Monday, Monday!

So, gas prices are INSANE! I was trying to book a trip to visit my parents down south and the flights are outrageous!!! I attribute this to the craziness of the gas prices from no longer gaining export from Lybia?!

Anyway, in reflection of my weekend, it was wonderful. M's bandmate had a birthday on Friday and we all had a really nice time! We went to an amazing restaurant before the party called Woodberry Kitchen and M and I were treated famously...no pun intended. The managers LOVE The Bridge, so they took good care of us:)

Saturday, my future flower girl came to visit me and we had the best relaxing day!

Then, on Sunday, up to jersey I went to go to my little niece's first birthday!!! She wore a little pink ballet outfit with a tutu...could not have been more adorable. I was so glad to be there for that!!

Seeing my mom and dad was awesome and then stopping by to visit my friend, S and her new digg-arrangement, was a great time, too!!

Going for more bloodwork tomorrow. I go to the doc on March 7th, so I will finally have the correct info to share then!!

xoxo

General Hospital

So my grandmother got me into this show when I was eight. Yes, it's pretty much the same story line today as it was 20+ years ago...but...Sonny and Brenda's wedding departure?? Really?? Can you say, "Lily??" Sonny's first wife who blew up in a car??!!

Change it up at least a little, people!

Could this kid BE anymore amazing?

ALEK.FIN.

Health update!

Hi all,

I finally got word from the doc today about my blood tests. You are seriously not going to believe this...but...of the two tests they ran, one came back and looked good (YEY), but the big important test screen is the one that LabCorp (for the SECOND time) did NOT run. So...I have to go back to LabCorp next week, get the blood test done again!!! And then my doc scheduled me for an appointment on 3/7 to discuss all of the bloodwork face to face and talk about treatment for whatever they end up diagnosing me with:) The fun continues!

So...that's all I know for now. Keep the prayers a comin'!

The Bridge

If you haven't heard it yet, give your ears a treat and get a copy! This is M's latest CD and it is truly amazing! The Bridge boys are truly talented and this CD showcases all of that energy! They were produced by Steve Berlin, who is a member of Los Lobos and produced other albums such as Graceland, by Paul Simon.

I can't stop listening to it!! Check it out! Great job guys!!!

http://www.thebridgemusic.com/

Jersey!!!

So yesterday, I brought my future sis home to NJ to get fitted for my wedding dress and then around town to show her a Jersey good time!

The fitting was amazing. Jeslaine, the store owner, had my beautiful dress ready for me and I jumped at the sight of it! The tailor was the sweetest little Sicilian woman (named Angie Gambino....which is nutty because of how close that is to my future-sis-in-law's maiden name. I got to speak Italian with her! She did an awesome job with the first round of alterations and I go back in April for the last fitting:)

Then, we went to Mikado's for sushi and to Heather's Clothing and Accessories for some shopping fun! Heather's was swarming with shoppers, which is NO surprise since her stuff sells itself. My partner and crime, M, met up with us (YEY) and we all got some fun clothes!! I always love seeing my shop girl H, so that was a bonus seeing her, too!

We ran into some of my Jersey peeps throughout the day, and saw some of my old students (which is always a treat) and then went back to my mom and dad's for dinner. Mom cooked an awesome Italian dinner and then we got ready to go out for the night!

We went to meet up with friends at Dublin's. Around 1 am, as the bar was closing up, we were still ready to show my sis a good time, so we went to this awesome dive bar and danced til three! Still not ready to throw in the towel, we went to Ritchez until closing, which definitely showed her a "Jersey Shore," GTL good time!! Too funny!

With three hours of sleep, we treked back home with no complaints. It was an awesome night and I can't wait to take her to the real Jersey shore this summer!!!

Fist pump!!!!!!!!

Daddy's home and feeling better!

Thank you all for your constant prayers and for asking about my dad for the last few weeks. He got home from the hospital and is doing a lot better. It was scary getting that phone call, but his amazing wife did the right thing by making him go to the ER or God only knows. He is back to working like a nut, but I am blessed to say he is feeling better and hoping to rest a little (PLEASE DAD!!!) this weekend.

xoxo

The Shining One By Jeffry L. Smith, Ph.D.

