I suck at keeping up with my blog posts....

Geez. I pretty much suck at keeping up with my blog. It's been over a year so I'll make this short and sweet. 

• I graduated from SUNY Downstate Medical Center Brooklyn with my degree in Sonography in May 2012. Yay!

• I got a job in ultrasound, worked for 2 months and realized the training at my school was sub-par to say the least. Since I need more training and can't work at night on my own (which is what the job would be) I was let go. Total bummer. Boo.

• Substituted in Plano up until a couple weeks ago when I got a job as the EMS Lab Coordinator at a community college here in Dallas. Yay!

• Realized that the pay at this job won't cut it, so I'll probably be going back to teaching. Meh. Good news? I'll be taking the test to teach high school, so this is a YAY!

• Quickly realized that God has a plan for all of us, and although it drives me crazy not knowing what the future holds for me, I know that He does. Always remember that. 

• Besides that, I'm very excited to be home, got settled in my apartment, am very glad to be home with my friends. I'm still looking for that special someone but have to remember that this area in His hands as well. :) 

Looking forward to a fabulous 2013! 

Extreme Couponing--huh???

I don't get it. I've watched every episode of this show, with hopes that maybe one day it might be different. Nope. Is this a form of hoarding? The woman on the show says it's not, but REALLY who needs:


43 bottles of barbecue sauce
60 bottles of mustard
42 bottles dish detergent
1oo instant noodles
52 bottles of hand soap
7 24-packs of toilet paper
77 travel size shampoos
55 bottles of laundry detergent (when you have 30 at home?)
114 bottles of Motrin


And why on earth would you buy 30 boxes of "beef chunks" in a can? On top of that, they stand in line at the register for 1 1/2 to 2 hours just to check out. Huh????


I've noticed that all of these couponers have the same items in their "stock pile" and they never buy fresh vegetables or fruit:


hand soap
laundry detergent
Ramen
shampoo
cleaning supplies
mustard 
salad dressing
headache medicine
toilet bowel cleaner
.....and many more ridiculous items.....


Very glad to hear that some of them give their items away to the troops, or donate them food banks/ or shelters. But besides that, I'm quite stumped about this!! 

I can breathe again!

Well, I can't believe it but my second semester of school is over! This semester has gone by so fast. I can't believe that I'm halfway done with school already. My brain is going into vegetation mode for the next three weeks while we have a break. I will be catching up on the piles of magazines I have, doing some spring cleaning (better late than never), walking Scout, and exploring the city. The weather is FINALLY gorgeous and my toes are very happy. They can breathe again! I've been off for about 5 days now and have decompressed enough that I can maybe start wandering the city. I really do want to do SOMETHING while I'm off, yet at the same time wanna veg. 


Since I'm way behind (AGAIN) I'll go backwards and work my way up to now. 


February:
As I mentioned in my last post I was at New York Presbyterian/Columbia Medical Center for my clinical rotation this semester and was SO SAD to leave. I got to learn some of the coolest things such as scanning neonate heads in the NICU, working in the Childrens Hospital of New York, scanning patients an hour after their liver or kidney transplant, and learning to do lower extremity veins and arteries which is something we haven't even done in class. The best part about this whole experience is it made me realize how much I really DO want kids. Teaching 8th graders for 7 years could make anybody not want kids, but holding all of these teeny babies made me reconsider! Guess there really is such a thing as a biological clock? Now if I could just find a decent man. Now THAT's the hard part.


Here are some random pictures from the month of February (including Scouty at grandmas). Did I mention how much I hate the New York winters? Very blessed that my mom took Scout because it was COLD outside!! 

March:
Studying for midterms took up most of my time in March. If you know me, you know that Ultrasound Physics and I aren't the best of friends, and when the midterm is worth 40% of your grade, well.....I go into freakout mode. Made it through midterms (and did well on all of them--woohoo!) and flew down to VA on March 20 to go get my baby. I debated on whether or not to bring him back because I know how much he loves just hanging out in the backyard and eating sticks. But I'm a little selfish and already missed out on 3 months of my little boys life and didn't want to miss out on anymore. Yes I know, I'm a little nuts about my dog. 




