Greener on the other side...

I got flowers yesterday for the first time in Lord knows how long. It felt kind of nice. :) I also got into my first disagreement with the new beau, and I can tell that arguments with us are going to be few and far between, but ugly nonetheless. See, the problem is, I'm always right, and he thinks he is always right (haha ;) and both of us are too stubborn to realize otherwise. One of the great things that I learned from my years in Athens from watching my roommates' relationships (namely Kristen who is an awesome communicator) is that it's better to lose your pride to a loved one than to lose a loved one to pride. I was pretty proud of myself for dropping our stupid disagreement when I realized that neither one of us were going to budge, and hopefully I'll be able to carry that lesson with me next time as well. It's just nice to know that I actually did learn something about relationships in my 3-year spree of singleness, I just sometimes wish I was able to enjoy the singleness aspect a little more.

I remember Staisha always telling me to enjoy being single as she was going through her relationship with Doug, and until now, I never really understood why. Now the roles have reversed, and Staisha is readily seeking a new mate where I'm wanting to tell her to savor her singleness. Bottom line is that the grass truly is always greener on the otherside. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE being with Enon. We have a helluva lot of fun together, and I constantly want to spend insane amounts of time with him. I just kind of feel alienated from my single friends now. Most of it is self-imposed due to the fact that I honestly just don't even have the desire to go out as much as I used to and get crazy all the time, and I guess in a way, I miss that. Afterall, it really became a part of who I was-almost a reputation that I felt like I needed to live up to. And I know that Enon would have no problem with me doing as I pleased, even if it meant getting absolutely crazy, but the idea of staying in to watch a movie and cuddle is simply becoming more appealing. I know that I'm still in the "honeymoon" stage of the relationship where spending 72 hours straight together STILL isn't enough, but I just really never imagined myself missing the freeness of being single. Go fig....

Carrie Bradshaw said in SATC, "Maybe some women aren't meant to be tamed. Maybe they're supposed to run wild until they find someone -- just as wild -- to run with." Maybe that's me, and I'm hoping that I can retain some of that wildness inside of me because I simply don't want to become THAT girl that loses all of her friends because all she does is hang out with her boyfriend. But I guess as long as I remain conscious of my actions, I can prevent that from happening. At least I hope so...

In other news, I was recently trying to convince Enon that there are ankle-biting dogs out there that are cute, and I've absolutely fallen in love with Havaneses! Here's a picture:


Isn't he absolutely precious?? If only I had money.....

So yeah, clearly I have nothing exciting to report. I just thought I'd blab to give you guys something to read. Maybe some provoking thoughts will come up soon that don't involve range of motion exercises or myotome tests, but I'm still debriefing from a rather long summer semester. I think I need a vacation....

Love you guys! Until next time....

Our brightest blazes of gladness are often kindled by unexpected sparks...

About a year and a half ago, I got a tattoo of an anchor inferior and medial to my anterior superior iliac spine (can you tell that I'm in PT school? haha...) Most of you know the significance of the anchor (no, I'm not a Popeye fan) because most of you knew Randy. I got the tattoo to remind me of three things: 1) how great of a person Randy was in that he loved everybody unconditionally, exuded a childlike happiness that we can only dream of being able to have, and always succeeded in making people smile; 2) the importance of drinking responsibly in order to not cause harm to yourself or others, and 3) to create a standard for future prospects of guys I dated. Randy and I had a great relationship and we had so much fun together. As with many things in life, circumstances got in the way, and the timing simply wasn't right with us, but in all of my dating escapades, I've always hoped to find someone who appreciated me to the same degree that Randy did and who didn't take life seriously enough to prevent every situation from being a good time.

Well, I think I found him.

For clarification, no, I don't believe in soulmates, and, hell no, I'm not planning my wedding. Y'all know me better than that. I've just found someone who loves to have a good time and is all about some Stacy Gray. In addition, he's in PT school with me (which is good for my study habits....seriously) and he's a UGA alum so I don't have to hate him during football season (let's get honest, no one likes to date the enemy). So, my grades are good, I have a tailgating spot for next year, and I get to force him to hang out with me all the time so I'm never lonely! Life is good!

It's so funny to look back at all my dating experiences in the past three years and compare them to how easy this relationship has been. There's no games, no doubts, optimism is flying high, and I definitely spend my nights wondering WHEN I'm going to see him next versus IF I'm going to see him at all. It's.....well, nice. I couldn't ask for more. My roommates were right....my siblings were right.,,,my friends were right....EVERYBODY was right....there really was someone out there that was deserving of my attention and who would treat me the way that I was supposed to be treated. So after all the tears, the boy-bashing sessions, the alcohol consumption, and the prayers, I'm exactly where I want to be, and it feels great!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it does pay to wait on God's timing. It was never easy, and I absolutely hated being patient, but retrospectively, I can see how everything makes sense. So for those of you out there that are still waiting, I want to encourage you to stay hopeful, keep praying, and know that YES, there is someone out there for you, and when you finally find them, you'll see how worth the wait it is. The struggle sucks, but it's so rewarding in the end. I can guarantee it!

So, that's all folks. I love y'all and really miss the heck out of ya! Give me a heads up to lemme know what's been going on!

