Yule

Merry Yule everyone!!!

I hope you've all had a blessed day. :)

Although the title is Yule, this is more of an update of the last few weeks. I've been meaning to write stuff down but I've been either too busy or too lazy. I guess it's all right though since I've been working my butt off all semester.

I got three A's and two B+'s this semester. :)

I'm very proud of myself. <3

It was very hard, and I was very tired all semester, but I did it. :) I did very well, if I do say so myself. I'm kinda upset that my Zoology grade wasn't an A; I was very close to getting one!!! But it's okay, because I got an A on math instead. :)

I was starting to doubt myself, like I always do, but I'm confident now. It's going to be a very hard road, but I'm going to be the best doctor possible. :) I figured out that if I take around 16-18 credits a semester I can graduate by 2016!!! I should graduate by 2014, but since I took the pre-med route a little late, I have to stick around a little later.

I'm just glad I won't have to wait until 2018!!! I made a mistake planning my schedule and I thought I wouldn't be done by then. Thankfully, I figured out I was skipping years at a time, so I fixed it and got a better idea of my graduation date. If I can take classes in the summer, I should be able to finish by 2015; I guess it's kinda far away still, but it doesn't seem that far away to me!!! Guess that's all that should matter. :)

I love the human brain, but I'm not sure if I want to be a neurosurgeon. I want to, but it'll be an extra six years of residency after the four of med school. I may not be done with everything until I'm 35!!! That's kinda too far away for my liking. It'll be worth it, but I wish I could finish everything by the time I'm 30 so I have more time to enjoy being a doctor and be able to provide for my family.

I haven't figured it out yet, but I have plenty of time. :)

I may just do neurology or psychiatry like I wanted to for a while. Who knows. I'm just happy things are working out for me. Guess it just proves that hard work truly pays off. I just hope med schools like my transcript enough to give me a chance. I think as long as I get a high score on the MCAT I'll be fine. My GPA wasn't the best at the beginning of my studies, but I'm sure I'll keep making up for it now. I want some schools to at least offer me interviews; if they meet with me face-to-face, they can get to know me and I can prove them that I'll be a great doctor. :)

I just wish I had been more involved at the beginning of my college years. :/

I also wish I had known I wanted to be a doctor sooner so I could've gotten things done faster.

Well, that's all the school updates!!!

My kitten is growing into a beautiful cat!!! She's almost eight months old and she is lovely!!! She makes the cutest bird chirping noises when she hunts!!! She also plays a lot with her older brother Stevey, our three year old gray and white cat. They are so cute when they wrestle!!! They really are adorable and wonderful. <3 I dunno where I would be without my kitties. I know it's not much to some people, but to me, they are the world. My cats are my best friends and I'm blessed to have them in my life. <3

The last member of our family is sick. :( Steven seems to have a cold, but it's really been rough on him. He's had a fever, runny nose, sore throat, and some back pain. I feel so bad that I can't help him. I know he just has to get over it, but I can't help but worry. He's not his usual happy self. It also sucks that he's missed two days of work; he has to go back tomorrow, but I wish he could stay home until he feels better. He's sleeping right now, so hopefully he'll wake up feeling well.

Today I went to yoga with Leah, Alex, and Jason. It was a lot of fun, but I'm EXTREMELY sore. My back is killing me!!! I enjoyed doing 108 sun salutations, but I don't think I'm fit enough to do it again; at least not anytime soon. I didn't actually do 108, but I did a lot. I would say around 70 full ones; I skipped a few, but the rest that I didn't skip I modified because everyone was going very fast!!!

I love yoga; it's very relaxing, even though I can't keep up with everything all the time!!! I want to do it more often so I can get better at it. I couldn't get into the one yoga class they offer at Weber, so I'm taking Tai Chi instead. I'm very excited about it; it's going to be a lot of fun!!! I wanted to take it with some friends, but no one wants to take it with me. Even if they did though, the class is full. Either way, I hope this will be a new opportunity for me to make friends. I made a lot this past semester during my ASL class. :)

Well that's all I can think of. My life is pretty sweet right now and I'm very blessed with everything the Goddess has given me. <3 I'm very happy things are working out for me and Steven. I hope things keep looking up for us. <3

Hope you all had a blessed Yule!!!

