He said that it was starting to get darker out and the branches near the deer weren't visible from his tree stand. But it was a really good shot, he NAILED that branch! Friday night we went out to dinner with his parents. 2 different people stopped to chat, fortunately our food was really good... even if it wasn't hot when we ate it. It was so nice being able to order Ohio wine with dinner. Because of the Henry's the only wine I really know is Ohio wine... So I'm always confused as to what types of wine I like when I go places.
Saturday was just a nice relaxing day. I went to a craft fair in the afternoon with Lynda at one of the Geneva schools. It was fun, and I bought a couple Christmas gifts. When we got back we watched the OSU game. I can't wait for the Michigan game next week... #1 vs #2, it should be a GOOD game... and I'm glad it's at home! We watched some TV, ate a great dinner... and got a good night's sleep.
This morning we drove back to Columbus, and I've been unpacking my laundry... and now I need to finish my homework. :( LOTS to do this week. I have my second Psych 300 midterm Tuesday, and my second EEOB midterm a week from tomorrow. In addition I have 2 case studies due for EEOB this week, and Stat homework. YUCK. So... I’ll update probably after the Michigan game... unless I'm procrastinating!

I can't wait for the election to be over!!

Are you SICK.... of all these election comercials! I AM!!! I mean, voting absentee really makes a majority of the ads COMPLETELY pointless... not to mention they tell you nothing about the candidate. It really sickens me. After watching them I understand why so many people my age don't vote... the campaigning makes you dislike everyone, and it doesn't inform you of what you really want to know. Sorry for that little outburst... I just had to get it off my chest.

Let's see.... What has been happening with me? My cough and I are now joined, I can barely tell I'm still coughing until people tell me I sound like I'm getting worse. I'm NOT, but since I'm tired of coughing it can sound like it. BUT... lots of fun stuff has been happening too.... Let's see...

On October 28 I got to see Jon Stewart and a few cast members from the Daily Show... all for free. The nice thing about OSU is that everyone pays an activity fee every quarter, and with that they bring in some awesome people for us to see... either for FREE, or for a very small cost. And because there are SO MANY people, and not everyone can/ or wants to go... they bring in awesome people. In the past I have seen Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, and Phil Vassar all for free... and have seen some awesome events downtown for 5-15$. Very nice! Unfortunately this time they failed to communicate very well with Jon Stewart. It was very informal, just 5 cast members and the Dean of Arts sitting on the stage. Jon Stewart had brought some old clips from the show... and basically the Dean just asked him questions. He was still funny, but none of them really knew what to do. After the show was over he was shocked to see oh 10,000 or so people there. He was like "I'm so sorry, if I had known there were going to be this many people... I would have actually planned something!!" Oh well, not a waste... just a shame knowing it could've been better.

The next day I got to drive down to Cincy to meet my niece Lily!!! She was beautiful, and SO tiny! I enjoyed cuddling her and walking her around the room. That day I also got to spend some time with Andrew, who was doing very well playing by himself. At one point he wanted me to play a game with him... unfortunately after he "beat me" the first time he no longer let me have turns. And just wanted me to watch... hmmmm.... not so much fun. We did this with 2 more games and then I took a break to go upstairs. When I came back down I joked around with him, and it was really fun. That afteroon I also took him to Build-A-Bear. At first he wasn't really into it, but once he saw the bear wearing a Bengals outfit he was on-board! He seemed pretty excited, but time will tell. :) I enjoyed getting to make a bear with him though!

Last week I went to Spaghetti Warehouse with some of the Biosci scholars. It was fun. David Well's wife didn't recognize me with short hair! I was there about 15 minutes before she said... Wait, you're Dave's girlfriend aren't you?? Wow! I didn't recognize you, you look so much older. :) Thank you very much!

Other than that, my life is boring. Classes are going well, some days are more difficult than others but I must say that overall my stress level is about 1/4 or less what it was last year. I'm so much happier, and knowing where I want to go makes a big difference. I know I'm saving sanity now, I know I'll be able to work my butt off in graduate school... and I'm even feeling good about my chances to get into graduate school! Amazing isn't it??

Sorry... all pictures of Lily and I are on my parent's camera... and since they are helping the Spurgeon family get settled in Phily, I don't expect to get them anytime soon!

My pumpkin... aren't you impressed??

I'm so SICK of this!

WARNING---- this post contains slightly graphic descriptions
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I am so sick of being sick! I have now had this cough for offically 2 weeks. My whole body hurts as a result. I had a dream last night that I had bronchitis, and then realized.... that might be what I really have. So today I did a google seach on the symptoms for bronchitis. A persistant cough during flu season, that typically lasts more than 2 weeks. The thing is... they said bronchitis is an upper respiratory problem, and that if you're coughing up phlem it's typically a result of a lower respiratory problem such as....... pnemonia. So my self-diagnosis is: walking pnemonia. Oh the joys. Now the good news is that my phlem has changed from a brownish yellowish/bright yellowish color to colorless/white. So I must be getting better. And I'm not coughing as much, which is good too. Morning and nights seem to be worse. Most of the phlem is in the morning. The problem is that my body is getting tired of coughing. My abs hurt (it's the biggest work-out they've had in a LONG time), I'm short of breath, and I wheeze every now and then. Not to mention how much my throat is starting to hurt from the coughing. Fortunately (if I can say that) I don't have a stuffy nose... KNOCK ON WOOD. So no dry cracking nose, just dry cracking lips. Man, I really wish I could take medicine! I think I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow and ask about medicated cough drops. One can't kill me right? Right now I'm living on vitamin C "defensive cough drops" One is 100% of your daily vitamin C!! And I'm eating oh... 6 or more a day! Why not more with my horrible cough you ask? Because they are mostly sugar, and my tounge and the roof of my mouth are starting to hurt from the sugar! Oh the joys...

So, I just had to post... So Kate, I'm sorry if I haven't called to get together recently... hopefully I'll be better soon... And Giselle, hopefully by soon that means SUNDAY!

oh.. and I'll post a picture of my pumpkin, as soon as I can find the cord that transfers pictures from my camera to my computer!

Round 1

You may be wondering why I have not updated in SUCH a long time... No, my classes are not more time consuming. And no, my life isn't even THAT boring. There are no excuses. I work hard, go to bed at a good hour, spend some time with Dave, and enjoy a few TV shows. Sometimes updating my blog just gets put off. But because it's been so long since I've updated there's a lot more to be said! So please don't mind the random tangets... my topics are quite varied!

My first round of midterms is over, well almost... there's one more this Thursday (and it's a true midterm... worth 45% of my final grade, a final worth 45%, and then two little papers each worth 5%). Actually the first paper is due Tuesday, so this week 50% of my grade in that class will be determined. I should probably be more worried than I am. ANYHOW... my first round has gone VERY well. Much better than expected.
I was very worried about my EEOB fill-in-the-blank test. And my medication proved it's wonders again. No mind blanks, just rational thinking. There was no definition on the test between which questions were fill in the blank and which were short answer, so if I couldn't think of a word I just wrote what I did know. Apparently my method worked. He grades each test on a curve, and said that while he usually grades it to an 80% average, he couldn't rationalize giving everyone 16.5 points on the test, so he gave everyone 13 points which gave the class an average of 78%. The 13 points gave me a 98% on the test... so I was very happy!! I got A's in my psych and stat class as well, so I'm exstatic.

