I've been out of town and without internet since Friday, otherwise this would have been up much sooner. This won't be long, but I can't in good conscious not mention the passing of Randy Pausch. I hope you all know who he is, but if not he was a phenomenal person in every way - a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was loved by all. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer almost two years ago and was given a dire prognosis, as almost all with the same diagnosis receive. In the fall he was given three to six months to live, and considering he died on Friday at the age of 47, he far outlived that, and in doing so changed the world.
He delivered one of the most amazing speeches I've ever heard, entitled "The Last Lecture," which has also been made into a beautiful book that I highly recommend. It wasn't about anything technical or scientific, but it was certainly life-changing: about living life to the fullest, which he truly exemplified. Oprah had on a great special about him, and you could just tell he loved life. He has made such an impact in the world of pancreatic cancer, an often overlooked area as it's a fairly rare diagnosis and has such poor outcomes. He became the spokesperson this disease so desperately needs - for one of the first times, pancreatic cancer made national news.
Basically, he was an amazing person and his rich legacy will live on for generations. You can read his story here: http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/index.html. And if you haven't heard the lecture, I highly recommend you take an hour and sixteen minutes out of your day to watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo. I promise, you won't regret it.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Renewed Faith in the World
First of all, sorry for the lack of updating - I started out so well! But I was sans internet for the last week and a half as I was visiting my best friend, but hopefully now I'll be able to get back on track! On to today's topic...
So I'm up north visiting my wonderful family, and for the last few days it's been just me and my aunt and uncle, who are pretty darned cool. My aunt and I were at the mall today just doing some shopping - yay Express jeans were on sale, as were Lacoste shirts and I found my clinical shoes I've been looking for, and best of all, NO TAX! If you're from Texas, you'll appreciate that! But oh my goodness we saw the absolute sweetest thing - we were both almost in tears.
We had just finished eating at Subway and my Aunt wanted to look in the haircut place next door to see if they had this specific product she's been looking for, and yay they did. The girl working there is finishing up on an older lady just as we walked in , but of course we can only see her from the back and she has the cape thing on. Her also elderly husband is standing protectively next to her and it was just so obvious his love for her. As the girl finishes drying the lady's hair she compliments her telling her how she looks like a new woman and everything. Then she takes off the cape (sorry I don't know a better word for it - I know you're probably getting the same superman vision I am!) and it is obvious that she has had a stroke, and both the hair stylist and her husband carefully get her up, though it was a struggle, as she needs assistance with every step. However, the stylist never flinched, didn't hurry them, nothing - to her they were the only people in the world that mattered.
We wait for them to pay and I commented to the lady how good her hair looked, but she didn't hear me and that's when we realized she couldn't speak. The total comes to $15 something, and it took all of my might not to jump in and pay for them, but I could tell in the man's actions that it would probably damage his pride - he was so very proud of his wife and that he had taken her to get her hair cut. So we keep watching as the husband hands the stylist a $20. He refuses to take the change, and then gives her an additional $5 - yes a $10 tip for a $15 haircut. The girl literally could not have been more gracious - it was simply a beautiful moment, as the man then so caringly helped his wife out the door. All three of us, me, my aunt, and the stylist, just stood there looking at each other for a minute, and with that, my faith in humanity and in the world was renewed.
Every day we see such negativity and bad examples of behavior, but today I witnessed something so simple, yet so touching. So thank you, to this couple, for showing me that there is still good in our world.
So I'm up north visiting my wonderful family, and for the last few days it's been just me and my aunt and uncle, who are pretty darned cool. My aunt and I were at the mall today just doing some shopping - yay Express jeans were on sale, as were Lacoste shirts and I found my clinical shoes I've been looking for, and best of all, NO TAX! If you're from Texas, you'll appreciate that! But oh my goodness we saw the absolute sweetest thing - we were both almost in tears.
We had just finished eating at Subway and my Aunt wanted to look in the haircut place next door to see if they had this specific product she's been looking for, and yay they did. The girl working there is finishing up on an older lady just as we walked in , but of course we can only see her from the back and she has the cape thing on. Her also elderly husband is standing protectively next to her and it was just so obvious his love for her. As the girl finishes drying the lady's hair she compliments her telling her how she looks like a new woman and everything. Then she takes off the cape (sorry I don't know a better word for it - I know you're probably getting the same superman vision I am!) and it is obvious that she has had a stroke, and both the hair stylist and her husband carefully get her up, though it was a struggle, as she needs assistance with every step. However, the stylist never flinched, didn't hurry them, nothing - to her they were the only people in the world that mattered.
