Survival and Recap

It's official all-I'm a second year physician assistant student. I survived my trip to the Hanoi Hilton first year of PA school. I'm already through the first week of my clinical rotations.  I'm currently at a pediatric office in Germantown, MD.  It's about an hour drive on back roads and I consider it sleeping in to not have to get up until after 6am. So-I had one week break from school related things.  While we didn't get a chance to go anywhere per se, but we tried to make the most of what we had available around.  I took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep, and to get some things around the house done the first two days. I got the car cleaned out a bit, and got caught up on some laundry and working out. So, on Wednesday we got Misha out of school early and went down to the kid's Discovery museum (not the channel...) in Winchester, VA. They had an awesome room where you could build your own roller coaster...

And where you could climb on a rock wall... (Scott has amazing upper body strength for a 3 year old)

Afterward, we went down to the carnival that was in town for the Apple Blossom Festival.  We had a great time riding the rides with the kids.

 Can you see Scott's little head next to Jerry??

 The fam on the carousel...

And I made Jerry take the kids on the tilt-a-whirl. My brain had had enough of the circular rides at this point...

The next day we took the kids to the zoo. (Misha took some pictures with Jerry's old phone to count as a school assignment so we could count her absence as an educational one-hers were all the animal pictures, and I don't have them on this computer, so sorry-not many animals pictured here)

I caught these best buds holding hands along the way....

And if you look really hard at almost the direct center of this picture, you can kinda make out the jaguar perched on top of a tree....

I got my garden planted-oh I love all that neat looking dirt...can't wait for my veggies to come in!

This is the computer background of the laptop I use at my clinical site.  I've determined that this is EXACTLY where I want to live for the rest of my life...I just wish I knew where it was.  But isn't it gorg?  Oh....a girl can certainly dream right?

All in all the first week of my clinical rotation was great.  I'm looking forward to this year-this is where the fun begins!  Hope all are well-and thank you for all your love, support, and prayers.  They have not gone unnoticed.

Still alive.

And he's still so dang cute.  It's ridiculous.  For reals.

Photo Ops

Here's a family photo update from October.  I'm totally lazy, I know. But here are a few of my favorites.  I so wish I could post more.

 See?  I taught my girl to wink at a young age.  I love this little girl.

 This is how my kids are most of the time.

 I love that he loves his daddy so much.

 Look at this-36 (this coming May) years later and they're still going strong.  They're adorable in this picture.

 Love my boo. And no, I never call him Boo.

 I love that Scott is just flailing out there.  hilarious.

 This is the best picture of all of us...seriously Misha?  Honestly-learn to cooperate.

 This is how Scott generally feels about Misha giving him kisses...even though he absolutely adores her.

 Love my momma.

See this look of deviousness? I totally suckered him into piggy-backing me.:)

Another Look-alike Meter

I did this back in the day with Misha, and now I wanted to do one with Scott. I did another with Misha, and as opposed to last time where she looked more like me by 28%, she now only looks more like me by 3%.  Fun nonetheless.  See my post from somewhere in 2007 for the link to do it.

Living Proof

 That they're alive....

 And so is he...

And Clark Kent lives in my house.

It's Official

I passed my first semester at The George Washington University.
*Whew*
It was a bit rough.  Now I've got a week off, sadly with no plans, before I head back for torture session number two the second semester. And we're off...

I'm drowning.  That is all.

I don't post much...

'Cause I'm in school.  And will be for the next two years.  Enjoy it for me people.

The 2011 Book List

So-once again I tried to shoot for the goal of a book a week in 2011. I didn't quite make it-I only managed to get in 51 and a half books. That's still pretty good considering the business of the year. Trying to get the application to grad school in was QUITE time consuming-not to mention that I also took 3 classes. So, with that said-here's the list for 2011. My favorites are so marked by an *.

1. The Five Greatest Warriors-Matthew Reilly

2. The Kiss of a Stranger*-Sarah M. Eden

3. The Pharaoh's Daughter- N. C. Allen

4. Wench-Dolen Perkins Valdez

5. The Water is Wide-Marianne Monson

6. The Overton Window-Glenn Beck

7. Heaven Is for Real-Todd Burpo

8. P.S. I Love You*-Cecelia Ahern (I LOVED this book. I laughed, I cried, and yep-it's way better than the movie. Though I do love the movie. Who doesn't love Gerard Butler?!?!? And that first kiss scene....mmm....*drool*...Oh, *ahem*, sorry...bit of a tangent...he just looks so darn kissable...)

9. The Legend of Shannonderry*-Carol Warburton

10. Introduction to Psychology-Kalat (I know, I know-it's a textbook. But darn it, it counts-because I read all 641 pages of it)

11. The Stone Traveler-Kathi Oram Peterson

12. City of Fallen Angels-Cassandra Clare (I love this series, and I loved this book-but it's not one of my favorites simply because of the ending and that I have to wait so blasted long to find out what happens)

13. Trespass-Sandra Grey

14. Mermaid-Carolyn Turgeon

15. The Postmistress-Sarah Blake

16. Poisoned Pedigree-G.G. Vandagriff

17. The Hidden Branch-Same

18. The Beyonders: A World Without Heroes*-Brandon Mull (I have LOVED every book he's ever written. They're all fabulous and I can't wait for my kids to fall in love with his books when they're older.)