And I hope you have a blessed rest of the year. :)

Blessed be,

Andrea~!

School

Only two weeks left on the semester.

Hooray!!!

I'm nervous about it. There's a lot of work that's due and only two weeks left, along with one week for finals. I hope I do well; I've been studying very hard, but I STILL feel like I should be doing more!!! I guess I ALWAYS feel like I should be doing more.

I'm taking Chemistry and Microbiology next semester, along with Sociology, not really excited about it, ASL, and Tai Chi. I'm excited for ASL and Tai Chi; they should be pretty easy classes. I'm a little nervous about Microbiology and Chemistry though; not because I don't think I can be successful at them, but because I'm worried about taking two labs again!!!

I've also discovered how much I LOVE biology!!! Everything about it is amazing!!! I especially love genetics; I haven't studied enough about it to know anything besides the basics, but what I have learned is great!!! I love knowing about alleles and how they work. I guess I'm just a nerd like that, but everything about it is so fascinating!!!

Okay, I'm done being a nerd.

Besides all the classes I need to take, I have to do research and leadership opportunities. Volunteering is really the only kind of extra curricular activity I've taken part of so far, but I think it'll be my favorite one even after I take part in others. Taking care of those kitties really makes my day; I love spending time with them and making them happy. I don't think there's anything I enjoy more.

I also love my own kitties. They are a lot of fun. Stevey likes to clean his little sister, and she gets so mad she starts attacking him!!! They play all day, cuddle at night, and attack my hubby's feet in between. I'm so glad I adopted Stevey three years ago, and Bonnie (Bon Bon) five months ago. She's the cutest kitten ever; she chirps like a little bird and loves to knead my hair.

I admit it, I'm a crazy cat lady. <3

One of my dreams is to be able to have tons of no-kill animal shelters all around the country. I would like for it to be all around the world, but that's way harder. I would like for it to happen eventually, even if I'm not alive to see it. That's one of my end goals, but for that, I need to get through medical school first.

I'm very excited about med school. I can't wait to learn all the things that will make me a great doctor!!! Of course, before that, I need to get accepted into one. I'm very excited to learn about the brain and how to help people once I become a neurosurgeon. I'm very, very excited.

I just want to help people. <3

Okay, I'm done rambling.

Good night and happy Thanksgiving. <3

Love,
Andrea~!

Life and Hope

Life is hard.

Sometimes it feels like life just doesn't want us to succeed.

We were having a great day yesterday. Steven and I went on a little date to Zuppa's and hung out for a while. We had great food, we were both in a great mood, and we were enjoying each other's company. Everything was wonderful.

And then...

Steven told me his recruiter had told him that because of his medical record stating that he had debilitating migraines, he had a 25% chance to get accepted into the Air Force.

Sigh.

Just when we were thinking we'll be able to take a step forward, life has to throw us back again and make things hard. Oh well. That's just how it is. Now I'm trying to figure out what we can do to make things happen. We talked to an advisor on the Air Force page and he mentioned that although there's no way to clear it from his record, he can go to a specialist and get a second opinion. If the result is positive, he can submit that diagnosis in along with the first one and hope for the best.

It's rather discouraging.

Going to a specialist will be costly, mostly because we don't know what he needs to do to be able to make a better diagnosis. It could be an MRI, or CAT scan, or whatever. So the news just aren't the best right about now. It's really sad for me because I know how much Steven wants to join. Nothing will make him happier than to be able to serve his country, and now we have to wait and hope that the MEPS doctor will still approve of him joining or give him a waiver.

