If you recall early on I made a short list of "
unbelievables" at the end of a post. It may become a tradition on the blog because I think years from now it will be fun to look back on...
Top Ten Unbelievables...(in no particular order).
1. After tomorrow, Stephen only has two weeks left in his first semester. UNBELIEVABLE!
It has gone by so fast (for me, at least - he may think otherwise) - but he is quick to say that he still has a lot to do. He has a quiz in Physiology on Monday. His last week, he has class on Monday and Tuesday, then finals Wednesday through Friday. Unfortunately, he will be responsible for material covered on the last Monday and Tuesday on the finals. He is ONLY covering four chapters (probably about 50 pages in the textbook) in Physiology TWO DAYS before the final. NO BIG DEAL!
2. Stephen's last day of finals is my first day of school. Perfect timing.
That's right only 15 more days until I start back at school. I officially have to report on August 10th (11 days from now). However, I have to set up a new classroom (because I am moving from second to third grade), I will go back this Monday to start the process (4 days). Four days left of summer bliss. Unbelievable.
My sister is graduating from Nurse Practitioner School at Vanderbilt on Sunday. My mom is flying in tomorrow to attend her graduation and going to stay the entire week to help me with my classroom. It will be so nice because I will need all the help I can get. I have a to-do list a mile long.
3. I got my wisdom teeth out a couple of weeks ago. It has to be one of the easiest wisdom teeth extraction stories ever. And I am very proud to say that! I only had two and they were on the top. According to my dentist, top wisdom teeth give patients less trouble than the bottom ones. To make things even easier, they had already come in, so the dentist was able to do the procedure without putting me to sleep and without cutting or stitches.
I left my house at 7:15 am and walked back in my door at 8:00 am. Unbelievable!
I was eating a hamburger that night - even more unbelievable. I'll stop because I realize I am now bragging.
4. Two days after I got my wisdom teeth out - I scheduled to take the Millers Analogy Test (MAT) at Lipscomb University. It is an entrance exam for graduate school. Needless to say, I was freaking out about the test because it covered material from famous artists, authors, scientists, and musicians to U.S. presidents, wars, science topics, and maybe one question about math. And did I mention they were all analogies? Example of an analogy: MAT is to unbelievably hard as Jill is to failing. Here's a little more background: I never took U.S. history, the only books I read are children's books - not novels about Existentialism in Kafka's Metamorphosis (I only remember that because I had to write an essay on that in high school) - and if I had to choose a favorite part of a standardized test it would be the math section - which there might have been one question out of the entire 120. In fact, my example analogy is probably completely incorrect. And the test would not use the words "unbelievably hard" or "failed" - it would be vocabulary words no one has ever seen before except Matt Hardison (no offense, Matt). Oh yes - I must not forget the other reason why I was freaking out. The first time I took one of the practice tests in the book (without studying - just to see how I would do), I scored a 50%. Obviously, I needed to do some major studying. After learning almost 500 vocabulary words and trying to memorize random facts about everything, I took 5 or 6 more of the practice tests. On ALL 5 or 6 of the practice tests I took, I never achieve over a 50%. In other words, my studying was counter productive. U.n.b.e.l.i.e.v.a.b.l.e.
I took the test and passed. Not by a whole lot, but that doesn't even matter.
I will be starting graduate school at Lipscomb University this fall. I will be getting my masters in Leadership or Administration - I am unsure of the official title. By completing this masters, I will have the credentials to become a principal.
It will be interesting teaching a brand new grade and starting school all at the same time.
5. Even though he would probably never admit it, I think Stephen really loves what he is learning about in school. Yes, I think it is official - my husband is an anatomy nerd! The whole time I thought I was married to this jock - NOPE - a nerd. UnBeLiEvAblE.
When we went out for our anniversary, we ordered dessert. Before it came out, I looked at Stephen and said "I am way too full to eat dessert." He goes into an huge explanation about how stomachs have different sections...and I didn't understand anything after that. NERD.
While I was in Indiana, I called him one night to see how he was doing - and he seemed peppy on the phone. That was weird because he hates talking on the phone. It was because he got to dislocate a hip in the anatomy lab that afternoon. I think he was one of the students that initiated the entire event - and he got to help the anatomy teacher pull the leg across the body and then cut away at some of the muscle to cause the hip to dislocate. He said you could see so much stuff by doing that. What a nerd!
It is almost impossible to get Stephen to do anything other than study - but he found out that Dr. Elrod was doing a Extra-Articular Tenodesis of the IT Band with ACL Revision with Allograft with Bilateral Meniscal Repairs - a.k.a. - a three hour surgery where the knee is partly exposed. He had to go and see this. I couldn't believe he took 3 hours from studying ON A TEST DAY - But he loves that kind of stuff. I'm telling you - he is a nerd.
