andyrobe

2010-04-22T09:45:00.000-04:00

Oooops. stupid who! you got me.

2010-01-30T03:33:00.000-05:00

new photo blog

www.arphotoblog.com

www.andyrobe.com

my life

2009-09-15T21:31:00.002-04:00

it's been almost a year since this photo was made. it's amazing how fast life passes by each day. so much has changed, and yet so much is still just as it was. i know it's crazy, but everyday i have moments of wishing i could re-live the past, wishing the future would get here already, and wondering where today has slipped away to so quickly. i guess that's life.

these are for mom

2009-08-13T14:12:00.001-04:00

2009-07-26T16:24:00.000-04:00

summer

2009-07-25T10:00:00.005-04:00

i have had an incredibly memorable summer. it didn't turn out at all as i expected it would. some of my favorites from the summer would be:
- we took finley on her first visit to disney world
- we met the real black stallion and i almost died
- finley got to meet her favorite princesses and disney characters. she even got to dance to her favorite song with sleeping beauty.
- we spent a week at honeymoon island beach in florida
- i saw a manatee swim by 5 feet from me
- i went kayaking in the gulf of mexico
- we spent hours and hours and hours at the pool.
- i drove over 4,000 miles between tenessee, kentucky, indiana, missouri, illinois, and arkansas
- we got to see Wicked again. on the front row. it literally took my breath away
- i got to visit my favorite valley in the world at sunrise and take pictures. and i got to see the steel bridge before they tore it down.
- we got a new professional camera and i actually got some jobs taking people's pictures... www.andyrobephotography.blogspot.com
- i got to have a big pal with cheese and a sweet tea
- we spent a week in the mountains we miss so much
- we spent a week at the largest man-made lake in the midwest
- i got to go tubing with finley. she absolutely loved it
- i'm sure there's more... i have to think

my joy

2009-06-26T18:58:00.000-04:00

more shots from florida

2009-06-17T01:02:00.002-04:00

two views from our room

2009-06-08T22:56:00.000-04:00

2009-06-07T09:27:00.001-04:00

we made it to honeymoon island outside of tampa fl. this was the first view we had of the gulf as we arrived just after sunset.

hooray for vacation

2009-06-03T10:33:00.000-04:00

we made it to florida

2009-06-01T08:08:00.000-04:00

we made it! and today we head to disney!

2009-05-28T21:52:00.000-04:00

just saw our new baby on ultrasound for the first time. there is no greater joy.

2009-05-23T12:00:00.003-04:00

i read The Road (Cormac McCarthy) in two days. It is a profoundly moving story. I could not stop reading. McCarthy's style of writing is so full of emotion that it deserves to be savored, but I was racing through it to find resolution. you need to read this book.

as hard as it is to be alone in the big city, memphis does possess a strangely enticing allure

incredible

2009-05-20T10:34:00.001-04:00

Adele |MTV Music

2009-05-13T15:04:00.001-04:00

2009-05-09T12:58:00.003-04:00

i'm still here

2009-04-20T22:03:00.002-04:00

happy earth day.

crystal and i did our first 5k this last weekend. it was so much fun. i'm so glad we did it.

2009-04-16T14:00:00.003-04:00

last night while we were putting Finley to bed we asked her to pray for Jasper since he had surgery yesterday (castration). so her prayer, all by herself, with no prompting, was...

"dear God,
God is great, God is good,
Jasper's doodle,
thank you Jesus,
Amen!"

love that girl!

the recession on our street

2009-04-15T21:36:00.003-04:00

the neighbors next door are really gone. no more vans stuck in the side yard. there's a padlock on the front door.
last week before we left to drive to indiana for easter, we saw the man that lives across the street loading pillows and junk into his car. he had all the car doors open and was cramming in as much as he could fit. we haven't seen him since that morning. today there were three women cleaning out the house. they had propped open his garage (which i have never before seen open). when one of the neighborhood boys went to ask if his friend could come out to play he was told, "they're not here, they probably won't be back for a long time. we've really got to get this place cleaned up." today was the first time i have ever seen the window blinds open.
odd.

happy tax day.

2009-04-13T13:40:00.002-04:00

hope everyone enjoyed a blessed Easter.
shot this Sunday morning at 7 am right before Finley came out to hunt Easter Eggs.

