birthday

As I'm recovering in my room, I also am celebrating my birthday today! I am {drumroll please}…

24

I don't feel as old, and I especially don't feel like it's my birthday today. I have to admit it's kind of weird spending it stuck in my room, but I've already had two visitors and some sweets delivered to me. I am so blessed to be surrounded by people that truly care about me and that is the best present ever! Even though I'm starting out 24 in a somewhat icky predicament, I know this year will be great. I told myself 23 was the last year I could make excuses along the lines of still considering myself a college student. 24 is different. There's no more excuses, because there's nothing "teenage" like about this age. 

I am so excited to start out a new year fresh and focusing on what really matters in my life. 

“And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln

MIA

I might not be blogging as much due to the fact I had an unexpected appendectomy last night. It started off as abdominal pain and after a cat scan was taken I was told I had appendicitis.

So here's the timeline
1- stomach ache begins. I think I'm hungry.
230- starting to feel I might have a stomach gas.
330- more intense pain that radiates my entire stomach.
500- starting to ask my mom to come home from a baby shower because pain is now on right side of my body. I think its a spastic colon. My back hurts and my stomach is tender to the touch.
600- pain is unbearable. I'm shaking, nauseous, feel like I'm running a slight fever. I can't breathe in all the way from the pain and can't cry because it hurts too much. I walk slowly to relieve pain which helps a tiny bit but walking makes me dizzy and nauseous.
700- a family friend who is an internal medicine doctor comes to check up on me. Before she arrives I tell my mom something I've never said " I think I might have to go to the hospital." take note I have worked at a hospital but never been a patient in one.
730- as my family friend is touching my abdomen she presses a certain spot on my right lower side that hurts so bad I had to push her hand away. It felt like a little knife was poking into my organs.
800- arrive at hospital after making sure little sister is in good hands.she thinks she's going on a playdate and I'm going to check something at the doctors.
830- I'm already hooked up to an IV and the take a blood test.















1000- nurse brings in two water bottles with what looks like Crystal Light in them. It's iodine to get a cat scan. It weirdly tastes okay and I drink both in less than an hour under instructions given to do so. I start peeing every 20 minutes from the saline solution given to me through IV. (my fingers are still bloated from all the liquid as I type this.)
1120- time to get cat scan. I go to a room being pushed in my bed, which the nurse tries to be funny and say I'm getting VIP treatment.
1130- cat scan is over. It only lasts like three minutes. They inject you with an iodine contrast that feels warm as it goes in so of course it made me want to pee pretty bad.
1200- I find out I have appendicitis and I'm in shock because I still thought it was a stomach gas that just got stuck somewhere. Surgery is within an hour.

here i am on my way to surgery. 

115- surgeon, whom I already know from mutual friends arrives to make sure I'm not nervous and tells me what's going to happen
200- surgery begins. I remember everything up to when they put the mask on me. I remember thinking I couldn't breathe right but I think my body was trying to fight through the induced sleep that was about to happen.
315- I'm awake and learn the procedure took 45 minutes. I think how amazing surgeons are. I am in no pain and I'm taken to the room where my mom is waiting and I will be staying in.
3-515- sleep
530-130pm I recover. I pee about thirty times and walk around the halls once. My nurses keep telling me because I'm pretty healthy to begin with, my recovery will be quicker.

I'm on an all liquid diet and this was my breakfast. I have to say I was kind of weirded out by the chicken broth but after not eating for almost 24 hours, anything tasted good. Apple juice is definitely my best friend nowadays. 

230- I am sent home. Since then I've been confined to my bed besides two short walks and two bathroom stops. I have been prescribed an antibiotic, 2 pain killers, and an anti nausea medicine. My bed and apple juice are my friends.


Remember to always listen to your body. My type of surgery is not something I could've controlled with my health, but because I know my body well from taking care of it correctly, I knew the pain I felt suggested something was wrong.

10 favorite fonts

As you can tell, I love using cute fonts in my posts. I either found them here or went straight to the website here. I always like to see how I can make my posts different then others and a great looking font is a step towards that direction.

