So it's been a while...

Hello All!

I know it's been a little while since anyone has posted anything (especially since my other two sisters are slackers to the nth degree :) ), but I am here to fix that right now. Ok so, I started PT grad school in January. I am doing well in the classes (I kicked the first Gross Anatomy test in the rear and left a hefty bruise. It won't be able to sit down for a few more days at least) and am enjoying them, too, which is just as important. These next two weeks before spring break are going to be tough because I have 4 tests coming up. Three of them in the second week, three days in a row! I just hope I do as well on them as I did on the first Gross test (and yes, the second Gross test is one of the four).

Living on my own has been a new experience for me. One that I thought I would hate since I have lived with someone all my life, but I have actually enjoyed it a lot. I can walk around in my "pajamas" without offending anyone and can be as unlady-like as I want. It is refreshing! :) It is a little tougher not having someone to talk to sometimes, but my family and friends are keeping me on my toes via texting and phone calls, so I haven't had too much time to be lonely (and I'm thankful for that!). I wasn't sure how well I would take care of myself, but I am eating almost as good as Mom, Abbers, or Juls would feed me. I just have to clean up after myself more or my sink runneth over! :)

Speaking of cooking, Moon and I received a cool little doo-dad off of an infomercial called the GTX-101 or something that makes crescent moon shaped "hot pockets" out of leftovers or ready to cook items such as canned biscuits, frozen hashbrowns, or eggs. I have fallen in love with that thing on weekend breakfasts. It is a breeze to clean afterwards, and if you eat both sides you are full for quite a while afterwards. The picture is of my first experiment of scrambled egg omelets with cheese, ham, onion, and green pepper, I think. It was worth the wait!

Being in East TN for school gave me an opportunity to have an extended winter with snow! We have had two snow days this year already. Out of the four years in undergrad, I only had one! The snow was fun, but when I tried to catch snowflakes on my tongue, they kept poking me in the eye! I know, I know! You are supposed to close your eyes when you catch snowflakes. Well, I like to watch them come down and choose the best one to eat. Let's just say they probably would have tasted good if my eyeball had tastebuds! :)

I know this blog is long, so I am going to finish it up by telling you about Flat Stanley Hopkins. For those of you who don't know about Flat Stanleys in general, please leave a comment, and I will explain later. But for those of you who do... I received a Flat Stanley from a friend of mine in Ireland named Kian. He is 8 years old now and adorable! Because I lead such an exciting life, I took Stan to school with me today. Today was Gross Anatomy Day! :) Though he didn't enjoy the smell of my locker, he did enjoy trying on my goggles and playing with the scalpel. I made sure he didn't cut himself because I'm not that good at suturing (though I do know a few med students who might have helped if anything went wrong).

He is going to travel with me tomorrow as I travel through NC to visit my uncle and little cousins. Hopefully we will see many more sights before Stan has to travel back to Ireland! Well I suppose that's all for now! Thanks for reading!

One nephew and another on the way!

Jennifer Hill with Baby Noah on the way
with a curious Will Prince







William Asher!

He just loves to pose for the camera!

He's growing up!

Josh received some antlers for Christmas. But lo and behold! His little Geo has reached puberty! No velvet on those antlers!!

So I got this apartment....

It turned out I needed an apartment for grad school, and since I was out of town for the most part of the summer, I had to shop for one online. I think we got pretty lucky with this one. It's a one bedroom, but it is perfect for a first time apartment. I am pretty much prepared for the coming school year... I think!














Office/Living Room

Living Room with my massive TV









Living Room












Dining Room










Kitchen

Bedroom Closet

Bedroom

Bathroom

Back "Deck"

Catch up!

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated the blog. Emily was doing a good job of keeping it updated, but now that she is with you, someone has to keep her updated as well!

While Moon was in Texas, I had four days off school and Julie came to meet me on that Friday. I was surprised when I heard her pull in the driveway because I had never heard the sound of the vehicle before! Much to my surprise, she showed up in the little Geo Metro Josh had bought and fixed.

Once I found out that the car has a weight limit, I decided I should be the one to drive to lunch and to get our hair and nails done!

Julie and I went to see Lisa so Jul could get a haircut and a pedicure. I was only going to get my hair highlighted, but I also ended up with a pedicure. I wish I would have taken a picture of Julie's toe because she has a rhinestone horseshoe on her big toe. It is kind of difficult to see what is on my toe, but in the spirit of Halloween, I have orange toes with black tips and a spider and spider web on my big toe. I love my little spider!

The most interesting thing, however, that has happened recently is my little trip to the Emergency Room. Monday night after Moon and I had come home from eating dinner, I was going to work on my lesson plans for my observation. Well, I had some really bad cramps in my chest, which I had gotten before, but I figured they would go away like they had so many times before. Moon thought I was working on my lesson plans and little did he know that I was fighting with these cramps. After about an hour, Moon found me rolling around on the bed trying to get the cramps to go away. He wanted to take me to the ER, but I told him that I have had this before and it would go away. A few minutes later, I was running to the restroom and get rid of everything I had had to eat earlier. That is when Moon got really scared and we decided to go to the ER. Once I got there, the cramps were not much better. When the ER doctor came in to talk to me, he automatically thought it was my gallbladder. He ordered an ultrasound and sure enough he was right. I had actually had gallstones for 7 -8 years, but I was always able to get rid of the cramps. This time, the stone was so big, it was blocking the small tube at the end of the gallbladder not letting anything pass through causing me to throw up my dinner. Well, I didn't have to stay the night at the hospital, but I got up the next morning to meet with the surgeon and I had surgery that afternoon. The surgery went well and everything is better. I feel good - I'm just dealing with all the leftover gas that is in my stomach from where they blew my stomach up with gas during the surgery. I have four incisions; three horizontal 1/2 inch and one vertical 1 1/2 inch. It's hard to believe they removed my entire gallbladder from a little incision! Oh, and by the way.... they had to go through stomach MUSCLE to make my incision from my belly button. You didn't think you'd ever hear that from me, huh?!!

Afternoon of surgery

October 21, 2008

My belly button sticking its tongue out!

The morning after surgery - October 22, 2008

The Black Panther Strikes Again

Hello again!

This is Abbey and Moon's cat, Boo, who has an odd personality but is lovable nonetheless. Lately we have had a pack (or peck...ha ha...pun intended) of wild turkeys roaming our neighborhood (28 on this day). Boo is enthralled with them... or just hungry... and stalks them (she's very sly)... and then tries to fly to catch them when they fly away. It is very amusing, to us at least. I had caught it on video but it doesn't seem to want to go through... so I am posting some pictures we took, too.

Spooky!

Hello all!

As most of you know (or all of you know), Abbey is a teacher with really cool ideas. Especially when it comes to decorating her door for the holidays. Well, since I will be out of town soon, Abbey asked if I would help her get a head start on some of her ideas. "Sure," I said. Ever since then, I have been stuck in the house, elbow deep in construction paper, scissors, and tape. But I think the time paid off. First, we created a Thanksgiving table with a feast on it. We didn't take a picture of that....sorry. But the best one so far, is the October one. It is a spooky house that Abbey is going to let her kids make pumpkins to help decorate it. Now since both of those have been finished and lamenated ( I made her do it), I will be starting on the Christmas one where jolly ole Saint Nick is in a little bit of a quandry. He's stuck! Anyway, I just wanted to share the house with everyone. Also, Sid the Spider is on there, too! Enjoy!