This week I scheduled for classes for next quarter. I'm only taking 3 because a small fourth one won't fit into my schedule. It's somewhat disappointing because if classes overlap it may make it difficult to graduate after winter quarter of '08. But I suppose I had originally planned to go into Spring of '08 anyhow. We'll just have to see. There is a really interesting EEOB class being offered next quarter that I wanted to take, but it interferes with a psych class that I have to take next quarter. Too bad.

Have I ever mentioned how spoiled I am? I'm sure all my family is laughing right now... and I want to acknowlege that I am indeed spoiled, but very thankful for it! This week I mentioned to Dave how I had been feeling like cabbage rolls. I realized it had been a very long time since I had my mom's cabbage rolls, and they sounded really good on a cool fall evening. He said that he wasn't a fan of cabbage, so he had never really liked them. I said I always liked mine with a little less cabbage, but started liking them in high school. Dave spoils me all the time by cooking dinner for me most nights of the week. Granted he likes to cook, and I'm not exactly a very good cook (hamburger helper, sloppy joes.... you get the idea)... ANYHOW, this week he made me cabbage rolls!!! I was so suprised! It was so sweet of him to make a meal that he doesn't even like very much just because I like it. Too good to be true. And they were excellent!

This week I also started as an HIV Test Couselor with OSU's wellness center. The training was last weekend, and it went very well. There are about 25 of us new counselors, and everyone is very nice. It's fun to see how much you have in common with people. The HIV testing through the wellness center is anonymous, which means we never ask for a person's name... and no name will be associated with the test. And of course we don't talk about the patients. Because of this I have started to bond with some of the other counselors very quickly. It's great having people to talk to. It was also very funny to find out that one of the girls is roommates with my friend Michele from high school! What a small world! Earlier this week the woman in charge of the HIV test counselors had a social at her house. She lives very close to me, and it was fun. There were only about 8 of us there, but we carved pumpkins. I'll have to take a picture of mine! Again, it was fun. The counseling makes me feel like I'm definitely moving in the right direction.

As far as television goes... I'm trying not to get hooked on more TV shows, but they keep coming out with good ones! I may have to consider DVR just so that I don't cut into study time with the shows! My two favorites from last year were LOST and Grey's Anatomy. Unfortunately after Grey's is a new show called The Nine, and I really like it too. In addition, on Monday's there's a show called Hero's which I watched the end of last week and was hooked. Oh no!!!

In other news, I was hoping to go down to Louisville this weekend to see my niece Lily for the first time... but unfortunately I am still sick! I've had a nasty cough for over a week and a half now. No stuffy nose, just a cough. Even during a test week I managed to go to bed early everynight, and Friday my morning classes were canceled so I got to sleep in.... but it wasn't enough. I guess I'll just keep drinking my juice and taking vitamin C...

Oh! I also got to see Maya last weekend while she was visiting OSU! It was great getting to chat with her. I also realized that Rutgers is pretty close to Philadelphia, so when I go out to visit Giselle I may just have to visit Maya too!!

Good First Full Week

My first full week of classes went well. Here's a cap of some exciting things from this week. (and oddly, I don't mean that in a sarcastic way!)

• I met my friend Mary after classes and chatted with her at my place for a couple hours!
• I realized that while my EEOB professor is going to be a very hard tester, he is a very interesting lecturer. (aka-- I may not know how to do my assignments well, and may do bad on tests... but I actually ENJOY lecture!)
• I met Michele for lunch and caught up on lots of stuff that had gone on in the past many months!
• I found out that my Stat Professor has ADD and OCD... like me, and she didn't get tested until after she had her Ph.D.!!! (we talked for a while about the similarities and differences between our disorders, and it was so motivating to hear her story. )
• I saw my friend Gautham from high school after Stats on Friday... and found out he's actually in my class! We caught up a little on what had happened in the past year and a half!!
• I found out that I was ACCEPTED to be an HIV Test Counselor!!! :)
  
• I went to see You, Me, and Dupree at the dollar theatre with Dave, and the went had dinner at Wings Xtreme.
  

So I would say that was a GREAT week. Now after that week life will start to get much more hectic. October is scaring me a little. I have my training for the HIV Test Counselor position on Friday and Saturday October 13, and 14th... and then have a midterm on the 16, 17, AND 18 of October. Yikes.

Other than that, I can't wait for my niece to be born!!!

I'm alive!

I'm not sure if you're even checking this anymore! I know it's been over a month since I've posted. Needless to say I've been busy, and the internet has not been cooperative. For some reason my signal likes to just cut out on me... so if this posts I'll be happy!

I moved into a new place. Pictures will be posted at some point, after I clean my room a bit more, and maybe put my curtains and pictures on the walls. (Wouldn't that be nice?) I moved out of my old place on the 1st of the month, and into this place on the 7th. I was homeless for a few days inbetween but got to go home, and was fortunate to have people let me stay with them the nights before I worked! After settling in I had a nice visit from my parents and got to see Kate, Greg and Colin for my birthday. Colin was great at helping me open gifts... except for the earings, but I think I've bent them back to where they should be! It was nice seeing my family. Then on my actual birthday I had to work in the morning (booooo), but a bunch of my friends came over to my place to watch the Texas game, which was lots of fun! It was Me, Dave, Fred, Pat, Leah, Liz, Mark, and Cecelia.

My first week of classes was last week. It seems like it will be a good quarter. My one tricky class will be EEOB-- animal phisiology/ evolution. It's a "think outside of the box" type of class, which would be fine... if I had more time to practice!! Put plainly, it's hard to prove your thoughts correctly without being given sources to find information to back up your thoughts.

But it will be a fun quarter. I had an interview for a position I applied for on the 1st of september on Friday. The position is an HIV Test Counselor. The description sounded like GREAT experience for genetic counseling, it's on campus, with about a 2 hr/week commitment. PERFECT... I'll find out Thursday if I was one of the 20-25/48 applicants to be accepted. My interview was just soso.

That's all for now, I'll try to be a better blogger!

I found some pictures!

So it turns out I took 2 pictures at Kiawah... and then Saturday night I went with a bunch of friends to the Thirsty Scholar to help Mark and Chris celebrate being done with the MCAT... because as Mark said, he was a thirsty scholar. It ended up being a lot of fun. We brought some cards and Yahtzee, because that's how we are!

Dad and Andrew

Giselle, Andrew and I at Hyman's

Dave and I at the Thirsty Scholar

Leah and I

Me, Mark, Fred and Amy

Beginning the move

The time has come to move. Oh joy! Hopefully I can live in a place for more than a year this time, although I'm scared to think of how much crap I could accumulate over two years! Earlier in the week I went home to Cincinnati and spent a wonderful day with my mom. I picked up about 10 boxes and a linen bag and was on my way. Today I packed half of the linen bag, along with 3 full boxes, a crate, a under the bed thing, and a few half-packed boxes. And my place still looks full. I'm scared. At some point I think I will return to Cincinnati to exchange cars with my mom so that I will have more space to store and transport stuff.

