About me

I stole this from a friend's blog (Kim). She stole it from another friend. I thought it was cute -- and it will give you a chance to learn a bit about me!

I am: a child of God, a fiancée, a paramedic

I think: in totally random thoughts

I know: I'm excited about getting married in 47 days and a handful of hours!

I have: the most amazing fiancé ever!

I wish: I was done with school for forever. 

I hate: having bad calls at work. I don't like seeing people hurt.

I miss: the beach. I haven't been in several years.

I fear: hearing strange noises when I'm alone at night 

March Madness is over...but it sure doesn't look like April out there

Yesterday, the final game of what is known as "March Madness" concluded. From what I watched of the game, it was pretty bad, and by bad, I mean pathetic. By the half, Butler had a mere 22 points while Connecticut had only 19. By the conclusion, Connecticut had 53 points, enough to triumph over Butler who had only 41. Connecticut's score beats only 11 teams (UT-San Antonio: 46, St. Peter's: 43, Texas A&M: 50, Hampton: 45, Tennessee: 45, Bucknell: 52, North Colorado: 50, UNC-Asheville: 51, UC-Santa Barbara: 51, University of Alabama: 52, USC: 46)  in different games throughout the tournament, from round 1 through the championship game. It tied one other (Boston University). Butler, however, managed to have the lowest score of the tournament, period. (It was not the lowest scoring team in the history of the tournament games, however. That award would go to none other than UNC-Chapel Hill in 1941 with a score of 20. Since the shot clock was introduced, the lowest scoring team was Mississippi Valley State with a score of 29 against UCLA in 2008.) So, as I said, it was rather pathetic to see these 2 teams, supposedly the top 2 in the country, would play so poorly. The score definitely reflect that.


As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was asked to participate in the completion of brackets for the tournament games by my fiancé's family. Out of the six of us, I did not place last. I was nowhere near first either. Overall, fifth place. For my first year of doing it, I was pleased. Maybe I'll improve next year if I do it again...


Leaving March Madness should mean that it's April, right? Well, when I looked outside my window this morning and saw snow falling from the sky, I had to seriously question that. Yesterday was quite beautiful! Sun, breeze, warm -- the lovely combination that is known as spring. Today, cold, snowy, windy -- the ugly combination that we call winter. Ugh. I'm ready for this stuff to be done. I am ready for some nice, warm weather that gives a gentle breeze to keep it from getting too hot. And no rain...not at home, anyway, until after Saturday. Bridal portraits coming up. Don't want to have it wet out there!


As for now, I need to finish getting myself ready for my long day of class. 4 weeks from today, classes will be finished and exams will be over after my last one at 6pm. Can't wait to be done! (And 8 weeks from Saturday...wedding!! :-) )

Common courtesy goes a long way

This week, I have seen numerous people on crutches. I don't know what happened over spring break to these folks but they were apparently having too much fun. So much fun that they came back to school with foot, ankle or leg injuries. I, personally, feel sorry for those people (unless, of course, they did something ridiculously stupid...then it's their fault). While I was in high school, I was on crutches for 4 1/2 months. It was no fun. At all. And, at that point, I only had relatively flat ground to cover. Here, they have hills...big hills and stairs...lots of stairs. I can only imagine how miserable they might be climbing all the hills and stairs.

Here's something else I've seen: these folks riding the bus and having to stand, balancing on one leg and 2 crutches as the bus climbs hills and makes less-than-smooth starts, stops and turns. I have been a late-comer on the bus each of these times and had to stand myself (an adventure when you can stand on both legs) so I had no seat to offer to these people. These people are wobbly and bumping (or half-way hopping) into the people who are seated as they try to maintain their balance and not fall on those seated or standing around them. Each time I have seen this, the people who are sitting stare at the one hobbling around on the crutches and as the injured one apologizes to the ones they bump into, these people continue to stare and say "oh, that's fine"...and refuse to offer their seat.

