oh...wait til I have real time to do some real stuff....never fear...amanda's a genius and I'm definitely going to do more to this precious blog space...humm...oh, and I've been so excited about it, I think I've convinced mary to start blogging! Horray!!! Okay, so...alright, I'm going now...

Smartness!!!

I'm so smart...you just wait and see....many many many happy times. Okay, I should be studying and reading and writing papers, but it's just so much more fun to figure out this blog/computer/I don't really know what I'm talking about stuff...alright...

the end.

sunday blogging...ahhh, the joys of life. So, today was okay...many people are added to my prayer list. But anyway....so, first things first today -I took a shower...yes, I was grimy and gross and something had to be done ....after my shower I messed with my email -great fun....let's see, then I was off to church...I felt patriotic in my red "usa 1" shirt. (it was from last year's 4th of july...actually, you'd have to see it to understand it at all, and since that's not happening just nevermind about my shirt.) So, then I went to church and it was fun -the little junior church kids sang...I think I could have written the song that they sang. It was "I'm someone special" -everyone knows I overuse that "special" word.
So, home I go....but only to be forced into my bed room and closed up for about 10 minutes...because my brothers "had something for me" Right. Well, it was awesome -it was Stephanie! AHHH....how I've missed her! She's moving to Florida to go to school...she wants to go to nursing school -something about me being an inspiration??? Oh well, I love her and she's great...even if she is completely crazy. So I ate and then headed to the nursing home...I was really much earlier than I should have been so I was trying to drive really slow...sorry to all those people on the road - actually, I made sure that no one was behind me while driving much under the speed limit. I always have fun at the nursing home....and today was no different.
After coming home again, I informed andy of how incredibly ingenious I am...(i.e.) I should be much smarter, but I have finally-it's taken a while- figured out how to get the pics from the digital camera onto the computer -I know that you have no evidence of that...and that's due to various other things wrong with me....so, we'll fix that later....or something.
Alright so back to church tonight - and david preached....every 5th sunday the "young ones" are given the opportunity to preach a sermon...good job dave! I'm so proud of you...and a tie even :) OH, and this morning we had baptisms...and that was great, but I realized that if the tallest man in the world (that's dead now, but I have my picture made next to his replica) wouldn't be able to fit in the baptistry or something...he'd just be too long...anyway...kind of funny since I was too short and they had to make a wooden plank thing for me to balance myself on....oh well..fond memories.
Okay...so that's mostly it for the day. Obviously, nothing too exciting -I mean there was the baptisms, stephanie, and the nursing home....but that's it. And tomorrow is just another wonderful school day -I have this strange love-hate relationship with school. I thrive on it, and yet I don't so much like going. It's weird...I'm weird...most of my friends are weird.
Oh, by the way -welcome back the the usa misti...the country missed you (or at least I did, anyway)
Okay, so that's it for rambling tonight. Nothing more is needed...too much has probably already been said. I'm going to bed soon...and I'm happy about it all.
Good night friends ...and God bless.

so today I had the longest phone conversation of my life -exciting, I must say. I'm so sad because mary and doris are gone this weekend...and yet, I'm so happy that mary's with her family, doris is with her josh, and that I'm getting to room with both of them (and tracy too of course) next year. It will be more than wonderful. "For He's more wonderful than my mind can conceive, He's more wonderful that my heart can believe...He goes beyond my highest hopes and fondest dreams....He's everything that my soul ever longed for, everything He's promised and so much more. He's more than amazing, more than marvelous, more than miraculous could ever be...He's more than wonderful. That's what Jesus is to me." -just a little from an old sandi patti song I used to sing with my dad before I moved up into this great state of indiana. It's been a while....funny how lyrics stick and stay.

So, anyway, after my ever so long phone conversation with one of my greatest friends in the world -andy- I went out to eat with my baby brother. He's so cute ---okay, so he's a 15 year old (soon to be 16) boy that's bigger than me, loves baseball and hunting, and is forever hungry...but I still remember when he was an itty bitty baby.. :) We went to cici's...and THE CHICKEN PIZZA IS HERE! Strange, it didn't seem as wonderful as I remembered...but I was still pretty happy. Plus, there was cinnimon rolls that were absolutely amazing. I loved it. Then, (since we have the boring lives that we do) we came back home...and came inside...listened to the messages on the answering machine, I'm preparing supper (or dinner or whatever you strange people call it...I always get confused), and maybe if I feel like it, doing some homework. The thing about homework is that there are several little things to do, but nothing big. I just need to force myself to sit down and do it. Nothing is due on Monday though -I just know that I'll probably be a little less stressed if I don't procrastinate...but that's obviously a joke since procrastinating is what I do best. So...that's that. I suppose that nothing else wonderful or exciting is happening. It started snowing while Tim and I were in the car on the way to eat...strange...snow and it's nearly april. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. It was only a few flurries- and for that I'm grateful- but I'm a little worried about mom's flowers, some of them were starting to come up...they might freeze and die and never ever come back when summer/spring gets here. That would be sad. okay, so I'm done now. I'm going to finish what needs to be done so my family can eat tonight. It could be fun....

