Gossip Girl

I heard of Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodson and knew their stories before I even know what Gossip Girl was and associated them with it. 

Never in my wildest dreams did I think i'd be one of it's millions of viewers. This year things changed.  It wasn't really until I got home today, finished with a hard week of school and felt oversurged with joy when I realized I had 3 recorded gossip girl episodes to catch up on that it hit me: I'm addicted.

But why? I can't figure out if I actually like the plot, or if I'm just hooked because the characters and schemes in it are so twisted that I literally can't stop watching. I wait for Serena's crazy outfits. I wonder what smart-alec comment will fly from Blair's mouth next. I cring as Vanessa continues to scheme and manipulate people.

It's kind of like Nip Tuck. It's rather twisted and sick but you become hooked, regardless of whether you enjoy it or not. 

Then I thought about it a little harder and realized, there's been a theme going on with my television viewing. That theme seems to be: the more mindless a show is, the more I want to watch it. Maybe it's because I want to rest my brain?

Most likely, due to my recent trends in watching Real Housewives, Gossip Girl and America's next Top Model it might just be that I am caught up in witnessing the glamour that goes on in other people's lives. It takes me to a completely different world that I'm in, because literally, I can't understand how somebody could buy $5,000 necklaces for their girl's 16 birthday party favors, for instance. I sit there in awe, probably with my mouth hanging open, trying, just trying to imagine what goes through somebody's head when they just toss money around like that. Or trying to fathom what it'd be like to have a different dress to buy each week to attend the latest charity event of New York's elite (although I'll skip the blue sparkly sequin dress, thank you). 

Long Overdue Update

I'm not so sure people even read this thing anymore. Funny though, I just read through my updates and realized that unfortunately not much has change since my last set of updates.

Right now I am juggling work and school. My life has kinda flip-flopped from last year. My social life due to school and work has taken a ginormous slide. But I am in love with everything I'm doing and the people I get to work with and learn with every day. If doing what I love requires 2 years of hardcore immersion in the subject and a little less fun with friends I'm definitely going to go for it. I'm so much happier this year because I feel like I've finally found my purpose.

What's really funny is that my parents, the same ones that I felt like tried to hinder my social life in highschool and college are now promoting it.  Yikes!

Other than that I'm just trying to prepare for the cold weather (not looking forward to it!) I should mention that I found the CUTEST scarves at Walgreens. In my defense the purchase was completely unintentional; I accidently passed them (I didn't even know Walgreens had scarves??) And I couldn't resist. You all should check it out.

I'm a Nerd.

Sorry for the slack in updates!

Grad school is officially in full swing and so is my new schedule : Early morning workout class, study/read allll day, evening classes, review class notes, go to bed. Wake up. Repeat. So far I've had ample time to fulfill a social schedule alongside of that but I foresee that dwindling in the very near future.

I also foresee myself learning just as much from my classmates as I do my teachers. Of my class mates, the 2 that I find interesting: a male gynocologist and an ER doctor who's provided trauma care on the front lines. Their participation is almost as effective as any information coming from the teacher.  

Among the group of students I've found some new study buddies/friends as well. 

Changes I've noticed in myself with the onset of school:

-I'm a HUGE health nerd. I subscribe to all sorts of health updates, health news releases, google "health reform" ... for fun.

-I'm so riveted during class time that an otherwise grueling 3 hours seems to fly by.

-I love reading my textbook.  This is not a joke. 

-Even worse: I bookmark my textbooks, and its not required. Refresher on what exactly that entails: 

-highlighting different types of facts with different colors of highlighters

-taking notes in the margin

-typing up the notes in the margin for a study guide

-completing the homework questions at the end... voluntarily.

-I don't care about my grades, I care more about learning the material. 

-I start bringing up health policy outside the classroom. How I know it's gotten bad:

-I receive the "I think it's cute that you love school but I don't particularly care" smile from Kevin on Skype and realize I've accidently rehashed 20 minutes worth class material

-I frequently have to suppress the urge to unnecessarily enlighten people about things they should probably know but don't care about

-I now hold my own in political debates with my parents. This one's huge.