We're kinda hoping for a Captain America doctor; you know, like when he let what's his name join even though he was super short and scrawny? Yeah, that kind of doctor. It might be possible, I mean, they weren't debilitating really, they were mostly annoying, and he hasn't had them for over a year. I understand why they need to be careful with someone like that, but I'm hoping they'll understand and let him go through with it anyway.

Maybe I'm just a pessimist.

Steven still wants to go through with it. I want to say that I agree, but I'm not sure if it's a great idea if the chances of him getting accepted are slim. The other side of me wants to say, sure, go ahead, it's worth a shot, but I think other more pessimistic side is winning right now.

It's not that I don't believe in him, it's just that I don't believe in people giving very many chances, especially not with this sort of thing. I think the Military would be happy to have Steven join; he's great at what he does, and he's a very hard worker with tons of love for his country. I want them to see that, but how can we make them see it when they might not even look at him and only look at his record?

Bottom line, Steven's going to try anyway.

I'm proud of him for that, and I guess it's okay for him to have an oh well rather than a what if. I just don't want to get my hopes up again. I wish things were easier for us right now, but I also know that it's not the end of the world. It kinda just feels like it because it's what I'm living right about now. However, I'm thankful for everything we have and that we are healthy, because there are other people out there who are suffering and have it way worse than we do.

Compared to them, this is a walk in the park.

Or whatever other saying people use...

I just pray to the Goddess that she will shine her ever shining light upon us and help us get through with this, and that the outcome will be favorable.

If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

And if it's not, I'll be kinda pissed.

And sad.

Love,
Andrea~!

Military

So my hubby is thinking about joining the Air Force.

I gotta say I'm pretty excited, since it is something that he's wanted to do for a long time, but also because the benefits are great.

And let's be honest, who DOESN'T love a man in uniform? ;)

I think my hubby is making the right decision, and for the right reasons, but I also worry about him getting deployed. I just hope that he won't get hurt when he does get deployed. I'm also kinda excited about getting stationed somewhere. Steven really wants to go to Ramstein AFB and stay there for a while. I think it'd be great to live in a different country. Anywhere outside of this state would be great, although I would much rather stay here than go, say, to Wyoming or Idaho or something like that. I'm also happy because the military will be able to pay for his schooling, so he'll be able to go back to school when he's ready and we won't have to worry about saving up enough money for him to be able to go back.

Anyway, I'm kind of excited. Nothing is set as of right now, so I guess we'll see where life takes us.

I'm doing well in school; I have 3 A's for sure, maybe a B+ or A-, and a B. It's A LOT of work, but I'm keeping up. I gotta say, it's nice to not have to work so I can concentrate in school. I have my husband to thank for that, since he works for the both of us. I'm very happy about my accomplishments, but I still have a long way to go, and I have to work harder than I'm already working to ensure I keep doing well.

One of my friends isn't doing so well in school. I wish I could help her because I know she works hard, but she just isn't studying as hard as she should be. Mostly because she has no time. I wish I could tell her that I support her and that I know she can accomplish many things if she just put school as her number one priority.

That's kinda out of the blue, but it's been bothering me. I just want to help, but I dunno how to bring it up so I don't hurt her feelings or act like I'm parenting her or something. I guess I just want everyone to succeed and I feel responsible for my friends?

I dunno.

Back to my life, I guess.

It's going pretty okay. I've been sick, but I've been holding up all right. Mostly because I want to make sure I don't get behind in my school work. Speaking of which, I have like two exams next week, plus a quiz for my zoology class. I seriously can't wait until I'm a doctor. I was having doubt before, but I'm confident I can do it now. It's hard work, but I'm very confident in my abilities to succeed. I'm just so excited about what the future holds. I can't wait till we can just grow wings and fly, not literally. I'm just so in love with my husband and our cute little family of four. <3 I don't think I could've been more by the blessed by the Goddess. I have the most amazing husband in the world, a wonderful chubby cat who loves to spend time with me, and an adorable baby kitten who is just the cutest little fluffy thing in the world.