The best part of March? My roommate Ashley moving out. I NEVER felt comfortable in my own home because of her. I don't even know where to begin. To sum it up I'm not a big fan of the following types of people: inconsiderate, selfish (who throws out at least 4 trash bags full of clothes down the trash chute when there is a homeless shelter a block away?!), manipulative, hypocritical, unwillingness to compromise (her shit was EVERYWHERE--did we really need the 10 million pots and pans?), and lastly her Type A control/neat freak personality. Did you know that she made 3 possible excel spreadsheets of "chore list" options? (Let me remind you I'm 31 years old...she's 24 at the time).  We got a new roommate named Sally that is fabulous. She does her dishes, is respectful and QUIET. Those were the most important qualites for me in a roommate. Okay, so that rant lasted much longer than expected, but I feel much better! Love blogging because you can say whatever you want! =)


April:
Very busy. Projects due and exams coming which equals a LOT of studying. What's new, right? Therefore not much happened during April. It was Groundhog Day every day. =) Some family friends came up in the middle of April and I felt so bad for them. A.) I had a test to study for , and B.) It rained monsoon style almost the entire time they were here. We did make it to Chinatown for dinner one night and ate dinner in the basement of a restaurant, which looked like someones bedroom to me. In April I also learned where the term "April showers bring May flowers" comes from. So.much.rain.

May:
After all of the rain, spring in New York has been amazing. I love taking pictures of all the gorgeous trees and flowers springing up around my area. And as I mentioned before the weather has been very nice. While it's in the 90's already at home, it's in the high 60's, low 70's so far. Amazing. Not missing the TX heat at all. These temperatures are perfect for me!

Scouty enjoying laying in the grass at Brooklyn Bridge Park

People....

Blame it on the weather, but here are some things that are driving me crazy lately....


1.) People that are lazy in every sense of the word.
2.) People that do something just so they can hear a "Thank You" in return. Not doing it out of the goodness of your heart.
3.) People that take up entire seats on the subway so they can read their man hating books.
4.) People that are self-dependent on others and not self-sufficient.
5.) People that blame everything on others. It's always somebody elses fault.
6.) Fake people. 
7.) One person in particular...


Now on a positive note...
1.) I love my clinical site and don't ever wanna leave. Scanning neonate heads is amazing.
2.) I have the best friends ever.
3.) Classes aren't as stressful this semester.
4.) I get my puppy back in 34 days!
5.) It's going to be in the 60's here on Friday!
6.) Looking forward to the DMI party this Saturday.
7.) I love brunch. 


Phew...feel much better now! 

Oh my gosh, I am WAY behind!

Wow. I can't believe it's been since October since I updated my blog! Well I can say I successfully finish my first semester of ultrasound school earning a solid "B" GPA. Woo hoo! Let me go backwards a bit....


November
My mom came up for Thanksgiving from Virginia but unfortunately I was sick most of the time with a slight cold. But, I can now say I successfully made my first Thanksgiving dinner all by myself! I made almost everything the night before, so we just had to stick it into the oven to heat it up on Thanksgiving day. My roommate and I went the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and it was awesome! It was a long day because we had to get up at 5am to get a good spot by 5:30 am on Central Park West. Here are some pictures for  November. 

Beginning of the parade

Spiderman!

Here is part of the spread

And the rest....

Scouty is pooped. It's rough watching your humans consume way too much food. 

December
The saddest part about December is that my mom came up and picked up Scouty and took her back to Virginia with her for the winter. My classes and clinicals are very long this semester and so I had to make the unselfish decision to send him there. He's have a great time playing in the backyard and hanging out on their dock. (Even if I do cry everytime I talk about him) I finished up exams on the 21st and headed back home to TEXAS!!! It felt so good to back home. Even just landing in El Paso and walking off the plane I felt great! I spent 4 days with both sets of grandparents and eating as much mexican food I can handle. After that I went to Dallas and got to see most of my friends and family, although not everybody. =( Sorry y'all! Here are some more pictures. 

