Tiny Dancer - Elton John

Classes overall have been pretty good, out of class stuff hasn't been but I can at least say it's been an experience/typical Jo behavior. In example, yesterday AKA the first day of school I:

1. got followed by some creep from McDonald's to the parking structure who wanted my number & wouldn't leave me alone

2. during the APhA meeting leaned back & didn't realize the wall was right behind me so I hit my head & even though it didn't hurt, made a huge thud right when the room was silent. Smooth moves.

3. Forgot the dressing to my salad so I asked around haha

4. Slipped/dove & landed three times on the same spot on my shin in ultimate...so much bruising happening.

Really though, just all part of being a huge gangster. By gangster I mean klutz (:

I'm actually enjoying the classes though, they're going to be challenging & though yes we're going to moan & complain about them all, I think that so far they're all proving to be hugely relevant.

Driving out to the burbs to shadow my p4 at 8am tomorrow. Awww yeah super early wake up time!

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay - Sara Bareilles

I know Sara Bareilles did a cover of the original but I love what she did w/ it so it stays. Anyways, first day of what I expect to be hell, I can say that I'm pretty excited to start. Or maybe I'm mistaking that for apprehension but either way I'll be in class in a few hours. For right now, just hanging around the apartment since there's nothing to study I'm going to use this time to do some yoga, eat breakfast, & walk over to the pharmacy school. I'm ready as I'll ever be, the only thing I can think of is that my entire class is at the starting gate, some of us chomping at the bits about to start this crazy race to the finish. I have confidence we'll make it through just fine (:

So for Day Two's letter (to a crush), I can't say I have one so this gets skipped. Maybe I'll edit this later but for now, this is all that's necessary. Done & onto the next one.

First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes

My right wrist aches so much when I move it so this is going to be as short of a post as possible. I start what's probably going to be my hardest year of school in my life tomorrow & I want to take the time to reflect.

Last year at this time I was slightly apprehensive about going to pharmacy school- I'd gotten the grades to get in & I was proud of earning the white coat but I wasn't sure if it was the right path for me. Since I didn't have to take the PCAT, I was uncertain if I really deserved to be there. Maybe I wouldn't be in the same spot if I had taken the test, what if they rejected me? More than anything else, would that mean that I would flunk out of the program? Or, if I did get through everything, what kind of career would be best for me? Even during my first year I kept asking myself if this was something I really wanted to do or if I'd be better off in another field. So many things that we learned seemed arbitrary to the kind of work most of us would end up doing & I passively wondered what good some of the material would do me. As a person I was pretty insecure overall about school, my relationships w/ people, & ultimately myself.

In this year I've grown in so many ways, I'm fresh out of my second pharmacy related internship w/ a job offer in my grasp knowing that's where I want to be when I graduate; I know I have what it takes to be successful in pharmacy school if I don't hold myself back. I've also learned to speak my mind during the most important times & let people close to me what's bothering me & why, something I've always struggled w/. Thanks to the help of a very good friend, he helped me think critically not about intellectual topics but myself & how to tune into my emotions & get to the bottom of what I feel at all times. I hit pretty close to rock bottom personally but I've risen as a stronger & happier person. By no means does that mean I'm perfect or that I don't need to continue to make improvements, but I'm more self aware & though many take it for granted, knowing & acknowledging/accepting every aspect of oneself is important & empowering.

Surprisingly, I'm looking forward to classes starting tomorrow. I miss learning as weird as that sounds. Work has been phenomenal but it uses a different part of my brain & I'm ready for the change of pace to go back to insanely crazy. Bring on the fire of P2 year, I was going to write that I hope to make it, but instead I'm going to say I'll see all of you on the other side (: Until then, time to start studying a powerpoint I have to know before class tomorrow & enjoy the last few hours of freedom.

Hmm, three posts in one day. Must be a record of some sorts.

EDIT: This doesn't quite fit in w/ the thinking of this entire post but I'm not making another entry for this. One of my roommate's cats will fart every time he's happy. That's right, not purr. Fart. It stinks. I think I'm destined to be around smelly beings ):

Count on Me - Bruno Mars

Well, there's a little irony for you. I just made fun of Bruno Mars but this song was probably the most fitting for the first letter of the series. Admittedly I was between a few other songs like I'll be There by the Jackson Five but it's kind of creepy if you think about it.

Not that I'm getting carried away or anything...

