My grandma is cooler than your grandma

My 84 year grandmother took a nasty spill last week, falling and bleeding over a gallon of blood into her bottom. She's had a couple of strokes and other minor issues, so she is on blood thinners, which makes her bleed large amounts of blood whenever she gets a cut or bruise. Well this was definitely the case this time, as she bled out 4 units of blood. As time progressed, she started getting pale and extremely light-headed because the rest of the body was not getting sufficient amounts of blood. My uncle and his family, who were in from Arkansas, found my grandmother passed out in her bedroom on Thursday. He immediately took her to the hospital.

Now, for those of you who don't know my grandmother, she is a warrior. She is still practicing medicine full time at her small, rural private practice in Wilmore, KY. She is the most amazing woman I have ever met. She graduated as the only female in her Vanderbilt Medical School class, finished the curriculum at the Brussels School of Tropical Disease where the tests were oral exams taken only in French, and then whisked her family away to Africa, serving the locals at a hospital in the middle-of-nowhere Congo for 10 years. Get the picture?

So here she is, for the first time in her life, helpless, lying in the hospital, bleeding insane amounts of blood, and unable to talk due to some of the medicine they had her on. After two days, she started making improvements, but they were still keeping her in the hospital to monitor her heart and raise her blood counts. On Saturday afternoon, my aunt and uncle and 2 cousins were in the hospital room with her hanging out and the heart monitor started to beep loudly, meaning her heart rate was getting too low. My uncle casually mentioned it to my grandmother, just to make sure she was ok. My grandmother slowly sat up, looked over at the monitor, then passed out. My 16 year old cousin started to cry and my uncle panicked and started to scream, "Mom! Mom!"

My grandmother then opened her eyes, smiled, winked, and said, "got ya!"


My grandma is a punk. And I love it.

Another reason to despise UofL

I've always hated UofL. It's as simple as that. When you are a UK fan, that comes with the territory. Kind of like A&M hates t.u. and Texas Tech, Kentucky takes out their anger on Louisville (pronounced Lullville) and Duke. UofL was always the step-son of basketball in the Bluegrass State, playing second fiddle to the Big Blue in Lexington. But that is understandable. The University of Louisville is a city school, no one grows up in the state of Kentucky dreaming of going to UofL. It's for all those people in Louisville who are too afraid to step out of their bubble and experience something new. Or of course, for those who don't have the brains to get into the superior UK. It's trashy, dirty, and ghetto (no offense dad, I know you are an alum, but you even admit that you hated your time there, and you saw the light in going to UK med school).

My hatred for UofL increased significantly when the devil incarnate, Rick Pitino, decided he would slap the state of Kentucky in the face and take the UofL job. Kentucky had loved Pitino when he was the UK coach. He had been King of the Bluegrass State from 1989 - 1997, turning a scandal-filled program into the best team in the nation. While at UK, he won 5 SEC Tournament Championships, 1 National Championship in 1996, and led the Cats to the NCAA Finals in 1997 before peacing out for the NBA.

But after an embarrassing stint in the NBA coaching realm, he realized he was completely incompetent and needed to be back at the collegiate level. So where does he decide to go? LOUISVILLE. Really? Completely unnecessary. Especially after the fact that his wife had always complained about how much she hated Kentucky, saying it was not high-class enough for her. There were multiple other job openings that year that Pitino could have taken, such as at UNLV, but he showed his true character and took the job of UK's most bitter rival. Since then, the UK/UofL rivalry has become even more heated. That day in December when the two teams face off, the roads of Kentucky are virtually empty, everyone glued to their TV's.

Usually my hatred for Lullville decreases as the season goes on, because Kentucky typically does well during March Madness and UofL doesn't make too much damage in the tournament. But this is not the case this year. Kentucky lost in the first round. The Wildcats fought hard, but came up short against Marquette. My interest in the tournament greatly decreased, especially when the Aggies lost to UCLA in the second round. I couldn't have even told you who was playing who in this weekend's games. But when I woke up this morning to see that UofL had beaten Tennessee in the Sweet 16 last night, my head started to smoke like in the cartoons.

