Slow blogging month

It has (quite obviously) been a slow blogging month for me. It is not for a lack of things going on, that's for sure. I have been busy with school and packing and wedding stuff. It has been a busy month to say the least. We'll start with the first weekend of the month:

I dragged my fiancé back to where we will be living in a few months. It's "home"...sort of. It's where both of us spent the majority of our time growing up. It's where our parents and most of our friends live. But, it's not really "home" right now. Boone is our home, for now. (That changes in a few and short 3 weeks.) Anyway, Friday was an all around good day. I spent time with my wonderful fiancé. We went to see the "new" Narnia movie since it was at the $1.50 theatre. It was good -- quite a few laughs from it. I really enjoyed it. We also went for dinner at Chipotle, one of Jon's favorites restaurants. I quite like it too. For that weekend, I also found myself working for a whole 24-hour period. The day wasn't too bad of a shift...until about 11am. We didn't run a single call throughout the first 4 hours. I got myself a little nap in there (which was of great benefit later that day). Then, everything broke loose. There were structure fires and cardiac arrests everywhere. I found myself working a structure fire at a nursing home. We have jokingly talked about how this particular one should be burnt to the ground. Well, a portion of it tried. Something in the laundry room (presumably the dryer) caught on fire. Thankfully someone had the forethought to build the laundry room as a separate building from the main nursing home. However, as this building has a U-shape to it, they did put the laundry room in the middle of the U. The day was super-windy and we were worried that the wind might make the fire jump to the main structure. It didn't and the fire department got it under control rather quickly. The rest of my day was pretty much steady straight through until 6am the next morning. That was pretty much the extent of that weekend.

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!! :-) )

70 days and counting....

70 days from today, a mere 10 weeks, I will be a married woman! It is kinda scary (in a good way) to think about it.......but so incredibly exciting! We continue to make progress in planning for the big event. The hope is that 2 weeks from now, there will be beautiful weather in the Raleigh area (praying for a fabulous day) so that I can get my bridal portraits taken (really excited about that!). We are still making progress of solidifying our housing once we're married. I have now officially been released from my lease obligations here in Boone as of May 1. That is exceptionally exciting -- at the most, we'll be paying 2 rents at a time if Jon is unable to find someone to sublease. (Even then, he is paid up through the end of his lease -- so it's already taken care of.)

School is moving along. 6 weeks from today, I will be a college graduate which, let me tell you, is a wonderful feeling at this point. Less than 5 weeks of class remaining plus a few days of exams are all that stand between me and finishing undergrad! Mixed in there will be two relatively involved papers, a few exams, lots of busy work (that's all thanks to one class) and MOVING (I hate moving...lots). However,

I have made significant progress on one of the papers, of which the first draft is not due for nearly 2 weeks (highly unusual for me). The "funny" part of this that I used the paper to procrastinate other homework and studying. Ironic, isn't it?

Looking ahead...

I have yet to complete my second degree (but my first bachelor's degree); however, I am looking ahead to determine what it is that I am going to do with my life from work, to the possibility of continuing school, to getting married (that's already determined)...to whatever else may come. I'm a planner. And, because of that, I like to know what's coming up. No surprises.

Yesterday, I filled out my application for graduate school. Just about anyone who has heard I am looking at continuing my education at graduate school has made the remark that they think I'm crazy. I have been in school (college level) every semester since the spring of 2005. Honestly, yes, I'm tired of school. However, I know me and I know that if I quit school now, I may never go back. So, the next logical question is: what are you going to grad. school for?

That's easy. Teaching. The program I have chosen, after a lot of deliberation and searching, is a Masters of Art in Teaching with my specialization area being in elementary education. My associate's degree is in EMS and my bachelor's degree will be in psychology. That knowledge being known, the logical question that follows is: why not pursue a degree furthering one of those degrees?

Thoughts on my classes...

So, prior to coming back to school, I laid out my course schedule for my final semester of undergraduate study and promised to let you know how I thought the semester would go. As I am halfway through the fourth week of the semester, I thought it was time to fulfill that promise.

Child and adolescent psychology -- this class, so far, is really fun! I am learning a lot about development throughout childhood...both psychological and physical. This class is a fair amount of work, but nothing I wouldn't expect for a 4000-level capstone course. We have to write a paper based on a 12-hour volunteer experience. Last week, I completed all 12 hours of my volunteering which was a huge thing to get completed seeing as I expect this semester to get very busy with both school work and finishing all the wedding stuff.