Alright, so no blogging last night because of exhaustion beyond description...actually, I could have stayed up later if I really wanted/needed to, but really...I wanted to sleep. And it was weird because you know how you can get too much sleep? Well, I think that happened to me just today. Let's see...I woke up about 5ish and I probably just should have got up and finished all the homework that was laying piled beside me, but no. I looked at the clock realized that I didn't have class until 1pm and I rolled over and went back to sleep. So, that was that. I finally got out of be at 830 or something like that. Crazy, huh? No wait. Talk about crazy...andy, I think that you've completely lost it. I mean, I have always thought that you were strange, but this is weird. Are you sure you're okay? And I was going to call you sometime today, but I'm not so sure now...I suppose we'll see about that one. So, nothing really exciting happening. I ate lunch with mary and doris yesterday -not that it's that exciting or anything, but time with them usually leans more towards the funny side. Alright, well...that's a lot of rambling. If the josh that belongs to doris reads this, I want you to know I still love you...even though I've only met you twice, it's true. And if you're worried and that scares you, I wouldn't be...because I tend to have this thing for loving everyone that I know. -that's really almost true...
Oh, and if anyone knows anything about summer camps for children with disabilities (down syndrome, retardation, blind, or just physical...whatever, really) let me know, because this could be my last chance to do something like that and I really want to do it this summer. I'm kind of bored with just taking vital signs and weighing people (doris, of course gets the cool jobs in er -I don't ever get to do stuff like that)...and I'm not sure I could do that for 40 hours a week this summer...I mean, I will if I need to, but I don't really think that I want to. I'm 3/4 of a nurse, you know....oh so close...but 5 weeks and two more long semesters stand in my way. Oh well...
I'm pretty happy about things...but there's a lot to do still...and all next week I have clinicals...I like them, but I love sleeping too. And next week I'll have to write two careplans for one patient and try to pull some creativity out of my head to make some kind of teaching visual aid....I did well last semester, but I'm not sure I have a lot of creativity left. Do you think that you're born with a limited amount and that you could actually just deplete yours before you were even 25? If this is true, I think that someone should have told me long ago because I really needed to plan ahead more - I would have given my life a more balanced distribution of the creativity I had....oh no! What have I done...what if I have to live creativityless for the rest of my life because I wasted it all already...if I had only known!

Okay, I think I'm okay now...and I think that is a sure sign that I need to stop blogging...immediately before I have another tragic break down via my blog. I hope you have a wonderful day! ~love to you all :)

Oh! Guess what! Doris is sitting right next to me (on the left side) in the computer lab and we are blogging at the same time....to see what she's blogging right now click here. Actually, she's kind of having problems right now...she's pretty much having a break down right here in front of me. I care, but it's funny. She already asked me how to spell simultaneous...and then she forgot and then it was deleted...Anyway, it's great. And I finally found out what the Hudson house is...I have to go and observe for a couple hours one night -wanna come? Just kidding...you can't. Something about confidentiality...I know lots of secrets about lots of people. Isn't that special. I mean, I could have been the nurse for someone really famous and never able to tell you. Anyway, so the Hudson House is like a group home for people who are dealing with psychiatric disorders...and attn all nsg people, I'm pretty sure I'm having PVCs -mostly due to mt. dew in the wee hours of the early morning. And doris won her softball game! Horray...she's sore, but I'm happy for her. Apparantly it's a strange thing to like being sore...Doris and I are really excited right now because we finally figured out all about links and stuff...it's great, really. We're really happy because we learned so much in like 15 minutes and really neither of us know anything about computers. Greatness, I tell you. Alright, so I probably should study or something because I have a test today. I'm a little nervous about the test...oh my! Look at the time! I must go class starts right now :)

p.s. all au friends, I'm in campus mail withdrawal...if you love me, you know what to do... :)

okay...so I probably don't really need to blog again today -but I will. Just to say that nothing really very exciting happened. It rained...and it rained and it rained. It started off really awesome with lightning and thunder...but then it was just a lot of rain. So I walked through it and it was great -except for the part where I got really really cold and sat in the car for a while with the heater on. Anyway, doris finally blogged. And she inserted a piece of our precious log from FL in her blog...you should read it. Remember though, she's the logger -and can you believe that she'd write like that about herself??? And believe me, it was a complete accident....I thought that I was soon to die of a heat stroke trying to just keep her from not freezing. Anyway, it's great. The whole log book thing is great. I've gotta remember to get copies. And it's so obvious that the end of the school year is near because I made a list today of all the things that I need to get done, and there is 12 things to do -and that includes no tests...and I have 2 tests next week and probably a nsg quiz. Anyway, so that's the end of my boring life today. I ate chicken tonight though, and that's always happy....that and I watched the outtakes of the veggietale movie. I actually think they're funnier than the whole movie together. And there's a hidden music video of Chris Rice singing The Other Side of the Radio -which for some reason, I absolutely love. Chris Rice is awesome.

