I swear, I'm alive!

Hi friends.  I've been noticeably (or unnoticeably) absent these past three weeks.  That's because I've been in the midst of PT hazing, er, Mayterm.  And tomorrow is my very last day of class for the first year of school!  At approximately 5 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, I will emerge from my hole and partay! 

For now, I have to finish my paper on the use of thermal capsulorrhaphy as a surgical intervention for patients with multidirectional shoulder instability.  It's due tomorrow. :-)

Sunrise

I woke up this morning just in time to get down to the beach for this... 

Mother's Day post and beach update to follow when I'm not so busy being lazy...

Almost made it...

We're in the midst of finals, and to put it lightly, studying our brains out.  My friend Lindsay is quite possibly the best "let-me-find-a-you-tube-video-for-the-moment" person that I know, and I love her for it! Tonight, she found this one...who hasn't felt like this at finals?!? Couldn't have said it better myself! (And please, Zack, the blazer. Bless your heart!

Raindrops keep falling on my head...

This is what I need to get anywhere today...the rain is falling, falling, falling.  I love the smell of the earth after is rains.  Mom always called it the "Garden of Eden" smell.  It's cool, damp, rich, and renewing.  Since I'm sans kayak, I guess I'll be traipsing around in the rain boots. 

(Photo above was taken at the lakehouse in Hakensack.  Layla and Sophie came along for a swim.)

Daddy's girl

Fathers be good to your daughters
Daughters will love as you do...

I'm sitting at Caribou with Charlie on a Saturday morning date that cost $4.03 and included two free bagels from Einstein's (become a fan on Facebook for some great offers!) and two cups of Caribou coffee. We like cheap dates. :-) Our Saturday morning dates bring back memories of dates I had long before I met Charlie...

Saturday morning would roll around, and Caroline and I would get so excited. Saturday mornings were date mornings with Daddy (and yes, I will always call him Daddy. Some things just shouldn't change).

Caroline and I would take turns picking where we would go for breakfast. She almost always chose Cracker Barrel. She loved the little bottles of syrup you get with your pancakes. And the hash brown casserole....oh.my.goodness.

I was a fan of Dunkin' Donuts. We never got to eat that kind of junk during the week, but when Saturday came, it was free game. I am only still slightly addicted to the chocolate doughnuts. Wherever we ended up, it was our special time with Daddy. It didn't matter what we talked about, or what we ate, or where we went. We were getting to spend time with the man in our lives.

Every dad should date his daughter. Little girls need to know that their dad loves them. Dating your daughter sets high expectations and fosters self-esteem, self-respect, and acceptance. When I think about my relationship with my dad, I recognize that I never doubted or questioned his love for me. I knew that I was free to ask questions and make mistakes.

Mostly, I felt secure. And that security allowed me to grow in a healthy way. Everyone carries baggage into relationships, but I feel that I carried so much less because of the positive, loving, healthy relationship with my father. I watched the way he treated my mom and cared and provided for our family. He loved us well, disciplined us well, and nurtured us well.

Because of our relationship and the example he set for our family, I had high expectations for the person that I would spend the rest of my life with. I wasn't going for someone who was mediocre because I hadn't experienced a mediocre love.

So dads out there, date your daughters.
It's the best gift you can give them.

What?!?

Sisters are, if nothing else, partners in crazy times. I was going through some photos tonight (why, I'm not exactly sure considering it is way past my bedtime) and I came across this picture taken on a camping trip. Let me reiterate that A) this was probably a result of a dare and B) the dare may or may not have sounded something like "I bet you can't hang upside down from the lantern post and eat a banana." Just sayin'.

P.S. Please note the look on Lina's face...I can't tell if it is disgust from bananas (she had a texture hang up back then) or if I have boogers in my nose. I'll let you decide.

P.S.S. And how the heck did I get on that thing anyways?!? Unclear.

I have never been so thankful for...

RAIN!!!

Atlanta has been covered in a foot of pollen for the last several weeks. I am not one who suffers tremendously from allergies, probably because I take a prophylactic claritin every day (that was for you, Sarah!). So I can only imagine what it must feel like for those who do. Yesterday was simply glorious. It rained almost all.day.long. Normally, this would be a major damper to the weekend (pardon the pun), but it actually came as a sweet relief. We have had a few teaser sprinkles where it doesn't even rain hard enough to wash the caked on layers of pollen off my car...but alas, yesterday, I saw that my car is indeed a shiny silver. Now if we can get the pollen count down to double digits....

Share the love!

A sweet friend of mine, Lia (miss you lots!), wrote a thought-provoking post about sharing the blog love. If you read a blog, leave a comment and then share it with others! If you blog, you should probably keep posting for your dear readers. (I apologize once again to all 15 of my followers for being such a pathetic blogger!!!)

One thing I love about blogging is this: it's like one big game of seven degrees of separation! For example, let's take Whitney. She and I have never met. But we're Facebook friends. And she takes beautiful pictures and lives in an adorable house. And she's married to the son of missionaries that used to come and speak at our school during the Missions Conference. (Did you follow all that?) So now, go click on her name and leave her some love.

I mentioned Whitney because she had a post a few weeks ago about life and death. Sure enough, she linked up to a "life" post and a "death" post. (We're going to skip the death part for now, but it's an inspiring story, nonetheless). Her life post led me to an amazing woman named Kelle. Her story is incredibly touching and meaningful to me. Now, if you don't want me to ruin the surprise, STOP RIGHT NOW and click HERE. No, really, go back and read the story. I'll wait...



Are you finished? I know it's long, but oh my gravy! Doesn't she just melt your heart? Children like Nella are exactly why I got into physical therapy. I cannot get enough of her sweet face and tender smile. And I love that Kelle is truly enjoying the small things despite the difficult life that is ahead.

So, blog lovers, share the love. Let me know your favorite places to be inspired or laugh or get great recipes. And remember to let your blog friends know how much you appreciate them sharing a little piece of their life with you!

Open Letter to Tiger, part duex

Dear Tiger,

I'm just gonna quote Billy Payne for this one.

"Is there a way forward? I hope, yes. I think, yes. But certainly his future will never again be measured only by his performance against par, but by the sincerity of his efforts to change... We at Augusta hope and pray that our great champion will begin his new life here tomorrow in a positive, hopeful and constructive manner, but this time, with a significant difference from the past. This year, it will not be just for him, but for all of us who believe in second chances."

With great anticipation,
Lauren

Happy Easter!

Oh praise the one who paid my debt!