Blogger happy

So I've been blogger happy lately, hehe. Kyle and I had a great weekend for the most part. We had movie night on Friday night (see earlier Indy post), Saturday I had to work but we had dinner at my parents house. My dad cooked out hamburgers and hot dogs, YUMMY! Sunday was good too. We kept the three year old nursery at church which is always an adventure. Then we went to a cookout at a guy's house that Kyle works with. We had some more amazing food. And here's the hilarious part, Kyle and I BOTH did karaoke. Yup. And we were sober might I add. How convenient that the neighbors were DJ's and brought their high tech equipment over for us to use. I was going to sit it out but no, I got called up there and they picked a random song for me to sing, luckily it was an easy one, haha. It's really quite ashame more people weren't there to see it cause it won't ever happen again :) Then Kyle did a Kenny Chesney song, it was quite entertaining. It got better though, they had GUITAR HERO! So we played that for a few hours and ate some more food then called it a night. Good times.

Then I spent a beautiful, warm, sunny Memorial Day studying for 6 hours for my MRI physics final today. How lucky am I? I did quite well on it so I guess it was worth it. I have one more final exam and 8 more days of clinicals and I'm done! whoohooo!

Thoughts on this Memorial Day...

Sometimes I get caught up in my day to day routine and often take for granted the freedom I have. The freedom to worship God, to own a Bible, to praise His name in public, to corporately worship with other believers in a church. The freedom to wear what I want to wear, eat what I want to eat, drive what I want, go where I want to go, be friends with who I want to be friends with, go to what school I want to go to, live wherever I want to, shop where I want to, work where I want to... you understand. I am so thankful to all the men and woman who fought for me, for our country, so we could have that freedom. Many of them made it back home, but a lot of them lost their lives. I often think of my short trip to Cuba and remember the friends I made there. It's a place where the people have no freedom at all. They live dirt poor and every decision is made for them, courtesy of the government. Even though our country is facing tough times right now, I am proud to say that I am an American. I am proud of and fully support our President and our troops. Whether you are democrat, republican or just apathetic, you are still an American. The troops fight for you even if you don't support them, you have freedom even if you don't support the war. For that, we should all be thankful. Somebody sent this to me and whether Jay Leno really said it or not, it's a great message.

As most of you know I am not a President Bush fan, nor have I ever been, but this is not about Bush, it is about us, as Americans, and it seems to hit the mark

'The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some Poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence 2/3 of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, 'What are we so unhappy about?''

A.. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 Days a week?

B.. Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

C.. Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

D. Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

E.. Maybe it is the ability to drive our cars and trucks from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

F.. Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

G.. I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough either.

H. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

I.. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home.

J.. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames, thus saving you, your family, and your belongings.

K.. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

L.. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90% of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

M.. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67% of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the 'Media' told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day. Make no mistake about it.

The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an 'other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans?

Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like OJ. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane!

Turn off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.' 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Jay Leno

I will get off my soapbox now and not engage in any more discussions with people who think they are too educated and open-minded to face reality.

A BIG Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to anyone who is currently or ever has served in our Military. I love, appreciate and totally support you! God Bless You!

Indiana Jones

All I can say about the new movie is.... MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!
Kyle and I saw it last night and we both hated it. All they could come up with after 20 years is some crazy science fiction junk. That's all fine and dandy if you're making a Star Wars movie, but not Indiana Jones. We were hoping for some really cool archeology hunt and Indy busting out his whip all the time. Yeah, didn't happen. It started out great but it went down hill fast. It's really too bad. So basically, don't waste your money going to see it.

Busy week...

So this week was quite crazy for the newly weds. Kyle had four church softball games and at the last one me and my parents sat under an umbrella in the pouring rain the whole time. The softball team has been really fun for us both though because Kyle gets to socialize with the guys and play some ball and I get to socialize with the ladies on the bleachers. It works out well.

It was a milestone for LaSandra the Honda yesterday when she reached 100,000 miles. Yes, I had to call Kyle and we had a sad moment. My baby is halfway dead but I still love her and have had ZERO problems so far, I can't complain, I love my 30mpg car :)

One of my really great friends Lawrence got married today. We were close in high school and went to youth group together, he's like the brother I never had. So Kyle and I and my sister went to Smithfield to see him get married today. It was a simple but lovely wedding, it reminded me a lot of my own. This was our first wedding we've attended since we got married and it was so nice to be on the other side this time, so much less stressful! Then we got to spend some time with the g-parents and eat dinner with them, good times.

I accepted a full time job at my work this week. It's not exactly the hours or job title I wanted but it will work for now. There are so few MR jobs available in this area right now which makes it very difficult for a new graduate with no experience to get a job at a high profile hospital like WakeMed. Maybe someday. Work will be less than 5 miles from my house though so I will save about $100 a month on gas and will have much more time at home than I do now. Plus I get free lunch everyday (from the drug reps) and paid holidays OFF! Not a big deal to those of you who already get that but being in health care, it is a big privilege to get every holiday off work. I already know everybody and am already trained on everything so it should be an easy transition. I'm pretty excited and I start June 16!

We are having lunch with my sister Lesley and the rest of the family tomorrow to say goodbye to her. Lez is leaving this week to go to Peru for study abroad this summer with her Spanish Education major. She gets to hike Machu Picchu and stay with a host family and take classes and all that cool stuff. I'm totally jealous and wish I could go with her. What an awesome experience but we are gonna miss her like crazy!!

Other than that, not much going on here. Three more weeks of school and counting!

Happy Mother's Day!

Wishing all the mommies out there a very Happy Mother's Day, especially my own!!

Semester Break

I've had a very nice 4 days off of school this week. They call it a semester break and then I go back for 4 weeks and I'm done with MR school. Thank goodness, now I just have to find a job. It really stinks that I can't find a job and I'm in health care, the schools are graduating huge classes every year and really flooding the market. But on a happier note, I did a lot of cleaning and reorganizing in the apartment and we have almost got a home for all of our new, nice things. I brought the last load of things home last night (minus the china and crystal). I've been able to relax and get some things done.

Our X-RAY class celebrated our one-year reunion with a super fun dinner at Outback. It was so nice to catch up with everyone and see everyone about to graduate with their new specialties which range from CT to MR to Sonography to Nuclear Medicine to Cardiac Interventionals to Radiation Therapy and then some just stayed with x-ray. We had such a great class with so many smart kids that are going to go really far. Even Kyle commented on how close and awesome our class was. Here's a few pics in case you are interested.

Me, Patti, Candace and Fallon


Me and Lisa


Lisa, me and Mike (the original BJ crew)


Me and Kyle