Pea Lovey Dovey

Claudia Jean

Ecolier

Eight Fifteen

House Sitter's Club

Little Days

Modern No. 20

Pea Lauren France

Pea Quinny

Three Date,s, One Night

The actual font I use in my blog posts all the time is Georgia. It's so sleek and simple, and I LOVE simple things! Having a good set of fonts is great to use for writing letters, printing out invitations, sending fun emails, and a lot of different craft projects. 

… use your first letter of your name and make a monogramed art print.

... sign your name at the end of each email with a cute twist.

… send your sweetheart a handwritten note to school or work as a surprise. 

… spice up your blog.

… make labels, invitations, notes, and projects look more personalized. 

I can think of countless reasons why unique fonts are great! Try downloading them to your computer. If you have trouble and have a Mac computer such as myself I found a tutorial on how to download these fonts here. This page describes what to do after you've downloaded it from the website I linked above. Enjoy. 

busy

Full time schedule of graduate classes.

Wellness mentor for 25 students.  

Keeping up with a long distance relationship.

Days starting at 7am and ending at 11pm.

Exercising and eating healthy.

I would not trade this for anything. There's something about being so busy that stresses you out, but gives you an adrenaline rush at the same time. Besides all this I've been playing as much as I can with Sofi. She recently bought a pair of Toms  and I thought it were proper she knew what the philosophy behind the company is. If you're interested, click on the link. 

At work I've been volunteering and making food! We have a program called Tasty Tuesdays where we cook with the students and teach them cooking techniques. 

With class I have not taken any photos related to that but they wouldn't be that fun anyways. I will tell you it was nice taking a super hard finance test and then coming home and making flash cards for Sofi with spelling words. It makes me realize that if she can study and learn how to read at the age of 6, I can definitely take time out of my day as well to study my own things and do great in my classes. It's amazing how they have you studying at that early of an age already. Getting good grades really is just listening and studying. If you do both, you'll do fine. Now, if I could only actually do those things to the best of my ability. 

Oh, and I'm also going to start these back up again. 

Yep, pretty busy. 

but loving it!

things i like

Finding joy out of simple things. 

Training a Seminole

Laughing

Southern style homes

My sisters

Teaching children to bake

Cupcakes

Food that doesn't give me a tummy ache

making my boyfriend try on clothes I choose

Nikon cameras

Signs from Him

on the bookshelf

I have a syndrome most of us have when it comes to reading. I bet you're familiar with it and you've had either a slight case of it or a blown out disease version. I call it the:

Conclusion Avoider

It's basically when you start reading a book, and for some reason or another, you don't finish it. You never reach the conclusion and you could care less what happens at the end. I've always had this on a high level, but recently since I finished a  book all the way to the last page, I've been reading books the whole way through and it feels nice! {I just realized I sound like I'm 7 and just finished my first chapter book}.

So, now that I'm actually fully reading books I decided to show you what I'm reading right now. I tend to read books that help me: call them self-help or whatever you wish. Since I started my MBA, all these books are business themed. Boring? A little. But, I have to catch up on the fact I didn't study the wonderful world of business for my undergrad. 

First, where they are located. I have my top books I'm reading sitting right in front of me as I'm typing. I gave them a special space on my desk as well as printed out this cute art print to always remind me to keep reading. I stare at it every time I'm on my laptop, which I'll admit is a lot. 

{please excuse the quality of these photos.}

"The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl"

"Business Words you Should Know" aka a dictionary with business terms

"Wisdom From the Ancients"

kind of a tough read. sad to admit.

Will I read all of these? Probably not due to the fact one of them is in dictionary form and that would just be boredom waiting to happen. 

 I thought I would let you in to something in my room that helps me stay focused, learn more knowledge, and keeps me calm. I've always recommended reading to everyone. I have my moments when I go months without reading, but I always pick it back up. As my art print says: "We read to know we are not alone."  great quote!

Do you turn to reading as a way to relax and learn? It's a great hobby and a good reason to never say you have nothing to do. There's all types and I know all of you have hobbies so check out or buy a book that deals with your hobby! 

“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read.”