Old Disney movies

I love watching old Disney films. I, often times, enjoy animated films more than live action movies. Here are some of my favorite animated classics from my childhood:

• Fantasia (1940)
• Cinderella (1950)
• Alice in Wonderland (1951)
• One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
• The Aristocats (1970)
• The Little Mermaid (1989)
• Beauty and the Beast (1991)
• Aladdin (1992)
• The Lion King (1994)

See a theme here? Lots of princesses and animals.

Random thoughts strung together

I have a bunch of random thoughts that were running through my head last night during my insomnia run -- and some are still running through my mind today. So, I'll share them with you in a bulleted fashion. (Warning: one thought is not guaranteed to flow nicely into the next. You have been forewarned.)

• When Jon and I get married, we have planned to take pictures prior to the ceremony so that we are not away from the reception for hours while we get all those necessary family pictures. This being the case, there will be a "reveal" that takes place between him and I. This will be his first chance to see me all dressed up in my gown, with my hair done and my face all made up. It will also be my first chance to see my soon-to-be husband that day -- and I couldn't get that out of my mind as I was trying to sleep last night. I was trying to imagine what his face is going to look like when he sees me. I was trying to imagine a scenario that I didn't cry in. I was trying to imagine myself with the gown and my hair/make up all done...in other words, imagine myself as a bride. I've seen the dress on me. I think I know how I want my hair. But, I haven't seen all that together. I'm rather excited to be able to see it all together. So, that was something I was thinking about (and if something was going to run through my mind and not let me sleep, I'm okay with that being it).

The value of sleep

Over the last couple of weeks, I have re-realized the importance of sleep. Being up in the middle of the night doesn't bother me all that much...when I'm getting paid for it (just please make sure you really need an ambulance -- I have zero tolerance for stupidity at 3 am).


For several years, I've had on-and-off problems with insomnia but they haven't really kicked up until I got back to school for my final undergraduate semester. I'm guessing that it's a combination of the stress of my final semester and the work of planning a wedding that have caused it to resurface with a vengeance. I have ended up collapsing on the couch and watching a movie more often than I have slept in my bed over the last few weeks.


So, in light of this, I decided to take a look at the necessary function and the usefulness of that blissful thing called sleep.


First, a few definitions:

• Basal sleep need -- the amount of sleep that our bodies need on a regular basis for optimal performance
• Sleep debt -- the accumulated sleep that is lost due to poor sleep habits, sickness and awakenings due to environmental factors or other causes

Random facts

I felt like sharing some random facts today. Enjoy!

• The risk for heart attack is the highest on Mondays.
• It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 muscles to frown.
• A square inch of human skin contains about 20 feet of blood vessels.
• Humans shed about 1.5 pounds of skin per year. By the age of 70, the average human has shed 105 pounds of skin.
• If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
• The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

School diversity

There has been a long-standing policy in the Wake County Public School System (where I received most of my education until my high school graduation) to obtain diversity. This, for several years, has meant that children are bussed all over the county in order to create an atmosphere in the schools that balances socioeconomic standings throughout the school. This means that some students are on the bus for more than an hour both going to and coming from school...just so that "rich" kids and "poor" kids are mixed in the schools.

There are several reasons that I disagree with this:

If I could live anywhere in the world

I have been told by someone (*cough cough* my boyfriend *cough cough*) that I have not blogged since Monday and that it is time for me to post something new. So, going to a random topic generator, I have come up with this topic for this post: if I could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I don't have a geographic place that I can point to and say "yes! That's where I want to live." What I can do it give you the characteristics of my ideal place to live:

• Moderate temperatures -- I don't like 90 and 100 degree weather and I don't like when it gets below freezing in October and there's a threat of snow. If I could live somewhere that had a year-round temperature between 50 and 70, I would like that.
• Nearby beach -- I like the beach. I would like to live where I could easily access it, preferably in less than an hour.
• Nearby mountains -- I enjoy the mountains and being able to escape to some cooler weather every now and again. Maybe an hour to be able to get there too.
• Suburban/semi-rural life -- I do not like living in a rural country area with nothing nearby. I would be pleased with having a bit of land for my house to sit on but I want to be able to access the convenience of a town with amenities.

