Future DVM and Other Things

From Pallet to China Cabinet

2012-01-11T18:31:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting a China Cabinet for a long time now but if you have ever seen my house, you know there is NO room! So I saw something on Pinterest that sparked my imagination and from it came this........

I know......I'm in love! Its just a pallet! We have several places around here that just throw pallets away, so I asked Tyler to pick up a few on his way home from work. Total cost of this project was about $7 dollars. If you'll notice, that's the same $2 paint I used in my previous post, Pinned That...Made This. The pallet was free, so all I needed after that was some sand paper, nails, and screws....and a big strong man of course because, that pallet weighs in at 60 lbs.

It started like this. Tyler and I sanded it down and got all the dirt and grime off of it.

After we painted it white and sanded it to look "vintage," I painted diamonds on the front surface using a stencil printed off the internet and cut out.

Each time we moved the stencil, Tyler carefully measured out where we should place the next one so the diamonds would be all in line and even. He's so sweet.

More diamond painting.......

I was a tad bit worried once we finished the diamonds because they were SUPER purple and it looked a bit "loud". So......what did we do? Sanded it. You can usually fix everything with a little sand paper.

See how excited he is about more sanding?? hehe.

Looked MUCH better after that last bit of sanding.......

and VIOLA!!

Its quite thin.

Details.
It is a perfect "lead in" from my purple and green kitchen!

I loved it so much, I've made my Mama one too! We'll let her show you.....eventually.

Pinned that.....Made This

2012-01-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

DIY found on Pinterest

I've had the same knife block since my Sophomore year at Clemson. The knives are not very sharp, however the paint sample at Lowe's was only $2 and of course I already had the rhinestones so after seeing the post on Pinterest, I had to try it!

Before....

During......

After......

From Broken to Beautiful

2011-09-15T19:41:00.001-07:00

Here is my latest project. It was a thrift store purchase to be used as a display for my jewelry, then I fell in love with the mirror and wanted to do the "Anthro Acid Mirror" as you have probably seen on TV. Weellll, as I was scrapping the paint off the back of the mirror, it shattered. So, from beginning to end -- here it is, disaster turned useful.

As you can see, just getting the black tar paint off the wooden frame was a huge improvement

We painted the base-coat this grey color. After it dried, we put a special "crackle" stain over it. The top coat was painted white, as it dried over the crackle stain, it cracked. Turned out pretty cool.

This was my unexpected turn for the worst. Sad face.

I was still in love with the frame and had a piece of mirror remaining so I sanded the sharp edges and continued on my course....I lined the back of the cardboard with scrap pieces of wall paper (thanks Mom for the "sample" book).

Close up of the "acid" technique. My next mirror will not shatter....hopefully.

Finished product. In the end I got an "acid mirror" and a place to hang my earrings. Not to shabby! (if you click on the picture, it makes it bigger so you can see detail.)

It's Only The Two Year Anniversary

2011-07-08T17:58:00.000-07:00

I've heard a bunch of people say it....and to be honest I've said it several times in the two years we have been together. It was kind of a joke between Tyler and I. He would say something cheesy like, "I'm so glad we are together, I can't wait until our next anniversary". I would respond with, "I love you but no one else cares about the two year anniversary." He would roll his eyes, shake his head, and laugh it off....much like everything else I say that is ridiculous.

If you don't know, for our two year anniversary, I was home in SC working an externship and Tyler was working in MS. We weren't even together. I thought that alone proved that no one cares about your two year anniversary. The 1st is important, then all the rest fade to the background until you hit 25 years! Tyler was scheduled to come home the weekend after our two year anniversary to attend an annual "get together" we have every year. We both said that's when we will also celebrate our two year anniversary. No biggie right??

For my gift, I had scheduled a trip to the Greenville Drive Baseball game and a two nights stay at Magnolia Inn in Traveler's Rest. I wanted him to have a break from work and and a place where we could just relax and chill out. Here are a few pictures from our stay....

Late night supper after the game.

Relaxing by the pool.

We took a bike ride.There was a yummy restaurant along the bike trail.

Now....on to Tyler's Part. He took me to PF Chang's for supper. Everything was sweet and perfect. Once we got there, Tyler suggested a "dinner for two" package on the menu. He kept saying, "I can't believe this is our two year anniversary." The entire night he was emphasizing how special I was.....which is not out of the normal...he's always "cheesy." Lol. The entire night he had a card and a bag on the table....he wouldn't let me touch the bag. I only could look at it. When the waiter brought out the desserts, Tyler finally let me open the gift......after the card of course.

The card had two hearts on the front and in the inside. Noticing a trend here?

I finally got to open the gift, in it I found a diamond band. It matches my set and we had talked about adding it for our 25 year anniversary!! I was shocked. Tyler doesn't usually get to surprise me because I can figure him out. This was a wonderful surprise!! He went on to tell me how special I was, and so on and so forth, how special EVERY anniversary is, and how he appreciates everything I do. Now I get to look at the "complete" ring set 23 years early and feel more special now than he could have possibly made it then!! Awwwwwwww. I know, real mushy.

So, the point of this mushy post is not about the ring (although that is a HUGE bonus). Its about the fact that my husband, has successfully conveyed to me how important our relationship is to him, how special not only every anniversary is but every day is to him, and how important I am in his life. That is the best anniversary gift a gal could ask for.

To top it all off, the fortune cookie said, "a small gift can bring joy to the whole family."
Joy, and Love, and Hope, and Excitement, and Meaning. He's simply the best.
Click For More Anniversary Pictures

DIY Project

2011-04-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

If you know me at all you know I love all things cottage, chic, and sparkly. I also LOVE "do it yourself" projects. On the parents' recent visit with us, Mom and I found this ugly (but with potential) breadbox at the goodwill store. I couldn't leave it behind. I think I paid $5 bucks for it, which is important to know on projects such as this. Anyway, I was particularly proud of the result and had to share. Plus....I haven't blogged in forever. Enjoy!

Before

Ugly

In Process

Taaadaa! Love it!

The knob is my favorite part!

Thanks for tuning in. I'd like to say I'll keep up with this blog but since I'm on ICU (intensive care unit) and CPC (senior presentation) prep.....I'll probably be missing for a bit.

Senior Portraits

2011-01-29T18:05:00.001-08:00

We had our Senior Portraits made on Thursday. It was surreal to say the least. Here are a few shots from my cell phone.

My pal, Juliana. She fixed me and I fixed her to be sure our pictures came out perfect.

They gave us a "drape" to put on. This picture is funny because we still had our scrub bottoms on. Ha.

This one is blurry but here's the Veterinary School Photographer. I think his name is Mr. Thompson.

I finished my Anesthesia rotation on Friday. When I got home, there were flowers waiting on me. :) Tyler and I went to a movie to relax and enjoy life before my 6 week "Small Animal Surgery" Rotation starts on Monday.

It's been a LOOONG time.

2011-01-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

Hello all out there who may still check my Blog. Its been too long. Since I last wrote to you, I have been through 6 weeks of "Food Animal Clinics," 6 weeks of "Equine Clinics," 6 weeks of break/jobs/externships, 5 weeks of "Radiology," 6 weeks of "Lab Services," and and now am on my 3rd week of "Anesthesia!" Wow its been a looooooooong time. So much has happened between then and now. I have learned so much and done so many things. I will attempt to summarize and share some fun things with you now.

Beginning where I left off (I'll try to limit one story per rotation, there is SO much I could talk about)....

"Food Animal Clinics"

This is where I discovered that I not only LOVE large animal Veterinary work, that is what I want to do when I grow up. Cows, Horses, Goats, Sheep, and Llamas. I don't especially like pigs but I could do it if I had to. More specifically speaking, I would like to do large animal ambulatory work. Basically, the Veterinarian travels from farm to farm instead of being pinned up in an office all day.

I also discovered that the Brahma Bull is my favorite bull. For no specific reason, its just in real life when you see one, and stand beside one.......its pure power. I have a funny story to go along with a Brahma Bull.

I took this picture from the internet as we are not allowed to take pictures at the college of veterinary medicine.

So, one day when we were in Clinics, one of the professors informed us that we had a Brahma Bull coming in for a hoof trim. When this bull came off the tailor and showed his snorting pissed off face at the gate....I was immediately in love. This bull registered in at 2,000lbs on the scale. He was one angry "son of a gun" too. He didn't want to be looked at, much less lead onto the squeeze chute for a hoof trim. We had DVM's jumping rails, hopping on bars, getting the cattle prod, and trying to lead him through the series of gates so we could pin him up in the hydraulic chute. (basically squeezes them up and we can turn them on their side to trim their hooves safely). This bull was charging at anything that moved, I was sure he was going to tear the place down. Well, brave little me decided to ask if I could help. I was instructed (by one of my favorite professors) to run to the pen we were trying to catch him up in and "act like a clown".....well, at first I thought he was joking. He wasn't. The pen they wanted to catch him in was huge but the bull had to round a corner and actually turn inside the pen before we could close the gate. I was told to stand on the opposite side and jump up and down and wave my arms like a clown to lour the bull into the pen. great. I wasn't about to say "no," I am tough, I can do this, I have to be impressive. (inside my mind I was saying "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh").

So I got myself a broom and ran to the pen. I was jumping up and down, up and down, yelling "here bull, over here" (it was a "had to be there moment"). I couldn't see over the big cement wall the bull had to come around to enter the pen so I had no clue where he actually was. All I heard was my favorite professor say...."The Bull is loose".....and I saw this HUGE, snorting, snotty, red eyed, angry 2,000lb bull's MONSTER head turn the corner. My heart dropped to my feet, "ohhhhhh crap this thing is coming towards me!" Well, to make a very long story short, I was jumping up and down, banging the broom on the gate, bout to pee my pants and this crazy bull was just looking at me...like "really, chic...you have lost your mind." My friend Merry was there too. She promptly got a sleeve of hay and said, "maybe this will work." I said, "I doubt it, he's pretty pissed off but you can try." As soon as he saw her with the hay, he walked into the pen, pretty as you please. HA!! This 2,000lb beast was a gentle giant that had just got himself all in a tizzy. We gave him food and water and let him chill in the big bull pen for the remainder of the day, the next day we got him into the chute and trimmed his hooves with no problems. I am IN LOVE with my profession. It's rumored that this story will follow me to my graduation day when I walk across the stage....guess we will find out in 2012.

We also had a bull get loose in the parking lot, but we'll save that story for another day. Its funnier if you hear it told in person. I got to do so many things on this rotation, I really wish I had kept up with my blogging so I could have told them all to you. I had many favorite professors during this rotation. This is a picture of my "ambulatory" group. We were up bright and early palpating cows for pregnancy.

"Equine Clinics"

I also loved this rotation. It was intense most of the time and a lot of hard work but it was worth it all. I learned so much. We got to do things like float teeth, watch surgeries, perform treatments, put in catheters, ect. I do have one picture to share from this rotation. I had a patient with a precious family. On the day they came to pick him up, they brought me an "angel" figurine and brought the Equine Department flowers. I thought it was sweet. I recently got to see them when they came in for a recheck, it was very refreshing to get to talk with them again.

"Break"

I had six weeks of break, I went home to SC and worked at Banfield, and with Dr. Stafford, and some with Dr. Outlaw. I do have some pictures of working with them. I enjoyed it very much. Of course Banfield was cool, but I was basically a tech and don't really have any cool stories to tell. While working with Dr. Stafford (Ambulatory Equine Vet), he let me do everything. Here are a few pictures from those two weeks.