Alright, so that's it for now. Happy times... :)

I'm really not sure what happened to me yesterday...for some reason I was in a state of complete and total exhaustion -by the end of the day, I mean. I didn't really wake up all that early 9ish or something, then I read and studied for a nsg quiz, then I ate, then I went to doris and mary's apt to study with them again -we actually did study this time. Doris said that I was energetic about studying and for some reason that helped??? I don't know. Anyway, it was an absolutely marvelous day -horray for all the spring breakers this week. Today seems to be beautiful also...But back to yesterday. Umm...oh yes, we studied for nsg. Then I went with them to eat lunch- except I didn't eat because I wasn't hungry because I ate late breakfast...which it seems they didn't understand because they kept counting the calories of what I ate and telling me that I needed more because I was supposed to get to 2000...It was kind of funny, but not so much. So, while they were eating I was looking through a book for rlgn class since we were going to have a quiz in that class also. I read out loud so everyone would benefit...and all in all I think that each of us did quite well on both quizes we had yesterday. Happiness for us! I'm really happy about the nsg quiz -extreme excitement! So, then I was done for the day after the two classes -no piano due to spring break. However, being the procrastinator that I am, I had a paper that needing writing. So, I wrote that turned it in and of course went back to visit my friends mary and doris...because it was a happy day and I like friends and stuff like that. It turns out that my friend Laura -who happened to sit on one of the couches on the stage at the JoC concert but refused to speak to me when I yelled to her- needed a ride. I gladly gave her one...and it was lots of fun...I'm not really sure why, but it was. So, then to my two friends I went. They were happy to see me. Doris really needed toothpaste, but apparantly something happened and we didn't get to go get it. I told her that I had some but she really needed (??probably she just wanted) mentadent...which is "two in one". Now, this seems like a very trivial detail...but mary has a way of being funny. So, she explained that doris needed the "two in one" because she would be getting married soon...and that's the way she and josh were going to have to be -like the toothpaste "two in one". It's biblical. So, after laughing at her I explained to doris that of course the "two in one" toothpaste needed to be the center piece of decoration at her wedding reception. (it was sort of my job to create a center piece...because I'm creative???) Anyway, so I don't think that doris is going for the toothpaste idea...but I tried -mary of course helped out a lot with that one. Anyway, so finally about 6ish I went home to find my family. As soon as I walked in the door they said "get ready -we're going to cici's" So...I changed clothes really fast...and jon came to my door. He said "hurry up. I need to show you something" Well, I tried to hurry...but I wasn't expecting much because lots of times when jon says stuff like that he's created like a new karate move that's just really weird or something. So, I finished and asked what this thing I needed to see was. He took me to the kitchen picked up a bag and pulled out.....JONAH -A VEGGIETALE MOVIE!!!!!!!! AHHHH.....and I really did scream. And everyone was happy and I couldn't wait to see it...and it was more than wonderful...but, we had to go and eat first. So eat we did. And it was good. I liked it....and guess what. The chicken pizza that's been gone for three years is coming back next week!!!! I loved the chicken pizza...really, I can hardly wait. Alright, so when we got home I watched the movie...growing -for some reason- increasingly tired throughout. I didn't even watch the special features that came with it....sad, but true. But exhausted I went to bed. I set my alarm to wake up around midnight...and I did wake up but only long enough to read a chapter of my Bible and then I was trying to write in my journal -but I don't think that turned out so well...I kept falling asleep in the middle of the sentences. I did get up and get some apple juice to drink, but I don't think that helped too much. Anyway, I need to read that chapter again because I only vaguely remember what was going on...something about Jesus being our priest or something. Anyway, okay. So, today I don't have clinical -and not tomorrow either. I have one on Thursday, but that's okay. And does anyone know what the Hudson House is??? Better yet, just tell me how to get there -OH! Maybe I could ride with mary and doris....they have it too! Okay, so I'm excited now. Hopefully, I won't be as tired tonight and I can relate all that's happened throughout the rest of the day today....it could be fun.