19. Illusions-Aprilynne Pike

20. The Throne of Fire-Rick Riordan

21. Key Lime Pie-Josi S. Kilpack

22. Blackberry Crumble-Same

23. The Warlock-Michael Scott

24. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*-J.K. Rowling (I know, I know, I've read it twice before, but I HAD to read it again before the movie came out! It's still my favorite series. I have a quote on my Pinterest board from Alan Rickman (Severus Snape for those of you who don't know who he played) that says, "When I'm 80 years old and sitting in my chair, I'll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will say to me, 'After all this time?' And I will say, 'Always.'" It's as true for me as for him.)

25. I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced-Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui

26. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation-Lauren Willig (I blush thinking about this book...it was way more racy than I had expected. I had already ordered the other books in the series by the time I found that out and I sent them all back....and I'm still blushing.)

27. Foreign Influence-Brad Thor

28. The Forgotten Locket-Lisa Mangum (How dumb could this series have ended?!?! I'm still a bit ticked-and I still get a bit of a headache thinking how confusing and disorienting this book is.)

29. The Borgia Betrayal-Sara Poole

30. Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story-Carolyn Turgeon (This book is a disappointment. And weird. Avoid the urge to read it.)

31. The Daughter of Siena*-Marina Fiorato (Some of the truth behind Romeo and Juliet!)

32. The Glassblower of Morano-Same

33. The Facade-Kathy Brown (It'll be published some day! That's my mother-in-law who's the author. I'm still the only person to read it in it's entirety...I think. Maybe some of of the other siblings have read it..I'm not sure.)

34. Madame Tussaud-Michelle Moran (Her books based in Egypt are way better.)

35. The Hangman's Daughter*-Oliver Potzsch (A surprisingly interesting read that I found at Costco. Had a fab time finishing it at the beach.)

36. The Botticelli Secret-Marina Fiorato

37. The Lost City of Z*-David Grann (A great biography that totally reads like a novel! I found it fascinating.)

38. Moloka'i-Alan Brennert (Made me want to go to Hawaii more than I already do.)

39. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand*-Helen S. Monson

40. The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise*-Julia Stuart

41. The Guernsey Literari and Potato Peel Pie Society**-Mary Ann Schaffer & Annie Barrows (Okay, so the last three books in a row are all British novels. I loved every one of them. All fabulous, but the last is my particular favorite. If you don't get British humor, you should, because they're ridiculously hilarious.)

42. The Son of Neptune-Rick Riordan

43. The Genesis Secret-Tom Knox (By far the worst book I read the whole year-but I had to finish it...I'm stubborn that way. Seriously. The worst. I even noted that on my sheet of paper I was keeping my book tally on.)

44. Inheritance*-Christopher Paolini (If you've not read it yet, do not read my next comment. I'm seriously disappointed with the way it ends. SERIOUSLY?!?! They don't even get together???!?!??! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!)

45. The Maltese Falcon-Dashiell Hammett (If you like the movie, you'll like the book. They're exactly the same in almost every detail.)

46. Michael Vey-The Prisoner of Cell 25-Richard Paul Evans

47. The Inner Circle-Brad Metzler

48. Clockwork Prince*-Cassandra Clare

49. The Night Circus**-Erin Morgenstern (SSSOOO good. Go read it. Right now.)

50. The Book of Mormon (I didn't actually finish it last. But I read it every year...most of the time I can get it in more than once. I'm already in Alma again and I finished the last time in...November?? It's always worth it. Read it every day. You'll never ever regret doing so.)

And the last book I was reading that I only got half way through is The Athena Project by Brad Thor. I finished it on the 2nd of January. So it didn't count.

Don't be expecting this many books out of me for the next two years. No way that's gonna happen with the PA program in full swing. So..I'll post a list next year of the few I manage to get in this year, but don't hold your breath. I'm only on book 4 as we speak.

Do I Wish That I'd Been Born In the Times of the Pioneers?

Yep. Sure do.

I wish I had been born in a time of less. Less of everything. Less time spent wasted on the Internet or Facebook. Less worrying about whether or not my kids will make the right decision when confronted with drugs or sex or alcohol. Less worrying about whether or not my clothes make me look fat because there was so much clothing on it didn't really matter. Less worrying about eating carbs, or whether or not I'm working out hard enough or long enough. Less time wasted on mindless television or video games. Less concern placed on looks and not on what really counts in a person. Less mouthing off and more respect shown toward others. Less development and more wide spread wild land full of beauty and mystery. Less materialism and more fulfillment in life's simple joys. Less vanity and more personal happiness based on who one really is.

Less...just less.