My first suture job on a laceration!

Stapled this laceration.

My first standing castration.

Dr. Stafford himself. It was a pleasure to work with and learn from him. I can't WAIT to get back and do an externship with he and Dr. Outlaw.

This is Mowgli, my westie. She got a dental at Banfield while I was working there, this picture is her recovering from anesthesia.

One quick story, Dr. Stafford called Dr. Outlaw to see if he could wrangle up a couple of bull calves for me to castrate while I was home. Of course Dr. Outlaw knew a guy who knew a guy and before I knew it, I was in the ambulatory truck headed to a backwoods farm. When we got there, there were two 800 lb bull calves running crazy on the trailer, as well as a stallion (male horse) waiting on me to arrive. No stocks, no catch pen, no chute.....nothing. We castrated the horse first and that was uneventful but the bull calves were next. They were running loose and wild on the trailer.

Dr. Outlaw said he would be there to talk me through it, but by the time the bull calves broke the swinging door on the trailer, kicked one of the farm guys, pinned one man in the corner, and four men plus Dr. Outlaw had roped them up for me to castrate....Doc was on the tail jack and I was on my own....so I jumped on the trailer with the boys and did what I had to do. My heart was pounding out of my chest, but I had something to prove darn it and I did. LOVED every minuet of it! I can't wait to get out of this "Small Animal Stuff" in school and get back out there.

"Radiology" and "Lab Services"
I'm lumping these two together because this blog is getting long and there's really nothing special to say about these two rotations. Radiology is self explainatory where we take radiographs of the animals so that the doctors can make a proper diagnosis. Lab Services was necropsy. Its just like autopsy for humans. We open the animals up, and try to discover what killed them.

I am currently in Anesthesia......I'll try and keep this blog updated more frequently. Right now, this isn't my favorite rotation, but we'll see how it turns out. I enjoy it when I get to anesthetize horses. That's a lot of fun. Here's a youtube video kinda showing you what we do. This video is not of Mississippi State University, its just a random video I found to show you the routine. Until next time click here....... Equine Anesthesia.

I cried for the first time so far in Clinics..........

2010-05-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

Of course I didn't allow anyone to see, and thankfully I had on sunglasses so it covered my red face and watery eyes. We responded to a call this afternoon that involved a horse who had been fed too much sweet feed. This horse presented with the stance pictured above, as well as dehydration, bruxism (teeth grinding--symbolizes pain), increased heart rate, in-ability to stand on three legs when asked to raise the front feet and so on.......all of these signs point to

LAMINITIS

If you knew me about 5 years ago you would know why this is a sad case for me. I was taking riding lessons from "Kinsey Paint & Quarter Horses." After a few months of riding and training, I performed in a "fun day," which was nothing more than all the trainees getting together and having fun racing barrels, running poles, roping, ect. Well, at this show I won Dixie. That's what I named her. She was beautiful!

She was the filly of Mr. Mike's prized horse "Bit O Olympia." I was so happy to have won her. She was my first horse! I had always wanted a horse but my parents wanted me to get riding lessons first to be sure I was interested enough. Well, of course Dixie and I were best friends for a short while. One day, her feet were being trimmed and while this was happening, Dixie freaked out a little and threw herself down. She broke her shoulder. We took her to UGA Vet Hospital, they did radiographs, and gave her a guarded prognosis. We were instructed to keep her in a 12x12 stall, keep her feet wrapped, provide water, and hay, and keep it deeply bedded with shavings. My parents and I cared for her for what seemed like years (really it was only a few months). We scooped her pen, cared for her "bed sores," kept her brushed and as happy as we could.

She was doing great until the day she presented with laminitis. She was acutely "down" and would not get up. We tried what we could, but when we called the Vet out, he said there was nothing he could do. We euthanized her while her head was in my lap. It was, and still is the worst feeling I have ever felt. There was nothing I could do, after I had worked so hard for so many months. It's still very painful to think about. I am thankful that I had such supportive parents who were willing to take her to UGA Vet School, and who were willing to get down in the ammonia smelling shavings to clean my horse and treat her wounds with me, and who were willing to call a friend to bring a front loading bulldozer to dig a hole in the pasture to place her. I couldn't stand the thought of having her dragged away. I still believe this was one of the main reasons I continued to want to be a Veterinarian.

This is an example of a laminitic hoof.

There are two types of laminae in the horse's foot. The sensitive laminae attached to the pedal bone and the insensitive laminae attached to the inner hoof wall. The function of the laminae is to bind to each other and to keep the pedal bone suspended within the hoof capsule and to allow for normal hoof wall growth over the stationary bone. Laminitis is inflammation of the sensitive laminae of the hooves. Basically the suspension of the pedal bone (pictured here between the arrows), gives way and the bone sinks down, eventually poking through the sole of the horse's foot. Once this occurs there, is nothing you can do to save the horse, if you do not euthanize, the horse will not be able to walk and is in immense pain. To reference one of my favorite quotes "With a true appreciation of life, comes the responsibility of ensuring a humane death" -Pam Hullinger, DVM. The failure of the mechanism can be caused by many things. In Dixie's case it was that all her weight was being distributed to her opposite limb, to try and take the pressure off the broken shoulder. The extra weight was too much to bear for one limb and the suspension mechanism failed. In the case of the clinic horse, he had too much grain to eat---the grain killed the normal bacteria in his gut---the bacteria released endotoxin---this all compounded to cause decreased blood supply to the hoof and thus, the mechanism failed. There are many other causes of laminitis and some aren't even fully understood.

So, as we were practically carrying this horse up the hill from the pasture to his stall, I was holding back many tears, as the memories came rushing back; the times we hoisted Dixie up just so she could get out of her own feces, moving her around so the sores wouldn't be so severe in one place, treating and spraying her with fly spray, hand feeding her because she couldn't stand to eat, praying, crying, begging that she be spared....she was my first horse for goodness' sake!! There was a boy involved with the clinic case, who had been coming to feed the horse and the mistake had been made where the boy fed the horse as well as the owner. The horse had also not been fed everyday consistently. It was a sad situation, because I could put myself in his shoes. We treated the horse as best we could, and we are just hoping and praying that the pedal bone has not dropped too far to be saved.

P90X

2010-05-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

We've started it! I hope it works. We have the entire package with all 13 videos and the nutrition guide. The food is actually good, its just whether or not one actually has time to cook all that it calls for. We started this thing on Sunday of last week, so far we have been doing good and only two videos have killed us. I'll keep you updated. By the end, we'll either be ripped or proven to be procrastinators. :)

Chef Salad

Salmon, Rice, Asparagus (soooooo good!)

Cows and Poop

2010-04-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

I have started clinics! I am in the Food Animal Rotation now. I have two weeks in Ambulatory, two weeks in Clinics and two weeks as "back-up."

Currently I am three days into my Ambulatory trips. I am LOVING it!!! Ambulatory is when the Veterinarian actually goes out to the farm and does work. So far we have gone to the MSU Dairy to palpate cows. We were checking to see if they were pregnant or not. We also "bleed" cows, which, in this case we drew blood from the tail vein.

We drew blood for Johne's testing. This disease causes watery diarrhea in cows. It does not appear until later in life, even though the cow could have been infected at an early age. One of the reasons its a huge problem is because it decreases milk production over the life span of the cow. We test for Johne's because it adds value to cows sold from a "Johne's" negative herd, as well as insures the buyer he will not have problems with this disease later on in life.

Example of drawing blood:

http://lhvsinc.com/BioPRYN/tail-bleed.asp

After we bled the cows we palpated them for pregnancy. Usually with Dairy breeds, cows are artificially inseminated according to a program known as Ovsync. Basically it gets all the cow's cycle's on the "same page" so that they all come into estrus at the same time, all breed at the same time, and all calve at the same time. It was a lot of fun palpating the cows for pregnancy because depending on factors such as....

uterine horn size
uterine muscle tone
placentome size
the uterine artery size
and "membrane slip"

one can actually tell how far along they are in their pregnancy. Monday, I didn't really feel anything while inside the cow. There was a lot of poop and it was really warm....that was about it. Today while, palpating I actually felt all the structures, and by the end of the day, my professor was allowing me to tell him which horn the cow was pregnant in (which side). Of course, he was checking before me, and doing his exam....he just didn't tell me right or wrong until I had an estimate. I had poop in my boots, hair, on my face, and all over my coveralls but I had a blast!!!

Example of palpating:

http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/fieldservice/Dairy/perepro.htm

In the truck on the way to the Farm and back our professor is quizzing us. He calls it "rounds" time. We get asked questions on what we are doing that day, the physiology behind it, things about dairy production medicine, drugs, injections, "days pregnant," and any other management questions he can think of. He expects us to know it all, but does a great job of walking us through the steps of reasoning it out in our head. I am loving ambulatory so far, and know that when its time to switch I might not want to. I know for SURE I will not be ready to move on to the next rotation. The DVM's here in Food Animal and the staff are so laid back and helpful.

I did not take any of these pictures. We are not allowed to take pictures. I simply found some on the Internet that were similar to what we were doing to give you, and idea about my tasks.

http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/nov09/091115j.asp

Flowers and Veggies

2010-04-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my Spring/Summer flowers. They are just so pretty and exciting!

Dahlia's

Daffodil

When I first planted my squash plant.

Squash plant now.

Squash blooms

Wisteria

My make-shift garden

Mowgli can't stand it when I go outside without her.

Tyler made me this flower garden, We trimmed the bushes that was already there, planted little Iris and Dahlia bulbs (will come up next year), and he bought me the cutest little Humming Bird feeder! I love it!

Pepper Plant

Cucumber....its much bigger now

UPDATE: Army Veterinary Corps

2010-04-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

Here is the skinny on what is going on........

I really don't know to be exact. I got a call from the recruiter last week, and was told that "The Board" had met and made their decision. However, all "yes'" and no's" were being held until the "Security Clearance" came back.

Our applications were turned in two days before the board met, so there was not time to get the background check and security clearance completed. My recruiter's office is in Jackson Mississippi, his office covers TN, AL, and MS. I found out on Facebook that a girl from LSU's Veterinary school has already been accepted. So now we know there are only 4 scholarships left. I am not sure how many were dispersed across the rest of the Country. All we know is there were 6 from the three states my recruiter's office covers, and all those are on "hold" until mid-May, when the background check is complete.

I will keep you updated as soon as I know!

The Army Veterinary Corps

2010-03-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

Many many of you have asked me, "So whats with all this Army talk?" I didn't really want to tell a lot of people because its a difficult scholarship to actually receive. BUT, since I put it on a Facebook status one day -- I essentially told the world....with no explanation.

The Army is the only branch with a Veterinary Corps. Other branches have animal health professionals, but not in a way that you can get your school paid for, and actually practice as a veterinarian when "active". They are only giving 5 scholarships to the nation of 2nd year veterinary students this year. If I receive this scholarship, the Army will pay for my last two years of vet school, and I will be paid while I am enrolled. In return, I will serve in the Army for three years "active duty." Since the Army is the only branch of Military with the Veterinary Corps program -- their veterinarians get sent to all the military branch bases to care for the working dogs, military personnel's animals, ceremonial horses, as well as do food health inspections, so I could be on Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard bases.

