College a Love/Hate Relationship

This post is inspired from comments on my instagram and facebook.

College...

Graduated high school 4 years ago, I should be close to graduating... right? To save you all the drama of why I will not be graduating any time soon, I'm just going to say moving from city to city did not help (but it sure was FUN). I'm just sitting here taking organic chemistry, physics, and biology lectures and labs as a non degree seeking senior, who is looking for any school that will take all my credits and give be a bachelors degree (that is not likely to happen so I'm just hoping to graduate in the next year and a half). Then off to a masters... but lets not get ahead of ourselves. So lately I have been bitter and complaining a lot little about school. But lets be honest... being a college student ROCKS!

College, it's the time in life where you can do whatever you want. Take a nap everyday at 3pm like a toddler. Wear your pj's all day everyday. Stay up and have a movie night in the middle of the week because your day does not start till after lunch. Maybe you have no money, and all you eat is hot dogs (blake) or popcorn (me) for dinner. And maybe you have weeks like this one where you go three days with less the 8 hrs of sleep total because of exams. But I love being a college student. I love being home with Blake almost all day. We sit at the kitchen table half studying, half distracting each other with youtube videos. I love that we share cool facts and thoughts about the subjects we are studying. Seriously I learn so much from Blake's classes. I love having one car because it forces us to spend even more time together. I even enjoy the homework, aside from the "my brain is growing to fast" headaches and the "I read this paragraph three times and still don't know what its saying" reading. So why do I complain so? I guess because that's just what people do. We always want to be somewhere different in our lives, whether it be the past or future. No more I tell you!

In summary, I LOVE MY LIFE! And I'm going to remind myself of that more often. So with that I'm going to go take a long nap.

But first here is an awesome article about happiness. 

and then there is this, because it made me laugh... 

Oh and Blake has already pre-approved tonight being a popcorn dinner and random movie kind of night. total score!

Today

I was in fifth grade in 2001, on the morning of September 11^th my mom called with some excuse on why we were not to turn on the TV. After getting to school my friend Jillian talked about planes hitting buildings and world war III. After asking if she was talking about a show she had just watched, she insisted it had just happened in real life. I was confused. When we got to the classroom Mrs. Cobb let us watch the news. I was still confused. But remember being worried for my mom, she was at work, there was no way (in my mind) that she could have known what was happening. Little did I know the unusual phone call that morning was the attempt of a mother trying to prevent her kids from feeling alone and afraid. I was too young to understand the severity of everything going on, it all seemed unreal. It was the first time my hart reached out to people I had never met. As young kids do, I probably did not talk about it with as much reverence as I do now. Each year I find myself reflecting on what happened 12 years ago today.

 Last May while visiting New York we spent time at the 9/11 memorial, it brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes, as it does now while I write this post. There are truly no words, just undesirable emotion. 

This day will forever bring reverence for those that were lost, respect for those who sacrificed, and gratitude for the family and friends in my life.

This day will never be forgotten. 

Moving Day

Well today is moving day. There's a lot I' going to miss about Miami, thing like Taco Rico (the fist Mexican food I have ever loved), Cuban restaurants everywhere, the warm water at the beach, the beach, being able to get sweet plantains at almost any restaurant, the fruit, the animals. But most of all I will miss the people I have grown to love in this city, some of which have also moved in the last 6 months. Miami has given us friends that we will never forget. The Belliston in particular will sorely be missed. We have not gone more then a few weeks without seeing each other since we both moved here in August 2011. They just had a perfect baby boy on the 1st, and as I held him last night it really hit me that I'm not going to get to play with him at Sunday lunch, or babysit him when Mom needs a break. When I get locked out of my house I don't get to stay up late with Krysta while our husbands are out in the everglades. I'm going to miss her little sisters and all the Rubio  madness (love that whole family). We are leaving our best friends in the world, this should never be allowed to happen. So many good memories, Miami would not have been the same with out them. 

This is the first place it has stung a little to leave. Okay, well it's time to turn on the music and get back to packing.

FREEDOM

Yesterday was probably one of the best days of the year. 

All craziness came to an end, and school gave me a random day off. 

The Beach in Costa Rica

What was the craziness?

For the past three months I have been studying for one test, a test that I was not guaranteed to even be selected to take. I had all but given up and even quit studying for a week. Then on March 23rd I got the e-mail saying I was one of the 200-250 (out of the 700+ who applied) to take the PA admissions test on April 10th. At first I was excited, then looking at the calendar found this had to be the worse possible day to the big test.

