I have a BIG announcement!

A life without adventure is likely to be unsatisfying, but a life in which adventure is allowed to take whatever form it will is sure to be short.

--Bertrand Russell

Well as if the title didn't give it away,

I have a BIG announcement!

I am sure at this point thousands of possibilities

are running through your heard right now.

What could it be?

Getting married? Well I would have to have a boyfriend or even be dating somebody for that to be a possibility, so unfortunately no! But don’t you worry I am still busy being awesome so no sad faces here! All smiles y’all :)

Joining the circus? I might be a little or a lot of crazy, but I certainly am not good at juggling or breathing fire or walking on tight ropes. So perhaps I will just add that to the list of fun things to try sometime. What do y'all think?

Is the suspense killing you yet?!?

Moving to Seattle? Well as much as I would love to visit and possibly move there one day, no. Before y’all even start telling me how depressing that weather is I must stop you. I absolutely love cloudy days and from being raised the middle of the country in Eastern New Mexico any chance I get to see rain or green grass, I love it! So this is more of a ‘not yet’ rather than no.

Alright enough is enough, I will tell you…. Mother Dearest was in town last night and it was absolutely lovely. We did a little shopping after class on Friday then had dinner with some friends Friday night and finished up her time with lunch today! It was so nice having some family time even if it was for less than 24 hours! It was absolutely lovely!

Oh wait I was supposed to tell y’all about my big news.

Sorry y’all the A.D.D. kicked in and I got side tracked. Ok, no more waiting…. I am going to Egypt this summer! What? Egypt? Why? How long? I am sure y’all are anxious wondering all those questions. Well the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation is having its 58^th annual conference and I am going. Yep, that’s right Miss Artesia and I, along with over 500 student pharmacists from all over the world will be attending this conference. I am sure I will have several blogs until then covering this issue, but I just wanted to drop the bomb on it tonight. If you can’t tell I am more than excited about this once in a lifetime opportunity. Stay tuned for updates on this trip!

Have a great Sunday y'all!

Now Go Be Awesome

Last night I had the privilege of listening to who I believe to be one of the most entertaining, best motivational speakers of our time, Paul Moya. Who is Paul Moya you might ask?!? Well let me tell you!


As described from his website,

"Paul is  a former National President of an organization with over 500,000 people, has been educated at one of the most prestigious business schools in the nation, and has received rave reviews while delivering speeches all over the world."

To sum it all up...he is awesome! I have had the lucky privilege to have known Paul for several years now and he is just as great, if not better, of a person in every day life as he is as a speaker.


During his presentation, Paul had his audience interacting the entire time laughing, joking and even crying at parts. Now I don't want to ruin the surprise for you if you ever get the chance to hear Paul speak (DO IT) but I will say his take home message is Now Go Be Awesome!


Lets think about that for a bit... Now Go Be Awesome. That simple phrase can be interpreted so many different ways and applied to virtually anything. Whether you are talking about that job promotion you have been wanting, leadership role in your favorite organization, or even getting up every morning to work out before work. Whatever it is you are doing, wherever you are at, and whoever you are with do NOT let anything hold you back! You are the sole person responsible for your happiness and success.... NOW GO BE AWESOME!


Paul does a terrific job inspiring anybody to do their best! I have only have the chance to hear him speak once, but I am sure he would do a great job with any age group talking on any subject! So if you haven't heard about Paul look him up! As I mentioned above you can contact him several ways:

www.paulmoya.com                         Facebook                        Twitter 

Oh How Pinteresting

I am linking up this Wednesday with Michelle from The Vintage Apple for, Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday.

This week I am going to share some of my favorite pictures and

some of God's natural beauty in our every day life.

Happy Wednesday y'all :)

You I Am Music

I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity.

It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from,

everyone loves music.

