Aced It!

I can't believe it myself, but I actually aced my A&P exam (not the final)! 140/140...I'm still in shock! My lab final is Tuesday, Psych final Thurs, A&P final the next Mon...then it's work, work, work.
Lon and I had a wonderful (quiet) Thanksgiving at home. Watched some movies, played some video games, ate yummy food and enjoyed some delish wines. We're both working all weekend, so I don't know that I'll have much time to post over the next few days. Thought I'd drop in before going to work this morning...Lon's already there! Hope the crazies are too tough on us today and tomorrow...
Have a great weekend and remember...only 27 days til Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, tomorrow is Turkey Day and Lon & I finally have a day off together...it doesn't happen too often and mostly just on Sundays. Since we both have to work Friday, it'll be just the two of us celebrating Thanksgiving. For all of you that get to celebrate with extended family, I hope you have a wonderful day! We were able to visit with my dad and Jan this past weekend. How do you like our 'holiday' pic? :)

Just took my last A&P exam this morning. Only have finals to go now. Yesterday we dissected cow eyes in lab (very neat!) and I found out what makes certain animals eyes reflect in bright light. There is an iridescent covering on the back of the eyeball called the tapetum lucidum. It reflects light within the eye of animals that live in low-intensity light (noctural). Cool, huh? I know, I know...nobody cares but me. But this is MY blog so I can write whatever I want. ha, ha, ha!

Guess today is about studying for my lab final next week, finishing any Christmas decorating I have left, working on my Christmas cards and prepping for tomorrow. Kinda nice to have a day off in the middle of the week!

I'm very thankful for everything I have: a wonderful, loving husband/best friend, healthy family, good friends, A JOB!, a roof over my head and food in my kitchen. I hope your life is full of love and happiness. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

It's that time of year again!

Sorry it's been a few days since I last posted. Kinda crazy around here...school is winding down which means finals are coming up. Lots of studying...Thanksgiving and Christmas are well on their way which means more hours at work...and a LOT more once I'm through with finals. It's chilly, but beautiful here. Crisp and cool with lots of sun. I've also been quite crafty...I'm attempting to make my own Christmas cards this year, I'm journaling the 25 days of Christmas (a challenge from a MUCH craftier friend) scrapbook style, I've wrapped most of the presents we've bought, and I've put the tree up. We had to decorate early since we will have NO free weekends after this one. So I put it up last week...decorated it...and we use its pretty white lights to light the living room every morning and night. I love Christmas tree light! Christine, aforementioned 'craftier friend', also directed me to a great photo editing website. http://www.picnik.com/ has super cool effects and most of them are free! You can join, pay an annual fee and get even more cool stuff, but I'm just starting out. As Christine said, it's like Photoshop only MUCH cooler! Check it out and let me know what you think. The fancy pic of my handsome prince was my first attempt to play with Picnik...cute, huh? I especially like the double goatees...

As for the neat school stuff...I think we're going to dissect eyeballs next week! Sheep or cow, I believe. A&P II is most of the major systems (digestive, endocrine, reproductive, urinary, etc.) so I have no idea what (other than a cat) we may get to dive into next semester! I'm looking forward to it though...and I find out in March whether or not I've been accepted to the Nursing program. Keep your fingers crossed!

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep...

Okay...so I didn't get to dissect a cat, but I did get to examine and slice open a sheep's brain today. So cool! I know, I know...I'm such a nerd, but I do love the science/health stuff. I'm one of those weird people who watches the Discovery channel for shows on odd birth defects, crazy abnormal growths on otherwise normal people, skeletons uncovered years later to solve mystery/murder cases...I love NOVA on PBS and I am enjoying my Anatomy & Physiology class so much! I kept hearing how hard it would be...so much to learn, to memorize...I thrive on this stuff that others would think is gross or boring. What a geek...but I am what I am. :) The sheep's brain was super cool! One other student wanted to dissect with me...but everyone else in my group was satisfied just watching and identifying parts. And yes, we are both Nursing-to-be students. What is wrong with us? I don't know and I don't care. This morning in Psych we were discussing Alzheimer's (so scary!) and a thought occurred to me...I never thought I would want to go into any aspect of Nursing that dealt specifically with the elderly...but now...everything is open for discussion. I anxiously await my acceptance into the RN program and my clinicals to find out what it is that I will enjoy most. Will Pediatrics intrigue me? Are Geriatrics the way to go? I can no longer rule out the ER...my future is wide open and it excites me immensely!

