tuesdays with morrie.

During my time off school I have had a chance to become acquainted with others in the blog world. I have found nothing but amazing stories, none more inspirational than the story of this family: http://half12.blogspot.com/

A few months ago a little girl named Tuesday was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a particularly rampant form of cancer. As it turns out Tuesday is a fighter, despite the fact that she and her twin sister are only two years old. Tuesday has undergone 6 rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and dozens of procedures over the last few months and has been handling all obstacles thrown at her. She seemed to be recovering well until her latest scan revealed another tumor. Her family are coping with this tragedy with the utmost positivity and grace and they deserve some love. So, go on over to their page (linked above) and show them some love. This family is in need of good thoughts, positive energy, prayers, luck, ancient indian dancing....whatever you believe in!

To the Next Step wishes Tuesday [and her family] a speedy recovery.

mallrats.

Today has been an absolute whirlwind of last minute christmas shopping!  The malls were absolutely insane and I am vowing to stay away from all shopping centers until 2009.  Christmas is obviously a time when people become stressed and on-edge which makes for great entertainment for those of us who were just at the mall for last minute bits and pieces (my real motivation for going shopping today, if we're being brutally honest).  

Here are some examples of christmas craziness observed today: 

I. Crazy Christmas Scenario in Hot Topic

Obnoxious Teenager - ::holds up shirt::  Which Slayer shirt do you think I should get Mom?

II. Crazy Christmas Text [apparently the madness rubbed off on me]

Jill via Text: Do you have Tremors? (the movie, not the neurological symptom)

Matt: Yes, thanks. 

Apparently Matt is no longer weirded out by me.  sad. 

III. Crazy Christmas Scenario in Barnes and Noble.

Barnes and Noble Employee: Can I help you with something, sir?

Middle Aged Guy: Um...I'm just trying to get something that my sister will like.

B&N Employee: Well, if you tell me about her I bet I could help you find something.

Guy: Oh, that's ok.  She's like Sarah Palin with an attitude.

B&N Employee: [doesn't skip a beat] We have some great books on weaponry and hunting downstairs....

**Jill is laughing her ass off at this point** 

So many things I would say if it were socially acceptable to do so.....

1. Sarah Palin with an attitude? That must have been pleasant to grow up with.

2. Sarah Palin with an attitude?  Here's some arsenic and we can solve this problem right now.

3. Sarah Palin with an attitude?  Isn't there a more concise way to say that, like the antichrist. 

You better believe I'll be back at the mall this time next year.  You can't make this stuff up. 

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

a christmas carol.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!  As mentioned in previous posts, I become crazy this time of year!  I am SO that annoying Christmas girl, which is out of sync with the rest of my personality.    

Thanksgiving was wonderful.  Auntie Trudy and the rest of the Guillermo Family were kind enough to invite us over for the big day.  There were lots of people and even more food (including a turkey the size of a dog)!  It was nice to spend time with some family since the rest live to far away (England, NC, etc.).

Sunday we put up our Christmas tree and other decorations; it certainly looks festive in the Whisnant household.  I think Saint Nick might make an early stop out of confusion!

I actually had a day off of work today.  I think this is the first time I have spent an entire day alone in this apartment since we moved in 5 months ago.  I slept late, cleaned up, wrapped some presents, did some Christmas shopping (I heart amazon.com), got groceries, and cooked dinner (I'm sure Matt will pass out from amazement).  I am pleased to say that I am almost finished with Christmas shopping (again, I heart Amazon **shameless plug**) in record time, might I add.  

Merry Christmas, Everyone.....

mission impossible.

*Cue the Trumpets*

I AM FINISHED!

4 papers and 3 exams later....finals week was absolute hell. Regardless, I have survived the first quarter of my doctorate unscathed and couldn't be more proud of myself. One down 8 to go! I will post more this weekend since I haven't done a real post in a while, but I wanted to let everyone know!

Goodnight :)

the mist.