I will get to remain enrolled at MSU-CVM and graduate in 2012. Once I graduate I will be sent to an 18 month "state-side" assignment. This will most likely be a military base somewhere in the USA. There I will run a 8-5 M-F practice, and be paid a normal veterinarian's salary.....but also get full government benefits including a "living expense," "health care" (not sure how the new bill affected this one), discounts on groceries, blah blah etc. I will come in ranked as a "Captain." Along with the day to day practice, I will be trained in food inspections. The last year or so of my service (if I do not decide to continue my career) will be overseas somewhere taking care of working dogs, horses, and food safety for the soldiers. It may be in a "high risk" area and I am aware of that. To address it for those of you who are worried; here is my opinion on the matter ... if it is my time to go, it doesn't matter where I am-- its going to happen anyway. I would much rather go out with a 21 Gun Solute and know that my family will be taken care of; not to mention the valor and respect that comes along with it....than have said about me that some idiot drunk driving moron killed me. Ya got me?? If I choose to stay with the Army, and "re-commission" I can get my PhD-- paid for and be paid while receiving it. The commitment for that would be more years "in-service." I REALLY want to pursue this, but it just depends on where life takes Tyler and I with kids and his continued education as well.

I will have to go through a six week "Basic Training" course. It is not the exact same as those "enlisted" for the Army; we are treated WAY different. I even noticed this difference while we were in Jackson taking the physical. I was there with many 17-18 year olds who were "enlisting." The difference between the way I was treated, and the way they were treated was remarkable. If I receive the scholarship I will be considered "commissioned," and as I said before come in as a Captain. The training will be physical as well as weaponry, but it will also consist of 10 days "in the field" medical training....of which I am most excited about!!

I have spoken with several military personnel about this matter and surrounding issues. One of which is the recruiter (I know I know; you can't trust recruiters), I have also had in depth conversations with two military Veterinarians who have been through the program, as well as a Marine human doctor who went through a similar program, except, with human medicine instead of veterinary medicine. All have said they loved it, and would not have done anything different. Every bit of my knowledge base has come from these folk. Most veterinarians that I have talked with who did not do the program, but had the chance to apply, have said they wished they had done it. I have absolutely no reservations about this, and do pray that it is the Lord's will for me to be in this program.

For those of you wondering here are the reasons why I want to do this ... in no particular order.

I can finally stand when the "Armed Forces Salute" is played
I get to travel
MAJOR experiences involved here that I will not be able to receive anywhere else
Normal working hours (while "state-side") and no emergency "here go out and do it on your own" late night calls
well-paid (more so than a beginner veterinarian out of vet school)
HUGE chunk of debt that would later acquire interest will be paid for up front
get money while in school to live, eat, etc
I am tremendously patriotic and take "For God and Country" very seriously
broad working duties: food animal, small animal, horses, etc
my resume will be "kick butt" one day when I return to normal work force life
its only for a select few
will have a military medical basis and a practical/ functional/ on my feet, way of thinking

and many many more that I do not have time to sit here and write.

Here are a few pictures from my trip to Jackson. In order to apply for the scholarship, among MANY other things, applicants had to participate in an initial physical exam. Parameters tested here include: urinalysis, blood work, eye exam, neuro exam, hearing tests, "female" exam, walk like a duck, weight assessment, tons of questions about previous medical history, and on and on and on. We were there just about all day. I went with my friend Juliana, who is also applying for the scholarship.

We arrived around 8 pm and found out that supper ended at 9 pm so we had to RUN to the lobby to eat. Curfew was at 10 pm.

The hotel they put us up in was so nice!

We each got our own Queen sized bed.

WAKE UP CALL!!

Haha, when we each began to get ready we noticed we had brought the same shirt to wear to the physical. It said, "Real Doctors treat more than one species." We wore them anyway.

View from our hotel.

So, I have thought, and pondered, and prayed about this and really want it. However, if it does not work out...I know God has a plan for my life, and this just wasn't it. Please be praying for His will to be done for the next month or so. I will find out at the end of April...and of course update everyone as soon as possible. I have met many amazing people through this process, and have already had some memorable experiences....if nothing else happens, I will at least be thankful for friendships gained.

If you would like to know more go to: http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/vet/index.jsp

Quick Run Down

2010-03-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!
I have been VERY busy since we last spoke. I can't remember everything that has happened because it all feels like a whirl wind. Here is a series of pictures from things I have been involved in.......everyone likes pictures better anyway.

Sunshine's Anesthesia/Radiographs: They think its a metabolic disorder, her Calcium:Phosphorus ratio is off. We are going to change her diet to see if that helps. She had a Lipoma on her abdomen, bone resorption in her long bones, as well as mineralization in her pro-ventriculus (a mass in her stomach).

you can see in the previous two pictures, Sunshine's mass on her abdomen.

here they are giving her Oxygen.....this is before they actually anesthetize her to give her a "back-up" supply of O2 in case things go wrong.

annnnnnnd she's down. Here they tape her to the tray so they can get a good radiograph. Her wings and feet have to be out of the way so we can visualize the mass.

Her little anesthesia cone.

all done, waking her up

My view of the procedure.

The radiograph

Frazzled and woozy but awake and doing well today.

Atlas Neuter: When I was home for Spring Break my Mom had to take Atlas to the Vet because he was attacked by another dog. Well, while we were there my old boss man says "You want to neuter him?" OF COURSE I want to neuter him!! It went well and he is alive today.

intubating for anesthesia

selecting my instruments, I am wearing gloves (they were just "nude" colored)

Dr. Lambert and Dr. Bulloch

Dr. Bulloch didn't even glove up. He trusted me to do it right. AMAZING!! I love this profession of "family"

DONE!!

Goofin off while waiting on Atlas to wake up

Poor baby had an abscess from being bit...we had to get all that junk out. ewww.

I have done many other things since the last post, but these are the two coolest. From here on I have only one test per week until finals. Hopefully I can keep up with the blog. We'll see. Until next time, loves.

February Blues

2010-01-27T18:24:00.000-08:00

Here is my schedule for February..... BIG frowny face!! We are swamped as you can see. This schedule doesn't have classes and labs added to it because its strictly a "test schedule". Baaaahumbug! At least soon after this is Spring Break.

Here's to hoping February Flies Fast!!

Tupelo MS Flea Market

2010-01-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

Saturday we went to the Tupelo Flea Market. Its a lot like the Anderson Jockey lot except there are buildings, and they are heated! They stay open from 8am - 10pm. Some weekends are special in that they have "Knife Shows," "Furniture Outlet Sales," and "Craft Shows." We just went on a regular ol' Saturday. We got lots of good loot. Most things were cheap and if anything else, it was nice to get away and do something fun. Tyler and I went with Cody, Juliana and Thiago.

Our Loot!
Don't miss the ring sitting on the cell phone charger! Very Pretty!

Close up of the ring.

We also got movies! For 20 bucks we got "DodgeBall," "Chocolat," "Step Up 2," and "The Guardian"

Wintry Mix Cont'

2010-01-07T17:39:00.000-08:00

We ARE having school tomorrow. The "wintry mix" didn't stay very long and by sun-down it was about all dried up on the roads and trees. Oh well, at least I got one day out of it. The animals were extremely confused by it all. Below are pictures of Miss. Kitty and Mowgli. I couldn't get them away from the window.

Wintry Mix

2010-01-07T08:59:00.000-08:00

This is what I woke up to this morning. The school canceled classes for today over this. I am very excited, but we are eventually going to have to make the classes up and considering we don't have much "white space" in our schedule now its going to be very difficult and time consuming....as in after 5 p.m. each day I'm sure. The snow on my driveway is very pretty, but its not on the roads. Its all just kind of mushy right now. We will have to wait and see what the verdict is for tomorrows classes; because it's supposed to get down to 28 degrees tonight!! In the above picture are my adorable rain boots I got for Christmas from my parents. The first time I got to use them was in the SNOW!!! :)

Pup Paradise

2010-01-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

Now I know that all dogs should be inside, according to some views...however, since we have a Pit Bull, and a massive Lab/Chow mix; when we are gone they have to stay outside. Otherwise, we would come home to a disaster zone each time. You see, we have a small house that is perfectly cozy for us but not cozy enough for four dogs: two small dogs, two BIG dogs, a cat, and a bird 24/7. I assure you when we come home around 5:30 p.m., Xander (pit bull) and Daisie (lab mix)come inside, and go to their proper spots to be lazy and sleep for the night.

Until then however, they now have a new cozy paradise outside...deck and everything. Check it out!
p.s. Don't mind Xander's dog house (the one on the right) he gets bored and he chews on the house constantly....see what my furniture would look like???

Tyler found those palates at a dumpster and got the mulch from a nearby lumber yard! We got shavings from Wal Mart and put them inside the dog's houses. It's so nice I want to go out there and play. :)

Below is all his hard work......in 28 degree weather!

We couldn't get the truck up the steep bank beside our house to dump the shavings over the side of the fence (as the original plan stated), so Tyler improvised and got our outside trash can with wheels. He pulled it over to the truck, shoveled mulch in and rolled it over to the fence (on the other side of the house), then picked up the trash can and over the fence they went. I don't even know how many loads it took him to do this but it was a lot! The walls to the fence are also very high so it blocks wind. Now, I don't worry so much about my big ole babies and they have a nice place to stay during the day.

Semester Four

2010-01-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Well, It is about to begin, semester number four of a total eight. Judging by how the last semester went, I am pretty darn terrified of the surprises to come with this one. Classes involved in this semester include:

Food Animal Medicine & Surgery
Small Animal Medicine & Surgery
Special Species
Anesthesia and Pharmacology
Diagnostic Imaging
Equine Medicine and Surgery

No matter the terror, sleep loss, countless hours of studying, grueling class, and notes after notes after notes....I am VERY thankful to be here and even if I had a choice I would not be doing anything else. All I have to do is stay on top of the notes and keep up with the material. Piece of cake right?

A quick "look back" of when I first got here. I can still remember how excited and proud I was. Members of my family were so thrilled and we all were looking forward to the future. If I had known what was ahead I may have hopped the first bus back home, but now that I am almost half way through, and clinics are only four months away....its bittersweet.

Now is the time for Freaking Out!!!

2009-09-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! You haven't seen much of me lately because Second Year Vet School has started and tests have been one after another. I am not complaining, because it makes the time go by faster. The faster this year goes by, the quicker I will be in clinics!! Hands on, real veterinary stuff! Clinics are difficult too; I hear it’s just a different kind of difficult. No sleep, getting called at all hours of the night, being in isolation with horses, anesthetizing patients, being put on the spot by professors, and things like that.....which is WAY cooler than being in a classroom! Anyway, in case anyone was interested, I just wanted to give you my exam schedule so you could keep my classmates and me in your prayers, and know why I won't be around much.