To my boo Banyalah,

It's been a great few years. I'll admit that when we first met I was a little unsure & I actually thought that I probably wouldn't be hanging out w/ you too much. That was before our second day in the dorms when you locked yourself out of your room (twice) & ended up sleeping in mine, eating every meal together, our late night study/dance sessions in every study lounge- especially the ones w/ the big comfortable armchairs, & living pretty much in our own little world. Sounds like I'm writing a love letter. But, I guess in a way I am. I love you for picking me up & sticking w/ me through some tough times in my life & being there to experience some of the happiest times as well. I couldn't ask for a better person to be there through this rollercoaster of life that I'm so good at creating for myself. If I was gay (which I'm not. Swear.) I would totally have the hots for you because you're one of a rare breed that is truly nice, genuine, & brutally honest. You're a beautiful person in & out; I feel so privileged that I have you around...especially to cockblock. Hahaha. Or, well, scold me from time to time for my stupid decisions. Even though I'm older than you & in terms of life experience I've gone out more, you're still like my big sister because you're so patient, forgiving, & I know I can always call you whenever. I love that we're the only ones that find stupid stuff hilarious when most people would blankly stare at me for thinking something like that was even slightly humorous. Anyways, I look forward to spending about half the week you this semester! Thanks so much for everything, I don't know where I'd be without you. I know I haven't been the best friend that you've always been for me but I'm working on it, you deserve it.

BFFFFFFFFF4lyfe

I'll Be - Edwin McCain

By far one of the cheesiest songs to exist (though after listening to some of Bruno Mars' songs I might have to take back that statement) but I have it stuck in my head. Stumbled upon this & I thought that generally it could be interesting. Probably won't be writing a letter a day but you'll know when you know (:

Duh.

Write a letter a day to the designated individual:
Day 1 — Your Best Friend
Day 2 — Your Crush
Day 3 — Your parents
Day 4 — Your sibling (or closest relative)
Day 5 — Your dreams
Day 6 — A stranger
Day 7 — Your Ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/love/crush
Day 8 — Your favorite internet friend
Day 9 — Someone you wish you could meet
Day 10 — Someone you don’t talk to as much as you’d like to
Day 11 — A Deceased person you wish you could talk to
Day 12 — The person you hate most/caused you a lot of pain
Day 13 — Someone you wish could forgive you
Day 14 — Someone you’ve drifted away from
Day 15 — The person you miss the most
Day 16 — Someone that’s not in your state/country
Day 17 — Someone from your childhood
Day 18 — The person that you wish you could be
Day 19 — Someone that pesters your mind—good or bad
Day 20 — The one that broke your heart the hardest
Day 21 — Someone you judged by their first impression
Day 22 — Someone you want to give a second chance to
Day 23 — The last person you kissed
Day 24 — The person that gave you your favorite memory
Day 25 — The person you know that is going through the worst of times
Day 26 — The last person you made a pinky promise to
Day 27 — The friendliest person you knew for only one day
Day 28 — Someone that changed your life
Day 29 — The person that you want tell everything to, but too afraid to
Day 30 — Your reflection in the mirror

All the Small Things - Blink 182

I'm pretty sure my roommate's kitten just farted on me. Sigh. Apparently I'm the designated object to relieve bowel discomforts.

I've been playing lots of ultimate recently & it's slowly getting me back into shape because I'm too lazy to do yoga or run on my own. Moreover, it's given me the opportunity to meet a lot more people & get out more. Lately I've been hanging out a lot w/ the Nicks & Justin, so different & more happy go lucky than any group of friends I've had.

There isn't a whole lot that I'm going to talk about in this post, I plan on doing a before-school-summary type thing sometime soon (:

Something Worth Knowing - Sherwood

The song for this blog's title was rediscovered on my mp3 I lost senior year of high school- to find it in my couch about a year ago & have been too lazy to change the songs. Good stuff.

Anyways, I'm back from my short trip up north w/ the parents! Awesome trip, lots of sand dunes, lots of hiking (four trails in three days. puny mileage, only 10miles in total, but acceptable), & lots of good food. The trip got off to a kind of weird start & by that I mean instead of paying a considerable amount of money (over $200/night) at a hotel since the trip was so last minute, my mom called up our dentists & asked them if we could stay there for two nights.

Little did we know that they were going to be there too. Hahaha. Yeahhh, that was interesting & very much awkward. Nevertheless, it was also extremely cool because I would've never known otherwise how cool my dentist is- the only boy drafted in his neighborhood to come back from the Vietnam War, lived in a ton of places all over the world & yet can do the Iron Man at 65. In case you don't know what that is, it's a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike ride; if that wasn't enough add a full marathon of 26 miles to that.

Back to the trip though it was short, I think it's one of the best ones I've had in a while. It was a great opportunity to unplug from our connected world (mostly, I'm guilty of checking my phone a few times a day), leave my laptop behind & only have books as a form of entertainment. Our society is so caught up in a world full of technology it's refreshing to take a step back & breathe, live at a slower pace for a while. We didn't do long hikes as mentioned, but three of the four were pretty challenging. You wouldn't think it but sand dunes are a great work out & I loved getting back on the trails.

