Hilary's Place in Cyberspace

Here Goes Nothing...

2012-02-02T22:47:00.000-05:00

So, I don't normally do these types of things and this is very much outside my comfort zone, but I decided to link up with Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life - Show Us Your Singles. Here's a little bit about myself:

I am a 24 year old toddler teacher currently living in the great state of Ohio. I graduated in 2010 from The Ohio State University with a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a minor in Human Development and Family Sciences (concentration in Early Childhood Development). I was born on the east coast, grew up in the Chicago area, and moved to Ohio for college and have been here ever since. I'm looking into going back to school to further my education in the Child Psychology field, so we'll see where that takes me!

Amanda (L) and me (R)

Most people would probably describe me as a quiet, composed hard-worker but the people that are closest to me know that I am a fun-loving, go-with-the-flow type of girl that likes to live it up too. I guess you can say I like to work hard and play hard :)

Some of my favorite things to do are skiing in the winter, outdoor activties/sports in the summer, travelling, cheering on the OSU Buckeyes, shopping, and spending time with friends and family. I played a lot of spots growing and since I am no longer living out my glory days on the field, I have (recently) become a runner. Or at least I'm trying to be, haha. I love to go new places and try new things. I have traveled all over the United States and would really love to travel to Europe, but haven't done so yet.

Andrea, Callie, me, and Liz

I am also a sister, daughter, cat owner, and volunteer. My family and friends mean the world to me. And I bleed scarlet and gray...I am a very proud Ohio State alum.

If you would like to get in touch with me, please e-mail me at hilary(dot)keegan(at)gmail(dot)com

Hope to be hearing from you soon!

October

2011-11-10T18:24:00.000-05:00

Here's a summary of my October in pictures:

Max-in-a-bag

Cooper doing some work on the computer

Callie and Allison

Our friend Allison came to visit for a weekend

Some pictures from our visit to the pumpkin farm:

A calf

Pony

Before our hayride to the pumpkin patch

The entrance to the corn maze

Our pumpkins!

My carved pumpkin

Yes, we are those people that put their pets in costumes :)

Cooper was a cow

And Maxwell was a frog

Okay, so judging from my pictures, one would assume that our lives revolve around our cats. That may be true to a certain extent. They rule the roost at home, but I promise I do have a life besides the cats, ha!

September

2011-11-10T18:08:00.002-05:00

When I moved back in March, I knew that it was only going to be living in that apartment for 6 months. In fact, I signed the lease for the apartment I am currently in before I signed the lease for my previous apartment. I had to do it that way because I moved in with two other people whose leases didn't end until the beginning of September. So, on September 1st I move in with Callie (my step-sister) and Mary (Callie's best friend since kindergarten). I really like the place we are living in now and it's nice to finally be a little farther away from campus. It's bigger and nicer compared to what we would be able to get on campus for the price.

Cooper now has a new furry friend! A few weeks after we moved in, Callie got a black and white kitten named Maxwell. Cooper and Max quickly became best friends. They play with each other all the time, and sometimes we even catch them snuggling together. :)

Between work being busy, moving, getting Max, and all the birthdays, September flew by! Here are some pictures (mostly taken with my phone, so excuse the poor quality):

I went to The Script concert on my birthday

Max

My dad and Laurel at my dad's birthday dinner

Me, Callie, and Mary out for a friend's birthday

Cooper and Max snuggling

Wedding Pictures

2011-11-04T18:44:00.000-04:00

I was able to get my hands on the photographer's pictures, so I thought I'd post some of my favorites.

Liz and Jason's Wedding Week

2011-11-03T23:49:00.000-04:00

My sister Liz got married on August 13, 2011 to her fiance Jason (I know, I'm only about 2.5 late...ha!). The whole wedding week was a whirlwind. Literally every minute of every day was jam-packed and so busy. It was great to see all my extended family from both sides, I just wish I had more time to visit with everyone. I took a week off of work so that I would have a little more time to spend with whoever was in town a few days before and after the wedding and do anything that needed to be done. I'm so glad that I did because everything would have felt even more crammed and busy had I not taken that extra time off.

The first day that I was there, my mom, Aunt Vicki, and I decided to go downtown Chicago and do a segway tour. It was fun to take a day and do the touristy thing downtown. Now that I don't live in Chicago anymore, it had been a time since I had been downtown. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time, not to mention that it was so fun!

My mom and Aunt Vicki

Willis Tower (spelled S-E-A-R-S)

Buckingham Fountain

On our segways in front of Buckingham Fountain

Me on my segway

Skyline

Chicago skyline over Lake Michigan

Thursday night was the bachelorette party! We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Oakbrook and then took a limo to a comedy show. We had a few "snafus" that night (including the fact that the comedy place had changed locations but didn't make that clear on their website or the tickets...we found out when we got to the old location), but everything turned out okay. We went to a few bars in downtown Naperville and then headed back to the hotel afterward.

The bachelorette!

Friday, all the women went to get our nails done and that night was the rehearsal and dinner. I know I ran a million errands that day and did a bunch of random wedding-prep things but now all I remember is a blur of activity.

Amanda getting a pedicure

My mom, Aunt Debbie, and Aunt Vicki getting their nails done

Me, my dad, and Callie at the rehearsal dinner at Buca di Beppo

Jason and Liz at the rehearsal dinner

The whole week of the wedding, we were checking the forecast like crazy. The wedding was planned to be outside in a park followed by an indoor reception a nearby reception hall. There was a back-up plan to have the actual ceremony at the reception hall but that call had to be made by that morning and at that point, it still looked like there was a 50% chance that it might not rain. Unfortunately, it did end up raining for the ceremony. We had spent the previous few days worrying about what would happen if it would rain (especially Liz) and how that would ruin the wedding, but it ended up making the wedding extra special. It's definitely something that everybody will always remember, that's for sure! We gathered any umbrellas we had and the groomsmen even found large golf umbrellas in the wedding colors that were perfect. Sure, the ceremony was a little shorter than planned, but by the end of it Liz and Jason were married at that's all that anybody cared about at that point. :) Other than the first two pictures, the pictures below are from my uncle. I wasn't really able to take too many pictures. If you want to see the professional pictures, here's the website: http://www.pictage.com/client/event.do?event=905562 (even key is georgestreet)

Liz pinning on my dad's boutineer

Callie and Andrea

Jason waiting for Liz to come down the aisle

Our little cousins Niamh and Ciaran were the flower girl and ring bearer

My dad walking Liz down the aisle. Callie and Andrea are behind holding up Liz's train.

The reception was beautiful and just perfect. The night went by so fast and was really fun. Like I said, I wish I had more time to visit with everybody that was there. I had made a slideshow of Liz and Jason to be played at the reception, which I was a little nervous for, but everybody seemed to really enjoy it and I got a lot of compliments on it. My sister gorgeous and she looked so happy to finally be married to Jason (and also see all her hard work finally come to fruition, I'm sure!).

The beautiful wedding cake

My mom's side of the family

Sisters! (Amanda, Liz, and I)

Liz and my dad dancing

Jason and his mom dancing

Fort Myers Trip

2011-07-19T23:20:00.000-04:00

I wrote this post two weeks ago and forgot I was waiting to publish it until I could add pictures to it.

Last year, I went to Fort Myers with a few of my friends right after I graduated. It was a little bit of a spring break and last hurrah before I started working full-time hours. We decided to go back this year, after my step-sister Callie graduated and right around our friend's birthday. This time, we drove down and it took us about 17 hours to get there, including stops and everything. We left at about 2pm on Thursday and took turns driving through the night. We got there around 7am on Friday, slept until noon, and were ready to hit the beach! We saved a lot of money by driving down and then we didn't have to pay for cabs while we were there, so we saved a lot of money that way too.

Friday we ate lunch at the same rooftop restaurant that we ate at several times during our trip last year and then we hit the beach for a few hours. Friday was also Mary's birthday, so we went out to eat dinner at a fun restaurant called Parrot Key.

Saturday, we slept in and then decided to head to the grocery store to stock up on food. We made a quick stop for several of us to get henna tattoos (and to see the cute turtles the shop had) and then spent some time at the beach. That night we grilled delicious burgers and veggies. Later, we went put putting and fed some baby alligators the put put place had.

Sunday was my favorite day :) ! We woke up early and went kayaking. We found a place that had a pretty good deal on renting kayaks for several hours. They had kayak trails and they even told us the best spots to spot dolphins and manatees. We didn't see any dolphins (I don't think we kayaked out of the coves far enough) but we did see manatees. We were told a certain cove that has big houses with docks was the place to see them. It was right at the beginning, so we went there first but we didn't see any. On our way back, we check it out again...still no luck! We started heading back but realized two of our friends were way behind, so we went back to the cove and they had spotted some manatees under the docks! We just sat there and they would come up for air and we could see their little noses! So cute! Another cute animal encounter that day: the kayak rental place had a parrot right next to a crate of three little kittens. We kept hearing a meowing sound, except it wasn't coming from the kittens. We finally realized it was coming from the parrot who was mimicking the kittens! So funny! After kayaking, we headed back to the condo and went to the pool for an hour or so. Since I didn't want to miss any more work, I decided to fly home early on Sunday evening. I wish I could have stayed longer but I was glad that I at least got to spend a few days in Florida!

View of Fort Meyers bay from the bridge to Fort Meyers beach

Relaxing on the beach

Callie, Mary, and I before going out to dinner on the first night

Delicious margarita

Cute little kitten at the kayak rental place

The area we went kayaking in

Liz's Bridal Shower

2011-07-19T22:51:00.000-04:00

I wrote this post two weeks ago and forgot I was waiting to publish it until I could add pictures to it.

Last weekend, Amanda and I (and my mom helped a lot too) threw my sister Liz and bridal shower! We had it at Traverso's, a local Italian restaurant. Liz loves puzzles and her fiance proposed to her while they were on vacation, by slipping the ring into the box of puzzle pieces that Liz was working on. For the shower favors, we ordered miniature puzzles that had pictures of the them on them. We also bough little glass jars and filled them with m&ms in their wedding colors (light blue and dark blue) and used corks with a flower glued on top to close the jars. We also made sugar cookies and decorated each one differently. My mom and I made the cake...three tiers with bride and groom rubber duckies on top. We had a "Guess the Age of the Bride" board and we played love bingo, both of which Amanda put together. We also ate a delicious lunch and Liz opened up her gifts. We all had a great time and can't wait for her wedding in August!

The cookies that my mom and I made

Liz opening her gifts

Some of the crowd watching Liz opening her gifts

The cake and cookies

Me with Amanda, Liz, and Callie (we missed Andrea :( )

New Toy

2011-05-26T21:26:00.000-04:00

This is mainly a post to see if my new toy - an iPhone - will work to post to Blogger. This thing is addicting! I'm still getting used to typing and the autocorrect. Let's just hope I don't end up like these people!

Checking In

2011-05-17T22:01:00.000-04:00

I know, I know...it's been over two months since I last posted! I'd like to promise that I will become a somewhat regular blogger again, but truth be told I'm not sure how much time I will have for blogging this summer. Since March, things have been going well. My mom, who is a big runner, wanted my sisters and I to run a 5K with her on Mother's Day since we were all planning spending that weekend with her. When my gym membership ended at the end of March, I decided to start running outside to train for the 5K instead of renewing my gym membership. I didn't do as well with training as I would have liked nor did I do as well in the 5K as I wanted to, but I finished it! When the spring quarter ends in June, I plan on signing up for the gym membership again so I can get back into a regular exercise routine. For some reason, I am much more disciplined with working out when I have a gym I can go to. Maybe it's the fact that I know I'm paying money for something, so I better make it worth the money. Or the fact that I go straight there after work (no going home first). Or the fact that I really do not like running. Or maybe all of those :)

This summer looks like it's shaping up to be pretty busy. Between my sister's wedding and a bunch of fun weekend things I have going on, my whole summer is pretty much planned out already. It looks like things will be pretty crazy at work too. Hopefully my summer will be the good kind of busy mixed in with the right amount of fun and relaxation as well. After this long, cold winter and dreary, rainy spring I am SO ready for a nice summer!

Amanda, my mom, Liz, and I before our 5K

Days Go By

2011-03-12T22:11:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that it is already mid-March. 2011 has flown by so far. The song Days Go By by Lifehouse just came on, isn't that ironic? Since I last posted, things have been busy but great. I moved to a new apartment last weekend, and am still unpacking. I hope to get a lot of that done before I have a few pieces of new furniture delivered on Tuesday.

I'm also keeping up with my exercising, as I mentioned a few posts ago. I had to take a break last week because things were too busy between work and moving and celebrating birthdays for me to make time to go to the gym (plus, moving is working out...right?) but I have been getting back into my workout groove the past few days. In order to make myself accountable, I'm going to keep checking in here. I was at my all-time lowest weight in spring of 2006 and I was at my all-time highest weight in 2009. I gained almost 80 pounds in 3 years. That's disgusting. Granted, my lowest weight was a little unhealthy but still....my weight gain during college was very unhealthy and totally uncalled for. I really hesitated on posting what I just typed, but feel like I need to say it in order to get it out there. Since my all-time highest weight in 2009, I have lost about 35 pounds. I know that's pretty good for 2 years, but still 45 pounds from where I started. My goal is to lose another 30-40 pounds. I'd like to do this by the end of this year but I know that's a lofty goal. As long as I'm still losing weight, I'm not going to beat myself up if it's not 30-40 pounds because I want to be able to maintain whatever weight loss occurs.

In other news, little Cooper is doing great! And he's not so "little" anymore, either! When I brought him to the vet in January for his annual shots, he weighed 10 pounds...a normal, healthy weight the vet said. I still can't believe he went from this:

Cooper, 4 weeks old (September 2009)

...to this...

Cooper, January 2011

Sick. Again.

2011-02-16T21:40:00.000-05:00

Remember my last post? Totally jinxed myself. These have been my best friends the past few days:

My throat has been killing me and I have been so congested that I thought my head was going to explode. I've also had a pounding headache, stomachache, and chills at times. Yesterday I left work early and immediately went to sleep when I got home. When I woke up later that afternoon and didn't feel any better, I decided to go to urgent care. Turns out I have strep throat, so I was prescribed amoxicillin. Today my throat has been much better but the congestion was still unbearable, so I broke down and got some of this:

I can finally breathe through my nose! I'm still have a bit of a runny nose but WOW, my congestion feels so much better. I'm going to try my best to make it into work tomorrow and stay the full day. Hopefully I can kick this soon...and stay healthy! Now I'm going to go knock on wood so I don't jinx myself again.

Healthier 2011

2011-02-08T20:35:00.000-05:00

I have been lucky this winter and have avoided getting sick, even though I work with germy kids every day. Last year was my first winter working at a childcare center and I was sick a lot. They always say that your first winter is the hardest because your immune system isn't used to constantly being around sick kids and all the germs, plus I was on drugs that suppressed my immune system due to my hives. I also wasn't able to get a flu shot due to the immunosuppressant drugs. This year, I was better prepared. I wasn't on the immunosupressant drugs, I got my flu shot, and my immune system was built up.

Last week a 24-hour bug started making it's way through all my co-workers and I was hit last night. I woke up this morning and was completely out of it. I slept most of the day today and am feeling much better. Let's hope that was it! I have promised myself that I am going to make a concerted effort to take my vitamin everyday and to keep up with my exercise routine.

Speaking of exercise, I have signed up for a membership for the workout facilities associated with the university I work for and live near. I don't have a defined workout routine other than making sure I get to the gym as many days a week as I can. I also have been making sure I don't miss more than one day in a row because, for me, it's so easy to skip more and more days until I fall out of my routine altogether. I really hope to keep up with exercising so I can not only lose weight but be healthier and more fit in general.

Monthly Post

2011-01-22T18:52:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, it seems that I've been trending towards one post a month. It seems like the entire month of December was a big blur. Between starting my new job, my grandmother passing away, and all the holidays, things were crazy. Despite things being so busy, I still very much enjoyed the holidays and they went by way too fast.

I went home to Chicago a few days before Christmas. My sisters and I went bridesmaid dress shopping (for my sister's wedding in August) and I was able to meet my sister's and her fiance's puppy, Zoe. Christmas Eve we went to church, had a nice dinner, and played some games. We opened presents on Christmas morning and had a nice breakfast of cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole. Liz and Jason left to go to Jason's parents and Amanda, my mom, and I enjoyed the rest of Christmas day relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Early the next day, Amanda and I left to drive to Dayton to celebrate Christmas at Laurel's parents house with my dad and Laurel's side of the family. We had a nice dinner at Brio and then drove back to Columbus that night.

Christmas time is my favorite time of the year. With most of the members of my immediate family being spread out geographically, it is the one time of the year that I get to see them all together. Everybody always seems so cheery during the holiday season and Christmas music always puts me in the best mood. With the passing of my grandmother about two weeks before Christmas, this year wasn't exactly the same. It was still nice to see all of my extended family and we enjoyed the holiday as much as we could, but I wish my grandma could have been there to share the holiday with us.

All the stockings lined up

All the presents under the tree

Jason, Liz, and Zoe

Liz, me, and Amanda

My mom, me, Liz, and Amanda

Zoe, Liz and Jason's new puppy

Callie, Laurel, and my dad all ready to go to dinner

I missed this guy when I was away for the holidays!

Andrea, me, Callie, and Amanda on New Year's Eve

Saying Goodbye

2010-12-23T23:50:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in awhile because I haven't really felt like it. The past month or so has been a little trying and whenever I think of posting, I'm not sure what to say.

My Thanksgiving was a little different than in previous years. I still traveled and spent the holiday with extended family but this year we spent most of our time in the hospital. My grandmother has had a lot of health problems the past few years and especially recently her health had been declining. Soon before we were going to travel to Delaware to visit her, she ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. She had been battling multiple myeloma for four or five years with various treatments not helping. She experienced complications and various other illnesses that her immune system was not strong enough for fight off. While spending Thanksgiving in the hospital was not the ideal situation, there is no other place that I would have rather spent this particular Thanksgiving. It was the last time that I was able to spend time with my grandmother and the last period of time that she was able to be awake and alert enough to somewhat converse.

Early in the morning on December 12, my grandmother passed away at the age of 80. She was a wonderful, tough, smart, caring woman and I loved her very much. My grandfather passed away in 1995 when I was 7 years old, so I didn't really get the chance to know him too well. I'm so glad that I had that opportunity with my grandmother and that I was able to see her one last time. Her funeral services were held last weekend and they were beautiful, with many friends and family in attendence. She will be missed very much, but I know she is in a better place now and not in pain anymore. I will always cherish the good memories that I had with my Mom-Mom.

Changes, Changes, Changes

2010-11-17T23:17:00.000-05:00

First, I would like to say that I got the job! I had my interview last Monday, was offered the position on Friday, and started my orientation this Monday. Yes, that was quick! The job is a full-time assistant teacher position in a toddler classroom. As I mentioned in my last post, the position is at the same childcare facility that I have been working at (in an aide position) for the last year. I am working with the same children and coworkers that I have been working with, so it makes for a somewhat easy transition. I am excited to officially start next Monday (right before I go out of town for Thanksgiving)!

Due to the new change in my job as well as a few other things, I have decided to step away from my blog design business. It was a hard decision because I truly really enjoyed designing blogs and I really love the people I worked with, but I just haven't been able to give it my full time and attention and that probably won't be able to change for a little while. I wrote up a goodbye post, if you would like to read it.

This week has been very hectic, mostly at work. This weekend I have clinicals all day Saturday and Sunday for my Nursing class. I officially start my new position on Monday and then I will be going out of town for Thanksgiving. Hopefully I will be able to enjoy the long holiday weekend and take a breather before I dive back into work and school again. I am very much looking forward to the holiday season, though, and can't wait to spend some much-needed time with extended family!