For the record we had four tests in two weeks already!
Sept. 15: just a cool little side note, this day we will actually anesthetize an animal just like we were going into surgery except we are just monitoring her vital signs and waking her back up. Nothing painful until the week after.
Sept. 17th: Equine Medicine and Surgery Exam
Sept. 21st: Theriogenology Exam (covers an ENTIRE text book)
Sept. 25 Clinical Pathology Exam
Sept. 29th: We get to anesthetize our surgery dog again, make a skin incision and watch a Veterinarian spay/neuter our surgery dog, then suture it back up, we monitor him/her while they are waking up and do post-op care. (at some point in the upcoming weeks we get to actually perform the entire surgery ourselves!!)
Oct. 1st: Preventive Medicine AND Anesthesia Exams
Oct. 2nd: Surgery Lab Exam
Oct. 5-6th” FALL BREAK!!! Finally a second to gasp for air!!
Oct. 8th: Toxicology Exam
Oct. 14th: Small Animal Medicine and Surgery Exam
Oct. 23rd: Clinical Pathology Exam III
Oct. 28th: Preventive Medicine Exam III
Oct. 31st: HALLOWEEN!!! I get a chance to enjoy FALL until our Final Exams (which are CUMULATIVE over the entire semester)

Finals Start Nov. 30th and we have one every day until Dec. 9th

All I have to say is my poor hubby, and after Dec. 9th I will be sitting on my fanny and watching TV for a long time! Hehe. Tyler has been great though, he cooks and cleans, and doesn’t “expect” anything from me which makes it nice when I have to study…..I don’t get a guilt trip. He’s perfect!

Sunday Morning in the South

2009-08-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

Today was the perfect “Sunday in the South.” I woke up at 9:45 and got in the shower, when I got out Tyler had already took the doggies to potty, made coffee, and was so excited for me to go outside. He said, “Just step out there. “ So I went outside while he was in the shower, and was immediately hit by the most refreshing, crisp, frigid air!! It was a small taste of “Fall,” and enough to make me jump for joy!! I closed my eyes and stood there for a good five minutes, in my bathrobe with my coffee, warm and cozy in my hand. I just breathed the air and took in the noises of the birds and the leaves rustling beside the house. It was a perfect beginning to the day. We go down the street to a church called “First United Methodist.” Now, usually I am Southern Baptist but we have been visiting this lovely church for a while now, and we just can’t bring ourselves to leave a Sunday to try another church down the road.
This morning at church began like every other Sunday Morning….two little children came from each side of the isle to light the two candles in the front of the church as the choir comes in (in matching robes) to take their places. The piano player plays “All Creatures of Our God and King” and let me just say that the piano lady is fantastic. That lady can tear a piano up! So we go through the service as normal, the “Call to Worship,” the Invocation”, the “Hymn of Praise”, the “Apostles’ Creed”, and so on.
Then the best part of the service comes……after every offering the church sings “Doxology #95” which most of you know as “Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow” well, while this is also good….it symbolizes the choir’s preparation for their song. And those of you, who know me, KNOW I love me some choir music! The choir director is pretty intense, he is serious about his job and he is quite funny to watch. The choir stands and holds their little black books and begins to sing “Hymn of Mercy.” I cannot explain to you the feeling. I am sure part of it was the thirty plus organ pipes in the front of the church, or maybe it was the guy playing the flute in the background, probably part of it was also the epic columns with beautiful scrolling around the top, and the two enormous, beautiful red banners hanging on each side of the pulpit. One banner with “Alpha and Omega” symbols, and the other with Flames, woven with red, blue, and gold ribbons. The song was flowing, the sopranos were high, the basses were low, the tenors and altos were exactly where they were supposed to be…..I felt like the Phantom of the Opera as he stands under the stage when Christine sings her first debut as he holds his hands out, closes his eyes and just takes it all in while the music swirls around him. This is all quite overwhelming by itself, but the 11:00 morning sun comes through the stained glass windows that go from the floor to the forty foot high ceilings that are also scrolled and decorated. These windows can't be explained any other way than majestic! The sun comes in while reflecting off the swirls of yellow, orange, green, blue, and purple; it gives the whole church a beautiful glow…..a color that I cannot describe. The church was so warm, and inviting, and soothing. I was completely taken over by this music and the harmony that was carrying on in front of me. You know the part in the movie “Beauty and the Beast” when he swirls her around the ballroom and the music gets really loud and just makes you feel all fuzzy inside??? We’ll that part is almost as good as this overwhelming feeling that flew on me today.
After the music was over and the color had faded from the windows, the Pastor got up to speak. His sermon was entitled “Walk with Confidence.” He formed it from Ephesians 6: 10-18

“10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

Needless to say, I was pumped and ready to take on the world when I left. After that, we took the dogs for a walk in the lovely crisp air and sunshine…..then went to Juliana and Thiago’s house for some yummy food! It was just a perfect Sunday.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

2009-07-31T22:25:00.000-07:00

So....for those of you who went, you know that my wedding was LOTS of fun!! We had a wonderful ceremony by an awesome pastor who did a fabulous job....then we moved on to the boogie down reception! Just to prove it, you should check it out at this link. "A Bride and Her Stanky Leg Father"

Anyway for all you Brides out there who think it's all peaches and so lovely, I have another tale for you! First let me explain to everyone who is reading this that, if you have a great wedding party, as well as amazing parents, as I did..... you as a "Bride" will not have to worry much about all the details that go wrong.

Here is a list...most of which I didn't know about until my Mom told me afterwards...of all the things that went wrong and the great lengths that were taken to fix them for me:

1. We wanted to have a 15 passenger van to shuttle the wedding party from the barn to the church and back. After many calls to rental companies, we found one! – and as a plus, it was also only minutes from the barn. However, just a few days before the wedding, we got a call from the company saying they were unable to provide the van – they had called everyone before letting us know because they had hoped to find one, even if from a competitor.

So the problem here is that they substituted two vehicles for the same price; which was great, except that meant we needed two drivers instead of one – and worst of all we got stuck with an Expedition and a MINI VAN!!!

2. Because the facility owner would not let us cater the "Bridal Brunch" at the barn like we had planed, Mom had to make and bring all the "snacks" (we had to call it "snacks"....if we called it a "Brunch" we would have had to pay even more because it was considered "an extra event") for the bridesmaids and groomsmen and have it all set up at the barn early on Friday morning, which if you remember....Friday was the DAY OF THE WEDDING!!

3. After Mom and Dad left the barn, after leaving home before 7 a.m., they had to go to the rental company for the vehicles.....halfway there she realized she left her driver’s license in her car (at the Barn) and had to go back for them because, as you know, you can’t rent a vehicle without proving you have a valid license. Oh yes, they found out that the "close rental company" had closed down that location and had moved into town across from none other than "KIA OF GREER"....those from South Carolina will know those crazy LOUD commercials that are so annoying.
annnnyway.......

After all this mess, Mom and Dad rushed home to get ready in time to be back at the barn for bridal party group shots. Mom had to be there first for the “getting ready with the bride pictures", so she left Dad at home since he had to be there later for the guy pictures.

4. To Dad's dismay, the rented vehicle had a flat tire when he started to leave our house (with his tux already on). He then had trouble finding the spare (it was a Nissan and they had it hid behind AND between the two front seats)….. Papa Charles came over to help change it in the June mid-day heat. Dad says he and Papa looked like the NASCAR pit crew. He finally made it to the barn just in time to pick up the Bridal party and head to the church for the ceremony, but too late for the "group" pictures. This makes me want to cry because it reminds me of that stupid movie "Father of the Bride" that ripped my heart out so long ago.

4. Okay, here is where I come in...The girls and one of the photographers rode with Mom in the rented Tahoe. Mom drove carefully back to the church because of course the worst thing that could happen would be to have a wreck with the bride in the car....ha! I got carsick. I mean SICK SICK....turn white and sweat and not talk for fear of throwing up all over the Bridesmaid's dresses. It was actually probably a combination of lack of sleep, migraine medicine, too little food for the day, too much coffee, and riding in the passenger seat behind the driver....whew. In any case, I could barely make it from the van to inside the church when we finally arrived.

The funny part about this..... Mom was cool and cheerfully settled me in the bridal room, turned out the lights, and told me to “rest”. I felt kind of silly and quite dramatic so I kept saying, "I'm fine, tell Tyler I am okay". Well, later I found out that immediately after exiting the room with me, Mom turned from calm- chirpy- cheery- to "GIVE ME A PHONE, I NEED TO CALL JERRY!!!" HA! She told me later that she immediately called Dad, since he left behind us, so the groom couldn’t see the bride – and barked out orders to bring me a Mt. Dew and some crackers from the store. Dad protested that he needed to drop off the groomsmen first because they need to be there on time....well, she let him know quick that "she needed those snacks NOW!!!" (With a lil' red in her eyes I'm sure). Mom then proceeded to go upstairs in search of anything in the church kitchen that might revive me.
She and Dad both arrived back in the Bridal room at the same time with drinks and snacks – she turned on the charm while she happily poured me a drink and told me to eat the crackers and take my time. She also just in passing said "whew it's stuffy in here"...as she just smiled and exited the room. She closed the bridal room door and turned on Dad (as he describes with FIRE in her eyes) and at a yelling whisper ordered him to “find a fan – quick!” Dad started questioning where to find a fan and she told him she didn’t care where, just get one. They both said I was very pale, and the bridal room was very hot. Dad met up with Terry Randle and they got me a fan (which did help a lot – along with the Dew and crackers). I revived and was fine for the rest of the evening.

5. Tyler was having his own case of butterflies upstairs as he waited for the service to begin. He kept asking about me (since he was in the van when Dad got the call about needing the drinks and crackers), but everyone kept telling him I was “fine”. Oh by the way, did we mention that there was NO seat for him in the mini-van?? He had to sit in Don's lap the entire way to the church....it was lucky HE didn't get car-sick because he does very often....just ask the baseball team.

6. Another issue was the music on the wedding day. Justin (our sound guy) had informed me at the rehearsal dinner that the music for the bridal party entrance was skipping. In all the hustle and bustle of the wedding I forgot about this until I heard the music playing in the actual wedding! I was so pleased to find out that Tony (our Choir Director at Whitefield) had worked with Justin to fix the issue and purchase a new song off iTunes and replace it.....all in about five minutes before the wedding started.

7. There was another problem that sounded like a musical issue but it wasn't. At the end of the wedding the bridal party rushed out of the church to start taking pictures so we wouldn't be late to the reception, in the hurry of that everyone forgot about the grandparents and the parents sitting there in the church. It wouldn't have been that bad except the "exit" song we picked out was a techno song, sung by Cascada called "Everytime We Touch." Here it is in case you are curious....it just kept looping loudly, "DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DAAAAAAA DA, DA DA DA DA DADA DAAAAAAA DADADA!!"

8. The caterer had called Mom on Thursday to let her know that all the pies ordered for the pie display did not come in. Turns out the chocolate pies had been "discontinued", but the supplier had not informed the caterer of this prior to ordering. We used Sticky Fingers for our reception caterer, and PJ Wells was the lady in charge, and she was awesome. She actually stayed up until late that night and baked a LOT of chocolate pies from her own recipe so that I could have all the pies I had ordered for the reception. She was the kind of caterer that “had your back” at every turn.

9. When Tyler went to get his tux, along with some other of the groomsmen’s, from Gregory’s, he discovered they didn’t have HIS tux! The groom’s tux had not been delivered! Tyler had to sit in the Tux place the DAY OF THE WEDDING for an HOUR, for them to scrounge around and find all the pieces to his tux.

10. After this, Tyler brought Dad’s and Jonathan’s tuxes to them. Both their shirt sleeves came up to their elbows, and Jonathan was missing the cuff links. Gregory’s had to call Greenville to get the correct shirt sizes, so that meant that Dad had to go to Greenville the day of the wedding to pick up the correct ones – in addition to getting the vehicle rentals, and subsequently having the flat tire experience.