Well, the vote was BARACKed and I am so happy! I absolutely love listening to him talk; I have faith that he can take this country in a new direction. If all else fails, at least we have a president who can speak in completed sentences and doesn't use words like "strategery" and "misunderestimated".

Anyway... this is the last week of classes and I couldn't be more thrilled. I am exhausted and ready for some time off. The weather is changing - it has a rained a few days and we've definitely seen some of that infamous San Francisco fog. Have I mentioned that I am so ready for christmas?

BARACK THE VOTE

Seriously. Get out and vote......NOW!!!

OBAMA - BIDEN 2008

Dare to believe in change?

final destination.

It's been a while since my last post...of course, I've been super busy with school! Only two more weeks until finals and then 6 weeks off!! I am so excited. I can't believe that I am almost finished with the fall quarter. I know this whole experience is going to be over before I know it. Anyway, school is going much better - there is always so much to do: reading, papers, exams, blogging, roleplays, therapy, presentations...sometimes I think I'm losing my mind!

I'm starting to get really excited for winter. For those of you that know me, you know that winter if my absolute favorite time of year. I love it when the weather gets chilly (winter clothes are awesome: sweaters, comfy hoodies, scarfs, hats, and gloves...love 'em!), the leaves fall of the trees, and everyone is happy. I love being in the Christmas spirt, shopping for presents, holiday music, SALES, snow (not likely here), and being amongst tinsel, pine trees, and twinkly lights! I watch Christmas movies for months - Muppet Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street, Home Alone, The Family Man, Father of the Bride (I watched this no less than 100 times last year), Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, The Grinch, Reindeer Games, and Frosty. This year is going to be particularly special since it is our first wedding anniversary :) On December 28th, it will be one year since I became Jill Whisnant! Times goes so fast.

Happy Holiday Season Everyone (I know, I'm insane...)

out of sight.

Guess what? My glasses finally came!
Not so fast....there are rules:

1. No jokes about intelligence being an "optical illusion"


2. No jokes about Sarah Palin


3. No jokes about the impending arrival of a white stick and/or a golden retriever in a bright vest

halloween.

I normally get really excited about Halloween, but I was a little bummed out this year. That was until I started writing this blog.

My friends and I are huge fans of Halloween and we have a huge party each year. Everyone gets dressed up, Dana tries to kill everyone with the punch, we play games, drink a lot, it's a great time! Unfortunately, due to my geographical and educational situation, I will be unable to participate in the festivities for the first time in 4 years :( Anyway, I decided to write this blog and post some pictures, but then after looking through my photographs I realized that my friends and I love Halloween for one reason alone....the costumes. In fact, I've realized that my friends and I are dressed up in some weird costume/outfit/hat/etc. in almost every picture that I have. Therefore, I am no longer bummed because Halloween is totally replicable (gosh, i'm such a scientist) for the next time I get back to NC. I mean, we always watch scary movies and Dana routinely tries to kill us with punch, so next time we'll just put on costumes! Anyway, here are a few pictures from years past:

Year I: I was an angel and Matt was the Brawny Paper Towel Guy (you could argue that neither one of us are in costume...heeeheee)

Year II - This was the year that I decided to go as Roller Girl from Boogie Nights (Mistake Number 1). I tried to persuade Miranda to install hand rails in her house and put down some sort of spongey material on the floor to protect me from injury. She wouldn't (totally unreasonable, by the way). She did promise to help me "train" for Halloween by rollerblading with me around the loop at Wrightsville Beach (Mistake Number 2). Of course, I fell about 30 minutes into it and injured my wrist. She pretty much dragged me into the car and ran in my apartment screaming to Matt "I'm sorry, I broke your girlfriend!".

Many of the American Eagle Clan:

Year III - a lot of beer pong was played this year.

New Year 2008:

This is actually the same night, except we have obviously decompensated quite an bit and changed costumes:

Then we added blowers:

This deserves some explanation, but I'm not going to give it to you:

Then we were swamp monsters:

Miranda was a lion and Daner was drunk :)

My Maid of Honor and me:

I sometimes wear a crazy sombrero :)

Guess who? Don't worry, your secret is safe with me.