So, a good friend of mine, Jeffry, from my doctoral program, just published an amazingly insightful new book. It is called, "The Shining One" and I am in LOVE with it!!

Being that I am not the most religion person, I honestly just set out to buy the book to support my good friend. However, as I read just the FIRST page, I was hooked!! It is a book that focuses on 100 things that you only thought were in the bible. Like I said, I am not too familiar with religion, or the Good Book, but, everything I have read in Jeffry's book were things I have definitely heard to be true, but that are in fact, not even told that way in the bible.

Smith (2011) writes, "Psychologists call that false memory, or episodic amnesia...Our minds tend to fill in blanks, and unfortunately, our minds are not like video cameras. Images can change and can be influenced in a number of ways" (p. 10).

I cannot tell you how many times I do this. Where I TRULY believe something happened and in fact, it didn't at all...or it happened in a different way in reality than I remember it in my head. Crazy. True.

Anyway, I strongly urge you to purchase this book. It will jog your mind, challenge you, amaze you and teach you. For that, I am grateful. As the eternal student, I love getting my hands on books that truly make me think about things in different, new ways!

Smith, J.L. (2011). The Shining One. Parson's Porch Books: Cleveland, TN.

http://www.parsonsporch.com/

In a world with such instant gratification, why do lab results take so darn long?!

So, my doctor called me this morning to tell me that LabCorp was incorrect in telling me that these types of blood results would be back so soon. It usually takes 1-2 weeks!!!

I was frustrated, obviously, because I want my results, BUT, at least they informed me so I wasn't waiting and wondering why they had not called. As soon as I hear anything about my results (next week or so...fingers crossed), I will update my health blog!

Wedding update!

Can you tell I am loving this blogging stuff??!

I am going for my first official dress fitting in Jersey on Saturday with my awesome future sister-in-law. Over the years (this last year in particular, as we have gotten to spend a ton of time together), she and I have gotten to know one another so well and I honestly cannot wait to call her my sister. Soon enough!

My man is amazing. I cannot wait to call him my husband. Don't get me wrong, we are excited for the wedding day, but we are really looking forward to being husband and wife. He is my best friend and it took me 26 years to find him. We are so excited to share that love with our friends and family! We have a huge group coming, so we know we will be surrounded by love and positive vibes!

Health update!

First and foremost, thank you all for your love and support. I wouldn't be able to be sane without it (and without you).

I am down to only 4 mgs of steroids a day. I feel stronger than ever, thanks to KettleWorx, which rocks my world, BTW.

Dr. Awesome gave me a ton of bloodwork to finally narrow me down to some sort of confident diagnosis. After reviewing all of the bloodwork, he needed me to go get further testing and I did so on Monday of this week. Now, I wait eagerly for the results.

No matter what my results are, I know I will be just fine because of all of you.

I promise to keep you posted!

Today was an awesome day!! Don't you just love those?!

Being a teacher is seriously the most amazing career! I find myself jumping out of bed to go into the college and teach my wonderful students.

They challenge me and make me strive, everyday, to be better at what I do. Today was a very special day. My student and Student Education Association board member, decided a while back, that she wanted to create a day where high school students from the county public schools would come into our college, watch an EDU lesson, tour the college, learn about our programs, etc. After a lot of planning (and support from our amazing faculty), today was the day. My part was getting to teach my regularly scheduled EDU 211: Educational Psychology class, but with the high school students joining us. It was SO much fun. They were a great group and the students thrived. I was also present for a student panel that consisted of our EDU students and they were tremendous! I was so proud of them. One of the high school students asked the panel, "what made you want to become a teacher?" One panel member, my previous student, said that he went to college wanting to persue a different career. Then, he decided to try an education class and it happened to be mine. He said, Dr.____ is, and I am not just saying this because she is here, an excellent educator and after taking her class, I am sure I want to be a high school English teacher." Being able to hear, out loud, that I helped to play a major role in helping a student find the route of becoming a teacher, was enough to warm my heart for years to come!