In short, I love my family. I love my husband and my kitties. <3

Now comes the sad part of the past few days.

My dog is very sick. We don't know what's wrong with him, but my dad took out a $500 loan so we can take him to the vet and get him checked out. I really hope it's nothing serious and that we can take care of it quickly and without much expenses. I'd do anything for my dog, but we just don't have the money to care for him right now, and I'm worried. I hope whatever he has can be taken care of cheaply so we can actually get him the help he needs. I also hope he won't die, which I don't think will happen but I still worry because that's just what I do. I love him so much, I don't want anything to happen to him.

I think he has some sort of neurological disease that's affecting his spinal cord nerves. I hope it's nothing that serious, but I also hope it's nothing worse. I hope he's just constipated like last time... that would be easier to fix and he won't hurt after we take care of it. I just want my sweet little puppy to be all right; I hate seeing him down all the time unable to move because everything hurts him so much. He actually peed himself because he was in so much pain he couldn't get up to go downstairs and do his business.

I feel like crying, but I want to stay optimistic and hope that everything turns out okay.

I guess we'll just have to wait until tomorrow.

Love,
Andrea~!

Pre-med Anxieties

I think I should write here more often.

Writing always helps me feel better by helping me work through my troubles.

I am anxious.

As always.

I'm very anxious about not being good enough for med-school. I wasn't smart when I first started out at Weber, and I failed quite a bit of classes. Now that I have decided to do better, I'm worried that my GPA will never be good enough. I know that it'll be easier to get into a D.O. program, but I want to be Andrea Done, M.D., not Andrea Done, D.O. It just doesn't sound as cool!!! That and surgery fields are more for M.D.s, not D.O.s

I failed my first Chem exam. Well, I didn't fail, I got a 73.9%, but that's still failing in my book. It brought my grade down to a B-, and I'm really upset about it. I thought I knew everything, but I get I got over confident and messed up with my sig figs. I dunno this for sure, but I'm almost positive it was the sig figs. It's the thing that I've had the least practice with since the homework site doesn't really count them. I'm just really pissed that something so simple could've messed up my work. It was my fault for not paying enough attention to my work, but I'm still super upset about it. I'll just have to do better next time.

I guess doing so poorly just kinda made me doubt myself again. But one exam does not mean I'm not a good candidate. It doesn't mean I can't bring up my grade. It doesn't mean I'm not good enough. So why do I feel like I'm not good enough because of it? I guess I'm just so nervous in general that even one little mistake is going to make me feel like I suck and like I don't deserve to be a pre-med student.

Reading over it makes me feel like an idiot. I shouldn't have to feel this way. It's silly. If I take this as a learning experience to make sure I apply myself better next time, I can learn and grow from it. It's not something to be ashamed of as long as it doesn't happen again. I can, and will, do this!!! I just have to work harder at it.

I'm going to ace my next Chem exam. I'm also going to ace my next Psych exam, like I did with my first one, and ace the Math one I need to take this Saturday. I'm going to do just fine. I may not be the best, but I'll be damned if I don't try!!! I don't have to be perfect, I just have to try, and if that's not good enough, well, maybe then I'll reassess my fictional finalism.

Heh, Adler.

I'm also going to ace my first ASL exam, which I'm a little nervous about, but I'm sure I'll do fine, since it's pretty easy so far. I just have to remember all the signs!!! :)

I'm really blessed to be living here in America. I'm very blessed that my parents brought me here, to the land of opportunity. If I haven't moved here, I wouldn't have received the amazing education I'm getting, compared to Peru at least. I can't let myself ruin this amazing opportunity that the Goddess has provided me with.

I just wish I felt like... I was meant to be called a pre-med student. Not just a wanna-be that's trying because she held a brain and felt in love with it.

Or maybe that's what makes me a pre-med student; the fact that I LOVED the brain and everything about it. After all, isn't that why I wanted to go into medicine in the first place?

Brains.