11. Did I mention that on Friday morning – early, when Dad and Mom left in their own seperate vehicles to go to the barn and drop off the food for the wedding party (and then go together to get the rental vehicles)…..that a BEE was in Dad’s truck and stung him on the neck as he drove down the road? He was pulling the trailer behind the truck, so it is miraculous that he didn’t wreck – not many people hate any insect that stings more than my Dad. So he had to wear his tux, button-up shirt, and tie with a bee sting on his neck! (He could make his own "Father of the Bride" movie!)

12. When we drove back to the barn after the wedding, we had planned to have wedding party introductions made from the driveway – so the rented vehicles were parked in front of my Jeep. We forgot about moving them until right before Tyler and I were leaving – so our Jeep didn’t get any “going away” decorations since it was basically hidden.

13. We had pre-arranged to have Daniel Simpson and his BIG awesome truck to wait on us at the church that is very close to the barn. Mom dropped Tyler and me off at the church so that we could come in on the big truck after the bridal party introductions. But thanks to all the music that I had to have in our ceremony and to the pictures afterwards, poor Daniel had been waiting almost an hour in the hot parking lot on us. Thankfully he didn’t give up on us, and we loved coming down that long driveway in that awesome truck for our “grand entrance”. Thanks Daniel!! Daniel’s mom and stepfather allowed us to use their farm for our “trash the dress” photo shoot – so thanks to that whole Collins’ family!

14. It was hot, hot, hot at the reception -- especially inside the barn where all the dancing was going on. PJ (our caterer) came over to Mom while Tyler and I were doing our bride/groom dance and told her the cake would have to be cut SOON or it was going to MELT off the table and into the floor!! They worked it out with the DJ to have the cake cutting right after my Dad and I danced.

15. Anyway, we were able to cut the cake before a major disaster, but the ice cream couldn’t be saved. I had some huge containers of vanilla ice cream from Callaham’s to go with the cake and pies, but the heat was just too much – even though they were frozen in tubs of ice. Maybe a few people got to enjoy the ice cream before it became milk shakes.

16. Some pre-wedding day disasters mostly involved poor Jonathan. He worked so hard on both our rehearsal dinner video and our wedding ceremony video and both had technical problems. Somehow, I have no clue how, he worked it all out so that, just in time, the reception video was ready and the wedding ceremony video was rendered. Somehow during the wedding ceremony the timing of the pre-ceremony video got off and it played in the middle of the "Grandparent's Seating" but at least it was viewed. Another funny pre-wedding day disaster was with Stacy, my "Maid of Honor." We all went Thursday before the wedding to get our nails done. Well, right when we arrived they asked us to pick out colors...hehe....Stacy picks out a really pretty pink polish, the only one on the shelf. About two minuets into the "shaking of the finger-nail polish" to prepare it for painting Stacy drops the bottle and it BUSTS ALL over the floor, the wall, her leg, her pocket-book, the bottom of her foot, ect. It was hilarious.

17. Okay, while we are discussing Stacy....and since I love her so much, I got a phone call from her Thursday night around 12 or 1 a.m. and she was freaking out. She started the conversation with; "Bekah, we have a problem." She had started to iron her dress and burnt a HUGE hole in it around the bottom part. I didn't know what to do about it and neither did she, but her Mom tacked it up like a champ and in the end you couldn't even tell anything was wrong with it.

Whew...so I know that was long, but I just thought all the Bride's out there about to get married should know that everything doesn't go according to plan, but with a crew like I had taking care of business, there is nothing to fret over.

Mississippi Girl and Turkey Burgers!

2009-07-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

Today my husband and I became "Mississippians." We went to the Mississippi DMV and got our MS liscence. It was kinda sad and kinda exciting. Check out our new cards!!

Then we went by the "Pig Wig" to check and see if they had Ice Cream on sale and they DID!!! We got two kinds, one was "Snow Cream" for me, and the other kind was "Chocolate" for Tyler. Ummmmm it was soooo good.

After that Tyler cooked Turkey Burgers for me just like Nita used too. I didn't think I could eat them because the last time I had a turkey burger I cried....this was something Nita ALWAYS cooked, everytime I came over to their house. Tyler did a great job and they tasted JUST LIKE Nita's. He also cooked sweet potato fries and they were DIVINE!!! I love me some sweet potato fries.

p.s. for those of you who were wondering....yes, this is the perm.

A Bride and her "Stanky Leg" Father!

2009-07-27T20:47:00.000-07:00

So this is it........and it's awesome!

For those of you who don't know...my dad and I did a different kind of "Father Daughter Dance." We started out with a sweet lil slow dance to Tim McGraw's "My Little Girl".....you'll have to watch the video to see how it went.

After that special dance I asked all the other men in my life to please come up for a special dance! These men consisted of my "other dads" who have had a HUGE impact on my life. Also mixed in are some great guys that I think very highly of. Enjoy!

Going to the Dog Park?

2009-07-24T13:57:00.001-07:00

Today we went to the Dog Park. My dogs know the word "Dog Park" all you have to do is say it one time and they go crazy. Tyler and I said the magic word today let the pups outside and here is the result. Mowgli couldn't contain her excitement and we always have to tie Xena up so we can get the other two dogs on leashes. If we don't tie her up she is GONE!!

Then we load them up in the truck and make the 5 min drive to the Dog Park, which is an old baseball field someone decided to call the "Dog Park" one day. Even though it is simple the pups LOVE it. Here are two videos of what always happens.

They chase each other non stop.....until someone finds a tennis ball.

Xander REALLY enjoys the doggie pool, which is nothing more than a kiddie pool...but it works for him.

We always love to go and it only takes about 45 mins. for them to be WORN OUT...which is good for us because our fence isn't very big and they can get quite mischievous when they are not worn out.

With the Hubs

2009-07-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
I am back to this website so for future reference, to see my blog, look here. We are all settled in to our home here in Starkville MS. These are just a few pictures from tonight's supper. We had "Baked Chicken Salad" in our new cute little dish. After that we washed dishes, this time Tyler washed and I rinsed. Now we are just relaxing in front of the TV with our pups and cat. This life is so simple but so much fun. Later I will post pictures of our wedding and tell some stories about what went on behind the scenes, you will never believe it. Stay tuned.

Re-routed

2009-03-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

actually......so I don't have to keep Typing this over and over.....let me just direct you from now on to our "wedding website" for any future blogs you feel like looking at. This one has been put to sleep till after June 26th 2009.

Till then go to http://www.momentville.com/rebekahandtyler/wedding_blog to see any new happenings in my life. Mainly because nothing goes on here in Starkville but studying and really who wants to see that? I am currently writing a new post there about the weekend visit in AL with my Precious. So keep looking for it!!

Feel free to browse around the rest of that website as well. We are adding new things and that is also where you RSVP for our Kick Butt Reception! :)

The Christmas Shower

2009-02-28T22:06:00.000-08:00

Hey Family and Friends! My mom made this cute video to show the pictures from my Christmas Shower that Lindsey and Kristy threw for me. Its on my wedding website so just go to this link to look at it and turn your volume up!

http://www.momentville.com/rebekahandtyler/wedding_blog

Simply the Best!!

2009-01-08T20:57:00.000-08:00

If you are curious as to what the heck is going on in this picture then go to http://www.momentville.com/rebekahandtyler/wedding_blog it is wedding related so it's on our Wedding Website, and it is cooooool!!! :) :)

Answering Questions

2009-01-06T17:12:00.001-08:00

Whew am I tired!! Who knew getting back in the swing of things would be sooooooo exhausting!! I must apologize to a blog reader of mine.....other than my mom, this girl has been the other person to leave a comment and I LOVE hearing what you guys think.....well I got so busy with finals that I just couldn't reply then Christmas came and everything since then has been a blur. Soooooo, Ash I am sorry and here are the answers to your questions! :)

I was wondering if you had any tips for me on preparing to go to vet school? All I can tell you is get as many VET HOURS as you can......I got paid for my position, luckily, but some of my fellow classmates did not. It sucks to have to volunteer but you do what you have to do to get into the place you have always dreamed of. My grades were nothing spectacular but I you have to have AT LEAST a 3.0 GPA to get into most veterinary schools. At some schools you have to take the "GRE" At Mississippi State they didn't look at these scores. Looking back now I think it would have been helpful to take Latin.....I know they say its a dead language but most of the medical terms for Vet Schools as well as Medical Schools come from Latin. Just a thought. When you do your hours make sure you have several different fields you've worked in. For example a vet school is more likely to take a student that has done small animal as well as some large animal on the side or vice versa. Its okay if you only have small but you GREATLY increase your chances of getting in my having large animal experience as well because there are not that many large animal vets out there and they want someone with experience who may possibly go into that field.

What does an average day of vet school consist of?

HA, oh goodness. An average day of vet school.........At Mississippi State we get to class at 8a.m. and sit through four hours of different classes (IN THE SAME CLASSROOM) Then get a break for lunch and come back around 2:00 for a Lab of some kind. NO off days (except for Holidays) and NO picking your own schedule. It is very doable but you have to realize coming into it that after those hours you also have to study and stay on top of your material. It is a lot different from undergrad.

How did you prepare before you decided that this is what you wanted to do?

I didn't have to prepare anything because since I was a child I wanted to be a veterinarian. I got a little freaked out in undergrad when taking the Chemistry and Biology 101 classes and changed my major but quickly switched back after a semester. I went to Tri County Tech for two years in SC to save money then transferred to Clemson University for the last two years and got a BS in Animal Science......If you are going to get a BS in Animal Science you need to go to vet school because I am not sure of anything else that degree is good for. Ha. Well, I hope this answered some of your questions. If you have anymore let me know!

oh and if you do not have a college picked out yet I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND CLEMSON UNIVERSITY!!! Seriously I bleed Orange and Purple....love love love that awesome place!

For anyone else who reads this I am back to blogging so stay tuned!!! :) If any of my lovely Vet school friends would like to add their "2 cents" worth feel free to comment on this blog to Ash!

2009-01-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

New "Wedding Website" blog post:

http://www.momentville.com/rebekahandtyler/wedding_blog

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,
I am now home for Christmas!! YAY! I was super busy these last two weeks taking all my final exams in Vet School.....no time to even breath! Now I am back home and Mom has me doing things for the wedding. Still no time to breath but I LOVE planning for the BIG DAY!! Tyler and I started our first registry at Wal-Mart so that was exciting and I got the shoes I am going to wear in the wedding.....let me just say they are FABULOUS!!! This month is busy busy for my family and I so I won't be back here probably till Jan. In the mean time I love all of you and probably will see all of you while I am in town! :) Have a MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a Happy New Year!! :)

Saying "Thank You" to our Troops

2008-11-24T18:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1280.html

Please take the time to drop a note to the Soldiers overseas giving their lives for us so we can celebrate the Christmas Holiday with our families. It is completely free and only takes a few minutes. Thanks

Mowgli and Miss. Kitty

2008-11-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

This is just a snippet of what Mowgli and Miss. Kitty do while I am studying. They are so funny and this mess will go on for hours! As a side note....yes I do feel stupid for talking on the videos. Haha. They are my babies and there is NEVER a dull moment. There are two more videos on Youtube you just type in "Mowgli, dog, cat and dog, or all three" :)

Merry Christmas...From my PERFECT Home

2008-11-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

It's early I know, however I will only be here in Mississippi until Dec. 10th. This is not all my decor by ANY means but I still just LOVE this place and thought you all should enjoy it as well. :)

Run for Rabies

2008-11-15T08:34:00.000-08:00

Hi! This is a short lil post but I walked three miles this morning. Our CVM was hosting the "Run for Rabies" event this year. There were many people who attended and you could choose to run or walk. A couple of my girlfriends from school went with me so we all walked. My dog Xena went and she was wild!! She wanted to run the whole time and beat all the dogs. This morning the race started at 8:00, registration was 7ish and it was 49 DEGREES!!!!! We froze our fanny's off but it was so much fun. The school raised over $1800 for the cause. All the participants got a super cool t-shirt, a MSU-CVM gym bag, a Purina Nalgene bottle, a leash, and a nice dog bowl. Melissa, Juliana, and I rode together with Xena (my dog), Sweety (Juliana's dog), and Sampson (Melissa's dog), afterwards we went for some hot coffee and a biscuit from good ol' McDonald's!

