Monday, May 2, 2011

puggles

This is a puggle. Aka a baby echidna. Scott came across these in his animal diversity class. He thinks they are the cutest things in the world. He wants to call our children puggles when they come into existence.

When he's feeling really cute, he calls me a puggle.

Am I missing something here?

Because I think that is the ugliest animal I have ever seen.

Just sayin.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

April Updates

I have graduated.

Scott is studying for the DAT, which means I come home and see him staring at images of pieces of paper folded in weird configurations and then hole-punched. This is a true story.

I have three days of work left at Borders.

We are going to California on Friday.

I have two weeks left before U of U Nursing owns my soul.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

la la la life

I never know what to title my blog posts, because they are all a smorgasbord of random facts about our lives, since I am often behind in posting. Oh well.

Some highlights from our glamorous lives since we've last posted:

* We met Markus Zusak. We ended up breaking into the Provo Library at 12:30 am in order to get our books signed by him. We were there until 1:30... yes, there were still people in line. My nerdiness has reached a whole new level unsurpassed by any other human being.

* I got in another car wreck. This one, fortunately, was not my fault. Also fortunately, no one was hurt and the car is still drivable, so no huge inconveniences there.

* We were able to watch (most of) conference this weekend (I had to work during the Saturday afternoon session - thank goodness for the internet, which will allow us to catch up). I feel like almost every talk I listened to had some insight into a problem or question I was facing. Got to love General Conference. :) I also just felt like I was being hugged by the Spirit every time I sat down to watch.

* I fulfilled my bucket list goal of purchasing something from Anthropologie. I am now the proud owner of a black floral skirt, marked down twice from $98 to a glorious $29.95.

Stay tuned for our future posts, which will include...

* Finals week! (The horror!)

* Graduation! (The joy!)

* Studying for the DAT! (The drudgery!)

Okay, that's all folks.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

updates, updates



I have been a lazy lazy girl at keeping up this blog. But I do want to keep it alive. Here's what we've been doing lately...

HE...

turned 23

has gotten 100% on more than one exam

is writing three papers this week

is shadowing an oral surgeon and LOVING it, which makes me happy, although I'm worried we are NEVER going to get out of debt

is a hot Italian man on the scooter


I...

got into nursing school

am so nearly nearly graduated

have been working at Borders

wrecked our car

have been selected to be a voting member in the Indie Lit Awards (woot!)

have been blogging and reading a lot and attempting to write again.


WE...

are going to be Camp Kesem counselors in August

have been blessed in so many ways - we have had some financial hardships (see item 4 under "I") but have had some financial blessings that have eclipsed them. (Thanks for the belated Pell Grant, BYU)

can't wait for spring

have been married for almost seven months.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

A Mental Workout

I am supposed to be at the gym right now. This is the reason I wouldn't let Scott take the car to the Fishbowl, resulting in me driving him around. This is why I wasn't going to feel guilty about eating In-N-Out and oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough all day. However, I spent the hour I had reserved for studying for my biochemistry test reading book blogs and failing (yet another) biochem blackboard quiz. Time to start focusing again, my friends.

I'm not sure what it is, but I no longer have any drive or energy for school. I don't know if it is because I know that as long as I pass this class, I will graduate, or if I am just so busy doing other, non-school related things, that I can't be bothered to do my biochemistry homework. Maybe it is because I have more time, so I continually put off my homework. Although I feel like I am busy most of the time. I think I spend a disproportionate amount of time cleaning my tiny apartment - Scott and I have so much cluttery stuff (we both have pack-rat tendencies) that it is impossible to get everything 100% spotless. I spend way too much time cleaning for how messy it looks, at any rate. Maybe its because now I spend the largest amount of time in this front room by myself, and so it isn't "the study zone" for me.

I have been a full-time student with no breaks for the last four years. My longest break has been at Christmas each year. And I liked it that way. I get depressed when I am bored, I've never been a TV watcher, I'm not really one to "just hang out" with people. Combine that with the fact that I changed my major an appalling number of times, and you have four years straight of full-time education. I thought I would miss school and get depressed without so much to do. In some ways, I guess that is true, because I have so much less structure. But really, I now have so many more things that I want to do. I want to work out every day and get to a weight that I'm happy with before I start having kids (because I know it will just get harder and harder after that!). I want to read all these stacks of books lurking next to my night stand (if you would believe it, I accidentally typed "book stand" instead of night stand. Well, I guess that is what it really is). I want to start practicing again because I have neglected the piano and now its getting back at me by not sounding the way I want it to sound. I want to start writing again because all this reading has reminded me of my biggest dream when I was little. I want to cultivate friendships now that I spend most of my day alone (this is probably the busiest semester of Scott's undergraduate career). I can't possibly do them all.

