I haven't blogged in a looooong time!

It's been over a year! Yikes! I've actually re-taught myself how to write in my actual journal again and I finally filled in the journal I've been working on since I was 13 (7 years!). It felt very liberating. I want to get back into writing but now that school has started up again I find myself very busy. During the summer I was busy with work so it really just hasn't been working out well for me, motivational-wise.

I'm in my third year of my program now! Just have to get through this year and next year and then I'll be out in the real world. :) My old car (the 2004 Ford Focus) died early spring of this year. So now my mom's old car (2009 Honda Civic) is the "kids car," although in about a month or so my older brother will be buying his own car so it will be all mine. It will be nice to not have to worry about when he needs the car for work or to go out with friends for once.

Summer was great! Just very busy and it went by way too quickly! Here's a picture I took from a recent canoe trip with my dad to Cedar Creek in Ontario, Canada.

I love that place! Very relaxing and beautiful!

Anyways, I figured I would update this blog since it has actually been forever since I posted anything. I mostly go on my tumblr for blogging (http://allychick1.tumblr.com/ and http://wherethefairiesdance.tumblr.com/ ).

I will be making a post on my second blog (http://rightoffthepages.blogspot.ca/) reviewing Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, which is a blog that I have not touched for years, although I have meant to.

I hope to make more updates on here, not just about my life but also recipes and tutorials and such!

Thanks for reading :)

- Allison

Today felt like spring

I was actually so happy when going to school today. I only wore a hoodie, which was a beautiful feeling. And then I drove home with the sun roof open! Gahhh, I just want the weather to stay warm. School should be done in about a month and a half, which is very exciting. I have two midterms next week, both of which I need to study for. The first is my second anatomy midterm, and I have at least started to study for it, but I still have a ton left to cover. I even gave away one of my shifts at work today so I could have some more time. I volunteered to answer questions for prospective nursing students at my university today and I forgot to work that into my study schedule so I realized if I had to work tonight too I would pretty much be unable to do anything productive.

I've been trying to catch up on Grey's Anatomy recently and I just finished an episode, so it's pretty much time to start cracking down and study. I have two chapters to go through tonight, two tomorrow, and then I will cover everything on Sunday (with the midterm being on Monday). There are actually so many tv shows that I want to start watching that I don't have time for. It's kind of ridiculous. Notably, I want to watch Doctor Who, The Big Bang Theory, and Sherlock. I also want to re-read The Mortal Instruments series, which hasn't been going well because, once again, I have no time. Or if I do have time, I don't feel like it.

I figure I will eventually start reviewing more books on my other blog. I have been trying to catch up on the Pretty Little Liars books and I'm on Stunning right now. I also recently bought a Kindle Paperwhite, which I LOVE. It actually is so convenient and comparable to reading from an actual book. If you are looking to buy an e-reader, I would seriously recommend this. I even convinced one of my best friends to buy one shortly after I got mine! I will admit that I was at first a bit iffy about buying an e-reader, mainly because I love reading from actual books and a part of me felt like I would be conforming to the new technology or something. But it really does come in handy and it is quite thin so it fits much more easily into my book bag than an actual book would. I also love how the kindle version of the books are cheaper. I figure in the long run I will definitely being saving quite a bit of money. What does still kind of bug me, though, is the fact that I want to have a "library" in my house when I move out...kind of like in Beauty and the Beast, but of course like 1000 times smaller. I feel like I'm cutting off my collection a bit. But oh well.

Well, I suppose I should study now. Maybe I'll read or something later...who knows!

Yeah, yesterday didn't quite go as planned...

I did most of the stuff I intended on doing (you can likely guess which ones...haha). However, for studying I did not accomplish much. I think I read like, 5 slides. Yikes. But today I have almost done what I planned for today, which is good. My last class of the day was canceled, but I have to watch this hour long video my Professor posted to make up for the lost class. I think I'll do that after I finish catching up on Pretty Little Liars (such a good show, omg). After watching the Anatomy (the class that was canceled) video, I'm hoping my mom will want to go to Costco because I'm in a Costco kind of mood. Especially for poutine....mmmmmm. I also really just want to get out of the house. I feel like every time I go out, I'm only just going to school or work. And my friends did invite me to hang out later on tonight, but I have to wake up for 5 am tomorrow because of clinical, so I really don't want to be going to bed late.

On a different note: I might be getting this car!