6th Folder, 6th Picture

2008-11-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

Lindsey tagged me for this so here it is. I am afraid it's not very entertaining. This is my Flat Coat Retriever Chance! He looks weird in this picture. :) Mine was a bit confusing because the 6th folder landed on my "Animals" folder and within that folder I have a "Gracie, Mowgli, Miss Kitty, Birds, Horses, Chance, Petey, Flash, Xena, Xander, etc." folder. So, I just went to the 6th folder again and picked the 6th picture.

Ateriovenous Malformation, Embolization, and only THREE years old.

2008-10-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

This is a blog post to ask everyone to please pray for a little boy from my hometown church in South Carolina. Hill be going through an EXTENSIVE brain surgery on Halloween day (tomorrow). He is the sweetest little boy and a CLEMSON fan so that makes him all the more adorable. PLEASE please keep him in your prayers.

The morning of the surgery Jonathan will have an embolization performed which is a procedure to stop the blood flow to his brain. This is done to keep him from having too much blood loss during surgery. A few hours after that procedure, they will begin the brain surgery. Dr.s will remove a large portion of his right frontal brain lobe which is where the arteriovenous malformation is located. (AMV and I hope I spelled that correctly.) the AMV is a cluster of blood vessels that have tangled up inside his little head if they are not removed they could bust, (similar to an aneurism) the only way to remove the malformation is to remove the part of the brain lobe where it is located. After the surgery Jonathan will have to go through rehab/therapy and the Bryants may be in Boston for about one month total. Of course, there is a risk of complications which include emotional, physical, and developmental problems after the surgery, and one of the greatest complications is the potential for too much blood loss during the surgery. There is a possibility of left side-weakness after the surgery and we pray that will only be temporary. This is a very delicate surgery, as it is brain surgery on a 3 year old baby. Please, keep this family in your prayer time this week and next week, especially. John, Lisa, and Jonathan left Sunday for their trip to Boston- Madison then flew to Boston with her aunt. Pray that God will give them comfort and peace in knowing that everything will be fine. The surgery will actually take place on October 31st, Halloween Day, which makes it even sadder thinking that day is a day children should be out getting candy and having fun in their costumes and little Jonathan will not be able to do that. But, this surgery will just help to ensure that he will get to be a child for many years to come, and will have a long, healthy life ahead of him. Please pray of Jonathan and his family as they go through this time on Oct. 31st!!

Rescue Them

2008-10-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

The video speaks for itself but we are raising the money for the local animal shelter and a group we have here at MSU-CVM called "Homeward Bound". They take animals from shelters here, foster them for two weeks and send them up North to new loving homes. We have gotten Hill's dog food to agree to give them free food for the animals as long as someone pays the shipping cost.....that would be class of 2012 and the money you buy these bracelets with!

GREAT STOCKING STUFFER!! :)

Our Vet School Class of 2012 has made this our class project. A girl in my class made this video to support our cause. The link at the end of the video doesn't work yet. We have someone making that right now and putting the finishing touches on it. If you are interested in the bracelet PLEASE let me know. Email me at redens19@gmail.com and we can discuss a way of getting one to you. They are $3 a piece and I know everyone has these things but this is more than just a bracelet or a fundraiser, this is raising awareness and hopefully saving at least one more life in the process. Watch the video and you will see! Thanks yall!

p.s. turn your sound on, please send this blog link to ANYONE and everyone you think may be interested in this as well.

"I'd give away my soul to hold you once again" -Josh Groban

2008-10-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

This next blog post will be sad to some and completely uninteresting to others. Those of you who are in my immediate family will know who I speak of during the next page or so. The other day in the car I was listening to Frank Sinatra's CD (yes, I do listen and quite often dance to his tunes.....but only when no one is looking) :) Anyway, this post is not about him, it's about a specific song he sings and a specific man in which I admired. Originally Sinatra sang this song but later Elvis Presley re-did it. I debated which version to post because they are both really good. If you are into the new aged songs, and hip-hop, and country, this is not what you are used to. This post is written solely for the purposes of telling someone they are still thought about and missed dearly.......

The song I am referring to is "My Way," the man I am referring to is Keith Janssen.

To give some background on Keith for those of you who didn't have the honor of knowing him, he was my Great Uncle. That sounds really old and outdated but he was more than that. He was a loving husband, a fun father, a happy man, and an adoring grandfather.....he was a genius at his job, very patient, funny and entertaining....and he was taken too soon by a brain tumor. He battled it for quite some time, defeated it just long enough to see his first grandson born, was the Godly man he needed to be for his family during the time of his grandson's hospitalization with a heart problem, abrublty after his grandson was better Keith's tumor came back full force and snatched him away from us just after Christmas a few years ago.

After his death I was a bit angry because my view was "why was he spared for such a short time to get every one's hopes up, then taken away just as we were losing our fear that the tumor would return....and just after his grandson's beginning of life?" Then I heard a wise preacher talk about why people die, there are many reasons but the one that stuck out to me the most was that sickness and sorrow in this life are here because of the first sins of Adam and Eve, we also have things now that are made from synthetics, we have cell phones, fast food, and all kinds of unnatural things we use and consume now in life. So without our knowing and without warning these things have a detramental effect over time and impact or even take our lives. I know that God didn't take Keith's life; he spared it from the effects of being a human in this world long enough for Keith to be the anchor one more time for his family and for his wife, and I know that if necessary Keith would have traded his life for his little grandson's.

Tyler came to visit the other week and when he left, all his shaving cream was gone, his razor, his soap, his Old Spice deodorant, his washcloth, his towel.....etc and those were only the bathroom items......I was straight up depressed for a week when it was all gone and I only had him here for a week. I can't even begin to imagine how it must feel to love someone so much for so many years and abruptly they are gone......their clothes are still in the closet, their bathroom items are still in place, their car is still outside, even their keys are still on the hook where they last left them, but they are not there. Their washcloth is still wet from the last shower, dirty cloths still in the hamper from the last time they wore them, coffee cup still in the sink, hat still on the couch, even down to the pillow that is still indented from his head. When is the right time to get rid of that stuff, to be able to handle actually taking it away from where it was supposed to stay forever??? When is a good time to say "I can move on now" and sell the clothes? There is no set time and there is no "good" time. I realize that you have to go through something like that to understand it, but if how I felt when Tyler took his stuff home (knowing that I would see him again) is any indication of one small piece of how it feels when a love like that is lost, I don't ever want to go through it, as far as I am concerned I would never get over it and admire those who can carry themselves through it. I still think of him quite often. The song posted in this blog reminds me of him so much that I can hardly stand to listen to it.

So back to the song..........

And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, Ill say it clear,
Ill state my case, of which I'm certain.

Ive lived a life that's full.
Ive traveled each and every highway;
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Regrets, Ive had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway,
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way.

Ive loved, Ive laughed and cried.
Ive had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that;
And may I say - not in a shy way,
No, oh no not me,
I did it my way.

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows -
And did it my way!

The most powerful thing in this song is "Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew, When I bit off more than I could chew. But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all and I stood tall; And did it my way." This was Keith, I would say more but to try and explain it would do him great injustice, the verse says it all. Also, I love "For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught. To say the things he truly feels; And not the words of one who kneels. The record shows I took the blows - And did it my way!" Even though he is gone I will always remember him as a man who faced it, didn't back down, didn't kneel, too the blows of life and didn't regret a bit of it. I have posted the song but please don't pay attention to the pictures, I couldn't find one of just music. Really listen to the words.

If I can have a love for Tyler the way that Keith and Vic loved each other, stuck by each other, and took care of each other then I will be the luckiest woman in the world. I have the utmost respect for Vic and the way she has handled everything and no matter what she will always amaze me how she pulled herself up by her bootstraps (sure it was tough and it wasn't at first)... I don't think I could have done it at all. We as Christians have to remember; the promise was not that everything would go perfectly all the time, the promise was "when everything failed, we would be held."

"Walk it Out Fosse"

2008-10-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

WARNING: this next blog post is completely pointless and this is my attempt to procrastinate and not study for Virology.

There is a youtube video that if you know me at all you know I LOVE it and think its Hilarious. It's called "Walk it out Fosse" Now, a little back ground on this video......Its three older women back in the 60's who actually did this dance to another song.....something about Mexican Breakfast I don't know. Anyway, someone who had way to much time on their hands, much like me at this moment, put this innocent dance these ladies did to a popular "hip-hop" song of the 2000's.

The reason why I am posting this blog is because ol' Beyonce just came out with a new single called "Single Ladies" You don't have to take my word for it watch it yourself. Beyonce straight up copied these ladies from the 60's and put a lil more hip/bootay in it and now she is famous for the dance......hum, I haven't decided if I like this or not. I love Beyonce and if I could dance like this chick yall all would be in trouble. :) I actually like both videos I just think "B" should have given credit where credit is due.

p.s. Parents who watch this, Beyonce is an R&B singer therefore she is going to dance a lil scandalous. If you don't want to compare videos that is fine......just take my word for it.

My suggestion is to watch a bit of the original back in the 60's version to get a feel for it, then watch the whole remake to see how the dance goes, then watch Beyonce's version. :)

Comments anyone???

The Original "Mexican Breakfast"

The Remake

Tyler's Gone

2008-10-16T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hello world, is there still a world out there? I wouldn't know I wake up and its dark go into the Wise Center (CVM) and come out when it is dark. I guess all you guys still exist if not this blog is for my own sanity. :)

Well, Tyler is gone now. He has actually been gone for 5 days now......it seems like eternity and the time we spent together was NOT long enough. I find myself quite depressed in the mornings because since there is only one bathroom in this whole house that is accessible, he had his razor, and toothbrush, and towel, and soap, etc alllllll over my bathroom (sink, tub, racks) for a whole week. I got used to it and liked it around......when he left Sunday I woke up Monday morning and it was all bare, nothing but my stuff. That was horrible. While he was here though he brought a Pumpkin from SC to carve together (picture above). We also cooked a lot, went out to eat with my two buddies here in Mississippi, washed cars (and dogs), he got to see where I do all my lab work, watched the Clemson game on the laptop because I don't have TV, and the night before he left we made baked pumpkin seeds, orange Cinnamon rolls, spooky cookies, and ate party cakes with fall like sprinkles. It was PERFECT.....if that was a taste of what marriage with this man is going to be like I am ready to skip the next 252 days and be at the wedding!