I think that's all I can really come up with right now. But it's a good start for where I want to live. Now, if only I can find it...

The point of exhaustion

I think I've reached it...and I still have 4 1/2 weeks to go in my semester. I just hope this doesn't mean that I'm getting sick.

See, this past weekend, I drove home and worked a mere 12 hour shift. There was nothing special about the shift (unless you count visiting Central Prison "special"). It wasn't really busy by normal standards for a downtown shift. I went home not being tired. Slept both Friday and Saturday night very well...even got an extra hour of sleep on Saturday night. Then, I drove back to Boone on Sunday afternoon. However, on the drive back, I got unusually tired. I remained tired throughout the evening. I slept throughout the night very solidly and woke up still tired. I was up for maybe 2 hours before I fell asleep on the couch for a nap (about 2 hours worth). And then, I went to class...and tried to fall asleep. And then, I went to take a test...and we'll see how that went.

And now, it's not even 7pm...and I think I'm going to head off to bed. Good night.

My 15 minutes of fame

So, in EMS, we rarely see the press during any of our calls. Why? Well, usually whatever has happened is something bad that requires us to get the patient(s) out and to the hospital as quickly as possible. They have never beat us (or at least me) to a scene...except once about a year and a half ago...

As the story goes, there was a shooting in a rather rough neighborhood where I work. I show up with two ambulances, a chase car, a supervisor the medical director and clinical affairs chief in tow. Of course, we had the fire department there and the police department (they were marching around with fire arms strapped around their body...very intimidating (I'm glad I'm on their) side. There were the usual bystanders there trying to figure out what was going on. But there was someone else there...the press. Not just one news crew...but 2. And some people taking still photographs. It was a party and I felt like I was running late.

Which way would you want to die?

I think of lots of things like this...which can feel very morbid and creep out other people, specifically my friends, if I were to talk about it. Fortunately, they have learned about this morbid sense of humor I have developed and tolerate it...to a point. Anyway...

I have witnessed a few different ways to die. What crosses my mind is, if I had a choice, how would I choose to die? Not so much the cause of my death (cardiac arrest, cancer, etc..) but the pace at which death happens. I'm going to discuss what I feel are "pros" and "cons" to dying each of these ways.

1. Instant death (seconds) -- the positive behind this is little no suffering. I'm not a big fan of pain so this aspect of it is rather appealing. However, there is no chance to tell those you love "good bye." Although I am a huge proponent of not leaving things unsaid that you will regret not having said if you don't have the chance, I am not sure I would be too pleased if I didn't get that final chance to say "I love you." (Of course, if this is my death, I won't live to regret or be upset over either of these.)

Email etiquette

Here's another pet peeve alert...

There are certain things that I think are more than fair to expect when you receive an email from a business...or from any one for that matter.

1. Use some kind of subject heading! I want it to be descriptive enough that I know what it's about before I read it (but don't put your whole message in the subject line either). For example (this is one for the academic world), when you, a student, send a message to another student in your class or to your professor, you need to start the subject line with what the course name and number are (and for your professor, use your section number) and then a general description of what the email is about. Something like this will suffice: "ENG 1000 - group project". I know what class it is for and what it's about.
2. USE CAPITAL LETTERS...when appropriate. don't just type like this without capitalizing the first letter in the sentence or proper names. ALSO, DON'T TYPE LIKE THIS. I FEEL LIKE YOU ARE YELLING AT ME. 
3. Use correct punctuation. Please remember to use commas, apostrophes and periods as appropriate. It makes it easier to read when the correct punctuation is in place.

My annual tradition

So, yesterday was my birthday. I don't like birthdays, specifically mine. I enjoy celebrating the birthdays of others...but not mine. I hate being the center of attention. I really don't like it. However, with every year comes another birthday. It has become this sort of annual tradition.

This year was a pretty good one. I made it clear I didn't want groups of people singing to me or putting me at the center of attention for every one around. And, I got exactly what I wanted: a nice and quiet birthday. Jon sang to me...but that was it. And I'm okay with that. No one made an excessively big deal over it. Just the way I like it.

