Monday, November 28, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a good and relaxing Thanksgiving! While mine was not so relaxing, was wonderful because I got to go to my oldest friend’s wedding. Known her since pre-school, and she was a beautiful bride! I was crying half the night haha but I am incredibly happy for her.  Then on the weekend I got to hang out with my wonderful friends from home. Almost all of us were home!

Let's see if I can figure out how to put in a picture....

                                              The Bride and me! Congrats Kaitlyn :)


                    A bit shambly at the end of the night. But loved being out with great friends!

Now it’s back to work, studying, and packing for Panama. And let me say, thinking about packing is kind of overwhelming! But what’s making it a little easier are the connections I’ve been making, namely with the other members of my group! It has made me super excited to meet them all and start our adventure! Facebook has been a wonderful resource, connecting all of us heading down in January as well as with the Volunteers that are already there who can give us the real scoop on what we should bring.

As of now, my debates are whether or not I should get a hiking backpack (I think yes, my parents are still on the fence), chacos (vs. the tevas I already have), whether or not I should get a new laptop (mine is about to die), what e-reader to get (kindle vs. nook) and what kinds of clothing I should bring (cotton vs. synthetic). I think I’m gradually gathering answers to these questions… slowly but surely. The trick is just finding the time to shop for it all… between studying for the GMAT and GRE, Christmas shopping and working… Just under 3 weeks till GMAT is off of my plate! Yikes!

Back to the books for me tonight…

Kindle vs. Nook: Opinions?

Friday, November 11, 2011

Random Updates

So it's been a while since I've posted, but I feel much more like a real person these days! I'm working at the fundraising arm of a hospital, which as been great non-profit experience. I'm really enjoying it and the people I work with are great, and a wonderful learning opportunity (for the non-profit sector, fundraising as well as the healthcare industry) but it's certainly tiring. Plus, I've started studying more intensely for the GRE and GMAT, both of which I'm going to take in December before I leave in January - I'm planning on going back to graduate school after my PC service, and I'd like to have options. But it certainly makes for a busy schedule with a full-time job, studying on my own for the GRE, taking a course for the GMAT, thinking about preparing for PC in Panama, and trying to hang out with friends and family.

But I did have a great weekend at Vandy's homecoming a few weeks ago (got to see a lot of friends, enjoy tailgating and the game, went to church, as well as spent 14 hours in the car), and I've had some fun weekends in Charlotte. Hopefully this weekend will be a little more relaxing and productive than the past couple have been. Though dad and friends are all home.... so we'll see how that goes. In other news - my fall league frisbee team got 2nd in the league!! Go Kenan & Kel! Yes - that was our team name lol.

In PC news, I finally got my last required immunization (Yellow Fever) before staging. I immediately faxed my info to PC, but then later that night I realized I didn't put all of the information on the cover sheet that I needed to... My one actually stupid mistake in this whole process - which, in considering the amount of paperwork I've done, is saying something I think. Either that or I'm just lucky (a much more likely possibility). Also, I'm starting to make contacts with other people going in my group to Panama! And it's making me so excited!!!! I started squealing when I got an email a couple of days ago from a fellow PC Panama Invitee. Which also made me realize that I really need to start actively packing/preparing. Of course I'm behind - what else is new? I'll get it done somehow/someway.

My to-do list for the weekend:
- Do GMAT homework/review
- Study GRE quantitative section
- start actively thinking about packing for Panama
- get some sleep and get my lymph nodes un-swollen

We'll see how much this actually gets done...

Links for the week:
I've been taking the papers from work to recycle them at the end of the week, and in the process reading them, and I found a couple of interesting articles today.
One was about how a patient's faith really influenced a doctor and how it's significant in his life today. Click here.
The other was gave a short biography about a woman who was sterilized by the state of North Carolina because they argued that she wouldn't be fit to raise a child because her IQ is so low. Sad article, unbelievable that this actually happened, but also wonderful about her faithful and supportive life-long friend. Article here.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!