We wait for them to pay and I commented to the lady how good her hair looked, but she didn't hear me and that's when we realized she couldn't speak. The total comes to $15 something, and it took all of my might not to jump in and pay for them, but I could tell in the man's actions that it would probably damage his pride - he was so very proud of his wife and that he had taken her to get her hair cut. So we keep watching as the husband hands the stylist a $20. He refuses to take the change, and then gives her an additional $5 - yes a $10 tip for a $15 haircut. The girl literally could not have been more gracious - it was simply a beautiful moment, as the man then so caringly helped his wife out the door. All three of us, me, my aunt, and the stylist, just stood there looking at each other for a minute, and with that, my faith in humanity and in the world was renewed.
Every day we see such negativity and bad examples of behavior, but today I witnessed something so simple, yet so touching. So thank you, to this couple, for showing me that there is still good in our world.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Happy Birthday, America!
Let me just get one thing out there: I LOVE holidays. Every single one of them, and I kind of have a reputation for making a big deal out of them because my family did as a kid and I love the traditions (green milk for St. Patty's day anyone?) Well make no exception, I love the fourth of July. I have such fond memories of celebrating when I was a kid... back in the day before summer classes interfered! My whole family, including mom, dad, brother, aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents would get together for a big picnic. My aunt would go all out with the food, and she and I made our famous "flag cake." Yes, just as it sounds, and though I'd say I'm a bit biased, it's amazing. You take pound cake, layer it with cool whip and strawberries and blueberries (patriotic don't ya say?!) and on the top layer of cool whip is an American flag made of the remaining blueberries and strawberries, in a square and stripes respectively. Oh how I missed that today! I found the recipe online, but watch out, it can get complicated! (Said with a hint of sarcasm, but if you're a perfectionist like me, it's embarrassing to admit the amount of time it takes to get that darn flag just right!) I found the recipe online and a picture of one (not one of me and my aunt's creations, but it's a good replication - sadly digital cameras were just making an appearance at the time!): http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/dessert/cakes/flagcake.html
We were such cool people - all however many of us would wear matching Old Navy flag shirts year after year - it's quite comical and my aunt still has a picture I drew of us all decked out in our shirts from when I was like 8 or so on her bulletin board in the kitchen. Everytime I'm there it brings back such great memories. We've gotten these shirts every year for I don't even know how many summers, so needless to say I was pretty perturbed this year when mom and I went to Old Navy to get them and they let us down! I mean seriously, what's up? I refuse to wear a patriotic shirt that says "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Boys" or "I'm hot as a firecracker." Just a flag would do, thanks! So I'm dated, but I'm wearing my red flag tanktop from last year and mom busted out hers from 02.
Along with the plethora of food, we would play crochet, which people down here just don't seem to appreciate, beanbags, Mexican trained dominoes (which we still play!), and whatever other games my brother and I came up with. A few days before the fourth my uncle or aunt would take my brother and I to go pick out fireworks at one of the tents on the side of the road. I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved doing that! I still crack up at the names of some of those things: battling tanks, the singing ___ (insert insect of choice here), and some that you really didn't want to question the origin! And let me tell you, these were no party poppers where you pull the string and confetti pops out, we were hardcore. And it rocked. My brother and I would spend an embarrasingly long time developing our "lineup" for the night so the biggest ones were evenly distributed. We would videotape it even though it was so dark you couldn't see much, but the sound effects of our exaggerated "ooohs" and "awwws" were priceless. These fireworks would go on for at least an hour, with the guys mostly setting them off in the middle of the street, while the rest of us would go to town with sparklers: I especially loved the 3 foot long ones! It was a rite of passage for me when I was finally allowed to handle a lighter myself and set some off - let me tell you, there is some serious skill in getting the firework lit enough that it will go off, but still being able to run for your life away from it! The best part was our "grand finale" (yes we really called it that) - we were allowed to pick out one really BIG one and boy were they cool! If you've never bought fireworks, they're ridiculously expensive, but as I (hope) you can tell, the memories are totally worth it!
We were such cool people - all however many of us would wear matching Old Navy flag shirts year after year - it's quite comical and my aunt still has a picture I drew of us all decked out in our shirts from when I was like 8 or so on her bulletin board in the kitchen. Everytime I'm there it brings back such great memories. We've gotten these shirts every year for I don't even know how many summers, so needless to say I was pretty perturbed this year when mom and I went to Old Navy to get them and they let us down! I mean seriously, what's up? I refuse to wear a patriotic shirt that says "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Boys" or "I'm hot as a firecracker." Just a flag would do, thanks! So I'm dated, but I'm wearing my red flag tanktop from last year and mom busted out hers from 02.