this was kind of a big blog....umm...sorry about that. But it was fun. Okay...so, good bye. :)

so, just in case you read what I wrote last night (that is dated sunday because it was late last night/early morning) I just want you to know that I'm okay now -just in case you were worried. So, I'm guessing that Misti is at abby's birthday party now. I'm pretty sure she'll end up with some exciting stories to tell about that one. Alright, so can I just say that I loved evansville? It had a strange effect on me -causing me to remember a lot about when I lived in alabama and all that jazz. Ever since that marvelous trip to florida I've been missing the south. I always missed it when we went to arkansas to visit family, but I thought that was just because I was missing my family- which is in part true, but now I know different. I definitely don't want to live in anderson...I absolutely loved where mary and doris lived. I admit, Indiana itself is not necessarily southern -although to those in new york, michigan, and montana it is...I love southern indiana. I thought evansville would be different because it wouldn't have as many hills and such...but I love it. And yesterday turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day. And for the first time in my life I ate at IHOP...that's gotta be exciting. (chocolate chip pancakes -the only thing is that the pancakes themselves were chocolate...and that was a new experience for me, but I liked it). Oh, and did you know that they have a chic-fil-et in evansville? And a sonic? I couldn't have been happier. I ate at dairy queen too -yummy. I can't remember how long it'd been since I ate ice cream...I remember it was with jonathan though and it was cold...but I'm pretty sure it was in january or something. Casey didn't win her games, but that's okay because she hit a homerun and I'm happy for her. I'm quite sure I could write a lot more, but it's easier just to stop here. Someone accepted Jesus into their life today at church, and that's awesome...and it's a good thing that I came back for church because I forgot that the piano player is out of town...and I'm like replacement or something. I think that misti's memory failure is rubbing off on me...but, oh well. Okay, so happiness all the way around. I have an awana meeting tonight which excites me because I love awana. Yippee! Okay, so I'm going to stop now. I need to write a paper before I wake up tomorrow...so, that mostly means sometime tonight. It could be fun -I'm sure that you're quite disappointed that you're not going to be with me to enjoy this marvelous educational moment, but I'm sure you'll survive somehow :)

Alright, so road trip to evansville with my sister! Horray...and really I had a marvelous time, but at this very moment I'm trying to recover from something in between anger and frustration...Therefore, because it's rather late and because there's no need to put a negative twist on such a positive experience you'll have to wait to hear all about how great a time I had. It really was wonderful...and another thing (similar to this) is scheduled for April - how wonderful. And can I just say that I'm really excited about living with mary, doris, and tracy next year...really, I am. Alright, so I'm going to bed now -with tunes from Nickel Creek in my head, thanks to andy :)

okay...short and sweet. Today my day has been haunted by a horrid headache. My prof attempted to medicate me earlier this morning...it didn't work, but apparantly pain doesn't diminish my sarcasm or odd sense of humor. So, clinical went well -I just wish I felt better...if I get sick, I'm blaming doris. umm...pretty much after clinical I just hung out in the nsg lab helping abbie with her careplan, looking for nsg jobs that offered a sign-on bonus big enough to cover my student loans, ate lunch with megan, abbie, rachel, and lindsay...umm, I checked my mail but I didn't get anything. Honestly, don't you think some campus mail is in order? Anyway, back to the lab where I helped tara put the finishing touches on her wedding plans -pretty much exciting. Which reminds me -daniel and karlie, I heard the song again that was the theme at your wedding. I really love it, it's so awesome -just thought I'd share that with you. umm...then I had class which just finished...I've read a little Bible and now I'm just hanging out again until american civ time comes...of course, I then will make my way to the elementary school to commence piano. I really hope that my head feels better by then. Oh well...I hear ER is a re-run...I think that I'll probably just clean my room or go to bed early or something unfun like that. I have a care plan due tomorrow and I need to do community for monday. I could finish all of it tonight if I wanted...and if I wouldn't waste my time...maybe I'll do one tonight and the other tomorrow morning. Who knows...actually I could just wait until Monday for community, but I'm not sure how smart that is. however, I do have procrastination down to an art. Alright...no enthusiasm today, but I am optimistic. much love and prayers...

war is horrible. Did I ever tell you that I didn't want to be one of those old little grandmas that could say, "well, I remember during the war..." Well, it's too late for that now. I can't believe how many historical events I've lived through...I'd be a great research project for my grandkids, but I'm just saying war is yuck. Don't get me wrong...I'm not really protesting it, I support all those amazing people that are fighting for me and I'm praying for them and their families (some of them are part of my family -cousin, uncle) But, I don't like seeing the things get blown up. Saddness, and I feel like I need a hug. An army person was at school today- a recruiter I think- they said something about recruiting nurses...I actually wouldn't feel too bad about that. I told mom and dad a while ago that if we went to war and they needed nurses, I would go. But, I don't want to think about all the horrible things I would see happening to all the guys that are my age...it's a gruesome thought...and you all know how I just love everyone too much. Anyway, that was just something that was bothering me, and I thought I'd write about it. until later...