2009-03-25T22:42:00.003-04:00

so the house next door has been abandoned for about a month now. one day crystal and i saw the family loading up an unmarked moving truck with a refrigerator, the washer and dryer, and couches. and then they were gone, leaving piles of trash on the street corner. there was no "for sale" sign, no potential renters coming by, no eviction notice on the door. they were just gone. for a month the house just sat there with the gate on the fence falling in, broken glass on the back porch, and the weeds slowly taking over. today when i left to go pick up finley from daycare, they were back. but something wasn't right. their van was stuck in mud in our side yard. there was a seven year old boy in the driver's seat gripping the steering wheel. the wheels were spinning, mud was flying, and the van was not moving. the doors were open and kids were throwing stuff from the backyard into the vehicle. i tried not to make eye contact and hurried out of the driveway. ten minutes later i arrived back home to meet crystal. the seven year old was up in a tall little tree in the yard. he was literally swinging from the branches at the top of this tree. there were six little kids under the age of five running barefoot up and down the street. the mother was nowhere to be seen. we left to go run some errands and get dinner. we seriously considered calling the cops, or at least child services. when we got back home there was a set of deep mired tire tracks through my side yard. they had piled dead leaves in the tracks hoping to cover the mess. there were bags of trash and leaves sprawled all around. the gate to their backyard was completely knocked down. they had clearly gone through our trash. i had a box from my new lawnmower sitting beside the trashcan in front of our house. i had filled it with trash and set it out with the trash can. it had been opened and rummaged through. thankfully no important information (mail, checks, etc) was in the box. it was just full of rotten food and pee filled pull-ups. this is the family though, whose kids would order pizza from dominos and leave the boxes (with their name and address still on the label) in our trash can at night. i'm still really weirded out about the whole situation. we've got a lock on our shed and a security system and i'm really not worried about any of that. it's just that i've never really experienced neighbors this odd. i really hope their gone for good now. i also really wish i knew the story behind all this mess. weird.

in other news. i made chocolate flavored generic carmex lip balm in a twist up tube in lab today. i can't wait to try it!

goodnight

2009-03-23T23:28:00.002-04:00

spring break is over and it's back to school. i was too sick to get out of bed though and had to go to the dr. today. hopefully i'll be over this cough soon. spring break was great. good times with friends and family. with a lot of help i was able to accomplish some fantastic tasks. the garage is now cleaned and organized, the yard is mown (mowed?), the backyard is raked, picked up, seeded, and has a swingset with enclosed mulching surrounding it. our house is clean and was sprayed for bugs today. i lost a few pounds and finally got my blood pressure down. i remember my dreams every night now. we took finley to the mall to have her pictures taken with the baby ducklings. she had a blast. and it was a lot of fun. now i'm headed to bed with the love of my life. my favorite part of spring break was getting to spend more time with crystal. can't get enough of that.

2009-03-17T17:46:00.001-04:00

happy st. patrick's day. happy spring.

2009-03-14T11:46:00.001-04:00

it's spring break. thank goodness.

Cap'n Hook

2009-03-11T00:16:00.009-04:00

blackbeard's ghost

2009-03-08T01:20:00.002-05:00

it's over.

it's fun to see how much art is in this shot. the theater, the acting, the emotion, the make-up, the lighting, the photography...

i got to play "photographer" for the two performance nights. it was a ton of fun. my ideal job in life would consist of three or four days a week in the pharmacy and the rest of my time would be spent in photography.

Cap'n Hook

2009-03-07T15:01:00.002-05:00

i'm so proud of the work crystal has done with her middle school kids on this play. she has brought together these kids and produced a piece of art that rivals many highschool plays i've seen. It is so amazing to see the chaos fall into place and create something so exciting. when watching this, there is no doubt that she is passionate in her art and that she is crazy for these kids. all the work truly pays off.

2009-03-06T23:06:00.001-05:00

there is so much (way too much) going on. but i am way too over exerted to write about any of it. later. Roberson out!

2009-03-03T00:07:00.002-05:00

last weekend we got the most snow memphis has had in fourty years. it was beautiful. and i had a blast watching finley experience real snow for the first time. now most of it has melted away and wednesday it is supposed to be 70. gotta love march.

2009-02-26T13:28:00.000-05:00

2009-02-23T21:44:00.001-05:00

today crystal and i celebrated my valentines day present with a couple's massage. it was the first real massage i've had. and now i feel like jello. it was amazing. a great valentines day gift. it definitely helped relieve a little stress. i needed that.

don't tell rachel...

2009-02-11T22:48:00.002-05:00

so... remember how Finley was born on Elvis' birthday? and that we live in memphis now? well Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie had twins three months ago and named them...
Harper and Finley
how ironic!
here's a picture

2009-02-07T22:19:00.002-05:00

I saw this in the news today. Forbes magazine has rated Memphis as the second most miserable city in the country. You can read the story here... it's pretty interesting. I hate to be so down on our city all the time. maybe it's just the winter doldrums and maybe spring will bring me out of it. it's like a whole different planet here. i bought Crystal some Mace pepper spray for valentines day. it's pink. and it fits on her key ring. practical and sentimental.

wonderbread

2009-02-05T21:22:00.003-05:00

sometimes i feel like i'm trying to stay afloat in a giant bowl of thick lukewarm potato soup. i'm not even that crazy about potato soup. especially if it's not hot. i mostly like it as a dip for my grilled cheese sandwiches. but i don't have any grilled cheese. i only have hotdogs. that's my life.

the valley below

2009-02-04T22:42:00.001-05:00

below us, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

home sweet home

2009-02-04T22:23:00.006-05:00

- add "Car Bombs" to the list of reasons we don't feel safe living in memphis.
story: story on CNN

- and robbery
story: the mayor doesn't seem to care that there have already been 318 robberies in memphis THIS YEAR

- and carjackings... that too
story: here

2009-02-04T18:24:00.002-05:00

this was the old gate. it was quite broken down. i put the bags of leaves in front of it to keep the dogs in. that bottom cross bar was so rusted that it was broken in half.

