Hello!

So, first off, I just wanted to give a long overdue shout out to my amazing family that all pitched in back in 2003 to supply me with a fantastic camera. Without them, there would be no pictures, and thus, no blog. :-)
Well, school is awesome, as usual, classes are long, but still way better than undergraduate classes. Physiology is going much better now that I'm understanding what's going on, and immunology is on its way to being a good class. I'm just anxious to get to the autoimmune diseases already, so it's hard to focus on the basics. I have my first test in immunology on tuesday, so that should be fun.
I had a great weekend. Friday night, we went to Chris' house, and we ate lots of yummy food, and embarrassed ourselves quite a bit playing cranium. Then, yesterday I did a declaw lab, and learned a couple different ways to declaw cats. I won't get into any of the ethics or anything, but learning the procedure was awesome, and I think I'm ready for my first patient. In the afternoon my mom and I saw the musical, Chicago, downtown. It was great! Today was full of studying, had to make up for all that fun I had.
So, I had a new friend move into the house. I'm babysitting Nikita's dog, Payal, for a few weeks, so it's been fun having a cute doggy around. It does make me miss Hades even more though. But Payal is awesome, she is super relaxed, exactly the opposite of what I'm used to. It should be a fun few weeks playing with her.
The search continues for a mexican restaurant with a real carne asada burrito. I think my mom and I have tried just about every restaurant in the area and been unsuccessful. This afternoon we drove to Durham and went to Moe's Southwest Grill, and I would rank that as the closest to a california burrito I've found. It was good. I'll keep you posted if we find something better.
Oh, random piece of information I was told. Apparently, if you hit a deer while driving you're allowed to take it home and eat it! Who does that?! No offense to anyone reading this that does eat it.... sigh, only in the south.

Here's Payal, looking cute in her little bed.



Here's Payal after being in her kennel for the first time while I went to school, and those little yellow pieces, yeah, that used to be her little bed. I'm not putting her in there anymore.



Me removing one of the nails, and Nikita doing an awesome job holding the kitty's paw for me.



Close up of me cutting into the joint.



Back to immunology, bye bye!

Pictures!

So, I don't feel like studying so I thought I'd procrastinate and put up some new pictures. Good plan, huh. ;-)

At Carolina Ale House after our last final in December, that's why everyone's holding up a beer. Even I'm holding up a Corona bottle, oh wait, it's filled with salt. Shocked you for a second though, didn't I?



Using those old soccer skills, good thing this version doesn't require your knees (Arit, Nikita, Me, and Paige). I think Paige and I kicked butt.



Ice skating with some classmates, or should I say watching my classmates ice skate.



Me and Matt at the rink (and Andrew jumping in the background).

Back to School

Lots to update you on. Let's see, my mom and I went to the Biltmore Estate on New Year's Eve. It's in Asheville, NC, which was about 4 hours away. The house was HUGE! After we toured the house, we walked around the garden area, and then went wine tasting. Even though I'm not a drinker, it was a lot of fun to try the different types. My mom and I both like the semi-sweet white wines best. Then we got to play with some cute animals in the barns, and listen to some bluegrass music.
The next weekend we went to Myrtle Beach, SC. Since it's winter, there wasn't a whole lot going on, but we stopped at the outlets on the way, shopped a little, then checked out the beach. Even though it was pretty cold, it felt great to walk on the sand. I miss having it nearby.
I started my spring semester on Monday. So far classes are okay, anatomy is awesome because we're doing large animals. I think the classes I'm most worried about are Physiology and Immunology, so that's what I'll be studying most. On Friday, a big group of us went ice skating. I couldn't ice skate because my knee is acting up again, but it was still fun to watch people falling all over the place. Alright, I think it's picture time......

Here's my schedule for this semester, so you know where I am most of the day.



This is the Biltmore Estate, not very big huh?! ;-)



Me and the sheep (for Sarah).



Hanging out at Myrtle Beach (and sportin' some Belles gear).



Mom looking cute.



How cool is the piggly wiggly?



Anatomy lab, this is Moon pie. We were in the process of removing the front limbs.



Well I should probably go hit the books. Bye for now!