well, today has been one of those kind of blah days. I've been up since a little after 3 am...not too much sleep. This confuses me (and doris and mary too) because I have all kinds of energy, but I think that it's slowly draining from me...but I must save it! I have a fish fry at 5pm -side note for those who care: I don't really like fish at all...I love chicken- after the fish fry, I have awana at 7pm...I'll probably get everything cleaned up and stuff around 9pm and then I have to be at school at 10pm for apt draws...however, I have to pick up mary and doris so I guess I'll just leave straight from church. Anyway, I got my mid-terms...eugh. We'll just leave that one alone. Let's see... oh, and aunt Beverly is leaving for Africa friday...but I just got an email from her and it was sad. Yesterday afternoon her pastor was killed in a car accident....obviously this was completely unexpected. You'd think with all the time I spend in the hospital and with dying people death wouldn't strike me like it does, but I'm so devastated. I don't really know why, because how awesome would it be to finally have an actual hug from God!?!? I'm sure it's like nothing ever imaginable...it just feels sad though when someone leaves us here behind...it's a shame that everyone can't just all die at the same time, huh? Oh well...he was really young too. I firmly believe though, that God is in control of everything and His plan is perfect...and even though we have to deal with the consequences of the imperfection of this world, He still has power and is more wise than we can imagine...God can take this "tragedy" and turn it into something more grand than anyone could ever imagine...don't believe me? Ask me sometime about Carrie Bretts...she gotta be the strongest woman I've ever met...I really just hope that I'm a strong dier....I want to be able to bring God glory and show His love through me even when I am sick and dying...anyway, it's just something that I think about I guess. But back to Africa, Aunt Bev...be careful...it's a mean old world out there...and you never know what might happen -and oh how I wish I was going with you! Anyway, so I have about a million things to do and not too much time to do them in...okay, so have a fabulous day!

so, clincial was this morning...and it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood -oh, so sad that mr. rogers isn't with us anymore. But still, it's a beautiful day...and even though I didn't sleep very well last night I did wake up feeling pretty good. So, while all you wonderful people were probably nice and cozy in your little beds I was in the shower :) Anyway, it was fun and great and exciting and pretty much not at all stressful. And I'm doing the exact same thing tomorrow morning. Well, so I went home and ate and talked to misti -all of which were quite fun things to do....then, on the way to school just now I grabbed a left-over apple from my trip and got in my car...and all the way to school I had the windows down and in between bites of apple I would sing with the radio as loud as possible. OH, how I love living. :) There's so much to be thankful for...and on Wednesday, they're having a fish fry at church to raise money for a mission thing...and that's exciting...and I really am going to get to room with tracy, mary, AND doris next year :) the room draw is wednesday night....and I have community clinical on thursday morning -which is one of my favorite clinicals...and awana is wednesday and misti and I are going to evansville to see casey play ball....and I'm remembering to pray for chance...and the war kind of scares me a lot...and gwyn is in georgia on Spring break....and ahhh....isn't everything just incredibly exciting? Alright, so I've got lots of homework to do...so I should go. Oh, and I had to decide if I wanted to take a second test in my rlgn class -which I had an A in until just recently....and I decided I would just in hopes to regain my A (it would be an incredibly high B without it) But, I did this only to find out that the test is on April 14th....that stinks because I was planning to throw myself a party :) Just kidding. No party, and it's really awesome that the test is on a monday because I'll have all morning to study for it....and happiness once again surrounds me. And misti, I really think that you should rethink this idea you have about your 21st birthday....we'll talk. Okay, so I should really quit typing now...you should really feel blessed that you're not with me in person because I'm pretty sure that I'm similar to the energizer bunny right now.....I just keep going and going and going and going....and if I make it to class on time I better get going. Later :)

ahh, almost time for bed. I've actually already read my Bible deal for tonight, so after this I'm ready to sleep. I have clinical in the morning...I was actually looking at my schedule for clinicals, and I realized that it's awesome. I have every other week off..well, sort of off...I mean, sometimes I don't have to write a care plan and in my mind (although it doesn't mean I don't have work or wake up early) that constitutes "off". Anyway, much happiness in my life. Also, the profs decided that because of the large turnover rate in the hospitals for this semester, we don't have to go to the hospital and prepare the night before with our care plan and whatnot. It's great...because under normal circumstances, we would have to go to the hospital on Monday nights for about two hours or so, then write a lot of the care plan before we went to clinical Tuesday morning, work for half of the day, eat lunch, attend lecture, learn something to teach our patient, revise and re-write the care plan, be at clinical Wednesday morning...and so on until whatever time the patient was discharged or it was time for the care plan to be turned in. Insanity my friends...and I'm just noticing that the entry that I blogged earlier today isn't here....and that's quite depressing. It was full of happy, exciting thoughts...but I suppose that it's lost somewhere in cyberspace...how sad for it. I wonder if it's scared or alone. Alright....so, sometimes I believe that regressing back to childhood would be fantastic. Sometimes I just wish that someone would sing me to sleep (no, not my cd's or the radio, but a real person) and sometimes I wish that someone would read me a story before bed...and all that comes with being a small, dependant child. Growing up stinks, but I think that I'm dealing with it pretty well. It's just sometimes I wish I could be that little kid again that everyone wanted to take care of. Now, I'm just a short person that has "spunk and independance"....it's true, I'm stubborn, but sometimes it's nice to have someone take care of you....oh well. I'm not really sure what that was all about, except that I'm about to go to bed and I was just wishing that someone would read me a story...kind of stupid, huh?
So, I like cranberry juice (especially if it's apple cranberry). Yesterday I drank a whole gallon of it...not all at once or anything. I started drinking it in the morning, and I continued drinking it throughout the day until it was gone...yummy for me, I'd say -and healthy too...it's helpful in preventing UTIs. Anyway, but tonight all I had was straight cranberry juice (which I usually still like anyway, just I like the apple cranberry better) but this is leaving a horrible taste in my mouth, and I don't like it. And I would drink just plain apple juice, but I helped Timothy empty that tonight too...what can I say, I was dehydrated. Anyway, I like juice...except this disgusting juice I'm drinking now. Okay, so everything I've typed so far has been enormously pointless....and for that I apologize. It might be due in part to my continually closing eyes and my propensity to fall into a sleepy daze as I type...I'm not sure. But I do know two things. First, Jesus loves me more than I can even ever imagine, and second, I'm extremely tired and I'm going to bed...(I also know that this cranberry juice tastes really gross, but since I said I only knew two things, I'll just pretend like I don't know that third thing, and I'll hop right into bed now...) Have a great night... :)