School and Work (Couldn't Think of a Better Title)

2010-11-03T23:09:00.000-04:00

Not too much to report since the last time I wrote, but it's been awhile so I thought I would give an update. Everything has been going pretty well lately. I always wish I had more hours in the day so I could get some of the small projects at home done, but don't we all? =)

I think I may have mentioned before that I am taking a nursing class this fall (or did I?). The class is two nights a week for three hours. The class is a nurse's aide class, teaching just the basic nursing skills. I figured it would be a good class to take because it would give me a little taste of nursing to decide if I want to continue onto the RN nursing program. This class is also one of the required prerequisite classes I would need to take if I want to apply for the nursing program. I'm doing really well in the class and enjoying it. I'm a little nervous for my clinical that will be in a few weeks (one weekend, all day Saturday and Sunday), but I'm sure I will do fine. My class ends the second week in December and then I can decide if I want to take the nurse's aide test to become eligible to work as a nurse's aide. It will probably depend on my job situation at the time. I'm still deciding if I want to apply to the RN program. I probably will, but my only hesitation is that I'm not sure if I will be able to work while I'm going to school...and, if not, I will possibly have to wait until next year to apply. If I do get into the RN program, I wouldn't start my classes until September of next year anyway so I guess it can't hurt to at least apply.

Speaking of my job situation, there's a possibility that it might be changing very soon. Right now I'm working approximately 30 hours a week making very little money as a part-time teacher's aide for a childcare facility. I have stayed at my job for so long (7 months post-graduation) because I love what I do and my schedule has been very flexible. Plus, it has allowed me time to explore several different options as far as what I want to do next in life. At this point, I need to find a full-time job. Financially, I can't life off of what I'm making for very much longer...especially when I have to start paying back those student loans. There are a variety of other reasons, but I need to get a full-time job somewhere pronto. A full-time position has recently opened up at my current place of employment and it would be a great opportunity for me. It would be in a classroom that I am in almost everyday, working with children and other teachers that I am already familiar with. I applied for the position and I have an interview on Monday. I'm excited but I'm also pretty nervous, so appreciate it if you could say a prayer or send good thoughts my way =)

On a lighter note, I am so looking forward to the holiday season. I know it's only three days into November, but I just get so excited for this time of year. I'm already itching to put up my Christmas tree but I will wait until after Thanksgiving to put it up (but you can guarantee it will be up by the end of that weekend!). I love how this time of year seems to bring everyone together and makes us appreciate the things in life that we often take for granted. I love seeing my family that I don't get to see enough of these days. I love all the baking and cooking, the distinct holiday smells, and of course of the seasonal music. And, daresay, I am excited for the first flurries (which could possibly be tomorrow). I know I will regret saying that in about four months though, haha!

Well, Hello There

2010-10-11T23:59:00.002-04:00

A month and a half. Has it really been that long since I last wrote? Wow, it seems like so much has happened since then yet not much has changed...does that make sense? Work has been nuts, I have started school again, and I moved from an apartment to a townhouse a little over a month ago. Needless to say, things have been a little crazy so when I get the chance to relax, all I feel like doing is vegging out on the couch or going to bed early (or occasionally hanging out with my friends). I moved into my current place at the beginning of September, but I still haven't gotten things organized. I have tons of things on my "to do" list and I feel like I am always adding to it, but never get to cross anything off.

This past weekend, I drove over to Champaign to go wedding dress shopping for my older sister Liz! All the bridesmaids (my sister Amanda, Liz's fiance's (Jason's) sister Amanda, myself, and Liz's maid of honor Belinda), our mom, and Jason's mom were all able to made it there on Saturday for a few hours to go with her to try on dresses. We are all pleased to say that she found the "one" at the second place we went to! I took tons of pictures but won't be posting any online because I don't want to take a chance that the groom will see them. It was a short trip and I wish I could have had the time to stay for a longer visit, but I enjoyed seeing everyone for the short time I was there.

I'm sure I have more to write about and I will probably think of things I missed later that has happened since the end of August, but right now my brain is fried and I'm heading off to bed (how is that for a run-on sentence?). Goodnight!

Ready for Fall

2010-08-21T00:49:00.003-04:00

Every year around this time I start to feel like summer is dragging on and I just want to fast forward to fall. I start getting sick of working at the pool and I want to be back on campus and see my friends again. This year is different I am anxious for fall for different reasons. For one, this weather has been unbearable. I love the weather around fall...cold enough to wear jeans and maybe a sweatshirt, but not cold enough where I need to wear a bulky winter jacket. I usually don't mind the higher temperatures during the summer, but I'm not used to the record-breaking consistent high heat and humidity we have seen this year. A few days this past week and last weekend we enjoyed beautiful sunny days in the mid-80s and it was wonderful!

Another reason I'm looking forward to fall? Buckeye football season! Being one of 100,000+ Ohio State football fans packed into the Shoe on game day is unlike anything else I have experienced before. You can't really describe it, you just have to experience it yourself. I was lucky enough to be able to get tickets for this season at regular price from a friend of a friend. I'm going to try and enjoy this season as much as I can because it will probably be my last where I have season tickets. By next year, most of my friends will have graduated and there's no way we're going to be able to find reasonably priced tickets for all of us. Less than 13 days until kickoff!

This September will mark my fifth move in five years, all within the campus area. I love moving to new places because I like switching things up and I get excited about how I'm going to decorate my new place. However, packing and moving is a lot of work and each year I have acquired more things. This year I am excited because I am moving from three room apartment to a townhouse. And we get to paint! And we have our own washer and dryer! But this year I also have large furniture to move, a cat to think about, and an apartment that needs to be cleaned after everything is moved. I am starting to move the Wednesday before Labor Day weekend and the next six or so days after my move are going to be crazy. Within that time span we are going to paint, move everything, there's the first Ohio State football game, we're celebrating one of my good friend's birthday, we're celebrating my birthday, I have to clean my old apartment, and my actual birthday is on Labor Day. Whew! I'm just tired looking at that list.

There are also a lot of changes going on at work. I can't really say too much because it's not really my place to post them on a public blog, plus I'm not really certain about some things and others are not a done deal yet. I will say these two thing though: 1) the next several weeks at work are going to be somewhat stressful because of some changes and 2) I will be working longer hours because of the changes. I can also say that I may have an exciting job opportunity by the end of the year but I don't want to get my hopes up.

Overall, I'm very much looking forward to the fall and a great rest of 2010!

P.S. I really am wanting to change the title of my blog but I have no idea what to change it to. The one I have now is kind of...cheesy? juvenile? I think I want something simple. Any suggestions?

ONE Year Old!

2010-08-08T17:03:00.005-04:00

Today, this sweet little kitty...

...is ONE! Happy birthday, Cooper!

This is Cooper around 6 weeks old the day that I got him.

I can't believe how much he's grown. He was the runt of the litter and less than a pound when I got him. He was so small that the vet didn't believe he was as old as he was. Today he is still a little small for his age. He's probably about 10-12 pounds. I'll write more later when I have more time.

Trip Home to Chicago

2010-08-06T00:44:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, I decided to take a long weekend and make a trip home to Chicago before Amanda went back to school. My mom and I both took off of work Friday and Monday. I left after work on Thursday and got there late Thursday night. It made for a longgggg day but I was so glad that I didn't waste half of my day on Friday just driving. I was also able to avoid any major traffic, so that was a plus. The weekend was pretty laid-back but it still went by super fast. On Friday we slept in a little and then spent a few hours at Pelican Harbor (where I used to work). We left just in time before the rain and storms hit. We were supposed to go wake boarding early Saturday morning, but it was still storming so we slept in again. Later on Saturday we did a little shopping at IKEA and the mall. On Sunday we went to one of my favorite plates...Six Flags! We got Flash Passes, so we were able to ride a ton of rides despite being there on the weekend. We also were able to spend an hour or so in their joint water park, Hurricane Harbor. On Monday we just hung out in the morning and then I had an eye appointment. I left pretty soon after that because I had the long drive back to Columbus and I had to work the next day. In between all of our activities, I also enjoyed some delicious home-made meals, several games of Sequence with my mom, snuggles with my dog, and clean laundry. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures when I was back home. I fully intended on it, but I kept forgetting to bring my camera places. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Update On Life

2010-07-14T23:58:00.006-04:00

I realize I haven't blogged for a while and it's not that I forgot, but there really hasn't been anything major to report. I have been working a lot and trying to enjoy my weekends off. I have also been enjoying my slightly different work schedule this summer. I was used to working 10-6 every day and I still do work those hours three days a week, but the other two days I start at 7:30 and get off earlier in the afternoon. I didn't think that I would like working those hours because I wouldn't be used to waking up that early, but I like that when I get out of work on those days, I still have half of the day to get things done.

Today I found out that I will probably stay at my current job this fall and that is a huge relief. I will be taking a nursing class this fall that is a prerequisite class for the RN nursing program and when I am done with the class, I will be able to take a test to get certified as a nurse's aide (also known as a CNA in some states). The class will be over in December and I'm hoping I will be able to get a job in the medical field relatively soon after that. Up until today, I was majorly stressing because I didn't think I would be able to stay at my current job past September (due to it being a student position), therefore I was trying to figure out where I could get a job for a few months. Now that I know that I will probably be able to stay at my current job, I feel so relieved plus I really like my job and I was sad about having to leave it in a few months.

Something else new to report is that I have started running. I use the term "running" loosely, though. I really don't like running, I would much rather use the elipitcal or swim laps. Since I am no longer an OSU student and don't have access to the gym that is less than a five minute walk from my apartment and don't have access to a nearby pool, my workout choices are limited. I have heard about the Couch to 5K training program and decided to give it a shot. I think the program is 9 or 10 weeks long and the podcasts on itunes are free. I started running about three weeks ago and the first week went great, but then I was sick last week and decided to let myself recover and start again this week. I have been re-doing week 1 this week and have been doing great. My goal is to stick with this training program and possibly complete a 5K at the end.

My first summer in Columbus has been going pretty well. The 4th of July was pretty relaxing and fun. My friends and I went into downtown with the rest of the world on the Friday before the 4th for Red, White, and Boom (the big fireworks show). It was fun, but crowded. Saturday I just relaxed and then on Sunday the 4th, a group of my friends gathered and we just played games and hung out. We saw some local fireworks that night and I got a ton of mosquito bites just from the 10-15 minutes we were outside. I had the 5th off of work, so I did a little shopping and then had dinner with the family up at my dad and Laurel's house. It was a great weekend!

View of downtown before the fireworks started.
This would have been a good picture if there wasn't a
huge tree right in the middle.

David and Karina's Wedding

2010-06-27T21:46:00.007-04:00

Last Saturday my cousin David got married in Baltimore, so we all made the trip out for the weekend. I wish we could have stayed longer, but everyone's work and school schedules didn't allow for it. Amanda and and my mom left Chicago very early on Friday morning. Columbus is about halfway between Chicago and Baltimore, so they stopped and picked me up around noon. I drove most of the second half and we made pretty good time. We stopped in Germantown for a few hours to have dinner with my aunt, uncle, and their grandson and then we were on the road again to pick up Liz and Jason from the airport. After getting a little turned around, we stopped by my grandpa's house to drop off Liz and Jason and then we finally made it to our hotel. Friday was a long day!

The wedding wasn't until Saturday evening, so the first half of Saturday we spent driving around Baltimore to see various places that have importance to our family history (like old houses, the hospitals we were born at, schools we attended, etc.) and walking around the inner harbor. We had lunch at Phillips and then headed back to the places we were staying to get ready for the wedding.

Jason, Liz, my mom, and Amanda at the inner harbor

Amanda and I at the inner harbor

More of the inner harbor

Amanda really wanted to drive by Charm City Cakes, so we did

The wedding ceremony was held at the church that my cousin grew up attending. It wasn't a big wedding, but it was beautiful and just what they wanted. The reception was held at a beautiful mansion. A good time was had by all and I'm surprised how fast the evening went by.

David and Karina exchanging their vows

The newlyweds being introduced for the first time at their reception

The seven Steele children. My mom is on the far right, the groom's
mother (my Aunt Debbie) is on the far left. I know that this isn't the
best picture, but it is hard to get a picture of this group with their
mouth's closed and all looking in the same direction lol!

Amanda and I

Amanda, Liz, and I

My grandfather, his wife, and my little cousin Niamh dancing
at the reception. Yes, my grandfather is wearing a quilt. We have
lot of Scottish heritage on my grandfather's side of the family and the
bride is part Scottish as well.

The next day was Father's Day and we all gathered at my grandfather's house for lunch. The weekend went by way too fast and as I was saying my good-bye's that afternoon, I realized that there were some people that I hardly got to say hello to. We left from my grandfather's house that afternoon and, aside from dropping Liz and Jason off at the airport, drove straight back to my place. The next morning came way too early and my mom and Amanda headed back to Chicago as I headed off to work. I know I already said this, but the weekend went by way too quickly. I don't get to see my family on the east coast that often, so it was hard to only be able to see them for such a short amount of time. Hopefully I can make it out there again before too long!

Early Father's Day Celebration

2010-06-14T23:34:00.004-04:00

Since I'm going to be out of town on Father's Day next weekend, I celebrated Father's Day with my dad this past Saturday. We had a nice lunch at a small little place called Hella's while looking at old family photos. The forecasted rain held off, so we went to the zoo after lunch. I had only been to the Columbus Zoo once before on Mother's Day of last year and since it was so crowded that day, we didn't really get to see very many animals. This time it was much less crowded (probably because it was supposed to rain), so we got to see a lot of animals including the new polar bear exhibit. The polar bear exhibit has only been there a month or two and the two sister polar bears really put on a show. They were swimming all around close up to the glass, playing with each other, and one even jumped into the water several times from the highest rocks. We also got to see the brown bears, arctic foxes, elephants (although the baby elephant wasn't out), lions and their cubs, snakes, goats, sunbears and the manatees, stingrays, and sea turtles in the aquarium. I'm sure I'm forgetting some animals. We could have spent another full day there...we didn't even see almost half of the animals!

Hello, Summer!

2010-06-06T16:23:00.002-04:00

Memorial Day weekend usually marks the beginning of summer for most people, and it sure feels like summer here! The past few weeks the summer heat has been on full blast and we have seen a few nasty thunderstorms too. In an effort to save on electricity, we have not turned on our AC yet and will probably keep it off the majority of the summer unless things get pretty unbearable. I am in the AC most of the day at work during the week and by the time I get home, the temperature is starting to drop as the sun goes down. Plus, we only have one AC unit in the living room, so there's really no point in having it on at night since I can't even feel it in my room. I am getting some good use out of my box fan though! We'll see how this no AC thing goes through the summer...I may end up having a change of heart if we see temps in the upper 90s/100s!

This summer is going to feel different than past summers for a variety of reasons. For one, it's the first summer where I don't really have a "summer break." Since I graduated from school, I don't really have a break anymore. I will be working as many hours as I can this summer, but I normally try to do that anyway. One of the biggest differences between this summer and past summers is that I won't be home in Chicago. I'm excited about being in Columbus this summer and not having to leave my friends and family here for a few months, but on the other hand I am really going to miss summer in Chicago and being able to see my family there. Since I won't be in Chicago this summer, I won't be working the same summer jobs as past summers, namely babysitting and working at the water park. I have worked at the same water park for the past six summers, since my sophomore year in high school. It is going to be so strange not being there this summer and not seeing the same people I am used to working with everyday.

That being said, I am really looking forward to this summer though. I am going to continue to work at the same childcare center until the end of September. I haven't found out my work schedule yet but I am really hoping that I will be scheduled in the same classrooms that I have been working in the past few months. I have gotten to know the teachers, kids, and parents in those rooms and I really enjoy working with them. In addition, I am still trying to take a Nursing class during the evenings this summer, but there's probably a better chance that I will have to take it this fall. I'm excited to see what this summer has in store for me!

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-05T21:25:00.005-04:00

I could have sworn that I posted about Memorial Day weekend last week, but I guess I didn't. I swear, ever since I have graduated I feel like my memory has been worse...maybe because I'm not constantly trying to remember 9-10 weeks worth of information for several different classes at a time (but then, wouldn't you think my memory would be better??).

Anywayyyy, my long weekend was great. There have been tons of birthdays lately, two of which were on Memorial Day weekend. One of Callie's good friends had a birthday on Friday, so we celebrated here in Columbus and then on Saturday, I went down to Athens with Ida and Callie to celebrate their old roommate Allison's birthday. I spent the second half of Sunday and Monday recovering from the first part of the weekend, doing laundry, cleaning, getting caught up on things, etc. The weekend was really fun but went by really fast! Here's a few pictures from Saturday night:

Ida and I (not sure what was so funny)

Callie and Allison

May So Far

2010-05-17T23:32:00.001-04:00

I know I've gotten really bad about blogging and I could make up a million excuses, but I'll save you from all of that and I'll just get right to the updates. May has been filled with a bunch of things, nothing too exciting but I have been somewhat busy nonetheless.

Technically this happened at the very end of April, but I finally got a new (to me) car! It's a 2002 silver Chevy Cavalier and I love it! It's two doors and I thought that would take some major getting used to, but it's not as much of a hassle as I thought it would be. I think it helps that I am able to regularly use my trunk so I don't use my backseat as often as I did with my other car. I keep meaning to take pictures of it to put up on here, but it's either dark outside or not a convenient time whenever I think of it.

Over Mother's Day weekend, I decided to go home to Chicago to spend the weekend with my mom. The day after Mother's Day was also my mom's birthday, so I spent the weekend with my Mom and sisters (and Jason, Liz's boyfriend too) celebrating her birthday and Mother's Day. It also gave me the opportunity to drive over my old car to Amanda, since she is now using it. I had a great time that weekend but it went by way too fast. On Saturday we went bowling and then came back home to grill burgers for dinner. We had cake and ice cream and played games the rest of the evening. On Mother's Day we met Jason's mom and sister our favorite breakfast place - Egg Harbor Cafe! My sisters left pretty soon after brunch because they both had finals the next week and I caught a late plane home that night.

I have always had an interest in my family history and have spent a good deal of time trying to piece together my family tree several times over the recent years. I have become hindered for a variety of reasons: lack of time, lack of resources, taking on too much at once, etc. For as long as I remember, my grandfather has always had a great interest in our family history as well (perhaps this is where I got my interest from?). When I was home over Mother's Day weekend, my mom showed me all the recent information my grandfather has gained, gathered, and compiled. Ever since then, I have been combing through the information and majorly adding to my family tree. I have decided to just concentrate on my grandfather's side of the family for right now (my maternal grandfather side), which will keep me plenty busy for awhile. I have been building my family tree and researching on ancestry.com. I know there are many more resources out there though, I'm just not sure where to go. If anyone can give me any pointers of where to research (for free or relatively cheap), please let me know!

I realized I haven't given an update on Cooper in awhile. Cooper is now about 9 1/2 months old and is just about as big as a fully grown cat! I can tell that he doesn't weigh as much as an adult cat though, but I'm thinking he may just end up always being a tad on the small side since he was the runt of the litter. Or maybe he just isn't done growing yet...who knows! He definitely still acts like a kitten, but I can tell he's mellowed out just a tiny bit. In the evenings, I often sit on my bed on my laptop and watch TV. I have an armchair pillow that I used, propped up against my regular pillows and the wall. Cooper's new favorite place to sleep (or sometimes play) is right on top of my propped up pillows behind my head. He also loves to sleep on my pillow while I'm sleeping. My pillow isn't that big and sometimes I end up moving him because there's just not enough room for the two of us. He still loves to play with Oliver and I frequently find Cooper curled up next to Oliver on the couch during the day. I'm not sure what he's going to do when Ida and I will no longer be roommates in September! Another funny thing Cooper does is that he likes to play fetch as if he were a dog...which is funny because my dog at home (Spunky) doesn't like to play fetch at all! Cooper has these old mardi gras beads of mine that he likes to play with and he will often bring them to me and when I throw them for him to get, he will bring them back to me over and over again.