I love them.

Everything about them.

And one day, I'm gonna operate on them. Am I using the right word? Eh, I like that word. I'll use it even if it's not the correct terminology.

I learned English.

I learned Math.

I'll learn Chemistry.

I'll learn everything med schools want me to learn.

I am awesome.

I just have to remember that.

And believe it.

Love,

Andrea~!

Physician Shadowing

I went on my first Physician Shadowing yesterday.

IT. WAS. AWESOME!!!

I LOVED EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT IT!!!

I was super happy about doing it, and now I'm 100% sure I want to be a doctor. It was a FABULOUS experience and I'm super excited to do it again!!! My uncle saw that I was sooo happy and excited that he asked the dermatologist if I could shadow him next Tuesday. I'll be doing two shadowing experiences total by the end of next week, and I couldn't be happier!!! I was already looking forward to another one, but I didn't think it'd be this soon. I'm so happy I could cry!!!

Anyway, here's a detailed description of my day as I recollect it. :)

I got there at around two, and I went straight to Dr. Stewart's office. The first patient was a little boy who had an ear infection. IT WAS THE COOLEST THING IN THE WORLD!!! Not that the kid was in pain, but the fact that the doctor let me look into his ears. I saw what a healthy ear looks like, and what an infected ear looks like. It was AMAZING. It was the coolest thing about my day there. I can't wait to take anatomy!!!

Then came a lady that was super nice and had allergies. Then an older dad with a four month old baby; the baby was the cutest baby I have ever seen; he was so cute it made me want kids, that's how cute this little one was!!! Thankfully, he was perfectly healthy. They were worried he might have an ear infection, but he was perfectly fine. He also had a kid come in for a scout exam; I stepped out because of the hernia check that was part of the exam. He also saw a mother and two kids for the same reason; I stepped outside again for the hernia check. Not interested in that... too personal for a pre-med student.

He also saw a lady with a heart condition, an older woman for diarrhea, and two little kids who HATED the doctor's office!!! The doctor said the little five year old boy was the worst one he's had in all of his career. He screamed like a banshee and cried for the longest time. He was terrified about the scale, the thing to look into the ears, and especially of the little wooden thing that you put inside the mouth to hold down the tongue and inspect the throat. Oh hell, he LOST it when he saw it. The doctor didn't do it at first, but he was worried he might've had strep, so he tried to collect a sample for a strep test. This kid fought for fifteen minutes before the doctor gave up; he fought so hard that he got splinters on his tongue for biting down on the wooden stick and cotton swabs. The doctor decided that he would check his sister and get the test for the two-three year old girl and assume they both had the same thing. The little girl did everything, but did fight a little bit with the stick and cotton swabs, but it was over so quickly that she didn't really cry for longer than thirty seconds. Thankfully, the test came back negative.

The third patient he saw was an eighty-three year old man that was coughing a lot. He was there for about two hours so they could do some chest x-rays and a bunch of tests to figure out what was wrong with him. The doctor showed me the x-rays and taught me what each thing was so I could learn about it. It was amazing; I saw how thick the aorta was and I'm still amazed by its size!!! The x-ray didn't tell us anything though, so he had to do some more tests to check his lungs. Turns out he had COPD, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It was sad, since the man already had heart problems, migraines, and diabetes, but it was a good thing that they found out what he had so they could treat him and stop the progression of the disease. When he went to get a sample of the medicine for him, he explained to me what the medicine did and how it worked.

Dr. Stewart also showed me a report that came in while I was shadowing him. It was of, I think, one of his patients who had just been declared brain dead. I was able to read the report and see what one looks like, which was cool, but I was saddened by the fate of the patient. It may sound a little twisted, but I was glad to see how sad the doctor was over the news; it shows me that he truly cared about his patient, and that he wished there was something he could've done for him. I liked being able to see that a doctor cares about their patients outside of getting their money.

