today was my first day of orientation. and it was long... and most of it i'd heard before. but it's all very exciting. it was such a relief to show up and have my name on the list. you have no idea how many nightmares i've had where i show up for today and they look at me and say... "who are you!??" but i'm in! and my loans are on the way! and classes start monday. tomorrow orientation/registration goes from 8:30 to 3:30 or so, and friday from 8:30 to noon. that's all for now...


FUTure Pharmacist

twilight

twilight, originally uploaded by andyrobe.

this is from East TN. it's one of my new favorites.

Last night i finished Twilight (yeah, that one about vampires that everyone is so crazy over right now). Crystal is reading the last of the four books and I sat down with her to read some of the first one. She read Twilight in a weekend. I have been reading it since mid july. but last night the story got so intense that i ended up finishing the book. I read 150 pages in about three hours and i literally did not move from where i sat. and i didn't fall asleep either (which is saying a lot) the last book i read was No Country For Old Men. and i've been reading a couple other books since then. but nothing has gotten to me like this one. it is just really that good.

today Finley was playing in her toy room by herself. she pulled out a little "little people" umbrella and held it over her head. then she started dancing around and said "tut tut... raining... tut tut... raining...". for those of you who don't know, Christopher Robin says that to try to help Pooh Bear fool the bees in the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. so she just says this out of nowhere, and it floors us. she is SO observant and so smart. we asked her who got stuck in the tree...? "tigger" she said. and they say kids don't learn anything from tv. pretty cool... and pretty scary! love her!!

tomorrow is a big day. Crystal's first day of school with the kids. Finley's first day of school at the daycare... again (a new, better, and recommended one this time...) and I have to go get re-certified in CPR. fun fun fun!

(i can't believe nobody commented on my hamburger...)

last night we went to Red Robin because we were craving hamburgers and we had never been to one of these places. well it was awesome. it was rated number 6 on Parent magazine's top ten family friendly restaurants, and i would have to agree. free refills on the steak fries (which were awesome, and they even brought our first serving of fries out before our burgers got there!), pizza and balloons for Finn, and interesting burger choices for us! I had the Au Brie Burger (which was created by a twelve year old! see story) it was a sirloin burger topped with brie cheese all on top of au gratin potatoes. Of course i had no tomatoes on mine. here's a picture. oh my goodness, it was the best burger i have ever had from a restaurant. i will have it again!

we'll, i'm in memphis for good now. i will miss the wonderful hospitality of the Booth house. it was good to have such great friends to keep me company when i was so far away from my girls. the best times were just sitting around on the couch and watching ghost shows and murder mysteries. this was my view from the toilet... every time i had to concentrate i would just focus on that little fleck of blue paint on the floor board.


My final in Organic Chemistry was moved up to Tuesday instead of Thursday. and since Tuesday was our third anniversary, I was so excited to be able to surprise Crystal. It was so incredible to be able to spend the evening with my love. I knew when I turned in my final that I had done well. I was the second one to turn it in, taking less than half the class period. It turns out that I made a 101 on it! and that gave me an A in the class! So that was a huge relief.

I am so glad to be done traversing this long, beautiful, crazy state. I made it through an overturned tractor-trailer, a huge chemical spill that closed I-40, a burning tractor-trailer, a church shooting, and lots and lots of road construction. and I am glad to be done with it all. I saw some interesting things... and it's good to know that traveling by car is the most reliable form of transportation...


On the way to Memphis I had to stop when I saw a cannon on the side of the road. It was Parker's CrossRoads, a civil war battlefield. It was such a beautiful place and I had to take a few shots. there will be more to see later.

So here I am, dealing with a hundred and one things to take care of before school starts next week. definitely nervous. starting to feel more like i'm drowning that floating. but so so glad to be here, to be a family again.

and always remember... Got Problems? Just have Faith in Jesus!

in memphis for a minute. it's really really hot.