Cooper at 9 1/2 months

Cooper hanging out on his usual spot...on top of my pillows

I know this post has been pretty boring, especially since it doesn't have any pictures. The truth is, I don't take a lot of pictures with my regular camera anymore since I got my new phone that has a great camera. I tried to send pictures from my phone to my e-mail but for some reason my phone won't send picture messages right now! Once I figure that out, I'll add some pictures. [Edit 5/23: I figured out my picture message problem and added some pictures of Cooper above.] Oh, and I want to be better about blogging, too. My goal is to post at least once a week from now on.

Soooo...What Are Your Plans Now?

2010-04-24T23:37:00.002-04:00

When someone hears that I have recently graduated from college, usually I hear the question "Soooo...what are your plans now?". To be honest, I'm still trying to figure it out. I have known that I have wanted to go into nursing for awhile now, but just how I have planned to get to that point has changed several different times for reasons too complicated (and boring) to explain here. Basically, I'm still trying to figure out what path best makes sense both time-wise, career-wise, and financially. The job that I am working right now is only through about the first week of June, so I need to make some decisions somewhat soon. I think I know what the next step for me is going to be and when I have a definite plan in place, I will be sure to share it.

Speaking of the job that I'm working now, it's going great! I have been working at this childcare facility since October, but only two afternoons a week. The week after I returned from Florida, I started working full-time. I'm not "technically" a full-time employee but I am basically working full-time hours. The job is a student aide job though, so I am only allowed to work this job for one quarter past when I graduate. I may be able to talk to them about interviewing for a full-time position, but I only want to do that if I know that I will be there long-term...another reason why I need to figure out my next step in life soon!

Other than working and trying to figure out my future, I have been looking for a new (used) car. For my graduation, I received money from my dad, mom, and grandmother to put toward a car and once I buy it, my younger sister is going to get the car I have been driving that my dad purchased for us awhile ago. My sister needs the car soon and I will be driving home when I go to Chicago in a few weeks. Soooooo....I have a fast approaching deadline to find a car. My dad and I have been endlessly searching for a few weeks now, but still no luck. Hopefully I can find something in time!

Otherwise, I am enjoying my evenings and weekends relaxing and doing absolutely nothing some days. It still feels weird to not have to study or do schoolwork, but I'm not complaining! =)

Spring Break in Fort Myers!

2010-04-04T22:28:00.003-04:00

Technically, it wasn't my spring break because I had just graduated but it was spring break for the rest of the people I went on the trip with and my last break before I started work. We left for Fort Myers, Florida the day after my graduation and we were there all week. Even though we were there during the week, the beaches were still pretty crowded because it was spring break for a lot of people. Although, I'm glad we didn't plan our trip over a weekend because, judging from the traffic going to the beach when we were leaving for the airport on Saturday, I can only imagine how crowded it was. Being in Fort Myers during the week made from some pretty tame nightlife but we still managed to have a lot of fun =) We went out every night and enjoyed eating and several different restaurants. The weather was also pretty good throughout the week in the high 70s to mid 80s and sunny most days. Our first day on the beach was pretty windy, so while the temperatures were in the low to mid 80s, it still felt pretty cold near the water...which is probably why I got burned the most that day! Our last full day there (Friday) was supposed to storm. It looked pretty dark and gloomy the whole day so we just went out to lunch and to a few shops instead of going to the beach, but I don't think it ever ended up raining. I'm so glad that I decided to go on this trip. It was a much needed break!

Trisha, Callie, and I on the bridge to the beach our first day there

The view of Fort Myers on the same bridge

Andrea and I before going out the first night

Callie and I before going out to dinner one night

Trisha, me, and Callie enjoying margaritas and a yummy
Mexican restaurant. Too bad I was looking at a different camera!

Callie, Trisha, and I eating lunch on a rooftop restaurant.
The view of the beach and the ocean from here was amazing!

Graduation!

2010-03-29T23:32:00.005-04:00

I'm am so happy to say that I am officially a college graduate! The weekend of my graduation was great. Since Amanda was on spring break the week before, she flew in early on Wednesday night. We had planned on going out for a little while to celebrate St. Patrick's Day but her flight was delayed and it was 10:30 by the time we got to my apartment. We ended up just hanging out, talking and watching TV. I had to work all day Thursday and Friday and then my mom got to Columbus Friday evening. We went out to dinner at Champps and watched the OSU basketball game. The weather forecast for the day of graduation (Sunday) didn't look too good, so we decided to take graduation pictures on Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny day in the mid 60s, so my mom and I walked around to a bunch of places around campus and took some good pictures. Later on we went to a Easton, a huge outdoor shopping center, with Amanda. It was pretty crowded, but the weather was gorgeous and we had a great time. We headed back to my apartment and shortly after we got back, Liz arrived. We all got ready and went out to dinner at one of my favorite Italian restuarants, Brio, to celebrate my graduation. Dinner was delicious and afterwards we went back to my apartment where Liz taught us all how to play euchre.

Me standing next to the William Oxley Thompson (OSU's fifth president) statue
in front of the new Thompson library. He's in his gown too =)

In front of the Psychology building...I
spent quite a bit of time there.

In front of Ohio Stadium. I spent
quite a bit of time here too, haha.

Sunday was the big day! Due to a big basketball tournament being held at the place of my graduation the previous day, we had our graduation rehearsal the morning of graduation. We had to be there at 10, rehearsal was about an hour long, and then we had to be back there are 1:15. A little hectic, but everything turned out alright. We were told to expect the ceremony to be about 2 1/2 hours and it was almost exactly that long, but it went by quicker than I thought it would. Including undergraduates, masters, and doctorates I think there were about 1,300 graduates at the ceremony but, for some reason, it didn't seem like there was that many...maybe because my high school graduating class was only about 430 less students! The ceremony was very nice, but I the whole experience was kind of surreal. I just kept thinking to myself that I couldn't believe that I was actually graduating. Not that I couldn't believe I made it through college but that my undergraduate years went by so fast.

One of the proofs sent to me by the professional photographer.
Here, I am on my way up to the stage to receive my diploma.

Another one of the proofs, receiving my diploma.
I look kind of strange in this picture and the photographer is
positioned at a weird angle too.

This picture is kind of blurry but I am shaking President Gee's
hand in this picture (he's right in the center in the red robe).

After the ceremony, I took a few more pictures with my family (the weather ended being another gorgeous day, by the way!) and then said goodbye to my mom. My dad, Laurel, Liz, Callie, Amanda, and I all went out to dinner to celebrate at a nice Italian restauarant. When I got home that night, I was so exhausted but I still had to pack for my trip because the next day I left for Florida. I got most of my packing done and I fell into bed exhausted, much like I am going to do right now. I'll right about my Florida trip tomorrow!

The diploma

Me with my diploma

My dad and I

Last Day of Classes!

2010-03-11T13:17:00.002-05:00

I am two-thirds of the way through my last day of classes as an undergraduate student! I just one class to go and I'll be done :) As I said in my last post, I've been pretty busy with school things lately. I had an exam and two papers due yesterday, another paper due today, I have an exam tomorrow and three exam on Monday. I'm just trying to get through it all but knowing that on Monday evening I will be completely DONE is keeping me going. Then, next week I will be working a lot, getting things ready for graduation, and getting everything together to go to Florida. My mom and sisters will all be in town for my graduation in addition to the family that I have here. Amanda will come in on Wednesday night, my mom on Friday night, and Liz sometime Saturday afternoon/evening. Exciting!

Last weekend was Callie and another friend of ours celebrated their 21st birthdays. It was truly a weekend-long celebration complete with going out to eat with the family, going out to eat with friends, girl's night, going to the bars downtown, and another family celebration. It was a very fun weekend, I just wish I had an extra day on Monday to recooperate from the weekend lol!

March Already?!?

2010-03-02T11:29:00.003-05:00

I really haven't had that much going on in the past week or so since I've posted, but I thought I would give quick update anyway. Last week, I had four exams and two papers due so I was pretty happy just to make it to the weekend. My friends had a lot of school things going on last week, so we celebrated getting through the week by going out to the bars last weekend.

This past Thursday, my dad spent the night in the hospital. He has been experiencing chest pains lately and called his doctor to make an appointment, but they suggested he just go to the ER so he could be seen faster. My dad rarely lets anyone know when he's not feeling well and hates going to the doctor in the first place, so hearing that he was having chest pains and going to the ER kind freaked me out. In the ER, they did an EKG and a CT scan. The CT scan came out fine and, although the EKG came out slightly abnormal, it was normal for him. They still wanted to do a stress test though, just to make sure everything really was fine. They decided to keep him overnight for observation as a precaution, plus they weren't able to do the stress test until the next day anyway. The next day he had his stress test, which came out fine, and he was able to go home. He is feeling absolutely fine now and I hope it stays that way!

Yesterday was the first day of March and it made me realize just how close I am to my graduation! Next week is the last week of classes and then the following week is finals week. The Sunday after finals week is my graduation. Wow, that seems so close! I can't believe that I have less than three weeks left as an undergraduate student. My time at Ohio State really has seemed to fly by. The time between now and graudation will probably be pretty busy. A few of my professors decided to hold our last exams and have our final papers due next week instead of finals week, so I will be done with two of my five classes by the end of next week. I will still have three exams the Monday of finals week, but then I will be done! I will still be pretty busy finals week though, because I will be working a lot and getting things ready for my graduation and my trip to Florida (we leave the day after my graduation). It will definitely be a busy but exciting next few weeks!

Catch Up

2010-02-20T23:47:00.003-05:00

Oh, where to begin? I should probably try to blog more frequently right after things happen, except I don't always have time for that and then things pile up, and then I avoid blogging because I know it will be one big long post (and really, who wants to read that?). Anyway, I guess I'll start where I left off: snow!

When I last posted, I said I was hoping for a snow day. Well, I didn't get one that day or the next but I did get one a week later! The snow we got February 9 and 10 iced over and it was impossible for everything to get plowed. On the afternoon of the 15th, it started snowing very hard and there was about 2-3 inches of accumulation within about an hour. It continued to snow (but not as hard) through Monday night and into Tuesday. When I woke up on Tuesday, I immediately checked my e-mail and saw that I had a snow day! If the snow we got on Monday and Tuesday was the only snow on the ground or if it snowed during the day and not at night, I don't think we would have had a snow day. It was probably due to the fact that the new snow on top of the snow and ice from the week before made for some hazardous road conditions.

The weekend before the snow day was Valentine's Day weekend and that means two things: my grandma's birthday on the 13th and Valentine's Day (of course). This year, my grandma turned 80 years old! My dad and Laurel flew out to Delaware to join her and some other family members for a special dinner and I'm sad I couldn't make it. I haven't been able to my grandma in awhile and, due to her recent health problems, she isn't really able to travel long distances right now. For Valentine's Day, my friends and I always have a girl's night for those of us that aren't celebrating with a significant other. We went to dinner at El Vaquero and then went to see the new movie Valentine's Day. It was a cute movie and a little better than I expected it to be after hearing the reviews. I probably wouldn't choose to see it any other time, but it was still an enjoyable movie and a fun night.

We had some time to kill between dinner and the movie, so we stopped at Target to get some snacks for the movies. Target is in the same shopping center as the movie theater but on the opposite end, so I decided to move my car over to the movie theater end. When I started driving my car, I immediately noticed something was wrong. I could hear this awful crunching noise coming from below my car. I found the nearest parking spot and took a look...I had a VERY flat tire. After the movie my dad came straight from the airport and helped me change my tire to the spare. But that's just the beginning of the car troubles I had! The next afternoon (the same one where it was snowing like crazy) I was cleaning off my car before heading to work and found a note saying somebody hit my bumper. Then, I spent about an hour trying to get my car out of its parking spot, but it was stuck. My car was facing downhill and there was a big mound of ice right behind my car and the rapidly falling snow didn't help either. I ended up having to call off work. When the snow finally stopped falling the next day, I was able to get my car out (after a lot of breaking up the ice with my ice scraper) and I parked somewhere else. On Friday I was on my way to the tire place to get a new tire on my car (they couldn't repair it) and my spare got a flat tire due to a pothole. Seriously, what else could go wrong?!? The tire place fixed it for free but they ended up accidentally charging my card twice for the new tire. I'm still trying to resolve that issue.

I know this is getting long, but I also want to quickly update on my hives/medication. Good news, the medication is working! Ever since I started taking the medication almost two weeks ago, I have only had one minor outbreak of hives, which occurred before the medication was fully in my system (it takes a few days to start working)! The first week I was on the medication, I was having major stomach pains. I am feeling much better now and only have a few minor stomach pains. I think my body just needed to get used to the medication since it is very strong and I am also taking my medication at the same times every day with meals, so I think that is helping too.

Well, I know this has turned into a marathon post so I'll stop here. Happy weekend, everyone!

Snow, Snow, and More Snow!

2010-02-09T11:21:00.002-05:00

At the beginning of every winter season, I get excited for the first snowfall and at the end of every winter season, I am happy to see it go. I think that snow is really pretty when it is falling or fresh on the ground, but I don't exactly like being in the snow. It's a pain to walk to class in (especially when the sidewalks aren't cleared) and sometimes it can be annoying to drive in, but moreso because it takes longer to get places. This year it seems like we have gotten a lot of snow, though I'm pretty sure other areas of the country have gotten much more than us.

This past weekend, they were predicting 8-14 inches of snow between Friday and Saturday. It seems like half of the time they are wrong, but I still woke up extra early for my doctor's appointment on Friday. When I woke up, there was nothing on the ground or anything falling...just an overcast sky. Thinking I woke up early for nothing, I went back to sleep for a little while and by the time I got up again, it had started raining ice. The drive to the doctor's office wasn't too bad and I still made it a few minutes early. By the time I left the doctor's office, it had started to snow and the highway was already pretty bad. When I made it home 30 minutes later, I would guess there was already 1 1/2 inches on the ground. The snowflakes that were falling were some of the biggest that I have ever seen.

The plan for that weekend was for me, Andrea, and Callie to go up to our parent's house. I was really only planning on staying one night, but I changed my mind when it looked like it would be difficult to get home the next day (plus, we wanted to all take one car). We left as soon as Callie and Andrea were done classes for the day, but by that time there was easily a few inches on the ground. It took us over an hour to get there, when it usually doesn't take more than 30 minutes. That evening we enjoyed just watching the snow fall. In the middle of dinner, the electricty went on, then off, then on, then back on again probably 10 times. It was like it was teasing us, staying for 30 seconds, then maybe on for a minute, then off for another 30 seconds, then back on again, etc. We also lost internet and cable for a good portion of Friday night and off and on Saturday and Sunday morning. We spent the time playing wii and getting in the hot tub (yes, in the snow!).

The rest of the weekend as a little crazier. When we woke up on Saturday morning, it looked like we had a good 14 inches of snow on the ground. I had a frustrating experience trying to get my blood drawn at the hospital and get my perscription, none of which I succeeded at that day. The roads were surprisingly clear but it still took longer to get from place to place, so that coupled with my lack of knowledge for the roads in that area added to my frustration. The day turned out well though, because Andrea, Callie, and I went shopping, went out to eat, and then saw a movie at the dollar theater (Couple's Retreat - don't see it). Sunday was a new day and I was able to accomplish everything that I didn't get done on Sunday. I came home Sunday night and snuggled with Cooper until I went to bed. I miss that little guy so much when I am gone!

The meteorologists predicted another 6 inches of snow today, and I think a few tomorrow...and so far, they have been right again. The snow started falling about 6:30 or 7 this morning and it is still falling now. My only wish is that if it keeps snowing, I want one last snow day as a student =)

P.S. I have a few pictures from this weekend, but I'll have to add them later.

Diagnosis

2010-02-05T12:31:00.002-05:00

After dealing with hives off and on for six months (on, for the most part), I finally have a diagnosis. My biopsy showed that I have something called vasculitis.

"Vasculitis is an inflammation of your blood vessels. Vasculitis causes changes in the walls of your blood vessels, including thickening, weakening, narrowing and scarring. Vasculitis is also called angiitis and arteritis. Many types of vasculitis exist.

Vasculitis can be short term (acute) or long term (chronic) and can be so severe that the tissues and organs supplied by the affected vessels don't get enough blood. The shortage of blood can result in organ and tissue damage, even death.

Vasculitis can affect anyone, though some types of vasculitis are more common among certain groups. Some forms of vasculitis improve on their own, but others require treatment — often including taking medications for an extended period of time."

Thankfully, it seems like I have a mild case of vasculitis that will hopefully be able to be treated by taking medication daily for a little while. My doctor prescribed Cyclosporine, which an immunosuppressive drug. It is a pretty strong medicine that can affect my kidneys and liver, so I will have my blood drawn frequently to closely monitor them.

While it is kind of a bummer that I have something in the first place, I am thankful that we finally figured out what I have and that it shouldn't be too hard to treat. A lot of times when people have chronic hives, they aren't able to find a cause for them. These people sometimes go months or years dealing with hives daily. I am thankful that I have something that is treatable and that I (hopefully) won't be dealing with these hives for too much longer.

January Birthdays

2010-02-03T11:25:00.002-05:00

I used to think that September was the month of birthdays for my family. Birthdays in September include mine, my older sister's, my dad's, my uncle (dad's brother), another uncle on my mom's side, my triplet cousins on my dad's side, my roommate's, a few friends, and others I am probably forgetting. Then January hit and it seems like it is September all over again! Or maybe it's just that all of the birthdays in January are within a few days so it seems like it is birthday after birthday. Anyway, January 23 was my younger sister's (Amanda's) birthday and January 25 was my youngest step-sister's (Andrea's) birthday. They both turned 19 this year! Unfortunatley, I didn't get to celebrate Amanda's birthday with her because she is at school in Iowa and I am here in Columbus. I did send my dad with a present though when he visited her a few days ago! Anyway, we still did plenty of birthday celebrating! January 22 is Laurel's mom's birthday and her parents along with her sister were in town, so we all went out to dinner at Molly Woo's for her and Andrea's birthdays. I love Molly Woo's...it's delicious! But the celebrations didn't stop there! Callie, Andrea, and I often go up to my dad's and Laurel's house on Sunday evenings for a good home-cooked meal, to catch up on Laundry, and of course visit with the parents (aka beat them at wii =)). Usually a friend or two will tag along. This particular Sunday, Callie's friend Mary and Andrea's friend Julie came up with us. We had cake and ice cream, Andrea opened presents, and of course we played wii. Then on Monday (Andrea's actual birthday), Callie and I went out to dinner with Andrea and some of her friends. It was supposed to be a surprise for Andrea buuuuut someone let it slip. That's okay, it was still fun! Whew, that's a lot of birthday celebrating. I'm glad that we have about month and a half to recover before Callie's birthday in March and another two months after that before my mom's and Laurel's birthdays (and Mother's Day) in May. Birthday celebrations sure are fun but they can be tiring (and expensive!). I do have a few pictures from the birthday weekend (though I think it's only a few), but I will have to post those later because they are on my laptop at home.

In other news, I finally got the results from my biopsy. My doctor surprised me and called me Monday morning with the results (I thought he wasn't going to be back until today). He told me that the biopsy did show something, however I can't tell you what it is. Not because I don't want to, but because I'm not sure what it is. I had the doctor repeat it on the phone several times and he even spelled it for me, but I wasn't I didn't have anything to write down the spelling. I don't think I heard him right though, because what I thought that he said isn't brining anything up on Google (I even tried spelling it about six different ways). I found what I think might be it, but I don't want to post anything until I'm sure. Anyway, he wants to talk to me about it further as treatment so I will be seeing him on Friday morning. He did say that having the biopsy show something and the fact that it is a mild case will really help in treating the hives and hopefully getting them to go away (yay!). He also mentioned that if I did look up whatever I have, not to freak myself out because I have a mild case of it. It really is bugging me what it is, but rather than bother my doctor I will just wait until Friday. I'll post more after my appointment.