-I get into deep discussions with classmates about their occupations, and fire questions at them. After all, every medical profession has different viewpoints on different things.

-Unless something really fun is going on, and certain people are going to be there, I will abstain from going out because I find it more worthwhile to study/get ahead.

All in all, I can say that I'm loving my new life and have regained that sense of purpose I once had in college. The only thing that remains left to be fulfilled is my need for a part-time job. I interviewed with St. Luke's yesterday and will hear back on Friday! More updates to come later.

Update.

Sorry for the slacking! It's been a while. So here's the last month in a nutshell...

I put in my two week this week.
Somebody once asked me how that feels.
I can’t quite explain the feeling of googling “how to write a formal resignation” , so you all will just have to experience it yourselves someday to see :). It makes me feel light on my feet. It makes me feel guilty whenever co-workers find out. It gives me a lot more to do/wrap up at work. It also takes away any remaining motivation I have, which in turn makes the latter a seemingly monumental task.
My schedule is about to change, a lot.
In fact I’m having fun daydreaming about my new daily routine. Get up, go to workout class, go to the school library, study all day, go to class at night (Class times are from 4-7 or 7-10 Monday through Thursday). I’m also looking for a part time job to take care of what I like to call my “recreational fun” ie: cab rides, clothing, roadtrips, plane tickets to see the boy, ect. Hopefully that will end up in a hospital or healthcare facility doing some filing duties, and not as a waitress at a restaurant, but I’ll take what I can get.
I’m about to be surrounded by a completely different crowd of people.
The average age for my class is 29. This leaves a lot to the imagination, seeing as how there are only 29 people in the class. According to my advisor, there are 3 people in my boat with a communications background, 2 physicians, 2 lawyers, some medical and occupational therapy students, but the majority of them are law students interested in the healthcare sector (I thought this was interesting!) I’m not one for group projects but I might develop an affinity toward them if I’m working with people like this because I feel like I would have so much to gain!
I have face book stalked every single one of them.
I felt like I should make this a category on its own. Come on, don’t tell me you guys have gotten a list of future co-workers or classmates and haven’t felt tempted to turn to the Book! When there’s a list of a meager 29 people it takes no time at all. It looks like there are a decent amount of people my age, lots of KUers (oh boy) . And then there were about a third who didn’t have face book. I’m assuming they’re the ones who are older than 29. Needless to say, I’m so excited to make new friends!
My summer has blown by.
Somehow I have managed to be out of town or have visitors every single weekend! Not only has it been fun and I’ve had plenty of catch up time with friends, but it’s also put a huge dent in other sectors of my life. It’s not good when each week you don’t feel okay til Wednesday because you’re recovering from sleep-deprivation, sunburn, hangover, jet-lag, ect.
This week's example: It’s Friday and it still hurts to wear clothes (because I’m peeling) or to smile (my lips got surnburnt).
This weekend I said my first “no” to an Ozarks trip and am staying at my apartment alone to clean, get ready for school, job search, get my oil changed, ect. And I’ve never been more excited.
Long distance relationship can work.
With a slow start and inexperience combined with insecurity I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this situation. All it took was a little patience and communication. I once googled “long distance relationships” (can you tell I like google) and vowed never to do it again, because all I found were negative warnings about them. But somehow, some way, this is working, 8.5 hours distance. And it’s going quite smoothly. I feel like a very lucky girl. The worst part of it is missing each other, but when that’s the only problem you have, you know there’s not much to complain about. We’ve gotten to go to Chicago, to Kansas City, and then went camping out at his lake 15 miles south of Paola. So much fun! If lying in a tent at 5 am in the morning unable to sleep because your dripping sweat (did anybody else feel how hot it was last wkend!??!) isn’t a bonding experience, I don’t know what is.
I’ve joined a gym.
Called Fusion Fitness. If anybody is interested in getting a (pardon my French) “Ass-whooping” this is the place for you! It combines barre combinations, dance, yoga and pilates . Some days the only way I make it through class is by desiring to look like the majority of the girls in the class. Maybe someday it will happen? And they play great tunes so sometimes I pretend like I’m jamming to the radio in order to ignore my muscles crying out for help. Anyway, joining this gym has been energy-inducing, challenging, exhilarating, and humbling all at the same time.