Obama - Biden 2008

For all of you who can vote in this country:

VOTE FOR OBAMA-BIDEN 2008

one fine day.

Just wanted to update everyone: I am half way through hell week. I have turned in 2 papers and finished 1 exam. I have 1 more exam tomorrow and another paper due on Thursday.



Otherwise, things are looking up.



Oh, I'm going to get my eyes tested on Saturday because I might as well be wearing a blindfold for all I can see right now. Maybe I'll get glasses like these....?

driving miss daisy.

Ugh. I'm really sick of getting lost here. There are so many construction projects going on and so much traffic, it is nearly impossible get anywhere! My least favorite thing about California is the horrible horrible traffic and the bad bad bad drivers.

This morning, trying to take a shortcut, I managed to get on to the freeway going north instead of south. By the way, San Francisco is to the north and so I ended up getting stuck in traffic for 10 minutes before being able to exit so I could turn around. I finally came to an exit a mile or so down but when I got off the ramp there was nowhere to go!! They had closed down the entrance to the southbound lanes and there were no signs posted prior to me exiting. I was already getting really irritated and since I didn't want to get back on 101 North, I had to drive around some random (sketchy) neightborhood. Yeah, this is what I need at 8am....

Finally, after a small panic attack and asking some random woman for help, I managed to get on the right road. I'm a little shaken up at this point and traffic is terrible. Then, for some reason I DID NOT EXIT AT THE CORRECT ROAD (I'm such an idiot). The exit for my work is the next one down so I guess I had it in my mind to get off there. After touring Redwood City for 15 minutes (by the way, if you want to know what Redwood City is like, go to a crack house and throw a bag of trash everywhere...that's pretty much Redwood city) I managed to get to school.

girl, interrupted.

Hola Blog-a-teers! Well this week was the ususal pure insanity that is PGSP-Stanford. I am so exhausted! Monday is my first exam in Psychopathology and it is going to be hell. I honestly don't feel like there are enough hours in the day to get everything done that I need. My boss asked me the other day "Do you ever get tired of just running around? You're constantly in motion every second of every day.". The answer, of course, is a resounding YES. However, I don't have a choice so I deal with it by complaining (and drinking). A lot.

This week I learned 2 things:
1. I am a complete therapy spazz.
2. Tom Cruise is. absolutely. insane.

Obviously, the Tom Cruise thing is way more important (and interesting). I remember a time when everyone really liked Tom Cruise. It was about 4 years ago...before he went off his Lithium, I assume. One of my professors showed us the interview with Matt Lauer that Tom did a few years back. I kind of remember seeing it at the time but when I watched it again, I became really concerned about him. About 3 minutes into it I felt like I was back at an inpatient facility watching someone have a manic episode. See for yourself:




Get back on your meds Tom, for all of our sakes. You don't know anything about psychiatry or psychology. You're an actor...and you used to be a good one...stick to what you know!

bring it on.

Jillian Michaels is trying to kill me.

Seriously.

I started doing this workout DVD on Thursday because school has me super overwhelmed and I barely have time for showers let alone going to the gym. Let me just say, she is kicking my butt! It is definitely the most intense 20 minutes of exercise I have ever done but I LOVE it. As soon as I found the DVD I immediately called Miranda because she loves a good, crazy work out too. So, instead of the intense amount of drinking that Miranda and I used to do together we are engaging in a productive activity. heehee.

While I don't expect to lost 20 pounds in 30 days like the package says, I do hope to be able to stay awake after 5:00 pm (an activity I am strugging with now).

You should do it too!

dazed and confused.

I have been egregiously delinquent in my blogging! That ends right now.

