From a battered shoe box

It sits there on the bookshelf in my apartment.  It's really unremarkable looking- just a shoe box, blue with dots, for some size 9 and a half tennis shoes.  Not my size.  The box looks somewhat battered, with bulging edges, and tears in the lid.  In fact, the lid barely stays on anymore.  People who come to the apartment probably don't even notice the box, or think twice about it.  If they do, it's probably only to wonder why we keep a battered shoe box on a shelf.

It's actually filled with treasures, memories of days gone by.  I pull the box down from the shelf, holding gently on to the battered lid to keep it in place.  I set the box down on my lap, and pull the lid away.  The first thing I see is a Mickey Mouse hat from Disneyland.  Then there's just a bunch of papers.  Anyone who opened the box would probably think the inside is as unremarkable as the outside.  It's not.

For those who are unaware, Zack and I went to high school together, and that's where we met. We don't remember the first time we met, although we both have the same first distinct memory of each other-- a band rehearsal in 10th grade during which I shared with him the horrible score I got on a physics test (yuck, I hate physics).  I was probably just 14 years old when we first met (yeah, I was young for my grade level).  In the months and years that followed, we became friends, good friends, best friends, and then more than just friends, although it is really unclear to all parties involved when each of those transitions actually took place.  Consequently, we have had some great memories together, some dating back several years.

Zack bought me the Mickey Mouse hat when we were in Disneyland on band tour one year. That unremarkable stack of papers in my box is not so unremarkable to me.  There are newspaper clippings from when Zack wrote for and edited the school newspaper in high school. There are some of my favorite letters that he has written to me.  There's some wrapping paper from a gift he gave me, and an envelope that he decorated before mailing it.  There are some photographs from a school dance we went to, and a ribbon from a rose he sent me.  Just papers to anyone else, these sweet things bring tears to my eyes when I pull them out.  

Hidden under the Mickey Mouse hat and the stack of papers, there are a series of random objects that have significance to me.  A bracelet from a Crimson Nights (event and the U of U) that Zack and I went to, souvenirs that he brought back for me from a Washington DC trip he took, and the necklace that I wore to junior prom when we went together.  It would take me forever to list everything in my box, so I'll just highlight a few of the fun ones here.  I just snapped a couple pictures so here's a little tour of my "stalker box".

This is from the same Disneyland trip as the hat.  We ate this blue cotton candy while we watched the fireworks.  Zack joked that we should keep the paper thingy that the cotton candy came on as a souvenir.  We laughed, but I actually kept it.  We probably would have never even remembered that moment without this cone of paper.

Sometimes fast food restaurants have those things you can peel off of the drink or fries container, and you might win something... know what I'm talking about?  Well, we went out to eat once during high school and the place we went had some of those.  We won some "Exciting Cruise Offer[s]", which were basically useless since we weren't going on a cruise any time soon. Once again, we joked that we should hold onto them so that we could use them when we did go on a cruise someday, we would have them.  

When I was in band in high school, people used to write messages all over my band folder. When I graduated high school, I threw the folder away, but I cut out this tiny piece written in Zack's oh-so-small writing. "Zack loves ShaNae"

These are the corsages Zack got me for school dances.  We went to Prom both junior and senior years.  The one on the left is from junior year.  They are dried out and fragile now, but still so pretty.

This is from a round of mini golf Zack and I played with my sister and her friend several years ago now. Zack kept score, so I kept the card.  Also, I won (insert smug face here). 

 

Another thing that many people don't know about me is that I used to collect "lucky bagel bag holder closer thingys" (lbbhcts).  And by used to, I mean that I just barely threw my collection (my very extensive collection) out right before I moved out here because it seemed like such a silly thing to pack with such limited space.  It was the flute section's mascot in high school.  I taped them to people's yearbooks at the end of the year.  I was serious about these things. Anyway, so when I took my first AP test, my sweet husband (not my husband then) bought a bag of skittles (my favorite candy) and taped 3 lbbhcts on it.  One said "good", another said "luck" and here's a picture of the third.  Totally cute, eh?

So there's a little tour through my box of treasures.  Next time you see an unremarkable shoe box sitting on my shelf, you'll know that it's actually a goofy and touching tour through the development of the relationship that I now get to enjoy for an eternity.  I love my husband, and I am so glad that he saw something in that awkward teenager who never wore matching socks and collected pieces of plastic off of bagel bags.  