That's just a picture I found on google, but it's the same colour, make, and year....so essentially the same car. It used to be my mom's until a couple years ago, when it was passed down to my oldest brother. But he just bought another car that is cheaper on insurance (and uglier), so this baby might soon be mine! I just have to go out and get my full G license so that my insurance will go down when I put a car in my name. Regardless, so excited. If I do recall (it's been a while since I've been in the car, a couple years maybe), the car rumbles a lot. You'll be stopped at a red light and the entire thing will start to vibrate and make a vibrating noise. Also, I'm pretty sure it had really squeaky brakes at one point too. My dad says that isn't the case anymore, but regardless it would kind of suck. For the most part though, it's a really good car for my first car. Financially, I will be hurting. But come summer I'm going to be working a lot more and getting paid more, so that should make up for it. And then the back seat is really squishy! Haha, my poor friends.

Oh my goodness, I'm starvinggggg. But nothing sounds good...except for poutine! :(

I'm supposed to be going on vacation to Kalahari for a couple days in a couple weeks or so, so I have to go out and buy a new bathing suit because all of the ones that I have now are super old! Like, 4-6 years old, hahah. They're just so cute, I can't stand to get rid of them. Plus I'm really picky when it comes to bathing suit shopping.

Whoop! My mummy's home! I'm going to go ask about Costco!

I always feel so motivated on my day off!

Which is today, by the way. I have woken up nice and early (naturally) at 8:30 and I'm ready to do something. In the past couple of weeks I have given my room a HUGE cleaning (filling up two recycling bins and one garbage bag, plus some donated clothing) and it is pretty much done. In the spring I get to redecorate (yahoo!) because I have had the same blue, green and purple theme since I moved to this house when I was twelve. So I'm going for a more grown up look, with greens, golds, browns, and burgundys as my colour scheme. It's so hard to find something that I like though. My mom and I have been to so many different craft stores looking for a nice big painting that I can hang up in my room that will match my colour scheme and "give us something to reference", as my mother says. I guess we will check back again when spring comes though and I have my fingers crossed that we will find something cause I would like to get this show on the road!

Unfortunately the thing I don't feel motivated to do on my day off is school work and studying, which is extremely unfortunate considering midterms start next week and I'm quite nervous, as I've mentioned in previous posts. But regardless of my lack of motivation, I am going to force myself to do some readings and start memorizing the more complicated stuff. -.-

I really do feel like cooking though, so perhaps before I do all that I will make myself a nice breakfast! The only issue with that is that my older brother seems to still be awake after working midnights and outside working on his car (even though it is super foggy out and he's likely getting soaked with moisture), so he would expect me to make him something too. To which I could always reply, "Suck it." But then I would likely end up making him food anyways because I'm already making some and might as well...basically because I'm such a nice person. I've never made an actual omelette before...just scrambled eggs with different stuff in it. Maybe I'll try that...

Pretty much my goals for this day off are to work on school work, get some cooking or baking done (maybe I'll find a cool recipe online), look up animals on the humane society website and then feel sad because I can't afford anymore animals other than my own cat, and try and clean off the top of my dresser, which is currently covered with EVERYTHING. Also, put away the clean clothes that are overflowing on my desk chair. Maybe read a book too...but which one...hmm...

And my brother just came inside to go up to his room! Hopefully he's going to bed...that means it's safe to make breakfast!

Jokes...he went back out. :(

I might start up my other blog again...

I know I mentioned that yesterday, but I am seriously considering it. I always forget what books I have read or whether or not I liked them because often times I can't even remember the plot. So I think it would be useful for me to go back and remember what I thought about certain books. And it would also be nice for when I go to read the sequel to a book that I don't even remember. So for this post, I am going to list EVERY book (except for Shel Silverstein or similar books, ahaha) on my shelves just to make me feel more organized about it. I think it will also help refresh my memory about some of the books I have.

So, without ado...Here's my list!

Holy balls. I just looked up and realized how many books I have. I might abandon ship halfway through this post. -.-

Shelf #1 above my desk:
- Uglies, Pretties, Specials & Extras by Scott Westerfeld
- The Luxe, Rumors, & Envy by Anna Godbersen
- Fallen, Torment, Passion & Rapture by Lauren Kate
- The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
- The Angels Trilogy: Angels Watching Over Me, Lifted Up by Angels & Until Angels Close My Eyes by Lurlene McDaniel
- Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
- The Lying Game & Never Have I Ever by Sara Shepard
- The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
- Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt
- A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels & The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Princess Lessons by Meg Cabot
- That Summer by Sarah Dessen
- Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst
- Need by Carrie Jones
- Dear Canada: No Safe Harbour: The Halifax Explosion Diary of Charlotte Blackburn by Julie Lawson
- The Blood Confessions by Alisa Libby
- Wondrous Strange & Darklight by Lesley Livingston
- Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel
- Wicked Lovely & Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
- Don't Die My Love by Lurlene McDaniel
- Reach for Tomorrow by Lurlene McDaniel
- Beauty by Robin McKinley
- Dear Canada: Not a Nickel to Spare: The Great Depression Diary of Sally Cohen by Perry Nodelman
- To Catch a Pirate by Jade Parker
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince & Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
- The Tales of Beetle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
- Bloom by Elizabeth Scott
- Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott
- Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky
- If We Kiss by Rachel Vail
- You, Maybe by Rachel Vail

And here's a picture of my ever-so crowded shelf. This has been taken with my laptop's webcam...hence the super crappy quality.