There are many reasons why this upsets me:

• SEC fans are very loyal in post-season play, always picking the SEC team over their opponent, even if we hate that SEC team (which is the case with UT) because we want to see our conference do well. We all know the SEC is the best conference in the nation, hands down, but we want the rest of the country to realize this too.
  
• I never want to see a smile on Rick Pitino's face. Ever. Him and his hair implants...ugh...gross.
  
• I never want to see Lullville go far in the tournament.
• And most importantly, I had chosen Tennessee to be the National Champions. Yes, I admit it. I had them going all the way. Chris Lofton had been clutch all year, and I thought he was gonna do it.
  

So here I am, left with UK and A&M knocked out of the tournament and my bracket completely screwed. Just another reason to despise UofL.

Easter Bunny

Last night, at approximately 12:03am, I through a pity party for myself. That's right friends, I was feeling sorry for myself for being away from my family for Easter. I've been home alone, studying like crazy for my tests and papers coming up for the past 3 days. But there was really no reason to be down. I had been so graciously invited to a friend's house for dinner that evening, as one of the "stragglers" left in CS for Easter weekend. But nonetheless, I still wanted to be in my ol' Kentucky home, celebrating this holiday with my family. I then proceeded to put a status on Facebook, saying:

"Elisabeth is wishing she would wake up to an Easter basket tomorrow morning, instead of an empty house."

I went to bed, slept like a log, woke up at 8:30am, looked outside for some random reason, and saw an Easter basket sitting on my car! Hooray!

So either the Easter Bunny is real, or someone out there who saw my status between midnight and 8am, went out and bought the materials, and brought it to my house. There was no card left with the stuff, so I don't know who it is from. Whoever my mystery Easter bunny is, THANKS! You really did make my day!

Happy Easter. HE IS RISEN!

back to life, back to reality

I realize this is the lazy man's way of blogging, and I apologize for that. But I don't have the time to sit down and be really creative right now. I just returned from Seattle and the Bahamas for Spring Break, and it's back to the books for me. So this is what ya get. My random thoughts. Take it or leave it. (oh please do take it)

• It's the most wonderful time of the year. March Madness. My Wildcats AND Aggies both got into the Big Dance once again this year, which makes me smile. They both are playing in Anaheim, CA too, which has to have some sort of significance to it (haven't figured it out yet, but I feel like it's a good luck charm). UK (#11 seed) plays this Thursday, March 20th, at 1:30pm CST against #6 seed Marquette. #9 seed A&M plays #8 seed BYU at 6:25pm CST on Thursday. Big day! BTHO marquette and byu!
• I stepped on a wasp yesterday morning AND got attacked by killer fire ants, all in less than 12 hours from each other. My feet are red, swollen, and I look really funny when I walk. I don't know what I did to deserve this. My house has a wasp nest somewhere in it, but we don't know where. We have killed 6 wasps since we've gotten home from Spring Break.
• I could live in Seattle, WA. I fell in love with the city when I was there. The culture, food, scenery, shopping...I could go on and on. I am seriously contemplating doing my residency or fellowship there. It's such a fun, unique city! But there are negatives to moving out there: I would most definitely come down with a case of SAD due to the 6 straight months of cold and rain; if I was not married already, I would most likely end up with the average Seattle male: fun and outdoorsy, but liberal and quirky. Also, Seattle has MANDATORY recycling. They fine you if they find you throwing away glass/plastics in the "normal" trash. Government intervention is not the answer, my friends.
• My spring break pics are up on Facebook if you want to see them. If you don't have Fbook, too bad. :) JK, they are on flickr. Check them out!
• I often times wonder who reads my blog. It's weird putting myself out there for the world to see. If you feel so inclined, leave a comment. It really would make my day.
  
• I have some sort of weird disorder (still trying to find the medical terminology to describe it) where I can't sleep in the same bed as someone else. It's really insane. I am quite worried about sharing a bed with my future husband. I sleep like 1/4 of the night and lay there, trying not the move the rest of the time. And I usually fail at that.
  
