Operation De-Slob the Apartment

With finals rapidly approaching and the completion of my second to last anatomy exam, I'm afraid my apartment has become quite a mess! So today I'm setting everything right :) Operation De-Slob the Apartment! Ooh! I added a Roomba to the target wedding registry..it's an robot vacuum. I talked to some friends who had seen them in action... very cool. You tell it how often you want it to vacuum, and it vacuums...then goes back to its charging station. It even knows when it hits particularly soiled areas and spends more time on them. It's good because 1. it vacuums how ever often you want it to. 2. encourages you to pick up stuff (b/c it can't vacuum around objects very well). It sounds pretty good for two busy students with one (or maybe 2) dogs! Hehe...and cats ride them



Apartment to do list....
-laundry
-vacuum
-mop
-dishes
-dog bowls
-dust
-bathroom
-put stuff away




School to do list....
-Stupid repro homework designed to take time out of studying
-Study Anatomy (SNAKES! LIZZARDS! TURTLES! - for once not a chore to study)
-study repro phys (after doing retarded homework)
-study immunology
-write epidemiology notes in book
-practice epidemiology problems

Dog please?

Ok...so during epidemiology today, I was bad and looked at dogs up for adoption. Bad girl! But aren't they cute??? I think we need another dog... the one in the top left is a beagle-border collie mix. She's sooo cute! But then the beagle in the middle is cute too...so is the cuddly little dachshund! And the fat beagle!! Awww... everyone needs an overweight hypothyroid beagle! And then there's the greyhound, Nathan. He looks like a good friend for Gary. I bet they would snuggle on the couch together.


In other news, I feel like my test in anatomy went reasonable well. I can't remember some of my answers, but I think i can safely say I'm in the clear. :) So that's a major relief.

Pastor Paul sent us a copy of the wedding vowels he thinks we should you, and I really like them.... very beautiful, not exactly traditional, and God centered. Pastor Craig OKed taking communion (just me and Chase) as a part of the service :) I applied for new health insurance today! So many things falling into place. Now it's just waiting for the wedding!

Now, Gary and I are sitting on my back porch enjoying the warm spring day...well I think i'm enjoying it more than he is. He doesn't understand why I like sitting outside.

Peace to all of you! God bless.

A half-clean sofa

This is a picture of my newly cleaned sofa cushions. I wish I could take the non-cushion part off to clean it too! As you can see, cleaning the removable cushion covers did a world of good for my poor old sofa! I really like my sofa...it's just old and a little dirty. I think I'm going to call stanley steamers to come out and clean the thing soon. Then I would really like to order a custom made cover for it! Probably before I go home for the wedding!

I'M GETTING MARRIED IN LESS THAN 100 DAYS!! That's hard to belive!

in addition to that, I have

11 more days of anatomy lab

16 days left until I'm considered a VM2 and FINISHED WITH ANATOMY!


Exciting things!

The wedding blog has been updated too so check it out!

Easter

This was the first Easter I ever spent away from my family. I've always gone down to Uncle Bo and Papa's house, but this year I just couldn't make it! So..I made all my friends exchange Easter baskets (Dirty Santa style) and called Basket Bunny Bandit. Silly right? Then we dyed Easter eggs. See all the cups? Haha...they went a little crazy buying kits! BTW Eastre was a pagan holiday celebrated by the Saxons. The bunny was a symbol of the goddess of spring, Eastre. And bunnies are, as you know, famous for their...erm...fertility. Eggs have long been a symbol of rebirth, and reminder of creation for various ancient culutres before Jesus walked the earth. Christians came along and incorporated these things to make converting easier. Afterall...why join Christians if all you see them doing is ruining your celebrations? I'm not really sure what the point of that sidenote was, but it's good to be aware that some of the customs we celebrate on Easter have nothing to do with Christ's resurection. Of course, I don't associate dyeing eggs and the Easter Bunny with false gods and pagan worship anymore. I just like spending time with my friends and opportunity to express a little creativity! Anyway, I celebrated Easter with some friends and we had a nice time. I couldn't convince them to come to church with me on Sunday morning, but maybe someday they'll come! I certainly hope so.

Peace out.

Lots of pretty colors!

Gary thought the eggs smelled yummy.

Were you visited by the Easter Bunny?

I eated the bunny and grew ears!

Noo!! Not the bunnies ears!

Mom, this isn't funny anymore. Please remove bunnies ears. I sorry.



Happy Easter!!!!!

My (messy) apartment

This is the dresser I bought although the color doesn't show up well in pictures.

You can see the other dresser and a bit of the end table. Gary is sad we don't have company anymore :(


Now I'm sitting enjoying the last of my weekend. I should be studying, but I'm watching Father of the Bride instead. Hahaha...why are they buying brand new suits? Couldn't you rent them in the 90s? And did they say $250 a head...or ahead? Geeze!

In this particular scene Annie is calling the wedding off because the fiance bought her a blender. Haha! I hope I don't act so silly about this whole wedding thing!