Here's a look over the past year...

This last year has been absolutely wonderful! I finished my first term up at Appalachian just a few short weeks after my birthday. I enjoyed my time in Boone a lot (although one might not know that because I went home just about every weekend that first semester). I came back for Christmas break to my wonderful boyfriend (and that's why I came home most of those weekends...) and he got to meet my family. He accepted them for their craziness and strangeness (he may have a better understanding as to my quirkiness now).

How to solve boredom

I'm sitting at home this morning bored.

Why?

Well, there are several potential reasons. First, I completed the film that I needed to watch for film class and it was rather boring. I have another one to watch and know that it will also be terrible so I'm not going to put myself through that right now. Second (I might should have stated this first), I'm home because I have no morning classes today. It's a nice change not to have to be up at the crack of dawn...but I am anyway. I think I'll be back to morning classes across the board next semester. These evening classes are annoying. Lastly, I might be procrastinating and thus am bored because I'm not being productive. (*Hint* All of the above are likely true.)

So, how to cure boredom. I often struggle with finding this cure. As a paramedic, I don't usually do well with down time. I find things to do. When I'm at work, I stir up trouble when I get too bored (or I take a nap -- either works). I like the busyness. I like to have things to do. So, here are things I do when I'm bored:

1. Write a blog post. Of course, something interesting must come to mind (or, I at least hope it is interesting).
2. Craft. This is one of my favorite things to do...of all time. In my past, I have made jewelry, cards, Christmas ornaments and done scrapbooking. About 6 months ago, I started knitting. I need to get back on the scarf that I started. It is only about 12 inches long and that will not do me much good as the weather is turning colder now.
3. Cook or bake. Also something I really enjoy (and Jon seems to enjoy me cooking -- seems to be one of my uses). I am slowly expanding my repertoire of foods and recipes. 
4. Write a letter. Someone would love to get one and it's fun to keep in touch with old friends.
5. Read a book. I'm not much of a reader but every now and again I get in the mood to read a book.
6. Do a puzzle. Do something that will challenge the brain. An example: Sudoku puzzles or word puzzles.

How to create a proper PowerPoint

***Pet peeve alert!!***

I am currently working on a group project entitled "Revisiting History" for my film class (much worse than it sounds, believe me). And, though I could make a post about how much I dislike the class and how boring it is, that is not the point of this post. This point of this particular post is that for this project, I am working with (for the most part) one other person (and I use the term "working with" loosely because she is not exactly working in a cooperative fashion -- another post in itself) to research historical films, both "period films" and documentary style films. As a part of this, we are to give a presentation and put together some form of visual aide to help while giving this presentation. Because our schedules are very opposite, we were working through email and I was the one who put the starting PowerPoint presentation together and sent it to her to see what she thought. She thought it "looked great!" My presentation made "points" and would allow us to expand upon them during the actual presentation. She took it and then added long phrases and sentences and compressed the words so tightly that all that you can see on the screen are words. Upon explaining to her the my concerns with the revisions she made to the PowerPoint, her response was "well, that's what all the other groups have done."

As my mother always told my brother (I was the good child): "just because everyone else is doing it, doesn't mean you should do it." (Or, her favorite: "just because someone jumps off a bridge doesn't mean you should.")

So, here are some of the key things to keep in mind when making a PowerPoint presentation (or any visual presentation):

Trouble sleeping?

I have been told by a certain someone that I have not blogged for a whole 3 days (*gasps*) and that they think I should blog about something. However, I informed them that I did not have anything that I did not feel like blogging about. But...I came up with something -- I will blog about something they have been having trouble with: difficulty sleeping.

So, let me ask the rest of you: do you have trouble sleeping? I'm going to assume you do, or have, at some point in your life. We all do. At some point, we go through periods of time when we cannot sleep well. Either we can't get to sleep or can't stay asleep once we get there. And it becomes very frustrating. Often times, we become grumpy, grouchy and people begin to avoid us during this time because they really don't have any desire to be around us. 