My other fam

Last time, I wrote about my family, and how awesome they are, and how I think they're great. Today I just want to mention my new family, Zack's family.  Although they are very unlike my family in many ways, they too are just great.

Zack's dad, Dave, is hilarious.  His quirks make me laugh.  When he gets into things, he really gets into them, which makes him a great worker, and a great father.  I know Zack really admires his dad and would be proud to be like him.

Zack's mom, Beth, is probably the sweetest person to ever walk the planet.  I always ask Zack if his mom ever yelled at him growing up.  I just can't imagine her doing so.  Beth and Dave both have been so great about accepting me into the family and going out of their way to make me feel welcome.

Amy, is a quiet sort of person when you don't know her, but she really has a fun personality. She is interested in so many different kinds of things, and she has so much knowledge packed into that skull of hers.  Her sense of humor is great and, if I'm not mistaken, she is the one who starting referring to things using letters instead of full words, which really caught on.

Something that I really like about Megan is that she is into a lot of different things than I am. It helps me realize that I get stuck in my little bubble sometimes, and it can be really great to learn about new things.  Megan is always eating in pictures (ha ha).  Seriously though, I was so excited to have more sisters (not that the one I already have isn't awesome), and A and M are the best I could ask for.

Sam just makes me mad.  He's like 5 years younger than me, but he's definitely smarter than me in every possible way.  He's an extremely talented musician, and devotes time every single day to practicing his musical instrument.  He's one of those people that you just look at and see perfection.  This guy is really going places in life.  

Hope I didn't embarrass any of them.  I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to mention that these guys are wonderful, and I couldn't have married into a better family.

My Fam

Apparently I am subconsciously longing to watch TV.  According to my husband, I was talking in my sleep last night and I asked him if he found the TV guide.  Wow, that's embarrassing.  I wonder what I was dreaming about.   

I should also retract what I said about my clinical instructor a couple of posts ago.  I went to clinical today and she was sweet as can be.  Maybe she was having a bad day last time, or just didn't want us to think clinical was all fun and games or something.  In any case, I acknowledge that I judged her prematurely, and I hope I've learned my lesson about doing that. Probably not though. I'm sure I'll learn it the hard way many more times.

Well, it's not a special occasion or anything but I am missing my family today so I just wanted to write a little about them.  

My dad is the smartest person I know.  He can just open a book and read something and then he knows it.  He can figure out do-it-yourself projects, complex math problems, and has pretty much built his entire career on this ability that he has.  Although I do not have that skill, I appreciate that my dad has always encouraged me to think through problems and try and figure out how to do things.  He has also instilled in me a sense of curiosity.  A few years back, he got on this kick where he wanted us to learn how things work.  Each week in family night, we would present a lesson on that.  I taught one of the 4 stroke internal combustion engine.  We also had one on the TV, and some others.  We all thought dad was just being dorky, but it was actually really cool, and that will always be a fond memory to me.

My mom is the opposite of me.  She is so outgoing and social and friendly to everyone.  She is good about putting on a good face, even when times aren't so good, or when she doesn't feel well.  I often think of that when I am upset or sick.  I just can't pull it off the way she does.  One of the things I am most grateful for is that my mom taught me how to clean.  I love it when things are clean and orderly.  I know that I can't always maintain perfection, but when I have time, I really take pleasure in making a dirty thing look clean again.  

BJ and I are not at all alike.  He is goofy, crazy, and outgoing.  I hated being a grade behind him in school because he sort of had this reputation-- not a bad one, just one that was very different than my personality.  I don't stand out in a crowd, and I am very content with that.  I have always enjoyed being grouped with him as one of the "big kids".  One of my favorite memories of us is when we were younger.  We were nearly the same height and build, if you can believe that, so one day we put on Halloween masks and switched clothes.  We ran all around the house while the "kids" chased us, thinking that each of us was the other.  

Michelle my Belle (insert my lovely "French").  Michelle really is a belle, the beauty of the family (no offense to the others).  She's the only one who didn't get "the nose."  She's a lot more than cute though- she's intelligent, funny, and really just a good person.  We shared a room from basically when she came along until I was something like 17 years old.  Good times.  We were the biggest dorks.  I remember we used to get a kick out of the dumbest things.  We would hang my glow in the dark retainer from the ceiling fan at night, turn the lights off, and watch it spin around the room.  On Christmas Eve, we would stay awake and make up these crazy rhymes, 1 for each minute, until we finally fell asleep.  I could pop out quirky stories like that up the wazoo.  Good times.