What better thing to do for Spring Break than drive really far away with two friends and commence a bonding time... :) Happiness. It's true, there were things that went wrong, but it was a wonderful trip! I'm back! And the most horrible thing is that there is so much that I could type...but I know that no one would actually read everything because the whole blog would just be too much. Anyway, I felt the ocean -did not swim (I was smarter than Mary and Doris), I played in the sand, I climbed up to the top of the Lighthouse, I got sunburned really incredibly bad- but just on my legs (Don't really understand that since I coated myself in sunscreen)...I sent postcards, visited Wings, Ripley's Believe it or Not, St. George Street, Chic-fil-et (sp?) -(it's true, I ate chicken sandwiches all during my break, and I liked it :) umm...I laughed a lot, got lost on the way to Marys -fun way to start off my trip...drove the whole way there, all while we were there, and the whole way back because I've fallen in love with driving...can't wait to take another road trip...dread actually having to go back to school, helped Doris plan more of her wedding, I don't know....there's no way to fit everything I want to write in here....innumerable amounts of stories to tell...we should get together and talk...you all know how I love to tell stories :) Doris kept a log while we were gone...I think that in the next couple of weeks I'll attach it to this special blog of mine...that way, in case you want to laugh your head off....or are planning to know every detail about my life....you can read away....but it will definitely be at your own risk. Alrighty then, I can't believe that I still have as much energy as I do...it's crazy...oh, and subway that they were building less than a mile from my house has now opened...AND I'M SO HAPPY :) Alright, so fun times had by me and my crew....I think I'm going to go now...I'm not sure what I'll do, but I know there's definitely stuff that needs doing... OH, and while I was gone, my mom went out and decided to get a job....so, now she works at the hospital -funny how so many things seem to change in just the little while that you're gone....oh well, that's life...and life has a funny way of being dreadfully unfair and yet excitingly fun all at the same time. Thank you, God for giving me such wonderful blessings!

So, tomorrow's it....I'm leaving!!! Yes, wonderful exciting fun times with Doris and Mary!!! I'm pretty excited, minus the fact that there are still several things that I need to get done before actually going to see where lou-lou lives ;) Anyway, a wonderfully marvelous little old lady at church told me today to watch out for the alligators...I never even thought to be afraid of them, but it's good to know she cares :) Anyway, good days are happening now...and they are definitely yet to come. Pray for me guys, I need it -not just for this trip but for the everyday life deals. Here's a few things that I wanted to share with you all before I leave : "My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don't waver. Stay on track, steady in God. Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." -Those are a few random exerpts from Philippians 4, the Message...(philippians is my favorite book, I absolutely love it...funny how my favorite verse isn't from it though...oh well, that's not quite the point.) So, off I go...God's amazingly graceful blessings to you all...muah, gwyndolyn!