--Billy Joel

This weekend was by far one of the funnest and busiest weekends I have had in a long time! As I get photos upload I will share some of the highlights from Kappa's Psi Last Province IX meeting and the Heat v. Thunder game, so stay tuned :)


Oh a side note I have a video I want to share with y'all. Some of my good friends have a friend in med school at UNM and also a really good rap artist. I encourage all of y'all to go check out his music, You I Am Music. Along with his other youtube videos, he recently made a music video remix with a group of his classmates to Chris Brown's song, Look At Me Now.


Their video was developed to raise money for a charity, One Hope Centro de Vida Health Center. You can learn more about it and donate by clicking here. This video has been extremely popular getting lots of attention, it was even shown on KOB-TV and mentioned on 93.3 KOB FM.


As I listened to the music and their lyrics I was amazed! They did a phenomenal job with it, and if you are interested in the medical field you will really appreciate it. Along with the other lyrics, there is a popular line, "I'm fresher than a pharm student." As you can imagine that is getting lots of interest as well, especially from the pharmacy students.


Now maybe it is just my inner gangsta coming out, but I loved the video and think that was just another one of the lines used to fit the beat. Also kudos to the guys rapping in the video, y'all were great! Now if I was talented enough to spit some lyrics I would love to film a rebuttal video, but until them keep up the good work! :) Best of luck with gathering donations y'all!

Perception of Country Livin'

God made the country, man made the town.

--William Cowper

As y'all know I am currently trying out this big city livin'! Well along with the big city come... city folk. I must mention that I have met some of the best people I know! My friends are the absolute BEST, but most of them grew up a completely different way than I did and as you can imagine they are baffled by my ways. Some of their ideas are too funny not to share! Before we get started I must apologize for my sarcastic answers, but sometimes it is just too hard to take their questions seriously, you will see what I mean. Hope y'all enjoy these conversations as much as I have. P.S. This is quite lengthy, but hopefully y'all will get through it.

Lauren: What kind of stuff do y'all do for fun in the Duke city?

City Friend: Wait... did you just say yaawwwllll?

Lauren: Yes, do y'all not say y'all?

City Friend: No only the under educated rednecks say y'all, well I guess you are from the country. Makes sense.

Lauren: Hey! Just because I was raised in the country that does not mean I am undereducated. If I am not mistaken we are in the same Doctor of Pharmacy program and oh wait, ya I got into school when I was 20.

City Friend: That is very true. So why do you say yaawwwwlllll then?

Lauren: Well I was raised in the country and everybody says y'all. My hometown is super small, I actually had a graduating class of 13 kids. (This ALWAYS blows their mind!)

City Friend: OH MY GOODNESS!!! Are you serious? What was that like?

Lauren: It was absolutely great! I loved it. It was like one big tight nit family. Everybody looked out for everybody else and... well it was just fun. I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

City Friend: So where exactly are you from?

Lauren: I grew up in the Clovis/Portales area about 50 miles from Texas.

City Friend: Oh so you live in Southern NM by Mexico?

Lauren: No, I was raised in the country in Eastern NM.

City Friend: Did you get electricity all the way out in the "country"?

City Friend: Did you have a television growing up?

Lauren: Yes we had electricity, but for us to watch tv my brother had to ride on a bike for about an hour before, then constantly during the tv show. I never really watched much tv growing up though because I was the one that always had to hold up the antenna. Anytime I moved to the window to watch from outside I got yelled at because it messed up the signal and the screen went fuzzy.

City Friend: Oh my gosh! Are you serious?

Lauren: No y'all! Just because I was raised in the country doesn't mean its like a 1920's western movie. Yes, I did grow up in the country and raised animals, but its not crazy like that. Depending on where you live it can be pretty secluded though. We have to drive 40 miles to the closest Wal-Mart.

City Friend: Ya I guess you're right. So you said you had animals? Does that mean you had to ride a horse to school? 40 miles to a Wal-Mart? So what did you do for groceries?

Lauren: No we had these great things called pick-up trucks, or you might call them auto-mo-biles. Not only were they great about getting us from point a to point b, but we also used them for hauling trailers and tons (literately) of feed sacks. Yes, Wal-Mart was 40 miles away and we usually just went every 2 weeks or so. We were usually around Clovis anyways a couple times a week, but if we weren't we could pick up milk, bread, eggs, etc from Allsups.