Matthew was the most adorable baby of all time.  He had this HUGE head and tiny little body. I have this favorite picture of him at around 2 years old in those adorable "furry-burries" (or footsie pajamas, or whatever you like to call them).  I don't have a copy here, only in Utah, so I can't post it.  Just trust me, it's cute.  I can't believe that he's grown into a 16 year old high schooler who is taller than me, and into girls.  (That makes me the shortest one in my family). Crazy.  Matthew is the sports player of the family.  It's cool that he sort of blazed his own path and got into that.  Matthew and I went through this time where we had a startle war.  We would sneak up on each other and jump out and and scare the heck out of the other.  I think that's why I have a terrible fear of blow drying my hair.  I'm pretty sure he never actually got me while I was doing that, but I worried about it since there's no way to hear anyone sneaking up when the blow dryer is on.  It's pretty funny. 

You guys are the best.

Saturday frolicking

We had a blast going out on Saturday and just enjoying the weather and window shopping at dozens of stores downtown.  Here I am in a little mini-mall with the Philly Phanatic made out of cans of food- cute eh?  (Yeah Michelle, that is your present in my hand... you didn't believe my threats, did you).  We walked through tons of stores with blaring music, so packed full of people that it was difficult to walk, and loved every minute of it (maybe Zack was just humoring me but he was a good sport).  Later on, we went to a very different part of town full of run down houses and ghetto dollar stores.  I told Zack that I wanted to go out shopping, not go out and get mugged.  He told me that no one would mug me on that street because the people who hang out there have no money, so if I were there, people would assume I'm no exception (and, indeed, I am no exception).  I still didn't like that part of town but the stores were hilarious (knock off i-pods anyone?).  Good times.

Also, not to be a beggar or anything, but if anyone is looking to get rid of some furniture, we are in the market.  We have been living in a furnished apartment, and our new one is unfurnished.  If not, that's alright too.  Lots of people around here will be moving out in the next month or so and we'll just put craigs list to good use.  

Michelle's birthday is 3 weeks away.  What do you want girl?  Better give me an idea or else I'll get you-know-what (hint: MUSHP).

Hooray for the weekend and the 80 degree weather!  Zack and I are going out on the town tonight and I am determined to do so guilt-free.  I have very nearly achieved my goal of being 1 week ahead of the game in school- meaning that each Monday, I will be working on the homework for the next Monday, and so forth with each day of the week.  Wow, it has been an uphill battle to get to that place since that means trying to complete all of week 1's work while also trying to prepare for week 2.  I didn't achieve that completely and it has taken me until the end of the 3rd week to even get this close but I am almost there.  So I should be able to enjoy a night out without spending the whole time thinking about the work I should be doing (although there is plenty).

School is fabulous.  I have a group of very on target, very supportive professors.  There's just 1 lady who is so nice and is probably a fabulous nurse but isn't the best teacher.  I can forgive her for that though since I don't think I would make a good teacher either.  My clinical instructor is not like the others though.  At clinical, other people are worried about giving their first shower ever, or perfecting vital signs.  I am preoccupied with trying to avoid her condescending remarks and relentless stare.  I can understand her being tough, wanting us to get our hands dirty and all that, but I do not understand how being a jerk about things helps, especially in an already high stress situation.  Nevertheless, I enjoy myself there even.  It's one thing to sit in class and talk about theory and how to be good nurses and so forth.  It's a whole different thing to be out there with the patient, and that's what it's really all about.

This clinical rotation is just a general one.  Starting next term, we hone in on different areas of nursing practice.  I think I've already written about this a little.  I am very excited about that because I have no idea what kind of nursing I want to do.  I'm sure I won't end up in labor and delivery though.  I hope I don't offend anyone when I say hello cliche Mormon girl nurse.  Not for me.  I'm sure helping to deliver babies is awesome and whatever, but that's not the only thing out there.  And unless that clinical rotation turns out to be some sort of weird heaven on earth type thing, I think there's no chance I'm going that direction ultimately.  I just want to say that there is something just as rewarding, or even more so, about helping a person have a high quality of life at some point besides birth, and that being part of the process of helping someone die with dignity after a full life can be a touching experience.  Those are the kinds of things that move me.  

