I gotta get off this "update once a week" nonsense. People are going to start to think I don't have anything interesting to say! *cough*
As you probably know by now, my life is saturated with p school again. Everyone said that third year was "a piece of cake" compared to the first two, and that "I'd love it." So far, I would have to say that everybody LIED!! Studying hasn't been as horrible sure, and Chemo is definitely over (thanks God), but now my time is pretty much spent studying for my weekly Therapeutics exam, and working on a seemingly endless pile of group assignments. I've discussed my burning hatred for group assignments before, so I won't indulge again now, but let me just say that I spend as much time working with a group on something as I do studying, and it sucks. I would almost prefer studying over it, because at least that doesn't require me to play well with others. >_<
In general, I feel like my third year of grad school has been like jumping through a series of flaming hoops at a circus. Just when you get through one without catching fire, they make you jump through another. And another. And another...
In other news, things just aren't turning on in my little world. For instance, my blow dryer. I have to push that damn "reset" button about a zillion times before it works. And my car! That one's a doosey. The other day I went to start it and when I turned the key... nothing happened at all. I turned it again, nothing. A third time, nothing. Fourth time is a charm! Started right up. Hasn't done it again yet, but I'm going to have my starter and ignition looked at before something truly terrible happens. Oh! And my computer with 1/2 of it's usual ram evokes MUCH forehead smacking!! NO, computer, I do NOT want you to close ALL of my browsers at once, especially if I only want to close the Word document! NO, I DON'T want to sit here for a half an hour while you open a puny PDF file! You lazy bastard!!
Oh man, so much complaining. It's a coping mechanism, I swear. Other things are going well! I get to go wine-tasting up north with Mike and his parents this weekend! :D Yay! I'll also get to enjoy a hot tub, and delicious, non-microwavable food which his parents will generously provide! :D OMG!
I think this is the first night in over three weeks that I've finished my homework before midnight. *takes a bow*
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Footballz
I'm still alive! P school has been keeping me distracted with the usual cramp-inducing crap along with my inability to turn off 7th Heaven while studying. I managed to escape the school grind long enough to spend a nice, relaxing weekend with Mike!! It was his turn to visit me, so we got to indulge in lots of episodes of House, many piles of laundry, and an authentic cheap pizza, which you cannot find up north at all. We also go to visit my brother up at GVSU!! His school was stomping the crap out of FSU in football on Saturday night, so I used this as a great excuse to see how Chris's college life is panning out for him so far. We had a great time, despite the terrible seats, and I got to enjoy lots of my usual laughs when I'm around him. :)
This Friday is Pharmacy Day! Which means a day off school (which we will regret horribly later) and nine long hours of .... stuff.... up in Big Rapids starting at 9 am. That will suck, but because this weekend is my weekend to visit Mike, I'll already be halfway to his place! :D I'll also get to see some of my younger pharmacy buddies, and more of my friends from the Grand Rapids campus. My friend Colleen has ordered some College of Pharmacy hoodies for me, which I've been craving since I started over two years ago, and I can't wait until they come in!!
EDIT: Mike and I sort of settled on a date for getting hitched: June 19th or 20th, 2010, which will be the 6th year anniversary of our very first date. This is the day we were planning on, but now it's all official or whatever. :) I'd love to have all my much-loved blog readers joining us! I actually bought my first bridal magazine this weekend, and I was so giddy to read it I nearly melted all over my couch in anticipation. :D
This Friday is Pharmacy Day! Which means a day off school (which we will regret horribly later) and nine long hours of .... stuff.... up in Big Rapids starting at 9 am. That will suck, but because this weekend is my weekend to visit Mike, I'll already be halfway to his place! :D I'll also get to see some of my younger pharmacy buddies, and more of my friends from the Grand Rapids campus. My friend Colleen has ordered some College of Pharmacy hoodies for me, which I've been craving since I started over two years ago, and I can't wait until they come in!!
EDIT: Mike and I sort of settled on a date for getting hitched: June 19th or 20th, 2010, which will be the 6th year anniversary of our very first date. This is the day we were planning on, but now it's all official or whatever. :) I'd love to have all my much-loved blog readers joining us! I actually bought my first bridal magazine this weekend, and I was so giddy to read it I nearly melted all over my couch in anticipation. :D
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008
Seriously?
This would be what my man does when faced with the tough decisions. It's a good thing he's got me to make sure his shoes match in the morning.
Me: Mike, seriously, there was a coaster right next to it!
Mike: Yeah, I saw that. I thought.... "Eh."
