For Shelly, and the others who care

Shelly hasn't been able to make it to my new apartment yet and she wanted me to send her some pictures. So, I decided to just post them on here so that others may see my new living establishment. It's just a humble abode, but I do like it.
My room:







My Bathroom:



Kitchen/Dining room/Living room:











Entry to Jamie's room. (She wasn't here so I thought I'd leave her room be):




If anyone is in town, I would love for you to stop by. I would even make some brownies :)

Pondering

Do you ever wish you had made different decisions in your life? I often wonder where I would be had I have chosen a different path. Had I gone to a different college, what would I have studied?Had I gone to a different college, would I still be in Nashville? Had I stayed at home, would my life be as it is right now? Had I said that one thought that was constantly on my mind, would things be different? Had I not said that one thought that was falling off my tongue, would things be different? The choices we make impact our lives so much more than I can fathom. No one knows if a choice he/she makes will bring them good or bad. It if will lead him/her down the 'right' path. But is there a wrong path? If we trust in God, shouldn't the path lead to the same place? I sometimes forget that just because it may be difficult does not mean it is the wrong way. He did say the way will be long and hard, so I will have trust and faith in Him to guide me.  

Janie's Got a Gun!

At 5am Friday morning i was woken up by someone crying out. At first I thought it was someone drunk just yelling, but then the crying out stopped and 5 gun shots were fired. Yep GUNSHOTS!! I thought to myself, 'was that gunshots? did someone just throw something down the stairs? what was that?' So i get up and go to the kitchen window to see if i could see anything. A man was standing on the landing of the stairs by the parking lot looking as though he was distraught. He had dark shorts on, no shirt, tatoos on both of this shoulders, dark short hair and was dark skinned. He walked around a little bit, looked down toward the downstairs apartment, then walked down there. About this time, Jamie walks into the kitchen asking what was happening. She heard all the same things I did. After that we didnt hear anything. So we decided just to go back to bed. Not 5 minutes later (about 5:30) someone knocks on our door. I go to my door and open it cause I know Jamie is about to flip out and she is gonna run into my room. So, as i opened my door, she comes running in. Said she heard someone say 'help me' as she was running across the hall. This man was walking to each door in our building knocking. Thankfully, the guy who lives next to us opened his door and the guy said (so we find out later) 'call 911. i've been shot. i'm in 602.' So, all this time, jamie and I are sitting on my bed, lights off, whispering, trying to figure out what to do. I wanted to call 911, but she didnt' want them to know our names cause she was afraid if the shooter found out he would kill us too..(??). So I decide to look at the kichen window again and then call 911. When i got to the window there was a fire truck, ambulance, and a couple cop cars. So, we go outside our door cause our neighbor was out there. There was blood EVERYWHERE!!! He was shot on the bottom floor, 5 times, and walked up each flight knocking on each door. There was blood on the door, blood on our threshhold, blood on the rail, blood on the floor. EVERYWHERE! So we just stood there until a couple cops came to talk to us. We looked down at the outside of the appartment where he lived and he had leaned against the wall, where the siding is, and there was blood all over the wall, then went down a little bit to where he was under his window in the corner and leaned against the wall there too. Ben, the next door neighbor, said he was sitting on our steps after he knocked on ben's door then went down to the stairs going up to the street and sat there until EMT got there. There was this old man talking to the cops, that one of the cops said was the guys roommate, which the 3 of us had never seen before. We have seen the guy that was shot quite often, going and coming from work, but never had we seen this guy. which is a little strange. Well, since I saw someone, the cop got my info and Ben's info cause he saw the victim. As I was drying my hair, at about 7am, the detectives came and I had to talk to them as well. He asked if I would be able to notice him if i saw him again. (AHH! I dont know?! Maybe) So, as of right now we know nothing, but speculate it was drug related. Last we heard, the victim was in critical condition at the hopital. Jamie is still freaking out and wants to move. BUT it isn't like we are in any danger. We aren't drug dealers or hookers, so ther is no  reason for anyone to kill us. AT the same time, this is the 2nd murder since June in our apartment complex. So, last night we started looking for new apartments or town homes. Our gated community's gate has been broken for over a year..so this would be a lease breaker for sure! We'll see I suppose.

Hop-along

I have had some knee problems the past 5 years. After playing softball my whole life, then going to college and my activity level dropping, the pains caught up to me. Come to find out, the bone that is right under my knee cap is actually attached slightly off (it is supposed to be aligned with your 2nd toe, mine is aligned with the floor). So, dear Dr. Thomas here in Franklin, TN decided that the only way to fix the problem (problem being constant pain and discomfort for 3 years) was to go in and move that bone. So, Friday morning I go in to have that done. When I came out Dr. Thomas informed me that he didn't have to move the bone, which was great! I was afraid that since he hadn't done what he originally said I would be back in the same place in 3 years. BUT, there was so much scar tissue under my knee cap that is was pushing it way over. When he cleaned out the scar tissue and trimmed the tendons on the outside of my knee, my knee cap slid right back into place. The Doc said my knee cap was beautiful and perfect and would be great from then on. So, now I'm going on day 2 of PT. I have to walk with a straight brace, I'm bruised, swollen and sore, but doing great!! 

Chicago...chicago...the talk of the town...