On Friday I went over to Kate's to babysit Colin. When I got there he was so scared that she was leaving him... which technically she was, but not for a half hour! She went to hop in the shower before her hair appointment and he ran and threw himself at her bedroom door, and actually managed to open it as he reached for the doorknob. (I think Kate and Greg may need to invest in some door knob things like Giselle has going to her basement!) I carried him out of her bedroom and he thrashed so much he hit his head on the door, and threw himself onto the floor repeatedly. I managed to hold onto him, and picked up his blankie. We sat infront of her bedroom door and just rubbed his back reassuring him that mommy was just in the shower and would be out in a few minutes. Eventually he calmed down enough and we started to play a little. And right about the time he forgot he was upset... mommy was done! :) During his little tantrum he kept rubbing his eyes, so Kate and I decided... he was ready for a nap. He went down and then Kate left. Easiest babysitting job ever, but not the most entertaining. He slept until noon. When he got up I gave him lunch, wiped him off, and then we went to go for a walk. We opened the garage door and Greg had come home for lunch. Colin and I went for a walk anyhow, but he kept turning around in the wagon saying "daddy" and pointing towards home. So after about ten minutes we returned. Soon after that Kate was home and we went out for some very mild Indian food.

After babysitting I had to work, and worked from 6 until 2:30am. It was a long night, but a good night. And today I've just been packing like I mentioned before. Tonight I'm going to the Thirsty Scholar with some friends. We're celebrating that Mark is done with the MCAT, which he took today! I have a lot of respect for everyone who's taken that test, and I'm glad I decided that I can enjoy a job without taking that test!

Vacation

I love the beach. But more than the beach I love spending time with family. So getting to do both is wonderful! This year I was blessed to be able to fly down to Kiawah Island for a Wednesday to Wednesday trip. Being at the house my parents rented for two weeks, my trip allowed me to see just as many people as my parents. I had no problem sleeping on the couch because I was sure not to miss anything while I was there!

Now, while my sisters evidently don't recall my short visits with them... evident of their blog entries of the trip omitting my existance, I loved getting to spend time with both of them and my nephews. My trip included time with mom, dad, Chuck, Betty, Giselle, Jeff, Andrew, Jeannette, Rus, Kate, Greg, Colin, Joel, Lisa, Jeremy, Nathan, and even my friend Matt.

Here are some of the highlights from my trip:

-walking in the fountain with Andrew and getting pretty wet while he was lying in the water!
-enjoying the great food we always have on our trip!
-walking on the beach with Jeannette and Rus on their short visit.
-Going to Charleston and visiting Matt and the people from his summer program, and getting to go to a rooftop bar.
-Watching Colin lie down in the waves and not flinch as the water poured over him.
-reading Colin a book before bed.
-playing in the sand with Jeremy and Nathan.
-battling the waves with Nathan and Lisa as a storm seemed to approach.
-playing Risk and actually winning!
-playing LOTS of games.
-Going out to lunch and shopping with my mom and dad.
-the numerous conversations I got to have with people.
-and believe it or not waking up early every morning and getting to see everyone for breakfast and time on the porch.

This trip showed me how much life changes. I no longer had a companion at the beach that was my age, but I feel like I adapted well. As I went for the big waves by myself I realized it was more enjoyable to spend time with my cousins and quickly switched to helping Nathan charge through the waves. I now wake up early to enjoy coffee with my mom, and have nice conversations with everyone. It's truly an odd age to be with the group of people I went with, but I think I enjoyed every minute. Unfortunately I have NO pictures, because as always I enjoyed living the moment instead of holding a camera. Oops!

New Hair Cut!

As you can see I just got my hair cut! I love the new do. I was a little nervous about the bangs, I haven't had any since 2nd grade!

So it's been a while since I last posted. Not too much has really gone on. I'm starting to make some friends at work. Some of the girls are really nice, and it makes me want to think about staying there for a few hours a week during the school year. But then I have to remember that I really NEED to volunteer for a hotline or something during the school year, so I shouldn't do both. One of the girls I'm becoming friends with actually is a Psych major at OSU and we should be graduating around the same time.

I went to Thurman's yesterday with my friends Fred and Chris. It was nice hanging out with them. I hadn't been to Thurman's in a very long time, so it was great. Now it's time to really get ready for the day... I can't wait to leave for Kiawah on Wednesday! I'm VERY excited.

Opportunity

You take a chance and send out an application figuring you won't get your first choice job. But you'll never know if you don't try, right? Well I now know. This week I got a call from planned parenthood offering me a job. It was the perfect opportunity to get clinic experience without a degree. I would actually be able to work in the clinic and help patients get started. Here I had assumed they just forgot about my application and weren't interested. The lady on the phone told me that my application stuck out to her because I said that I was interested in Genetic Counseling, and she had 2 previous people work in this position and go on to become genetic counselors.

As she talked to me my heart was beating so fast with excitement and my jaw was about to hit the floor... Then she asked how many hours a week I could work starting this fall. I told her 10, maybe 15. She appologized and told me that she needed someone that could work at least 25 hours a week. I briefly considered and did the math in my head. There's no way. "I hate to have to turn this down" I told her, but she said she understood. She suggested that I volunteer there instead, and see if that will be enough.

Although I hated turning her down, I looked at the positive end... I was offered the job, and had no experience! It made me feel good that I could demonstrate my reasons for wanting the job enough to be offered a position.

Busy Summer

Wow, this is a busy summer. I absolutely love being busy all day and not having to study. Very nice. Let's review my days. On the days I do not work I shadow from 9-3 or 5 (depending on what's happening). Then I come home and if Dave is here I have dinner with him and hang out. On the days I work, I shadow from 9-12. Come home from lunch and to do laundry/ other chores. And then work from 5-11. Or 6-12 (which will be tomorrow). Weekends I spend time with Dave before work. Busy busy. But great!

This past weekend I worked Friday and Saturday nights. Dave, Pat, Leah, Mark, and Liz all came to visit me at B-dubs... which was really nice! I got to talk to them for a good 10 minutes during my break. It still helped pass the time. Then on Sunday Dave and I went to High Banks for a good chunk of the day and fished. It was a lot of fun... granted that may have been because I was actually catching fish!!! I caught 3 small mouth and some rock bass, maybe 5 or 6? It was a successful afternoon. When we were done Dave and I were starving so we stopped at Skyline. mmmmmm...

This coming weekend I'll be going up to Geneva with Dave for the beef roast. Right now it looks like we'll leave early Saturday morning because I work Friday night. It should be nice. We'll probably celebrate his birthday which is coming up a week after this Wednesday.

In other news... I think I'm getting a sty on my eye... so I'm wearing glasses tonight. Hopefully it'll feel better soon. I put hot water on it, so that should help!

So yes, busy busy... but happy (so different than the school year).

First Day of Work

I love to work. That is what I decided today. It feels so good to be on my feet having to do something. My first day was pretty interesting. The manager was different than the one that hired me, and had not been informed that I was starting today. So she got all the paperwork... which we didn't know quite how to fill out. Hopefully my taxes will be okay, and they won't register me for welfare. (Those were the 2 scary forms). The girls I work with are really nice, and the cooks are nice too. It was quite an eventful first day. There was a CREW game tonight, so it was PACKED. But I got lots of practice on the register. Lots of weird stuff. And people actually gave me tips... I'm sure it's because I kept telling people it was my first day. All in all, I think it was a successful first 4.45 hours. After all, I made $4 in tips! I work again tomorrow.