(yes, I am rambling...and that may be due to the wine, but I speak from the heart regardless...)

Happy Trails and Happy Tuesday...oh yeah! And Happy Veteran's Day! (I guess that is for my one faithful reader & fellow veteran, Christine. Happy Day to you, Chica!)

I love road trips!

Yesterday Lon and I ventured north with no particular destination in mind...gas is back down to $2.01/gallon so we thought we deserved it! Anyway, we ventured into the little town of Cleveland and though the downtown was quaint, nothing was open, so therefore we just drove through. Been there, done that. We are always up for something new and we saw an 'Attractions' sign pointing us to Sunshine Hollow Gardens. Sounds interesting, right? So off we go, following small, hard to find road signs up this hill, down this GRAVEL road, off the beaten path...getting excited...beginning to hear banjos (think Deliverance). Remember, we ARE in the mountains of TN now...and there it is! A garden. Like rows of things planted, nothing special...and they were closed. I checked their website this morning...it's a garden/bakery/chocolate place. Guess it's open more often in the summer. But it was a beautiful drive out! Here are a few pics...

Great day for a road trip to anywhere...but after we got back on the interstate, we saw another attraction we couldn't pass up...a winery! So now we have a destination...just have to find this Morris Vineyard. Fortunately Lon has Goog411 on his cell so I called to make sure they were open...til 7! Woo Hoo, we're in! Now we're driving up another mountain/hill...left on Michigan Ave, right at the four way stop, follow the little brown/yellow signs that blend in with the fall colors, run a stop sign because we're looking at cows, turn around, drive down past the cows surrounding the odd burning firepit (with no humans in sight), contemplate whether the cows have burned the farmer and if not, where is he?....drive up the side of the mountian, turn left, turn right, where is this place? And finally...we see the sign...

Here is the view...just breathtaking. The tasting room had huge plate glass windows looking into this valley. The wine wasn't bad either, and that's saying a lot for an area that can only grow muscadine, niagara and catawba grapes naturally. We grabbed a dry red blend of concord and catawba and a sweet blueberry dessert wine. Yummy!

All in all, another fantastic day spent with my very favorite person. Next time maybe we'll plan ahead and go even further north...like Knoxville or the Great Smoky Mountains! Happy Monday!

OMG! It was a landslide!

I guess I wasn't the only one ready for some positive change in this country. I'm so proud of my fellow Americans to not only vote in record numbers, but to get behind a new face with new ideas and a fresh perspective...and not just do the 'same old thing.' I know not everyone will be happy with tonight's election (I am!), but I do hope some of that 'fresh' perspective will rub off on those people and they'll at least try to have an open mind and see that maybe, just maybe, Obama has some good ideas for our country. Something tells me that I'm going to be in a fantastic mood tomorrow!
Congratulations Barack and Joe! We'll be watching and we hope you do great things!

Election Day!

I think every state should have early voting options...but if yours doesn't, I sure hope you brave the lines today! There are those who think that major political decisions like this are made behind closed doors by the powers that be, but I choose to be optimistic. I choose to believe that we still have a voice (I HOPE!) and it is our choice as to what leaders we will have. Lon and I voted...I hope you will too. And regardless of who wins tonight, tomorrow will be a different day. I'm excited, a little nervous, but looking forward to the final tallies this evening. I just hope we don't have another recount issue...

Happy Tuesday!