Cooper At About 5.5 Months

2010-01-29T18:46:00.002-05:00

Sorry those pictures are kind of dark. Cooper doesn't like my camera and always runs underneath my TV stand when I try to take pictures of him, which is why the pictures are kind of dark (and

I was looking back at the last post I talked about Cooper at I can't believe how much bigger he looks just from less than two months ago. He's getting so big! Cooper hasn't had to go to the vet since the last time I posted since he is all done with his shots, so I'm not sure how much more he weighs. My roommate's cat Oliver is about a year and a half old and Cooper is not much smaller than him. I bet in a few months they will be about the same size.

Other than his size, not much has changed with Cooper. He's still mischievous and playful but also very sweet and a great snuggler. I would say his curiosity level has died down a little bit but he is consistently getting into the same things (he knows what he wants now, lol). Up until a few weeks ago, he was still occasionally trying to get into the trashcan and I needed to nip that in the bud, so I got a different type of trashcan with a lid that he cannot open. We haven't had any problems since then. Cooper loves to play with pens or anything tubular that will roll like a pen (pencils, chapstick, mascara, etc.). He will still try to jump on the table, my desk, counters, etc. but only if he sees something that he wants to play with. He knows he's not supposed to jump up there, so if he sees me catch him he will jump down right away. If only I could keep him from jumping up there in the first place! By the way, he has TONS of toys, so boredom or lack of something to play is not the problem. Another thing he loves to play with (that I'm also not too happy about) is the water in his water bowl. I got him a small self-watering bowl. When the bowl is low on water, the tank above it will release water and when it does this it makes a funny sound. When he hears this, he think that is his signal to play with the water. He knows how to drink from it as he does it all the time, he just likes splashing the water too. It can get quite messy. Here's a clip of him playing with the water (ignore my comments):

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

As I mentioned, Cooper is also a great snuggler. When I go to bed at night, he snuggles right up to me for about 30 minutes before he migrates to the end of my bed. If I am sitting on my bed or the couch with my computer, he will usually try to come and snuggle with me...sometimes right on top of my computer! When I was sick a week or so ago, there was one day that I barely got out of bed. Cooper spent that entire day snuggled right up with me, it's like he knew I didn't feel well. I can't believe he's almost six months old!

MLK Weekend

2010-01-23T17:47:00.004-05:00

Martin Luther King Jr. day means a day off of school for me, which also means a long weekend since MLK day is always on a Monday. This quarter, I don't have classes on Friday so last weekend was a four day weekend for me!

The Wednesday before the long weekend, I wrote about getting a biopsy. Well about 10 minutes after I wrote that post, my face started swelling up. My lips were so swollen to the point that I couldn't even really talk. I went to sleep hoping that I would wake up with my face less swollen but overnight, my face got even more swollen (if that was even possible). I called my doctor's office and my doctor had me come in right away. I was given two different steriod shots and the swelling went down considerably by the time I left the doctor's office and kept going down the next few hours until it was almost gone. I didn't have any more problems with my face swelling throughout the weekend, so that was good. It's really uncomfortable when my face swells up (and a little bit scary too, especially when the inside of my mouth and my throat start to swell) but I guess I'm just going to have to live with it until they figure out the cause of my hives and a treatment that will make them go away.

On Friday of the long weekend, I went night skiing with a few of my friends at a local place about 45 minutes away. I was a little nervous to ski since I had only gone once (last year) in the past few years. I used to ski all the time when I was growing up but I hadn't gone in awhile. I guess I didn't have anything to worry about because it was like riding a bike...after a few times down, it felt like an old hat. Granted, the place that we went was pretty small and so were the hills but it was still a lot of fun. The night skiing went from 10:30pm-3am. I didn't get home until about 4:15am, and probably didn't fall asleep until 5am. I was so tired, but it was worth it. =) This was the only picture I managed to get before my batteries died:

Trisha and Mary on the ski lift

My throat had been hurting me on Thursday and Friday and by the time I woke up on Saturday, I did not feel good at all. In addition to my sore throat, I had acquired a crackly/junky cough, a LOT of congestion, and a small fever. I was pretty sick the next few days with Monday being the worst. By the time I got to my doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning (the earliest I could get), I was feeling a lot better. Figures! I described to my doctor how I felt throughout the weekend and the symptoms I had and she said it sounded a lot like what I had back in November, so she perscribed me an antibiotic and a cough medicine. I still have felt pretty crappy throughout this past week, but mostly with just a bad cough and congestion.

When I was at the doctor on Tuesday, I had her take out my stitch from my biopsy so that I didn't need to make another trip back to my allergist that afternoon. I called to tell them that and to see if my results were in yet, but I was told they wouldn't be in for another week or so.

I have a few more posts to write including an update on Cooper and this weekend, so stay tuned!

Biopsy

2010-01-13T21:26:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday I finished my round of steroids and my hives started coming back almost immediately. They weren't as bad as before, but they were getting worse and definitely were itching like crazy. So, on Monday I called my doctor hoping he would just prescribe another round of steroids but when he called me back, he said he wanted me to come in for a biopsy. So, I went in today and had a biopsy of one of the hives on my leg. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and took less than 15 minutes (although, I did end up waiting 15 minutes in the waiting room and over an hour in the exam room...when the doctor finally came into my room he said he had forgotten that they had squeezed me in that day and apologized profusely). The test results should be in within a few days and my doctor will call me if the cause of my hives is something urgent/bad that needs to be taken care of right away. Otherwise, I'll find out the test results when I go in next week to get my stitches out.

In other news, I started classes on Monday of last week and so far, so good. Some of my instructors are...interesting, for lack of better words but they also seem a lot more lively and less boring than some of my past instructors, so that is good. I have also have gotten back into a workout routine and have been trying to eat healthier. It helps that my roommate and another good friend of mine that lives a block away have been trying to workout more also, so it makes it easier to go to the gym if I have somebody going with me. I am going to Florida with some of my friends toward the end of March, so my goal is to drop enough weight by then to look half-decent in a bathing suit (or at least not disgusting).

Well, I guess that's it for now!

Merry Christmas...And A Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T23:32:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays...I sure did! It's hard to believe that on Monday that classes will start, however I'm pretty excited that it will be my LAST quarter as an undergraduate student! Since I haven't really posted since before Christmas, here is my holiday update:

Christmas Eve
I spent Christmas Eve in Chicago with my mom, sisters Liz and Amanda, and Liz's boyfriend Jason. We planned to have our big Christmas dinner that night and then go to midnight mass. Since Liz and Jason live 2.5 hours away and had to work until 5, we knew we would be having a late dinner, but we thought that was still fine since midnight mass didn't start until midnight...or so we thought! I guess we incorrectly remembered the midnight mass time from the previous year or our church changed the times and we didn't notice, but I decided to look on their website around 6pm and found out that the latest mass actually started at 10pm. Oops! We still had time for a nice dinner though and enjoyed mass. When we got home we had a delicious dessert of homemade molten lava cakes with ice cream and we played Scattergories.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

The table all set for Christmas Eve dinner

Jason, Liz, Spunky, Amanda, my mom, and I before Christmas Eve mass

Christmas Day
On Christmas we got up and had a nice breakfast of cinnamon rolls and cherry turnovers and then we opened presents in our pajamas. It was a pretty typical Christmas morning. Liz and Jason headed over to Jason's parent's house around noon and Amanda and I fell asleep on the couch for a few hours while A Christmas Story played on TV. Later on, we talked with our family in Ohio and Maryland over Skype, which was pretty neat. The rest of our Christmas was pretty low-key. We had another nice dinner, played some games, and then it was time to pack since Amanda and I would be leaving the next day.

Spunky sporting a bow from a present

Christmas in Ohio
The next morning Liz, Jason, Amanda, and I made the drive to Columbus to my dad and Laurel's house. When we got there, we had another delicious dinner (are you sensing a food theme here?) of homemade lasagna. We had a lot of people there for dinner: my dad, Laurel Laurel's parents, Laurel's brother, our step-sisters Callie and Andrea, and of course Liz, Jason, Amanda, and I. After dinner we all opened presents and then played some Wii. On Sunday we set out on a shopping adventure and were gone for the majority of the day. I really wanted to go shopping that day and did go, but I wasn't very much in the shopping mood because my hives becoming increasingly worse. When we got home that evening, my hives just got worse. By about 11pm, I had hives on almost every inch of my body and my face (including my lips and eyes) was so swollen I could barely talk. I had already taken the max amount of my perscription medicine I had to control the itching and swelling, and on top of that I had taken Benedryl and ibuprofen. Thankfully, my breathing never really affected, otherwise I probably would have wound up in the ER. I finally fell asleep around 1:30am only to wake back up at 3:00am and to wake up for good at 7:45am.

More About The Hives
On Monday morning, my hives were still pretty bad but were slightly better than the night before. Regardless, it was obvious my medication wasn't working and I needed to get ahold of my doctor ASAP. I called his office several times and kept getting the run-around but they finally called my doctor and he called me right away to tell me that he wanted to see me right away (on his day off, again) and he would see me that afternoon. I knew that he would probably put me on steriods and, up until that point I really wanted to avoid that, but at this point I knew it was needed. I was right about the steriods and I got an injection and am taking a 10-day course of oral steriods for 10 days. He said he wanted to see me to call back on Wednesday morning if the hives weren't gone and he would squeeze me in that day for a skin biopsy. Well, Wednesday morning came and my the swelling of my hives was definitely improved but I still had them all over my body. I told this to the nurse when I called but she still kind of ignored the "improving" part and told me I needed to come in anyway. By the time I came in that afternoon, the hives were looking much better but they still wanted to see me. I ended up having to miss work, waiting an hour in the waiting room and 15 more minutes in the exam room, and then seeing the doctor for less than 5 minutes. He said that that since my hives were improving, it would probably just take a few extra days for them to go away and he didn't want to do a skin biopsy because it probably wouldn't show anything. While I'm happy I didn't have to have a unecessary procedure, I'm still kind of ticked that they had me come in when I didn't really need to, especially because I had to miss work. Oh well, better to be safe than sorry, right? The good news though is that they are almost gone! For the past few days, they have been gone more than they haven't and I have had minimal itching. I do still seem them occasionally, but they're appearing in fewer numbers and much less frequently. I'm just hoping that after I'm done the steriods, they don't come back!

New Year's Eve/New Year's
It has only been two full days into the new year, and it's already been quite the year! On New Year's Eve, my friends and I went out to dinner at Molly Woo's and it was sooo good. Afterwards, we headed to a few parties to see various other friends. In the end, it was a very enjoyable and fun night. The next morning we all went out to breakfast and when it came time to pay, I realized that almost everything out of my wallet was gone. I then remembered that as we were getting out of a cab the night before, I had my wallet out to pay and I had heard change dropping. I looked down to see if I was dropping change and saw that I had my wallet upside down. Since I didn't see anything drop and I didn't notice anything on the floor when I looked down, I didn't think that anything had dropped...but I guess it did. After a lot of freaking out on my part, I was finally able to get ahold of the cab driver and found out that he had most of my things. He dropped them back off to me and I am soooo releaved. Yesterday and today was pretty low-key. Yesterday was spent on the couch almost all day, most of the time watching the Buckeyes. I am so happy that we pulled through and beat Oregon to win the Rose Bowl title! I think it helped that we were the underdogs because we seem to play better when the odds are against us. Today I got a lot of things checked off my to-do list, mostly including cleaning, laundry, and running errands. Tomorrow will be more of the same and preparing for my first day back to school. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season and has started 2010 well!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Wishing you and your family a very merry Christmas

with lots of love, laughter, and holiday cheer!

Change of Plans

2009-12-24T13:13:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday, we (my mom, Amanda, and I) planned to go into Chicago to see a holiday exhibit at a museum, eat dinner, and then see the lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Well, Tuesday came and so did a few inches of snow. It wasn't anything that we couldn't overcome to get to Chicago, but then there were a few errands we needed to run and everyone was in a sort of lazy mood, so we decided to scrap the idea and just go to dinner and a movie. The movie we decided to see was Everybody's Fine. We were looking for an upbeat comedy and we got the exact opposite. Don't get me wrong, it was an okay movie, just very sad and not at all what we were looking for. After the movie, we headed to the Cheesecake Factory! Yum! I had never eaten there before but had only heard good things about it. I took the longest time deciding what I wanted to eat because everything sounded soooo good! I eventually got a pasta dish, which was amazing. And the oreo cheescake we shared for dessert was delicious too! All in all, Tuesday didn't turn out how we planned it at all, but it was still a nice and enjoyable day!

Annual Christmas Baking

2009-12-23T19:42:00.002-05:00

Every year, my mom, sisters, and I get together to do our annual Christmas baking. Normally, we don't have that much time together so we try to pack it all into one day. Typically, we have always baked at my mom's house but this year we went down to Liz's place in Champaign. Every year it seems as though we try to bake at least 10 different things and we spend alllll day in the kitchen and are exhausted by the end of the day. This year it was different because we only attempted to make five different things: buckeyes, sugar cookies, triple dipped chocolated chunk cookies, reindeer pops, and thumbprint cookies. Liz had already baked the sugar cookies (they just needed to be decorated) and made the buckeye dough, so it felt much calmer and organized then in previous years. I took several pictures of all the baked goods but, since I forgot the power cord to my laptop and I'm using my mom's computer right now, the only picture I have available to me right now is of Liz and Amanda during the baking process:

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

2009-12-19T23:49:00.003-05:00

Actually, it has been looking a lot like Christmas for awhile now, I just haven't had time to blog about it! I have been on winter break from school for about a week and a half now, but I have still been very busy. Between working over 30 hours this past week, trying to get my Christmas shopping done, Christmas parties, and getting a few last-minute things done before I went away until after Christmas, I have barely had any time to just relax. Last night I flew home (as in to my mom's house in the town outside of Chicago that I grew up in). On our way home last night, the rain that was falling turned to snow and it continued to snow through the night. The amount of snow that we got was nothing (probably not even an inch), compared to what the east coast got but the snow, along with being home and seeing all the Christmas lights, definitely put me in the Christmas mood. Today I finished up my Christmas shopping, I just have to get a few stocking stuffers and wrap a few more presents. Tomorrow Amanda, my mom, and I will drive down to Liz's and Jason's place in central Illinois to do our annual Christmas baking. The rest of the week should be pretty low-key and that is fine by me =).

Just a quick update on the hives situation. My blood test results came back normal. My doctor kind of scared me though, because I had called the nurse on a Thursday afternoon to find out the results and to ask something about my medication. She said she would call the doctor and get back to me the following day. She called first thing the next morning and said that the doctor wasn't in that day, but he was coming into the office specifically just to meet with me and when would I be able to come in to meet with him? It turned out everything was fine, he's just a very thorough doctor and he wanted to see me before the weekend to discuss things, especially since my hives "are not normal" (his words). Anyway, he thinks that my hives will eventually get better and go away, but will probably come back a few times before they eventually go away all-together. Right now I am on medication to control the itchiness. I am supposed to try to watch my hives to see if they keep coming back in the same spots and if they do, I may need to have a biopsy, but hopefully it won't come to that.

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season and if I don't write again before then, have a merry Christmas!

HP Touchsmart 600 PC Giveaway

2009-12-09T21:54:00.003-05:00

No, I'm not giving one of these away (I wish!), but Kelly, Stephanie, MckMama, NieNie and BooMama are! That's five chances to win this amazing computer. I normally don't enter giveaways and when I do, I normally don't post about them on my blog...but this one was just too good to resist! My computer is going to bite the dust any day now and I really can't afford to buy a new computer...especially since I'm still hoping to go back to school after I graduate to get my nursing degree (that requires a lot of money) to fulfill my goal of becoming a NICU nurse. Plus, if my current computer dies, it will be almost impossible to keep designing blog layouts. This computer has everything and more that I would want in a computer, plus I love HP products!

Holiday Giveaway!

2009-12-09T15:36:00.002-05:00

If you haven't done so already yet, you should check out the blog layout giveaway going on over at ScrapBlog Designs by Hilary. There's just a little over one day left to enter and even if you don't win, you will still get 20% off any blog layout purchased in the month of December or January just for entering! Please read the giveaway post for more details and to enter for your chance to win.

Almost Done!

2009-12-04T20:55:00.004-05:00

Almost done with school for this quarter, that is. Yesterday was the last day of classes for fall quarter and next week are my finals. I will definitely not be sad to done with fall quarter...especially my Spanish and Chemistry classes! It's strange to think that I just have one more quarter left before I graduate. I'm very much looking forward to having a few week of break from school and enjoying the holiday season. I will be working a little bit, but I will also have some time off to go home to Chicago for a week around Christmas.

Little Cooper has been doing well...and he's not so little anymore! He keeps growing and growing (I guess that's what kittens do lol). As I said before, he is into everything lately. If we let the trashcan in the kitchen get too full and I'm not watching him close enough, he will actually try to jump in...gross. We put up the Christmas tree yesterday and I have already had a hard time keeping him away from the ornaments on the bottom. Today he got his last booster shot and also got fixed. Poor little guy. You would never guess he had minor surgery today though, with the way he's been acting. I'm supposed to keep him from jumping, running, or playing rough for 7-10 days...yeah right! He is almost 4 months old and when I brought him into the vet today, he weighed 4 pounds...more than 4 times what he weighed when I got him at about 6 weeks old! With all the trouble he gets into, I will have to say that Cooper is one of the sweetest little cats you will ever meet. He loves people and is a great snuggler. I'm so glad I made the decision to get a kitten.

In my last post, I mentioned that my hives have returned. If you remember, I had hives at the end of the summer. I actually had them for over 4 weeks and then my allergist in Chicago put me on some pretty powerful steroids to get them out of my system. By the end of September, they were gone. About 4 weeks ago, I started getting little red dots all over my body (the same thing that happened before I got my hives in August) and about 2 1/2 weeks ago, I started breaking out in hives again. They are even worse this time around, if that's possible. I have big itchy welts all over my body and sometimes my eyes and lips swell up. Today I went to a new allergist out here. He put me on some medicine (not steroids) to help with the itching and he also ordered some blood tests to hopefully find the cause of the hives. If the blood tests come back normal and my hives keep persisting, I will probably have a skin biopsy. I just want to figure out what is causing them so I can get rid of them! I'll update when I get the results of the blood tests back.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-03T11:41:00.003-05:00

I spent Thanksgiving this year in Baltimore with a lot of my extended family on my mom's side. My family is originally from Maryland, but we moved to Chicago when I was almost 6. A good portion of my mom's family still lives in and around the Baltimore area. We aren't able to go out there every year for Thanksgiving, but we try to make it at least once every few years.

This year was even more complicated because Amanda goes to Iowa, my mom is in Chicago, Liz is in mid-state Illinois, and I'm in Columbus. Liz wasn't able to go to Baltimore because she had to work bright and early the day after. The day before Thanksgiving, Amanda and my mom left Chicago very early and got to Columbus (which is about halfway to Baltimore) around lunch time. They picked me up and we were off to Baltimore. We got to my grandfather's house around 8pm.

Thanksgiving day was spent at my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Clark's house. In all, there were about 13 people that included three aunts, two uncles, three cousins, my grandpa and his wife, my mom, my younger sister, and myself. As usual, the food was delicious and we all overate. The little ones did some running around and entertained us all and there was constant chatter between my mom and her sisters. It was a very good Thanksgiving and I'm glad I was able to spend the day with everyone in Baltimore. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera. My mom got a bunch of pictures, but who knows when I'll be able to post those. I do have one picture to share, though. This is Amanda my younger sister, me, Niamh my cousin, and Jane my half-aunt:

The next day, we braved the mall on Black Friday. It actually wasn't too bad. Yes, it was crowded but it wasn't completely mobbed like I expected it to be. I think it helped that we got there at about 11, far after the crazies. I got some Christmas shopping done and then we headed to Target. Later that evening, we got to see another one of my cousins that wasn't at Thanksgiving dinner and meet his fiance. They, along with my aunt, uncle, and another cousin, came over to my grandpa's house for pizza. It was another good day spent with family.