But yes, I thought how nice it was to be able to work all evening. I like making money and not just sitting around.

In other news... CUMBERLAND is coming up this weekend! I'm looking forwards to the family reunion. It will be lots of fun. I miss the extended family.

YAY!!!!

So I got a job! Yay!! I'll be working at BW3's as a cashier evenings and nights. It should be good, the people all seem nice, and the pay is pretty good. They're going to train me later in the summer for serving, so that I can do that in August when football season starts. I'm happy.

Oh... so I'm also in the middle of changing my blog settings. I decided I wanted a more summer feel to the look of it. I also realized that I should change the description, because I am no longer going to be a molecular genetics major.

I also don't think that The Crazy Life of a College Student was very fitting... but I'm not sure if what I have is appropriate. Any suggestions for a title for my blog are welcome. I'm pretty random, and this blog is simply about my boring life. But who wants to title their blog, "My Boring Life"??? Not I. So please... help me out!!!

Relaxing

Well! It's been a long time since my last post. I'm SOOOOO glad that finals are over. They were rough, but I ended up doing very well, and maintained my GPA. So that was good. I've started to shadow Sayaka and Shannon, which is fun. I haven't done much, but I still like it.

I'm still looking for a job. It's amazing how people will tell you they're hiring, but when you turn in an application they say they'll look it over and give you a call if they're interested... and then NOT call!! And it seems like when I check back, they're suddenly not in need of anyone to work. Quite frustrating. I think I've filled out about 8 applications. Fortunately I actually have an interview for BW3's today at 3:45. YAY!!! Maybe they'll give me a job! I decided to apply to the one off Bethel, not the one on campus. I just feel safer a little farther away. The manager seems really nice, and the girls that I talked to who were working there said they loved working there, and that he was great to work with. So that made me feel good too. Hopefully I'll leave today with a job!

I spent a nice few days at home last week. I surprised my mom and dad and picked them up at the airport on the way back from their cruise. It was fun seeing the look on my mom's face! I also got to catch up with a lot of my highschool friends, and that was good too. I hope I get to see them a little this summer. Maybe they'll come visit me!

Less than 2 weeks until Cumberland!! I'm very excited. It's so nice to be able to relax! oh! And that reminds me... they just cleaned out the pool by me, and opened it up to the public yesterday. Now the pool is for the public, and I was amazed that people even knew about this place, but it was PACKED yesterday. I don't know where they came from, but there were a bunch of families and little kids! I wasn't expecting that at all! Today I might just have to try out the pool before my interview!

Take a deep breath...

I'm now going into my final week of classes for the quarter. Actually, my final 4 days. I'm happy to have all day Monday to study. This week is going to be rough. Tuesday I have my Organic Chemistry Final. It'll be so nice to be done with OChem. I have a lab report due Thursday in that class. It is going to be a very hard midterm, but I just have to get through it. I've done pretty well on labs, so I shouldn't do terribly in the class. I just have A LOT of studying to do for it tomorrow.

Thursday my paper is due for Psychology. I have to relate an experience of prejudice in my life to the topics we've covered in class. It's going to be a stretch, but I think I can do it. The paper won't be too hard to write because he's not grading on grammar! Thank goodness!!

I just thought I'd take a little relief and write on here before I go into the final stretch of year #3 at OSU. I am looking forwards to changing my major for next year, the more I have thought about it the past couple weeks the better I have felt. This will definitely be a change for the better. Hopefully years 4 and 5 will make me feel fulfilled.

A few good things happened this past week, and I'm going to focus on those and not my horrible biochem test result. I have been fortunate enough to be able to vent about biochem to people over the phone and in person... and avoid writing it online... So here it is:
THE GOOD
-Meeting Kate for lunch on Wednesday
-Going to the end of the year meeting for scholars ambassadors and finding out that I may be able to get the job at the Honors&Scholars house.... and that the ONLY reason I was rejected was because I put down I was a 3rd year student, and they assumed I would only have 1 year left.
-I got to watch the LOST finale.
-I got my History paper back and did awesome on it
-I finished my last Ochem lab experiment

It's not much, but it's enough. I don't have a job yet for this summer, but I'm looking forwards to it anyways. 10 more days and I won't be stressed about school anymore!!! Hopefully I can keep my spirits up enough during those 10 days. Fortunately I have a great History and Psych grade right now. Hopefully they can counter Biochem and possibly Ochem. Wish me luck!!

A Relaxing Weekend

Finally, I got my much needed relaxing weekend. I went up to Geneva with Dave. We were supposed to be going for his cousin's wedding (which has been planned for over a year now). But due to an unknown reason, they postponed the wedding Wednesday. We went up anyhow because his parents were expecting us. I hadn't been up there since Christmas! Crazy how time 'flies'.

Anyhow... Friday afternoon I got to meet with Sayaka and Shannon, two prenatal Genetics Counselors at Riverside. They were very nice, and very informative. I'm going to volunteer and shadow them this summer. Sayaka also suggested I spend a week shadowing for a pediatric GC, and cancer GC. We talked about a lot of stuff, and it helped a lot. I now feel ok about changing my major. I just wish they had a plain biology minor at OSU. It's not worth changing if I still have to take the upperlevel Mol gen classes. And other minors don't seem as relavent. BUT, they pointed out that having some general classes to demonstrate knowledge is enough. They hadn't heard of genetics counseling until they had already graduated!

So that is good... now I just have to find and get accepted to a job for the summer, one that lets me volunteer still. Busy busy!!

Friday I also got a call from Giselle saying that she's having a girl!! I'm thrilled. Now I'll have a niece to add to my nephews. I love being an aunt!!!

Other than that, not much is happening. Trying to stay calm this week. All I have are quizzes and a lab report to do. No big tests of any sort. That is nice. I also need to start working on my Psych paper. I can't believe next week is my last week of class!! 1 week and 1 day until my last Ochem test!! This is my last week of actually doing labs! I like knowing when something will be the last time! Oh, that reminds me of other good news I got from Sayaka and Shannon. Apparently they struggled in Biochem and general/organic chem... and they got into their programs without a problem!

A good piece of news

So something good happened today. I got an e-mail back from a genetics counselor that works at Riverside Hospital, just down the street. She said she works with one other counselor in the prenatal area, and they would LOVE to have another volunteer. They are both OSU grads, and know the importance of shadowing. I'm so happy! She replied right away, and sounded excited! So I'm going to arrange a meeting with her next Friday afternoon. I'll need a booster next week, so that will be good. I'm happy! I'll also ask her thoughts about being just a psych major. She double majored, so she will probably have a pretty good idea. YAY

The important things...