• I have a friend, we'll call her "Sarah", who is homeless. She literally lives out of her car, begging people to let her come in for a warm shower and home cooked meals whenever she can. Sarah is a nomad, traveling all around the country and world, in search of any way she could earn a little bit of cash. If you would like to donate money to her cause, as she is a struggling professional athlete, send checks my way. I'll take care of it! :)
• I have been told by many lately, that I am "unique" and "awkwardly funny". They all claim that those are compliments, but I don't see it that way. Seriously guys? Unique? You might as well put a sticker on my forehead that says "I'm weird." Thanks guys.
  
• I have a boatload of studying to do right now. So what am I doing instead? Blogging. And then what? Cleaning. Distractions are wonderful.
• Pictures of Seattle below: 1) view from the hike we took. so pretty! 2) walking around Fremont (a district of Seattle) - the compulsory jumping pic I take every trip. 3) the needle. whoop.

Revelation

That's it. I've made up my mind. I've thought long and hard about this. The decision is final. I've seen the light. There's no turning back now. Full steam ahead. You ready for this? I'm gonna marry a nerd. So hot.

February 29th!!!

I do not have anything particularly great or interesting to explain about the world today, but considering the fact that this will probably be the only February 29th that will exist during my blogging years (doubt I will still be doing this 4 years from now), I figured I would write a post.

I've always lived life on the safe side, when it comes to partying, boys, and especially fashion. I am not the girl who will be the first to buy the newest and latest trendy thing. I usually wait about a year to a) see if it is still in fashion and it is worth spending my hard earned money on, b) for me to get acclimated to the new style (it took me about 4 years to start to appreciate capris, about a year for me to find gouchos cute, and I'm currently struggling with the tights/big lose shirt combo), or c) for me to build up the courage to wear it in public. This is one quality that my mother hates about me. She always wants to buy me the new fashions, right off the runway. But I am pretty content with my casual look, although I've been told I look like I am 15, so maybe I should spruce up my look a wee bit.

Well today I decided it was time to get my hair cut. It had been 7 months, so it was more a matter of necessity than pure desire. As Simon so politely told Garrett Haley in his American Idol* performance, "It looks like you've been shut up in your bedroom for about a month. You're pale. You need some fresh air." Hopefully I didn't look quite as bad as him, but a change was direly needed. So I waltzed into the hair salon, wearing my designer jeans, high heels, and new super cute shirt. One thing I've learned, you have to look good for hair stylists so that they take you seriously, so I brought my A game today. I got 3 inches off the bottom, tons of layers, and, hold your breath, bangs! Ah! Now, they aren't "serious" bangs, so don't get your hopes up. They are the sweeping kind...covering up one eye, giving me the mysterious look. I think I like them, but I'm already annoyed at having hair in my face constantly. Right now, they are bobby-pinned back. :)

About the pale thing...yeah, I'm still pasty, actually more like transparent. I have always won the "whitest girl award" amongst all my friends. When you are whiter than a red-head, then you know you have talent. My roommate went to the tanning bed yesterday, trying to get ready for the second part of our spring break in the Bahamas. Although I would enjoy being tan, it's just not in my blood, so I have learned to embrace my alabaster skin . I also have strong convictions with going to a tanning bed. It's like smoking. Or sleeping with a million guys. You're bound to get cancer or an STD (from the sex, not the tanning bed, although I have heard there's sketchy tanning beds out there). Cancer ovens are not the answer. Spray-on tans? Yes please.

Tonight is GLOW - Giving to Light Others Way - put on by Maggies and AMC. It's a 5K run through campus, where all the proceeds go to various charities throughout the community. We get a rockin' t-shirt, it's for a good cause, and tons of people go out and enjoy Aggieland together....pretty cool. But don't you guys worry, I am not actually running the 5K, I will be walking. It's against my religion to run for the "fun" of it.