I have been super swamped with studying. Gah lay, I know that everyone said it would be a lot of studying and really the concepts are not difficult......it's just the sheer load of studying that you could do all day everyday and still not have learned enough before the next test rears its ugly, and I do mean UGLY head. I am keeping my head above water and I have great friends here!

I will be moving to our (mine and Tyler's) new house on Nov. 2nd. I am waaaaaaay too excited about this considering I have NOTHING to put in it yet. Just my few things and the new awesome furniture we got. I won't be able to use it though because we do not have a King Size Mattress. That's okay though, I want it to be different when Tyler gets there anyway so we can make it homey together. I will be setting up the "spare" bedroom with the things I have now and staying in it until we move up together in July! :)

I knew Vet school was going to be rough, I have been having HORRIBLE headaches lately. Its probably because of stress I know but I don't "feel" stressed, I guess my mind is in denial of the reality of the situation Vet School has thrust me into. Everyday I have a headache, they are not always bad but every single day it is there.

I will probably be "MIA" for a while because our next storm of tests is on the horizon. I have only 8 weeks left until my first semester of CVM is over and there are a WAD of test that still have to be scheduled. I don't see how they will fit it all in. I have two next week, then I am moving on Nov. 2nd, then I am sure the others will hit soon there after. Mom and Dad are coming up for Thanksgiving......I am so glad because I seriously would be eating TV Dinners otherwise. Our finals week is the very next week. The last final is on my birthday and then I will be HOME to SC!! :)

There is the layout of my life for the next month or so. I'll be back but it will be brief. I love every one of you (if any body really even reads these long things) and miss you so much! ANYTIME you want to come visit PLEASE do......Down here in the "dirty dirty" it gets boring and lonesome! Once I move I will have a spare bedroom! :)

New Furniture

2008-10-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

Hi! I know its been a while but I will write more later I promise. Right now though I have something exciting to tell yall. Tyler and I (while he is here with me in Mississippi) went to a discount furniture store and found an AMAZING bedroom set. It came with a king size bed, two matching night stands, a dresser, and a bureau with a beautiful mirror. I added some pictures on here. It is Dark Cherry and the kind of wood is solid Oak. We got it at a GREAT price. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL??? We do have a place to put it believe it or not. I will be moving into our house on November 2nd. :) We also got it at a great price (rent not buy because we didn't want to get stuck with something when we move in three years). Its cute too! I will attach a picture of it as well! ENJOY

Homesick for Fall

2008-09-24T16:13:00.000-07:00

hi! It has been awhile I know. I have been super bogged down with test. I still have three more to go but I can't just keep studying. I have to have a break.

I hear all your stories of how "Fall is in the Air" and the crisp cool smell, and the pumpkins and the leaves, and all the excitement. Let me just say that Mississippi doesn't even know what fall is!! I wake up in the morning, go outside to let the dogs out and take a deep breath.............its chilly but it doesn't smell like Fall. :( It doesn't feel like fall.

Dr. Baily, my anatomy professor, ate lunch with me and the girls the other day and he says that somehow Mississippi skips fall altogether. The leaves don't change color they just turn brown and fall off. I told him that was the saddest thing I had ever heard, of course he just laughed at me and immediately knew I was one of the South Carolina Girls.

He expressed to me that while he loves a SC, GA, and NC fall; we will not be getting one of those here in MS. I mopped around all day after that because Fall is my favorite time of the year....here are the reasons why I love it so.
1. Smell (as I have already expressed)
2. Orange (its everywhere!!)
3. Scarecrows, pumpkins, and decorations (mom and grandma Jute always make it look awesome)
4. Pumpkin Ice Cream at Callaham's Peach Orchard (ohhhh how I will miss this!!)
5. The little cousins getting together and painting baby pumpkins (it's a tradition)
6. Tyler and I carving a pumpkin together
7. The famous BON FIRE that my Papa's brother Jone's has every year, people from our family get together and build a HUGE bon fire right in the middle of the neighborhood, he always has a GREAT bluegrass band there, hot dogs for everyone, the most CANDY you have ever seen in your life and of course ROASTED MARSHMALLOWS!!!
8. which is definitely worth being its own number so......Roasted Marshmallows
9. after the Bon Fire, my grandmother Judy has a family get together at her house, the only one of the year at her house, and we have Salmon Stew and Oyster Stew. YUUUUMMY!! The little kiddies from Pelzer come a knocking on her door and they are always so precious!
10. The church also always has a Fall Festival that is filled with fun and games and food
11. Halloween is my BEST FRIENDS birthday and I will be missing it this year :(
12. helping my grandmother Jute decorate her house with pumpkins, scarecrows, window stickers, candles, spider webs (made of cotton on the front porch, and whatever else fun Halloweeny thing we can think of.

................oh the list could go on and on but I am getting more and more depressed just thinking about it. I went to Wal Mart today mainly to get dog food because my free bag hasn't come in yet, and my eyes were assaulted with Fall, Pumpkin, Orange, candy, Halloweenish things. I went through Wal Mart looking like a fool cause my eyes were teary the whole time. Then as I checked out my bags and got in my car I realized that I had forgotten dog food!! I went back in through the back door where they keep the flowers and of course the back is where they keep all the hardcore decor for every season and if the few things here and there in the big part weren't enough to make me sad this sight was EVEN WORSE!!!! Even the mums (yellow and orange) were scoffing at me.

I know I know the only post in a while and it is a sad one. I assure you my spirits are still high. Tyler is coming to visit the week of Oct. 6th so expect pictures soon and Kim has promised that we will attend every Fall Festival from Mathiston to Starkville (as long as we don't have a test the next day) :) Our Vet School is having a Halloween Party where everyone will dress up, and the new church I am attending is also having a fun filled day in celebration of Fall. Things are good here and I can't help but be thankful and KNOW that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. I just don't understand why Fall couldn't follow me here!

The Dawn of Tests

2008-09-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

Sooo, I haven't written in a while. That is because the time has come, the eye of the storm, the eve of a new dawning, the rise of the aliens, the demise or rise of me.....TESTS!! Here is my schedule for the next 19 days and here is why you will not hear from me until the 3rd of Oct.

Sept. 18th: Infectious Agents Exam 2 (maternal, fetal, and neonate immunity, passive and acquired immunity in neonate, immunological memory, role of vaccines, kinetics of primary and secondary antibody responses, immunity to bacteria, viruses, and parasites, hypersensitivities, cancer immunity, immunodeficiency)

Three Days of Furious Studying

Sept. 22nd: Anatomy Exam 1 (Hind limb of a Dog, Cow, Horse: muscles, nerves, bones, veins, arteries, origins, insertions, innervation's, reading of many chapters)

One Day of Furious Studying

Sept. 24th: Parasitology Exam 2 (Dictyocaulus viviparus, D. filaria, Muellerius capillaris, Filaroides osleri, Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, Oxyuris equi, Physaloptera spp., Dracunculus insignis, D. megastoma, Habronema spp., Spirocerca lupi, Strongyloides ransomi, S. westeri, S. papillosus, S. stercoralis, S. tumefaciens, Trichuris suis, T. vulpis, and more added tomorrow)

Two Days of Furious Studying

FALL FORMAL

One Day of Furious Studying

Sept. 29th: Histology Written Exam (many many chapters)

Sept. 30th: Histology Lab Practical ( all tissues of the body on a microscope)

Two Days of Furious Studying

Sept. 3rd: Physiology Exam 1 (many many chapters)

Oct. 4th: FALL BREAK STARTS AND TYLER WILL BE HERE FOR A WHOLE WEEK!!! :) :) :)

"We're Gonna Rise"

2008-09-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

Haha!! I am so happy this morning!! This is going to sound really weird because if ANYTHING I should not be excited because I have a HUGE parasitology test tomorrow and today we are wasting time on a 2 hour lecture of evidence based medicine using computer programs and currently we are getting a lecture on how to use the library (ha, as if professional students don't know that by now)....annnnyhoo. The reason I am so excited is because I rode alone this morning to school because my roommate had early morning stuff to take care of and you all know how I don't do early morning stuff. (I am not happy that we rode separate, I love her but here why it was good THIS particular morning). I didn't know what to do for my 30 min drive to school so I put in the "Ruppes" which now I think are called "The Sisters" maybe? Those of you who don't know the Ruppes should immediately go out and discover them for yourself for I cannot do them justice in this blog.
There is this song I love called "Under His Wings" and of course I listened to that one and sang to the top of my lungs but there was another one that caught my undivided attention this morning. Its called "We're Gonna Rise" OH MY GOODNESS!! Words cannot express the sheer joy and crazy unexplainable excitedness that went on in my car this morning! I sang, and danced, and practically jumped up and down (even though I was buckled in) It was crazy! I have GOT to find a church here in Mississippi with music like that. Here are some of the words so you can get a taste of what I felt. Once again, there is no justice for it because you got to think of the harmony, and the build up and the climax and the loudness and what not.

Don't worry this is just the piece that got me going this morning, not the whole song!

"Weeee're gonna riiiise, weee're gonna riiiise, we're gonna RISE to be with Jesus, on a cloud he's gonna greet us, saying welcome home my children, your mansions are prepared. You've won the victory over the enemy, now you stand as royalty, purchased by the blood of the Lamb. Weee're gonna riiiiise, weee're gonna riiiise (repeat the whole thing building up pretty intensely) "and pretty soon you'll see ol' Gabriel, and we'll all be CARRIED HOME!!"

I know that is scattered but go listen to the whole thing! It's great!! I know I'll be dancing all day!! :)

My New Family :)

2008-09-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

Here is my family "officially" starting June 26th 2009. The only one's that are missing are Chance, Daisie, and Miss Kitty. From left to right it is Xena, Mowgli, and Xander. Of course in the blue is my future hubby! :) Aren't we lovely?

First Test of CVM=Success!

2008-09-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!
I just wanted to let you all know that I have just taken my first test of Veterinary school. It was on "Infectious Agents." This class is team taught by SEVERAL different professors and this first test was about the Immune System and the Immune Response to different bacteria that invades one's body. I absolutely ENJOYED the first two professors (one male and one female). They both were so down to earth and laid back that I hardly felt like I was in a difficult class. I did really well on the test and breezed through the first half like no body's business. HOWEVER, as females are, the second half of the test, created by Mrs. Pinchuk (who by the way has to coolest accent on the planet, Russian) was tricky tricky, sneaky sneaky!! If I missed questions on her test it was because I psyched myself out over the question. Y'all know the type....."is it A, B, A and B, all of the above, or none of the above?" I mean, come on...how are you supposed to narrow those down?? Anyway, I would much rather have had a discussion formatted test because at least you can get half credit by shootin some bull, anyway I still think I did fine on her part but if I have a mediocre grade it is cause of her tricksy ways. :) But she is a doll and the cutest lil woman in the world so you can't be upset. It's Vet school, what did you expect?

The next professor for Infectious Agents is Dr. Burgess, but do not be fooled by his American name...he is from somewhere else ( I don't remember where) but he has a cool accent too. Sometimes he goes so fast that my southern brain can't understand a word he is saying, but its okay cause I just look at my friend's notes cause somehow she is good at hearing these funny sounding everyday words. :) He is the first actual DVM we have had teach us, as opposed to the numerous PhD holders who are so detailed because of research that the info. is over our little heads. I thought I loved the first two professors, but I REALLY love this guy. They just keep getting better. He has a practical application for everything he goes over in class and lets us know EXACTLY what we will need in the real world (which in turn is exactly what will be on his test). Currently we are learning about "Fetal and Neonatal Immunity" he is our last Immunology professor of this class which is sad cause for the rest of the semester we are studying LOTS of bacteria and their mechanisms and what not. My next test for this class is Sept. 18th (yea that soon, this guy will FLY though his material). Keep me in your prayers this day.