_________________________________________
So far, there's been lots of negativity in the third year of pharmacy school. Lots of "you will fail the exam," and lots of "If we catch you cheating we will do everything we can to remove you from the program." Geez. New professors can be such a drag. My class load is delightful:
- Sociopharmacy
- Integrated Lab V
- Clinical Communications
- Pharmacotherapeutics--toxicology/nutrition/nervous system
- Pharmacotherapeutics--cardiovascular/renal
- Drug Literature Evaluation/Study Design
- Community Early Pharmacy Practice Experience
I'm taking the bus to school this year. That's right! I'm going green. And saving myself from having to buy a $300 parking pass. It takes me an additional 40 to get to campus, but hey, it's free.
Mike fixed my desktop!! Yeah, I came home from Labor Day and it just... didn't turn on. Apparently a stick of ram was bad, so I have to get another one sometime, but for now it runs. Just... really... really... slowly. Eh. I'm so glad Mike knows computer things, otherwise I would've just assumed it was never going to work again.
I swear, nothing can bring me down. :D
Thursday, September 04, 2008
The Best Day Ever
Me: What would you have done had I said no?
Mike: Left you on the Island to swim home.
_____________________
Well, needless to say, Labor Day weekend went down in history for me as one of the Best Times Ever. A relaxing siesta before school got going again surprisingly turned in to much more.
We've gone to Mackinac Island every summer we've been together, and this year we were lucky enough to visit twice! We got to see several things we had yet to enjoy, including a butterfly house (where a butterfly even landed right on Mike's shirt!) and a beautiful stretch of road alongside the Grand Hotel. We did lots of walking and sight seeing (during which I complained over my lack of a hair tie), and even got lost a few times! Mike eventually insisted we find one of our favorite spots from a few years ago--West Bluff.
After much confused searching, we finally found the beautiful view we were looking for! With the Straits of Mackinac stretched out in front of us, Round Island Point Light to the left, and the Mackinac Bridge to the right, I admitted then that it was one of the best views I'd seen in person. A touristy couple came over on bikes then, and Mike asked them to take our picture. The woman was just about to hand my camera back when Mike asked her to take one more special picture for him, at which point he dropped to one knee and proposed to me. I instantly started crying of course, because... well... it just seemed like the right thing to do. ;)
Mike is certainly a Romeo of sorts, which I'm a very lucky girl to have, but this moment with him was simply the most romantic we'd ever shared. It had been meticulously planned out by him, over weeks, months, possibly even years, and it finally arrived in a package that just couldn't be beat. Even though there were stretches along the way when I felt it would never get here, I can honestly say now that it was worth every second that I had to wait. It was simply perfect. I was reminded of something he said over a year ago to comfort me while we waited--"No one remembers how long it took Michaelangelo to paint the Sixteenth Chapel. The only thing people really remember about it is how wonderful it is."
Afterwards Mike told me all about the ring he gave to me--about how he had researched it, shopped for it, and eventually came to settle on it. He hand-picked the diamond and had it mounted on a very special band, which has an inset ruby. Ruby is my birthstone, and he also told me that during his research he discovered that a ruby touching your skin is supposed to bring good luck. :) I can hardly stop looking at it on my finger :D
We had a delicious and very romantic dinner outside a restaurant next to the Grand Hotel, near the golf course. I had poor reception on my phone (although it's better on the island then it is at Mike's family cabin), but I called my Mom to tell her the news. Just about everybody knew of course, but this week I've slowly made the rounds of calls so that I could speak to my family each in person. ;)
Mike and I talked about our wedding for the very first time. We haven't decided anything for certain just yet, but we want to get married soon after I graduate in 2010--perhaps in late June. :) Lots of time perhaps, but we waited a long time to make our engagement right, and I would be pleased to wait a little longer to make my wedding right too. I will have graduated forever from school, and after returning from our honeymoon, I can actually stay with Mike permanently--forever--without having to worry about returning to school in the fall.
I took pictures of the whole weekend, which of course you can find on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fanelia/
And for you gushy romantics out there, here's a special one of just proposal/ring pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fanelia/sets/72157607100478216/
*whew!*
_________________________________________
And, believe it or not, pharmacy school has started up in the center of all this. It came back to grace my life with a not-so-surprising sense of "OMG I'm so overwhelmed already." But whatever. Not even the thought of studying for the next eight months could knock me off my Cloud 9. ;)
I'll have lots of time to bore you all with thoughts of P school later, but something of major importance did occur today--I counseled patients for the first time!!! I started my first "official" internship through Ferris, and unlike my internship with Kroger, I'm not simply a glorified technician. I'm working at Sindecuse Pharmacy on Thursdays, and this morning after meeting with the pharmacist Bill for a half an hour to go over the course expectations, he marched me right out and put me in front of patients for the rest of the day!! Every patient that picked up a prescription got counseled by yours truly today. I was ridiculously nervous to do this. I don't feel confident enough in my drug knowledge to be responsible for a patient yet, but with Bill's help, I successfully counseled scores of unsuspecting guinea pigs. After I was finished for the day, I felt a small transformation in my professional self. I've conquered a barrier--I've made another step closer to the final product. :)
Mike: Left you on the Island to swim home.
