breaking point

We are officially done with our P3 fall semester! We had our finals week the week before Thanksgiving Break and then we had to come back to take our OSCEs (clinical exam) today. Towards the end of the semester, I hit a point (a dangerous point) where i didn't care what my grades were, I didn't care to study, I didn't want to do anything (see how that can be dangerous?!). I was so burnt out on everything school related that I was emotionally done come finals time. Our semester is split into 2 "Phases". Phase 1 ended mid-semester and we had finals then. I did really well in Phase I. I ended the phase with an 89.2 and no they did not round me up at all. That is a whole other story. When Phase II started, I did not do too well. I did worse on my quizzes, I did more work throughout the week, and I didn't really understand a lot of the more detailed topics. Working like a dog in Phase I to still get a B and feeling defeated because, despite studying, I was doing worse only made me even less motivated. I took my finals after barely studying and then had to work Friday night until 11pm after staying up all night Thursday night studying to take a 3-hour final. Needless to say, I was on the verge of a complete breakdown. I might have been borderline depressed (after studying I think I met the criteria). I slept for long periods and still woke up tired. I barely talked to anyone. I literally needed a break or I was going to go insane.

And then Thanksgiving break came.

The past week was exactly what I needed to be normal again. Slowly but surely I was getting back to being myself. I got to see my entire family. I got to go back to my old high school where I first met Joshua to watch my brother play basketball. I got to sit and laugh with my friends for hours. I got to go black friday shopping. I got to hang out with my parents. I didn't see anyone that I didn't want to. It. Was. Incredible. It was exactly what I need

I came back, took my OSCE, and now I am officially on Christmas Break! Hallelujah! Now I keep spending all of my money on christmas presents. This is going to be the best 6 weeks ever!

Day 9-11

Day 11: Today I am thankful for all of the veterans. At our football game yesterday they had all of the veterans stand and I got a little emotional. It is incredibly awesome what those men and women put on the line so that I can have freedom. Sometimes we forget exactly how great of a sacrifice that so many people have offered up for our country. They defend what I take for granted. I will forever be thankful for them.

Day 10: I am thankful that Alabama lost. Sorry to all of my Bama friends but I am glad someone finally knocked you off your high horse. I know Auburn is really terrible and we will more than likely still lose to Alabama this year (reason #1 that I sold my tickets) but I find a tad bit of joy for this football season in the fact that I do not have to hear any National Championship junk from some people for just a little bit. No doubt Bama is insanely good but hearing Jordan Hare Stadium erupt when they showed the final score of the Bama Texas A&M game up on the scoreboard might be just a little bit better :)

Day 9: I am thankful that Joshua records Duck Dynasty and re-watches them with me every Friday night because I do not have time to watch them on Wednesday. It is one of the funniest shows I know of. It is good, clean, family fun.

Day 8

Today I am thankful that one week from right now I will be studying for the last night until January. One more week of this semester to go!

Day 7

Today I am thankful than I am a part of an incredible company like
People Water. I think it is so awesome what they are doing and I am honored to be a campus ambassador for such a giving company.
Watch this video and then go buy some water!
Use promo code AU-RB-001 for 10% off everything!

catching up

I have been saying what I am thankful for on Facebook but I am going to do it on here too! so I will catch up now and keep up after this.

Day 1: I am thankful that I got my journal club over with today so that I can have a version of senioritis next semester!
We have to do these presentations all the time starting now that are called Journal Clubs. Basically you just have to review a study that was done. I will spare you the details but it isn't a fun thing to do. We have to only do one for one of our classes and I volunteered to do mine last week so that I do not have to do it next semester. Since that is our last semester of classes, having one less thing I have to focus on will be nice!

Day 2: I am thankful that I got the opportunity to know Summer Kempfer. She has poured so much into my life over the past 7 years. I am forever changed by that relationship. She was an incredible example of Christ's love and she is greatly missed. (see previous blog)

Day 3: I'm thankful that I have a job that lets me work enough to make some money but not too much that I lose my mind. I'm thankful that I work with really great people too.
I had to work Friday 5-11pm and Saturday and Sunday 8:30am-6:30pm. Needless to say, if I hated my job I would have had a HORRIBLE weekend. I love my job. The people I work with are awesome. I feel like it has really spoiled me and when I get out and I am a pharmacist I will have high expectations. 