you can see the hole (between the two bottom bags) that the puppies most likely escaped through. i had a piece of plywood blocking the hole, but some wind must have blown it down the day the pups got out.

so after some work and a very bloody finger i got the new gate up. the new gate was a bit more narrow than the previous one. I had to install an extra pole between the original post and the new gate. I used a bar from the old gate. I just connected the old pole to the original post and then the latch from the new gate fit perfectly. you can see more detail in the last pic. I'm quite proud of it. we got a lock for it. and there is no way the puppies can get out, i've made sure of that.

it's supposed to be in the sixties this weekend, so i am hoping to accomplish more tasks. i love being a homeowner. i just wish it was anywhere besides memphis.

entry

2009-02-02T23:44:00.001-05:00

entry, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

this is one of mom's favorite recent shots. i don't do many black and white. but i like this one. i will put up pics of the gate tomorrow. i am ridiculously tired. i can't really keep my eyes open. crystal is typing a lot right now. a lot. and i'm not sure what. i am curious. it is such a wonderful thing to be able to come home and sit on the couch with her. that makes my day. i am not writing anything worth reading. i am going to bed.

wonderbread

2009-02-01T22:48:00.001-05:00

wonderbread, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

it's sunday night. that is sad. that means another week of school. i did fairly well on my first two exams this semester which is great. i installed a new gate on our fence for our backyard today. there is no way the pups can get out now. i cut my finger pretty badly. but no project is complete without some blood and sweat, right... i will put up some pictures of the gate soon. now i should be studying.

two views of memphis winter

2009-01-29T15:07:00.003-05:00

cleaning today. test this morning. think it went well. i am so ready for spring. our yard is blue. no really. it's blue. hope it makes some grass grow. happy thursday. keep checking on my twitter feed. it's neat.

friendly

2009-01-26T21:49:00.001-05:00

friendly, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

this little place is just down the road from us. we always thought it was funny that it was called the friendly quick stop but had huge bars across the windows and regularly looked uninviting. i love the way he stacks the pepsi crates outside and the contrast of the colors. so one morning i stopped and snapped a photo from my car window. i didn't realize at the time, but as you can see in the shot, the owner was standing out front on the phone. i don't know if he was paranoid about something or if he was just angry, but he cussed me for taking pictures of his place. "what do i gotta do!?!?" he yelled among other things. if i had seen him standing there i never would have stopped, i hate confrontation. but i am so glad i got this shot on that foggy morning, i really like the picture.

i joined twitter and posted it to the blog (notice to the right...) that way i can update on the things i do throughout the day that i usually forget to blog about by the time i get home.

i took the dogs to the vet today and they had to get their shots. esme cried and bled and was still in pain tonight. poor pup, love her heart.

we are having trugreen come look at our yard to see if there is any hope for it. we also have a swing set that is waiting to be built in the back yard. i also need to purchase and install a new chainlink gate on our side yard so the puppies can't get out. i am going to put a lock on it as well so that no one can get in either (we've had some issues with our next door neighbors using our garbage can). i also need to finish raking the back yard. i have it all raked up into piles. but they are still sitting there. i filled 32 leaf bags a few weeks ago and that only got about a third of the piles. now the rest of my piles just lay there getting rained on, and puppy pooped on. so i really need to get them up.

but i'm back in school and i basically have a test every week. so i usually only have time on the weekends. whatev.

later

end of the day

2009-01-24T16:53:00.001-05:00

end of the day, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

I'm so glad this last week is over. that's all.

"the puppies are here!!!"

2009-01-21T23:04:00.001-05:00

valley, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

i posted 100 "lost puppies" fliers over the last two days. i went through two rolls of duct tape and a ton of staples. we called the cops, and the vets, and the humane society. and with a little help from a sweet little old lady... the puppies are home! we were pretty sure they were gone forever.

over the river

2009-01-17T00:20:00.001-05:00

over the river, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

i need the mountains today. and the spring. and i'm hungry. hooray for a long weekend.

pruning

2009-01-15T21:15:00.001-05:00

it's really really really cold outside. i am already dreading walking to class in the morning. oh well, guess all i can do is go cuddle on the couch with my sweetheart and watch the office. it doesn't get any better than that! :)

end?

2009-01-13T22:00:00.001-05:00

end?, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

i have no idea what's going on. it's really busy here. the puppies are running around wild. yesterday i got a shot in my butt because my asthma came back over christmas. and now i'm back on my advair inhaler. i had some good times with finn today. some crazy times too. but lots of good ones. i love the office. these ares my favorite times of days. sitting on the couch with my love, cuddling up to watch the office. i should go. i'm missing the show. and i have lasagna in the oven. it's cold outside.

2009-01-09T22:48:00.003-05:00

today i overcame my fear of needles. i had to. this week we went through training to become certified in immunizations. today, as the last thing, we had to demonstrate appropriate injection technique. so we had to draw up three shots, and give our lab partner two shots in the shoulder and a subcutaneous shot on the back of the arm. and then we had to receive three shots ourself. wow. and i did it. and now i am certified, nationally, to give immunizations. pretty neat. next fall i will give flu shots. i really kinda like it.

Happy Birthday Finley!