On Saturday we drove about an hour south to my Aunt Val and Uncle Neil's house and spent the day with them and their two children Niamh and Ciaran. We just pretty much hung out all day, watching Niamh's Hannah Montana performances and playing Star Wars with Ciaran. It was a good relaxing day to the end of our Baltimore trip.

The next morning we left at 4am for the long drive back. Well, it wasn't that long for me, but it was for my mom and Amanda. Amanda had to catch a bus back to school in Chicago that evening, so we had to allow plenty of time for them to get there in time. The drive back was pretty uneventful. Like our drive there, we hit some traffic but nothing that was too bad.

That's about all the time I have to write right now. I'll hopefully be updating soon on Cooper, the end of the school quarter, and my hives (yes, they have returned!). I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

"The Game"

2009-11-23T23:00:00.004-05:00

I have briefly blogged about it before, but I felt that the annual game against Michigan deserved a post. The Ohio State/Michigan rivalry is an intense college football rivalry, frequently called one of the greatest football rivalries of all time. Traditionally, the game is played as the last regular season game for both teams and the site that the game is played is alternated every year between the two schools.

At Ohio State, Beat Michigan week (the week leading up to "The Game") doesn't just include the football game. Among many other activities and getting psyched up for Saturday, a big tradition is to jump into Mirror Lake the Thursday before the game. Mirror Lake is a small lake, which could probably be called a pond, that sits on the west end of the south oval on campus. Thousands upon thousands of students sprint from their dorms or apartments to Mirror Lake and jump into the (literally) freezing cold water. Since the Michigan game is always towards the end of November, it is generally very cold out and the water feels like a million little needles piercing your skin. I know it sounds crazy and it's hard to imagine why anyone would do such a thing, but once you have experience it for yourself, it is so amazing. Here's a YouTube video that I found that might help you get an idea of what it's like (this is just part of the lake):

The past three years that I have been a student at Ohio State, I haven't jumped into Mirror Lake. My freshman year I had just had surgery beforehand, my sophomore year I was really sick, and last year it was snowing and I couldn't bring myself to do it. Since this is my senior year and my last chance, I just had to do it. We strapped the duct tape to our shoes so they wouldn't fall off in the almost guaranteed mudslide, and we were off! Even though this was my first year jumping in, I have been down to the lake before and seen the chaos, so I pretty much knew what to expect. It exceeded my expectations, and more.

The actual game was in Michigan this year, so I just watched it at a friend's house. I am proud to say that Ohio State beat Michigan for all four years I have attended Ohio State and for the fifth consecutive year. The game wasn't as exciting as most but, then again, what could top the 2006 game in which #1 Ohio State beat #2 Michigan by 3 points?

I can truly say that I am so proud to be a Buckeye. The intense school pride is an awesome thing to be a part of and I'm sure it will always be a part of me, something that I will carry for the rest of my life.

Rose Bowl, Here We Come!

2009-11-18T23:23:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was absolutely amazing and it went by way too fast! This past Saturday was Ohio State's last home game and the played Iowa. Since my little sister Amanda goes to Iowa, my dad decided to fly her out for the game. This was decided at the very beginning of the football season, before anyone could predict how big of a game this would be, so I was able to get Amanda's ticket for a very very good price.

Amanda flew in late Thursday night, so she spent the night at my dad and step-mom's house and then spent the day with my dad on Friday. Friday night we all (my dad, step-mom Laurel, step-sisters Callie and Andrea, Amanda, and I) went out to dinner and then Amanda came back down to campus with Callie, Andrea, and I. We showed Amanda Ohio State's weekend nightlife and we all had a good time =).

Everyone (minus my dad, who was taking the picture) out to dinner

Callie, Amanda, and I on Friday night

Amanda and I on Friday night

On Saturday, we started getting ready to tailgate as soon as we woke up. We made the long, long walk to the complete opposite side of campus (OSU's campus is huge, the buses weren't running that day, and driving through game day traffic would have taken longer). In all fairness, it wasn't too bad. My dad and Laurel along with some of their good friends woke up really early Saturday to get a good tailgating spot. We grilled hot dogs, played cornhole, and had a good time getting pumped up for the game.

Sisters! (we're missing Liz)

The actual game was a-maze-ing. I couldn't have asked for a more exciting game or a better last football game as a student. Ohio State and Iowa were tied as #1 in the Big 10, so this game determined who would go to the Rose Bowl. I knew it would be close, but I didn't know it would be as close of a game as it was. At the end of the 4th quarter, they were tied 24 to 24. Ohio State won in overtime with a fieldgoal and the stadium went nuts. The only time that I have ever experienced anything like that was when Ohio State beat Michigan at home my freshman year, but I'm pretty sure this game still tops that. Everyone rushed the field, including us. In all the commotion of getting onto the field, we lost Amanda. Everything turned out alright in the end and we were all reunited, but it was a stressful experience because nobody's phone was working due to all the calls and texts trying to be made. After the game, we came home and rested and then went back out to celebrate.

Script Ohio before the game

Rushing the field after the big win

Our football group on the field doing the O-H-I-O with an added exclamation point.We don't know who the people in the exclamation point are, they just randomly decided they wanted to join and we let them.

On Sunday, the whole family went out to brunch and then it was time to take Amanda to the airport. Like I said, the weekend went by way too fast, but I had so much fun. I'm glad Amanda was able to come out for the game and that, even though Iowa lost, she still had fun.

Now it's time to get back into school mode. I had two midterms earlier this week and two more in the next two days. Plus a presentation next week and another one the follow week! Yuck! But the good thing is that I only have 10 more days of classes, a week of finals, and then it's winter break. I can't wait!

P.S. Sorry, I don't know what's up with the spacing, alignment, and font size on this post. I'm at the library and this computer doesn't seem to like Blogger very much.

Pictures of Cooper at (Almost) 13 Weeks

2009-11-06T13:51:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures of Cooper that I took the other day. I don't know why they are so grainy. I know it's a problem with my camera settings because they looked grainy on my camera too. Maybe it's just because I don't have a very good camera, but my pictures don't normally look this fuzzy.

This morning I took Cooper for more vaccinations, which he wasn't too happy about. He weighed exactly 3 pounds...he's getting so big! Just for comparison, he weighed a little less than 1 pound when we got him (at 6 1/2 weeks), he weighed 1 pound 13 ounces at 8 1/2 weeks, and 2 pounds 4 ounces at almost 11 weeks. He just has to go back one more time in 3-4 weeks for a booster shot and to get neutered and then he doesn't have to go back for a year.

You may have noticed in some pictures that he is now wearing a collar. I bought this collar the day that I got Cooper and it was way too big on him. Since then, I have tried it on him periodically and it just now finally fits. It's still a little loose, so for now I am only keeping it on him when I am home. The first time I put it on him, he went a little crazy because he really wanted to play with the little bell, but couldn't get it. Since then, he's gotten more used to it but every time I put it on him he still tried to get the bell for a few minutes. Today he got his rabies shot, so they gave him a rabies tag and you should see this thing on his collar. It's absolutely huge!

Other than that, he's just being a typical kitten and getting into everything. I have to constantly watch him because he will try to climb on the kitchen table, the coffee table, my desk, etc. Normally, he's just trying to get something to play with (pens and pencils are his favorite, but small bottles or canisters are a close second). He has plenty of toys, he's just a curious little kitten! We have these food shelves next to our refridgerator in our kitchen and the other day I caught him trying to scale those. He wasn't trying to get the food, just wanted to swat at the plastic bags. Plastic bags are another one of his favorites, but for safety reasons I try to keep those where he couldn't possibly get them. My roommate's cat, Oliver, is Cooper's buddy. They play all day long. He sure does get into everything, but he's learning and continues to make us laugh everyday!

Have You Seen These?

2009-11-05T21:36:00.003-05:00

Nike Womens Prima Eclipse in Dust/Berry

Since I have to wear closed-toed shoes to both work and volunteering, I have been on the lookout for comfortable sneaker-type shoes that aren't exactly athletic shoes (does that make sense?). I saw someone wearing these shoes a few weeks ago and I can't find them anywhere...not even online. Every place online points back to Famous Footwear's website and they are either not carrying them anymore or are out of stock. So I'm asking you all (all 3 of you), if you have seen these in a store somewhere or online somewhere, please let me know. Thanks!

Bronchitis

2009-11-04T09:13:00.000-05:00

When I wrote my last post, I thought I was getting better. I did feel better for a few days, but then things started going downhill again. I put off going back to the doctor because if it was a virus, like she told me, then it probably just needed to run its course. I developed a horrible, barking cough along with congestion. Last Thursday, it had been two weeks since I was seen at the doctor and I was still not better, so I went back again. She looked at me, heard me cough, looked down my throat and told me I had bronchitis. Friday night I was planning on going out with my friends but I was the sickest that I have been in a long time. I can remember only two other times in my life when I have had a fever (my normal body temp is 97.8 degrees) and on Friday night it was pretty high. I slept for over 14 hours and felt much better on Saturday and was able to celebrate Halloween with my friends that night. I just finished the last of my antibiotics on Monday and am slowly feeling back to normal.

Trisha as Tinkerbell, Ida as a Greek goddess,
Callie as Alice in Wonderland, and me as a hippie

Things have been crazy with school lately, even more so than they normally are. Last week, I had a midterm in each class, plus another quiz, a lap report, and other assignments due. I was at the library every night last week and I think the earliest I left was 2:15am. The stress and severe lack of sleep were probably contributors to the reason why I have been sick so long and maybe why I got sick in the first place. Some good news is that I scheduled my last classes! Next quarter will be my last quarter and I scheduled those classes about a week ago. I will be taking four Psychology classes and I have a pretty nice schedule time-wise. No classes on Fridays, and I will either be done with classes by 1:15 or won't start until 12:00 Monday through Thursday. It is weird to think that I only have one more quarter and then I will be a college graduate...but exciting! I met with my Psychology advisor last week, where she signed off on all my major classes. On Monday I met with my Arts & Sciences advisor and I filled out some paperwork to be all set to graduate in March. She just needs to check with my other advisor on one small thing and then it will be official...I will be graduating in March!

What else? Cooper. Oh, Cooper. He's such a kitten...getting into everything. He will climb anything and everything and is so outgoing. When I got him (at 6 weeks), he weighed less than a pound. Since then, he has been to the vet twice. At 8 weeks, he weighed 1 pound, 13 ounces and at 11 weeks, he weighed 2 pounds, 4 ounces. I take him back to the vet this Friday to get his last round of vaccinations (I think?). It will be interesting to see what he weighs now at almost 13 weeks. Sorry I don't have any more pictures of him...he is hard to get any good pictures of! I'll try to get some and post some soon.

Wow, October Already?!?

2009-10-13T13:58:00.005-04:00

Note: I started this post on Tuesday of last week and then I got busy...surprise, surprise haha!

Wow, where to start? I feel like I always start my posts off by saying that I have been so busy and I haven't had time to post...but it's true! I have a ton of things going on and, unfortunately, the blog is usually the first thing put on the back burner (which is why I haven't updated my blog layout in the past year, even though it desperately needs a face lift).

In my last post, I think I forgot to mention that I got a job. Well, I didn't forget but I just wasn't sure if I was getting it yet so I didn't want to mention it until I was sure. I got a part time job at a childcare facility affiliated with my school. It is a great job because I am working with children and the center hires a lot of students so they are very understanding that we have a lot of schoolwork and they follow the university's school schedule too. Originally, they wanted to give me a lot more hours than I could work with the heavy duty classes I am taking so right now I am only working about 8 hours a week the with potential to request for more hours next quarter. I have only worked two days for far, but I think I am really going to enjoy this job.

Next up: Cooper. Oh man, I just love this little guy so much! I have only had him for about 2 1/2 weeks, but he has already grown a lot! He is still a small little guy, but seems so big compared to when we first picked him up. I took him to the vet this past Friday for some of his vaccinations and he was 1 pound, 13 ounces....which is probably about a pound more than when we got him. Before I told the vet what his real age was and that he was the runt of the litter, the vet thought he was only 6 1/2 weeks but he was really 8 1/2 weeks at the time. The vet is still skeptical that he is really as old as I think he is, but I saw the rest of the littler and I know that he was much smaller than the other kittens (but obviously the same age). I just love his little personality and his spunkiness. He is either going, going, going or asleep.

As mentioned at the top of this post, I started this update about four days ago. What has been keeping me from finishing this post? Well, I've been sick of course! Just when I thought things were settling down for a little bit (hence why I found the time to blog), I go and get sick. When I got home from work on Wednesday, I didn't feel good at all. By Thursday morning, I was miserable. I saw the doctor, but of course I had taken ibuprofen before my appointment so my throat wasn't swollen at all and I didn't have a fever (my two main symptoms) when she saw me, so she told me it was "just a virus" and to drink plenty of fluids and get lots of rest. Easy for her to say! It is now Saturday night and I am not feeling 100%, but I am feeling better than I have been the past few days.

Other than those things, there's not much to report. School and work has kept me pretty busy and hasn't left time for much else, except on the weekends. The weeks are flying by and I can't believe it's almost the holiday season already. By the way, where did fall go? It seemed to show it's face for two days and immediately went to winter weather.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their October!

The Past Two Weeks

2009-09-28T10:04:00.004-04:00

Wow. Has it really only been two weeks? It feels like I haven't really posted in forever but I looked on my blog and it really has just been a little over two weeks. I guess time flies when you're busy, busy, busy! Here's what I have been up to lately (warning: this will be a long post!):

About two weeks ago, my mom and I went down to Champaign to visit with Liz and her boyfriend and to celebrate Liz's birthday. Liz and Jason just moved in together in a new apartment, so we got to see their new place. We also went to a nearby garden/park owned by the University of Illinois. I think it was called Albertson's? Not quite sure. Anyway, we walked around the grounds for a little while and enjoyed the scenery. Afterward, we went back and grilled and celebrated Liz's birthday with cake and presents. My mom left later on and I stayed overnight to continue onto Columbus the next day. Here's a slideshow of some pictures from the day at Liz's.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The next day, I made the five hour drive by myself to my dad and Laurel's house near Columbus. I had never driven that long by myself before, so it was quite an experience. Actually, it was pretty uneventful. I only stopped once and it was a Monday during the day so there was basically no traffic and I made pretty good time.

That Tuesday, I went out to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse with my dad, Laurel, Callie, and Andrea to celebrate my birthday. We then went back to Callie and Andrea's new apartment and I opened up a few presents and we had cake. Pretty low-key but it was nice and relaxing. I wasn't the one taking pictures that night, so I don't have any to post.

On Thursday, Ida and I moved into our new apartment! I went to the rental office a few minutes after they opened to get the keys and I started the big process of moving in. The entire day (and the several days following) we were moving things in, putting together furniture, and making shopping trips for various essentials. We had decided to have a few people over that Saturday night to celebrate both of our birthdays (Ida's is two days before mine), so we had to really work to get the place in order before then but it was good motivation to get things semi-organized and looking presentable. I haven't taken any pictures of the apartment yet, but when I do, I will post them.

Ida and I on Saturday night

The following Tuesday was my dad's 50th birthday (yes, there are a LOT of September birthdays between my family and friends). He really did not want to make a big deal out of his birthday and he had already had a big celebration with friends, so Laurel just made his favorite dinner (potroast) and we had a family dinner at home. Again, no pictures.

Wednesday, school started. Usually, I am bored by the end of the summer and ready for classes to start back up. Not this time. I think that it had something to do with the fact that I took summer classes and really only had a break for a few weeks, instead of a few months. I'm taking two Psychology classes, a Chemistry class, and my last Spanish class. I think I'll have the hardest time with Chemistry and Spanish. I'll need to really work hard at those two classes in order to do well. I just keep telling myself that I only have six more months and then I am done with school! Or at least until I start a Nursing program.

This past Thursday, I got a kitten. It was something that I had been thinking about for awhile, but was really contemplating until recently. I made up my mind I wanted to get a kitten a week or so ago and started looking. I knew that I wanted to adopt one or get a rescue cat and I knew I wanted a kitten. I saw a post on Craigslist from someone who rescued a stray cat and her litter of kittens. The litter was larger than normal, so the mother was having trouble taking care of all the kittens. The family took the kittens in and cared for them until they were old enough to be adopted. I met with the guy on Thursday afternoon and took home little Cooper! Cooper is the runt of the litter, so even though he is about 7 weeks old, he is smaller than that. He's very tiny, but a feisty little guy! He's very playful and loves to cuddle. I have to be careful when I'm walking around the house, because he loves to follow me and he's very fast. Right now, he's eating thickened kitten formula mixed with wet kitten food and he eats about four times a day. In the five days since I have had him, I can already notice a difference in the weight he has gained. I'll be taking him to the vet sometime this week to get checked out and start getting his shots.

Saturday was the first home game that I (and most of the other students) had tickets to. We played Illinois, which is Liz's alma mater, and we absolutely crushed them. It poured the entire game, so that was a big bummer. We decided to leave at halftime and watch the rest of the game on our couch. This week we play Indiana. Let's go bucks!

O-H-I-O

The view from our seats

Whew, that was a lot! I'm sure I left a few things out along the way, but hopefully you get the gist of why I have been so busy lately. Hope you all had a good weekend!

Meet Cooper

2009-09-27T21:42:00.003-04:00

Sorry for not fulfilling my promise to post within the next few days from my last post a week ago. I have a good excuse though. I've been a little busy with this guy:

That's right, I got a kitten! I'll tell you all about him and what else has been going on in a post tomorrow.

I'm Here!

2009-09-20T23:32:00.000-04:00

Well, I've been moved into my apartment here on campus since Thursday and I think I finally have almost organized and in its place. Things have been so hectic and I have been so busy the this past week that this has been the first time that I could sit down and write something. I still have to do some decorating and we are without electricity in half of the apartment, but I really like it. I plan on putting up another post or two about everything within the next few days, so check back soon!

The Results Are In And I'm Allergic To...

2009-09-13T01:35:00.001-04:00

NOTHING! That's right, all the tests came back negative. I was tested for many, many different environmental and food allergens and the blood tests didn't pick up any allergy. I am very thankful that I'm not allergic to anything, but on the other hand it is sort of frustrating. I just want to know what is causing these hives and what I need to do to make them go away. The allergist gave me several different explanations, some that were simple and logical and others that were more complicated and somewhat serious. For now, I am going to be on several different medications for about a month and then follow up with an allergist in Ohio. If the hives come back after I stop the medication, then I'll probably get more testing done.

Does anybody else feel like the end of the week and this weekend has completely flown by? Okay, I guess the weekend isn't over yet but it seems like the past few days have gone by so fast probably due to the fact that I had a lot of things to get done that I put off until now. One of those things was packing. I have been packing all day long and I just finished packing up the car about 30 minutes ago at 1:15am. Tomorrow my mom and I will be driving separately down to my sister's apartment and celebrating her birthday with her (happy birthday, Liz!). My mom will drive back home tomorrow night and I will continue to Ohio on Monday. I'll be moving into my apartment on Thursday, at which point my mom will drive out to Ohio with the rest of my things and help me move in. I'm really excited to be heading back to Columbus. I enjoyed my summer in Chicago, but I am ready to see my friends again and move into my apartment on campus.

Speaking of campus and Ohio State, I really wish I was in Columbus today. Just like any other game day, I heard that campus was buzzing with excitement. Except today wasn't just any game day, it was the big game against USC. Going into the game I was optimistic, but I was also realistic. USC was ranked 3rd and (depending on which poll you look at) we were ranked 7th or 8th. USC also completely crushed us last year, and that was in the back of everyone's mind. We put up a very good fight and stayed ahead most of the game. Actually, I thought we might actually keep our lead and end up winning. However, USC came from behind with one minute left in the game and won. I am disappointed that we didn't win, but I'm still proud of our team and am looking forward to a fantastic season.

Well, I guess I better get to bed or else tomorrow will be a long day. With all the moving and a busy week coming up, I may not post again until after I move in. Have a great week everyone!

