In Remembrance

Disclaimer:  I know everyone is posting about the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  Please give me the courtesy of doing the same.

As I waited for the yellow school bus to pick me up for one of my first days in 8th grade, my neighbor shared with me the news of one of the World Trade Center towers being hit by a plane.  We both wrote it off as an accident, "no big deal", and we boarded the bus.

By the time first period started the morning of September 11, 2001, all of the students sat in awe at the havoc taking place on the television screens.  Before us we saw smoke billowing out of the two towers and Pentagon, as well as a field in Pennsylvania.  We saw replay after replay of the two planes dive-bombing into the towers, and later we watched as terrified citizens jumped from the upper stories.  Eventually, the first tower came crashing down, creating an avalanche of dust and debris.  The second tower soon followed suit, creating the same chaos as the first.

At lunch that afternoon, the sky was emptied of airplanes.  It was clear, quiet, and beautiful.

I remember the fear and uncertainty I felt that day.  I still feel it, too.  I remember thinking "What's going on?"  "Who are these people?"  "Why do they want to hurt and kill innocent people?"  I still ask those same questions today. I remember the tears streaming down my face for many, many reasons. 

But I also remember the unity as well as the outpouring of love and service due to those horrific attacks.  I remember being in awe of the men and women who risked their lives to save others, many losing their own.  I learned of true faith and selflessness.  I remember being grateful that my father was not working in New York that week, being grateful that I had not personally been affected by the attacks.  I remember laying in bed that night listening to Enrique Iglesias' "Hero" with clips of the attacks embedded into the music.

 My life was changed.  Not in a way I would have liked or planned, but in a way that I needed.  And for this, I am grateful.

Domestication

The three-week school hiatus is coming to an end!  Hooray!  Double woot!

I would like to call these past few days "Days of Domestication".  I am becoming a true woman (according to culture and society)!  List of feminine accomplishments to follow.

1.  I finished my dress!

Okay, so all I did was sew on the buttons, but this dress was a steal!  Thanks to my sister-in-law, Hollie, who picked this Shabby Apple dress up for a mere $5 (size Small, might I add), all that was needed was buttons and someone willing to do the handywork.  Enter me.  I picked 1" navy buttons to keep it simple and allow for a variety of accessories to be used.  Below would be a picture of the dress from Shabby Apple, complete with buttons, but they no longer make the dress.

Now if I could get my sewing machine serviced, I could really start sewing.

2.  I made pretzel bites!

No pictures were taken, which is sad, but the process is quite complicated!  Total time from start to finish was
approximately 2.5 hours.

Yes, I have that much free time on my hands.

3.  I made chocolate souffle!

Okay, so I've only made the batter, but it needs to refrigerate overnight so tomorrow my divine chocolate souffles will be complete.  And eaten.  Yum.  Pictures below.

Yup, I already had a bite before I captured it.  May I say 'delish'?


4.  I watched my niece, Cadence!

Yes, I do this all the time.  And I usually take pictures, but I didn't today.  She's adorable.  Life is good when she's around.  Enjoy the picture, courtesy of Hollie's fb page.

5.  I read three books this week!

And yes, it's only Wednesday.  They were short, simple, and sweet.  I had to have time to sew, bake, cook, and babysit!

I feel very, very accomplished.

Avoidance Techniques

As is typical with most children, my awesome-little-kidlet-clients are Masters of Avoidance.  Kids think of the craziest ways to get out of doing something difficult, "not fun", boring, or challenging.

I have learned many techiques from them.

Things I Am Avoiding:
-Working on my resume
-Training for a half-marathon (which is in four weeks!!!)
-Finding a job
and...
-Showering

Things I Am NOT Avoiding:
-Caffeine-free Diet Coke
-Goldfish
-Harry Potter
-Cadence (the niece)
-Swimsuits

Summertime...the Livin's Easy

Having a three-week hiatus from school (and life in general, because school = life) sounds like a great idea right?  Totally, 100%, completely wrong!  I cannot remember a time that I have been more bored.  Here is a short (and very basic) list of what I have done in the past 7 days.

