hello

Hi guys! Long time no see. Mostly because I finally have accepted Facebook as a safe form of communication and like others before me, have become obsessed with Facebook. And also because I'm still in nursing school, and it's still hard and mean and time-consuming. Anyways, the relevant news of late:
1) we got a Cairn terrier puppy. His name is Dobby.
2) Lee started college at Auburn.
3) I'm in Psych Nursing, Peds Nursing, Critical Care Nursing, and Honors Nursing Independent Study this semester.
4) That last one is basically a name for me implementing my research project I designed in the spring at a southeastern pediatric hospital on a bone marrow transplant unit.

That is all the relevant news I have for now. Dustin, me, and Dobby before the AU vs. Kansas State game
Dobby all decked out in his Auburn gear (his little bandana has an AU on it. So cute.)

Blergh

Family portrait at Sea Island, GA
Happy family at Lee's graduation 05/20/07

Nursing school buddy Justin trying on the "Empathy Belly" for OB nursing

Yours truly with said empathy belly

Recovering from a jumping jack...

(Bad idea)

I don't really have much to tell about except school, school, and more school. Just trucking along. Got awesome units for both of my clinicals, so I'm pretty happy about that. Working on getting Thursday of Harmony Highlands off, I already arranged to get Tuesday of Harmony Highlands off. Dustin is in class from 5 pm-10 pm Monday-Thursday for the entire month of June, which kinda stinks. But it'll be over at the end of the month.
So..... I guess that's all for now. Ta-ta!!

CAKEQUEST!!!!!!!

After grueling hours of studying for finals, I felt the need today to embark upon a ...

CAKEQUEST!!!

Which led to a generalized "sweet-tooth quest" that led to the cashier actually laughing at loud at me as he rung up my purchases, which were:

raspberry elegance cake w/cream cheese frosting, key lime tart, Dr. Pepper, strawberries, cantaloupe, breakfast cookies, mint & dark chocolate Haagen Dazs bars, and Breyer's strawberry ice cream.

Other fun pics to laugh at:

my brunette hair...

my so-called "black twin" Ashleigh and me preparing to rock the face off an intramural volleyball game (we are the Nursing Ninjas! Hiii-yah!!)

Sandro cat playing like a kangaroo and hopping inside Dustin's camo pouch to hang out.

Hope you enjoy these odd windows into our strange lives here at the Jones' house.

Virginia Tech

I am so shocked by what has happened at Virginia Tech. It's horrible. It's a tragedy of proportions that I cannot understand, it has irreparably affected the lives of every single person on that campus, every family who has a child there, every family member and friend who lost someone there.

America, when are we going to learn?

I know all you Southern boys are going to leave hate comments on my blog for saying this, and y'all know I'm as good a Southern Republican Christian woman as might be found around here, but I'm saying it.

We need tighter gun control laws in America.

I know, I know. The Second Amendment! We have the right to bear arms! And true that is, but, just like our First Amendment freedom of speech, that right is not unlimited. We can't walk into a crowded theater and yell "Fire!!" It's illegal. It's time to limit guns as well. Specifically, I'm talking about handguns. Boys, keep your shotguns and your hunting rifles. But the primary weapon of choice in most crimes involving firearms is a handgun. A Glock 9-mm and a Walther .22-caliber handgun were used by the troubled boy in the Virginia Tech shooting. What if he had never had access to those guns?

In Britain, handguns are 100% outlawed. Their Olympic pistol-shooting team has to practice outside the country. However, rifles and shotguns and other things like that are allowed with a permit. There are three types of permits: personal protection, target and skeet-shooting, and hunting. You have to meet specific qualifications for the personal protection permit. With a population of 18 million, Great Britain had something like 84 crimes involving guns last year. Compare that to New York City, population around 7 million, around 850 murders involving guns.

If the US banned handguns, would crime rates drop tomorrow? No. In fact, it would be a huge hassle for every gunowner in the country, as well as a hassle and cost to the US government. But would it be worth it if 20 years from now, our violent crimes involving guns had decreased? Absolutely.

Also, as a sidenote. In the news they're now reporting that in 2005, Cho Seung-Hui was accused of stalking two girls and reported to the police. The police then got a judge to issue a detention order. As a result, Cho voluntarily checked in to a mental hospital for about 2 days. My question: how does a judge's detention order issued for the police not show up in a background check for purchase of a handgun? That just makes it all the more apparent to me that even the mild system we have in place for gun regulation isn't working. As a further sidenote, Congress is crazy because seriously, the ten year semi-automatic weapon ban that just expired really and truly needs to be continued. Check out this link http://www.slate.com/id/2164373/nav/tap1/ for an editorial on legislation concerning gun control.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Blacksburg, Virginia, and all the families affected by this tragedy. And also, I pray for the Seung-Hui family - that boy's parents and sister must feel so horrible right now. I hope that something positive can emerge from this tragedy to help the rest of the country become safer and hopefully prevent future tragedies like this one.

Things I Hate with a Fiery Passion

• X-box and all its accessories
• people calling after 9:30 pm just to chat about nothing important that could wait until the next day (that's family time, not to be interrupted by outsiders to the household. Families are bombarded with outside noise enough as it is without the phone ringing at 10:15 when I'm applying my eye cream and finally chatting uninterrupted with Dustin about our days.)
• prednisone and all its side effects (nurses: assess for buffalo hump, moonface, and potbelly)
• false weather predictions
• I hate X-box enough to mention it twice
• the devastating effects of carbohydrates on my waistline
• stupid movies that actually decrease the IQ of the viewer
• double clinicals crammed in with 4-8 hour lectures every weekday of the summer
• people who don't respond to emails about time-sensitive material in a timely manner
• still hate X-box
• and all video games in general

I guess that's all I can think of right now.

My Warfare is Accomplished

Many of you thought this day would never come.
I myself even thought that this day would never come.
I've left the realm of the blonde.
Shocking, I know. My entire life, I have been some shade of blonde (except for that redhead stint in Auburn.... an entirely separate subject). When dark roots appeared in my mid-teen years, I vigorously fought back with highlights and dye jobs. "I am blonde!" I protested vigourously.

And then, this week, while reading an article on the differing beauty ideals of France and America, I realized.
I'm not blonde.
I'm a brunette.
I should accept this, like the French.
I should take up moisturizing my skin, which is like a national sport in France.
(Incidentally, I've also abandoned foundation, and adopted tinted moisturizer, red lipstick and fingernails, and headbands).

So I bought some dye labelled "Light Iridescent Brown." Mom and I applied it, but she went to bed before it was done. When I came downstairs this morning, she looked at my milk-chocolate toned hair and gasped. She asked "How do you feel?"

I smiled and said, "Like the warfare against my roots is accomplished."

(I promise to post a picture soon).

Wherein I declare all of you (excepting Danielle) to be LOSERS

Seriously people. For the VERY FIRST TIME I finally have put up pictures on the blog. And not only that, they're of the Grand Canyon! And a cactus in my foot!! And after a whole week, there's only one comment? LOSERS. I really was expecting that post to be a hit among the blogosphere community members. All of you, excempting Danielle, are hereby declared to be UNATTENTIVE MEMBERS OF THE BLOGOSPHERE and SERIOUS LOSER-FACES.

So there. Thpppppppppppp.