So Long, Summer Jobs!

2009-09-11T10:00:00.000-04:00

Monday marked my last day of work at Pelican Harbor. Not just the last day of the season, but my very last day. I first started working at the water park the summer of 2004. The first year or so, I worked year round but then I had some interfering medical problems and then I went off to college two states away and, well, working during the school year wasn't really possible anymore. So, I only worked summers. Since we are a water park and most of our park is outside, our busiest season is the summer. The majority of our staff are high school students, so we see a lot of turnover. This summer marked my sixth summer. That's a long time. There are several other people who have worked there about the same length of time as me and the other day, we were reminiscing about the "good old days" including some of the people that used to work there, how much fun we used to have, and memorable moments. In recent years, there has been a change in management (several times) and the whole "feel" of the staff isn't the same. Times have definitely changed, and I am ready to move on. As much as I act like I am ready to get the heck out of there though, I know I am going to miss the pool and some of my old coworkers who are now my friends. At the end of last summer, I was determined not to go back the pool this year. However, hard times are upon us and it was very difficult to find a job elsewhere. So I went back. This will not happen next year though, because a) I have signed a lease for an apartment that goes through next summer b) I will be graduating in March and I need to find a full time position that can offer me more hours and that pays a little better and c) Although I'm not sure which one or where yet, I will be hopefully starting a nursing program next fall (or sooner) and would like to get a job there, wherever that may be. So....so long Pelican Harbor! It's been a good six years, but that's enough for me!

Yesterday was my last time babysitting, and will probably be my last time babysitting for this family or at least for a long time. I started babysitting for this family in June of last year and have babysat them once or twice a week (or sometimes more) this summer, last summer, and on school breaks. When I started babysitting for Emily and Avery, they were 6 months old and now they are almost 21 months old. It has been so neat to see these little girls grow and change and to see their little personalities develop. I am definitely going to miss them!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-10T19:08:00.002-04:00

My Labor Day weekend was busy, but a lot of fun! On Saturday, I left at 5:30 to go wakeboarding with my mom. Labor Day weekend is one of, if not the, busiest boating weekends of the summer, so we wanted to get on the water early so that the water wouldn't be choppy. This is the only time that I have gone wakeboarding this summer, and my first and second times ever wakeboarding were last year. I was able to accomplish the hard task of getting up, but I didn't stay up for very long! I didn't do as well as I did last year, but I still had a lot of fun. I didn't bring my camera, so I didn't get any pictures. After wakeboarding, I drove home to catch the second half of Ohio State's first football game of the season. I love the college football season, and I am so glad it is here. We played the Navy team for the first time since 1981 (I think?) and, as expected, we won. However, we did not play well at all and somewhere towards the end, we were only up by 2 points. I was very nervous that we would have an upset on our hands, but thankfully we stayed ahead. This Saturday is the BIG game against USC, so please cheer on our buckeyes...we'll probably need it!

Sunday was my birthday and I spent the day doing on of my favorite things...riding roller coasters! We had gone to Six Flags earlier this summer and they were running a special where if you bought another ticket to come back that season, it was only $20 (normal tickets are $55). We took advantage of the deal and decided that a good day to come back would be my birthday. The park was pleasantly a lot less crowded than we expected with the holiday season and it being a weekend. My mom bought us Flash Passes, so we barely had any wait at all for the roller coasters. When we got home, we had cake and my mom gave me some presents. Overall, it was a very nice birthday! I still can't believe that I'm 22, though.

On Monday was my last day of work. After spending six years at the pool, I think this deserves its own post. I plan on posting about that and babysitting tomorrow, so watch out for that! I Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!

Allergy Update

2009-09-03T18:27:00.002-04:00

After 3 1/2 weeks with big welts all over my body, they are gone! I am not sure if it because the prednisone is finally kicking in or that I haven't been exposed to whatever I'm allergic to lately, but I'm just glad they are gone. It's still obvious that I'm very allergic to something, but what exactly that is, I'm not sure. I had my appointment with the allergist on Tuesday. She asked me all sorts of questions to figure out what I'm allergic to, and then started some allergy testing. I say started because we didn't get through the whole thing. If you have never had allergy testing done before, they stick you a bunch of times all over your arms and each stick has a different allergen on it. You are supposed to sit for 15 minutes with the different allergens on your arms and if any of them are irritated after that time, that is what you're allergic to. They do two separate sets of tests on different days: environment and food. Well, about 2 minutes into the first set of tests, I start feeling very lightheaded. When I see a nurse walk by, I tell her I'm going to pass out and she immediately lays me on the floor. My blood pressure got down to 50/20 (it's normally 110/70) and I definitley would have passed out if I had stayed sitting up. I felt fine after 5 minutes, but my mom came to pick me up anyway. Instead of making me come back and redoing the first set of tests and then coming back another day to do a second set of tests, the doctor just wrote up an order for me to get my blood drawn and that way they could test for environment and food allergies at the same time. I went today to get my blood drawn and had no near fainting incidents. I will get the results back from the tests at my next appointment at the end of next week.

In other news, I have a lot of fun things planned for this weekend including wakeboarding, watching the first OSU football game of the season, going to Six Flags again, and working at the pool one more time. It should be a fun but busy weekend!

The Latest

2009-08-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

So what's been happening since our vacation to Oregon? Well, a bunch of things but nothing too exciting. When Amanda and I got home on Saturday, Liz was visiting. She recently moved in with her boyfriend and had a few things to give Amanda and I that she didn't need anymore (thanks Liz!). We spent some family time Saturday evening and Sunday. On Monday, Amanda left for school. She is the youngest sister (well technically Andrea is two days younger, but Andrea skipped a grade) and the last one to go off to college, so I think it is kind of a strange feeling for both of my parents to not have any more children living at home full time. Amanda is going to the University of Iowa...kind of funny that all four of my sisters and I have gone to Big 10 schools.

Lately, I have been working a lot and babysitting some too. I work or babysit, or sometimes both everyday and I think that's good so that I don't get bored (plus, I need the money). I also have been busy with school, but I just had my finals earlier this week so now I have a break for a few weeks before I start again. Right around this time every year, I start to get restless and bored with summer and I just want to go back to Ohio State. It's not that I don't like spending time with my mom or being home, it's just that most of my friends are in Columbus and sitting at home or working every day can get kind of boring. I think that the fact that everybody else is starting back to school and I still have a few weeks has something to do with it, too.

Remember how I mentioned I had hives at the beginning of my vacation? Well, almost three weeks later, I still have them. I went to the doctor last Friday and he prescribed prednisone and I had labwork done. I was supposed to take the prednisone on a tapered schedule, taking 6 pills the first day and gradually going down. When I have prednisone in my system, my hives are a lot better and almost nonexistent. However, when the prednisone starts wearing off, I start to get hives again. Yesterday I took my last pill and they were already starting to come back in full force, so I called my doctor. He ordered another round of prednisone and referred me to an allergist. Hopefully the allergist can figure out what I'm allergic to because I SO want to be done with these hives!

Update on 8/30: I got the referral to the allergist and was able to get an appointment on Tuesday afternoon. I'm kind of hesitant though, because I will be going back to Ohio in two weeks and if they need to run a bunch of tests, I'm not sure if I can get that all taken care of in time. I guess I'll just go to my appointment and explain my situation and see what the doctor recommends. I also got the results of my labwork and there were a few numbers that were slightly outside the norm, but nothing too extreme and the doctor is not concerned.

One thing that I am really looking forward to is buckeye football! Our football season starts off with a game against the Navy next Saturday. I love football season every year and can't wait until the first home game that I have a ticket to. Other than our traditional game against our Michigan rivals, our biggest game of the season will be against USC. Our team is only ranked 5th this year (usually we're in the top 3), so I think everyone's expectations are a little lower, but it should be an awesome game.

By the way, happy Friday! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Oregon Trip 2009: Days 4-7

2009-08-27T18:05:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I didn't mean to go so long in between posts. I've been much busier lately than I thought, especially since I just finished finals. I actually wrote this post awhile ago, but never had a chance to post it with the pictures until now.

Wednesday
Wednesday was our big white water rafting trip. We decided to do the
trip with the same company that we went with the last time we stayed
in Sunriver. The bus left from downtown Bend, which was about a 20
minute drive. After we signed our forms and picked out our splash
gear, we loaded the bus for a 1.5 hour ride to the McKenzie River. Our
tour guide was awesome and I loved the scenery and exciting rapids
just as much as I did last time. My only two complaints were the
complimentary lunch with bees swarming all over the food and the 48
degree river water (our feet sat in this the whole time and were numb
by the time we got out), both minor things that could not really have
been helped. Overall, we had a great experience with Sun Country Tours
and would highly recommend them to anyone else visiting the Bend area.
Since the white water rafting took up the majority of the day, we
didn't do much else afterward except for enjoy the hot tub and play
some Wii (but not at the same time!).

Everyone, minus my dad, in our splash gear about to go white water rafting

Thursday
Honestly, I can't really remember what we did on Thursday during the
day, probably because we just hung around the house. I'm pretty sure
that we made another trip back up to the little community center to
visit the t-shirt store again (or was this another day?). I know we
played some more Wii, although we did that a lot throughout the whole
week. Thursday evening, the entire crew went out to dinner at an
Italian restaurant in downtown Bend to celebrate Laurel's parent's
60th wedding anniversary, which was our whole reason for the whole
trip. The food was delicious, and a good time was had by all.

9 out of the 14 of us before going out to dinner

Laurel's parents with their three children

Everyone out to dinner

Friday
On our last full day in Oregon, we vegged. Big time. Or at least us
"kids" did (I say "kids" because everybody is technically adults but,
considering everybody else on the trip was some kind of parent, aunt,
uncle, or grandparent, we were considered the "kids"). We played Wii
for quite a long while, did laundry, packed up our things, and started
to clean up the house. That night we played family game called Oh
Hell. It's very similar to hearts or spades, if you've ever played one
of those. We played two games and I managed to beat all 12 other
people both times. Not that I'm bragging...okay, maybe a little =).

We made a Mii for everyone in our family. From left to right:
my dad, Laurel, Liz, me, Callie, Amanda, and Andrea

Saturday
Saturday morning, we were up and out the door by 8am. Other than
Laurel's brother and sister-in-law that left the night before, we were
the first ones to leave on Saturday. We made the 3.5 hour drive to
Bend, turned in the rental car, checked our baggage, made it through
security, and grabbed an early lunch. The 4 hour flight back to
Chicago was pretty uneventful. Except it was probably the longest and
most crowded flight I've ever been on. The crowding was probably due
to the many, many babies and small children that were on the flight
that were considered "lap children". I seriously don't ever thing I've
been on a flight that had that many young children. Considering how
long of a flight it was, they did pretty well. I think it also helped
that I had my iPod earphones in my ears the whole time =). Once we
finally landed, we had to wait 30 minutes for our baggage...the last
thing I wanted to do after a 4 hour flight, but at least it made it
back to Chicago okay

Oregon Trip 2009: Days 1-3

2009-08-18T21:51:00.003-04:00

What an awesome trip! I knew I was going to have a great time in Oregon with my family and after almost four days of returning home, I am still wishing I will wake up the next morning and still be in Sunriver. We did so many things and I am already starting to forget some of them, so I am going to give a brief description of what we did every day along with pictures, but I'll break it down into two posts so it won't get too boring, lol.

Saturday:
Amanda's and my flight was at 7am on Saturday morning, so we got up by 4:15 to leave by 5. When I woke up, I felt a strange itching sensation all over my body. When I investigated it, I found I had hives allll over. Huge quarter-size raised red welts all over my stomach, thighs, down my legs, and all over my arms. The hives have come and gone since that morning, but a week and a half later they are still there every morning (and mostly throughout the day) for the most part. I am going to the doctor on Friday, so hopefully we can figure out what I'm allergic to because being itchy all the time is not fun! Anyway, amazingly we still left on time and stopped at a gas station on the way to the airport for some Benedryl. Most of the day we spent travelling. We had a 2 hour flight, an hour layover in Denver, and then another 3 hour flight to Portland. We arrived a few minutes early in Portland, but had to wait for the delayed flight that my dad, Laurel, Callie, and Andrea were on. After we loaded up the tons of luggage we had in the rental car Suburban, we drove the 4 hours to Sunriver, which is just past Bend. The scenery was absolutely amazing as we headed through high altitude desert and then mountains.

Desert in front, mountains in back

More desert

Huge cliff with an old bridge. There were signs everywhere
not to let your dogs out of the car!

River that ran through the cliffs

More mountain scenery

Sunday:
Our first full day there, we decided to go hiking. We had a bunch of people with varying levels of athletic abilities, so we made the hikes pretty easy. First, we drove to the top of a mountain (for the life of me, I can't remember the name of it) on a very rocky, windy, narrow road. This drive had everybody in the car very nervous because we were so close to the edge of the road where there was no guard rail and a very steep drop-off. We eventually made it and the view was spectacular. We enjoyed the view, took several pictures, listened to a park ranger's talk for a few minutes and headed back down the mountain for some hiking.

One of a few huge lakes we could see from the top of the mountain.
We later hiked around part of this lake.

Amanda, Callie, Andrea, and I at the top of the mountain

After we drove back down the mountain, we hiked around part of the lake that is in the pictures above. It was a short hike, but really neat.

Amanda and Andrea stole my camera
and decided to have a mini photoshoot.

A view of the lake in the tall grass from one point in the hike.

Flowers

Butterfly. This little guy let me get so close before flying away.

More flowers

The last hike of the day was to an area with some natural waterfalls. Again, it was a fairly easy hike but cool nonetheless.

River that the falls were on

Part of the falls

Laurel, Andrea, me, Callie, Amanda and
my dad in front of the falls

After we got back to the house, a few of us went on a short bike ride to the little shops/market area of the community we were staying in. We visited the delicious ice cream and candy store.

Greg, Andrea, and Amanda

During the week we were in Sunriver, we saw many deer that were quite tame. As we were riding back that afternoon, a huge buck sprinted out of the woods going the opposite direction and it ran right past all of us, almost cutting one of us off. Definitely not something that you see everyday!

Monday:
On Monday, we decided to buy some cheap rafts and float down the river that runs through Bend. It was a good idea, but after driving through an unfamiliar area, trying to find reasonably-priced stores and not having any luck, we decided to rent inner tubes from a place right next to the river. Since Bend has a mountain climate, it gets very cold a night but heats up to the mid to upper 80s during the day. However, we didn't exactly realize that didn't mean the water would heat up too...it was cold! Once we got used to it (aka the parts of our bodies that were in the water became numb), it was actually quite relaxing. I don't have any pictures of this because I didn't want to risk getting my camera wet.

Days 4-8 coming soon!

Off to Oregon!

2009-08-07T11:00:00.000-04:00

At 5am tomorrow morning, I will be leaving for the airport to catch an early plane. I'll be in Bend, Oregon for a full week with Amanda, Callie, Andrea, my dad, Laurel, and a bunch of Laurel's family. Unfortunately, Liz won't be able to join us but I will get to see her the day after we get back! I have really been looking forward to this vacation, mainly because I need a break from same old summer routine but also because Bend is absolutely beautiful...and the company isn't bad either haha! We are staying in the same house that we have stayed in once before, so I already know that it's going to be great. I'm charging up my camera batteries, so I'll make sure I take a lot of pictures. I will be bringing my laptop for school, so if you need to get a hold of me, you can just e-mail me. I probably won't be posting anything until I get back though, because any downtime will be spent on homework (I have a big paper due the day after I get home). Have a great week everyone!

Lake Cumberland 2009

2009-08-03T00:23:00.003-04:00

Since I am leaving to go on vacation on Saturday, I thought that I better post about our trip to Lake Cumberland. Two weeks ago, my family made our annual trip down to Lake Cumberland to enjoy a long weekend on our family friends' houseboat. Rod and Kathy own a four bedroom houseboat and dock it near Monticello, KY on Lake Cumberland.

Amanda and I had a very long journey down to Lake Cumberland. On Thursday, we started off by catching the 7am train to Chicago in order to catch an 8am bus to Cincinnati. The bus ride was very crowded and I was very grateful when the A/C decided to start working about 3 hours into our 6 hour transit. After we let people off in Indianapolis and I was able to sit next to Amanda, things got much better. We arrived in Cincinnati early and played cards in the food court of a nearby mall while we waited for my dad to pick us up. After getting in the car, we still had another 5+ hours until we made it to the lake. It was a long day, but well worth it!

It is a long standing joke that every year when we go down to Lake Cumberland, there is bad weather. This year was no different. Friday was a very, very windy day, which made for cold weather and less than enjoyable swimming conditions. We were supposed to join several other houseboats out in a cove for the weekend, but we couldn't go out that day as planned due to the high winds. Luckily, Kathy had planned a rainy day activity for us and we all painted wine glasses with stained glass paint. We also just hung around the boat playing games, eating good food, and enjoying each other's company. That night we watched Mama Mia!, which was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

Saturday we had better weather and we were able to squeeze in many of the things that we weren't able to do the day before. We took the houseboat out to the cove early that morning and eagerly waited for the temperature to rise so we could get in the water. The sun came and went the entire day, so we made the best use of the times it was there and went water skiing and swimming. When it was cloudy and cold, we broke out the games and food again.

Sunday we left bright and early so that Amanda and I could catch our flight back to Chicago from Columbus. The trip home was much less eventful, and much quicker too! Even though the weather didn't cooperate with us as we had hoped, I still had a great time and hope we can go again next year!

Sunbathing on top of the houseboat...yes I am PALE.

Our glasses we decorated

Amanda putting the finishing touches on her glass

Six Flags

2009-07-27T19:07:00.004-04:00

Okay, I know that last week I said I would put up several posts with what's been going on but I'm not sure why I made that promise because I was very busy the rest of the week with work and school.

Amanda and I just inside the entrance to Six Flags

My mom, Amanda, and I went to Six Flags almost three weeks ago. I haven't been in a few years and really wanted to go this summer, so we planned, re-scheduled, and then re-scheduled a day that all three of us could go. My mom and I love roller coasters and the past few times we have been to amusement parks, we have been able to get Amanda to go on the big roller coasters too. We planned to go on a weekday so we could avoid some of the crowds. It drizzled on and off the entire day, but it never really poured so we stayed and hoped that the weather would mean shorter lines. Unfortunately, we still encountered some pretty long lines...I can't imagine what they would have been like had we been there on a hot sunny weekend! We still were able to ride all the major roller coasters and some of our favorite (Raging Bull) twice. The week that we went, they had several specials online so we ended up paying about $30 per ticket instead of the full $55. They also had another special to come back another day for $20...so we each bought another ticket and my mom and I are planning on going back on my birthday. We also saved a lot of money by packing a cooler with our lunch and dinner, so we didn't spend very much money at all!

Of course our Six Flags trip wouldn't be complete without a mishap of some sort. Actually, this "mishap" didn't actually happen until after the trip. When we bought our tickets online the night before we went, we were required to put our names on them. When we got to Six Flags the next day, we decided to bring our drivers licenses in with us in case they were required in order to prove that we are actually the people listed on the tickets. We didn't need them though, so instead of just randomly tossing my license back in my bag, I tucked it into an inside pocket of my camera case. Except I forgot that I put it there. Fast forward to the day after we went to Six Flags. I went to get something out of my wallet and noticed my license was missing...the license I thought that I had put my back in my wallet. I searched my mom's car, my purse, my room, and my clothes inside and out. Long story short (it may be too late for that), I found my license four days later when I went to upload the pictures from my camera. I thought I had been driving that whole time without my license but since I keep my camera and case in my purse, I hadn't been lol. And to think that I put my license in my camera case in the first place so I wouldn't lose it!

Catching Up

2009-07-20T00:30:00.003-04:00

Wow, it seems like so much has happened since the last time I have posted. I have been working like crazy, babysitting, trying to get my schoolwork done and turned in on time, and I have managed to sneak in a vacation and a day to Six Flags as well! I'm going to try to get a few new posts up this week about my most recent happenings, so check back for updates!