-Read the first three Harry Potter books
-Run nearly every day
-Seven Peaks
-Roooodeoooooooo!
-Attended the temple
-Helped my mom at Oakcrest
-Pinned for hours
-Organized my clinic supplies
-Emailed potential externship sites (eek!)
-Slept in until at least 9 a.m. nearly every day
-Thoroughly enjoyed Shark Week

Now, some of my loyal readers may be thinking "That sure seems like a lot of things to keep her busy!  What does she mean she's bored?!"

Clarification: my MIND is bored.  None of those activities (aside from attending the temple and emailing externships...and HP to an extent) really engage the mind.  I've been in graduate school for a year now (can you believe that?!), thus my mind is so very used to being engaged, busy, and constantly on the run.  I've found I have too much time to (over)think, (over)analyze, and (over)worry about the little, miniscule, inconsequential things that are happening in my life.

In order to combat the mind-wandering, worry-inducing boredom I seem to be plagued with, I've been studying the gospel much more than I was able to during the school year.  Talk about engaging the mind!  I've learned many things about true happiness, finding joy in the journey, new beginnings, life changes, and so many more (relevant and important) topics.  Perhaps I will dedicate a few posts to these newly-learned (or re-learned) ideas and principles in the future, but I do not feel that now is the proper time as these experiences have been very personal, and quite surprising as well.

Well, loyal (16) readers, here's to the lazy two weeks ahead.  Ideas of (free and/or cheap) activities are more than welcome, as are random texts or phone calls to just catch up.  Cheers!

Under Pressure

Yup, the stress of summer semester just hit.  Nine major assignments due in the next three weeks.  Count 'em....NINE. 

I no longer have the time to send myself flowers, nor do I have the money.  If any of you feel so inclined, they will be gladly and gratefully welcomed.

Lovin on Them Flowers

Next week, I'm sending myself flowers.  I've never received flowers (at least not from a boy...who isn't my dad).  I think it would be nice.  And I think I deserve it.

Why?

Not really sure why, but I'm needin some flowers in my life and  it's up to me to get them!

I like these.

Infectious Summer

The title of this post explains it all, but not in the way one might think.  You see, in the past week, I've 'contracted' two types of infections.  And yes, the explanations will be accompanied by pictures.

A week and a half ago, I was riding The Boy's motorcycle.  I've ridden his bike many a time; in fact, you could say I'm a professional passenger.  I've learned how to lean with the bike, how to put my leg down in case we start tipping, how to hold The Boy* just right, etc.  I've even learned to mount and dismount the bike effectively...or so I thought.  One night, I was getting on the bike, and my pant leg got caught on G-knows-what, so in my pathetic attempt to free my leg, the flesh of my leg made contact with the pipes of the bike.  The pipes can get up to 1200* F!  Needless to say, my leg was instantaneously cinged.

A beautiful blister formed.  The following day, I had a session with a young boy.  This boy is very active, so I was all over the place, taking no thought about my burn.  Halfway through the seession, I look down to see a very (grossly) large spot on my pant leg.  Yes, the blister had popped taking every bit of skin with it.

Over the course of the next few days, infection seemed to set in.  I'll let the pictures explain themselves.

Doesn't my leg look like a delicious piece of fried meat?  Yum.

This is the current state of the burn.  (Really, I took this picture solely for the purpose of uploading onto my blog.)  As you can see, the bandages and coverings has caused a rash to form around the burn.  So now, not only do I have a burn that constantly oozes, I also have a rash around the burn that constantly itches.  End of Infection Numero Uno.

Time for Infection Numero Dos.  This one isn't nearly as exciting, nor do I have any pictures.  Late last night, I looked in the mirror to take out my contacts for the night, and I noticed my left eye was rather red and goopy.  Pink eye, right?  I was hoping not, especially because I have three hours of clients on Fridays that I really did not want to cancel.  I decided to wait until morning before making a final judgment call.  I quickly fell asleep (I must have been exhausted!), and wake up before my alarm even goes off.  It's at this point in time I realize that I cannot open my left eye...it's been crusted shut.  Pink eye, right?  Definitely.  I now have an appointment to have it looked at and get whatever meds they'll give me so I can get back to my clients asap.

When I was talking to my mom about the pink eye (which, of course, she reacted very violently to), she told me the next thing to be infected was going to be my brain.  Pray that doesn't happen.

*No, The Boy and I are not back together.  We are friends.  :)