Yes, that is a Winnie the Pooh piggy bank.

Holy cow, I'm so bad at keeping blogs!

I just always feel too busy! Even right now I am supposed to be working on an online assignment for my Anatomy class and it's just not working out for me because I am too easily distracted. I'm SUPER excited for school to be finished for the year, but that means that first I have to go through midterms and finals which is never fun. Honestly, the only thing that really stresses me out for school (besides term papers and other tedious things) is OSCEs. I did well on my most recent one; worse than the one before but still good. But I know it will only get harder from here on out which is super stressful. We don't just have to worry about one system anymore, but now we have to worry about two and somehow still perform the assessment in an allotted amount of time. That is probably the worst thing about OSCEs. You only have a certain amount of time so you feel like you have to rush through everything and then if you make a mistake, you get even more frazzled because you can't necessarily re-do it even if you truly know how to. It's very frustrating and I really wish they would have thought that through more when coming up with ways to test us. With any other exam you get WAY more than enough time to complete it. But with this one, it's like they are trying to psych you out. I understand that it's probably like this to help us with our time management skills...but I also know that in real life I would never have to rush like I feel I have to in these exams.

Blaahhhh. But anyways, enough rambling about school. Cute boy that I enjoy looking at is still super attractive. I honestly don`t think I even want to start anything with anyone right now. Between school and work, I barely have enough time for my friends, let alone a guy! I've been trying to read more because that was something I used to LOVE doing, but I sort of let go for a little while. I have so many books on my shelves that I need to read, it`s kind of ridiculous. Maybe I will even start back up my book review blog. Of course, that probably isn't a very good idea considering the title of this post. -.-

Anyways...I should probably finish my Anatomy assignment. Blarrgghhh.

Which reminds me....


Oh Nigel Thornberry...you crack me up!

Being sick is the worst!

Honestly though, for the past couple of days, I have had a horrible cold. It started off with a really bad sore throat that lasted for two days (and I told myself if I had it for one more day, I would go to the clinic), then Friday my throat didn't hurt at all and suddenly my nose was constantly running like a faucet and my lymph nodes in my neck were really swollen and tender (which, thanks to the nursing program, I am now able to palpate). Also, my sinuses were causing so much pressure in my head, I had a near-constant head ache.  My nose is still red and scaly in recovery (gross, I know). I had to call into work sick the next day (Saturday) after closing the night before until 2 am. I felt guilty, but I felt even sicker, so whatevs. And then Sunday I woke up and my nose wasn't really bothering me that much anymore; instead, my chest was acting up and my voice started to go. It was like the cold was slowly targeting each part of my body; next would be my blood, then my heart, then...I would die. So I called in sick to work yesterday too. :( No money for Allison. But I actually feel a lot better today, and I know that I would have been miserable if I had gone to work.

So yeah, that was my weekend. It consisted of me watching Community on Netflix (GREAT show, by the way) and laying in bed being all sick and stuff. When I finally was feeling well enough to shower, it felt great. Tomorrow I have an OSCE, which is pretty much this really intimidating nursing exam where you go into this room with a standardized patient (actor/actress), an examiner, and a camera up in the corner of the ceiling and you pretty much have 25 minutes to go through an assessment on the patient, as though they are an actual patient. Also, you don't know what their reason for care (what is wrong with the patient) beforehand, so you have to know EVERYTHING (which is just like any other test, I suppose). I have been practicing with classmates and family members non stop and I feel like I know my stuff, but I can't help but feel really nervous still. Once this exam is done, I really just have to study for my other written exams, which I am not foreseeing to be too hard considering we just had midterms not too long ago. But yeah, next couple of days will be me primarily being lazy while I can and then studying when I absolutely have to. Tonight, my brother let me practice both an eye and then a head and neck exam on him, which helped...I sincerely hope I don't forget anything! And in school today, I got to go through literally every system with my classmates, which was good. When my mum finishes watching the news I will be able to practice the final two systems on her and then I am calling it a night for OSCEs.

Oh yeah! And then tomorrow for my Anatomy lab, we get to do blood testing! Just like in the Twilight book (don't judge me)! I already know that I am AB+ (the ultimate universal receiver), but it should be interesting to actually test it myself. I'm quite excited. Although shortly afterwards, I will be crapping my pants because I will be so nervous about my OSCE. I can't wait until it's over and done with. Gahhh.

I want Christmas break to be here NOWWW!