So, why is this that we have this trouble? Here are some common reasons:

- aging

- anxiety / stress

- bedroom that does not promote sleep

- medical conditions

- medications

- napping during the day

- psychological conditions

- shift work

- sleep habits

- stimulants (examples: nicotine, caffeine, food, drugs -- legal or otherwise)

Good bye summer, hello fall!

September 21 is the last day of summer. That makes tomorrow, September 22, the first day of fall. And, unfortunately, because I live in Boone, this means that winter is closer than ever. If you were to know me, you were to know I do not like this. I prefer the heat (to a point, anyway) and I greatly prefer to stay away from the cold. So, as the cold approaches, here are a few things that you may hear me refer to or reminisce about over the next few months (or the next 8 or 9 months, since the winter cold months are long here).

These things I will miss:

Ice cream

Flip flops

Sunshine!

These things I do not look forward to:

If I were to invent something...

Today, as I was making lunch (orange-rosemary chicken...very delicious), I was getting frustrated with the cookie sheet that I was using as the sides of the pan began to kick up and warp under the heat. It would not have bothered me except for:

1) there was liquid in the pan that the chicken was being cooked with (and was moving around in the pan as I was pulling it in and out of the oven)

2) the liquid was greatly complicating things as it was a) hot and b) the pan was warped

I was explaining my frustrations to Jon, for whom I was also cooking this meal for. He suggested that I should invent a pan that does not warp under heat.

I think it's brilliant! I should do it. However, I do not have the know-how to do this kind of thing. This is not the first (nor will it be the last) time that I have had this issue. I made a quiche for dinner on Friday night. I placed the pie crust onto a baking sheet and it, again, warped under the heat and rendered and uneven top to the quiche, which I was disappointed with.

So, if I were to invent something, I would invent a baking sheet that does not warp under heat. As I continue to spend more time in the kitchen, or in the world of EMS (or the "real world), I may discover something else that I think should be invented. If I come across it, I shall share it with you and maybe someone who has the know-how of how such a thing should be created will read this and can do it. All I ask is that I get some of the credit (and, of course, some of the royalties ;) ).

Fire alarms

I feel like complaining about fire alarms.

Saturday night, my (absolutely wonderful) boyfriend cooked a delicious meal for us. As he was making final preparations on the meal before it was served, the fire alarm started going off. My fire alarm (which makes it go off for the whole building).

Why, might you ask? Well, I don't know. There was no smoke in the apartment, just some minor steam that was floating above the stove top. Nothing more. It was a little on the warm side in the apartment, more humid than anything. But it still went off...for several minutes. I climbed a stool (quite the site, I am certain) to press the button to make it stop squawking. When I would let go, it would start squawking again. Finally, after opening the windows and shooing in the clear, cool air from outside, the alarm ceased.

However, last night about 12:30am, the alarm went off again (not mine this time, but somewhere in the building it was going off and made all the alarms go off). I was studying for my exam in chemistry that I had this morning when it went off. I got myself dressed in some real clothes that could keep me warm in the crisp night air and gathered some entertainment (iPod Touch), my phone, my wallet and keys before marching outside to stand in the parking lot and wait for the fire department to arrive and give the all-clear sign (that took a while too -- much longer than it should have. I'll say this, (I believe this is a national standard) chute times should be less than 90 seconds at night -- this exceeded that. I contemplated crawling in the car to stay warm but toughed it out. Finally got back upstairs close to 1am and decided God was telling me to go to bed (my concentration was interrupted by the alarm, thus it was bedtime).

And, yet again today, 4:45pm-ish the alarm went off. Again. I was getting ready to leave anyway so I finished gathering my things and walked to the car and left.

Hopefully this problem of an over-reactive fire alarm system will be fixed soon. I would like to get some sleep this week seeing that it is the last week of class. It is more of a nuisance than anything but if I have to have the system over-reactive or under-reactive, I would (fortunately or not) chose to have it over-reactive.