Fourth of July

2009-07-06T00:24:00.002-04:00

Happy belated 4th of July! I was hoping to write this post today along with a bunch of pictures of us sailing and jetskiing. Unfortunately, I can't do that because we didn't end up doing either of those things. We woke up early on Saturday morning all ready to head out to the lake, only to look outside and realize it was overcast, rainy, and cold...not the best weather for spending the day out on the water! Instead, we went back to bed for a few hours and then hung around the house the rest of the day. We had a nice dinner and the sky cleared up just in time for fireworks. After the fireworks show, we headed back home for some delicious homemade apple pie. Overall, the day still turned out pretty nice and it was actually a much needed break.

I also had the day off today too and I spent it just getting caught up on things around the house and doing homework. I still didn't get everything done that I wanted to, but I still got a fair amount done. I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July weekend! We are heading to Six Flags on Wednesday (as long as the weather cooperates), so expect another post with pictures after that.

Also, ScrapBlog Designs by Hilary just got a new look as well as some changes. I have also posted about a giveaway over there, so check it out!

Father's Day Weekend

2009-06-26T22:31:00.000-04:00

I hope you all had a great weekend and Father's Day! It has been VERY hot (110 degree heat index!) here all week and I have been working long days at the pool almost every day, so I have been exhausted.

Since I am in Chicago for the summer, my younger sister is here too, and my older sister lives in southern Illinois, my dad decided to come over to Illinois from Ohio so we could spend some time with him for Father's Day. We decided to celebrate on Saturday since he had to leave early on Sunday morning. After I got off of work, we headed downtown to see a Second City comedy show. I have never seen one of their shows before and it was very funny! Afterward, we had an early dinner at O'Brien's and sat out on their patio. We left the city after that, and went to Lisle to pick up Liz's boyfriend Jason. We then proceeded to go back to my dad's hotel to play some games and gave my dad his presents. If you haven't noticed, my family is big on games. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of our time downtown because the batteries in my camera were dead. As we were leaving the city, I found more batteries in my purse and snapped these pictures:

Part of the Chicago skyline

More Chicago buildings

We saw this trailer filled with old cars. It said
King Kong Productions on the side of the cab, so
we're guessing that they use these cars in some
movies...cool! This particular car looks like
it was an old police car (or at least was made to
look like that).

Enjoy your weekend!

Saying Goodbye to Three Great People

2009-06-25T19:49:00.003-04:00

I am still in shock that these three passed away all within a few days (although we just learned of all three deaths within the past day). I wouldn't say that I had a major tie nor would I have called myself a huge fan of any of these three (not that I'm not a fan), but I thought that the passing of these three major influential figures was too monumental to go without mentioning here. I know that all three had ongoing health problems, especially within the past year, and I hope that they are now in peace. Goodbye Michael Jackons, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon...you will always be remembered!

Hocking Hills

2009-06-19T18:16:00.005-04:00

Last weekend Callie, some of our friends, and I stayed in Hocking Hills. We rented a cabin in the middle of nowhere and had a great time. We got there a little later than expected on Friday night, but that didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves! On Saturday we went on two short hikes: one to Cedar Falls and the other to a cave-like structure called the Rock House. For dinner the two nights we were there we decided to have theme nights. On Friday we had Mexican food, which included casadillas, chips, salsa, margaritas, and pina coladas. Saturday we had Italian food consisting of pasta with marinara sauce, bread, and wine. Yum! Other than hiking, we pretty much just hung out at the cabin and enjoyed ourselves. On Saturday evening we were in the hot tub outside and a little kitten came up on our porch. She was very friendly and also looked like she was malnourished. She ended up eating four pieces of bread and a whole bowl of pasta...which is very uncharacteristic of any other cat I've ever met. After making a few phone calls and finding a temporary home for the kitten until we could find a more permanent one, we gave her a bath and clipper her nails. We also went through a whole list of names before deciding on Bella. Unfortunatley, when it came time to go to bed little Bella didn't really know what to do since she probably had never been in a house before. She was constantly meowing and jumping all over the cabin and nobody was getting any sleep. We decided to let her back outside and figured that she would still be hanging around in the morning (since we had been feeding her and she had been hanging around before we took her inside). Unfortunatley, we couldn't find her by the time we had to check out. I was very sad. Anyway, here are a few pictures from my trip:

This is a view from the back of our cabin...we
really were in the middle of the woods!

The beginning of the Cedar Falls hike

Some pretty flowers I saw on the Cedar Falls hike

More of what we saw on the Cedar Falls hike

Casey, Callie, and Trisha at Cedar Falls

Cedar Falls

Me and Steph at the beginning
of the Rock House hike

Steph, Callie, Casey, Ida, and Trisha
inside the Rock House

Callie and Trisha inside the Rock House

Part of the inside of the Rock House

A view from the inside of the Rock House

Bella! You can sort of see in this picture
house skinny and malnourished she is

Bella and Ida

Bella again

Just a side note: I am planning on changing the title of my blog when I put up the new layout. Hilary's Place in Cyberspace seems a little...I don't know...kiddish? Does anybody have any suggestions for a new title?

Still Here!

2009-06-18T01:34:00.002-04:00

I'm still here! Things have just been crazy. I have no idea why I thought things would slow down once I got home. I'm sure things will get better once I get into the groove of things, but right now it seems like I am busier than I was at school! I think it might have something to do with me working and babysitting where as at school I still had a lot of things to do, but (other than classes and exams) I sort of set my own schedule. The weekend at the cabin was really fun and it went by way too fast. I flew home on Sunday night and jumped right into things on Monday morning. I have worked every day since then and have babysat and helped out with swim lessons a handful of times as well. I think another thing that is throwing me off is that I am still not completely unpacked. In order to finish unpacking, I need to make space for my things by going through some of my old stuff and figuring out what I want to keep, donate, or throw way. Except I haven't really had time to do that. I am also trying to figure out a few things with the financial aid office at my school in time for Monday when tuition needs to be paid for my online summer classes, except they are impossible to get a hold of and when I do get through I am always told something different. Sorry if this seems like a bunch of jumbled up thoughts. I will hopefully be back in the next day or so to post some pictures from my cabin trip. Hope everybody is enjoying their summer!

Summer!

2009-06-11T09:16:00.002-04:00

I finished my last final about an hour ago and I am happy to announce that summer can now officially start! Even though it is pouring rain outside, I am still SO happy to not have to worry about studying...for at least a week or so, at least.

On my way back from my final, it was starting to storm outside. I was almost back to my dorm when I saw a mama duck and her ten little ducklings. The mom was obviously very scared because due to the weather and probably also the fact that she was so far away from the lake (where I'm pretty sure I saw the same mom and babies the day before). Anyway, the mom was running around quacking and looking very confused. Her little ducklings were trying to keep up, but it was so slippery out that they kept falling and tumbling over there feet. One of the small ones got separated from the mom and the rest of the babies and was looking very scared. So, a guy who was passing by and I guided the poor little guy back to the rest of his little family. I didn't want to pick him up (even though he was SO cute) because I didn't want the mom to reject him, but he probably wouldn't have let me anyway because when I would get near him he would freak out. I kind of used that to my advantage to guide him back to where the rest of the ducks were and things were happily ever after. Except that it was still storming out.

Well, I'm off to finish packing, clean my room, and hopefully take a short nap before my dad comes to help me move out. I probably won't post until after this weekend and I am back in Chicago. By the way, I found my camera cord and posted a bunch of pictures late last night (early this morning), so scroll down and enjoy! Have a great weekend!

Amanda's Graduation Pictures

2009-06-11T01:16:00.000-04:00

I found my camera cord! I found it tonight when I was packing up my room...in my underwear/sock drawer lol! It must have gotten mixed in with a few things in my bag and I didn't realize it when I was unpacking. I looked through the pictures and the only ones that are really worth posting are from Amanda's graduation. Soooo, here are some....okay a LOT....of pictures:

My dad, Amanda, and my step-mom (Laurel)
before brunch at Egg Harbor

Amanda at brunch at Mimi's before graduation

My mom at brunch

Amanda opening up my present...a scrapbook!
I meant to take pictures of it, but I will put that on
my list of things to do when I get home.

Amanda before graduation

Me, Amanda, and Liz

My mom and Amanda

Me, Amanda, Liz, and my mom

This was just a little over half of the gymnasium
used for graduation. It sat 6,000 and every seat
was filled.

Program book

This was one of the only decent pictures I was
able to get during her graduation because
we were pretty far back. I used the zoom
quite a bit in this picture. I think this is the
varsity singers.

Tossing of the caps after the ceremony

My mom, Amanda, my dad, Liz, and I post graduation

The graduate and I

The flower Amanda got with her diploma.
Can you tell it's fake? I couldn't, at first.

The graduate =)

I still can't believe that my little sister is a high school graduate and will be going off to college (Iowa, by the way) this fall!

Almost Done!

2009-06-09T23:35:00.000-04:00

I apologize for, once again, for a long gap between posts. Since the last time I have posted, I had my last week of classes and have taken most of my finals. I just have one left on Thursday morning and then I am done! I will have two online classes that start a week after I get home, but I am not anticipating that they will be very much work. Probably just enough to keep me busy through the month of July =) My friends and I rented a cabin this weekend in a camping area in central Ohio and I am very much looking forward to this weekend. So far, I have a good amount of stuff planned for this summer to keep me busy. I may have already mentioned a few of these things, but here is most of my list (so far):

Babysitting/helping out a family with twin girls a few days a week. This is the same family that I helped out last summer and on some breaks from school (Hi Carly!).
Working at the pool every day that I can. I am working in the admissions office again and am one of three people who are returning this summer (in admissions). Since I need to make as much money as I can this summer, I am going to try to work at the pool or babysit as much as possible.
Two online classes that are about 5 weeks long. I'll be taking Introductory Pharmacology for Healthcare Professionals as well as Art and Music Since 1945. I don't expect either of these classes to be too terribly hard since they are all online (which means all open book tests), but I suspect Pharmacology will require a bit more studying that the Art and Music class.
A few trips! Every year, our family friends that have a houseboat on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky invite my dad, step-mom, sisters, and me down for a weekend. We will be going down for a long weekend in the middle of July and, as usual, I can't wait! I am also taking a trip with my dad, step-sisters, step-mom, and step-mom's family in August to Bend, Oregon. We have been out there once before and are staying in the same house. It was an absolutely amazing trip the last time and I am expecting we will have just as great of an experience this time, as well.
Reading! I love, love, love to read but I don't really get the opportunity to do so during the school year because I am always reading textbooks or studying. During the summer, I am usually always reading something. I have a few books at home that I have never read before, but I am also always willing to take suggestions. Last year I read My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, as well as a few other books by her, and I loved it. I have seen several previews for the movie that is coming out at the end of June and I wan't wait to see it.
Spending time with family. During the school year, I am able to spend a lot of time with my dad, step-mom, and step-sisters since they live near Columbus (and my step-sisters go to Ohio State too). However, since my mom and sisters live in Illinois I don't get to see them that often except during my school breaks. I'm looking forward to spending some time with them this summer, especially since this is going to be my last summer living at home. Also, most of my friends from high school (whom I have been really bad about keeping in touch with) aren't coming home for the summer anymore so I don't really have that many friends to hang out with...which can sometimes make for a very boring summer if I don't keep myself busy.
Just relaxing in general! I know that it already seems like I have a lot on my plate for the summer, but I am homing to get some much needed relaxation time in there, too.

It is definitely starting to feel like summer, temperature-wise. It has consistently been above 60 degrees here for about a month now, with most days being over 70-75 degrees (except for that rainy day last week where it got down to 55). The past few days, however, have been very hot and humid. According to my online weather.com gadget on my computer, it has been hanging around 85 degrees since Sunday. It also rained yesterday, so it has also been pretty humid. All I can say is that it will be nice to be back home with air conditioning. In the meantime, I will be blasting my big box fan!

I have come to the conclusion that I must have left my camera cord at home when I was in Chicago for my sister's graduation. So, unless I find the cord when I'm packing up my things, I will not be posting pictures until next week. It's a good thing that I have a large memory card on my camera because I have a bunch of pictures to share. I'll probably do a big picture post when I am able to load them all onto my computer.

Also, I have been meaning to update my blog layout for awhile now. Actually, I need to update my layout on my ScrapBlog Designs by Hilary, too (please pretend you don't notice the snowflakes in the header). Kind of necessary when I asking people to pay me for making blog layouts lol! Actually, I had a kit picked out and most of the layout made for a new ScrapBlog Designs by Hilary blog layout and then I saw a pattern on istockphoto.com that I loved and I changed my mind...so I've decided to redo the whole thing. I also have a kit picked out for this blog, but I haven't had time to even start on it. The new layout probably won't be up for another week or so, but know that they are coming!

The GRE

2009-05-30T01:18:00.002-04:00

This morning, I took the GRE (Graduate Record Examination). Most of the accelarated nursing programs that I want to apply to don't require me to take the GRE, but there are two programs that I am interested in that are combined BSN/MSN (bachelors and masters in nursing) programs and they require applicants to take the GRE. Unfortuantley, I don't think I did very well. Actually, let me take that back. I think I did okay, but I feel like if I had prepared more for the test, I would have done better. I was supposed to get confirmation of my GRE test registration along with preparation material in the mail (in Chicago), so I planned to get it last weekend and use the six hour car ride bach to Ohio to go through the preparation materials. Well, I never got anything in the mail and it wasn't until late Wednesday night that I found out that I could just download the materials online and then the preparation program wouldn't work on my computer. I was able to look at sample questions that gave examples of the types of questions that would be on the test, but it did little to actually prepare me. Another downside was that the test was 3.5 hours straight and I only got 3 sixty second breaks. I was given the option to take a ten minute break after the first half hour of the test, but at that point I didn't think I needed one and just wanted to get on with the test so I could get out of the testing center with time to spare before my first class.

I did some more research on nursing programs last night to see if any of the ones I was interested in require GRE scores, and I have come up with a tentative list of schools I want to apply to: Ohio State, the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Denver School of Nursing, Illinois State University, and the University of Arizona. Yes, I realize that six different schools in six different states! Like I said, that list is tentative so I may be adding to it or taking schools off the list. I also want to look further at several other schools in Ohio and Illinois before I decide which programs I definitely want to apply to. I really have no idea where I am going to end up, but it will probably be based on a combination of where I get in (duh), tuition costs, financial aid I receive, and any scholarships I may get. I feel like I am applying to college all over again and, in a way, I kind of am!

The next two weeks are going to be crazy for me as I have eight more exams, including finals. I am thankful, though, that none of my finals are cumulative so they are really like my other midterms. Still, I will need to buckle down and study, study, study so that I can end the school year with semi-good grades. Life is still going to be pretty busy after my finals are done, also. My last final is on a Thursday and later that day I will be moving out of my dorm. Then, the next day I will be going camping until Sunday. A few hours after I get back from camping on Sunday, I will be flying home to Chicago for the summer. The very next day I start back to babysitting and possibly working at the pool. Hopefully after all the dust settles, I can enjoy my summer...that is until my summer classes start! My online classes start a week after I get home, so that should be interesting. I have never taken any classes that were strictly online before, so I guess I'll have to see how it goes.

I know the majority of you who read this (the whopping six of you!) and go to school are already out for the summer, and I envy you in a big way right now! Off to spend my Friday night studying...two more weeks!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T01:28:00.002-04:00

I took pictures this weekend and wanted to add them to the post, but I can't find my camera cord right now. When I find it, I will post pictures.

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed your extra day off school or work, if you had it off. As I said in my last post, I went back home to Chicago to see my little sister Amanda graduate from high school. I was able to spend a lot of time with family, but the weekend went by way too quickly!

On Saturday morning Amanda, my dad, Laurel (my step-mom), and I went out to brunch at our favorite breakfast place in Naperville – the Egg Harbor Café. It was delicious! Then went up to the pool that I work out during the summer to fill out the paperwork (which didn’t actually happen because they didn’t have it ready for me, but I got things straightened out later). Shortly after I got back to my mom’s house, my older sister Liz arrived from Champaign and we all went out to paint pottery at Potty Bayou. Unfortunately, we got there a little later than we wanted because we had to run some errands beforehand and we only ended up having about 45 minutes to pain, so it was a little rushed. After a nice home cooked dinner, we all played Apples to Apples and then Amanda went to some graduation parties for her friends. My mom, Liz, and I watched Bride Wars. It was an okay movie…kind of exactly what I expected from the previews, though.

Sunday was Amanda’s graduation day. Before we went to her ceremony, my mom, Liz, Amanda, and I went out to breakfast at Mimi’s. I had never been there before but they had a huge breakfast menu and, once again, the food was great. Right after breakfast, we went to College of Dupage where Amanda’s graduation was taking place. Both Liz’s and my high school graduations took place at COD also. After we dropped off Amanda, we met my father and stood in line for 45 minutes to get into the building and find a seat. The sun was beating down and I have some nice sunburn to show for my wait in line! It may seem kind of crazy that we would need to stand in line, especially for that long, just to get into the building. However, our high school is one of the largest high schools in terms of students I’ve ever heard of. Actually, I think it is the largest high school I have ever heard of. Liz, Amanda, and I all graduated from the same high school. Liz’s graduating class was a little over 700 students, mine was 967 students, and Amanda’s was 1156. Crazy, I know. They had to limit each student to three or four tickets each. If I’m remembering correctly (which, I’m not sure I am), I think my graduation ended up being 2.5 hours. Amanda’s was only 2 hours, but I think they may have rushed through things a little bit because the other high school in our district was graduating at the same place an hour or so after Amanda’s graduation finished. After the ceremony and we found Amanda in the huge crowd, we hung out for a little bit and then went to dinner with Amanda, Liz, my dad, Laurel, and I (yes, I know…we ate out a ton this weekend!). We went to Brio and it was soooo good. The only thing I love more than Italian food is good Italian food…which this definitely was. After dinner Amanda, Liz, and I went back to my mom’s house and crashed. I was exhausted.

Laurel, my dad, and I left to go back to Ohio around 10:30 this morning. It is 4:30 right now and we are still on the road (I am writing this in Word, but don’t have an Internet connection). We will get to Laurel’s parents’ house in about an hour to have dinner and pick up the cat. Later, we will continue back to Columbus.

Even though it went by too fast (don’t they all?), I had an awesome weekend and it makes me very anxious for summer to get here. I only have nine school days left, and then it will be time for finals. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Finally, A Short Break

2009-05-23T00:07:00.000-04:00

This post was written earlier this afternoon in the car on my way back to Chicago. Due to lack of internet connection though, I couldn’t publish it until now.

I am on my way back home to Chicago for the weekend because my youngest sister Amanda is graduating on Sunday. I really can’t believe that Amanda is already going to be going off to college in the fall. It seems like just yesterday she was my pesky little sister starting her freshman year of high school, when I was a senior. Over the past few years, she has blossomed into someone who I am proud to call my sister. Sure, we have had our share of squabbles, but she also shares a lot of the same interests as me and was involved in a lot of the same high school activities. I will be working at the pool with her again this summer (this is my sixth summer there and her third). I am looking forward to spending time with her this summer before she goes off to college and I return to Ohio. This will be my last summer at home and her last summer before she starts college, so it is very likely that this is the last time we will be under the same roof (at least for awhile).

I am looking forward to spending a lot of time with family this weekend and also having a day off of classes on Monday! I am also looking forward to seeing my puppy =) I plan on taking a lot of pictures this weekend and just enjoy the company of my family. I feel like I have been going, going, going nonstop with schoolwork and studying, so it will be nice to fit in some relaxation time (although, I will have to fit in some studying somewhere).