Paid my speeding ticket today - $280 for going 41 mph on Holleman (30mph limit). For the record, I don't like policemen. But I especially don't like police women.

This time next week I will be in Seattle with Alex, Ann Carolyn, and Patton. I'm slightly excited. Booyah.

Happy Leap Year! :)

*speaking of American Idol, everyone needs to be voting for Jason Castro. He's an Aggie. And he's cute. And talented. WHOOP!

"If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." ~ Michelangelo

Fact: I have never been accused of being creative. It just doesn't come naturally to me. I like structure. I thrive off of following the rules. Call me dull, boring, insipid - it's ok, I won't take offense, because when it comes to my artistic juices, let's just say they're lacking.

Hence, I must admit that my Horticulture 203 (Floral Design) class has been more difficult than I had preconceived. Not in the sense that I won't get an A (because I think that may be impossible, but I will have to look into the statistics to confirm that statement), but with me being my harshest critic, I expect perfection. The class is very entertaining. I am learning a lot of different flower names and types, and rules to designing, which is always a good thing to have in my back pocket for planning that wedding in my far future. But most of all, I have gained an immense appreciation for the arts. I always figured it took no skill at all to throw some flowers in a vase and charge $50 for it. Now I appreciate the amount of detail, time, and artistic creativity it takes to come up with these designs. (pictured above: week 1 design: Small Round - using Daisy Pom Pon Chrysanthemums and Standard Carnations).

At the beginning of the semester, the teacher told us exactly what flowers to use and took us step by step on how to make the design, but now we are given more freedom and are allowed to pick and choose which foliage/filler/colors we want, as long as we are effective in making the overall design. One of my favorites we did was the Triangle design (pictured left). Besides Spider Chrysanthemums being one of my favorite flowers, the arrangement was more modern, which is always fun. :) Today we had to make a hand-held bouquet, like for a wedding. It took me forever to make this little pip-squeak of a thing, and I personally was not too pleased with the end result. I would have liked to use more roses, but they limited us to 3. That sucker was not my friend - with flower heads falling off as I was squeezing the design to tie it together, or being unable to get the twisting effect of the stems - it just wasn't my cup of tea. I got a good grade on it, but I think the teacher was too kind (praise Jehovah for her mercy).

So back to the point of the blog. Now that my days as an athlete are over, I have been searching for another hobby, or avocation, if you will. My father has always been into photography, being the #1 fan at all my soccer/basketball/gymnastics/track events, probably taking close to 10,000 pictures of me over the years (Pops, what would your guesstimate be?). Well in the past year, he has been so gracious as to give me two of his old cameras, as he significantly upgraded to a Nikon D2. He handed over his old film camera (a Nikon N7o) which I used on my vacation to Greece and at Rachel's wedding (both of which I got fairly good reviews); then for my birthday, he passed down his digital Nikon D7o to me. I've had it for the past 3 months, but never used it much due to the intimidation factor. All those buttons, dials, modes. Words such as aperture, ISO, shutter speed. It's overwhelming. But recently, under the tutelage of a world-renown photographer (not yet, but probably some day), I have been studying my camera, learning the tricks of the trade, and trying to figure out how to fully use this incredible camera. Check out his work here: Spencer Selvidge and be sure to take note of his pictures of Venice.

I am not remotely close to understanding the capabilities of my camera, or yet have I developed the artistic eye, but I am a work in process. It's something I'm passionate about, much more so than flowers. Trying to capture something in a photograph that I see with my naked eye is impossible, but the challenge is thrilling and exciting to me.

So here are some of my personal favorites up to date. Nothing is frame worthy yet, but hopefully in the next year or so I will start producing some high quality photos.


Above: Academic Plaza on the campus of Texas A&M University. Muster Statue in focus, Academic Building in the background.








Pansies at the Academic Building.
























"Softly call the Muster..."

















Administration Building at Texas A&M University.









Streets of Mykonos, Greece. This entire island was picture perfect.













Dusk in Delphi, Greece.








Beautiful bride-to-be, Rachel Russell.






















Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Sok!