Before that test I have a PARASITE test on Sept. 10th. For those of you who don't know this is FREAKIN HARD (sorry to use that word but its the only one that fits). I have 38 parasites to learn all with different life cycles, pre-patent periods, definitive host, intermediate host, effects, and treatments. BLAH. :( Then after our two hour lecture exam we have to go straight to the lab for a "practical exam", where there will be 38 microscopes and 38 tissue samples (all crawling in parasites) to label and tell distinguishing characteristics. Needless to say you guys won't be hearing from me for the next week or so. Yes, a four hour exam is enough to make a girl go crazy, especially with my "ping pong" mind that can't stay focused on one thing. I will make it though and I do like the class, its interesting and creepy all at the same time.

Well, that is all I have for now. I hope all y'all are doing well and I miss you LOTS and LOTS!!!!

Father of the Groom

2008-09-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Don, Tyler's dad, has loaded his version of our story on the website! It is soooo sweet you have to go see it. Sign the guest book if you have not already. :) Loves!!

http://www.momentville.com/rebekahandtyler/welcome

Home

2008-08-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

I went home this weekend! It was Soooo refreshing! I got to see my future hubby as well as all the FAMILY (except Jon and Lindz :( )!! ahhhh, it was so nice though. I just wanted to give you a better picture of Xena basically because the picture is AWESOME (mom took it what do you expect?) and because she is not so ugly, which I have heard from a lot of you that she is :). She is the biggest lapdog I have ever had. She is not happy unless she has consumed all of your lap with her long legs. This other picture is Xander. (yes there is another one). He is a PIT BULL puppy, a stray that a man brought to the shelter. The shelters in Mississippi have to put any pit bull down that comes in, they cannot treat them, feed them, or sell them. They are automatically put to sleep, sad! soooooo, Tyler has always wanted a pit and this guy is so young I am hoping we can well socialize him and he be a great dog. Right now he is precious.

This weekend has also been productive because mine and Tyler's favorite jewelry store is going out of business.....this worked out perfect for us because there has been a ring there (for him) that we have been utterly LUSTING over for a few years now. It was on sale and I grabbed it up. That is all I can tell you. I am under strict rules by Mr. Brady not to tell or show anything else till the wedding day but ooooooooo man yall got to check it out in roughly 299 days. :)

I will also be driving home when Gustov hits Mississippi so keep me in your prayers. They have evacuated the cost of Mississippi but my roommate says everyone has come to Starkville and the surrounding areas so we shouldn't get it too bad. If lots of people come they may cancel classes and have us involved in Disaster relief stuff (which is soooo much cooler than being in class) so I am excited....plus I want to get home and be sure my big dog Chance gets in the house and is not stuck out in the hurricane!

Oh and as a "p.s" side note....Whitefield's Service Sunday was AMAZING!!! I would have driven the 7 hours home JUST for that service! Picked my spirits right up and sent me floating out the door! It's only comforting to the believer but ooooooo how I believe!

WEDDING WEBSITE!!

2008-08-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.momentville.com/rebekahandtyler/welcome

THE WEBSITE IS DONE!! Please stop by there and BE SURE to sign the guestbook so that I know you stopped in!!!

Yaaaaaayyyyy!!!

Wedding Website

2008-08-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys and Gals, I am pretty busy right now with school and weddings stuff. I am currently working on a website that will allow you to view our pictures, ceremony and reception site, venues, read our story, and even RSVP for the wedding! I will post the link soon so STAY TUNED!!!

My Class

2008-08-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

These are two shots of my entire class together. The class of 2012!! There are 80 of us. The picture on the top is when we got our cowbells. Mississippi State's athletic stuff are known for ringing cowbells at their games (mostly football). Anyway, our second day there they gave us cowbells with MSU-CVM and our names painted on them. I am in the top left corner about the third row from the top.

The picture on the bottom is a picture of the class before we did the "COPE" course. It is a team building course where you have to work together to accomplish tasks like get everyone over a 10ft wall, pass people through a "spiderweb" made of string and bells (for alarms), get everyone across 7 hanging spinning tires, and more. Some things were tough and frustrating but we were split into teams of 8. We all got nicknames in our teams and of course I was "lil onyun." There was also "Wifeee" (who just got married 6 days prior to coming to vet school), "lil Ray Ray," "Boston," "Fish," "Doll," "Baloo," and "Vive." As it turns out the teams we were put in were our lab groups for the whole year. Two lab groups per COPE team. I LOVED my group!!! In this picture I am on the far left side, second row, tie-die shirt. :)

I'm a Vet student of course I am not going to say no to an animal

2008-08-20T20:32:00.000-07:00

I went to the animal shelter today with my roommate Kim, we were looking for a dog for an elderly man who came by her house yesterday asking for a dog. He wanted one that would bark when someone came into his yard and one to ride around his property with him as he drove his four wheeler. PRECIOUS....anyway.....there was a puppy there......and I guess you guys could finish this story but I saw her and COULD NOT leave her there! I named her Delilah, although my fiance says its not a good name. I will update you later on what her finalized name is. Anyway she is a whippet/greyhound mix of something and brindle coated (which is what Tyler and I have always wanted). So here she is!!!! If you guys can think of a better name comment on her picture and let me know. :) Loves!!!

-Miss Kitty didn't like her very much but her and Mowgli got along GREAT!!!

p.s. we found the older fellow a dog as well so EVERYBODY wins!! YAY!

My Personality Type

2008-08-19T19:23:00.001-07:00

So in class today for "Professional Development", which is the dumbest class ever, we had to take the famous "Myers Briggs Personality Assessment" test. My letters were "INFP." Apparently only 5% of women have this type so I'm special! I'm not, however, sure if its a good special or a bad special. I'll let you decide. The reason I thought this thing was blog worthy is because it hit me "nail on the head." I really thought it was going to be another BORING lecture that wasted time at 8 am when I could be sleeping or better yet staying up later to study. It turns out this was perfect!!! I STRONGLY suggest that you and your spouse or significant other take these test individually from each other and see how you are different. Since we have to do a lot of group work in Vet. school they taught us how the different types should communicate with each other. Here are my results......

"Introverted Feeling with Extroverted Intuition:"

HERE IS THE GOOD PART:

-"People with INFP preferences have an inner core of values that guides their interactions and decisions.

-They want to be involved in work that contributes to both their own growth and inner development and those of others to have a purpose beyond their paycheck.

-They make a priority of clarifying their values and living in congruence with them.

- INFP's recognize and honor the emotional and psychological needs of others, even when others may not have recognized or expressed their own needs.

-INFP's Characteristics:

-make decisions based on their values of self understanding, individuality, and growth

-live by moral commitments to what they believe in is crucial

-sensitive, concerned, and caring

-idealistic and loyal to their ideas

-curious about ideas and quick to see connections and meanings

-creative

-have Long-range vision

-fascinated be opportunities to explore the complexities of human personality

-work in burst of energy and are capable of great concentration and output when fully engaged

-faithful in fulfilling obligations related to people, work, or ideas to which they are committed

-have difficulty performing routine work that has little meaning for them

How other's may see them:

-find structures and rules confining and prefer to work autonomously

-adaptable and flexible until something violates their inner values (then they stop adapting)

-expression of value judgements can emerge with an intensity that is surprising to others

-reserved and selective about sharing their most deeply held values and feelings

-value relationships based on depth, authenticity, true connection, and mutual growth

-sensitive, introspective, and complex

-original and individual

-sometimes difficult to understand

HERE IS THE BAD PART:

Potential areas for growth:

-life circumstances do not support INFPs in development and expression of their intuitive and feeling preferences

-may not have reliable ways to take in information and may fail to notice the realities of situations

-make decisions based solely on personal values and find it difficult to translate their values into action

-they may not take time for the inner valuing process by which they make their best decisions, instead of going from one exciting possibility to another and achieving little

-do not find a place where they can use their gifts and be appreciated for their contributions, they usually feel frustrated

-have difficulty expressing themselves verbally

-withdraw from people and situations

-not give enough information to others, especially about important values

-give less attention to their non preferred thinking and sensing parts

-become easily discouraged about the contrast between their ideals and accomplishments

-reject logical reasoning even in situations that require it, asserting the supremacy of their internal viewpoint

-be impractical and have difficulty estimating their resources required to reach a desired goal

-under stress they may begin seriously doubting their own competence and that of others, becoming overly critical and judgmental.

YIKES, whew that was a lot!!

It really hit home when he said my type was the kind to go to the grocery store with a list to cross off, but when they get to the store they find other things that they want and after they put the item in their buggy they write it on the list JUST TO CROSS IT OFF!! hahahaha. i just did that the night before at Wal-Mart...you can ask Kim. haha.

My Favorite Engagement Photos

2008-08-19T11:02:00.001-07:00

These are just some of my favorite engagement pictures that my mom took for us while here in Mississippi.

My Mississippi Room!

2008-08-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

My Animals

2008-08-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

- Chance (Flat Coated Retriever
-Miss. Kitty (vet clinic cat)

-Mowgli (Westie)
-Dodger and Cheyenne

BIKE RALLY

2008-08-18T22:04:00.001-07:00

- Kim and I at the "Crossing Dixon" Concert
-Yes Ladies and Gents this is Merle Haggard!!! HOLY COW!
-Yeah Buddy!!! :)

Future DVM

2008-08-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

I live in Mathiston Mississippi and NEVER want to leave! I love my friends here, the support, and the home town feeling of the Vet School. I never dreamed it would be this wonderful and exciting!! No doubt it is hard as crap but there is a sense of accomplishment that comes along with this hard work. In this picture I am in the front row, 7th from the left.

Papa Don Sr.

2008-08-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Don (Tyler's Grandfather) passed away this morning. I will miss his silly jokes and random cuss words that would only be funny coming from an old man like him. He was a strong man but in the end could not fight everything that was going on in his body. We will truly miss him.

My Life

2008-08-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hi! I do not have much time right now however, I just wanted to let my friends and family know how I am doing. I live in Mississippi and LOVE every minuet of it. My roommate Kim is GREAT and we are practically the same person except that she doesn't like Chocolate (weird). I love her to death and actually she is going to be one of my bridesmaids. :)

The other day we went to the Sturgis Mississippi Bike Rally! There were SOOOO many bikes and we got to see Merle Haggard live in concert!!! He was awesome. We also saw Crossing Dixon as well as Jeff Bates. Kim has a motorcycle but we didn't ride it because she doesn't have her full licence.

I am studying and reading a lot more than I did in undergrad but I am unusually interested in the material and actually enjoying it. I stay really busy with meetings and trying to stay up with the material. It isn't really hard its just A LOT of material at once!

Tyler and I have been missing each other as well! That is the only part about living here. I may get to see him in Sept. when Kim drives home for her family reunion. I hope to split gas with her and ride home with her. Less than a year and Tyler will be here with me and we will have our own cozy lil home with our cozy lil animals. CAN'T WAIT for that day!!

Basically God is good and I am blessed!!