2009-01-08T07:13:00.001-05:00

rain

2009-01-06T23:37:00.001-05:00

old farm, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

i had to wear my old tennis shoes today cause it was raining again

holly detail

2008-12-25T09:20:00.001-05:00

holly detail, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

Merry Christmas!!!!

2008

2008-12-23T16:48:00.003-05:00

So i sat down and thought about the albums that meant the most to me this year. This is my list, but i'm sure there are some that i have forgotten. The new Fall Out Boy album is fantastic but i've only listened to it three times and it just came out so it's not on the list... if it was it would probably be somewhere around three or four. So here are my top ten albums for 2008 in some sort of order.

MGMT - oracular spectacular
The Black Keys - attack and release
Coldplay - viva la vida
Drive-By Truckers - brighter than creation's dark
The Raconteurs - consolers of the lonely
TV on the Radio - dear science
My Morning Jacket - evil urges
Beck - modern guilt
Gnarls Barkley - odd couple
Ryan Adams - cardinology
The Black Crowes - warpaint
Ra Ra Riot - rhumb line

Here's my top 5 rap albums... again in some sort of order...

Lil Wayne - tha carter III
Black Milk - tronic
T.I. - paper trail
Nas -
Girl Talk - feed the animals
Jay-z / viva la hova

I have a list of my favorite songs but it's 50 songs long so i didn't post it. If you really want to know about it i could put it up, or make you a cd...

holly

2008-12-23T16:47:00.001-05:00

holly, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

a christmas shot

so cold

2008-12-21T22:35:00.001-05:00

, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

why is it 8* outside right now? why is there a 20 mph wind that makes it feel like -9*. wow.

2008-12-15T20:36:00.001-05:00

mom, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

Happy Birthday! we love you.

the ultimate insult

2008-12-14T20:36:00.006-05:00

so apparently this happened...

Embedded Video

Blogged with the Flock Browser

here's my question... Where were the Secret Service Guys? This fellow has time to chuck not one but TWO shoes at the President before he is tackled by another journalist. He lobs the first one, reaches down, grabs and throws the second one while Bush is showing off his mad dodgeball skills and pointing at the guy like "you watch your back!"... all this before security busts through the door and the crowd. If I were the President, that is the kind of service that would make me lock myself in the Presidential airplane and refuse to come back out. I'm just saying... isn't there someone who's job it is to make sure that this kind of thing doesn't happen... How funny!

from the riverbed

2008-12-14T13:43:00.001-05:00

from the riverbed, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

it's sunday. and i'm studying. tomorrow is my last big final. i have one more on tuesday but it will be easy. crystal's gone christmas shopping, finley's asleep, so i should get to studying... bye

don't get the warranty

2008-12-12T12:49:00.001-05:00

Finals are half over.

I learned today (from HowStuffWorks.com podcast) that buying an extended warranty on products is usually not a great idea. Last year Americans spent $16 Billion on extended warranties and the stores that sold them kept 80% of that as profit! That's almost $13 Billion they pocket off these things. In fact, last year, extended warranties bought by customers in the store was enough to cover the entire operating cost of Circuit City for the entire year... that could be a big reason that they are now filing bankruptcy...

in some cases it's good to go ahead and get the warranty (on phones, big expensive tvs, and computers). but in most cases hold off, you can always buy one from the manufacturer up to thirty days after your purchase, and they're usually cheaper.

Check out the link above... check out the podcast...

now you know...

Blogged with the Flock Browser

prickly evil bush

2008-12-07T01:14:00.008-05:00

this year for my birthday Tim and Tammy wanted to get me a shop-vac for our garage. So I went to Sears and found this one that actually has a detachable leaf blower! So not only can I clean out the cars and clean out the garage, but i can also blow off the front porch and the driveway. I'm so excited!
Crystal bought me some new tennis shoes (we just haven't gone to pick them out.) finley got me some deodorant (which was great cause i had just run out). we had to go out for my birthday dinner three times before we got a restaurant that we liked (we finally settled on Fox Ridge Pizza... can't go wrong with that...) but I had such a wonderful birthday.

This morning I hung Christmas lights on the front of the house. We haven't plugged them in yet, but we are quite excited about it. It's so much fun to have a house that we can decorate any way we want...

While I was out there I decided it was time to remove the prickly stupid bush from around the mailbox. It was just plain out of control, and it has stabbed me too many times when I check the mail.

It is a huge bush. I was a little nervous that the neighbors might think it was dumb. But we are the only one on the block with a bush around the mailbox.

you can see the lights i hung this morning

So I started hacking and sawing.
and sawing
and sawing
apparently it had been growing there for a while...
until it was all gone
or at least it was all moved to the other side of the driveway...
it made quite a difference... it still needs some work to finish it off and keep it from coming back... but at least now i can check the mail without being afraid for my life.

starting tomorrow i will be studying every waking hour for the next week and a half. finals are here and the semester is over. merry christmas

christmas season

2008-12-02T01:04:00.001-05:00

we decorated for christmas this evening. it was a lot of fun. the best part about it was that we have a house that we can decorate. no more cramped apartment conditions. i love it!

happy birthday.

i should be asleep.