City Friend: Oh my gosh do you guys go on lots of hay rides huh???

City Friend: Allsups?

City Friend: Oh man that is crazy. I can't imagine having to drive 40 miles just for groceries.

Lauren: It really was not that bad. It was 15 miles each way to school so an extra 25 miles is not bad at all. In Eastern NM everything is at least a 30 minute drive away, you get used to it! It was so peaceful and I sure do miss those starry nights!

Well that pretty much sums up some of the conversations I have had with my friends about 'Country Livin' and I am sure I have probably missed out on some. After I started getting all of these crazy questions about how I was raised I decided to do a little poll.

I asked about 40 people 3 simple questions.

1. Do you know what a Holstein is?
2. A Holstein is a cow, do you think they are used for beef or dairy production?
---I also asked them if they knew where the milk they get from their grocery store comes from.
3. They are used for dairy production, do you know what color they are?


You would be surprised the answers I received. One guy thought a holstein was a type of lingerie. Haha really?!? Well out of those 40 people I only had 1, yes I said ONE, person correctly answer all three questions and I am pretty sure the second one was a guess for them (50-50 right?)! This is crazy right?!?! How could they not know that, especially where the milk they drink comes from? It absolutely amazes me how people a couple hundred miles away could live such different lives. I am not talking about the normal stuff, but more along the lines of completely different knowledge bases as well. Those three questions are something I was taught as a 7 year old and some of the smart people I know in their twenties and thirties have no idea what I am talking about.


I encourage you all to branch out from your usual routine. Talk to a stranger in the bread isle at Smith's or while you are waiting in line to get your oil changed. Share your knowledge bank and stories. Be friendly. One of the best part about living in America is the diversity of our population, and with all that diversity is thousands of thousands of good stories and experiences. Share a smile, share a story, touch a life.

Have a great weekend lovelies :)

Pinterest Fun: Take 2

I wish you a tolerable Thursday. That's all any of us can hope for.

--April Winchell

I think my favorite part about Pinterest is the fact that it has anything and everything on it! Here are some of my favorites from this week . . .

Dream Wedding We Have All Planned

Instead of using rice, bubbles or bird seed,
use sparklers or glow sticks for the send off! Fun idea!

The more I am in the city, the more country I LOVE!

My wedding is definitely going to have peacock accents!

Too stinkin' cute!

Quotes Worth Remembering

Fashion I Wish I Owned

You Can't Help but Chuckle

Well . . . I guess I am going to have to buy a orange and blue Manning shirt :/  

LOVE Sheldon :)

Week Long Fun

The truth is you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow.

Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.

--Eminem

This week has been absolutely crazy for me! I celebrated my 1st annual 21st birthday on Monday! I must say that I was completely overwhelmed with the love and affection I received from my friends and family! Absolutely amazed by the number of terrific people in my life and I am blessed to know each and every one of y'all :) Thank you all for making my birthday the best one yet!


Pharmacy school doesn't really care if it is your birthday or not so I spent my entire day in class then all night studying for my test on Tuesday. Lucky for me this week only has 2 tests this week and I was able to celebrate with my friends last night!


Tomorrow night or I guess you could say Friday morning I am going to be joining thousand of others across the nation to go watch the Hunger Games! If you have not read the books, I encourage you to check them out. They are a super easy read and slightly addicting. I am certainly not what you would call a book worm and I was able to complete the trilogy in 4 days with one of them spent driving all day. So if I can do it, I know all y'all can as well!


When I started pharmacy school I was able to become a member of Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity! I know who would have thought me as part of the Greek family. To be completely honest I thought the same thing until I started hanging out with some of my future 'brothers'. I ended up joining and it has been absolutely wonderful! I have met brothers from across the nation and have developed some of the best friendships through Kappa Psi. Well this weekend our chapter is hosting a regional meeting here in the Duke city! Needless to say I am stoked for this weekend!!

