Vote!

Okay...so nobody voted on the poll last month. I'll give you another month to vote and then you can also comment on which character you would want to be/which costume you want to put on. It can be anything from a professional sports mascot or local sports mascot or a fictional character (like one from Sesame Street). My vote would be number 3. Put the costume on and dance like I've never danced before. Nobody would know who I am and I could make a fool of myself without the total embarrassment of people knowing who I am or seeing my face. :) What would you do?

God knows...

At church this last week I learned that a family at my church will be moving to Texas very soon. I met this couple very early during my time in Boston and the wife/mom is a Physical Therapist. It was so nice to have her to talk to and go to for encouragement throughout school. Although I didn't meet with her regularly, it was nice to know that someone at church who is a PT and someone I could talk to who understands very well what I'm going through and then someone I could look to for Godly advice in the world of PT. It was just nice to know I had that option available if needed. So, I am excited for their move to Texas, but a little sad to see them go.

However, while I was in service just an hour or two later, I sat in front of a girl who I met for the first time who, SURPRISE, is a physical therapist! She graduated from Northeastern (in Boston) last year and is now working at one of the hospitals nearby. So, even though my other friend is moving far away soon, God put this other woman in my life who is a young therapist, but another PT close-by to talk to with regard to school and jobs and being a PT. Thank you Lord!

It's COLD!!!

And, yes, COLD does need to be capitalized!!! There is a windchill advisory in the weather forecast tonight. Don't know what a windchill advisory is? Neither did I until I read this description on theweatherchannel.com:

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN THE WIND CHILL INDEX IS LIKELY TO REACH -15 TO -24 DEGREES FOR AT LEAST 3 HOURS. FROSTBITE CAN DEVELOP IN JUST 30 MINUTES WITH A WIND CHILL INDEX OF -20. IF YOU ARE HEADING OUTDOORS... DRESS IN LAYERS AND WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES.

Frostbite?! I don't think I've ever had to seriously consider frostbite anywhere at anytime before. I may have complained about being cold and getting frostbite or hypothermia or something in the past due to the cold, but those were just exaggerations. The high for tomorrow is lucky number 13 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, my friends, the high temperature. That means, it won't go above 13 degrees! 13 degrees is the warmest it will be tomorrow. Who thought "13 degrees" and "warm" would be used in the same sentence/go together? Okay...I know there are many other places that are much, much colder than this, so I'll stop my ranting now. My friend told me that her school has been cancelled in the past in Chicago because it was too cold (at -50 degrees). I'm thankful for our 13 degree weather! The cold can be very refreshing when experienced in small doses! Thankfully I'll be in class all day tomorrow to make up for snow days and holidays over the past two weeks.

This semester, one of my classes meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Because of snow days and MLK Jr. day, we have met 3 out of the 6 classes we were supposed to have. That means we will have make up classes in the weeks to come! That means my afternoons that were free will no longer be free as we make up this material. It's definitely better than extending school an extra week, starting our clinicals a week later, and foregoing our "spring break" in May though.

Last Friday was our second snow day in two weeks and it was nice to sleep in. (Last week was the longest 3-day week ever!) I suppose adjusting back into school mode hasn't been as easy or as quick as I thought it would be. My roommates and I did not make a friend for Raphael, but we did clean the apartment and relax a bit before going to game night! Some catch phrase, taboo, and hanging out with friends was a great way to spend a Friday evening on our snow day. There wasn't as much snow as the week prior, but there was still some snow, making it more of a snow day than last year's snow day, again. And, there's talk of another storm (nor'easter) coming through this week (on Wednesday again). As nice it would be to stay home and enjoy the snow, I suppose having class during the normally scheduled time would be beneficial too. Oh, snow....how I don't know so much about you....

Here are a couple pictures from my birthday celebration last weekend....enjoy! :)

my roommates surprised me by blowing up and covering my bed with balloons. then, they hid a gift among the balloons....a t-shirt and jewelry box! They're great! (my roommates and the gifts are all great)

most of the crew at dinner, starting at the L: Vanessa, Jenna, Emily, Brian (head between Jenna and Emily), Neil, Jonathan, Erin, Theo, and me (missing Trisha, Hannah, and Shirin who were at this end of the table)

some of the girls at Hard Rock Cafe for my Boston birthday dinner

bottom: Erin, me, Trisha

top: Shirin, Hannah (roommates)

everyone at the bowling alley! (we went bowling after dinner)

from L to R: Neil, Jonathan, Shirin (above), Erin, me, Erin, Jenna, Trisha, Hannah

the scores of game 1

the scores of game 2 (some didn't play a second game)

Here are a few pictures from Friday, the snow day! I was just playing around with my camera a little bit. Enjoy some pictures of snow, and the view from my bedroom, which I think is a pretty good one! :)

the view out one window...one person walking down the alley

view of the rooftops across the street from the same window

view out of another window of "Brookline Village Corner/Center"

closer view of the clock tower in the picture above

closer view of the same streetlight and lamp on the corner in the above picture

These next few are from this weekend. My pastor turned 40 and his wife threw him a surprise birthday party, 80's themed. So, some people dressed up and these are a few pictures of my friends and me from that night!