2008-11-29T00:58:00.000-05:00

photo funia is neat

Before and After

2008-11-25T22:42:00.003-05:00

I know photographers don't usually show "before" unedited photos. But I think these two are fun to compare. Can you spot the major differences? Look closely (besides the fact that the color has changed in the final photo)...

I think my favorite part of this photo honestly has to be the man leaning against the building beside the pay-phone. I love that.

2008-11-25T22:12:00.001-05:00

it will be nice to get out of this town for a minute.

you may be shot...

2008-11-23T22:47:00.001-05:00

cold, rain, and heroin

2008-11-23T00:26:00.002-05:00

This week in school we learned that a man in Germany in the mid 1800's created aspirin and heroin in the same year. Heinrich Dresser formulated both compounds, and thought that heroin was the more marketable of the two compounds. Bayer pharmaceuticals began marketing heroin as a cough suppressant and it was given in mass doses to Tuberculosis patients. In 1899 Bayer was manufacturing literally a ton of heroin a year. Naturally Dresser was an incredibly successful man thanks to the enormous popularity of his two drugs. In 1924 though, Dresser died a heroin addict. He died of a massive stroke that ironically could have been prevented if he had been taking an aspirin a day. very interesting... now you know.

2008-11-21T21:35:00.002-05:00

i had to show this. i did not take this photo, but i love it! it's by caleb charland (www.calebcharland.com). i just wanted to share. you get bonus points if you can guess what i think is so cool about this one...

some pictures for friday...

2008-11-21T12:38:00.006-05:00

so i absolutely love having a house to live in. one of the coolest things is being able to do little projects around the house. here are a few things i've done since we've moved in. i feel like such a man :)

this is a before picture of our kitchen sink area. it was not bad, actually it is by far our favorite kitchen sink that we've ever had. but i was inspired by Larry and Christy's kitchen light project. so Crystal and I went to Lowes and selected a nice light to go overhead (under the cabinet).
i drilled a hole through the cabinet to place the electrical cord.

and this is the finished product, i love love love the way this looks now. it is such an improvement to the kitchen atmosphere. and the best part of it is that the light switch you see in the picture works on the light. the left switch is the light, the right switch is the garbage disposal. love it! :)

dresser in a box. this has to be the heaviest box that i've picked up (or tried to pick up) in a long while. it took me almost four hours to screw this thing together (with some valuable help from Crystal). but we are very happy with the way it turned out. we were able to put her baby dresser (changing table) out in the garage (in a safe spot, man i love having a garage for storage!).

there... done... :)

The before product. The walls are still white (notice the final color in the last few pics) and the bedroom set is still super-90's.

goodbye 90's knobs...
the spraypainting process. it was fairly easy, but a little messy (notice my feet).
there... done... :)

so i've come to realize that traffic is really not bad here in memphis, especially for the size of the city. the scary thing is that people are really aggresive, crazy drivers. so there are a lot of wrecks around the city. one of my favorite things while i'm driving is to listen to the AM station that lists the traffic report every ten minutes. there are dozens of wrecks daily. today there was a huge one on one of the roads i take to school every morning. luckily i had an 8 am exam this morning so i was running very early and didn't get stuck in it. but on my way home they were still cleaning it up. i'm not sure what happened but there was a truck full of sand, a jeep, a pick-up truck, and a few other cars involved. you can see the truck under the red awning of the gas station to the right of the picture below.

so i drove around to get a better view... i'm parked here under that red awning at one of the gas pumps. you can see the sand that has spread across the whole road.

can you imagine if you had been standing there pumping gas and this truck came flying at you. thank goodness no one was using the pay-phone.

we know all about that

2008-11-19T23:01:00.004-05:00

so this week in school we learned about the history of diabetes. the term mellitus (in diabetes mellitus) is the latin word for sweet like honey. this references the sweet taste of the diabetic urine. apparently the ancient greek and egyptian doctors would smell and taste the urine of their patients in order to diagnose certain diseases. pretty neat. but there is significant scientific research today to create hi-tech diagnostic sniffers that can quickly and accurately point out diseases in patients. (from npr... ).

so the cool thing about all this is that dogs can smell these scents in humans. there is some scientific proof that dogs can smell pregnancy, certain cancers, asthma, diabetes, and seizures (just to name a few). there are actually dogs that are trained to live with people suffering with seizures in order to alert them before a seizure happens. the dog can sense the seizure and warn the person to get into a safe position and call for help. wow. (from national geopgraphic... )

and finally, i learned this week to love using a mac. our small group in pharmacy school had to create a public service announcement. i used crystal's mac, and since i was the only one with any idea how to use imovie, i did all of the editing. it turns out that i helped with the vocals as well. it's amazing how easy apple has made all this editing business. i was able to put this together in a pretty short amount of time. so here it is... for your viewing pleasure... don't judge, it was my first time making a movie, and pharmacy students aren't necessarily the most creative people...

my life

2008-11-17T23:10:00.003-05:00

i love this picture that crystal took yesterday. it is such a brilliant representation of how crazy life can get these days. she perfectly captured all the emotion in one shot. this is definitely one of those pictures that we will look back at and love years from now.