Gentle Doctor Benefit

Amy's necklace was a popular jewelry item :) I made her make me one just like it...otherwise I might have spent some money...

I admit to buying my two favorite pieces of Debbie's work. Haha...the fall day picture (not picture) and the pink flower one pictured above. I also won a 1 night stay in the Crescent Hotel and 4 passes to a wildlife refuge also in Eureka springs

My parents and I had a nice time...

Ok my "speech" wasn't fun, but I didn't stutter or stumble over words. The best part is...it's over.

Cake Design!!

This is the picture of the cake design Blue Cake company made for me. It's pretty!

Back to the Daily Grind...

So it's back to the chaos and stress that is vet school. However, this semester is already leaps and bounds better than last semester. I'm not sure if my spirits are higher because my grades or better, or my grades are better because my spirits are higher. Either way, I feel much more at peace this semester than last semester.



I made myself a salad with mandarin oranges and Asian sesame seed dressing, steak, and a potato. I also packed salads for the rest of the week so maybe eating some health food will help me do better at school too.

And here is the obligatory Gary picture for the day. He has not been amused by the ear cleanings, applying ear drops, and shoving antibiotics down his throat lately. Brushing his teeth isn't a particularly enjoyable pastime either. He's rather irritated with the whole bit. If aha...if he'd just take the pills in peanut butter, I wouldn't have to shove them down his throat. That's life for you!

Photo Summary of Spring Break

Gary and I met Lily, Amy's grey :)

We stuffed rice packets and party favors.

I drove to Fayetteville and celebrated Megann's birthday, caught up with Brooke, and finished session 1 of pre-marital counseling. Happy Birthday, Megann!

Stolen Post from my wedding blog...

Papa, mom, and I went to The Painted Pig today to paint some pottery. I'm working on our "guest book." Mom painted a cross for the apartment. Papa painted a spoon rest :) We set him up with the colors of my kitchen and let him use his artistic expertise to paint it. I think he had fun. Before painting pottery, the three of us sampled cake. It's going to be a really fancy cake! As of today, it will be 4 tiers- each featuring a different flavor! From bottom to top: Italian Creme, Chocolate, Carrot cake, and Cheesecake.

This week is spring break so I've been busily working to tie together the last few loose ends of wedding planning. Chase and I bought our wedding bands and registered at Target. We ordered more ribbon, bought more tulle for decorating, sampled the catering, met with the photographer, visited the church, and picked out design for cake. This weeks remaining to do list: meet with the pianist, stuff throwing seed packets, paint bird cages, complete session 1 of pre-marital counseling, stuff party favor bags, and...I still have to study!


Speaking of registries...Chase and I decided to register at Target so you can find us on Target's Club Wedd!
Target: https://www.target.com/registry/wedding/3EPER1Y1EJYB1

We also registered at Amazon for the internet shoppers. Haha...I really like the Rada knives there, but I think the rest of the stuff we registered for on Amazon is very non traditional!

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/registry.html?ie=UTF8&type=wedding&id=3D2MXXQXNHRMW


We didn't register for any fine china. We thought it would be more fun to paint our own serving pieces at the Painted Pig! So gift certificates would be wonderful!

http://www.paintedpigstudio.com/



I love all of you and can't wait to see you again!


~Katie

Coolest Lamps ever?

I bought two matching lamps today. I think they are pretty awesome actually. However it might just be like the leg lamp to others... I hope not though!

Lamps $19 each

I also bought this coffee table today for $45 I'll have to touch up the black base a little. It's a really awesome table though! The glass is very heavy.

The runt is over for a play date :)

Happy Friday!

This is pretty much the opposite of what my weekend plans are...unless you count my habit of drinking lots of water when I'm stressed or studying. The X eyes are from fatigue. Ok..so I'm trying to keep up with material this semester and keep a positive attitude...it's really hard to stay positive though. I studied for hours this week trying to learn immunology, but it didn't seem to help on the quiz. Darn quiz....I swear the stuff he asked wasn't in the notes. I really wanted to like this class too. STINK!!


My plans for tomorrow:
-Yard sale
-study anatomy
-study immunology
-Study epidemiology
-study endocrinology
-study anatomy
-do laundry
-unload dishes


The good news is anatomy ends in 2 months. YEAH!! The bad news is I can feel this instructional period already starting to get out of hand. BUT I just have to take one day at a time and I'll make it through. Pretty sure God put me here for a reason, and He'll see me through.

Studying how to study

I must be a bigger dork than expected. As my break before hitting the books for class, I'm reading a book about learning styles and how to study.


Lesson 1: Environment matters. I focus best when I have a large, well lit desk and open sort of environment. Ideal: Fayetteville Public library. It's well lit, and it has large tables in large open rooms with natural lighting.

In my own apartment...I think I need to find a new home for the items on my desk. I need a large work space and the clutter is distracting. As for my personal biorythm...I'm pretty sure the time change messed that up. I'm tired all day and can't get up early to study... and I'm nodding off in my classes.