When I left, I thanked him  profusely and told him what an amazing experience it had been. I also told him that I wasn't sure if being a doctor was right for me, but that I KNEW this is what I wanted to do after shadowing him. He told me that's exactly what happened to him too; he knew he loved it after he shadowed a family practitioner. He also told me to come back any time and to just give him a call to see when I could come next. I'm sure I will ask him if I can come back soon; I'm way too excited to let too much time pass!!! If it was up to me, I'd do one every week, but I know I need to take it easy. I left at around five fifteen. I'm excited about the future, and I really can't wait until I start learning about all this in the next few semesters!!!

It was an AMAZING opportunity. I can't wait to be a doctor myself and be able to help patients with everything I can; I want to help people live better and healthier lives!!! I'm super excited about this all, and I want to get it all done soon so I can be the best neurosurgeon in the world!!!

If that's what I still want to do after med-school.

Love,
Andrea~!

Beautiful Life

Life has been pretty good to me lately.

My husband texted me not too long ago to let me know we were moving to Stonehenge.

I guess it's an apartment complex in Taylorsville.

The reason? They get faster internet.

Oh, Steven...

I love you, but sometimes, you're just weird...

Anyway, I've been working on my pre-med preparations. I've found a hospice to volunteer at and I have made one appointment with a doctor, thanks to my Uncle Rob, for Tuesday that will allow me to shadow him for a few hours. I continue doing my volunteer work for the shelter while I train for the hospice work so I can still get my hours in, but I'm taking Sundays and Wednesdays off so I'm not too overwhelmed once school starts. I hope to be able to volunteer at least eight hours a week total; five at the shelter and should be about two or three with whatever hospice patient I go visit. Not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous and scared.

I thought the concept of hospice was to just go visit elderly people, but it turns out it's people of any age... who have six months or less to live. I'm extremely saddened by this; I don't want to get attached to someone who is going to die in less than six months. It would hurt terribly to lose them... however, I do need to get comfortable around death, since I will have to deal with it once I'm a doctor. Especially since I will be, hopefully, performing brain surgery on my patients; there's a very high risk of malpractice, and although I don't wish to lose anyone on the operating table, things happen, and I will have to be prepared. Still, it doesn't make me feel any better knowing the person I help will die soon.

The one thing that keeps me calm is knowing that I will be keeping them company and hopefully brightening their day a little better. I hope to learn a lot from them, and maybe even get over my fear of dying. I hope that, somehow, they can help me figure out whether or not there's something on the other side. I think that may be my biggest fear; not existing any more. I hope that, somehow, they will shed some light on their thoughts and perhaps put me more at ease with it, and maybe, just maybe, I will figure out that there is some place our soul goes, and that we don't just stop existing.

Anyway, too depressing.

It's been a good day, and I'm excited as to what the future holds. I'm really looking forward to doing all the great things life has in store for me. I do hope I can become a GREAT doctor that can help a lot of patients; I'm sick of seeing people suffer, and I WANT to end that kind of suffering to the best of my ability, especially when it comes to the most delicate and complicated part of our body, the brain.

Life just couldn't get any better.

I just wish I could make peace with a few things from my past so I could thoroughly enjoy my time on this earth. The past keeps creeping its ugly head back and biting me when I least expect it. That IS life though, so I supposed I will just have to learn how to deal with it and move on. If the Goddess allows me to fix my errors, then I will, but until then, there's no reason to worry about a past that I can't change.

Oh! I adopted a kitten out yesterday!

I'm a little sad because I wanted her to go with her brother, but I'm sure he can benefit from being on his own. I am kinda nervous that mama cat is gonna miss her babies once my other kitten gets adopted though, so we'll see what happens. The foster mum said that it shouldn't be a problem, but it still worries me. I worry too much about everything!!!

I need to go back to yoga and learn to relax!!!

Love,
Andrea~!

The Good Ol' Times

I can't help but think about Kim. It's been... three years since we stopped talking? It'll be four in November. You think I'd be over losing a friend, since it was MY fault it even happened in the first place, but I'm not.