Can't get enough tacos and enchiladas in El Paso 

YAY!!! Sonic! Finallllly! Cherry Limeade

Angel, Keira, Me (LOVE that little girl!)

Amy and Corbie (Scout's BFF!)

Mmmmmm Chick-Fil-A. Yet another thing NY doesn't have!

Lunch with my Renner girls. I miss my team, but don't miss teaching. =)

Scouty decided my boobs were a good pillow. LOL

Alison's Christmukkah party!

January

Happy New Year! I can't believe it's 2011 already. My friends and I went to the Empire Room at the Empire State Building and had so much fun I didn't get home until 6am. I've realized I'm way too old (at 30, ha!) to be staying out that late and drinking that much. I had about a week off after I got back from Texas so I caught up on sleep and some books/magazines. My brain thoroughly enjoyed the break from sonography. I started my classes on January 10, and started clinicals the next day at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Medical Center. I absolutely LOVE this hospital. I've already learned so much in the few weeks I've been there. I can't believe that after this semester I will only have 1 YEAR of school left. After this, I'm definitely done. No more school! =)

I hope everybody is enjoying the new year so far. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I might actually be getting used to the New York weather. It's SO different from TX, but the other day I woke up and went to school and it was 37 and I thought to myself "Wow! It's warm outside today!". Hmmmmmm. =)

Overdue update....

So it's been about a month since my last blog. I apologize, but I've been super busy with school! More on that later....


Life in the City:
So far I am LOVING living in Brooklyn. Here is a picture of our building. I absolutely love everything about it. Great location, 24 hr concierge and nice people! Plus we have a pretty good view from the 20th floor! 

My roommates and I have found a great park near the Brooklyn Bridge called the promenade. It's a strip of land that overlooks Manhattan and is gorgeous. Here are some pictures that my mom took on September 11th while she was here:

I will admit that I miss having a car around here. It totally sucks to carry your groceries up and down subway stairs, but Ashley bought a granny cart so at least now we just have to carry the cart up and down stairs. Either way it sucks! =)

City Freaks:
Well so far I've attracted most of the freaks that seem to be roaming the streets and subways of NYC. Here is just one of the gems I've found. This man had on an eye mask and was squirming and laughing at himself. At first I thought he might have been listening to something with headphones--nope!! As Kelly said, the voices in his head must have been telling some funny jokes that day. Not to mention the man-ish looking lady in the background. 

Squirrels and the dog park:
Scouty is loving life in the city so far. He's adjusted to the elevator and is learning to pee on odd things but still hasn't learned to poop on concrete. Oh well, maybe someday. =) He gets to see TONS of squirrels everyday when we go to the park. There are literally about 50 out at a time so he is constantly getting distracted. We've also found a dog park that is all dirt which he loves, but momma hates the fact that he turns into a chocolate lab after going there. He usually has to get a bath after a visit there! He also had to wear a cone on his head recently because he had a cut on his leg that got infected. But the great thing? We have a vet in our building that just came up to my apartment! Nice!

Crazy Weather!
Well, I got stuck in a freak tornado one night while walking Scout. I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for Scout to poop (no luck) and then it started thundering/lightening so I decided to start walking back home. I was 2 blocks from my apartment when what I thought was a crazy monsoon came along! Little did I know that the green clouds, rain and super wind was really a tornado. Being from Texas, you would think I would know what the green clouds mean! All of my New Yorker classmates are blaming for all the rain and crazy weather. We had another big storm last night, minus the super duper wind! Here is the link to a video and pictures!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaTvc2S2qZg