So I've been thinking... Shocking I'm sure. I looked up how far away I'd be if I switched my major to Psychology. I need 11 more classes for my Mol. Gen Major... and I'd need 11 more classes for a Psych major. Granted of those 11 Psych classes 5 of them I need for my minor. I'm not sure what I'd need for a biology major. They are thinking about coming out with a plain bio. minor. The mol gen. minor would leave me to just go for the major, I'd have to take all 4 of the mol gen sequence. I may go with an EEOB minor or something of that sort. IF I switch. Some of what may help me to decide: 1. my grade at the end of the quarter in Biochem. 2. my frustration level at the end of this quarter 3. Talking to genetic counselors for feedback on graduate school program acceptance with a degree in Psychology.

This will be one of the hardest decisions I will ever make. I feel like I'd be giving up on so much. I've come so far, only to stop now. But if I can get to the same place, and be happier doing it... that's what it's all about right? Why cry in frustration if I don't need to in order to get where I want to go? My largest push is something I told someone this week. I'm a molgen major, and don't want to go into research nor medicine. they asked. Be a genetics counselor, I told them... and they thought that was neat. This was a nurse I was talking to, who said she thought about mol gen, and then decided it was too hard. So maybe this will be good. All I really need to know is what I want to do, and why I want to do it. Plus get good grades in whatever my B.S. is, so that I can get into graduate school. Maybe it's good to have a story like this to be able to write for applications. An experience teaching me what I want to do. (Then I can look at these posts to remember why!!)

Dave pointed out to me today that it didn't matter what I did, as long as I was happy. I like when things are so simple. I like that he helped me remember that it's worse to do something just to do it if you're not happy... and it would be a shame to end up with a job I don't like.

So my reevaluating is going to continue... but I'm definitely going to be getting in contact with some career people, and some GC's for advise. And maybe I'll talk to a Psych. advisor and see what all I need to do. I think at max changing majors might keep me one more quarter than I was planning on... but that just takes me to the end of a year.

Now to continue studying... I still need to work hard!! I just feel better working now, knowing I'm doing something to make sure I'm where I want to be. Maybe I'll post tomorrow about my nice weekend.

Finally... some pictures to prove I do have a life

The whole group at Buca's... a little hard to see everyone!














Me and the Boys!!














Leah and I!










Bowling night! David, Mark, Me, Leah, Kelli, Pat, and Dave












So as you can now see... I really do have friends!

Bad News Comes in 3's...

They say bad news comes in threes. They say you'll never be given more than you can handle. So hopefully my bad news that came in threes is cushioned by 3 good pieces of information. I'm aware that the situation could be worse.

Bad news... 1. Getting a D on Biochem 2. Getting a D on Ochem 3. Getting denied the job at the Honors and Scholars house.

First upside to this... I did not check my Ochem grade last night, because I forgot... so I didn't see until this morning that I had gotten a D. Second upside. I didn't open my mail last night, and didn't find out I didn't get the job until this evening. So no matter how crazy I was going last night, it could have been worse.

Now... the other good thing is, I've gotten my 3 bad pieces of information. That means that my Dr's appt tomorrow can not include a piece of bad information. Because bad news about health is MUCH worse than bad news about grades. Plus, it would be too fitting to get a piece of good information when I've already recieved a couple.

Good news... 1. The class average in both Biochem and Ochem were D's... even if my D's were lower, I'm in good standing for the class. 2. Tax refunds came back, and who doesn't like getting a check when you're not expecting it?? 3..... this is what I'm leaving open for tomorrow!!

Another happy thing actually happened yesterday. I went to a meeting about a study abroad program. And I think it will fit with my schedule, and I definitely want to take it. It's a short-term study abroad. So we take a class during the quarter on campus, and then visit the places we studied over spring break. It's biology in England. We get to learn about all the famous sites throughout England that deal with Biology. The class meets once a week during the quarter. We have to prepare one presenation about one of the places we will visit during the quarter, and listen to other people's presentations. The instructor sounded really nice, and everyone was so excited about the class!! Some of the places we'd visit include: London Museum of Natural History, Darwin's grave, The Royal Society, and Cambridge University. We'd visit many other places too. It sounds great. They count as Biology credits, and I still have to see if I can substitute them for a major class. It sounds awesome. It will also be the first quarter they've done the trip.

So it's good to think positive. I also appreciate my family's neverending support for me... I don't know where or who I'd be without you!

Attached are some pics of my friends and I bowling... and at Leah's birthday dinner... see, I do have friends!! --I would, but it didn't work...

Psychotic Outburst

Ok, so this is not going to be a pleasant entry... infact I should not write down things that I will not want to remember later. But writing is therapeutic.

I'm now in bad week #3 in a row. And let me tell you how happy I am about that. Started off the day as expected, getting a low D on my Biochem midterm. I did not expect to have made such stupid mistakes. I still have to check and see if there's a chance for regrade credit. But this has left me in a very bad mood... I did pretty well through the day... it helped that I did well on History which I got back afterwards. I knew I needed to keep my cool, after-all tomorrow I get Ochem back... which will make another joyous day. But tonight, as I got upset about Biochem, and began to debate retaking it I realized the common pattern. I get upset and frustrated with all classes needed for my major. I haven't even taken a class to really count for my major. Biochem is a major-level prereq. With each class I don't like, I doubt my major more... and in fact like my major less. Genetics Counceling... how much genetics is there? What type of genetics is it?

I hate how much I doubt myself in my science classes. I did well and enjoyed a fair amount my easy intro to biology classes. But that's it for science. The classes I have done well in, I've still doubted myself, and wondered if I was good enough. I've relied on the curve for basically all of them. I have no confidence, and it really shows when I'm asked to put my thoughts into coherent sentences. Other than Genetics Counceling, I can't really picture myself doing anything with my major. I don't want to teach, I don't want to research, and I don't want to go into medicine. That eliminates quite a bit. So as I wonder to myself if I'm just not smart enough to be in this field... As I think how much I hate being dependent on my medicine for my learning disability to be able to succeed. I realize another thing..

I do really well in Psychology. If I'm going to talk to someone about what I learned in class, it's usually my Psychology class. I learn so much, it fasinates me, and I can recall the information really well. I'm usually setting the curve in my Psychology classes. They are the classes bringing up my grades...

So now what? What am I left with. To do genetics counceling, it is probably better to have a mol gen major. But can I do that and do well? Will I be able to keep the 3.5 GPA? Will it look bad to take a W in Biochem, or worse to get a C or C-? Do I switch to a Psych major with a bio minor and figure it will be the same amount of credit hours needed? What do I do? What are my options? What will make me happy in the end? How do I figure this out? This is what has run through my head all evening. And I have no answers... I'm just confused. People in my major will tell me to stick it out. People not in my major will tell me to switch. But I don't know what I want to do. I just want to be able to have a job I like. And I don't have a clue.

So that's where I'm at today. Oh the joys. And now that I've wasted most of an evening, tomorrow will just be more work. I'm tired, and really just want to give up... and I hate to think if I need to drop Biochem, that means I'll have to take a class or two this summer. And I was also planning out the next 5 quarters... and each will be 17-19 credit hours. This is the first quarter I've taken that many.... Oh joy.

Anyhow, sorry for the depressing post-- if you actually read this far. I just needed to get it off my chest. I promise, I'll post happy pictures soon.

