Best. Weekend. Ever.

I figured I should share a little bit about my weekend since it was so great. Yes, I know it is Tuesday but I have been a little busy (as usual). This past weekend was definitely the best I've had this summer. Pretty depressed it is already over, but it happens to the best of us.

My boyfriend, Chris, drove about six hours to visit me, and we had an extremely fun time. He got here Thursday afternoon/evening and we rented The Lincoln Lawyer from Redbox. It was a pretty awesome movie and I definitely recommend it. The next day, we went to Zoombezi Bay Water Park and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. It was a blast. We got there shortly after it opened so we didn't have to wait very long to ride the water slides. Once more people started to arrive, we spent some time in the wave pool, then the rest of our time was spent relaxing and chatting in the lazy river. We went to the zoo for lunch and to observe all of the animals. We returned to the water park to spend more time in the lazy river until we decided we wanted to ride more slides. However, as soon as we got to the end of the line after climbing the entire set of stairs, the park closed all of their attractions due to a huge thunderstorm we saw rolling in. While most of the people left the park and went home, some of us stayed, and while the rest of the people who stayed were taking cover everywhere they could, Chris and I sat on a bench. We were already in our bathing suits at a water park, so what was the point in trying to stay dry? After we learned that they would not open the slides again until a half hour after the last sight of lightning, we decided to go back to the zoo. We went to see the polar bears, but they weren't out so we sat on a bench and talked some more. That night, my mom ordered pizza and Chris and I baked a cake for fun. We were so tired by the end of the day and slept really well that night.

Saturday, we drove to a mall about fifteen minutes away and shopped for a few hours. We weren't really impressed with the mall though, and ended up shopping at the mall right by my house. I got a ton of new clothes and a new pair of shoes thanks to Chris! I could have shopped longer than we did, but we had to hurry home so my sister could get ready for a concert we were taking her to. After we dropped her off, we went to the musical Chicago. It was a great show and we were both impressed by the talent. We had to fight traffic to get out of the city, and then a huge thunderstorm hit just as we got close to my house. I had to run inside in the pouring rain in my new dress! It was pretty late when we got back so we just cooked a frozen pizza and watched TV until we were ready to go to sleep, which didn't take long at all.

Sunday we went to church and I saw one of my high school teachers. It was nice to see her after two years. After church, Chris tuned up my mom's bike and I made grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch. The rest of the day was spent watching movies until dinner. After dinner, Chris had to make the drive back home. It was really a spectacular weekend and I couldn't have asked for anything better. (Except maybe less storms.)

Yesterday, I volunteered at the hospital again. It was a little more exciting than usual, mostly because there were more surgeries going on so the lobby wasn't empty. I also had a number of questions I had never dealt with before, but I am getting a lot more comfortable with the whole thing. Unfortunately, I had to give information on a patient that had passed away for the first time. It was over the phone, so it wasn't too bad. It made me sad, but that's the job. I have a lot of time to read and do puzzles and other things during my shift, and I read some pretty interesting things about the digestive system. The book I am reading is called Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body. I would highly recommend it to anyone that is at all curious about how the human body works. It gives a lot of interesting information on how your body functions during different times a day.

I am looking forward to volunteering at the assisted living facility tomorrow evening. It will be a nice change of atmosphere from the hospital. My sister and I get to hand out ice cream and drinks for a concert there, so it should be fun. I also have to clean the house and work out tomorrow. Thursday I am planning on going with my best friend to her grandfather's house, and Friday hopefully I'll make it to the beach! I am pretty glad for the busy week since this summer didn't really turn out the way I had hoped. Only three weeks until I move back to school though!

In case you're wondering how studying for the MCAT is going, I am finally into some of the chemistry portion of the class on WikiPremed, and my stack of flashcards is about two inches thick so far.

As always, thanks for reading and God bless!

Another Day of Volunteering at the Hospital

I am a little disappointed in my volunteer experience at the hospital. My reason for volunteering was to have patient interaction and I have been getting about zero. I take care of the patient information desk by myself so all I am allowed to do is answer phones and direct people where to go. I still enjoy being helpful, but it just isn't fulfilling my desires as much as I had hoped.

However, my sister and I toured a senior residential community/assisted living/nursing facility and are pretty excited to start volunteering there within the next week or so. There I know we will get one-on-one interaction with the residents.

One detail I have to share about my experience at the hospital today was something that happened shortly after my shift started. Somehow, a little boy got his shirt stuck in the entry doors and couldn't move. It was so funny and his dad had to walk across the lobby to set off the sensors to open the doors so he could break free. It pretty much made my day.

The MCAT class I am taking online is pretty boring, but it has a lot of useful information and I'm sure making myself sit through the videos will eventually pay off.

I suppose that is all that has really been happening lately. It has been crazy hot outside, which makes it hard to be motivated to complete my workouts, but I just have to push through it if I want to throw in California next year. Maybe next time I'll write a little bit on the books I have been reading.

Thanks for reading! God bless.

What. A. Week.

I'm sorry for those of you that have been repeatedly checking back to see if I have posted something new in the past two weeks (MOM). I have done pretty much zero studying, and haven't really been home. Last Friday, I went to Indiana to visit family, go to a wedding, and traditionally celebrate the 4th of July.

When I got home on Wednesday, I unpacked to repack for Cincinnati on Thursday. I accompanied my mother to the North American Christian Convention, "Unleashed". What an experience it was. We only went for the one day even though it lasted all week, but it was our first time attending such an event. Honestly, it was completely exhausting physically. We woke up at 6am, drove two hours to Cincinnati, listened to a number of wonderful speakers, sang praise songs, attended workshops, zig-zagged our way through a huge room of exhibits, and spoke with many people about all sorts of things.

We bought some things from the Rapha House, supporting the rescue and support of girls exposed to slavery and sexual exploitation. You can visit their website at http://www.raphahouse.org/ if you are interested in learning more or would like to help support the cause. We also spoke with many different organizations about mission opportunities since I am interested in traveling to Europe for a cause. I probably won't have time to travel next summer, but a trip after graduation is being kept in the back of my mind.

The speakers we listened to at the convention were uplifting. They had some great ideas and wisdom to share. One of them was also a comedian, and connects to her audience through laughter. We arrived to our hotel around 10pm and didn't want to do anything but sleep. Although physically exhausting, it was definitely spiritually refreshing. I am seriously considering attending next year's convention in Orlando.

Yesterday, I volunteered at the hospital for the second time. Once again, I couldn't help but smile as I was assisting with all sorts of people and tasks. I met some other great volunteers and we enjoyed each others company when work was slow. I even found out one of them attends the same church I do. I discharged a few patients by myself and ran specimens to the lab. I answered many phone calls and directed many people to where they needed to go. I became much more familiar with the hospital and believe I am ready to take on the job next week by myself.

Because I only volunteer at the hospital once a week, I have been looking into other volunteer opportunities since getting a job didn't really work out. At the convention, I spoke with a man involved with one of the assisted living communities and asked if they had a need for short-term volunteers. He told me they absolutely had a need, so I plan on calling the facility early next week to see what I can do for them.

Not much is happening around here otherwise. My best friend just returned from a study/internship abroad experience in New Zealand, so I am definitely looking forward to hearing all about her trip and having someone to hang out with for the rest of summer. I need to get back to lifting weights and working out next week and step up studying after my "vacation". I am definitely looking forward to getting back to real life when I return to school in August.

Sorry this post wasn't more exciting, but thanks for reading!