Lesson 2: Multiple intellegences. Howard Gardner's theory states there are different areas of "intelligence" that activate different parts of the brain. Different people favor different areas. There are now 8 recognized multiple intelligences:
-Mathematical
-spatial
-Kinesthetic/bodily
-intrapersonal
-musical
-naturalist - (ability to discriminate among living things...classify and organize etc).
-verbal/linguistic
-interpersonal

According to the little quizlets online and what not I seem to favor intrapersonal and musical over the other subjects. Being aware and utilizing the multiple intelligences can help make study sessions more effective.


Lesson 3: learning styles. Basically there are hundreds of ways to classify learning styles....some in the book i'm reading are...

- According to Pask:
Top Down/Holist/Global learners - learn by looking at big picture then the details. Forest --> trees
Bottomup/Serialist/Sequential learners -need information presented in an detailed, sequential manner. trees -->forest
Like most people, I'm somewhere in the middle, but I think I tend to favor the "Top Down" learning style. I'm always complaining about getting lost in the details. I also can't remember details as well as anatomy would like for me to. Perhaps I should outline the big picture then fill in the gaps instead of jumping into the details presented during class.

VAKT - Visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile
Visual learners - maybe 65% of population are this. These are the folks that have to write it down. If I don't write it down, it doesn't exist.
Auditory learners - have to hear it. I'm pretty sure this is not me. 30%
kinesthetic - whole body movement, imitation and practice
Tactile - touch-dominant

I seem to be more of a visual/tactile learner. I might as well not go to class most of the time...the book is much more helpful than lectures, but I suppose lectures help too.

Ok...so today during my studies I'll try to keep this stuff in mind. I think next lesson will be about reading effectively.


And now for a little Emily Dickinson

I felt a cleavage in my mind
As if my brain had split;
I tried to match it, seam by seam,
But could not make them fit.

The thought behind I strove to join
Unto the thought before,
But sequence raveled out of reach
Like balls upon a floor

Perhaps she didn't know her learning style and how to effectively use that to her advantage....or maybe she was just dead tired.

Teaser

A picture of my dad at the dress shop. He was pretty bored ;)

So I had my fitting for my dress last Thursday. Not much needed to be done. I also got my wedding shoes back from being dyed to match my ivory dress...they're pretty . I like them. My final fitting (hopefully) is this Thursday. Hooray. Then it should be ready to take home for spring break! I can't wait for spring break!

Survivor's Guilt, Dragons, and Potstickers.

This was roughly how I felt on Monday...which moved to near terror on Tuesday as I found out some heartbreaking news. Wednesday, grades were finally posted and we dealt with the aftermath of a long battle. I passed and most of those near me did as well. However grades and stress claimed 3 of my classmates much to everyone's sadness. I wonder if the rest of the class feels how I do...determination with a touch of survivor's guilt. All I can do is hope that this semester I will feel better and try to keep a postive, encouraging attitude up for myself and classmates. Perhaps an overall sense of negativity and hopelessness contributed to my class's drop out rate...

As soon as finals were over and I'd at least had an introduction to my new classes, I started reading some books. Like any good nerd, I of course can't stop once I start. So most of this weekend was spent curled up in various comfy locations around my apartment. Luckily there are only 4 books in the series...I finished the 3rd this morning. I meant to go to church and I actually put my book down long enough to get ready and make sure of what time church/YP started... whoops. I forgot about the time change.

Yesterday was fun. A group of us got together and watched anime and made potstickers. The four of us stood around and rolled up the little dumplings, cooked them (at least 100), and then sat around eating them and watching Fruits Basket. I guess we all needed the break from studying.

Yummy potstickers

This morning I find myself alone in my apartment for yet another day. I should be studying today, but i don't really feel much like studying. However if I don't, I'll end up getting buried like last semester. And procrastination simply isn't worth the amount of stress I went through at the last of this semester...I actually considered going to the in house psychologist..but i'm not depressed - just a little stressed. I think a weekend of rest and a rest start are just what i needed. Of course God will have to help me more diligent about keeping up with my classes this semester...I'm pretty sure that will take divine intervention ^_^

Happy Thoughts

Feeling happy is good. Things that make me happy in no particular order...

-Church
-Couple's Counseling
- My Little Pony
-Stickers
-The hope that I will get to continue in vet school
-Chase
- Family
-Gary
-Friends
-Scrapbooking
-Learning (just not anything anatomy related)



Finally...although I'm still hopeful it won't be necessary. Plan B = Peace Corps.
What better time to do peace corps if this whole vet school thing doesn't work out. They have special married couple assignments too. They give you pay, living expenses, transportation to and from your assignment, and loan deferment for the time you serve. You have to be married for at least one year before you can go as a coupled though...So I'd probably get a job and pay off some loans first. A free trip to a foreign country and volunteering! That sounds awesome! I miss having time to volunteer.