Sunday morning bright and early, well probably around 2 am, Laker Lover, another friend and I are going to be driving to OKC to watch the Miami Heat v. OKC Thunder game! As I am sure you can pick up from the name 'Laker Lover' that my lovely roommate is a Laker and Kobe fanatic! She has been going to games for the past decade and could tell you Kobe stats from his rookie season. She has recently persuaded me to start following the NBA. My chosen is the Miami Heat and before you start in on me, NO I am not jumping on the bandwagon. I actually have been following D-Wade on and off the court. Along with his charity, Wade's World Foundation, he is also an avid supporter for St. Jude's and for those of you who don't know St. Jude's is my chose charity as well. Just another reason to support him and the Heat.


I hope y'all are having just as much of a wonderfully blessed week as I am!

I am because I choose to be

When did meeting somebody or going on a date become so complicated. What happened to the days of the boy calling your house phone and asking you to go to a dinner and movie on Friday night without all the mind games.


What the heck is wrong with a girl if she doesn't fall for all those stupid pick up lines guys use now a days. Just because a girl is single that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with her. What happened to having standards and not settling for less than you deserve. I am sure part of it has to do with what girls are looking for now a days. I hate to break the news to you sweetie, but you can't keep complaining about all the guys you find if you are not looking for the right qualities.

If you do happen to be one of those few who do not settle then you get hassled with all kinds of questions. Y'all know what I am talking about, you have all been there. Why are you still single? When are you getting married? Do you just not like being in a relationship? Oh you must be one of those girls who are more interested in school than boys? Well to answer all your questions....

I am single because I choose to be.

Not because I am not interested in a

relationship or busy with school,

but because I choose not to settle for less than I deserve.

I choose to wait for the guy that makes me the better me.

I know what I want in a guy and

I am not going to settle until I find exactly that.

Believe me, you should never underestimate

the power of a girl who knows what she wants.

My friend Miss Football had a great blog answering all those questions and that oh so familiar phrase you hear, "Hang in there girl and you will find somebody soon." She summed it up perfectly by saying, "I don't need to hang in there, I need a guy who can hang on and keep up." 

March Madness

Get busy living, or get busy dying.

--Stephen King

We are only 8 days into March and I already feel like it should be the end of the month. My days sure having been flying by lately, but I guess that's one benefit about keeping busy. I am sure these next 23 days will not be any slower and I couldn't be more happier! :) 

My next few weeks will consist of spring break, some much deserved family time, presentations to Junior High and High School students on drug abuse, my 22nd birthday, a regional Kappa Psi province meeting (that my chapter is hosting), and a Miami Heat basketball game! Oh did I mention that is just up until the 25th?!? Well you can expect a blog or two to recap on all these exciting events!

In anticipation of going to Kansas to visit my brother I figured I would share some of our pictures we took during Christmas! Enjoy

10 points to anybody who can point out the 'black sheep' in the family!
--No pun intended :)

Best parents in the world!

Brother Dearest & his Darling Wife

My favorite person in the entire world :)

She is squatting and I am on my tip tip toes!

Haha!

... A three man wolf pack if you please ...

... then we went full retard, or at least I did. Lol

I hope y'all are all having a beautiful week and have an even BETTER weekend!

Pinterest Fun: Take 1

I have started to notice most bloggers do some sort of weekly blog with a common theme. So for my weekly blog I think I am going to do some of my weekly favorites from pinterest. Before you even ask, yes I have a pinterest & it consumes entirely too much of my time.


For those of y'all who haven't heard of this lovely site I must warn you, you will get addicted and it will help you waste way too much of your precious time! Now that you have been warned I can tell you what it's all about! After you create an account you are able to create virtual pin boards and you can pin whatever it is your lovin'. This site has everything from recipes to pictures, workout plans to wedding ideas, humor to inspirational quotes. You name it, pinterest has it! Even if you don't feel like creating an account you can just go and browse the pins. Just remember, pin at your own risk! :)


As promised, here are a few of my favorites from this week!

True Story!

Have a great weekend y'all!