So...the purpose of this blog is to keep my family and friends abreast of the major (and minor) happenings of my life while I am living in California. I definitely do not get to talk to the important people in my life as much as I previously have and would like a way in which I can communicate the events in my life in an informal manner. I don't think I have talked to anyone in the past 3 weeks when I haven't been simultaneously doing some other activity (driving, studying, waiting in line, working, cooking, brushing my teeth, etc), I love you all but I have no time.

Anyway, the back story is that I started this thing a few months ago when I was about to make the transition from North Carolina to California. Unfortunately, life got away from me and I feel that it is more important than ever that I keep making posts.

First on the agenda is our apartment. Many of you have not seen pictures so here are a sneak preview of Villa Tuscany (the name of our apartment), which is actually little more than an expensive crap hole. I kid. It's really fine if somehow our extremely loud upstairs neighbors (nicknamed Pam and Tommy) could keep it down. Ever.

So here is the super cute entry way. Yes, it's adorable. And believe me...it was the nicest place we looked at. We don't have bug problems...or intruder problems...both of which would have to ring the bell in order to get in.

Here is our living room with a view into the office/bar. Please pay attention to the pillows on the couch, I made those from fabric I bought at ikea (before I started school of course, now I barely have time to bathe).

Another living room picture. Miranda - did you notice the glass on the table?! I finally found a great place for it!

Living room from a different angle. The chair in the background we got from craigslist and is the best thing I have ever bought. Love it!

The bar/desk (i.e. the place where I spend most of my time).

Another view of our dining room/bar/office which is slightly less pathetic than the last picture. On the bar is my dry erase white board where I write all of my happenings! I update it a million times a day, it's pretty sad.

The kitchen....we really don't use this room! Haha.

A picture of the two most luxurious items in our apartment - a stove and a fridge. It is basic city in California!

Our Bedroom. We need a bed skirt like woah. The white package under the bed is my wedding dress!

Alright, that is it for now. Check back later for updates and thanks for reading!

goodnight and good luck.

Saying goodbye is not easy. I have said a great many of "farewells" in my lifetime but this is one of the hardest. I have met so many wonderful people in Wilmington and I cannot believe it is time to leave. I hope I find people who "get me" in California.

Tonight I went to Henry's for flight night. Miranda and I have gone to flight night at least half of the weeks this past year. It hurts that this is that last time. We celebrated by stealing half the dessert glasses from the table :) hehe

Tomorrow night is the last old chicago/lets sneak rum in the movie theater night. So sad....

and it came full circle.

It is just now starting to hit me that I have 7 days until I leave Wilmington.

Seven days until I leave the town I grew up in. Now, when I saw "the town I grew up in" I don't actually mean the town that I grew up in; I mean, I'm leaving the town that let me discover who I am. That helped me grow. That shaped me into who I am.

Five years ago I entered the University of North Carolina Wilmington campus a scared freshmen. I so deeply wanted to go to college but was irritated at how long it would take me to get my degree but I went there anyhow. On that campus I became an adult. I figured out what I wanted to do with my life, I got engaged, I met wonderful people, and made friends that would last a lifetime. While in Wilmington I made great friends...best friends, I got married, and got into graduate school...twice. And now I have to leave. I'm leaving for an unfullfilled dream, something I have wanted before I even know why I wanted it in the first place. But, I never thought it would be so hard to leave this life.

I am leaving to get my doctoral degree at Stanford University and Pacific Graduate School and I could not be happier, but at the same time I could not be more sad. Here is this place that is so much a part of who I am and I am leaving it in search of something better. But...can anything be better than this? I don't know; I'm so confused.

My final day of work was last thursday and it was an emotional day for me. As fate would have it my last activity would be to give incoming freshmen surveys at orientation. There I was giving the same surveys that I took 5 years ago. It was the weirdest feeling, the most incredible feeling...that i had surpassed UNCW's requirements for me and now I was in a position to impart my wisdom on the future of my alma mater.

Weird
Weird
Weird

Ugh. I don't want to leave. I so want to leave. This is going to be tough..........

is this thing on?

I'm new to this blogging craziness!