_____________________
Well, needless to say, Labor Day weekend went down in history for me as one of the Best Times Ever. A relaxing siesta before school got going again surprisingly turned in to much more.
We've gone to Mackinac Island every summer we've been together, and this year we were lucky enough to visit twice! We got to see several things we had yet to enjoy, including a butterfly house (where a butterfly even landed right on Mike's shirt!) and a beautiful stretch of road alongside the Grand Hotel. We did lots of walking and sight seeing (during which I complained over my lack of a hair tie), and even got lost a few times! Mike eventually insisted we find one of our favorite spots from a few years ago--West Bluff.
After much confused searching, we finally found the beautiful view we were looking for! With the Straits of Mackinac stretched out in front of us, Round Island Point Light to the left, and the Mackinac Bridge to the right, I admitted then that it was one of the best views I'd seen in person. A touristy couple came over on bikes then, and Mike asked them to take our picture. The woman was just about to hand my camera back when Mike asked her to take one more special picture for him, at which point he dropped to one knee and proposed to me. I instantly started crying of course, because... well... it just seemed like the right thing to do. ;)
Mike is certainly a Romeo of sorts, which I'm a very lucky girl to have, but this moment with him was simply the most romantic we'd ever shared. It had been meticulously planned out by him, over weeks, months, possibly even years, and it finally arrived in a package that just couldn't be beat. Even though there were stretches along the way when I felt it would never get here, I can honestly say now that it was worth every second that I had to wait. It was simply perfect. I was reminded of something he said over a year ago to comfort me while we waited--"No one remembers how long it took Michaelangelo to paint the Sixteenth Chapel. The only thing people really remember about it is how wonderful it is."
Afterwards Mike told me all about the ring he gave to me--about how he had researched it, shopped for it, and eventually came to settle on it. He hand-picked the diamond and had it mounted on a very special band, which has an inset ruby. Ruby is my birthstone, and he also told me that during his research he discovered that a ruby touching your skin is supposed to bring good luck. :) I can hardly stop looking at it on my finger :D
We had a delicious and very romantic dinner outside a restaurant next to the Grand Hotel, near the golf course. I had poor reception on my phone (although it's better on the island then it is at Mike's family cabin), but I called my Mom to tell her the news. Just about everybody knew of course, but this week I've slowly made the rounds of calls so that I could speak to my family each in person. ;)
Mike and I talked about our wedding for the very first time. We haven't decided anything for certain just yet, but we want to get married soon after I graduate in 2010--perhaps in late June. :) Lots of time perhaps, but we waited a long time to make our engagement right, and I would be pleased to wait a little longer to make my wedding right too. I will have graduated forever from school, and after returning from our honeymoon, I can actually stay with Mike permanently--forever--without having to worry about returning to school in the fall.
I took pictures of the whole weekend, which of course you can find on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fanelia/
And for you gushy romantics out there, here's a special one of just proposal/ring pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fanelia/sets/72157607100478216/
*whew!*
_________________________________________
And, believe it or not, pharmacy school has started up in the center of all this. It came back to grace my life with a not-so-surprising sense of "OMG I'm so overwhelmed already." But whatever. Not even the thought of studying for the next eight months could knock me off my Cloud 9. ;)
I'll have lots of time to bore you all with thoughts of P school later, but something of major importance did occur today--I counseled patients for the first time!!! I started my first "official" internship through Ferris, and unlike my internship with Kroger, I'm not simply a glorified technician. I'm working at Sindecuse Pharmacy on Thursdays, and this morning after meeting with the pharmacist Bill for a half an hour to go over the course expectations, he marched me right out and put me in front of patients for the rest of the day!! Every patient that picked up a prescription got counseled by yours truly today. I was ridiculously nervous to do this. I don't feel confident enough in my drug knowledge to be responsible for a patient yet, but with Bill's help, I successfully counseled scores of unsuspecting guinea pigs. After I was finished for the day, I felt a small transformation in my professional self. I've conquered a barrier--I've made another step closer to the final product. :)
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
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