My friend Anna Parker and I decided last year, after a trip to NY, NY, that we would take a trip in the states every year until we could afford to have a grand trip to Europe or Hawaii or somewhere wonderful. This year we went to Chicago. Neither one of us had ever been so it was a good choice. We decided to drive because we needed a good road trip. We drove up to South Bend, Indiana to tour the Notre Dame campus. It was beautiful!! Good decision to do that. We had to drive through Gary, Indiana...Gary, Indiana...Gary, Indiana..(Music Man anyone?) and arrived in Chicago about 8pm, checked in our lovely Travelodge (which is a great step up from the hostel we stayed at in NY!) and walked around. Chicago is absolutely beautiful at night! While there, we went to the History museum and the museum of Science and Industry, a double decker bus tour, hung out at the 'bean,' went to Navy Pier, went to Second City (which was hilarious!), went to a Cubs game (Go Cubies!) ate a piece of pizza the size of my head (for only $5!) and walked about 10 miles a day. We had an incredible time and I hope it makes it back in the rotation sometime soon. If you haven't been, I highly suggest taking a long weekend trip! 

Be Cool. Stay in School.

I enjoy time alone. Time spent with just myself. It gives me time to reflect on my day, my ideas, my thoughts, my life. Tonight was one of those nights. My roommate scored a free ticket to the Brad Paisley concert, so she enjoyed that. Now, I'm not jealous that she got to go to the concert and I didn't. Frankly, (can I call you Frank?) I'm not a huge country fan. I like some here and there and Brad is great and all, but I was alright not going. Friday night TV really isn't that bad. "Holes" was on, which is a movie I have never seen all the way though and, honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I watched bits and pieces of many other movies, all the while checking email, facebook, changing my myspace layout and song (that takes a lot longer than it should. It just all has to 'go' and i'm picky). While perusing facebook, I stumbled upon some of my old college friends. "Old College Friends," you ask? Well, not as in they're old in age, but that I just don't talk to them anymore. Then again, they don't talk to me either. The phone does go two ways I suppose *wink wink.* I looked at pictures of graduation, dinner parties, random wal-mart runs that are o-so fun and important in college. Though I am still technically in college, it really does not feel like it. Not like it did when I first entered. I don't live in the dorms, I don't have to eat in the Caf (or Gano..thank goodness!), but worst of all, I don't get to see my friends on a regular basis. That is something I truly do miss.

Now, enough of that Downer Debbie! As i was watching wonderful Friday night TV programing I stopped upon my ole faithful...E! ah E! It has gotten me through some tough times. We're BFF! The Daily 10 was on and words such as "Uber," "Girlisious," and "Prego" were mentioned. Now, I'm all for making up silly words that would never exist but are funny to say, but to actually use these words on a regular basis? Really? Come on. Uber, meaning super, just sounds ignorant. The word "Uber" is actually a german word. The fact that English speaking people use this word along side English words just makes them sound ignorant. No reason to mix two languages, especially when the word is used incorrectly. Girlisious, meaning..who in the world knows?!?! Perhaps a play off of Bootylisious. Again, not a word. Fabulous. Gorgeous. These words are acceptable when speaking of Girls. but to make up a word like "Girlisious" then try to act like it is a real word by naming a TV show after it...not acceptable. Prego, meaning pregnant. This is is almost acceptable except for the fact that it is a type of tomato sauce that I usually put on my bow tie pasta. If a word is going to be used for pregnant at least use "preggers." I will admit, I've said it before. Not very intelligent sounding, but sometimes we all just get lazy.

So, in conclusion, take advantage of "you" time. Spend time thinking and reflecting on your day. Also, don't make up stupid words that mean the same thing as words we already have. The English language is hard enough already, even for us natives, so let's not make it even more difficult.

Peace. Love. Education.

Workshop Class Wooden Bear

When I was in 7th grade, I went to lovely Riverton Elementary School. 1997-1998 was an alright school year for me. I had major surgery and missed a lot of school, but all in all I enjoyed that year. When I was hopped up on morphine and strapped up to an at home IV system most would think a little tike like me would be discouraged. But, being the optimist that I am, I found the good in that whole situation. My yearbook picture. Laugh all you want, but my yearbook picture from that year was and will remain my all time favorite yearbook picture of all time! I was wearing my favorite sweater. I wore my favorite khakis. My hair was long and straight. I just came for the picture then went back home for another round of antibiotic with my at home IV. That is one killer picture! If I had it handy I would post it to show that I was a good looking 7th grader even when I was sick!

I suppose I say all of that to say, I am one heck of a procrastinator! Take now for example: It is 3am, I have a 3 page paper to write by tomorrow morning by 8am about the topic in which I have chosen to write my 20-25 page paper due at the end of the semester. Am I fretting about the fact that I have yet to even choose a specific topic? No. "Why?" you ask. Well, it's really hard to say. It might be because I am so tired that I don't want to write a formal paper. Or, it could be the fact that I do not want to write a complete bogus (thats right 1990s! I stole your word!) paper on an obscure topic that I may or may not even use.

The fact of the matter is, I went to a Nashville Predator's game tonight with my roommate and another friend and sat in $120 seats for FREE! You read that right...F-R-E-E! AND we were on the jumbo-tron! It's tough coming off of a high from such a fun night at the Sommet Center. The only other time I had that much fun there was at a John Mayer concert, and, let's be honest, do the Preds top John Mayer?! I submit that they do not!!

Perhaps next time I will take the time to investigate new up and coming music/artists so that my avid readers will not be disappointed. Thank you for your loyalty through the good and the bad!