Observation

Today I scheduled for fall classes. I did not schedule Biochem, in hopes that I did decent on this first midterm. As I prepared my schedule for fall I also updated my schedule for the rest of college. I marked all the classes that are only offered certain quarters so I make sure I take them at the right time. I also began checking my math to make sure I'll have enough classes for my major level classes and for my minor. In addition I still need to check General Education Classes (GEC's) to figure out how to get them all (many unfortunate things come with that). I rearranged things and it doesn't look entirely frightening. SO that's good. I'm throwing in quite a few evolution of genetics and stuff like that. Mark said it's really boring, but who knows... maybe I"ll like it.

The sad thing that happened when I was scheduling was that I could pick out more Psychology classes that I wanted to take than Biology. I enjoy my Psychology classes entirely, and always struggle in my sciences. Actually, that's a lie. I did AWESOME in bio, and actually liked it. The problem is that when biology gets hard, it turns more into chemistry. BUT, I haven't really taken my Mol Gen classes or anything yet. I decided to take the easier Microbiology. Why? Because the easier one is just 1 class, not 2. And the lab is an hour shorter. I also found out that OSU has an intro to physiology class, but I can't use it towards my major. BUT, I wanted to take physiology to help me be better prepared for Grad school, so it's a plus! Now I don't have to take 2 hard classes to get there! I'm somewhat excited that eventually I can take a Ethics or Philosopy class to also prepare for grad school, and hopefully it can fit into a needed GEC (I don't want to have to take a different one just to make it a GEC, but I will if needed). So things are looking a little bit brighter. I just thought it was weird that I'm more excited about my minor than I am about my major. The good news: What I want to do combines my favorite parts about my major with my minor. The bad news: I need to get a degree to move on to grad school to do what I want to do!!!

I can't believe week 5 of the quarter is already here! After this, only 5 more left! And 2 of my 5 classes are done on Tuesday of week 10. CRAZY!! I'm anxiously awaiting the return of my history and biochem midterms from last week. This week: History quiz, Psych quiz/part of midterm, and Ochem lab midterm. The last one is my concern. Ochem lab midterms are hard. So much info! But I'm sure I can do decent. I haven't been doing as well on labs this quarter, but I just need to get it done!

I can't wait for next week and the following, a little less stressful. Maybe I can meet Kate for lunch one of those weeks. Well... time to study! (most of you who read this aren't in college anymore... aren't you glad?)

Picture shortage

Recently I realized that I don't take very many pictures. This slightly disappoints me because I will have less to remember my college years in the future. When I do have pictures, I'm generally not in them because I'm the photographer. Thinking about it more, I decided this might be a good thing, because when I'm having fun I'm enjoying my time and not even thinking about pictures! I guess I just want to enjoy my time and not be behind the camera during that time. That being said, here's a picture of Dave and I from last weekend at Buca de Bepo. Leah's party was fun! It's nice having all my friends together in one place. Also I have a picture of Andrew at Art Sparks from Spring break.


And now I'm going home for Easter. It won't be exactly was I had originally hoped (the whole family). But I'll enjoy getting away from Columbus for the weekend and getting to spend some time with my parents!

Week number 2

So my second week of classes is now over. What do I think? I think my capability of learning has improved tremendously over the past 3 years. Sure it's probably that I'm finally on medication for ADD so the fact that I'm paying better attention in class correlates to my improved recall of information. My psychology quiz this week went very well. I wasn't sure exactly about a few of them, but I remembered what he said in class, and I even remembered what I read in the books!! I now know that when things are put into the format of pictures and stories I can remember them better. That's easy for psych and history. And, well... memorization is what it is. Multiple choice is also a WONDERFUL thing. When you know the answer and it's actually on the page it's really helpful. Yeah sometimes there's a second best answer, but it's better than just not being able to remember the word when you know what page it was on or something like that. I feel pretty good about my 3 quizzes from this week. I just wish the quizzes in Biochem were worth a greater amount of our grade.

Wednesday was my most successful day of the week. I was back from class by 11:00, and then met Kate at work for lunch. It was really nice chatting with her and just getting to hang out. We had a great lunch. I'm also happy to know how close her new library is to where I live this year. It was really easy!
After lunch I came back and called a genetics counselor that I had the phone number for. I asked her some questions and found out some more information about the profession. She went to OSU as an undergrad, and gave me a suggestion for where she worked. It might prepare me for the field, but it would not be an easy volunteer job. She worked for a sexual assalt network hotline and was also an advocate. As an advocate she would meet people in the hospital and sit and talk to them as they waited to be seen by a doctor. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to be in that situation. She said that crisis intervention places are a good place to work. So it was good to talk to her. She's involved now more with cancer research. Other main areas she said were prenatal and pediatric. Those are the two I'm most interested in, so I e-mailed another genetics counselor who works at OSU in the prenatal area last night. Hopefully I can work something out with her about shadowing or something of that nature.
Then Wednesday night I got together with Leah to study biochem. I felt that it was more successful than studying on my own, although no one really knows what needs to be done in that class. Jeremy met us later. We studied for about4 hours, and I spent another hour memorizing for a quiz in that class the next morning. YUCK. At least I realized that studying was better than watching TV. I missed LOST for the week... but it's more important that I do well.
This weekend should be fun. Leah's 21st birthday is tomorrow and a few of her friends (which are most of mine too) are going to dinner tonight. I'm excited. I love getting together with friends. It made me feel good to be invited too. I like becoming better friends with people.
Oh! Good news for Dave, he got the internship with AEP (I think that's the name). I was so happy for him to have found that out yesterday. I'm glad he has a job he'll like for the summer. I'm starting to look now, I just hope I haven't lost all my opportunities!
The only other thing to post is that I'm excited for Easter next weekend, it will be nice to see the family! I just will have troubles studying a little. But I'll try to get ahead during the week (if teachers actually post stuff online more than 12 hours before class!!!).

Lots of Random Events

Spring break has ended, and so has my week of Spring quarter. Break was nice, I just wish it was summer! I enjoyed many things over break. I got to spend some time with my family, and attempt to change up their lives a little with my presence. Memere's surgery was successful, so that is good. I spend a few days in Louisville visiting with Giselle, Jeff and Andrew. It was fun. I made a meal which Giselle was actually able to keep down every time she had it! That made me feel good. I also got to play a lot with Andrew. And boy did he wear me out! He expected me to play with him!! It was so cute after he was done with dinner he kept asking me if I was done eating and ready to play with him. What a cute kid. I babysat him one day while Giselle was at the doctor's office. The cutest thing he did that morning was playing pretend. I was standing in the kitchen and he comes up to me with a little bowl from his pretend kitchen in the next room and says that he made soup. He brought two spoons so we could both eat it. After we 'finished' three bowls of soup he 'made' more and acted like he was spilling it on me. He would giggle each time he patted the bowl on my leg, arm, stomach... and I'd say "Oh no!! What a mess!" then I chased him as he 'made a mess' all over the entire house. It was so cute. The game ended with me tickling him on the floor. I'd also like to point out that I changed two diapers all by myself that day. The first one must have been successful because it kept all of that afternoon's dirt inside!