fall in memphis

2008-11-14T13:54:00.003-05:00

it's fall. and it's cooling off here. we are still trying to get organized in this house. but we absolutely love it. today in school we learned about birth control pills. they change the way you metabolize carbohydrates, and the way you store energy (you store more energy in adipose tissue and use less of it ... aka... it makes you gain weight). they alter mood, can cause hypnosis (which is helpful in balancing PMS mood swings) and can cause depression. they also affect blood pressure and the way that your blood clots (which can cause heart disease and blood clots which can lead to stroke. so if you smoke too then you multiply your risks for heart disease, myocardial infarction (heart attack) and stroke). But they don't cause cancer! if you already have breast cancer then it can make it worse, but they absolutely do not cause cancer. these are not necessarily common side effects, but they can definitely occur.

we also learned that estrogen is the drug in the body that helps to regulate bone growth. it is the drug that stops the growing of bones. that's why you eventually stop growing taller. since women have a lot more estrogen, their bones stop growing sooner than men in most cases. in men, testosterone must be converted into estrogen in the body in order to affect the bone growth. this is why men usually grow taller than women.

alright, i'm going to go find our den.

abandoned

2008-10-31T23:41:00.001-04:00

abandoned, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

i got some boxes packed today. there is a van full of stuff parked outside our house. we are going to get a uhaul in the morning. i'm sleepy. oh yeah... we have a HOUSE! it's perfect. we've seen some before and after photos provided by the guy who is selling it... it's absolutely incredible. i'm excited. but sleepy.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T07:18:00.000-04:00

Thank you Credit Crunch!

2008-10-30T23:22:00.003-04:00

it wasn't that bad. there was a lot of work (a lot of picky picky work) but there were no flying bowling balls. and thankfully now we have a house! this commercial is so funny and terribly ironic in a terrible way.

NO Ham -- burgers (YET)

2008-10-28T22:47:00.003-04:00

it's tuesday right. that means tomorrow is wednesday. i made finley a cd of classic disney songs to listen to in the car. it starts with winnie the pooh and progresses through cinderella, little mermaid, jungle book, alice in wonderland, dumbo and a few other random songs. she absolutely loves it. i haven't seen her that excited in a long time, not even for ice-cream. we saw our house again today, loved it, met the seller/remodeler. i got four shots and had blood work done this morning. it cost lots of monies and my arm is quite sore now. it's supposed to be warmer here tomorrow. we have had to turn the heat on here in the apartment because there is such a terrible draft coming in around the front door and the windows (finley's room stays about ten degrees colder than the other rooms) that it has been painfully cold in here... especially when it gets down in the 30s at night. blah. thank goodness we are outta here. brian found this...

http://peachypants.blogspot.com/2008/10/history-lesson.html

you should really look at it again (or for the first time...) oh to be in middle school again... (or not :) )

2008-10-27T22:26:00.002-04:00

since i have no record of immunizations in my life, and since i am a student at a college of health sciences, and since it is required by law... i have to receive a truckload of shots tomorrow morning. if i don't pass out afterwards i have class all day then we do our final walk through at the house.

the Delta Queen is making her final journey down the mississippi this week. they will stop in memphis to let off the last passengers and to through huge party. that would be neat to see.

2008-10-26T22:45:00.002-04:00

third post today. don't be mad. i just have to say...

Why is there High Fructose Corn Syrup in EVERYTHING!??!!?!? Today at the store I read the labels on everything in an attempt to avoid obesity and death. I nearly had a panic attack. It's in bread, it's in yogurt (even low fat), it's in chips, it's in canned fruit, it's in meat, it's in chili, it's not however, in light mayonnaise. what would it take to get HFCS removed from the market? i bet there would be a lot of angry corn farmers in the midwest.

my october photos

2008-10-26T16:32:00.001-04:00

click this link to go to my facebook photo album. these are some of my favorite yet. feel free to comment.

2008-10-26T11:17:00.002-04:00

this has been a great weekend. we've had such wonderful family time. but we can't seem to get motivated to clean and pack. we are so ready to be out of this place for so so so many reasons. it's just that moving is such a stressful, traumatic thing to deal with. i wish we could just snap our fingers and have our stuff moved. at least we have help coming this weekend. i've had a nasty cold this weekend, and finley has it too. friday night (at 2:45 in the morning) i was awoken by the people in the apartment next to us having sex. it was loud enough to wake me up, and it lasted quite a while. i absolutely could not believe what i was hearing! then on saturday morning finley came running out of the kitchen saying "bug, yucky bug daddy! big yucky bug." there was a ginormous spider crawling across the kitchen floor that i had to smash with a container of monster trail mix. it also sounds like it's raining every night because of the water leaking out of the pipes upstairs. nothing has come through yet, but it is clearly hitting the ceiling above us, and it's really annoying. anyway. we are so ready to get out of here. we just don't want to pack. that's all