I really don't have much exciting to say.  My schedule seriously consists of getting up, going to school, coming home, and then studying until I go to bed.  I could recap that every time I write on here but then all 2 people that read my blog (wow, the readership is increasing) would quit doing so out of sheer boredom.

It's settled

For those who have been following/are interested in the latest on our apartment hunt, we went to see some more apartments, some of which were actually really nice.  We looked at this newly renovated one that was very pretty.  Nevertheless, we settled on the one I mentioned previously that we really liked.  We will be moving on June 1 (or thereabouts- I think the 1st might be a Sunday).  We are moving 3 blocks west and probably about 6 blocks south.  For my family, I will post the new address on the family website when it gets closer, or just talk to you about it on the phone.  It's still a month and a half away so no need to worry about it now.  

The weather cooled off a bit today.  It was still pretty but just a little cool (yeah yeah all you people in Utah, I know your weather was just fantastic today).  I decided to take advantage of the little cool off since it's supposed to warm right back up in coming days, so I whipped up a pot of "poo stew".  Mmmm, what a yummy dinner- plus easy enough that even I can make it.  It's just beef and vegetable soup.  Poo is actually not one of the ingredients.  (Ha ha Matthew... remember Ross- "dress for less").  Good times.

I love it when the weather starts to warm up.  I have just been thinking about really fun things that I've done when the weather was warm.

-Backpacking- I haven't gotten out to do it in several years actually, but I love it.  I particularly love those Southern Utah hikes, with the gorgeous red rocks.  I have a not so fond memory of that time in the Uintahs when it poured rain and we didn't bring a tent so we just huddled up under a tarp.  Brrrr, it got cold that night.  So maybe that time doesn't count as a warm weather activity anyway.  I really do miss those gorgeous Utah mountains.

-Beach Bumming- Somehow, it was really fun to go to the Great Salt Lake and swim with my cousins when I was a kid.  I went again a couple of years ago and found that it wasn't really that fun because of all the salt, but the beach was still really pretty.  I've also bummed on the Pacific Coast a couple times.  Also, we used to go to Bear Lake every single summer- lots of beach time there.

-Sunbathing- Nope, not the kind where I'm trying to get a tan.  I think that's just a huge load of stupidity (sorry all you gals who are into that).  Skin cancer is very real.  I prize my pale skin, and I like the kind of sunbathing where you load up on sunblock and just enjoy the warmth of those rays for a few minutes.  

-Not wearing a coat.  Yes, this deserves celebration.  I love that day where I get to hang my coat in the closet and not get it out again for several months.

-Vacationing- My parents always made vacations really awesome.  It didn't matter if it was a huge vacation to DC or Boston or something closer to home.  We've enjoyed Mesa Verde, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Disneyland, Moab, and others.  I would like to follow that tradition in my own family when we start having kids.  Even if we can only do a little getaway, just spending that time as a family is awesome.

Life just seems better when it's warm.

  

Where to live

Hi ho apartment hunting.  Saturday is a good day for such activities.

So far I've experienced the following thoughts (this list is by no means comprehensive) 

-Too small.  Way too small.

-That's it for closet space?

-What is that stuck all over the burner on the stove?

-Wow, this guy is a slob.

- This apartment has more closet space than my current apartment has bedroom space.  

-*gasping for air*  This building REEKS

-Um, I don't think so.

-I will break my neck lugging the laundry down those stairs.

-What, I have to lug my laundry to a laundromat?

-Geez, I hope that all of this furniture comes with the apartment.

-Geez, I hope none of this furniture comes with the apartment.

-Holy huge TV!

-No dishwasher.

-No dishwasher.

-No dishwasher.

-No dishwasher.