Other things that happened over break... I got to spend some time with Melissa and Katie, which was nice. I also got to see Maya and Andrew. I also had lots of doctor reports. One really good one was the eye doctor. My eyes haven't changed for 2 years now, and she said if I want I can have lasik surgury anytime now!!! YAY!! So I'm going to try to figure it out for this summer. I can't even imagine being able to look over to my clock and be able to see it. Or not have to search for my glasses.

My first week of classes was hectic. I already had my first biochem quiz. This quarter is going to be a lot of work. The most annoying thing is how many of my classes are dependent on printing off notes, but don't have them prepared so there isn't a place where I can buy them. It wastes so much of my time to be printing off everything. Time I could spend studying. That is one thing I don't mind complaining about online. I think it's rediculous that so many of the classes at this university are going to a "paperless" society, when all it means is a "you print it out yourself and use your time to do it" Sigh. Oh well. My greatest problem with it happens when there are so many notes I can't copy them down while the teacher's talking... which is my best way of learning. That is how I commit things to memory: I hear the teacher and can see what they're saying as I write it down. 3 things at once. We'll just have to see where this quarter takes us. Most of my teachers seem good. I won't mention much about who though, because I just don't think that's appropriate or necessary. Next week: 2 quizzes, and possibly a pop quiz and a pop in-class writing assignment. Who hoo...

Crazy

So the title of my blog is "The Crazy Life of a College Student". I must note that I used the word crazy for many reasons. My life is not all that exciting, nor is it entirely boring. My life is just... crazy!! Which is why I do not update very often.

So the second quarter of my 3rd year in college has finally ended. Wow was it a busy quarter. I think I study more every quarter. Fortunately, between my freakouts and hardwork... I managed Deans List again, and boosted my GPA. So, I'm happy. I can now say that I am done with Physics FOREVER, and done with my Ochem lectures. Next quarter will be even busier, but I'm excited to have two classes with Cecelia. And I know i have a good professor for History. Hopefully I can manage my stress again next quarter.

Some things I have not updated about... I got to spend a wonderful day with my sister Kate a few weekends ago. We had a great time together. We ate at a wonderful Indian restaurant for lunch, then spent a few hours painting pottery, and then caught up with Colin and Greg for dinner and play time. Colin absolutely adores me. Mom keeps saying it's just because he doesn't know the difference between Kate and I... but I think it's because he knows me!! After all, he never calls me mommy!

So spring break is here, and I'm now going to spend some time with the family. I'm excited about my trip to Louisville next week. Giselle may be feeling sick, but I don't mind helping out! After-all that means some good time with Andrew, who is just adorable. And the rest of the time I'll spend seeing what I can do around the house.

But today is St. Patty's day, and I'm in Columbus. I'm debating what to wear. I have green tank tops, but it's about 34 degrees outside. And I have a green shirt with a snowflake and red font which says "Happy Holidays". Needless to say, I'm not stocked with stuff for St. Patty's day!!

Bowling Fun

Thursday night was a blast! As a Bio-Sci Scholar event we went bowling. Talk about a great deal. Pizza and 3 hours of unlimited bowling, all for $3. It was a great amount of fun. If I get Leah's pictures I'll definitely have to post them on here. Bowling was a great way to unwind and just have fun on a Thursday night. Not to mention, I've NEVER done this well at bowling before. 3 of the games I played I got OVER a 100!!! That never happens to me! I barely make it over 60 usually, and can't remember the last time I broke 100 (something makes me think there were bumpers involved). It was wonderful. We set up in our 2 lanes a bit of guys vs girls... Dave, Pat, and Mark, against Leah, Kelli, and myself. Awesome. And I was surprised how late our advisor stayed. Bowling started around 9:30, and he was there well after 11:00. We stayed until 12:30 (obviously with 3 hours to bowl!!). My arm hurt so badly when we were done!

Then Dave's parents came into town on Saturday. We apartment looking, and then headed over to Jon and Rachel's place to meet his parents. For dinner we went to Bucca de Bepo. MMMMMMmmmm..... Mr. & Mrs. Henry, and Dave had never been. We got TONS of food. And it was all delicious. And so much fun. My family will have to go there sometime too! (I know we almost did a few weeks ago). I'm glad I got a nice break for a weekend. Now it's time to work. But I don't mind.

All better

Fortunately I started feeling better by Wednesday last week. In case you were curious. Not too much to report. I have a Psych midterm this Wednesday, and am freaking out only a little about it. I just want it to be over and give me a week without midterms to... not relax, but have enough time to study Ochem!!! (Oh the joys of being a science major).

I had a wonderful weekend. Dave and I celebrated our anniversary/Valentine's Day this weekend. We went to Mongolian BBQ. MMMMMMMMmmmm... It was wonderful. We hadn't been there since our first date, 2 years ago! I can't believe we've been dating for 2 years! Well, I can and I can't. He also bought me a pair of diamond earings. They're very pretty, but when are diamond's NOT very pretty? I bought him some Ice Wine from Geneva. It's supposed to be wonderful, but we were so full Saturday night we didn't want to waste it. So maybe we'll wait to try it on Valentine's Day. That seems fairly appropriate.

That's really it for me today. Apartment searching is still continuing, we've at least narrowed down the area. So that's good. Time to study... and go to class... and go to the lab...

Sick... yuck

So much for feeling better. Monday morning I woke up not feeling well. I almost passed out in the morning! Because I had a midterm at 3:30 in the afternoon I decided to try and feel better before then. I didn't feel sick for about 4 hours so I decided to go to my 11:30 class. I walked in about 15 minutes late. Then in the middle of class I almost fainted again. So I left class and called Dave. He had told me if I wasn't feeling better to call him, he'd come and get me. It was very nice of him to come and pick me up. Then he stayed with me and made me something to eat. I was feeling better by 3, so Dave drove me to my midterm. My stomach has been turning, but I never got sick. And I've been able to eat... so that's good. On a separate note, the midterm was VERY hard. Completely different than what he was saying. So I'm a little angry about that. But what can you do? So that's that. Hopefully I won't feel sick today. And now it's time to get ready for Ochem lab. Fun fun.

So busy... and it never seems to end!

This quarter has been so busy! My midterms spaced out perfectly assuring that I will only get 1 week this quarter without a midterm. CRAZY!! I have Physics monday, and then actually don't have another midterm until the following Wednesday... which will recycle the midterm schedule. Oh well, at least a lot of my classes aren't cumulative.

To respond about if my OChem midterm was good or bad... that's kind of in the air. Overall, yes I can't complain. I got a 90% on the test. So it was good. Why am I not so enthusastic? I got a 270/300. The class average was a 248/300, and the median was a 265/300. 97/232 students got an A on the test, and 5 more students got a 100%. My professor said he didn't think that the test was any easier than his tests have been the past 15 years, and that he didn't think they graded us easy. We just have a really smart class. Which is good and all, except that means no curve. Now I was still very happy about my test and my grade, until I got my test back. I made so many stupid mistakes!! I could have gotten a 96% without the stupid mistakes! BUT, an A is an A... I just hope I can possibly bring it from an A- to an A... but the curve will not be there to give me that 2% push.

Well, I should get back to studying Physics. Fortunately this weekend I got caught up on sleep. I've had a cold, probably from all the days last week where I didn't get a full night sleep. Two days of 11 hours of sleep, and now I'm feeling better. YAY!