I drove past her house yesterday; I was driving out of my aunt's neighborhood to go pick up the hubby from the Frontrunner station, and I had to take that way to leave the neighborhood and be on my way to Clearfield. I think her family still lives there; I looked at the window that would be hers, if she still lived with them, and it made me terribly sad.

I know it's not worth another apology, because she won't see it, and if she does, she won't care. And that's fine, I hope her life is as wonderful as mine is now, but I still wish she was still a part of my life. I understand why she isn't, but Alex and I do miss her a lot. It sucks because we used to be so close and now... well, now we don't even know if she's alive or not.

I wonder about her a lot; she's in my dreams every now and then. I just wish she would get over it and just say, apology accepted, let's be friends. Maybe not best friend forever like we were; that'd be too awkward, but at least... you know... SOMETHING.

Just having her as a friend on Facebook and seeing how she's doing, and maybe go hang out once or twice a year would be enough. I don't blame her, but come on, it's been three and a half years, get over it... I got over my problem, which was the exact same one, a LONG time ago, and I'm friends, and CLOSE friends, with the person that hurt me at the time. If I can get over it, then so can you...

Aah, I'm just blabbering right now. Maybe I'll dedicate an entry to you on my blog, just to help myself rant and feel better, but you're wasting my time. Because a true friend isn't someone who doesn't hurt you; a true friend is one that KNOWS how to FORGIVE and FORGET. That's a true friend, and I guess you just weren't one. Even if I hurt you, you should've been able to get over it, not ignore me the second Steven and I got married...

Oh well. There's no turning back. I hope you're having a good life. Maybe one day you'll suffer from a terrible disease, and I'll be the only neurologist in the country you can see, and I will help you get over it and we will never speak after that. And maybe then you'll know I really cared all along.

Maybe you don't think about this at all... maybe I'm just the one that can't let go...

Love,
Andrea~!

Bliss

So it's been a while since I wrote anything here. I guess I was a super depressed child back then. Things are going great now though; I've grown a lot and I know what I need to do to be a better person and wife. Steven and I are doing great; we are both very excited as our second year anniversary approaches. I can't believe it'll be two years in fourteen days!!! Best two years of my life, even though they were a bit rocky. We learned how to be a married couple, and we rarely fight now-a-days. I'm so happy that I was lucky enough to end up with a man as extraordinary as him. We are slowly but surely working our way into moving out, which has been much needed for a while now. We had trouble finding jobs when we were first married, but since I quit mine at Kohl's and he started one in Focus, things have gone great. I'm kinda nervous about having to find one for the summer, because I truly wish to just be lazy and stuff, but I know I would go crazy with nothing to do.

On the bright side, I finally get my own kitties!!! I will be taking care of the kitties in the new Petco as a volunteer, which I'm glad about because I want more volunteer hours, but most importantly because I love taking care of the little ones. They are truly one of the most important things in my life that make me extremely happy, and I feel blessed for being able to help them find forever homes. Volunteering is something I want to do for the rest of my life, no matter what it is; I enjoy it, it keeps me occupied, and it gives my life some sort of value beyond what I feel it has by itself.

School is another thing that has been big in my life lately. I decided that I want to be a neurologist. Not only does it pay well, but it also lets me be able to touch and manipulate the brain in ways I wouldn't be able to to if I just wanted to be a psychiatrist. However, I'm struggling with chemistry, which is a major part of my degree. I'm afraid to go talk to my counselor because last time we talked she wasn't very encouraging, and I'm not entirely sure of how I should approach the situation. I hope that I can find a way to do things smoothly, but I feel like I'm not going anywhere. I know I need to apply myself a lot more, and I'm going to do my best, but I have to figure out a way to get into the groove of things and stop procrastinating. I need to do better in order to be who and what I want to be in the future.

I have a bright outlook of life right now.

I don't want to change that anytime soon.

Love,
Andrea~!