I'm not sure what my point in this rant is. I think mostly I felt like writing, but couldn't justify getting out my notebook and sitting in a corner for an hour. It is so much easier to while away time on the computer than anywhere else, but there is never really anything to show for it at the end. In the last hour and a half (did I really spend that much time on here?) I could have at least finished my biochem reading for tomorrow.

I'm hoping that now that I have a new job, it will be easier to motivate myself and give myself structure. I won't be dreading the next day of work so much that I want to pull the covers over my head.

Anyway, I didn't mean for this to be a bummer post. I'm just examining my reasons for not wanting to study, when I have lived for studying for the last four years. I have a test on Saturday and I feel no inward drive to prepare for it, even though I know that I am completely clueless about the material and I didn't do well on the last test. Maybe I need to schedule my day rigidly and try to stick to it, just so I can get more done. I need to stop being such a slacker!

After all that, I feel a lot lighter. To round out the post, here are some Lemmons updates of happiness:
1. Scott got a 100% on both his PdBio 362 test and his tissue bio test. These are the two classes taught by professors he wants letters of recommendation from, so this is a very good thing. :)
2. I quit my job at Mesa Vista and was hired today by Borders! I was in my car when I heard the voicemail and I screamed. Pretty loudly.
3. I discovered the best bookshop every in Salt Lake today. It reminds me of Shakespeare and Co. in Paris. I think I'm going to have to make it a weekly stop on my way home from volunteering on Thursdays. Hopefully they won't mind me loitering around not making purchases. And hopefully Borders won't consider it a disloyalty.
4. I saw Jenny and Jaden today. I haven't seen them since I stopped doing ABA for Jaden in August, and it was good to visit for a few minutes. Jaden remembered me and gave me a hug, although he was acting shy at first. When I knocked on the door, he peeked out the door and yelled, 'Mommy! It's Lorren!'
5. I'm rediscovering music. For a little while, I was hardly listening to music at all. I'm not sure why -I think maybe it was a result of driving so much when I was working in Sandy. I just got sick of my iPod, got sick of listening to music doing nothing. But the magic of it is back, and it is a great stress relief.
6. I went to In-N-Out with Sarah. Always good to see a person, especially a person I really like. :)
7. It's almost the weekend, which means I get to spend time with Scott.

This introspective rant is over, and I am going to climb into our big fat La-Z-Boy and read my biochem book. No Kindle, no computer, no chocolate. I'm just going to remind myself over and over like a mantra, "I love learning. I love science. I love learning. I love science." Until I am finished with my tests.

Peace out.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

what happens when you find out you don't have work but no one is home

Here's what I want:
* To get in to nursing school
* To lose 5 pounds
* Less time on my hands
* More time
* Ok, the unenjoyable things to take less time.
* A shopping spree at Anthropologie
* New bookshelves
* To start practicing again
* Scott to get home.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

working fears


It appears that the computer I'm using doesn't have a very good shift button, so please forgive me if I wantonly leave things uncapitalized. I know I've been a slacker on this blog lately - I really will catch up, and I have some awesome pictures to post from Scott and my adventure across the Golden Gate Bridge (mark that one off the bucket list!) But tonight, I am feeling a little introspective and wanted to share a talk that I just found.

I just started working at a new job in a home for developmentally disabled people. The job is interesting, looks great on my nursing resume, and what's more, it's a job. I watched my highly qualified roommate search for four months before she was able to find a job, so I feel very grateful to have a job that is close, gives me plenty of work hours, and is in a field in which I hope to work in the future.

However, starting this job has also caused me a lot of stress. Some of the residents can be aggressive and difficult to control, and my job places a lot of responsibility on my head for the safety and dignity of these people. So far, I haven't even worked on my own - I've only been in training shifts - and I felt overwhelmed at the need to be many places at once. Friday is my first day going it alone, followed by a Saturday morning shift about 8 hours later, a Sunday evening shift, and then a Monday shift. Everything will be thrown at me all at once. I've been feeling really stressed and apprehensive about this today after an 8 hour orientation to the job.

So, I looked up some talks about fear, and the one that really struck me was this one. It is a reminder that circumstances may seem uncertain, but to remember to count my blessings and that nothing unpleasant in this life is permanent. This job may be a bit more than I was expecting, but hopefully (if I can ever finish this nursing essay before Saturday) I will be in training to be a nurse in a few months and I will already have experienced the hardest parts of that kind of job. I can do this, even if it isn't easy!
 
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