Not to break the trend of happy blogging that I've had or anything like that...but can I just say, I feel sick. Yes, it's true...the amanda who almost never gets sick isn't feeling so well. And isn't it just like life to throw this my way while I'm planning the very first spring break trip ever of my whole life? I'll tell you though, it's not going to beat me....maybe my head hurts, maybe it hurts to keep my eyes open, maybe inspiratory breathing is painful, maybe a cough is present, maybe I feel like I'm going to puke everytime I say something....BUT I AM NOT SICK! I never get sick...I think 4 years ago was the last time I remember really being sick, and it's not happening...it's not. Okay, so maybe it's not as bad as all that...or maybe my stomach doesn't appreciate the pancakes I ate earlier, or maybe it just gets really confused if I actually eat more than one full meal in a day....who knows? I'm sure I'm fine...for real, it's okay. Maybe when I wake up tomorrow everything will be different...and I've gotta pack, and I've gotta do 15 billion other things...and I don't really know what else to type. I am so excited about visiting mary though...it'll be happiness at an excessively high level. Alright, so enough complaining....even with this ill feeling, I'm in a pretty good mood. In essence, I'm impressed with my own positive attitude in the midst of....well, in the midst of health less than 98%. It's great really, I'm pretty sure that I'd be laughing at (or maybe with) any number of you if I were there or you were here. Okay, so now I'm getting lost, alone, and quite confused in my own typing...so, I think that's a hint that I need to stop. What do you think? Yep, those are my thoughts exactly. I'll definitely be blogging later....actually, I've decided to not take my laptop, so tomorrow night will be the last blog until I return -yes! I'm leaving!!! HORRAY! No more snow....at least not until I come back. Alright, for real I'm quiting now. You'll see....you'll be reading and then all the sudden, no more words....it's gonna be great, you just wait. happiness and prayers to all my kindred spirits - and even some of those who aren't so kindred....much love guys :)

Oh happy day :) Today was just one of those great days that was completely full with moments of stress, but all in all a day that if given a choice you would repeat just for the fun of reliving the memories :) Nothing really special or outstanding happened. Let's see...I got up and finished a paper that was due today, talked to andy on the phone, went to meet mary and doris, went shopping, ate lunch, turned in my paper, drew on the chalkboard before my last class -the prof was so impressed he made me make myself known as the artist...it was funny, but my arm was sore after holding it up so long to draw-, had rlgn class, got out early, drove to wal-mart, goodwill, home, piano, drove to castleton with tim to meet mom and dad at golden corral, home, tv, hugs for jon, and here I am. Wow :) See, I told you I didn't do anything special, but it was just fun...I know, I know, you had to be there. And did you know that if I wanted to be really cool I could sign up for audioblogger where you could actually here me saying all this instead of just reading it all? I don't know...it's definitely better, but maybe you should be forced to use your imagination or something. I really wish I could convey to you the hilarity of mary's stories...they are funny beyond description...you're definitely missing out there. Anyway, it's great....life's fun sometimes in between all the yucky stuff and it's times like these that make you want to find God in skin so that you can run to Him really fast and hug Him with all your might...or at least that's how I feel....good night guys, I'll be up again for another day and it's bound ot be full also. Much fun will be had by amanda :)

oh, I really wanted to just mess with the computer and see if I could learn something really awesome or something...but, the connection seems to be really slow and I'm not learning anything. Isn't that sad? I bet if I come back to the lab tomorrow, the connection will be fast because everyone is leaving for Spring break. I'm so excited that school's almost over. You know how the aura of the whole room seems to change when everyone is just so energized with the actual fact that a break is coming....a break! Ahhh....I'm not extremely excited yet, but tomorrow I'm going shopping (mostly for food) and packing with Mary and Doris. Anyway, so it's fun and exciting and life is happy. I only have one class tomorrow too -religion....so, I don't have hardly anything to do. Well, tonight I have to write a paper....but other than that I don't have anything to do. And it's so sad because I'm going to miss nursing people....I really love them! This afternoon I got addresses and phone numbers to call/write them while we were gone away from each other ABBIE I LOVE YOU! Thankfully, I'm going to be with Mary and Doris, so maybe the separation withdrawal won't be so bad....but it's making me afraid for graduation....how will we ever survive? Anyway, so okay....a couple of classes left today and one tomorrow and only 3 careplans to finish before the end of the year :) Amanda is in a fabulously wonderful marvelous extremely great mood. I think that happiness is really just floating all around me. And there's planning for weddings and I had to fill out an application for graduation and I got a really good parking spot-wait, no I didn't but that doesn't really matter- and I have lots of friends that love me and I'm going on a trip for spring break and I don't have classes for a week and I have piano tonight and ER also comes on tonight...and so does CSI and OH MY!!! I'm late for class now....gotta go!

Guess what I'm wearing!?!? An engagement ring! Okay, so it's Doris' ring...and I'm just wearing it for her while she's doing check-offs....I'm next. It could be fun. Anyway, it's cool that my fingers are the exact same size as what Doris is. So I spent three hours today making cookies....really, it was a lot of fun. I know, three hours sounds like a really long time, but it made more than 150 cookies :) I left 50 of them with the Cunninghams, but I took 100....now what to do with all the cookies....humm. Anyway, so I am excited about tonight being awana...it's going to be great. I love the girls...and maybe they'll have 20 sections done tonight....they have to get 100 in about 2 weeks to have a party at Mary's house, so they've been working hard. That's about 200 Bible verses....amazing isn't it. Okay, so that's fun and exciting...and then I have a paper to write tonight and clinical lab in the morning and then finally FRIDAY! I can't believe that it's been one whole week almost since I was at the concert. I loved that concert. :) It was just as happy as I dreamed it could be. Anyway, so only one more day that's full before I have Spring Break....HURRAY! And really I'm just so excited about spending time with my friends...it's going to be awesome. I wish I could say more, but it's almost my time to check-off....so I suppose I should go. Hopefully I can remember everything....I at least remembered my uniform, it's so special :) Alright guys....until tomorrow (or if I'm really energetic, tonight) "keep your mind of things above, not on things of earth" Sarah, I love you, pray, don't be stressed.....