Next Friday morning I am scheduled to take the GRE (Graduate Record Examination). Not all of the Nursing programs that I am applying to require me to take the GRE, but a few of them do. Speaking of which, I need to decide a tentative list of programs/schools I want to apply to by the time I take the GRE next week so that I can tell them which schools to send my scores to. By the way, I don’t really know anybody who has taken the GRE before so I don’t know that much about it. How is it scored? What is considered a good score? I know that there are two different tests…a subject-based version and a general version and I am taking the general version. I’m not even really that sure what the different sections are and if I will be required to write anything (I think I am, though). I guess I should do some research so I am more prepared. If anybody reading this has information and/or can answer any of my questions, I would really appreciate it! They were supposed to send me some preparation materials and information in the mail, so I will probably spend the car ride home on Monday going through those.

I know this is probably an obvious statement, but I am so looking forward to summer. I will still be taking two online classes and I will be working, but it will still be a much welcomed break from my rigorous class schedule I am taking now. I just have two more weeks of classes, one week of finals, and then I am done! I guess I am a little disappointed because I am not doing as well in my classes as I would like. Don’t get me wrong…I have been working my tail off! I feel like I have been working so hard though, and it’s not really paying off. I think the problem is that the classes I am taking are really classes that I shouldn’t be taking together because they all very hard classes that require a lot of extra time. I knew that going in though, so it’s really my own fault.

Anyway, I gotta run because my laptop battery is running low. Be back next week with photos and details from this weekend. Enjoy your long weekend!

E-mail Change

2009-05-21T08:03:00.002-04:00

I hope to do a longer update tonight, but I wanted to do a quick post to let everyone know that the e-mail address associated with my Blogger account has changed. My e-mail address is still hilary.keegan@gmail.com (this is the "new" e-mail for my Blogger account), but my Blogger account has been using an old e-mail address. I got tired of switching back and forth all the time and figured out how to change it. Hopefully this didn't change anything on your end (such as followers or on readers), but if it did please let me know so I can fix it. Thanks!

Happy Belated Mother's Day/Birthday!

2009-05-12T23:55:00.003-04:00

So, I realized that it had been awhile since my last post but I didn't realize it has been a full two weeks....whoops! It seems like in my family, most of the birthdays and some major holidays are all clumped together. Labor Day, my birthday, Liz's birthday, my dad's birthday, and my uncle's birthday are all in the month of September. Amanda and Andrea's birthdays are two days apart at the end of January and Laurel's mom's birthday is around that time as well. In May, therything she has done for me and continues to do for my sisters and I. She has gone throure is Mother's Day, my mom's birthday, and Laurel's birthday.

This year Mother's Day fell on my mom's birthday. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to travel back home but I did talk to her several times throughout the day and I sent a few gifts in the mail in advance. My mom and I have had our fair share of turbulence and disagreements throughout the years, but I do very much appreciate evegh several rough patches in the past, yet she still has tried to put my sisters and I first in all major decisions. I hope she knows how much I appreciate everything she has done and how much I love her! On her birthday and Mother's Day this past Sunday she was out riding her bike (one of her favorite things to do), and she took a pretty bad fall. Luckily, she was wearing her helmet but from the sounds of it, she has some pretty bad road rash. Other than that though, it sounds like she had a nice day!

My mom at an OSU game
last September

Since I was here in Ohio on Mother's Day, I spent it with my dad, step-mom Laurel, Callie, Andrea. Laurel's parents also drove up for the day from Dayton. While the two men went golfing, the rest of us decided to head on over to the Columbus zoo. We didn't even think about how crowded it would be...it was a zoo (pun intended)! The zoo has a new baby elephant that was being named on Mother's Day and that was one of the main reasons we decided to go to the zoo. We got to the zoo at 12:30pm and, after seeing the long ticket lines, thought that we would miss the end of two hours that the baby elephant was out for viewing. Well, once we got our tickets and were entering the park we saw a sign that said it was supposed to be out until 2pm (not 1pm, like we thought). Plenty of time! Or so we thought. We made our way back to the baby elephant exhibit only to find an hour long line. Needless to say, we decided to skip that and go back at a less crowded time. We did get to see Fluffy, the largest reticulated python (and also largest snake, period) in captivity. We definitely didn't see close to all the other animals in the zoo, due to the crowds and time constraints, but we saw a lot. One of my favorites was when we stopped by the petting zoo and saw baby barbados blackbellied goats, only eight days old! There were two of them and were so cute, running and jumping around playing with each other. I hadn't been to the zoo in a very long time and had never been to this particular zoo, so it was nice to be able to go. When we got back home, we had a yummy early dinner and the mothers opened a few gifts.

Crane

Andrea with Fluffy, the
reticulated python

Andrea and I with a goat in the
petting zoo

Eight-day-old barbados blackbellied goats
with their mom, in the petting zoo

Me, Callie, and Andrea in the
prairie dog cut-outs

A prairie dog nibbling on

something

Two brown bears sleeping...one was
sleeping sitting up!

Today was Laurel's birthday. We celebrated by going out dinner at Moretti's. I had never been to this restaurant before but had heard they have the best fetticini alfredo...even better than Andrea's, which says a lot. Well, I think "the best" is a little bit of an understatement. It was seriously the best pasta of any kind that I have ever had. They make everything from scratch...even the noodles! The serving was so large that I have some in my fridge and am eagerly anticipating lunchtime tomorrow, haha. Anyway, enough about the food! We ate and gave Laurel some gifts at the restaurant, then headed back to Callie's apartment for some dessert...chocolate raspberry cheesecake we carried out from the restaurant.

Laurel, after opening the Scattergories game
I gave her. She almost bought the game a
few days before but we "convinced" her that
we didn't like the game since I had already
bought and wrapped it!

I hope to be a better blogger, but my posts may still be a little infrequent for the next for weeks while I finish up school. I keep getting hit with exam after exam, week after week and it's definitely wearing me down...and my grades are starting to show it. I keep telling myself that I just need to stay focused for another four weeks and then I can enjoy summer. I will be taking a few online classes over the summer, but it is less than half of the credit hours I am taking now and will hopefully be less difficult classes. In other news, please go check out the McNultys' blog...it's Russ, Ally, Molly, and Libby's third birthday tomorrow!

REALLY Creeped Out!

2009-04-28T01:55:00.002-04:00

I'm up late studying for an exam I have for tomorrow, and the creepiest thing just happened. I can't focus, so I decided to write this out and then hopefully I can get back to studying.

I was sitting on my futon studying for my exam and I'm talking out loud to myself to help myself understand things a little better (don't laugh...it helps!). All of a sudden, I hear something that sounds like people walking right outside my window. I live on the second story and I there is a large section of flat roof with gravel on top. Sometimes, random leaves/cans/trash gets stuck up on the roof and make weird noises, so I just dismissed it as that. A minute or two later, I hear the same noise and I decide to investigate. I moved the window fan that is in my window and saw two guys walking away from my window towards a cement overhang that connect to the other part of the building. I'm pretty sure they saw me, but since it was dark out I couldn't be sure. I also wasn't sure if they were just passing by or if they had actually been looking in my window. I just assumed that they were goofing off (as college boys often do) and were walking around on the roof because they weren't supposed to be. Well, a few minutes later I heard the same noise again. I looked out my window and saw the guys sitting on the overhang staring directly into my window! This REALLY creeped me out. I know the guys were staring into my window because when I looked out, they immediately saw me and got down fast.

I went down to the front desk of my building and reported it, but since they left there wasn't really anything they could do about it. They just told me tell them if they came back. They also said that they had the same problem last year and to make sure that I close and lock my window because a computer was stolen this way last year. My computer is right next to my window and, even though it's 75 degrees out and I don't have AC, you can bet that I will be closing and locking my window tonight! I am thoroughly creeped out!

Finally...The Weekend!

2009-04-25T02:53:00.002-04:00

Before I post on the latest and greatest, I wanted to let you all know about a contest going on over at Barking Mad. The contest is for a Visa gift card and a Harry and David gift basket including lots of chocolate-covered fruit goodies. Go check it out...or don't because that's all the better chance for me to win, haha!

So right now, my goal for each week is to make it to the weekend. Even though summer is less than two months away, it still seems so far away when you add up all the assignments, quizzes, exams, midterms, and finals I still have left to take. Each week, I have at least one exam. This week, I had three. And two quizzes. Added in was some unpleasant family drama, which is not completely over, but I will not be posting about that. Now that the weekend is here, the sun is shining (or at least it was during the day), and the temperatures are rising, I feel some relief. I know that the exams/quizzes/schoolwork will continue, but it's amazing how much the weather can affect my mood. Even if I do have piles upon piles of studying and schoolwork to do and things don't go exactly perfect, I am so happy that the weather is indicative that summer is right around the corner.

Anyway, since you can obviously tell that school has consumed my life, I don't have very much else to report. In case you were still wondering, I finally called and got the results of my thyroid bloodwork...normal! What kind of peeves me though, is that I was supposed to get the results back on Monday and since I didn't hear anything by Friday, I thought I would call the doctor. So the doctor returned my call later that afternoon, and she said "Oh, thanks for reminding me to check on your lab results. I looked in the computer for them on Monday, but the lab hadn't put them in the system yet and I forgot to check back later for them. Good thing you called!" She better be thanking her lucky stars that my results came back normal because....what if they didn't? What would she have done if my results didn't come back normal, if they indicated something was really wrong? What if I needed immediate medical attention, or at least immediate medication and she wasted almost an entire week just because she "forgot" to check on some results? Now, I may be overreacting here, but it just really rubbed me the wrong way, especially because she just brushed it off and didn't even apologize! Now, I know that maybe I should have called sooner, but in my defense I just assumed that no news was good news. Most doctors' offices (or at least those that I have encountered) will usually not call you if your rest results come back negative, but this doctor had called me when my mono results came back negative so I figured she would do the same for the thyroid results. Anyways, I think I had a weird kind of virus that, coupled with my poor sleeping habits, made me very fatigued. Plus, the fact that the my symptoms occured around the same time that the lump in my armpit appeared, I just got worried.

On another note, please pray for MckMama's Stellan. Stellan underwent risky heart surgery earlier in the week, but is still having heart problems. I remain optimistic that the doctors can keep his SVT (his heart condition) under control with medication so that they can fly home to be with the rest of their family.

I hear that almost everybody across the country has been having good weather, so I hope that everybody thoroughly enjoys their weekend. Tomorrow is Ohio State's spring game and it's supposed to be 82 degrees at kickoff!

Easter 2009

2009-04-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

For Easter this year, my dad, sisters, and I were all able to join my uncle and grandma at my grandma's house in Delaware. As I mentioned in my last post, it is very rare that all of us can coordinate our schedules to take a trip to Delaware (even if it was only for a few days)...in fact, it had been a few years since my sisters and I had seen my grandma and uncle! Even though the trip was short, it was nice to be able to visit with each other. My sisters and I flew in on Friday evening and since it was pretty late by the time we got there, we didn't really do that much except for scarf down some pizza and chat. On Saturday, we just hung around the house and played cards and worked on homework. That evening, we went to Easter vigil mass and came home to play May-I (a Keegan family card game favorite). On Easter, we exchanged various Easter baskets/candy and played some more cards, and basically just hung out and enjoyed each other's company. We had our big Easter ham dinner very early so that Amanda and Liz could leave for the airport on time. Monday morning consisted of trying to study and helping my grandma with a few things around the house. My dad and I flew back Monday afternoon. Like I said, the visit was short and we didn't really do that much, but it was good to spend time with everyone and enjoy a low-key Easter weekend. As I was looking through pictures on my computer last week, I found this picture of Liz and I on Easter in 1989. I was such a bald baby! I'm not really sure why Liz was holding balloons.

Longest Week Ever

2009-04-16T23:30:00.003-04:00

It certainly has felt like the longest week ever. I'm not really sure why, except maybe because I have been so busy, have had a lot of studying to do, and have been completely exhausted? I meant to post a quick post before I left for Delaware last Friday with my mono test results, but I obviously didn't get a chance to. I don't have mono...yay! Except for that means that the doctor doesn't have an explanation for my exhaustion and nightly low-grade fevers, night sweats, and nausea. When she called with the mono results last Friday, she said that she wanted to run a thyroid test on my bloodwork also and that the results would be in on Monday. She never called and I thought that maybe no news was good news, but I'm going to call tomorrow just to make sure. The good news is that the lump in my armpit, that was the cause for the doctor's appointment in the first place, is practically gone now (well, okay I was also concerned about my over exhaustion and other symptoms as well).

In other news, I am busy busy busy! But, I'm sure you could tell that by my lack of posting and the fact that I have already previously stated that previously numerous times. Due to the crazy classes I am taking this quarter, I have at least one exam and one quiz every week and most weeks, I have more than that. Just this week, I had two exams and two quizzes and next week, I have three exams and one quiz. I am living for the summer at this point! The thought of taking only one online class this summer sounds like pure bliss.

For those of you who don't visit my ScrapBlog Designs by Hilary blog site regularly, please check it out and vote in my poll. The last two weeks of every month, I will be holding a poll to see who the Cause of the Month will be for the next month. There will be three causes to choose from and the one that receives the most votes will receive a donation at the end of the next month. Five dollars from every blog layout purchased during that month will go towards the donation, as well as any other random donations I receive that month. I am really enthusiastic about this and hope that we can positively impact a lot of causes, so I would love to have involvement from others by voting in the polls, suggestion future causes, donating, etc. Okay, that's the end of my plug. Please check it out!

Exhausted

2009-04-09T23:21:00.002-04:00

That one word pretty much sums up my life right now. It's the reason why I have been barely posting lately (or at least less than usual because, let's be honest...I don't post that much in the first place). I am definitely not doing any SSD challenges this month, except for the one FOBTY challenge I did last week, because I simply don't have time. I knew my schedule was going to be crazy, but I foolishly forgot that there are only 24 hours in a day and I need to be asleep for 8 of them in order to function properly for the remaining 16 that I am awake. Actually, I have been a lot better about getting to bed earlier ~~and taking naps every day~~ but it just doesn't seem to help. Even given my crazy schedule, I actually think that I am much more exhausted than I should be and for that reason, coupled with a few other symptoms, I saw the doctor today. She seems to think that I may have Mono or something else, so she sent me to the lab (where poked me numerous times before calling in the specialist) to get blood drawn. The results should be back sometime tomorrow. Wouldn't that be just my luck if I had Mono?

Anyway, my purpose wasn't to whine and complain. I'm excited because tomorrow I will be flying out east to visit with my grandma, uncle, dad, and sisters for the Easter weekend. Due to many factors, I haven't seen my grandmother or uncle in a few years, so it will definitely be good to see them. It is also pretty rare that my sisters' schedules allow for all three of us to spend time together often, so I am really looking forward to spending time with everybody together this weekend.

Okay, I still need to pack and I really need some sleep, so this will have to be it for now!

April 2nd FOBTY Challenge

2009-04-02T23:34:00.006-04:00

Are you on Facebook? Have you made a "Top 5"? If you are on Facebook, you have probably seen people posting their top 5 sports teams, movies, tv shows, etc. Well, this week's FOBTY challenge asks for us to post about our top five shows that we have seen every episode (or close to it). I actually make my Top 5 TV shows a few days ago on facebook and here is what I chose:

1. Grey's Anatomy

2. Friends

3. Jon & Kate Plus Eight

4. Desperate Housewives

5. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

I can safely say I have seen every episode of Grey's Anatomy, Friends, and Jon & Kate Plus Eight and I have only missed a few episodes of Desperate Housewives. I haven't seen close to all of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, but I love that show and watch it whenever possible. What's your

End Of Spring Break

2009-03-29T23:25:00.004-04:00

I can't believe that spring break is already over! Like I said in my last post, I pretty much just relaxed at home, caught up on my sleep, and did a little shopping. On Saturday, my mom, Amanda, and I went to visit Liz (hi Liz!) in Champaign. Her boyfriend Jason was there, so we were able to meet him also. Unfortunately, this is what the second half of the drive to Champaign looked like:

It started raining a lot harder after that picture was taken. When we got to Liz's apartment, we tried out her new Wii. I had never played or even seen anybody else play a Wii before, and it was pretty fun! We had such a good time that we ended up playing various games on the Wii for a lot of the time we were there.

That evening, we all went out to dinner at Chili's...yum! After dinner, we headed back home because I had to get up early today.

I started my journey back to Columbus this morning and I finally got back to my dorm at 7:30pm. I had to take an early train into Chicago, since they don't run as often on Sundays. I knew I would have to wait about an hour in Union Station before going to the MegaBus bus stop. However I didn't know that I would also have to wait 45 minutes in the snow/rain/slush, soaking my shoes and socks. For those of you who don't know, Chicago got about 7 inches of snow today...and I was right in the middle of it this morning! It was a wet kind of snow though, so it really felt like it was raining instead of snowing. Anyway, the street that the bus stops on was closed and so everybody had to walk a block and a half with all their suitcases and stuff so that the bus could pick us up. Sounds simple, right? Well, the bus ended up going to the closed street (not sure how exactly it got onto the street), and then it came to where we were. We ended up leaving a half hour late. Then, about 10 minutes after we left, we discovered the heat wasn't working on the back half of the bus. We stopped for another 15 minutes to fix the heat and then we were on our way. We never made up time, but we didn't get any more behind either. The bus was also very crowded. Okay, I'm done complaining now lol.

Well, I better get to bed. I have class in 7 1/2 hours!

March 26th FOBTY Challenge

2009-03-26T23:43:00.002-04:00

With all the boom of Facebook, Twitter, and old school MySpace, today's FOBTY challenge asked us to take a quiz to see which social site best fit our personality. Here's what the quiz said about me:

You Are Facebook

You are social, outgoing, and excited to connect to your friends.

You are interested in your friends' lives, and you enjoy adding your opinion to the mix.

While you enjoy sharing online, you don't want everyone to know your business.

You value your privacy. Your life is an open book to those you know but not to strangers.

Are You Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter?

I think this is pretty accurate, especially the overall fact that I was best matched to Facebook. Through the years, I first started out on MySpace, migrated to Facebook, and most recently I signed up for a Twitter account. However, I have always had a preference for Facebook and use it the most often. What's your favorite social site?

Mid Spring Break Update

2009-03-25T23:59:00.000-04:00

Well okay, the title really should say "Four More Days Until the Quarter From Hell," but I'm trying to avoid thinking about the fast approaching first day of classes and am focusing on soaking up the last few days I have left of spring break. And, wow, has spring break gone by fast! I haven't updated since last week because there really hasn't been much to update on.

Babysitting went well. It was very hard and VERY tiring, but it went well. It sort of felt like Friday evening, Saturday, and half of Sunday all ran together. The girls were very well behaved (especially for getting their molars in!) and even though I did have to deal with a few minor meltdowns and some runny noses, everything went very smoothly. Thankfully, the weather warm all weekend and it didn't rain as forecasted, so we were able to get out of the house both days for walks and trips to the park. When I got home on Sunday evening, I took a long nap, a nice warm shower, and ate dinner without having to cut up little pieces for two other people lol! Oh, and I slept very well Sunday night.

This week I have just been hanging around the house, running errands, and getting various things done that I have put off until now. One of those things was registering for the GED. I am all signed up and am going to take the GED at the end of May. Although, I'm contemplating changing my date and time to be able to take it at home this summer. I already know that my school schedule is going to be very hectic this quarter and I won't have very much time to prepare for the test. I would really like to have a high enough score that I don't need to retake the test but if I do, I want to be able to leave time to retake it this summer. Has anybody ever taken the GED before and have a suggestion for me about this? I'm leaning towards rescheduling my test for the end of June/beginning of July and then if I need to retake it, I guess I can always retake it the end of August/beginning of September.

I'm not really sure if anybody cares, but I obviously haven't caught up with my SSD challenges yet. I'm pretty sure that it will take me until next Tuesday (end of the month) to get caught up, so I am just going to post them all then. If I get them all done before then, then great....but if not, then oh well.

I just made banana bread muffins and they just about done cooling, so I'm off to taste-test one!