-I like it but__________

And then finally, we got to our last viewing of the day.  It's not huge but it's big enough.  There's sure a lot more space in the bedroom than we have now, the bathroom is pretty good sized, and it has enough closet space (you'd be surprised how few apartments do).  It has hardwood floors, and was the first apartment we've seen with a DISHWASHER (no, that's not the only reason I like it).  It's in a location that's nearly as ideal as the one we're in right now- it's probably about the same walk to the closest public transportation stop, close to the grocery store, and close to a pizza place we like too (not a requirement, but there's nothing wrong with that).  So we put it on hold (which basically means we called them and asked them not to let anyone else lease it for a couple of days).  We're going to squeeze as many more apartment viewings as we can in the meantime to make sure it's really what we want, but we figure that the good things go fast so we'd better jump on something sooner rather than later.  I'm excited.  Moving is a pain.  It will especially be a pain since we'll be the week before finals (but if we postponed it until the end of summer, we would be moving during finals week, so this is at least better than that).  But even with all that, I think I've said before that I really like going into a place a making it my own.  Plus a change of scene is always nice.

Besides apartment hunting, we're going to see the Phillies play the Cubs tonight.  Woo hoo!  Except who should we cheer for?

Thursday

Nope, I'm not just procrastinating again.  The website where I can access my classes is down and I can't really make much progress without it at the moment, so I thought I'd kill some time here while I wait for it to come back up.

I absolutely love Thursdays right now.  I only have 1 class and it's not until 2 in the afternoon, so I can sleep in as long as I want, lounge around for a while, and just take my sweet time for once.  It's especially nice that I have a good Thursday this term since I absolutely despise Wednesdays, so it's a good way to follow up that oh-so-awful day.  I have hated Wednesdays for sometime now.  This isn't a new development related to the fact that Wednesday is my clinical day, or that my husband is always so busy with homework on Wednesday nights (although those don't help).  I just don't like them because they're just stuck there right in the middle of the week.  The end of the week still seems too far away to get excited about, and there's been enough days since the beginning of the week for me to start feeling like I'm about ready for the end of it to come.  I always wanted to get married on a Wednesday to help me get rid of the whole negative stigma it has in my mind but, due to a complicated set of circumstances which I won't take the time to describe here, it just didn't work out, so I ended up on a Tuesday instead.  I did get married in August though, which I also really wanted to do because there was nothing exciting about the month of August.  This year when August rolls around, I'll have something to celebrate.  My anniversary could've been a Wednesday this year even, but the whole leap year thing screwed that up. The leap year also screwed up my birthday falling on a Friday, which I really enjoy because it's a Friday the 13th- and for those who don't know, I was born on a Friday.  I won't get a Friday birthday again until I'm like 28 or something.

School is going pretty well.  I have to admit that I am really tired and a little overwhelmed.  I know it has to be pretty hard-core from the very beginning with an 11 month program, but it feels kind of crazy when they are like "read 20 chapters this week, next week you have a quiz and a paper due, don't forget that you need to be working on these 2 group projects, learn how to take vital signs and make beds properly and transfer a patient (luckily I've already learned all that stuff), practice doing a health assessment on your family and friends every single day, write a care plan (when you haven't really even learned what a care plan consists of)- oh and today in clinical, I'm just going to give you a patient's chart, let you read it, and then put you in the room with the patient.  Good luck."  I feel very grateful that I have some experience with this stuff, although I am realizing more and more how limited my experience really is.  But at least I have actually heard some of the medical terminology before.  I can't imagine just starting from scratch with that.  And at least I have some pretty good experience in the very basics of patient care.  I am so glad that I have actually interacted with patients before, otherwise I probably would have just died when my clinical instructor just set me loose on a patient.  This is just the beginning too.  Nevertheless, I feel like it's going well.  My sanity is intact thus far.  I still think it's so fun to put on my cute little uniform and get on the subway feeling like I'm all official or something.  2 weeks almost down- I don't dare think of how many more to go.

I should write something exciting on my blog since the last thing I wrote was kinda boring.  Unfortunately I don't have anything exciting to say, so I'm afraid this post will be as boring as the last.  Mostly I'm just procrastinating doing more studying right now.

Apartment shopping is coming along very well.  We have been to see just one so far (it was alright but not fabulous) but we have found a whole bunch that look promising and have set up a load of appointments for this weekend.  I have to admit that the building we are in now is in basically the most convenient location we could imagine.  The subway stop is just right outside.  It will be hard to leave that after being so spoiled for the past months.  But we don't plan to stray very far from the subway when we move, so I'll get over having to walk for 5 minutes to get to it instead of 30 seconds.  I can use the time I saved by having a dishwasher to walk to the subway.