I realized in a conversation w/ one of my good friends last night why I enjoy hiking so much. That sounds weird, I mean it more in a way that I've always enjoyed it but I've never described why. It's a combination of things, if we want to be cheesy, we can call it the trifecta (lame, I know): nature, mental, & physical. The nature part is that change of pace from the urban & even suburban, it's the quiet beauty that surrounds you, beautiful landscapes that inevitably catch your eye, dark & silence of the night only broken by a coyote howl. The mental part is taking all those essential & necessary distractions out of your life (i.e. phone & mp3), leaving you w/ only yourself. Forcing yourself to have 'you time', internal reflection on whatever topic you choose, taking however long you want to spend on said subject, & allowing yourself to come to your own conclusions w/o outside opinions. The physical is pretty obvious, pushing yourself as far as you can take it. The beauty of hiking is that everyone can choose a trail that fits his or her needs whether it be grueling or a nice evening walk. Regardless, once a trail is chosen the hiker sets his or her speedometer, takes breaks when necessary, & whatnot. I guess that's a really roundabout way for me to say that hiking offers (well, pretty much forces) me to stop worrying about other people in my life & how my decisions might affect them or judgement they may pass & instead, focus on my wants & needs. Extremely refreshing & why I recommend it to everyone.

Other than the attempt at eloquence I just spewed above, I got my first sunburn of the summer today, sad. I was doing so well w/ the sunscreen! It's kinda funny looking, moderately burnt shoulders, barely tanner chest, white lines from where my backpack straps were, lightly burnt on my neck, & the line between my tank top & backpack straps is kinda visible. Funny.

On the phone w/ Zach, I was hit by a dose of reality; school starts in about two weeks. I didn't even think about buying a textbook until he asked me if I had gotten mine yet. Oops. Maybe it's time to start the checklist for pre-school year errands, I know all of you won't care but that's okay:

Pay tuition (puke), CPR re-certification, LKS stuff, textbooks (puke), renew liability insurance

Deposit paycheck

Print out & know the review packet like the back of my hand

Grocery shop & stick to healthy foods

TB test

Try to charm my way into an externship

The Way I Am - Ingrid Michaelson

So. Sore. From ultimate tournament last night, but it's the best kind of hurt. Our team won, which was cool. I also didn't dive for once & other than one time, I didn't get knocked down by anyone so that was cooler (:

About to go to Sleeping Bear Dunes! I'm pumped, I've been wanting to hike for an entire year.

Since I've been at my university (three years), parking has almost doubled w/ increases every semester. Really, parking for $3.25 one day? Maybe I'm spoiled by cheap & free parking or I'm super old & experiencing one of those "back in my day" moments (or both) but that's ridiculous. Though our funding has been cut & we need to raise money, this isn't the only way to do it. The entire administration needs to be re-vamped, all those people who don't care about the students & make it an absolute nightmare to try to get any problem fixed don't deserve a salary or such an important job. In the mean time, it makes higher education less and less affordable & in the end, we'll all lose out.

The Scientist - Coldplay

Organic.

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

Yet immaterial ideas, thoughts, dreams, & emotions are timeless & survive over the centuries.

Irony?

All the Right Moves - One Republic

This is a few days old but I finally got too impatient to wait any longer & dyed (part) of my hair pink again. In case anyone on the interwebz wanted to check it out, you're welcome.

Awkward poses ftw

Something - The Beatles

Another fork in the road, another path to take. This year's going to be interesting & probably my most challenging both intellectually & emotionally. Everything that was surreal has just become all too real; I've always been terrible at coping but there's no time like the present to start. Anyways, I hope that I can take this opportunity to learn more about myself & shape myself into a better person.

It's Gonna Be Hard When I'm Gone - The Audition

So in my new apartment, I had been noticing a mysterious stench that started to take over our kitchen. Since our fridge smelled when I moved in, naturally that's where I went- especially since the smell seemed to get worse every time we opened the fridge. The weird thing was I couldn't tell which shelf it was coming from since all of them passe the sniff test & after a while I gave up & figured I'd find it when I didn't have stuff going on. Fast forward to last night when it's quite obvious that something has gone bad in our kitchen. My roommate goes to the pantry, pulls out a sack of potatoes, & holds them up. Nothing seemed out of place in the sensory department when any of that happened & being that it was face height for my vertically challenged self, I took a big breath in. Big mistake. It was the potatoes & I spent the next 10 minutes jumping around my apartment like a neurotic bird yelling about how gross it was while my roommate laughed at me. Basically, whiffing should be used at all times & not just in chem labs.

Hope you enjoyed my foolishness (: