tagged....

"According to the rules... Each player of this game starts with the "6 Weird Things about Me".(about yourself)...People who get tagged need to write a entry of their own 6 weird things on their own blog, as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog!"

so i have been tagged by my buddy Shaunte. i must share six weird things about me...what if there aren't six!! yeah, i know...there are way more than six!

here we go!! my list of weird things!!

*i do not eat animals other than pigs, cows, chickens, and some fish and seafood. nothing else. nothing! that may not be weird in other parts of the country, but i am pretty sure that it is abnormal for arkansas!

*i am terrified....terrified of the vertically challenged...midgets. i can not handle seeing them or being around them.
can.
not.
handle.
it.
don't know why, but they give me the hebbie jibbies!!

*i seat dance in my car! sometimes people catch me doing it!! the other day some guy started dancing with me...in his car of course! i sing like a rock star too, but only when i am by myself!!

*i am not a girly girl...but i am not a total tomboy. i like girly things like getting my hair and nails done; but i hate pink and i can do without frilly or froofy stuff. i love football and cars; but i don't like shooting guns or getting dirty. guess i may be a bit confused!!

*i have four hands! well two of them are technically called feet, but they are more like hands! i can write with them. i can pick up things. i can pinch with them. i can even pop the joints just like i pop my knuckles.

*i love to organize. anything really. love to organize and then reorganize and then reorganize that!! i am a little O.C.D. about it! if i could stop organizing maybe i could actually get some pages done...or betrer yet some studying!!

i was having a hard time coming up with a sixth weird thing...so i asked melissa today and she came up with a list of her own! so i will use it as my sixth!

*i talk differently according to what type of music i am listening to. if i am listening to country i talk really country..if it is rap i talk a little ghetto...and so on.

*i answer to "tater"! it is a nickname...my dad still calls me tater. i also answer to shanaynay! and tater tot...

*on the radio in my car i have a country station, a rap station, a pop station, and an oldies station!!

*i always have at least 6 different kinds of gum on me at all times!

*i am a freak for pens and pencils! i even asked the toothfairy for unsharpened pencils instead of money once! what was i thinking??

*i have always wondered if i could outrun a cop. i wouldn't try it...but i still think that i could do it! i drive like no bodies business! i love to drive fast...and i have a HUGE case of roadrage! i think i would be a great nascar driver!

now i am going to tag...jana, judi, delaney, ande, leanne and kimber!

xoxo
ns

going back is tough...

classes started yesterday at tech. man it is hard to go back as an old lady! i can feel all of the little kids making fun of me! i am even in a freshman class...yes, a class full of freshmen. why couldn't i just clep the course??!! and to make it worse....the professor asked the ONLY two seniors, me and another guy, why we were in there! HA! that didn't help my feelings of awkwardness...thanks man!

anyway, most of my classes are going to be cake...but i am a little worried about microbiology. we have a list of organisms that we have to be able to SPELL! CORRECTLY! just incase you don't know...i CAN NOT spell. never have been able to. uggh. i can feel some flashcards being made! the good news is that i already do micro at work...so the labs and practicles should be easy. but that dang spelling....why do they do that??

and can i just say....these kids need to leave their dang cell phone in their dorm rooms or something! i am sick of hearing all of the clicking around me. STOP SENDING TEXT MESSAGES IN CLASS! don't they know that the sound bothers us old folks!!

oh, and i have officially diagnosed myself with ADD. that is correct...i have absolutely no attention span. none. and every single one of my classes is a hour and a half long this semester. that shouldn't even be legal! who can pay attention for 80 minutes? no one....no one can do that. so why do they make us try? ok, vent over.

we were a little slow this weekend at work so i took some pics! okay, okay they were for scrapbook pages....but i thought i would share them here too.

the first....me!



the second is a pic of the tubes that i put the blood in to run the tests.



and the third is the bags of blood for transfusions...can you believe that i crossmatch blood for transfusions??!!






xoxo ns

my hero

there are so many people in my life that i admire. the vast majority of them are much older than me. but there is one person that is my age that i have always admired. her name is sarah.

sarah and i were teammates, classmates, and friends. she was such a well rounded person. she was incredibly intelligent. she was an amazing athlete. she was the most caring and generous friend. but most importantly she was an awesome christian. she was never afraid to show or share her faith...something that is rare these days.

sarah and i had many classes together. in fact we were partners in our very first cat disection. we had so much fun cutting up that cat! i will never forget those three weeks of our senior year. the entire year we would make bets as to who would out score the other on our anatomy tests. it is amazing how much of a motivator a bet can be. ironically at the end of the year we had tied. that was fine with both of us, because it had pushed us to be better students. although i don't think that the rest of the class liked our competition very much...it blew their curve!

sarah and i were teammates for years. she was so athletic. she gave everything that she had every night and in every practice. 110% doesn't even come close to the effort that sarah gave. she was always the first to practice and always the last to leave. and she always encouraged everyone...she would push us harder than the coaches sometimes!