I am learning that I have been way too intolerant of Zack's tidiness level since we have been married.  I have turned into the biggest slob since school started.  Why waste precious energy picking those pants up off the floor?  Who cares if there's dust on the TV stand or if the picture frames are crooked.  Why did I ever care about having the clothes in my drawers organized by color?  It's funny how priorities shift based on the circumstances- but it can definitely be a good thing.  I will be much more sympathetic toward Zack now when he leaves some clothes on the floor or when his desk looks a little cluttered or when he doesn't even notice that the towels in the bathroom are hanging crooked.  He works so hard in so many other ways.  

Well, that's about all the procrastinating I can justify.

Savor the View

It really is a lovely day in Philadelphia today.  Yeah, it's overcast, but still lovely.  I get to go to school right downtown, so I am really in the thick of things.  A couple of my Tuesday classes are basically on the parkway, so when I walk out of class, I get some awesome views.  

I didn't actually take either of these pictures.  The first is a view down the parkway toward the muesum from Love Park (focus particularly on the area under the love sculpture to see what I'm talking about.)  The second is a view of City Hall from the parkway.

The parkway is basically a big, wide road that stretches a mile between City Hall and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (ever seen Rocky?  The museum is the building where he runs up the steps in that oh-so-famous scene).  It is really beautiful.  So I walk from my class building, cut through Love Park, and go down into the subway right across from City Hall.  I was just savoring that short walk today.  There are flowers blooming like crazy.  Some men were cleaning out the fountain at Love Park in preparation to turn it on.  The air around the park smelled like flowers.  Then, once I got back to our apartment, I was enjoying the trees outside, which are covered in beautiful pink blossoms.  It really feels like spring, and I am so excited.

Also, as I was walking and staring at City Hall, I was thinking.  I know that after I moved here, I would see images of Salt Lake and cry because I missed it.  I would see pictures of those places that I had been so many times and  I would imagine familiar places and trace familiar routes in my mind.  I often took those beautiful sights and wonderful experiences for granted.  I don't want to do the same thing here.  I want to savor the views and the experiences.  We won't live here for forever.  We'll most likely be somewhere else a year and a half from now.  When we're living in the next place, I will miss it here, but I will know that I took advantage of living here as much as I could during my time here.  Then I won't regret that I didn't take a minute to take in the view and commit it to memory.  

I hope this blog has been more happy face for you all than the last one.

Repetition, macs, and drinking glasses

I was sitting in class today being slightly annoyed that we were going over a bunch of information that we had already covered in lab earlier this week.  It was slightly more irking because I am already somewhat familiar with a lot of these basic concepts (vital signs, bed making, body mechanics, how to bathe people, etc) since I had been working as a CNA for like 4 years now.  Then it dawned on me- there's absolutely no reason to be annoyed.  Sometime in the very near future, we are going to get to material in that class that I won't be as familiar with or that I won't know at all, and when that time comes, I should be jumping for joy if we go over the material more than once since it will give me an extra chance to get to know it better.  Also, I should quit being a stuck up snob and admit that there is always something new to learn, even about this stuff I already feel like I know.  So now I am happy that we covered the material twice.  I am sure I will be hearing about it again too.  Bring it on.  Let's do that with all the topics.

I also have to say that people should quit forgetting about us Mac users.  I have run into problem after problem this week with compatibility issues and so forth since the PC users of the world seem to forget that we exist.  I think it's voluntary forgetfulness because they have Mac envy.