1295

2008-10-23T22:09:00.002-04:00

today was quite a rainy day. it was never a hard rain, just steady, and cold. it's supposed to be much cooler tomorrow. i don't know that fall is all here quite yet, but it is very nice to have this type of weather. i had some wonderful gumbo for lunch and then got a few shots in during the rest of my break between classes. memphis is indeed an interesting town. i see so many pictures that i would love to capture but i am honestly too afraid for my well-being. this week in school we have discussed arrhythmias, cialis, plan B emergency contraception, drug-reps, dead rotten cows, asthma, booze, high fructose corn syrup (responsible for diabetes, congestive heart failure, obesity, high blood pressure, depression, and death among other things), hump-back whales, infant mortality rates (memphis has the highest rate in the country. out of every 1,000 live births in memphis, 31 will die in their first year. that's worse than the country of Iran or Honduras or the Philippines or Vietnam or Russia or Kuwait or Cuba to name a few.) that is so sad. memphis is also number one in the country in obesity.

anyway... we will have a house in a week. so that's super neat!

father

2008-10-20T22:32:00.001-04:00

i didn't do this photo. i just found it. but i really like it for many obvious reasons.

weekend!

2008-10-19T22:50:00.001-04:00

this weekend was great. mom and dad came to visit from elizabethton and we had so much fun.

memphis on madison

2008-10-17T16:20:00.002-04:00

it's the weekend. but i feel like it's been the weekend for a few days now. it's fall break and it seems like it's been a month since i've been in school. i got my hair cut today, it was long overdue. my parents are coming to visit this weekend! hooray for family. hooray for visitors. i passed all my midterm exams and i am quite excited about that. we went to see the grizzlies play last monday. it did two things to me: made me want to go back and watch another game, and made me want to go hang out on beale street. who knew. alright, back to cleaning, 'rents should be here soon.

2008-10-14T22:34:00.003-04:00

this one's for teddy, kristen, and baby eliza. do recognize it? i miss the mountains a lot.

my brain is fried from this week of tests. but i'm almost on fall break.

check out my dad's blog, he has such a passion for writing. look at it...

http://abundanceofgrace.wordpress.com/

i can't get over how good the new streets album is. seriously... this is my favorite music video.

the streets (the escapist)

2008-10-10T15:09:00.001-04:00

this might be the best music video i have ever seen. brilliant, i think.

Embedded Video

Blogged with the Flock Browser

2008-10-10T12:33:00.002-04:00

this has been an absolutely crazy week.

on tuesday it rained 4.68 inches, i took finley to the doctor cause she had a rash (from a virus, no big deal), we looked at a house, we made an offer on that house
on wednesday it rained another inch, i studied for 6 straight hours in the library, our offer on the house was accepted (at 5,000 below list price)
on thursday Crystal had her first state evaluation and I had my first midterm exam, i made a pizza (actually rolled out the dough, poured the sauce, put on the cheese, cooked it up) for finley cause she wanted pizza. she ate three bites of it and then said it was yucky and demanded yogurt, i cooked catfish for Crystal and me, and it was so very good
today i had my second midterm exam, i have a review session for my next midterm exam (that's on monday), adelia is coming to town for the long weekend to visit, i have to go clean, i also need to go inform Appling Lakes Staff that we will be moving out

i've had some neat observations this week

one morning this week i put a pretty green shirt on Finn and i asked her, "what color is this shirt?" of course she said "pink!" no... "yellow?" no... i told her it was "mommy's favorite color! what's mommy's favorite color?" and she proudly exclaimed "CHOCOLATE!"
on thursday morning (the morning of her state evaluation), at 4:44 am crystal sat straight up in bed, grabbed my leg, and said "why are we just laying here?!?! shouldn't we be awake?" i told her we were laying there because we were sleeping. she has no memory of this.
there are the elephants upstairs. i didn't think it was possible, but they are even more nosiy than the last elephants! they don't come home until 10:30 at night, i think there are at least three kids, our walls literally rattle nonstop until around 12:30 am. i went upstairs and told them how thin the floors were, and how loud it was. it made no difference at all.
on wedneday morning there was a giant roach that had crawled into the measuring cup that i use to heat water to make coffee each morning. he couldn't get out. i hate bugs.

time to go to the review session. is it christmas yet?

ice-cream

2008-10-06T23:59:00.002-04:00

this is a picture from our adventure a while back at the Mid-South Fair in midtown memphis. it's supposed to rain tomorrow. today was a long day. we went walking at Shelby Farms Park. we walked three miles. crystal's feet bled. we are going to be sore. but we are going to be healthy. finley growing up every day. i love my girls, i would lose my mind without them. i thought it was going to cool off here. maybe some fall weather was near. it got hot again. and it's not really supposed to cool off anytime soon. i should get back to studying. i had a hotpocket for lunch (it was a lean pocket actually, and it was whole grain).

2008-10-05T15:14:00.003-04:00

we watched smart people last night (and graded 7th grade english tests). it was really a good little movie. i think that it's movies like this one that have really influenced my photography. i love movies where the cinematography is so powerful; where a simple shot (and some good music) can evoke poignant emotions. anyway, we liked the movie, and now i'm sad that it is sunday afternoon and the weekend is almost over.

i eat altoids like candy. crystal told me that bad breath is a symptom of depression (that's what the commercials say), but i think i just have chronic halitosis. nobody likes a person with stinky breath.

did i mention that i miss the mountains?