Only five or ten minutes before I have to run downstairs for class...there's so much to do before I can leave for Spring break. Ahhhhhhhh! Oh well, let's see...I was supposed to make cookies today...and that still might happen, but mostly I'm confused. Maybe it's supposed to be tomorrow? I'm not really sure...anyway, it's sad...or maybe I'm supposed to go tonight. Either way, I was looking forward to it and whenever it happens it will be fun :) So, instead of making cookies I went to misti's house. It was hilarious. She had made cinnimon rolls...it was great. Actually they were really gooey (sp?) which I like, but she didn't like it too much. Anyway, through it all there was a lot of conversation...and then she accused me of not being able to stand up without the assistance of my hands...which (for some reason) caused me to become very defensive and I sat back down to prove that I didn't need my hands to stand up. I'm not even really sure why that's important. And everyone...I'm really excited about Spring break....check out where we're staying. great fun, guys...but no, we're not going to the bar...it just happened to be attached to the most inexpensive place we could find in the location that we wanted. Okay...excitement is almost here :) Okay, so I suppose that I should get ready to learn. I think that I've been using a lot of big words lately...it's kind of fun, but it means I am more like my dad than I thought :( okay, I'm just kidding....dad, I think you're great. Alright, so here I go. Have a fabulous day...the rest of mine will be spent studying for mid-terms.... much love guys!

oh, I blogged earlier today....but what's the problem with just one more entry? Of all the days that I've had in 2003, this is the worst yet...and I suppose that if this is as bad as it gets then I'll be okay. Honestly, I don't remember ever crying as much as I did today...not even at funerals. But that's quite beside the point. I am convinced that God sends us people in certain places and at certain times in order to support us and encourage us in just the way that we need it most. Tonight I found that person in a most unexpected place....Doris thank you so much for loaning me Josh (whether you realized it or not). It was completely therapeutic for me...and I think he's awesome. And no Josh, I don't really read your blog everyday...so, don't be scared yet. But I'm supposed to be in your wedding so you might consider being scared about that. Anyway, nsg test seemed to go okay and piano went well and Spring break will soon be here. I attempted studying tonight at Doris and Mary's apt, but I'm not quite sure how much I learned anyway...all in all the day ended on a very positive note :) Happiness....

it's march. I can't believe it....I would attempt to convey my usual happy-excited-overjoyed self, but I don't feel like it. No need in pretending, huh? I don't really even know what to write...I want to be so completely satisfied with how my life is right now...I do. "I have learned in whatever state I am to be content" -I mean, that's Biblical and all. And to an extent I am...but this constant fighting within myself is kind of hard to define...and somtimes it seems like God is so far away when I'm sure He's got to be sitting right beside me...Chris Rice sings about that exact thing -Smell the Color Nine...maybe I should rethink what I told David and go with him to the concert. Oh, but all this is probably just made worse with mid-terms this week. I am so completely thankful for Spring Break...I can't wait to see the lighthouse...I think that I'll be laying on the beach doing a lot of thinking though. But that's okay...And even though God does seem like He's far away right now and I can't seem to figure out what really is supposed to be going on, He is so amazingly awesome...His love is definitely incomprehendable, For the life of me I can't understand why He loves me like He does.
And now a tribute to God, friends, and family.
God, you have been so amazingly awesome to bless me like you have with all the wonderful people that you've surrounded me with....You have somehow been able to allow these people in my life, and yet I've learned to run to You when I need someone. Thank you for teaching me to trust You...help me trust You more....and God, thank you so much for giving me all that you have...I thank you...and I'm especially grateful for my family, Andy, Mary, Doris, Misti, Gwyn, Abbie, Megan, David, Rauby, Jason, Kristine, Jessica, Aunt Pat, the other Mary, all the kids that love me, Ann & John, Bogg Springs, Mexico, and Aubie....God, I know there's more...but this list is so long already, I'm once again amazed that you've blessed me with so many people....for the life of me I can't understand why You love me like You do...so I offer my life to You.
For all those who are now extremely concerned for me, don't be....I'm just fine. And as I stated before, this week is mid-term week, so don't be confused, concerned, or anything if I don't blog...believe me, when I get back from Spring break, you'll have all the blog you ever wanted to read plus some... :)