Day 4: I am thankful that I got to sleep in Monday morning because I had afternoon IP (after working all weekend and staying up to do homework this was a huge blessing)

Day 5: I am thankful for coke. It is delicious and refreshing. Enough said.

Day 6: Today I am thankful that no matter who wins the election that Christ is still working all things for good.

...and I am going to write Joshua in for Sheriff :)

Summer Sunshine

When I first moved to Auburn, I was searching for a church home. When Church of the Highlands opened in February of my freshman year, I knew I had found one. The first person that I met was Summer Kempfer. She was the children's director and I got involved in the nursery. She became a friend and eventually became a spiritual mentor to me. We would meet every week and she would pour into me and pray for me. I grew so much closer to the Lord because of my relationship with her.I babysat her kiddos, spent time with their family, and knew she would be an important person in my life forever.


Last December, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 cervical cancer. Heartbreaking. It was a long, tiring battle going through chemo and all that goes along with it. But in the midst of it all, Summer never took her focus off of the Lord. She lived by the phrase "I Win!" Whether that be that she defeated cancer and got to be with her family or whether the Lord took her home and she got to be with Him forever. Either way, she wins. You can visit her CaringBridge to read more of her journey. 

Last Saturday night, Summer lost her battle with cancer. She got to go home to worship at the feet of Jesus. Tuesday, we had a service to celebrate her life. And that is exactly how it should be. She is HEALED! She is with Jesus forever! Of course we miss her here and we would rather have her with us but she wouldn't trade this life for eternity. Not for one second. At the service there was a letter that Summer wrote and this is a part of it.

"The most exciting part about having cancer is that it has given me a platform from which to speak. See, it's not about me having cancer, and honestly its not really about ME at all. Having a relationship with Jesus has changed my life. His love for me has changed my life. And it is my purpose in life to share that with others, so others can be pulled out of the darkness which saturates this world and into His marvelous light, where there is freedom and hope and love."- Summer Kempfer.

Summer Sunshine Kempfer touched my life and the lives of so many others. She will never be forgotten. She definitely leaves one heck of a legacy!

Please continue to pray for her husband, Jeremy, and their 4 kids Taylor (12), Savannah (9), Jaylen (5), and Sarah Kate (1). 

Home

I had an absolute blast in Texas. After my last post, we made a few more stops. We went to South Congress and ate at Hopdoddy's. So yummy! On Sunday, we grabbed some Torchy's Tacos and had a picnic at Town Lake. I think it's actually called Lady Bird Lake now. After we walked around for a bit we went to church. That Monday was Memorial Day so we went to the Texas State Cemetery. That was fun. After that we went to the Lyndon B. Johnson Museum. Lauren's old design company is redesigning it so we went to see the before. It was so cool. They even had an original sketch of The Lorax drawn by Dr. Seuss himself for LBJ! So neat. I enjoyed spending time with Lauren and I met so many amazing people that I won't forget for the rest of my life. Lauren almost has me convinced I need to live there. I got back to Auburn that Tuesday and worked for a couple of days and then headed to Clay to do my 2 week rotations at Princeton. I'm a week in right now and so far it's fine. It's nothing like CVS. While I don't enjoy those random terrible patients I do generally enjoy the patient interaction. There is literally NO patient interaction at the hospital. I'm not too fond of that. I love to talk to people and not just about drugs. Josh has his rotations in 2 weeks so we've been apart for a while and we will be apart some more. We are going to a conference in Utah next week so at least we will get to spend a little time together. Maybe he will come home with 5 wives! Who knows! Ha! He can't handle more than just me. I joke but I really do give him a hard time sometimes and I really am grateful that he puts up with me. Now I'm going to try to get some sleep because 6:00 comes way too early.

