My View

There are times when my favorite comic strip is so eerily fitting for that day.  For instance...

This past Thursday, Lisa was buried.  My favorite comic strip for that day?

That just gave me a little bit of encouragement.  I don't know, maybe it will encourage someone else.

Okay, now to really depress myself cheer myself up, John and I are homeowners!!  In all seriousness, we could not be more excited.  It is just a long road ahead of us and a lot of work.  But we are up for the task!!  I've decided to post before and after pictures once we begin to complete rooms and get moved in.  That will take quite some time, so I'll give you all a little teaser.  Here's the view off our back deck...

This picture doesn't quite do it justice.  If you look just closely enough, you can barely see an outline of the Smokies way off in the distance.  Regardless, it's beautiful.  

Now can I go off on a tangent here for a second?  Well of course I can.  I mean, is that weird?  I'm just sitting here on my computer asking myself questions.  I've already written this by the time you read it.  And by you, I mean my mom.  And the two people that follow my blog...  Anyway...

If I see one more person post something on Facebook about popping the biggest pimple in the world, I am going to go BONKERS.  I mean, REALLY?  Listen, I am in medical school.  I enjoyed cadaver lab.  I thoroughly enjoyed observing surgery.  But popping pimples?  That's disgusting.  I'm just saying...

On another (completely unrelated) note, let me tell you what happened the other day...  I was walking into the bank to finalize some things with our mortgage before we closed.  Well, you see, the bank has a brick wall out front.  So here I go struttin my stuff up to the bank doors.  I mean, hardcore.  Like Victoria's Secret models ain't got NOTHIN on this.  When suddenly...

My sweater ever so slightly snags on the bricks (I suppose I was walking too close).  And before I even knew it, it caught me midstride and whipped me into a complete 180.  I'm so super cool.

So anyway, the whole point of this is to tell you that if you enjoy reading my blog, go click the follow button to the right.  If you don't enjoy reading my blog, what are you doing here go click the follow button to the right.  If you don't really care either way but just want to make me feel a tad bit better about myself in exchange for free medical advice twenty years from now when I graduate medical school, go click the follow button to the right.  If your name is Megan Webber and you talk about how much you love to read my blog, go click the follow button to the right.  There is your shoutout (you're welcome).

Happy lazy Sunday!

Lisa, Flame Eternal

It's always hard to hear that someone you love has unexpectedly been called to meet their maker.  Sunday morning was no different.

Lisa was, in many ways, a second mother to me.  Now I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that it was all roses, butterflies, rainbows, and unicorns.  No, we certainly had our ups and downs.

I met Lisa's daughter in the summer before my first semester of college.  We were immediate friends.  It wasn't until after formal recruitment that I met Lisa.  She scared me.

She was just so well respected, and I was for sure that she would eat my soul if I got out of line.  Honestly, that's not far from the truth.  You definitely didn't want to disappoint her.

A friend of mine posted this, and I too believe that this is how Lisa often felt about me.  But because Lisa would not back down, because she would let you know when she was disappointed, she taught me to be a better person.

Now don't get me wrong.  My mama raised me right.  It's just that in college, when I was away from my mama, I still had someone to look over my shoulder and make sure I was keeping my butt in line.

As an adult, I appreciate that now more than Lisa could possibly know.

When I started my job teaching and even when I started medical school, I didn't have to worry about cleaning up my Facebook.  Lisa's girls didn't go around putting a bunch of crap on a public forum.  I still follow those rules.

When I went to my medical school interview, I could talk about how Delta Zeta helped shaped me into a more well-rounded person so that ultimately, I can be a better physician.  I believe it goes without saying that no organization becomes great without a great leader.

Even if you hated her guts, you had to admire her.  Her enthusiasm for cheerleading, her passion for Delta Zeta, her zeal for life.

It's difficult to find the right words to say about such an influential woman.  I suppose that there is no single combination of words that could correctly express how much I admired her.

Perhaps it is most appropriate to say that she lived by the Delta Zeta creed.

To the world, she delivered temperance and insight and courage.

She crusaded for justice.

She sought the truth and defended it always.

To those whom her life touched in slight measure, she gave graciously of what was hers.

To her friends, understanding and appreciation.

To those closer ones, she loved ever steadfast.

To her mind, growth.

To herself, faith.

And she walked truly in the light of the flame.

White Rabbit, White Rabbit, White Rabbit

I have been a busy, busy girl lately.  We close on our house in 9 days, so we've been picking out paint colors and carpet and appliances and what not.

Score for French doors!!  This was made possible by the free washer and dryer we are receiving from my mom and dad.  My parents are awesome!

So I usually update my blog on Mondays, but I'll have you know that this past Monday was date night extraordinaire.  It was pretty much a second honeymoon in the great big exotic city of Knoxville.  And the best part--it didn't cost us a dime!!!

The first thing we did was treat ourselves to quite the exquisite dinner at Red Lobster.

I even let John order the most expensive thing on the menu.  Whoa, I know.  High rollers here.  Buuuuut it's only because we had a $50 gift card (thanks again, Mom and Dad).

Next, it was to the movies (again, only because we had a gift card).  Let me just go on a little rant here...

I think the movie theaters are ridiculous.  The only ones I will willingly go to are the ones in Middlesboro because they are $3.50.  Paying $10 for a ticket?  I mean, heck, John and I could practically buy the Blu-ray by the time we went to see a movie in theaters.  Does anyone else find this insanely ridiculous???  I digress...

So we went to the movies.  We saw...  (drum roll, please)  The Grey.

Now, without giving away the plot (because it's so intensely complex.....), I will say that this is definitely NOT a chick flick.  In fact, it is the opposite of a chick flick.  Perhaps a dude uhh... Well, I don't have anything that rhymes with dude.  But it's a man movie.  Lots of fighting and dying and dramatic moments and absolutely NO romance.  I mean, what's a movie without two people falling in love?

Needless to say, I was not a fan of the movie.  Not to mention that this couple sat in front of us and talked THE ENTIRE WAY THROUGH THE MOVIE!!!

Now, it's my opinion that if I just paid TWENTY FREAKING DOLLARS to sit in this uncomfortable place where I can't even recline and put my feet up, you had better shut your mouth while I'm in there.  Nothing bothers me more than people that talk in movie theaters.  So if you are one of those people, beware.  Had John not told me to let it go physically held me back, I would have beat them up.  And then that gave me an idea...

I do believe next time I go to the theater, I will take with me a Nerf gun.  Then when people talk, I shall shoot them in the back of the head.  

I like the looks of this one.

So John and I finished the movie and ended up going back to his hotel (paid for by Verizon, thank you very much).  The next night (that would be Tuesday night), we went to Chili's and something amazing happened.  We saw a celebrity!!

Yep, you guessed it.  We saw the guy on the left at Chili's.  As he was walking out.  It still counts.

And for those of you not from around here, you're missing out.  This guy is practically famous for his Ogle, Elrod, and Baril commercials.  WE COME TO YOU!

As a closing note, has anyone ever heard that on the first day of the month when you wake up, you are supposed to say white rabbit three times before you say anything else?  One of my school teachers told me that a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away and I've been trying to remember to say those two words three times each every first of the month every month since she told me that.  I've never been successful.  It's supposed to give you good luck.

Which I could have used on my test tomorrow (you can't tell I have a test or anything, right?  I mean, I'm not procrastinating or anything.....).

Happy Wednesday!!