Along with the plethora of food, we would play crochet, which people down here just don't seem to appreciate, beanbags, Mexican trained dominoes (which we still play!), and whatever other games my brother and I came up with. A few days before the fourth my uncle or aunt would take my brother and I to go pick out fireworks at one of the tents on the side of the road. I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved doing that! I still crack up at the names of some of those things: battling tanks, the singing ___ (insert insect of choice here), and some that you really didn't want to question the origin! And let me tell you, these were no party poppers where you pull the string and confetti pops out, we were hardcore. And it rocked. My brother and I would spend an embarrasingly long time developing our "lineup" for the night so the biggest ones were evenly distributed. We would videotape it even though it was so dark you couldn't see much, but the sound effects of our exaggerated "ooohs" and "awwws" were priceless. These fireworks would go on for at least an hour, with the guys mostly setting them off in the middle of the street, while the rest of us would go to town with sparklers: I especially loved the 3 foot long ones! It was a rite of passage for me when I was finally allowed to handle a lighter myself and set some off - let me tell you, there is some serious skill in getting the firework lit enough that it will go off, but still being able to run for your life away from it! The best part was our "grand finale" (yes we really called it that) - we were allowed to pick out one really BIG one and boy were they cool! If you've never bought fireworks, they're ridiculously expensive, but as I (hope) you can tell, the memories are totally worth it!
Because I just finished summer school yesterday, there was no way we could make it up to my aunt's for the fourth, which was sad. Plus my brother wouldn't be able to get off so it just wouldn't be the same. So today was different, but still a good day. I started by having a barbecue at lunch with some of my really good friends - they have the two most adorable girls that I've pretty much watched grow up. They are now 3 years and 18 months, which are just SUCH fun ages. They had some other family over as well, and we had SO much food it was crazy! Then after getting all my suitcases packed from my apartment, I headed home from school. My parents and I had a nice dinner with another barbecue and such. We have the makings for flag cake, well at least the pound cake, strawberries, and blueberries, and I was going to make a small one but went upstairs to lay down and watch Gilmore Girls (for the umpteenth time) after dinner and just now woke up... I'll do it tomorrow.
Well that's my fourth of July - it was a lot of fun going down memory lane! Hope you all had a wonderful, safe day!
Blogging Beginnings
Welcome!
I must say that I've been wanting to start blogging for awhile... in fact I tried to start one, but am embarrassed to admit that I couldn't get blogger to cooperate with me. Well obviously, I did it this time, and I'm quite excited!
I'm not quite sure what all this blog will entail, but I hope it will be an outlet for me to write, as I love writing for fun (key words: for fun!) It will undoubtedly include the random happenings of everyday life, and also a variety of my opinions and observations. I wholeheartedly admit to being a professional people-watcher and as cheesy as this sounds, I'm constantly in awe of the world around us and how it all works.
A little bit about me: I'm 20 and have lived in Texas for most of my life. I'm a junior in college, and am majoring in nursing which I love. I want to work in pediatric oncology, PICU, or ER and want to eventually become a nurse practitioner. I have the greatest family and friends in the world, and truly love life. I love scrapbooking, doing random stuff on my laptop, and have a small fetish for TV shows on DVD. That's all I can think of at the moment, but I promise I'm not boring!
Thanks for reading - I'll do my best to update, even if it's something totally random!
I must say that I've been wanting to start blogging for awhile... in fact I tried to start one, but am embarrassed to admit that I couldn't get blogger to cooperate with me. Well obviously, I did it this time, and I'm quite excited!
I'm not quite sure what all this blog will entail, but I hope it will be an outlet for me to write, as I love writing for fun (key words: for fun!) It will undoubtedly include the random happenings of everyday life, and also a variety of my opinions and observations. I wholeheartedly admit to being a professional people-watcher and as cheesy as this sounds, I'm constantly in awe of the world around us and how it all works.
A little bit about me: I'm 20 and have lived in Texas for most of my life. I'm a junior in college, and am majoring in nursing which I love. I want to work in pediatric oncology, PICU, or ER and want to eventually become a nurse practitioner. I have the greatest family and friends in the world, and truly love life. I love scrapbooking, doing random stuff on my laptop, and have a small fetish for TV shows on DVD. That's all I can think of at the moment, but I promise I'm not boring!
Thanks for reading - I'll do my best to update, even if it's something totally random!
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