Fall Semester Breakdown

I only have one more year of generals before I can apply to pharmacy school!! Oh gosh, it can't come soon enough.

Here is what my schedule looks like:

Human Physiology with Rose
Medical Terminology with Salazar
Biochemistry with Sheridan
Anthropology with Peterson

I know it's only 12 credits, but I am fully expecting a rough semester. Human Physiology is probably one of the harder science classes you can take, and I'm really hoping this will get me noticed on my Pharmacy school application.

Hardest class?:
Human Physiology for sure.

Easiest class?:
Medical Terminology for sure.

Most enjoyable?:
I think I will really like Anthropology actually...Peterson is a lot like Bones and I'm completely enthralled by that show

Class I will study for the most?:
Human Phys...and then Biochemistry.

Class I will most likely be late for most often?:
Biochemistry on Mondays (that class starts 10 minutes after my Human Phys class gets out on Monday)

Bring on the semester!

Spring Semester Outcome

So this semester was one big surprise for me. Nothing turned out like I thought it would and it just got busier and busier the further I got into it. I learned so much about myself this semester...but I'm glad it's over. :)

Here is my semester outcome (just a few days late...). My original answers are first and my actual answer is highlighted.


Class I Will Love the Most:
Organic Chemistry (If last semester is any indication it will be)

Ding ding ding! Organic Chemistry!

Class I Will Hate the Most:
Probably going to be a tie between Micro Lab and Anat and Phys Lab.

I went halfsies on this one. It was a tie between Microbiology and Anat and Phys Lab.

Class I Will Study the Most For:
Organic Chemistry and the lab...actually, I should probably be studying for all of these classes the most.

Just Organic Chemistry. I didn't really study for the lab...at all!

Best Class (in terms of grades):
Microbiology (Professor Winston said we have three take home exams and the final is in class, but the questions all come from the take home exams)

Organic Chemistry baby!! I'm still on cloud nine about that one :) This girl ended up with a 95%!

Worst Class (in terms of grades):
Organic Chemistry (just cause I love it doesn't means it's a walk in the park)

Microbiology. How ironic right? The class I thought I would do worst in I actually did best and and vice versa.

Number of Times I Will Be Late for A&P Because It's at 8:00 and on the Other Side of Campus and I Have to Walk if I Miss the Bus:
Hopefully not often, but I can definitely see myself being late :( uhhh...two, maybe three)

Ummm...I may have absolutely hated the TA that taught the Immunology chapters and decided that I would rather spend my morning studying for Organic a few times...so I missed that class about...well, let's just go with 6 times. But maybe it was only 5

Thursday Thoughts

Here are just a few of the thoughts that have passed through my mind in the last couple of days:

"Making an epoxide out of an alcohol can't be that hard, right?"

"1335 a plague broke out in China. 1350, plague spread to Europe killing 25% of the population. 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue and spread small pox to the Native Americans, decimating their population..." (Important dates in Microbiology)

"Why is it already 1:00 in the morning?!"

"7:28?! *grumble grumble grumble*"

"That dude is such a creep!"

So...basically my life has been pretty absorbed with school and school work lately.

My eight o'clock class is killing me. I really try to leave my apartment by 7:30 so I can catch a bus to upper campus. I could totally walk, but I usually carry two textbooks with me along with 3 binders for all my classes and my backpack is super heavy, so stop judging my laziness! I have woken up at 7:28 twice in the last two weeks, so I've had to walk :P

Organic chemistry...is my favorite class. I am so enthralled by all the reactions we do. I am afraid I'm going to get behind though, just because there are zillions of reactions that I am trying to learn.

Also, that creep dude that I referred to earlier is seriously starting to weird me out. I have only seen him twice in my life, once a few months ago and once yesterday. He is this older middle age guy and both times I've seen him I have had to leave because he was constantly staring at me. I have never felt so unsafe! I really think I need to find some mace and carry it with me.

Oh, something kinda cool...I became an arbitrator in family search! I have been an indexer for a few months and I decided that it would be pretty cool to be an arbitrator. It took a little rooting around, but I finally did it. I can now go through and correct other people's mistakes, goodness knows I love doing that!

 Also, I have been reading a book called Scarlett, which is the sequel to Gone with the Wind, and I'm loving it! I hated on Scarlett, the character, the whole way through the first book when it came to Rhett Butler because she was such a jerk face to him and everyone knows they are supposed to be together...and now in the second one Rhett has left her because of her obsession with Ashley and he refuses to take her back...but now the problem is that Scarlett is desperately in love with her so she has to try to win him back. It's stressing me out!

Aaaaanyway. That's pretty much been my life lately, and now I really need to go do laundry and make dinner and do some Retrosynthesis. :D

Unfortunate Truths of College Life (or Life in General)

1) Sometimes you're going to have to take the garbage out in order to throw something away because the garbage can is just too full.

2) Sometimes you're going to have to vacuum every other day in order to keep the amount of hair in the carpet at bay if you live with 4 other girls.

3) Sometimes you're going to have to do the dishes every day in order to keep them from mimicking Mount Everest.

4) Sometimes you're going to have to put your Harry Potter marathon on hold because you have an 8 o'clock class all the way on the other end of campus in order to avoid being late for said class.

5) Sometimes the toilet paper is going to run out while you're stranded...this leads to number 6.

6) Sometimes, because the toilet paper ran out on you, you will have to replace said toilet paper with a fresh roll in order to save your roommates the humiliation of having the same problem.

7) Sometimes you are going to have a big test the next day, so no matter how much you want to, you're just going to have to live without having a social life at least until tomorrow night.

8) Sometimes the toilet is going to get clogged and you're going to have to plunge it yourself in order to save the sanity of your roommate.

9) Sometimes you're going to have to go without buying groceries for a couple weeks in order to buy textbooks.

10) Sometimes you're going to have to grin and bear it when a guy you used to date decides he'd much rather date your roommate.

11) Sometimes you're going to have to have some alone time. This is okay.

12) Sometimes you're going to pray the managers don't cash your check until the next day at noon in order to save your bank account from being overdrawn.

and last but not least:

13) Sometimes you're going to have to read a section in a textbook 800 bazillion times because no matter how hard you try to study, something somewhere else is always going to look more interesting to you than the endocrine system.

In spite of it all, I love college :)

Spring Semester 2012

This semester will most likely be crazy!
I am only in 12 credits, but those 12 credits consist of:
Organic Chemistry II
Organic Chemistry II Lab
Microbiology
Microbiology Lab
Anatomy and Physiology II
and
Anatomy and Physiology II Lab

So here's my breakdown for the semester:

Class I Will Love the Most:
Organic Chemistry (If last semester is any indication it will be)

Class I Will Hate the Most:
Probably going to be a tie between Micro Lab and Anat and Phys Lab.

Class I Will Study the Most For:
Organic Chemistry and the lab...actually, I should probably be studying for all of these classes the most

Best Class (in terms of grades):
Microbiology (Professor Winston said we have three take home exams and the final is in class, but the questions all come from the take home exams)

Worst Class (in terms of grades):
Organic Chemistry (just cause I love it doesn't means it's a walk in the park)

Number of Times I Will Be Late for A&P Because It's at 8:00 and on the Other Side of Campus and I Have to Walk if I Miss the Bus:
Hopefully not often, but I can definitely see myself being late :( uhhh...two, maybe three

Semester Outcome...

At the beginning of the semester I made some predictions about the classes I was taking, so I'm going to see how right or how wrong my predictions were :

Class I will love the most:
I predicted I would love Anat and Phys the most, however, I surprised myself and basically fell in love with Organic Chemistry of all things!

Class I will hate the most:
I hit the nail right on the head when I predicted I would hate Physics. Seriously, ask anyone who is even slightly acquainted with me and they will be able to tell you just how much I hated it.

Class I will study the most for:
I predicted Anat and Phys and OChem, but really I didn't study that much for A&P. OChem was another story, I definitely studied for that one!

Best Class (in terms of grades):
I predicted A&P...I am pretty sure if I knew the exact percentages that would be correct, but I ended up with A's in A&P, OChem lab, and Intro to Lit.

Worst Class (in terms of grades):
I predicted OChem would be my worst grade, but it may not have been. I know I got a B in Physics as well, but I don't know the percentage. I think I did better in OChem than I did in Physics.

Number of mental breakdowns:
I predicted I would have 2 and possibly 3, but I only remember crying on account of schoolwork once. Stupid stupid Physics.

All in all, this wasn't a bad semester. I am actually looking forward to OChem next semester and best of all  No Physics!!


I am only in 3 classes next semester (unless you count labs...then I'm in 6). General Microbiology, Organic Chemistry, and Anatomy and Physiology. We'll see how this goes...

Gratitude #24

You know those days when you know the worst part of the flu is over because your appetite comes back in FULL FORCE?

Or those days when your pink eye decides to clear up so you can wear your contact lenses again?

How about those days when you quite possibly didn't get all the way through Othello (like not even close) and then your English class is cancelled?

Yeah, I'm grateful for those days :)

I just hope my English teacher didn't cancel class because she came down with like...tuberculosis or something like that.

Gratitude #16

I am grateful for the Organic Chemistry Student Solutions Manual at the library.

I am also grateful that the library is open until midnight so I have time to get there every now and then.

The only thing that would make it better is if the people would talk in whispers or something...

Gratitude #15

I am grateful for my lazy Tuesday :)

I have every other week off of A&P lab, and I never work on Tuesdays, so I get a lazy/study day.

I'm thinking about tidying up the apartment a bit before I take a nap...or maybe it's nap then clean.
Who cares! I have the whole rest of the day!

Then after that it's off to the library for some quality time with this guy...

Gratitude #13

I know it's past midnight, so technically I'm a little late posting this, but it's been a crazy super busy Sunday (like most days of rest, you know what I mean?)

I have been thinking a lot lately about science and religion.
I have been told that the two cannot coexist and that science has no room for a God.
I disagree completely.

The further I get into science the more I realize how much there is a need for a higher being.
No one will ever be able to convince me that the human body just happened to form the way it did.
NO WAY!
I just learned in A&P that there is one specific neurotransmitter that causes constriction in one part of the muscle and relaxation in another even though the two muscle types are the exact same and even in the same organ.
It's all because of the kind of receptor the neurotransmitter binds to.
Did that happen by chance?
NO WAY!

All of the things that I've been learning in OChem have opened my eyes as well.
The world we live in is so complex!
Medications can have a completely difference effect if two bonds in a molecule are switched, different types of bonds show up at different places in an IR spectrum because of how far they bend and wiggle, different substances are either healthy or unhealthy depending on what kinds of bonds form and orbital overlap...
So yeah, you're right, this is all a matter of chance. *Sarcasm!*

I am grateful for the knowledge I have.
I am grateful that I know there is a God and that He is a master of science.
We could all learn a lot from Him.

Gratitude #1

It's November again, so you know what that means!
A whole string of my favorite thing, gratitude posts :)

Today, I am very grateful for my awesome lab professor, Dr. Holman.
He is an amazing teacher and has really helped me to understand all of the concepts I learn in lecture.
He's also one of the funniest men I have ever met in my life.
Last week he had a cold and started losing his voice, so I gave him a cinnamon candy and he went on lecturing.
He lectured for another 20 minutes or so and then declared that he needed someone younger and faster than him to run and get him a Diet Dr. Pepper.
Without missing a beat he slammed $1.25 on my bench top and said, "You! You look younger and faster, Go! It's C3 in the machine downstairs."
Well...the machine was jammed, so I told him he was SOL until they fixed it or he found another machine and he looked me straight in the eye and said, "Do you know where the engineering building is?"
He didn't really make me run to the engineering building, but he had me worried for a second.

Later he came down to help run the NMR, which wasn't working right.
I was waiting in line and right after he passed me he stopped, backed up, and handed me five quarters. "Try again," he said.

This week I asked him a really stupid question (well....he thought it was really stupid) and he said this to my group, "I really appreciate you guys. Every time I'm around you, you make me feel really good about myself."

I love the way he keeps me laughing for 3 hours straight, yet I walk out of his class having learned so much.

This is also the first lab I have enjoyed going to.

Dr. Holman, thank you!

My Week of Miracles

This week has been such an eye opener to me.
On Monday in Institute we were talking about all the miracles that Jesus performed and how most people in our day and time write off our everyday miracles as coincidences.
I guess God just wanted to illustrate to me that we are surrounded by miracles every day, so He filled my week with TONS of miracles.

Last week: My OChem teacher announced that instead of having our test on Thursday, it would be on Friday instead. That opened up a whole bunch of problems. I had to work on Friday because...well, I always work on Friday. I made arrangements to take my test from 8-12 in the morning on Friday because that was the only possible time for me to do so.

Monday: I opened up my work schedule and noticed right off the bat that I was scheduled to work during my test review session. GREAT right? I would see to that later.
While at work my client's mother informed me that they would be going out of town on Friday and Saturday.
My first thought was about how over half of my hours for the week were scheduled that client on Friday and Saturday. There is NO way I would have been able to get by with that few hours.
After taking a couple of seconds to process what was going on I realized something else: This is my off week for A&P lab, which means I could work on Tuesday (Miracle!)
Together we were able to figure out a schedule that cut only 1.5 hours instead of the 8 or so that it was originally. (Miracle!)
Also, this meant that I could take my test at the regularly scheduled time instead of at 8 in the morning. (Miracle!)

Tuesday: My OChem lab instructor extended my lab an hour, so it started at 8 instead of 9. He lectured on NMR for an hour and when my lab group was supposed to leave to do a Spartan lab experiment (my lab is split into three lab groups. Every week there are 3 labs going on, so this was my week for the Spartan computer experiment), he gave us the option of staying and doing the computer experiment on our own time so he could help us with NMR interpretation. (Miracle!)

Wednesday: My client was supposed to go to see a specialist for an hour, but my client's grandma was in town for Grandparent's Night and was going to take him to dinner. That hour was cancelled, and I got to pick it up! (Miracle!)
I talked to the Front Office and Seasons of Hope and they were able to find two people to cover a couple of hours with my client so I could go to the class that I was originally scheduled to work during. Their schedule had changed just enough to accommodate my hours. (Miracle!)

Thursday: Commence freaking out...OChem test on NMR tomorrow.
After I got out of my 8 o'clock Institute class I went to do my Spartan experiment. My instructor asked me how my test went, so I told him it wasn't until tomorrow. He looked at me and told me to go home and study and do the Spartan on Monday. (Miracle!)

Friday: Hasn't happened yet, but hopefully another miracle will happen and I will magically get an A on my NMR interpretation :)


I know that most of these things might seem like coincidences, but I am a big believer that God is behind every coincidence. I've had FAR too many of them happen to me in my life (and especially just in this week) to believe that it just happened to turn out that way.

"...this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.” 
~Paulo Coelho

There is DEFINITELY someone out there who loves me and wants me to succeed in my endeavors.

Crazy Life!

Is it just me or has life spun COMPLETELY out of control lately?

I was sitting in Organic Chemistry the other day interpreting IR and NMR spectra and I realized just how NUTS it was that I understood what was going on...or that I am even in that class. I remember when Nate was telling me how hard OChem was, and now I'm actually living it.

Another one of these moments came on Tuesday when I was holding onto the edge of a table trying to keep my composure as my A&P Lab TA poked and prodded a cadaver. It was definitely in the top 10 nastiest things I've ever experienced, but I thought I did very well. I fought a headache and a constant gag reflex, but I actually TOUCHED a cadaver. *hold for applause*

I'm constantly reminded of how much life changes every time I go to work. I started working at Seasons of Hope in January, where I there were 21 DT's. I was the newest and youngest there. Now I'm one of the oldies in the company...like seriously I'm 4 or 5 in seniority haha.

Oh, and Greysen is getting so BIG!:

Is everyone else aware that Rebecca is due in less than a week??:

This is a hat that my mom made for Hyrum.

She also made a pumpkin and a BSU hat.

Oh, and I'm a sophomore in COLLEGE. I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one. College is such an old word...and I'm clearly not, as all of my friends are quick to point out.

Sorry mom, I'll try to take more time out of my nutso schedule to update my blog so you know what I'm up to :)

The Most Exciting News of My Whole Entire Lifetime!

Okay....maybe I over-exaggerated that just a smidge, but I got some SERIOUSLY good news today.

Yesterday I took my first Organic Chemistry test and I left feeling pretty confident.
[I may have been just a little nervous too]

Today I got my test back {HOORAY for speedy test graders!} and I got...

AN A!!!!


XD I can't even express how happy happy happy HAPPY I am at this moment XD

Now if only my brain would magically start understanding Physics my life would be set!

Semester Predictions

These are the predictions I have made for the upcoming semester:

Class I will love the most:

Anatomy and Physiology

(Cause I get to take it with Kristin Langedyke!!!)

Class I will hate the most: 

Physics

Class I will study the most for:

O Chem and Anat & Phys

Best Class (in terms of grades):

Anat & Phys

Worst Class (in terms of grades):

O Chem

Number of mental breakdowns I will have:

At least 2 and possibly 3

I am SUPER nervous for the coming semester...but my classes seem pretty cool and I actually feel like I'll be learning something beneficial to my future :)

Get ready for a storm!

I have realized that I haven't posted about my life recently...like at all, so I really need to play catch up!