Health and fitness -- oh...my...goodness. This class is ridiculously boring. I feel like the know-it-all in there. The instructor tries to elicit responses from the class...and nobody answers but me. (I do give them a fair chance to respond before I chime in.) Jon suggested that I talk to him and see if he'll give me the final exam and not have to go to class anymore. (Nice thought, but it likely won't work.) To be fair, if I didn't have my medical background, I would not find this class as easy.

Principles of learning -- this is quite the interesting class. I have learned a lot about conditioning and the learning process for different things, both conscious and unconscious. We have our first exam in this class next Tuesday...so hopefully that will turn out well.

State and local government -- I am not particularly enjoying this class. I, and most of my classmates, feel like our instructor gives an unreasonable amount of work for the course. We have sheets to turn in every day at the beginning of class and sometimes are given sheets to do during class (during lecture...no specific time to do it) as well as at least a quiz a week. It's a little crazy, I feel. I have had 3000- and 4000- level classes that require less work. She is also a terrible lecturer. It's not like she's new at it either -- but she is pretty bad and difficult to listen to.

US and Canadian geography -- this has been an informative class. My instructor is has a plethora of degrees and a wealth of knowledge to share with us on a variety of subjects. I am really learning a lot and he genuinely wants us to learn about the things he is trying to teach us.

One thing I have learned over the last few weeks is that if I have any children, I will be either a terrible mother or a really good one. I will be so overprotective (as in, "oh my goodness...they're not ______ properly") or just apathetic (as in, "meh, they'll outgrow it") with their developmental and physical changes. If this happens (the "having kids" part), we shall see if I'm overprotective, apathetic...or somewhere in the middle.

Welcome back to Boone!

Jon and I made the trip to head back to Boone yesterday in preparation for the new semester to begin on Monday. We were greeted by some not-so-lovely white stuff falling from the sky, already on the ground and trying desperately to stick to the roads (it eventually did but it allowed us to get each of us home and make a grocery run). I told Jon I might not be so upset over more snow had we not had the 8+ inches back home over break. In some ways (mostly through that and the ice event the first day we were back), I feel like I didn't even leave Boone. The positive side is that it's pretty. :)

Outside the front door of my apartment.

When I went to bed last night, that pavement
was black and there wasn't any snow on the cars.

So, classes are scheduled to start on Monday. I'm not sure if that will happen or not. The next 6 days have snow on the forecast and, apparently, the first few days of this (i.e.: through Tuesday) are supposed to bring us a big storm with lots of snow fall. I know the AppalCart is not running today (though I haven't been outside to look at the road conditions). If AppalCart doesn't run, the campus doesn't open for classes because so many (most off-campus) students rely on AppalCart to get them to and from campus. I told Dad before we left that I'm not sure if we should even head up to Boone because I'm not sure how much class-ification will be occurring this week. He, being the "voice of reason", said that it's good to be up there just to be prepared.

11 days and counting...

As I sit here, I can't help but to think that school starts in just 11 days. And in just 11 days, I will begin the final semester of my undergraduate career! Now that is exciting! I have the lightest course load I have ever had in college this semester: 14 credit hours. Here's what I'm taking...

• Principles of Learning -- A psychology class about the basics of learned behaviors and the learning process.
• Child and Adolescent Psychology -- Another psychology class that looks at the psychological, physical, cognitive and social development of children from birth through their adolescence period.
• Health and Fitness -- This is one of those "required" classes for physical education...the good thing is I should be quite good with most of the stuff (according to Jon, who has already taken that class).
• US and Canada -- That's what it's called. It's a geography class and I think that will serve me very well in my future career endeavors.
• State and Local Government -- This, along with the geography class, completes the requirements for my concentration (social sciences). I think this will also serve me well in my future career endeavors.

And that's my final semester in a nut-shell. The way my schedule works, I don't have class before 11am and I don't have any Friday classes! :) I will likely be continuing research in "Fat Talk" with the head of the graduate department for psychology. I'm looking forward to that, as well.

Once I get through my first classes, I'll give you an update on how I think the semester will go. Until then, I'll enjoy the thought that my final semester will be a very easy one and I'll breeze right through to graduation in May! :)

Christmas break!

Well, it's finally here! Christmas break! It came two days later than expected (thankyouverymuch snow/ice/stupid winter weather to push exams back two days). BUT...it's now here. I got home (I still call the Raleigh area "home" even though I really feel like I just come here to visit and Boone is truly my home) Wednesday evening after Jon finally finished his last exam (:-P). Thanks to my professors, I finished up even earlier than I would have had the exams happened as scheduled...