Is it good or is it bad?

Well, I finished my Ochem test today in less than half of the time I had to take it. Now, this could be a good thing or a bad thing. Either I was so prepared for the test that I was able to finish quickly and confidently, or I was actually confused and didn't look at everything. I'm hoping it was the first one. I checked everything before I turned it in and caught a couple silly mistakes... but there were 3 parts on the test I wasn't sure of. It could have been one of two things in my mind. So I did what I thought was the one I'd seen before. Looking when I got back, the problem that was worth the most, I did correctly. The other two had some mistakes, but I should get partial credit. One curious thing on the test was that there was no extra credit problem like the practice tests had. That disappoints me. A lot of times that can help get back a couple points. Oh well, I suppose I can't complain.

In OTHER news, while I studied for a majority of the weekend I got to enjoy a few hours with my whole family. It was nice seeing everyone. We ate at a wonderful Greek restaurant, and at the end Andrew started to really warm up to me. After I was holding Colin for a picture, Andrew said he wanted me to hold him. So I picked him up. Then after walking him back to my parent's van, he said he wanted me to ride with them. So darn cute!! I wish I could have. But I'm in college. A concept that I think will take more time for Andrew to figure out.

That same day Dave, Liz and I went to look at apartments. We looked at Jon and Rachel's place, Shadow Lakes (which Dave and I knew we liked already), and then went to see the Island Club. The Island club had less squarefootage, and fewer utilities included, so I think we ruled them out. Liz seemed to like Shadow Lakes. And it's a nice place. So that's good.

Below (if I can get it to work) are some pictures of my nephews and I...

Ego Boost

Friday I got the ego boost I've been needing recently. It was the first Scholars Day on campus. I took on the role this year again to find people's schedules who are in the ambassador program I'm in and fit them into our intense two days of showing prospective students the 12 scholars programs. A lot goes into these programs. I was happy to be able to help Karrie again this year, and got to work with two other great ambassadors: Kevin and Katie. It made me feel good to see how everything worked out, and to see the suggestions we made go into play. I like knowing what I'm doing and having others recognize it. I sparkled of authority for the past two days. I not only helped people figure out where they were supposed to be, check people in, organize and figure out the little details through the morning, but I also got to help interact with the prospective students. There were so many positions to be filled, that I worked quite a bit.

My biggest ego boost came on Friday after the second session. You are probably wondering what I mean by session. Basically we had 700-800 visitors both Friday and Saturday. The students got to choose 2 of the 12 programs that they were most interested and went to a session where the advisor of the program and some students would give an overview and answer questions. Most people looking at the biological sciences program also look at the health sciences program. The two are similar, but have some major differences. During the session I answered lots of peoples questions about the differences in the least biased way I could (still emphasizing Bio-Sci Scholars). Because I'm an Ambassador I know about all of the programs, so I talked more than most of the others there. After the second session let out about 4 people came up to me and wanted to ask me more questions. Two of them said "You seem very knowledgeable," and it was great that I made them think that. And another asked for a way to contact me if they had additional questions. It was great. I felt like I had such a positive impact on these people.

Today I had one of the ambassadors comment to me that I should organize people as we went into our building to give tours. Not unusual since I organized a lot of the event. But it was amusing because she said "Andrea, you do it... you're the aggressive one." Me?? Aggressive? I don't think I've ever heard those two words together before! It is amazing though how in certain situations I have no problem raising my voice to get things done. (not raising it as in anger... but just in volume).

So those were two very successful days. I was very glad to be a help to so many people. It really established that counceling may be a very good fit. Even something like advising, where I can still combine my scientific knowledge with helping others. I'm seeing there are more possibilities out there if genetic counceling doesn't work out.

Now I need to really bust my butt and study some more for my Psych midterm Wednesday, and my Ochem midterm next Monday. LOTS of work, so little time. Let's just hope I don't have a break down this week!! Wish me luck... I'm going to need it.

Craziness!

So this quarter is crazy. I'll start by saying that I really dislike having a 4:30 class 4 days a week. Bummer there. Not to mention having a 5:30 class on Monday blows. It stinks because I come back, feel like I need to get ready to eat, and then cram studying in before I get to sleepy. Night classes just don't jive with my lifestyle. So booo for them. The other aspect of this quarter is the tests I have. I'm already confused, and already feeling slightly overwhelmed. Lab seemed to go well, but I think the midterms will be rough. And my Ochem teacher might be good, but he's no Callam... and I just need help figuring out a pretty important factor. Trial and Error is death to me. Talk about hours accomplishing nothing. So anyhow... that's that.

I looked at a nice apartment complex over the weekend. We're pretty sure that's where we want to live, so now we just need to get everything signed and cosigned. Joy. But it's a pretty nice place. We're looking at the Village Apartments at The Continent. I'd put the link on here, but it's way too long. Anyhow, it should be nice.

Speaking of apartments, I heard the my loud music neighbor moved out during Dec. Hopefully his replacement won't be quite so loud. Unfortunately we still have 3 gymnasts living above us. Darn them jumping into the floor!!!

Ok, and because this has seemed like such a down-hearted entry... a funny story I haven't posted that happened over break:
While I was at Dave's one day my eye was bothering me. It felt like I had an eyelash in my eye, and irritated me almost all day. I finally looked in the mirror, and couldn't see anything. So I took out the contact and then asked Dave to look and see if he saw anything. He said he thought he saw a hair, but he couldn't get it. I returned to the bathroom mirror and moved my eye around freaking out. Then in the corner of my eye I saw a hair sticking out. I carefully pulled it out.. and removed a very fine 5 inch long piece of hair!! You know you have too much hair when a piece gets stuck in your eye all day!!

That's all for today, now time to work on my pre-lab.

Goodbye 2005, goodbye winter break

Wow, it's been a long time since I last posted. My entire winter break has now come to its last day. It was a crazy winter break!! I drifted between Cincinnati and Geneva, and enjoyed getting to see lots of family. For the most part break was relaxing, except for my crazy travel schedule! I really wish Dave and I didn't have homes that were FIVE hours apart. The good thing is we now have places to break up the trip a little.

I ate VERY good over break. Everywhere I went there was good food! And LOTS of it! mmmm... So much for losing 9 pounds last quarter, I gained at least 6 back! But I enjoyed every bite of it!

New Years was great, except for the splitting sinus headache I got around 11:15. I took a half hour nap and some advil, then woke up to greet the New Year... tapped glasses of champaigne, shared a New Years kiss... then decided I should go to sleep. How exciting am I? :) Last night was fun. Dave and I decided to use our gift certificate from Jon and Rachel to Longhorn Steakhouse. We decided not to use our free appetizer because we weren't hungry enough, and thought to save it for a second trip out there. I ended up being hungrier than I thought and basically my whole salad, almost my entire steak and baked potato, and about half of the bread they had left. Not to mention I finished my beer. Mmmmm... After dinner we came back and had a game night. We decided it was the longest amount of time spent in the guys living room without football or beer for the entire year. We must have played games for about 4 hours. Mad Gab, Taboo, and Imagine Iff. It was great fun!

Well, now it's time for me to go book shopping before the bowl game tonight! GO BUCKS!!