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him."
~Psalm 37:4,7

PT School: The Breakdown

I can't even begin to describe the expectations that I had about MCG's DPT program before entering on May 16th because this whole thing turned out to be completely different than what I anticipated. Sure, we work hard, and I've succeeded in digging out my "good student" skills (you know, studying a week in advance, not waiting until the last minute to get things done - the things that I did NOT do in undergrad! KT and Em can vouch for me there...) in order to get the grades that I need to succeed in this program. I'm happy to report that I made a B in my anatomy class, and I did well enough to not have to remediate my midterm in our main in-department class. But even in the two months that we've been in school, I've experienced sooo many things! I've dissected cadavers (more on that later), I've studied more for each test that I've taken than I ever studied for a single final in undergrad (Dishman and Duval's classes included), and I've been drunker than ever! That's right kids: we work hard, but we play harder! The future of American Physical Therapy is DRUNK, and I might be the leader of the pack (or, as they like to call me, the mascot, haha!) But all in all, I have really become infatuated with all of my classmates and look forward to what the next 3 years have in store for me. So far, this is my explanation of what the hell I've been doing the past two months:

1. CADAVERS - I know that I've talked to most of you in passing about my experiences with dissecting my cadaver whom we've affectionately gotten to know as Bob. My relationship with Bob was probably the most emotional experience I've had in my life aside from my Daddy's death. Like, seriously, I probably had close to 6 coronaries and 3 panic attacks in my adventures with Bob. Now, don't get me wrong - we got emotional, but for the most part, our sense of humor prevailed, thus preventing any emotional scars from forming. It's just that when you are forced to flip over a human body and have 5 girls (should have been 7 but LindSAY and I were having panic attacks in the corner) almost drop a dead human body on the floor, emotions start flowing. On top of that, you get 60-year-old dead balls (big ones at that, hence the name Bob) thrown in your face, and you get to walk around smelling like death each time you leave the cadaver lab. We dissected hands, feet, I had human skin and fat thrown at me, yellow juices squirted at me, and let's not forget the day we had to suspend Bob's arm from the ceiling by his thumb! It's just a wild ride, and I can't say that I really miss Bob all too much, but it's definitely an experience I'll take with me forever. Our dissecting table was great fun and we added enough humor to the cadaver lab to lighten everyone's spirits during such a morbid experience. We learned a lot, actually had fun, but I don't think I'll ever be doing that AGAIN!

2. STUDYING - Ok, let's get honest: I suck at being a good student. Sure, I make good grades, but that's just cause I'm a genius. Ok, maybe not, but seriously, I am way too ADD to stay focused on one thing for a very long time which is why I usually don't study very much and why I procrastinate. In undergrad, my average start time for studying for a test was usually the night before at around 11 pm. I got away with murder in undergrad, but the material on these tests is so intense that I had to kind of change my ways. Can you believe that my new average start time for studying for a test is a week in advance! Whoa! Ok, so I guess grad school is supposed to be harder than undergrad (afterall, when all's said and done, I will be making sure you all address me as DOCTOR) but who'd have thought that I would be able to dig out some studying skills like that?! Fortunately, the material is interesting so studying is actually....fun! (GASP!) Lets me know I chose the right career field, huh? And it helps when you have a boy that makes sure that I study, but that is a different story....

3. GRADES - this has got to be the number one thing that absolutely pisses me off. Don't get me wrong, my grades are good, but the typical personality type in our class is somewhere between "overachiever" and "has no life" which means that when grades come back, everyone gets interrogated about what grade they recieved and some of those people are really good at making me feel like a royal dumbass because, GASP, I made a B. Y'all know me - I get things done as effectively as everyone else, but I'm not about to sacrifice ALL my time just to make an A on a test. It happens sometimes, but I'm getting the same sheet of paper as the girl that graduates with a 4.0, so it doesn't really matter to me. Still, some people feel the need to compare themselves to everybody just to ensure their own self-worth, and it really is annoying. So you studied for a week straight for the test? Congratu-fucking-lations! I studied half the amount of time as you did and you scored 5 points higher than me. Whoop-de-freakin-do! Yeah, it's annoying. But hopefully they'll get over it...

4. THIRSTY THURSDAY/SURREY/WILD WINGS/ANY LOCAL MEXICAN FOOD VENUE - yep, that's where we roll 30-deep! Seriously, when's the last time that you walked into a crowded restaurant and requested a party of 30? With as much work as we do, it's essential that we take breaks to kill the brain cells that are overloading our brains! I do recall being very nervous about finding a crew that would want to go out and unwind with me, but it's so incredible how many kids just love to have a good time! We've put down alcohol until we've found ourselves in a drunken stupor after every anatomy test, usually starting with Happy Hour and then ending up at home around 1 or 2 am (for those of you scoring at home, that's about a 10-hour marathon drinking session! And it wasn't even Gameday!) We've had so many great times as a class, and I really have grown to love these people even in the short amount of time that we've been together! They make this whole experience worthwhile.

5. BOY - I can't elaborate too much, but yes, there's a boy. Yes, he's old. Yes, we have an amazing time together. No, I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon. He's in my program, we study together (yes, we really do study! Get your minds out of the gutter...), and he's been absolutely amazing! He has the right amount of patience to put up with me, and he still lets me have my fun. I kinda like him! ;)

Ok, so that's the breakdown. I hope to be around more now that anatomy is over with, so stay tuned! Love y'all!

"If it ain't PHYSICAL, it ain't THERAPY!"