Karoline, me, and Jillian

me, Karoline, and Janna

this picture has a dual purpose: to get a full appreciation of my outfit (arm warmers and all!) and also to see a bit of my room...the color my quilt adds to my bed/room (also can be seen in the picture with the balloons on my bed) and the balloon on the wall (I moved all the balloons from my bed to my walls)

Pictures and Snow Day

Well, today was much, much more of a snow day than our "snow day" last year!!! Below are some pictures from today! :)

one view from my bedrooom window of the street lights

this is a house down the street from us and I liked it, so I took a picture of it

the park down the street where we went to play

and we made this! Meet our new friend, Raphael

and, Hannah made a great snow angel! :)

It was a fun day with lots of beautiful snow, though I'm not sure that's what some people were thinking as they were shoveling their driveways and cleaning the streets. Now, here are a couple pictures of my Christmastime projects (and my birthday).

the quilt I made

my sister (my teacher) and I in the huge quilt I made

the soldier I made for my mom, who had her friend's soldiers to copy from

me with my birthday balloons and birthday flowers my mom came home with on my birthday!

Thanks mom! :)

New Poll

I posted a new poll! After you answer, I would love to read your reasoning as to why what you chose is your favorite season! Comment on this post to explain why! :) Thanks!

It's a New Year and it's January 11, 2011 (1-11-11)

Wow! Where has the time gone?! Thanksgiving was great as I spent some time with my friend, Katelyn, who came up from Rhode Island and we went to my pastor's house, where there were lots of people and food and it was nice and relaxing. It seems as if families on the east coast eat an early Thanksgiving dinner (1 or 2 pm) and so they have time to eat another meal (or appetizers or a snack or something) later in the evening or night. Then, for the weekend after, I was able to spend a few days in Maine with a couple families I met over the summer and spent time visiting and more time relaxing and away from school and the craziness of city life in Boston (which isn't all that crazy all the time...just, constant noise and people around).

Well, another semester of PT school has come and gone, and I think it was our worst schedule as we were at school what seemed like all the time. However, we made it through and learned a lot and, now, I've forgotten a lot! (But, I have remembered some of it too.) I left Boston the evening after my last final in the morning, which is new for me. I am usually the one to stay a few days and take my time packing and cleaning and getting ready to leave. However, not this time! I packed in maybe an hour by throwing a bunch of things in my bag and hoped it was enough for my time at home and then went to off to the airport. :) It worked out just fine. Surprisingly, I did not get stuck anywhere this trip! Praise God! We ended up leaving Boston and hour late because it was snowing and they had to prepare the plane so the snow didn't turn to ice at 30,000 feet. However, we only got into Dallas/Fort Worth a half an hour later than scheduled. I had an hour layover, which quickly turned into a half an hour and thankfully my departing gate wasn't too far from my arriving gate. So, I made it to my plane to San Francisco with a little bit of time to spare (more time than I thought since the mechanics had to do things to the plane before we could leave). I arrived in San Francisco and walked out to my family waiting for me and my sister taking a bazillion pictures of me, half asleep.

Christmas and my time at home was great as I got to spend a lot of time with my family and enjoy that time together. Got to see everyone multiple times and Cari and I did a lot of sewing. She taught me how to make a rag quilt as she made a quilt of her own too. We also had some quality, fun competition in Wii games in between times of sewing and sports games on the television. I will post pictures of my projects over Christmas break as soon as I put them on my computer from my camera! :)

My birthday was also recently. I turned 25, which is kind of a milestone birthday, I suppose. I was able to spend time with my parents and my younger brother on my birthday. We saw Country Strong and then went out to dinner. Then, the next morning, I was able to have breakfast with my grandparents, my brother, dad, and uncle which made for a delightful morning after my birthday. :) My older brother and sister-in-law came over that afternoon/evening for a yummy home-mom-cooked meal and to hang out before I left that night to return to Boston. Now, I am hoping and planning on celebrating my birthday with my friends in Boston by going to the Hard Rock Cafe (weather permitting). If not tomorrow, then Friday! :)

My flight back to Boston was also, surprisingly, on time and no delays! It's almost like a first. Although, I was hoping for an overbooked flight in which I could volunteer and get another voucher towards another flight and keep getting free flights. Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you may look at it, that did not happen and I arrived in Chicago and left Chicago and arrived in Boston all on time.

Now, school has started for our 7 week semester of class and it's already going by so quickly! :) After two days of class, there is a blizzard warning and school is closed tomorrow, so we get a day off. Since being in Boston, I have had 2 snow days now and the first one, there was no actual snow. I'll find out when I wake up whether the blizzard actually comes through Boston or not! :) I am hoping to wake up to a fresh blanket of snow covering the ground that I can go play in and have a snowball fight and build and snowman and enjoy the day!

Well, I couldn't resist posting on such a monumental day with a date of 1-11-11!!! The only other time there will be more 1's will be on Veteran's Day of this year! :) Okay....I guess there were more ones on November 11, 1111. But, that was a really long time ago and not in our lifetime, so enjoy the ones!!! :) And, now, I am finishing this post at 11:01. How fitting. Maybe I should write for ten more minutes. Nah...I'll head to bed so I can wake up early and be greeted by the snow (hopefully). :)

Weather

According to weather websites, it is in the 80s in Clayton and 50s in Boston. In the 80s at home?!?! It's like summer never ended, but school began. Though I'm thankful it isn't freezing here quite yet, the 30 degree difference makes me miss the CA weather. However, I suppose the foliage here in New England makes up for it. :) I suppose winter is upon us, but I'm not ready to admit that quite yet. Thank you Jesus for the crisp, cool air and the warm blankets I can cuddle up in. Now, to continue studying for my midterm tomorrow morning! Last midterm of this 2-week long testing time! Then, I can really cuddle up and get warm and relax a bit before I continue to study the new material. Thank you Jesus for this opportunity to learn and further my academic education!