First Day of Third Semester

 I slept horribly last night. Tossed and turned. I woke up about 30 minutes before my alarm with a tummy ache. It subsided as I got ready for my first day back.

The weather was down right chilly this morning. =)

I have a feeling I'm really going to love this semester as challenging as it might be. I filled in just about everything into my iCal and it looks like something exploded all over it. I'll post it once I fill in the last bits. Maternity was entertaining. I love the teaching style of the professors. 

We got a break for lunch, but I had to meet with my CI for maternity. We got a huge packet with a quiz attached that has to be turned in by Friday. 

After lunch, I had Leadership. Just for being there today, we received 20% towards our grade for doing an exercise. Yes!

I made my way home at 4 and I had received my last book from Amazon. I ordered 3 days ago knowing I would be back in town to bring it in.

I tied up my running shoes and hit the trails.

I got in a 5K run/walk. The weather was too good to pass up.

fallen tree in Irene's path
RIP

I grabbed dinner and settled in for some studying. 

First, I filled in my calendar. 

Second, I finished that quiz I mentioned earlier.

Third, I got on to my Peds reading.

It's already so late and I'm exhausted. There isn't any way I will finish the reading tonight.

Here are my lists so far:

Looks like I have some material for the plane...ehm.

Yep, I'm going up in the air...again.

I'm flying home for Chelsie's wedding.

Time to settle in and sleep.

Back to School!

I'm back in Durham and I'm actually excited about the start of a new semester.

this is now hanging on my proud parents' porch 

Not only did I miss an earthquake...I missed Irene!

Irene making her way along the NC coast

When my flight was landing last night we passed through a lot of clouds with lightning. It did get to me a bit and got me thinking about what would happen if the plane actually did get struck by lightning. The lady next to me was having a full on panic attack. She probably shouldn't have drank a giant Monster on the plane ride. Who really needs to be amped up at 9 PM on a plane ride?


I was happy to see the 60s when I landed.
Thank you Durham for being so pleasant sometimes.

Stesha picked me up from the airport and we went to Sushi Love. I had an avocado roll and tried a new dish: Mongolian beef. I loved it.

When I made it home I was glad to see Alley had survived all of NC's shenanigans.

I've never heard her purr so loudly.
She did her normal "I'm going to annoy Rachel by meowing all night" routine.
Grrr.

I woke up and went for a run.
78 degrees is officially Fall in this Texas girl's mind.
It actually felt "chilly". hahaha

I ran about 3 miles and then walked another.

A good workout for once.

The pretty pool I put together last month had turned brown and was full of nasty stuff. I didn't have the energy to drain it...so what did I do?
I got out a knife and stabbed it to death. The thing deflated in under a minute and all the water rushed out beneath my deck. It was beautiful....and oh so easy to deal with.

I did some back to school shopping and picked up some binders. In the past I would put all of one day's classes into one binder. I found out 3/4 of the way through the semester that all the papers would not fit. I purchased one binder per class this time.
I even got a clipboard for clinical.

I also bought some Fall decor.

I read for over 2 hours for Nursing Leadership. I've got a feeling it will be the first and last time I read for that class. The book is very dry and boring. I almost lost my mind. I bet you no one read that thing. I figured I should start out right though.

Time for bed.

Tomorrow is my first day as a third semester student!

Houston Trip #2 of Break

Thursday
I decided to head out a bit earlier than last week so I wouldn't feel rushed.
30 minutes into the drive, traffic stopped.
I was at a dead stop for almost 30 minutes. My anxiety was through the roof. I have horrible patience and things like this get me going. It's a poor quality to have...and I don't know how to fix it.
They were squeezing 3 lanes of traffic onto the shoulder.

I didn't make one stop on the drive so I could make it to Houston on time.

My boyfriend's fraternity was having an alumni get together and his buddies were swinging by to pick us up.

Clay, Lance, and Jimmy

I got to meet some of his brothers and had one of the best grilled cheeses I've ever had...hehe.

Then we headed over to Lil Woodrow's for some turtle races.

I'm happy to say we bet this time and my turtle won! I got a free beer out of the deal.

come on #9

Friday

The next morning I made us smoothies for breakfast and then we went to the movies.

We saw 30 Minutes or Less and I laughed my butt off.

riding down the escalator at the movies

There was an arcade outside of the theater and we played basketball.

Lance beat me by 3 shots =/

He'll never let me forget it I'm sure.

We ran a couple of errands and we ran into a Tutti Frutti! The same chain I go to in Durham. They even had my favorite flavor that the one in Durham hasn't picked up on: cake batter.

When we returned to the apartment, Lance's roommate informed us that him and his girlfriend played badminton the night before. They set the rules of where the boundaries were and got 9 hits back and forth. Lance and I knew we could beat their score. We played for over an hour and worked up a sweat. We ended up getting 16 in a row. We ordered pizza and stayed in to watch movies.

Saturday

The next morning we got up early and drove down to Pearland to meet over at Clay's house. Clay is the lucky guy whose wedding Lance and I attended over Memorial Day Weekend.

Clay, his wife, her sister, his friend, and us were going to go boating for the day.

Lance having his coffee in a pink mug =)

We all road down about 45 minutes south of Houston to Chocolate Bayou (at least that is what everyone calls it). 

Clay

Danielle and her nephew, Kyler

slowly dying inside...kidding

wabam 

Blake

what a cutie

We spent the whole day out there and I had a blast. We got to tube and swim around in the water.

On the way back to town, we stopped in Alvin for some BBQ.

I'm not huge into BBQ, so I went with the chicken fried steak....mmmm!

I was worn out after the long day. All I wanted to do was pass out.

Sunday


I woke up this morning with some muscles screaming at me. They weren't too happy with me. I cannot lift my arms over my head.

I left Houston around 4 pm and headed back up to Arlington. As much as I love seeing my boyfriend, I'm so over that drive. Twice in a week and half is too much. Lucky for me, I don't think I'll be making that drive the rest of this year.

I'm back home in Arlington and I have the day to spend with my parents before I fly back to NC tomorrow around 5:30 pm.
I'm hoping my cat is okay. Between the earthquake and the hurricane...I'm hoping she isn't mortified.


I've filled in 3 of my syllabi at this point. I listened to my first Research Methods lecture and finished the first 2 assignments that are due by the 12th of September. Look at me go!

Time to snuggle and watched some TV.