I had 3 exams the week before, was skipping a class Thursday to go to Jari's Graduation. Only would get to study while on the 5+ hour plane ride... because who can study while the whole family is together? I would for sure come home Sunday sleep deprived and unpreared to take such a test on Tuesday with 70% of the questions being like this...

A 42-year-old man with portal hypertension secondary to cirrhosis of the liver and subsequent massive ascites presents to the ER. He refuses to have a transjugular intrahpatic portosystemic shunt procedure and prefers surgery. Which of the following surfical connections is involved in the most practical method of shunting portal blood around the liver?

But apparently I was wrong. I mean sure, I could have used a few more hours of study. The exam was on anatomy, medical terminology, medical math, microbiology, and a random essay. But after the three-hour test I acrually felt good about it. I don't know if I was just glad it was over or what. Either way, I feel good.

 

So what does one do with a random day off school?

 Sleep in an extra hour.

Turn on pandora as a clean the whole house. I cannot remember the last time I vacuumed; Blake has been the sole house and car cleaner for a few months while I was studying. He's the best!

Then cook a dinner that take longer the 10 minutes.

Make Emily's Cookies.

Watch Blake study for a test.

Feel a sense of freedom all day long.

I even had time to pick up a stranded brother-in-law at the Miccosukee Village out in the Everglades. It’s a good thing the test was not tomorrow or I might have made him walk the 30 miles back to civilization.

And the semester is almost OVER!!!

Yesterday I felt a glimpse of what graduating must feel like.

random things that make me terribly happy

Most of which are food related. 

Game night with friends.

Fresh flowers in the house.

Saturday mornings when you have time to make breakfast. 

Movie theater popcorn at the Hunger Games, I might of liked the popcorn more than the movie...

Our scooter, bumble bee. I've had the dream of owning a motorcycle since I was like 12, this is a step in the right direction.  

Having chips with homemade guacamole & refried beans for dinner.

Tres Leches

A cute gift from my Visiting Teachers.... same girls from game night. 

Brazilian dinner with the family, stake, chicken heart (don't judge unless you've tried it), rice, beans, farofa, maionese and

FLAN!!!

Dinner was thanks to my cousin Junior and his wife Amanda (mostly Amanda)  so glad they have moved to Florida.

Oh and a weekend full of General Conference.

The Last Lecture

Today I have been thinking a lot about life and death. How grateful I am for the life I have been given and the people I have been given to share it with. Yesterday evening and this morning Blake's grandparents Billy Smith Eoff and Douglas Dalton Eoff died only 7 hours apart from one another. After 64 years of marriage how sweet that they were about to pass together. I can only hope Blake and I will leave this mortal life only hours apart.

Thinking of Blake's Grandparents made me think of my own. My siblings and I were all named after our wonderful Grandparents. Jarinete named after my Dad's Mom and Adamastor after my Dad's Dad. And me you ask? I got my name from both of my Mom's parents, Deanna and Le(e)land Thomas. Looking back at the time I spend and the things I have learned from my own Grandmas and great Grandmothers (I have never had the privilege of meeting any of my Grandpa's in this life, but Dug was a wonderful Grandpa to me) I hope I have taken that knowledge and changed for the better from their examples. 

After spending the morning thinking of all the wonderful people who have touched my life I went to Microbiology. There I complained with a classmate that the last test we had in Anatomy and Physiology was tricky and on the verge of being unfair. We both felt as if the teacher told us to study one thing and tested us on the other, just to be mean. We talked about the stress of trying to get into the P.A. program and what we would do if we did not get accepted. Then after sitting though a long leacher the teacher showed us this clip. 

For the full Lecture go here.

How easy I forget what really matters. I have been given good parents and wonderful grandparents. People matter not things or degrees. If my plans fail there will still be happiness in my life, if I want there to be. Even though people pass away we are still able to learn and grow from the life they live, as I am still learning from my Grandparents. I hope when the time comes my children and family will be able to look back at my life and be able to learn from it.

So here is my goal, to stop complaining about school and start having more fun. Here is to being more of a Tigger than an Eeyor. And here is to living up to what our Grandparents have done for us. They raised wonderful, loving and fun parents for Blake and I. I am grateful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints and my knowledge that families are eternal.