No matter how you slice it....

I'm one lucky gal to have you. :-*

Man I'm tired.

Yesterday I had seven hours of class, two exams, and I got the (nasty) results back from my Biochem exam. Then I came home and studied Pharmaceutics all night because I've been so busy studying for other exams that I haven't even started yet. And my phone decided to interrupt my service so I couldn't even talk to Mike. This morning I'm struggling between the choice of staying in bed and catching up on some much needed sleep, or going to the Rec Center. Although the Rec would make me feel good, I'm starting to think that right now sleep is more important.

What a shitty Monday.

Hand caught in the cookie jar

So my just-turned-19-year-old RA (who, once again, is living in a 21 and over dorm) recently got revoked of all her RA privledges because she got caught drinking in her room. I mean, they kicked her out of North Bond. As an RA she got to live and eat at Ferris for free, plus they gave her a job at the front desk and paid her every week for her time. Now all of that is gone, all because she was dumb enough to drink in a dorm. Wow. I feel bad for her really because, first of all, she was really really nice, and second of all, she was pretty laid back so that worked out well in my favor. Now rumor has it our new RA is a little bit of a hard ass, but I've yet to meet him. Worst of all, my prveious RA is a pre-pharm student and now she'll have this mess on her record when she applies to the College of Pharmacy. What a nasty lesson to learn.

I got a 96% on my first Clinical Anatomy and Physiology exam, and today I had my second quiz in lab and I feel like I did really well. I have another exam at eleven and then a Pharmaceutics exam on Thursday--that one should be fairly nasty. I get my Biochem exam results back today (from last week) and I'm very very nervous. I know I didn't do that well but since taking it I've been able to exist in ignorant bliss. I've already begun preparing better for the next one though, so I'm not going to torture myself too badly.

I went to Kalamazoo again this weekend and it was great to just relax in the old apartment and spent some time with Mike again. We also got to have dinner with Jillian and Chris which was great fun. :D Chris was so nice and picked me up from Big Rapids on his way down to Kzoo, so Mike didn't have to drive up there on Friday. Next weekend my parents are in town so I won't be able to see Mike, but I haven't seen them in a while and I'm very excited. They're bringing me more food too! :D I can't wait to show them around.

Well I've got another exam in an hour so I should probably do some last minute cramming. And it's colder than a witch's thorax outside, as my Daddy would say. ;)

Woot for generic Blog entries

Well summer ended with a frigid bang. This morning I woke up for my eight am lab to learn that not only was it only thirty-five degrees out, we also had a frost advisory. I mean geez--that's practially snow or something. *shakes fist*

Pharmacy school has picked up the pace and everything seems a little nuts right now. I still really like it despite the stress, lack of a social life, and busy schedule saturated with endless studying and reading. I suppose I'll never go back to the 'calmness' of the first two weeks (and it's a stretch to even call it calm), and if this last week is any indication of things to come, I'll be studying for exams just about around the clock. Once one is done I come home and immediately start working on another--this is exactly what I knew would hit eventually. At the moment it still feels a little overwhelming but I'm sure with time I'll adjust like always. I can't believe that tomorrow marks the end of my first full month of school here... just, wow.

Sometimes it feels like I'm a part of two worlds. For instance, when I call Mike at night and talk about the next time I'll see him or what's been going on in Kalamazoo, I'm so relaxed and happy and not stressed at all. Then I hang up and look around my room, suddenly remembering the three subjects I have left to study, and reality oozes back in like some nasty microbial infection. I have to shut off the 'care-free, fun' mode and switch to the 'OMG SHOOT ME' gear. It's difficult to describe how I can enjoy this place but be so eager to get through it. I have to admit, so far it has taken every ounce of dedication that I've built up over the last twenty-one years of my life. It's more massively difficult than I imagined to come home everyday and discipline myself enough to get done what needs to be done. But I'm doing it--and I'm doing ok.

And for a random change of subject, my brother is turning seventeen in November. Whoa. I truly didn't see that one coming. I was only seventeen when I graduated from high school, and that seems like just yesterday. I can hardly believe he'll be in college for two years by the time I get out. *whew* What a long haul. But if these next four years go by as fast as the last four I'll barely miss them. ;)

I've been raped!! :O

I had my first exam today in Medical Biochemistry and it was horrible in ways I can't even describe. But to give you an idea, it was 'I didn't finish 20 points of the test because I didn't even have time' horrible. And I had two hours. I felt so pathetically discouraged after leaving the classroom because I've been studying non stop for the past several days. I went to class everyday and took notes, read all the chapters, memorized my amino acids, proteases, and enzyme mechanisms... all for what seemed like nothing. I walked out feeling like I didn't prepare nearly as much as I should've, but had I been given an extra day I truly don' t know what else I could've done.

I was at least in good company--I was among about 80% of my classmates who were all writing furiously when the professor told us it was time to turn our exams in. Out in the hallway wasn't much better--were we all a little green and dreading the results. What I know is that Med Biochem is one of my two very difficult courses (the other being Pharmaceutics), and we are not the first to do so poorly on the first exam. And alas, tomorrow is a new day full of studying a different subject. :D

On a few lighter notes, Nip/Tuck has been awesome lately. I've also been going to the Rec three mornings a week and it's beginning to pay off in more ways than one--I'm feeling better about myself, trimming up, and doing something for a short period of time that has nothing to do with class or homework. And I finally found a shampoo I like! :D

I also saw my first individual who dedicated his body to science! In Anatomy we were discussing the brain and we had a cadaver who (quite ironically) died of brain cancer. His skull had been split open for us to see and yes it was just as disgusting as it sounds. There's a huge reason why I'm going into pills and not surgery.