School: 
Well school is kicking my ass but I really do love the profession already. It's a really draining schedule. I go from 9-5 pretty much M-F with an hour break during the day which makes me exhausted by the time I get home. But then I have to walk Scout, eat dinner and study. We had our first 4 tests in the past 2 weeks and I didn't do as well as I had hoped on two of them. There is always next time though! Trying to keep my chin up and know that I worked really hard to get where I am and that I definitely made the right decision to leave teaching. I know that I just have to get into my groove with my scheduling/projects/reading but I know I'll be fine! I will admit that I really miss my team at school. It's so weird not seeing them every day! I LOVE it when we get to go to the lab and practice scanning. I also started clinicals last week and am very excited to learn hands on from the sweet sono techs at The Hospital Center Brooklyn. Here are my first two pictures as a sonographer! 

Well I need to go to bed, and I promise to update more soon!! 


Love to everybody!

NYC Day 1 and 2

Well we finally made it yesterday after 3 long days! On Sunday we left Dallas at 5:45 am and drove the 16 HOUR DRIVE to Atlanta to stay with Ashley's parents. Never knew it would take that long. Ugh. I was super duper tired, and Scout was miserable after that day. On Monday we made the 12 hour drive from Atlanta to Maryland (after a slight detour in Washington D.C.--no street signs properly labeled with east/west/north/south directions) where we stayed the night at a hotel. Day 3 we drove the short 5 hours from Maryland to New York.

Day 3 of the journey, Day 1 in Brooklyn:

So we got to NYC around 11 am yesterday, and we thought we would have plenty of time to relax, unpack a few things, and wait around for the movers. WRONG!! There is a one way street to the loading dock behind our building (Prince Street) and when we got here, the city was doing construction and there was a giant hole right in front of the loading dock. (See the link below!) We tried and tried on all the streets around us (which of course are all one way) and ended up having to call the city to have them cover the holes with the metal thingies so we could drive over the hole. An hour later, the hole was covered. I say  "we" but really my aunt Pam is the real hero here. With the help of the construction workers she was brave enough to drive the truck and back it into the loading dock.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=343+Gold+Street+Brooklyn,+ny&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=343+Gold+St,+Brooklyn,+NY+11201&gl=us&ei=gjZ_TJfuCIH6lwfknoWyDg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA

We pretty much got everything unloaded with the help of the movers by around 3:45 and the unpacking began. =) A BIG thank you to Pam once again for unpacking the kitchen for us, helping us move stuff in, breaking down boxes, the list could go on. The roomies and I made the trip to Whole Foods to get some food to eat for the next couple of days so we don't have to eat out every meal. At the end of this day Scout was extremely pooped! (See my facebook pics). 

Day 2: 

Today began by sleeping in until 8:30 (it was great!!!)  and then had to get up because the cable guy was here. Yay for cable and internet! Boo for the fact that my computer is acting totally weird.  Pam ventured out with Scout to the park down the street and he has met lots of new potential friends. Still not the same as our field buddies and Scout's brother from another mother Corbin. =) We made the adventure of driving tonight by going to Ikea and Walmart. Pam and Ashley said I should keep my car here because I'm getting to use my defensive driving skills. I've got the honking and cutting people off down pat. Ha! Getting to Ikea was easy, but Walmart was another story. Got lost once we got into Jersey (which sucks!) but eventually made it. I was super proud of myself because I drove us home and actually knew where I was going! Amazing! Did I mention we are STILL unpacking? =)

Tomorrow we are venturing out to Costco and Lowe's to try and find a little pantry cabinet because we don't have quite enough space for all of our food and dishes! I've also already had to make an appointment at the Apple Store tomorrow night to see what is wrong with my computer. Friday might be an inside day since it looks like it's going to monsoon rain all day due to the hurricane down south.  After that we have to get Pam out into the city to try and get some sightseeing done! We plan on taking her to a nice dinner at Morton's Steakhouse and then go see the broadway show Jersey Boys. 

I have a TON of pictures on my camera and will be updating them on my facebook page, so please be sure to check there soon!

THANK YOU to EVERYBODY for their well wishes and for checking in to see how things are going. It really means a lot to me! I love you all!

LA