My film "exam" (really, a presentation/pilot pitch for a television series) was originally scheduled for Monday at 9am. As of the Friday before (December 10) was moved to Wednesday (December 15) at 9am because of the impending winter storm. Well, the storm hit and canceling was the right move (just seemed silly to do it so far out). With the way the weather was behaving, my professor emailed our class on Monday afternoon and said to email our presentation and film clip of our pitch to her instead of attempting to come to class to present it there. Score. One out of the way.

My history and systems exam was also supposed to be on Monday at 6pm but was moved to Wednesday, along with the film exam. My professor emailed the class on Saturday and said that he was going to post the exam online and we were to complete it and submit it to him by 10am on Tuesday. This test was now open book and open note. Again...score.

Trouble with exams

As luck would have it, the winter is already being problematic. Last weekend, we had quite the snow storm with some lovely ice mixed in there. As a result, the first two blocks of classes on Monday were canceled as well as everything after 5pm. I had to leave town that afternoon to appear in court and I'm glad I didn't stick around for my 3pm class as the weather seemed to quickly deteriorate after I left at 2pm. Tuesday, the university was "open" but it was reading day so it really didn't affect anything. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were exam days and everything was held as normal.

Burdens lifted

This week, I have had two academic burdens lifted from my schedule.

For starters, my sociology class has a service learning project. I finally decided to talk to my professor (seeing the project is wanting you to appreciate exactly what I do for a living). He agreed to let me count the hours of my job for my project and allow me to do my paper on the social problems my patients face. So, my project is half done (where as, I don't believe any classmate has even begun their project). So thankful for that.

The second thing that was lifted is from my neuroscience lab. No term paper! The goal of this pilot class was to essentially do a semester-long experiment. The problem with that was that we were eliminating one component that the professor really wanted us to study (behavior). So, he reorganized the entire class and we are now studying behavior, not doing a semester-long experiment, eliminating the term paper and doing four different two-week long experiments throughout the semester. I think this will work out much better. (And, it will make it easier for us in the long run, I hope.)

This week in class, I have my first exam of the semester: New Testament. The following week, I have a sociology exam, biological psychology exam and a film quiz (which should be considered an exam but she calls them a "quiz"). Things are starting to get going here...getting busy! Soon enough, I'll be done with my undergraduate course work -- and I'm so excited! (Something like 29 weeks maybe? Haven't started the countdown yet.)

The first few days

I have survived the first few days of the next to last semester of my undergrad schooling. Though not always easy or pleasant, I made it (and what that is worth achieving is easy?). Here's how the first few days went...

Tuesday, I walked into my film/English class not knowing who my instructor would be. (According to my schedule, the instructor was "TBA" -- and even a week into school, it still says that.) She seems to be nice. Currently, she lives 3 hours away from Boone. She is trying to move up here soon...but we'll see. This class seems like it will be more-or-less fun. I'm not sure yet (but I've either never seen or never had an interest in the films we are required to watch). After that, I went to my biological psychology class. I think this will be the highlight of my week (for classes, anyway). It is about all kinds of stuff I already know...and lots of things I don't that will build on the knowledge that I already have. Following that, it was my sociology class ("Social Problems in America"). I do NOT think I will enjoy this class. My professor is strange and I am required to do a 20-hour (volunteer) service learning project that investigates a social problem I want to know more about. Well, that's all my job is (mostly, anyway). I have an appreciation and an understanding of social problems in America ...so why do I have to do this? Oh well...

Wednesday, I had one class: New Testament. I think it will be interesting to see solely the academic view on it. My professor is a local pastor but from the first day I can already see that we don't agree on a fair number of things.

Pre-semester thoughts.

The countdown has begun for the completion of my bachelor degree: 32 weeks. With that in mind, I will give some pre-semester thoughts and do some reflection on the past.

January 2005: I began my college career this semester at Campbell University with a double-major of athletic training and biology and aspirations of a career in orthopedic surgery. After a disappointing year, I realized I hated going to school there so I left in December. I have returned to the campus once to visit a friend. That's it. There are many bad memories associated with that place and I prefer not to relive them.

January 2006: After leaving Campbell, I began working on a medical program that I could do in less than four years. In fact, I did it in 3 months. I obtained two certifications: CNA-I and HHA. At this point, neither of these certifications mean very much. Four and a half years later, I have let the certifications lapse. I did use them for about a year and a half working with a wonderful teenage girl who had a brain injury as a result of a ruptured AVM. (During this semester, I also took classes at NC State which I enjoyed a lot.)

August 2006: I started a medical program which would take up the next two years of my schooling. I began working on my EMS degree that would allow me to obtain my EMT-Paramedic certification. I really enjoyed this program and tended to excel in it. It was a tough program but, in the end, I made it through.