6. It has been almost a month now - but Steve McNair's passing definitely reached UNBELIEVABLE status in our house. Stephen was pretty upset about the whole incident, as all Nashvillians. Stephen's first year of working with the Titans as an Athletic Training Intern during Training Camp in college was Steve McNair's last season with the Titans. According to Stephen, he was an awesome guy and very friendly to everyone. He was very appreciative of the Athletic Training Staff and treated people like they were best buds. To lighten the mood after hearing about his death, I said "Your signed Steve McNair jersey will be worth a lot!" His reply, "We are not selling it!" Needless to say, he was in no mood for jokes. To hear someone die in such a way is really unbelievable.
7. The other night Stephen and I were trying to figure out what his average was in Physiology. You know what it's like when finals are near - you are trying to see how much you are really going to have to study for the final based on your current average - or sometimes you realize that you need a divine intervention if you ever want to pass the class. By the way, the task of figuring out his average was way above 3rd grade math. Because quizzes counted for so much percent and test counted a different percent. It was quite the process. Stephen is going into finals with a very solid average, which will make finals a little less stressful. And this is a course two months ago, he thought he would never pass. UNbelievABLE. I am not sure why he even figured out his average because it won't change the way he studies.
Studying Side Note: I met up with him at Trevecca for dinner on a Sunday before Physiology Test on that Monday. I walk in the room where he was studying and he had written (in his itty bitty handwriting) all over the white boards around the room. He had a picture of the kidney and they way it worked. There was so much writing crammed on those boards. It was unbelievable. He's been begging me to go to school and pick up some dry erase markers for him - now I know why. I am not going to make fun of his studying habits because they work!
8. Two weeks ago, a friend that lived near me in Germany (I moved to Germany in 7th grade and lived their till I graduated from high school) sent me a message on Facebook to say that he was coming in town for the NAMM (National something Music something?) Convention in Nashville. He was a year below me in school, but our grades were so small that everyone kind of knew everyone. We both played basketball and our teams would travel together. Since we lived close we road the bus together and carpooled from school (we couldn't drive in Germany - I road the bus as a senior in high school - pretty cool). We were pretty good friends. His name is Michael Bustamante, but we all called him "Busta."
By the way, I was shocked because none of my friends from Germany have ever come to Nashville because they all live in the north and northeast. We got in contact with each other and met up for dinner with his dad and brother that were with him for the Convention. The reason they came to the Convention was because his dad has become an entrepreneur. He invented/ developed something called the "Case Brace" and he is trying to sell nationally and internationally. If you open a guitar case and stand it upright, you can slip the "Case Brace" in the crease of the case and set your guitar in it upright and it acts as a stand. I am not a guitar player but it sounded cool. Regardless, it was fun catching up with him and hearing what was new going on in his life. And we definitely reminisced about the days in Deutschland. We had dinner downtown and went to Wildhorse after. Even though he doesn't listen to country music, they were shocked by the talent of the band. They were amazed by all the life music - even all the people walking around. They live near Detroit - and according to them - it has become a complete ghost town. In downtown Detroit either all the store windows are boarded up or the windows are broken.
Busta couldn't believe I was married and that I had a southern accent. I suppose some things have changed. It was unbelievable seeing a friend from Germany. I loved showing him Nashville - and I was super excited that he loved it here.
Me and Mike at Wildhorse
9. Stephen and I decided when we went out for our anniversary that in the summer of 2012 - the summer after he graduates from PA school - approximately 35 months from now - we are going on a big vacation somewhere. It is going to be unbelievable! And we are inviting anyone who wants to come with us. We are thinking an all-inclusive, beachy spot - since we had such good luck with the same kind of thing on our honeymoon. We are letting everybody know early, so that you can start saving NOW. That way there will be no excuses 35 months from now!
10. Last but not least - FINALLY - a note card update...
I took this picture about 4 hours ago, so it is no longer accurate. He has probably added about fifty to this pile since then. I put my life at risk taking this photo. If these piles would have fallen over - I would have been sleeping on the couch tonight.
Physiology Note Cards on the left.
Anatomy Note Cards on the right.
UNBelievABLE!!
I had to take a picture of this. This is what he uses to separate his note cards into chapters. He draws block numbers on a red card. It just seems funny to me - I have no clue why. And I should have taken a picture of his block number 4 - it's a good one. Maybe next time.
11. I leave you with a bonus for all you Bachlorette Lovers out there...Jillian chose Ed over REED!!! Unbelievable. I felt a little better about Ed after the rose ceremony show - but STILL. Reed was the much better catch! And I have to admit - I almost had to stop eating dinner when I watched how much Jillian and Ed were kissing each other on the couch - EVEN while Chris was trying to ask them questions. That had to be awkward for him. Well, I'm ready for the next season - I love drama - when it has nothing to do with me! I'm really thinking Scott Cagle (Julie's brother) should be the NEXT BACHELOR!
Practicing...
Stephen was so proud of this stitch (the first one from the left)! 
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