TX

The stars at night are big and bright----deep in the heart of TEXAS! I'm in Austin, TX for the week visiting my random freshman roommate turned BFF Lauren Huff. The week before I came out here we went to the beach for a week with some friends. There were about 14 total at some points of the week. We went to the Hangout Music Fest. It was so so awesome. We saw Skrillex, Dawes, Umphrey's Magee, Dave Matthews Band, Jack White, Alabama Shakes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the list goes on and on. It was so hot but it was a total blast. The people we went with made it just that much more fun. We got back to Auburn on Tuesday and I flew to Austin on Wednesday. Yesterday was Lauren's roommate Jenni's birthday so we made her a good breakfast and made her a cake. Then last night we went to the live auditions for XFactor! It was pretty fun! I can't lie...being close to Britney Spears made me feel like I was 13 all over again being obsessed with hit me baby one more time. There were some good people but there were some bad too. After that we came back and had pizza, cheese dip, and cake and ice cream with friends. Such a college meal but so fun. Today we went to Lauren and Jenni's studio to see where they work. They make me so jealous that I am not artistic whatsoever. Then we met Amy for lunch at the Salt Lick in Round Rock. Yummy in my tummy. It was so so good. I could have drank their sauce in a glass. I'm here until Tuesday and I'm sure we will be going and doing much more. I'm going to go to church with them at The Austin Stone on Sunday and Jenni is off work so we can play. I'm pretty sure Huffy is trying to convince me to move to Austin because she points out every CVS and says "you can work there!" maybe some day...

6 months of updates

Wow. This post has almost been SIX MONTHS in the making! It better be good then I guess....maybe not. We are finishing up our P2 year. We have exactly TWO WEEKS until we are done with this terrible, dreadful, super hard, crazy year. This semester has  been even more work than last semester. Before you even apply to Auburn's pharmacy school you know that P2 year is the hardest. You hear about tests every 2 weeks and that you have a ton of things all at once but you really don't fully understand what that means until you are smack dab in the middle of it and have pulled more all nighters in one semester than in all of undergrad combined (I'm at a total of 2 so far).  That being said, Josh and I are both doing really good in our classes. By really good I mean Josh got a 100 on our last DAD test which is not easy at all. I didn't make a 100 but I still haven't gotten a C which is really good for me. We have also really gotten to know some people that I would now consider great friends. Its funny how you get to know people when you're all stuck in the same room for 12+ hours a day :) Our class also won Hargreave's Day! Hargreave's Day is like a field day for pharmacy school. All of the classes compete in volleyball, kickball, wiffleball, ultimate frisbee, tug of war, and pentathalon. We take a day off of school and it is always a lot of fun. This year our class, the Blue Barracudas, won the whole thing. We get our name on the trophy and everything! Josh's dad finished up his consolidation rounds of chemo and is leukemia free! He has been back at work for a little over a month now. Since Josh shaved his head for his dad and has kept it shaved his dad has longer hair than he does now! Continue to keep him in your prayers so that this can be the last time he has to go through all of that! Praise the Lord for His incredible healing! I have had a pretty much drama free year with my roommates which for me is almost unheard of. I thank the Lord every day for keeping my sanity over the past couple of years. I did gain my Lauren Huff out of roomies though. I am going to visit her in the great state of TEXAS this summer! I haven't seen her in way too long so I am past due for a visit. I miss my Huffy. Me and Josh also get to go to Utah in June to take a class on Alcoholism and Drug Dependencies. We go to a conference for a week and get to count it as an elective next year so that will decrease our stress next spring! We are going with about 6 other people from our school and staying in a house together. I think it will be so much fun and very interesting. We are also going to the Hangout Music Fest in May. We're going with about 10 other people to the beach for a week and we get to see Dave Matthews, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Skrillex, Switchfoot, Young the Giant, and a ton of more people. It should be so much fun. How could it not be? Somewhere between all of our travels we will be working and doing out 2 week rotations. I have mine at Princeton so besides the long drive to work for free every day I am looking forward to it. They said we may even get to scrub in on some surgeries with the anaesthesiologist! I might pass out but I am sure going to try to see what I can. That would be so so cool. The thing I am really looking forward to the most is being able to go home and hug on my friends and family. Since school has been so crazy, I haven't been home all semester. I really miss my momma! Next week my littlest brother will be SIXTEEN! holy cow. where has the time gone. I miss my whole family and I cannot wait to see them.

I think that is pretty much the main points. Hopefully I won't go another 6 months!