And I'm out of things to say... for now! Til next time!

For the next 2 years of my life...

... I will be going to KU Med as a full time student getting my masters in Health Services Administration : ) .

After a sleepless month of anxiously refreshing my e-mail pages, compulsively checking my phone and running up and down stairs to double check mail my waiting is finally over. PaRtY!

According the the admissions counselor, all 28 positions offered accepted, however they decided they could squeeze in the first on the waitlist (me) regardless. I couldn't be thankful enough.

The e-mail arrived in my inbox at the ideal time: a day before The Boyfriend moves 7 hours away and the morning after a terrible freakout about my future. Needless to say it put a much-needed halt to this rather long funk of a mood i've been in.

Goodbye job, good bye early morning wakeups, goodbye boredom, goodbye relying purely on my social life for happiness.
Hello sleeping in, studying with the roomies, 4-10 pm classes every night, being challenged and doing what I love.

I never thought I'd say this but I can't wait to jump on the study bandwagon!

Now it's off to the beach for some relaxation. I can enjoy thinking about my future and spend The Boyfriend's first week away in Texas in a place other than my apartment. Couldn't have come at a better time.

Due to my spare time I will most likely be posting a lot in here! Til then,

~Julie

F.M.L.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/bottlebomb.asp

^ An article about how people should now avoid throwing away random plastic bottles/litter because they might be “bottle bombs”.

Initial reaction to this link: this has gotta be a joke.
Secondary reaction after thoroughly reading the article and watching a demonstrative video: What is our world coming to!? Do people really do this?

But a more important question crossed my mind. How ironic is it that author of this article is genuinely concerned about the well-being and safety of its readers yet launches into a full explanation of how to make the bottle bombs so that anybody can replicate them?
Am I the only person who’s noticed this about the news? When is “informative” too informative?
Example: Is it really necessary to broadcast the security breaches in airports? Why don’t we just draw out a map for any terrorist living in the US and tell them how to sneak around American security systems.
Just some food for thought, I’d be interested to hear feedback.

And now for an update about my school situation: The Waiting Continues.
It is true that I was supposed to receive a letter from KU Med last Monday.
It is true that I accidently put the wrong zip code on my application . FAIL.
It is true that they told me they sent it out this Monday (after the zip code was fixed)
It’s true that it didn’t arrive at my mailbox til 3 painful/anxiety ridden days later (Thursday).. Seriously?? How can mail from 5 minutes away take that long. I could send mail from ADPi and have it get to KC in 1 day.
And it is true that I will CONTINUE to withstand this waiting game, because…
I am #1 on the Waitlist.

If that’s not a FML moment then I don’t know what is!!

Of the ppl that applied, 70 were interviewed, 28 accepted, I’m # 1 on the waitlist. Normally I would be very excited about this but because of the competitive grad year, the small class, and the fact that nobody from the waitlist got bumped up last year, I am extremely worried. I’ll find out at the end of next week so keep your fingers crossed for me!
Til next time!

Waiting.....

There's no clever meaning behind this title, it's just literally, what I'm sitting here doing.

My grad school mail which was supposed to get here Monday has yet to make an appearance. I'm hoping that by some fluke it will show up on a Saturday, so I sit here staring at the clock ticking so I'll be ready to start checking the mailbox every 10 minutes or so starting at noon (when it usually gets here). 

Waiting seems to be the theme of my life lately, because there are so many unknowns. I'm at a point now where everything is so up in the air it's hard to even have something tangible to look forward to. I don't know where I'm going to school. Kevin's moving to Dallas in two weeks, which will be a challenge/adventure in itself, everything at work is switching around. 

Maybe I'm being naiive but I'm trying to keep a positive outlook on everything. With unknowns comes so many "what-ifs" and negatives but I find that if I avoid thinking about it my attitude and well-being have remained in tact. 

I'll keep you updated as to what happens!