- Abraham Lincoln

lady in training

I don't consider myself a full on "lady" but I will admit that I am one in training. I have always admired the way a lady carries herself and lives her life. A woman strives to be respected in society and I completely understand where she is coming from.
However, I don't like it when a friend comes up to me to say how disrespectful a boy looked at her and as she is talking to me I notice how short her shorts are, her towering high heels, and the cleavage anyone can spot a mile away.
Let me tell you something: you can't put all the fault on a man. If you want to be treated a certain way, act and present yourself like it. Of course you still might get treatment from a man you would rather not have while dressing and acting like a lady, but I guarantee it happens a lot less.
Throughout the years I've been forming into my ladylike self, I've noticed there are some great tips to follow on your journey of finding the grace, confidence, and appearance a lady carries.

lady in training

1. Don't use the phrase "like" or  "you know."

2. Write to do lists. They will keep all your engagements in order.

3. Dress as if God and your mother were watching you. 

{{one of these two is guaranteed to be watching.}

4. Keep your word for the things you promise and are asked to do. 

5. Volunteer. There are too many people out there who need help.

6. Exercise and eat right. A lady respects others as much as she does her own body.

7.  Speak kindly and gently. Yes ladies, even when you're mad. 

{If you need to walk away for a second to cool off, do so!}

8. Believe the best in others and also yourself. 

9. Educate yourself and become a woman of accomplishment. 

10. No cursing. Zero, zilch, nada. 

Do you think these are hard to do? One isn't born a lady and it is a long process because not only do you need to learn all these rules and suggestions, but you also need to get to know yourself at the same time.  I believe it's a fun process, and definitely one that has great benefits. We need more ladies out there! There's a quote that states: 

I love being a lady. It's a full time job, but someone has to do it.

am i that interesting?

I've been having difficulty thinking of things to write on the blog. I told myself this blog would be mostly giving advice and using a small tid bit of my life to help prove my point. Every time I publish a new post, I check the statistics carefully of who is reading my site {don't worry no names are said just how many people viewed}, and where the people are clicking from. Usually it's a little bit of people, which is fine because this blog is new, and they almost all come from Facebook.

I like to notice trends and am a completely statistical person. I've noticed the more I talk about myself, the more people read. Which makes me wonder:

Am I really that interesting?

I am humble and believe I am not.  There must be something about me listing the details of my life that make me more relatable and since you listen to that, I'll write more of it! It makes me wonder what part about my life are you interested in? The fact I'm in graduate school and working at the same time? My relationship with Tyler? The way I write about the little things in life that you can relate to? 

Who knows! And you know what? I"ll probably never know because I can't go to each one of your houses and figure out what goes on in your head. 

So, in order to introduce you more to myself, yet keep my privacy because this is a public blog and all, here is a list of 10 particular things about myself. I'm a very detailed oriented person and have a lot of quirks to me.

 1. I have to wake up at least 2 hours earlier than any event in the morning I have.

2. I like the adrenaline rush of when I'm really stressed. It worries, yet excites me.

3. I have the same things on my nightstand when I go to bed every night. 

4. Watching Nick-at-Nite helps me go to sleep.

5. I like to wear dresses because I don't like clothes that hug to my body.

6. I find it super hard to eat breakfast because it gives me stomach aches. 

7. I always watch a tv show on my laptop when I straighten my hair. 

8. There are a lot of "older lady" fashion pieces I want, but feel I shouldn't buy yet.

9. I've tried to get used to coffee for months now and still don't like it. 

10. I have two monthly calendars, one weekly calendar, and a post-it I keep up with everyday.

If I were to see a lesson in the post, I would have to talk about the fact that we are all different and all have our quirks. I'm starting to realize that maybe these little details are what people like to read about. Sometimes people tend to hide these facts about themselves for fear of looking different. But just as I tell the students I work with, if we all strived to be the same type of person, then we wouldn't be unique and in turn we would not be that interesting. Can you picture every car on the road being the same make and model? No. that would be boring. It's the same things with people. 

Enjoy what makes you YOU. Don't be afraid to be yourself and don't doubt when you have proof people find what you say interesting. 

Also, I realize that posts with photos are much more interesting to read, so I will try to post more photos. See here, the first step is to find the camera: check! 

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:8