Welcome to the Real World....

I'm fairly convinced that the true introduction to the real world is the purchase of your first dress suit.
Now, if only I could actually get a suit to fit like that...owell.

Ultrasound and Homeward Bound

I just realized I have been going so crazy this week I haven't written anything.

ON Monday was my first 414 lab(that's Sheep and Goat Productions for those wondering). The only thing I have wanted to do in that class is ultrasound, and guess what we did on the very first day of lab. WOOHOO! It was so much fun!!! I got to ultrasound 3 sheep for pregnancy and found the little tykes right off with little to no guidance from the TA. The only one he helped me with was a ewe that was so far along in her term you could only make out one giant placentome, the area of fetal/maternal blood, waste and gas exchange. I was thoroughly impressed with myself.

Anyways, the rest of the week has been fairly uneventful. I finalized my 481 seminar topic which will be Osteochondrosis: Developmental Orthopedic Disease In Horses- Causes, Symptoms and Treatments. The reason behind choosing this topic is because Hayley, my rescued Thoroughbred mare at home(and pictured above), suffers from this in both front legs. Since I am completely petrified by giving presentations, I'm hoping that having the link to home and being able to talk my first few minutes about her story will ease my jitters so I can successfully finish the rest of the presentation. Maybe, just maybe, this grand plan will work.

I'm headed home to Fort Worth this weekend for a wedding for one of my practically brothers, Louis. Kev was supposed to be joining me until we got the news the wedding was at 7pm...on Sunday evening. I have an 8am class on Monday morning...and he has a 9am class. So it just didn't work out for him to come. I will put myself through the all night drive back to College Station and going to class on little to no sleep, but there is no sense in making him do it too. On the brightside, the dress I have for the wedding is so pretty. I love it! Pictures to come, of course.

Since the papers from all my classes have finally done their job of practically drowning me, I must get to working on them before going to work.

A Week Well Done

Working out this last week went amazingly well. Sunshine assisted with my early Thursday workout and I went later in the afternoon with Katie. Everyone involved was so sore on Friday, we opted to take the day off and concentrate on being able to function for Corbin, Stickney and Carp's birthday bash planned for the evening.

The party on Friday was great, minus the rude interruption of our friendly neighborhood police. I had to work on Saturday afternoon which is when my body decided to remind me of the past week of torture...lets just say movements other than plain walking was not welcomed by any muscle, which made for an interesting work day. After work, I had the grand idea of doing so lap swimming to aid in the loosing process of my muscles. At first it seemed like a failed plan, but this morning I feel much better. Total workouts for the week-6; I'm finally using the Rec fees I pay for every semester!



Kevin and I went on a grand adventure last night in a search of ice cream. We were actually headed out to try the new frozen yogurt place called Spoons, but upon arrival the mass of people diverted our destination to Coldstone. Sadly, the same thing happened there. Who knew ice cream was on the minds of every college student last night. On the way to Sonic, I mentioned getting a blizzard from Dairy Queen. Done deal, Dairy Queen it was. Once we got back to Kev's place, Corbin came in from a movie with Reimers and Matt Fox. They had followed our lead, except stopped at Coldstone. Great minds think alike.

The Right Motivation

The first thing my friend, John, said after I told him about my motivation to start working out again for spring break was, "That's how eating disorders are started!" To give reason to his statement, my motivation came from the arrival of Victoria Secret's 2010 Swimsuit Catalog.
Though this might drive the slightly insane person to stop eating completely, or start purposely losing what they decided to put in their mouth, you can ask anyone who knows me, that will definitely not be the case. I love food WAY to much. What it did encourage me to do is start a workout routine again. So, my roommate and I are hitting up the rec center every day during the week, excluding this past Monday since we started with the first day of class on Tuesday. We'll see what I say at the end of the week, but as of now I feel better than I have in months.

We both have very attainable short term goals for spring break and I'm really excited about continuing our routine after that as well. In addition to working out with Katie each day, my friend, Dustin aka Sunshine, is going to act as sort of a personal trainer, I guess you could say. It always helps to have motivation and working out with Katie has been a life saver. It really keeps me going when I would normally just stop. I'm really excited to work with Sunshine as well. He's an intense runner and is going to help me out in that area.

Should turn out to be a transforming semester!!

And, in case you were wondering, I don't plan on looking like the pictured model...though I'm sure Kevin wouldn't mind... :-)

A Last First Day...Finally!

English 301, aka Technical Writing, thank you for becoming my last first day of undergraduate classes. I will admit I was not excited about taking this class, but my prof seems really cool so hopefully it won't be as bad as I thought. There are two other graduating seniors in the class, and he said to not worry, he won't be the reason for us to not walk...good to know.

I really aiming to get a 4.0 this semester. Honestly, I better be able to. There are really no excuses as to why I couldn't. So, semester goals are as follows:

1. Make a 4.0, as stated above
2. Overcome my insane fear of public speaking, since I have to do a huge presentation in my Senior Seminar class. Or figure out how to just deal with it enough to make it through that speech.
3. Workout 4-5 times a week...i have the time so I figure, why not?
4. No Procrastination!!! We'll see how that goes...

With the return of class comes the fun additions to notes as well. Today's doodle of the day: Pacman, a plinco-ish game, and the typical Bonfire. It was a productive day of class.

All Work and Maybe A Little Play

As most know, I work at American Eagle Outfitters. It is the typical crappy college retail job paying minimum wage with meager hours, the only benefit being the convenient discount given on the clothing and accessories.

I was planning on quitting upon my return from Christmas because of the tension between the manager and the rest of the employees, including the assistant managers. Luckily, when I arrived back in town I came back to a new manager...well, not quite yet, but his first day is Tuesday.

The change in atmosphere just over the last week has been unreal. It's amazing how employees that enjoy their management staff will work to please them rather then working because they have to. Tasks get done more efficiently and attitudes stay as positive as they can be given the certain situations.

I just got done with my most hated part of the job, floorsets. What was supposed to be three back-to-back days of all-night floorsets turned into just two for me, after being cut from Fridays schedule. The work is not what gets to me during floorsets. What sends me into a whole new dimension of pissed off is the uncertainty of when we will be finished. Though the schedule said 9pm-4am for Saturday and 6pm-midnight for Sunday, we actually left at 6am and 4am, respectively. And this happens every time. My saving grace this time around was finally having a MOD who is ridiculously amazing. Thank you, Jentri.

Now, after ruining my sleep schedule the day before the semester starts, I need to go to sleep.

One Last Hurray

The Spring semester starts Tuesday...oh joy, oh joy. Even though the Sheep and Goat Management class I was shoved into at the last second added the dreaded 8am class to 3 of my days, I'm still quite happy with the line up for my final semester.

If you are wondering why Sheep and Goat Management the answer is simple. The class counted for 2 different courses I needed to be able to walk the stage in May...anything to spend less money, right? I have no interest in sheep or goats, but I am looking forward to a couple of opportunities this class may have to offer. See, with those two species, ultrasound is used for almost every type of diagnostic because it is quick and easy...and can be used outside the body (if you have ever worked with horses or cows, you'll understand the significance of working on the outside of the animal...) I have always been fascinated with x-ray, ultrasound, MRI, etc etc, so maybe I'll be able to try out the ultrasound machine. The Animal Science department here at TAMU is very hands on and very willing to let the students try just about anything they want to in lab...which makes the classes fun and a tad awkward at times.