Isn't it funny how fast glasses break? (I mean the kind you drink out of).  When we got married, Zack and I found these glasses at Target that we just loved.  We really wanted them.  So we got some for our wedding (thank you, whoever that was), but for most of our gifts, we just returned them to a Target in Utah, took the store credit, and bought the exact same thing once we got here so we could avoid the cost of shipping all the stuff.  The glasses were no exception.  Problem was, once we got here, we could not find those glasses.  Well that's not quite true.  We found one box.  But we really wanted 2.  We looked at a couple of different stores.  We even checked more than once, thinking that they maybe were just out of stock the first time we looked... no luck.  It was all the more annoying because we had already bought the first box, so we would have to buy a box of glasses that didn't match the first box rather than just settling for 2 boxes of completely different glasses.  We told Zack's mom about it and she kept an eye out for them at various Utah Target locations.  She had no luck either.  This went on for several days, then weeks, and then a month when suddenly we caught a break.  Zack's mom had found a box of them at a Utah store, and she had mailed them to us.  In addition, they all arrived in one piece.  We were sitting pretty. (As a side note, when we went to Target a few weeks later, we found some of the glasses too.  They were in a different box than the first batch, but it was definitely the same thing.  Too bad they didn't have those in stock earlier.)  A few weeks ago, one of them broke.  It was so sad.  They are cute and after all that effort to get them, it broke.  Another glass got a big crack when I was putting the dishes away. And then, when Zack put a piece of ice in his drink, another of the glasses spontaneously cracked.  We are still using that one, but the crack seems to be growing longer and longer as time goes by and it's only a matter of time until it is unusable.  We have been married almost 8 months now.  2 glasses down.  So let's say we break a glass once every 4 months for our entire married life (probably more once we have kids).  That's 150 glasses by the time we hit our 50th wedding anniversary!  So I have decided not to get attached to any more glasses.  I'll enjoy these ones until the last crack though.

Today's hodgepodge of thoughts

It has been a cloudy, drizzly sort of day here in Philly today, but just a few moments ago, the sun came out.  It is 70 degrees so it has really turned into a gorgeous day.  I know I'm speaking too soon, but yay for spring.  I am so ready for it.  

I went to a full day of classes today and I am just taking a few minutes to relax before hitting the books.  I knew they were serious about this program being hard core, but I really realized that all the more yesterday when I came home from my first day of classes with 15 chapters of textbook reading for a single class for this week. (Nope folks, it's not an April fools joke). Add that to the stuff from the other 3 classes I have now attended at the 2 I have not been to yet, and this could get ugly really fast.  And they brag about how this is the easy term with the light workload.  What have I gotten myself into?

Seriously though, I am still so thrilled.  I dug into several of those 15 chapters last night and it's interesting stuff.  I never once thought "when will I ever use this stuff?"  Today I had my first lab, which means I got to put on my cute little nursing student uniform (not actually that cute considering that the top is a putrid shade of "gold"- aka yellow- but I do get to wear a lab coat, which is fun) and pretend to be a nurse with a few other totally clueless students traipsing around in gold tops.  It was sorta awkward but actually pretty fun.  I guess I shouldn't speak about it being awkward yet.  In a couple of weeks, we get to wear those gown things they make you wear when you get a physical or whatever, and do even more thorough exams of each other.  Today we were just examining hair and fingernails and such.  I guess it's time to lose my personal space bubble, and also my inhibitions about invading that of other people.  I really thought it was fun, despite my complaints about awkwardness, and ugly tops.  

Tomorrow, I get to do my first clinical, which is actually going to just be a lab this week, but will be in a care center (I think) next week. 

Wow, this blog post is dry.  Not that any of them are really exciting, but this one feels particularly like a grocery list of what I have done.  

Speaking of lists, I actually want to make one.  I love lists.  So I think that I am just gonna list a few things I am happy about/grateful for.  

-MY HUSBAND!  Wow, he is the sweetest thing.  He got up at early AM with me yesterday and went and got me some breakfast for my first day of classes.  He came home from work early last night so he could hear all about it and make me dinner.  I don't know what I would do without him.

-The weather right now.  I know I already waxed on about that so I'll just leave it there.  

-Dishwashers, bathtubs, and ample closet space- all things that my next apartment will have (hopefully).

-Raspberries.  The ones at the grocery store looked so good that we just had to buy them.

-Philly.  I love living here.  This city had changed my perspective so much.  I have met some of the nicest people since I have been here.  Sure, it has its problems, but there's just a lot of good too.

-My wedding ring.  I like to stare at the diamonds.  

-That I have the support system that I need to make it through this nursing program. (Thank you parents and Zack)

-My siblings- thanks for calling me yesterday BJ, for chatting it up with me on Facebook Michelle, and for talking to me on Sunday Matthew.

-History- it will always be a love affair.  

-Cheryl.  Gosh I need to call that woman.

-Fried foods.  Yummy!

-Fruit snacks. Yummier!

So there you have it.  Not at all comprehensive or anything- just a few things that came to mind.  It just seems like a good day to be happy and grateful.