sarah was such a happy and outgoing person. she never had a bad day. if you were having a bad day she would do everything in her power to change it. she cared so much for everyone around her. everyone. her compassion for others was genuine and real. it didn't matter who you were, or what clique you belonged to....sarah was everyone's friend.

friday afternoon i was told that sarah had died.

all i could think was that there is no way that it could be true. surely it was a rumor that was totally false. but, it wasn't. she was gone. there were no words.

it is such a different feeling to lose a relative. when someone that is your age, someone that you knew, someone that you had spent thousands of hours with, passes away it makes you realize your own mortality. it doesn't seem right. it shouldn't happen to young adults. it shouldn't happen to somone who has so much to offer the world. it just shouldn't happen.

i will miss sarah so much. but i am so glad to have had her in my life for the time that i did. she inspires me to be a better person. i will always remember sarah as one of my hero's.

may God rest her soul.

xoxo ns

the end of 2006

i snagged this year end questionaire from one of my internet buds, Shaunte. that's right we are name buddies!! thanks Shaunte!

1. What did you do in 2006 that you had never done before? 2006 brought quite a few experiences to my life. i had never shocked a patient during a code. i had never ridden a motorcycle. i had never taken the legal oath, or taken the stand in a court room. i am sure there are more, but i can not remember them!!

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions and will you make more for 2007? yes, i kept two of my resolutions from last year. i haven't made my usual list this year, but there are a few things that i am going to do to better myself. but those will be for another post.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? quite a few people that i know gave birth. amy gave birth to ava, and many co-workers also had kiddos.

4. Did anyone close to you die? yes. my maternal grandmother. and just thursday a very close friend from high school, Sarah.

5. What countries did you visit? none this year!

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? self confidence.

7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? December 12th....it is the date that my divorce was final.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? i have lost 28 pounds. pretty big achievement; i think.

9. What was your biggest struggle? the end of my marriage.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? nothing major.

11. What was the best thing you bought? my camera and new laptop.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? my friends and family. they are the best that i could ever ask for....and they were there for me when i needed them this year. although we didn't actually celebrate....

13. Whose behavior appalled you? some family...some friends....some non friends.

14. Where did most of your money go? to mazda! love my car though!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about this year? the new addition to my cousin amy's family. ava is such a sweetheart!

16. What song will always remind you of 2006? "Believe" by Brooks and Dunn and "When I get where I'm Going" by Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: much happier, nicer or richer? none of the above. but i am much older!

18. What do you wish you had done more of? exercise. contact old friends. make new friends. spent time with family. call the hogs! enjoy life.

19. What do you wish you had done less of? worring. wondering. hurting.

20. Did you fall in love in 2006? the very moment that i met baby ava!

21. What was your favorite TV program? i can not pick just one...Friday Night Lights, CSI, and Extreme Makeover Home Edition

22. What was the best book you read this year? read?? books? umm...i don't do that much!

23. What was your greatest musical discovery? the alan jackson precious memories cd...it is most of my favorite old hymns. great cd!

24. What did you want and get? my camera! i LOVE that thing!

25. What was your favorite film of the year? didn't watch many movies! that is what happens when you only work on weekends.

26. What did you do on your birthday and how old did you turn? i went shopping with my mom and an aunt! spent too much money!! i turned 25...getting old!

27. What one thing would have made your year more satisfying? truthfulness

28. How would you describe your personal fashion statement this year? i do not have a passion for fashion! (per Belle- my BFF's little girl who loves the Bratz!)

29. What kept you sane? the love and advice of my family and friends.

30. What celebrity did you fancy the most? matthew mcconaughey....with out a doubt. it is much more than a "fancy" though!

31. What political issue stirred you the most? i am not political at all. i have never even registered to vote.

32. Who did you miss? my aunt cathy.

33. Who were the best new people you met this year? i meet so many people at work, but there were quite a few that really touched me this year. some have passed away, and some i get to see often. but i guess the two best are my new friend tanna, and our buddy clay! we are the three musketeers of the weekend ER!!

33. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year.
wow...i have learned so much this year. i guess the most valuable is "that which does not kill you; only makes you stronger." being asked for a divorce was such a devistating point in my life. it is so hard to see the future when you feel like your world is crumbling. but the old cliche is true. if you hold on as tight as you can; when the storm is gone, you are a much stonger person.

that life lesson also brought about another lesson. you will learn who your true friends are when you go through rough times. so if there is anything to be thankful for in the ending of my marriage; it would be the ability to know who my true friends are.

i also learned that striving to please people is an impossible goal. "you can't please everyone and you won't, but if you go to bed at night, and know in your own gut you are a good person, that is what matters the most." (from Shaunte's blog) there is much peace in knowing that you, yourself are a good person.


2006 was a year filled with many ups and downs, but I survived it. it has made me a much stronger person. it has grown many friendships. and it forever changed the person that i am.

i am ready to see what 2007 has in store for my life!

xoxo ns