2008-10-04T21:20:00.002-04:00

it's the weekend. i have no idea how it got here so fast, but i sure wish it would slow down now that it's here.

i love saturdays, family time, it's my sanity. it's so nice to have each other, and i wouldn't want to spend my time any other way.

next week starts my midterm exams in school. i can't wait for that to be over. also, breathing helium will kill you (if you breathe to much of it).

i'm going to lay on the couch with my love and watch a movie. :)

i miss east tennessee

2008-10-01T17:44:00.002-04:00

this one's for edwin and cari

finley is growing up so quickly. it really does blow my mind.

bloom where you're planted

2008-09-29T22:53:00.004-04:00

and... it's monday again. how does that happen! i got to watch a video of myself giving a simulated patient counseling session. and i realized that i don't like watching myself. that's all. i love my girls, we went to incredible pizza tonight to celebrate crystal's school. it was a lot of fun.
finley told us the name of the biter at daycare, we asked them about it today and they said that was the one. they think finley is just so smart, and really funny. we know that she is. love her :)

2008-09-27T23:18:00.002-04:00

this one's from chicago. i like all the color in it. i call it NO OP.

our weeks go by so quickly. our weekends fly by much faster. i'm just trying to hold on.

2008-09-27T23:12:00.003-04:00

for almost two years now, finley has listened to baby einstein lullaby cds while she sleeps. the one that's in now plays on repeat nonstop forever and ever throughout the day. we don't even hear it anymore. so you have no idea how happy i was to find this rockabye baby series. it's full cds of lullaby versions of radiohead, coldplay, the beatles, led zeppelin, pink floyd, greenday, metallica, tool, NIN, and so on and so on. so tonight finley is sleeping to radiohead and coldplay. the only one i could find on youtube for you to listen to was a greenday one (basket case). but you get the idea. i love it!

Spiders, Triamterene, and Stethoscopes

2008-09-25T22:30:00.004-04:00

apparently memphis has a spider problem. apparently we are in the heart of spider territory. apparently i didn't get that memo. this morning i woke up, fumbled into the bathroom, eyes still full of sleep. i leaned over to brush my teeth and there sat a monster spider waiting to eat my soul. i nearly had a heart attack. this was one of those crazy wolf-spider looking beasts and it must have crawled up out of the drain. and in my heart i know he has friends (a lot of them probably) and that literally makes me shiver. so there i am, six a.m., standing in the safety of the bedroom, in just my boxers, filling the bathroom with half a can of bug spray until everything was coated with it and the monster had shriveled up and died. i could barely take a shower after that. i had visions of spiders coming out of the shower head, crawling through my hair. i could see them crawling up through the drain and eating my toes. i could feel them creeping up my legs. i had to shake my towel out and each piece of clothing had to be beaten before i could put it on. i know i have issues, but it's not right to scare a man like that when he's half asleep. that just about screwed up my whole day.

today i had to wear a tie. i had to counsel a patient on her new medication. it counts for a grade that is 15% of my final grade in my basic skills class. here's how it went.
1. she was not a real patient... she was an actor.
2. it was video taped, and will be graded by the actor, a real pharmacist, and myself.
3. i had a list of blood pressure and fluid pills to be familiar with and didn't know which one i would have to counsel on until five minutes before the session began.
4. it was a little stressful and i was nervous.
5. i told her she could take advil with dyazide. that's probably not a good thing... ooops.
6. they will email me the video and i have to watch it and grade myself. that should be interesting.
7. i bought a stethoscope and it came in today! check out Finn's site to see some cute pics of it.
8. tomorrow's friday. thank goodness.

walk

2008-09-24T16:24:00.001-04:00

this is me. walking to class this morning. thrilling. i know.

garfield minus garfield

2008-09-23T13:36:00.003-04:00

this is really funny. it's garfield... minus garfield. it's pretty much brilliant. you can find all of them here http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

that's all

rusty cow

2008-09-21T15:18:00.002-04:00

i have to watch sicko for class this week. should be interesting discussions to follow. tomorrow is the first day of fall. and i'm excited about that. i love the fall. i just wish we could have fall, then thanksgiving, and christmas, then skip from new year to about march. i get so tired of the winter. maybe this will be a short one. i've been playing around with layers on photoshop. my burps taste like perkins. that's gross.

thank goodness it's friday

2008-09-19T14:34:00.001-04:00

the sun shines bigger in memphis

2008-09-17T22:52:00.001-04:00

i made it through three exams in three days and i'm still alive. but barely. time to start studying for the next round.

yo where my bees at?

2008-09-16T22:48:00.002-04:00

this is me as a bee. the honey bees are disappearing. and this video is hilarious.

2008-09-15T22:57:00.002-04:00

two exams down. one to go. i have learned that i need to study more. that's no fun. we watched fringe. anyone else? i think i really like it. we have dried out now, the leak is fixed. there are fans and dehumidifiers running constantly. you can't hear yourself think. they are coming tomorrow to patch the holes in the ceiling, and repaint the wall (i guess it doesn't matter if there is still water behind them, or if there is mold growing...). i am quite done with apartment living. back to studying. drug of choice... propranolol. i think it might help me on the exam tomorrow. HAPPY BIRTHDAY my love!