I've started reading more books lately.

I've always been a ridiculous reader,

I'll get caught up in a story, but then get bored.

I have to be reading at least 2 books so if I get bored I can pick up the other one.

My books right now, The Work and the Glory vol 4 and The Fire of the Covenant.

Both by Gerald N. Lund :)

Anatomy and Physiology textbook: $93.95

Anatomy and Physiology lab manual: $116.50

Web Access code: $57.50

iClicker: $28.50

Interactive DVD's plus a coolio picture book thing: Priceless.

Good thing too, cause I thought I was gonna cry!

No, really though. Books are ridiculous!

So...funny story.

Mystie got married!!

But that's not the funny part.

When I went to put her gift in the bag, the bag kinda sorta ripped.

I had to get a little creative with the wrapping.

I ended up wrapping it in tissue paper and then cutting the bag apart and taping it so it wasn't so transparent.

Oh, then I forgot the card, so I improvised with the back of a tithing slip (the only available paper in the WHOLE church building)

And, the last thing for this post is this:

I have been Cross Stitching a LOT!!

It's ridiculous how detailed these things can get, and I'm super proud of how far it's come.

Here's a close up on the face. 

You see all those itty bitty stitches???

Wanna hear the best news I've heard all day?

1) Finals are OVER!

2) I am heading home tomorrow!

3) I GOT AN A IN CALCULUS!!!

I worked my butt off for that A and I have never felt more accomplished.
This leads me to another blessing, which I believe is number 32...

The power of prayer.

On Monday before my Calculus final I was finding it hard to breathe because I was so nervous.
Then I went into my bedroom and said a prayer.
I felt awesome afterwards and the results showed on my test.
201/200 baby!

Now I just need to keep praying for an A in Biology!...And speech!

Welcome to ISU :)

Monday was orientation here at ISU!

I should have listened to my parents and roommates and stayed home.

It was WAY boring.

I wish I had gotten a picture of a sign in the gym where they were feeding us

It said in BIG BOLD letters, "No food or drink in the gym."

Nice one, ISU.

Anyway, it's been a lot of fun, believe it or not.

Kristin brought one of her roommates along and we had a blast walking campus.

Oh yeah, Kristin got up and hugged Benny the Bengal in front of like 2000 students...no picture ;(

After we sat through like a billion speakers they had all of us walk down to campus for...

March through the Arch

It's a tradition here at ISU.

The arch is the doorway of a building that was torn down years and years ago.

It was the first building here on campus and every year since it's been knocked down

the incoming students march through it onto campus

When we graduate we'll march through it in the opposite direction.

I felt extremely dumb marching through it to be honest. 

Everyone was all, "Congratulations! You made it!"

and

"You're officially a student at ISU!"

The only things I could think were, "uhhhh, yeah..."

and 

"Actually, I think I was officially a student back in January when I got a letter than said, 'Congratulations, you're now a student at ISU.'"

Still, it was pretty cool.

This is the Arch that we all marched through. I don't remember the name of the original building though...

This is Kristin's roommate. Doesn't she look JUST like Brianne Kline? No joke, they're like identical!

This is Kristin and I walking down for March through the Arch. She would kill me if she knew I put this picture up

That was Monday, but today is Tuesday...which means that today was my first day of class. 

I can't tell you how scared I was to go to my first college class, 

but the truth is, it wasn't bad at all.

I had Biology 101 at 9:30 this morning

I got there 15 minutes early, which is good considering it's all the way

across campus from where I live and I was walking

I opened the door and the place was PACKED!

I found a chair at the front of the class (surprised?)

I remember most of the material from sophomore year, so I don't think it'll be much of a problem.

I got done there at 10:45 then headed straight to speech (BLECHHHH!)

I expected to get there right on time because it's in the middle of campus,

but I got there with like 10 minutes to spare...I guess I'm a speed walker or something

We were assigned to prepare a short biography to share with the class on Thursday

That shouldn't be so bad, right?

I had an hour break before Calculus, so I went home and made myself some sandwiches :)

mmmm, ham and turkey

Then I headed to Calc, which probably had me more worried than any class.

Turns out that it's basically the same as my high school class.

I even had to correct the teacher on a couple of things, which I thought was freakin' AWESOME!

Tomorrow...Chemistry and more Calculus. I think I'm going to like tomorrow :)

Anyway, I gotta go do some homework...it's due TOMORROW!!!