This past weekend I got to go flying in Dave's plane! :D That was a lot of fun--I'd never been in a private plane before and certainly not one with only four seats! He's shippping off to the Army Thursday morning... I can hardly believe I won't see him again until Christmas. Life is changing right now so much and everyone is growing up it seems like. Sometime I'm overwhelmed with it all--it's a race just to keep up.

Oh man, I'll try to update more often I promise. :)

So I played with scissors...

...and trimmed my own bangs for the first time. Here's how it turned out -->
What do you guys think? Am I presentable enough to still be seen in public? DO NOT BE COMPELLED TO ANSWER. That's a trick question.

I'm trying really hard to not cut my hair in general right now. I've had it above my shoulders for the past year and I really want to grow it down my back a ways, but it's going to take a lot of self restraint. This was a good step in the right direction though--probably almost half of the haircuts I get are due to my bangs just getting crazy-long. If I can do a decent enough job myself for a while then I won't be tempted to hack it all off. *crosses fingers*

They'll selling FSU pharmacy T-shirts and totebags right now and I'm so excited. :D

Next week starts a two week long stretch of exams for me. Just two or three a week mind you, but it'll be enough to bog me down I'm sure. I can't believe I've already been here three weeks and it's time to be tested over what I've learned so far. I'm not going to lie--I'm really nervous. O_O

O man. I need to go back to my biochem.

It can stop raining ANY TIME

Oh man, sorry for my lack of day-to-day updating. School has been keeping me busy along with homework, and aside from that each day is remarkably the same, limiting any potential for new Blogger material. I'm in class most of the morning and afternoon, and I come home each night to not-so-hot dorm food and homework. I enjoy it tremendously--this is precisely the kind of environment in which I thrive--but I doubt anyone else would find it particularly enthralling. That aside, my dorm room is looking as good as a dorm room could I suppose--the futon is up and my cable is finally hooked up (so I can watch my Nip/Tuck baby! :D), and yesterday I hung curtains over the window. I got a fancy rug for the floor and hung up a few more wall decorations. Aside from the cement block walls, you'd almost think it was my bedroom back home.

Class has been good overall. I rocked out my first official grade as a grad student (Clinical Anatomy/Physiology lab quiz). I've become increasingly attached to the idea of having class each day with scores of individuals with the same goals as me. Even more enjoyable are the classes themselves--everything is specific to my field of study and there's no extra "crap" in the form of gen. eds. floating around and smothering me with pointless busy work. Although as Beth says, "Any day we don't have Pharmaceutics is a good day!"

I visited Kzoo for the first time since I left this past weekend and it was great. I got to spend plenty of time with Mike and Hobbes, get all my homework done in peace and quiet, and sleep in my own bed. I also got to celebrate Katie's 21st birthday with her and visit with Shruti for lunch before I left. :)

Time already feels like it's going by fast. My next three weekends are filled, and Lord knows I'll have plenty to do during the weeks in between. I never feel bored, and the loneliness is fading away too--although I still miss Kalamazoo, my friends, and Mike every single day. I'm really happy here, but I still can't wait to be done.

I long for the stability of one place to call "home."

Me: Wait, why am I washing your dishes and doing your laundry while you rearrange your closet?
Mike: Because you don't know how I want the closet.
Me: ......
Mike: And it would take too long to tell you.


Ah, it's good to be home. :)

Another one bites the dust

So a bug has been biting me in my room lately. I have about 29,080,273,423 itchy bumps on my legs and feet right now. Tonight I found him.


And I squished the crap out of that bastard.

That's my man!

I mean, hot damn! Ok, I'm done now I promise.

Sorry for my long absence!! I've been remarkably busy if you can believe that lame excuse. So much to report! Firstly, life in Big Rapids has slowly become much, much better than it was in the beginning. I've met more people on my floor and in my classes, so that's helped a lot. Beth (who lives across the hall) and I have become really good friends, campus is really beautiful too--AND I JUST DROPPED MY CONTACT ON THE FLOOR AHHH!!! *searches for it blindly*

Pharmacy school is ok so far--the trouble is we all have the same schedule and our professors know it. So if they feel we need more time on something, they just keep us longer than the class period allows, or they schedule study sessions outside of class. Today for instance I only had class officially for three hours, but four additional hours of study sessions were added to the schedule, so I was actually in class for seven hours straight. Gaaawd. Other than that it's just what everyone told me it would be. It's enjoyable but it'll require a lot of work. I'm with other students just as smart as me who will do everything extra for the good grade--it's just important not to fall behind.

I was gone for the weekend with Mike, Nick and Colleen to Burt Lake and it was a glorious end to the summer. We had some great weather for tubing, jet skiing, swimming, and just being outdoors in general. We shot off some fireworks, played boardgames (in which Mike beat the crap out of everyone), and visited Harbor Springs for some kick-ass homemade icecream. On Labor Day we got up early to drive to the Mackinac Bridge for the five-mile annual walk across. There were a ton of people and I had to pee the entire hour and a half it took to walk to the other side, but man it was a lot of fun. I've uploaded pictures from the weekend to Flickr--enjoy!

Beth: My sister likes to sing, "Pharmacy school drop out, no graduation day for you..." to the tune of the Beauty School song in Grease to me. Let me just tell you how confident that makes me feel!
Me: HAHAHA. That's awesome.
Beth: Oh yeah? I'll serenade you on the way to class before our 1st exam--it'll be great
Me: lol there's nothing better than low expectations!

Oh man. I promise I'll update soon--I have lots of new stuff to share but I've got quite a bit to get done yet tonight. And Nip/Tuck is on at ten. Priorities you know. ;)