As Promised

As I promised now that I have my new camera, there will be tons of pictures on here. Sunday was so beautiful I could not pass up getting out and taking pictures. I had planned to explore our downtown and take pictures of the buildings and beauty there. I made it to the capital and spent an hour which was all the time I had before choir practice.
I LOVE my new camera. I can capture all the beautiful colors of the sky. Some of the pictures look unreal. I promise none of the pictures I will post have been Photoshopped.

This camera has burnt the desire to pursue photography in my heart. I know I just started Surgical Tech school and I will finish and work in that field, until marriage and family (Lord willing). But with Photography there would never be a day that I would wake up dreading my job. It is a pleasure. The first few pictures on this beautiful day were taken with giggles. Oh really I giggled almost the whole time. These next pictures are what I would want to do, portraits. I would love to get out on site and take scenic portraits. I have an itch for it.

This was taken with my old film SLR

Last Pictures of Texas

These are truly the last pictures from Texas. They say everything is bigger in Texas don't they?It proved true with these lily pads we found. Camille here is actually standing in the lake. This lake was down about 11 feet so we walked out about 200 yards where the water used to be down to where it currently was.

Here are the lily pads and their gigantic flowers.
Camille looks like she belongs on the Little Bits with her lily pad hat.
Here Stephen was busy building something. This little workbench was so cute, it had a fake circular saw that made noise when you would pull on it.

Last Day of Texas

They have had a drought in Texas or at least the Dallas area, for who knows how long. That Sunday the government had called for a day of prayer for the rain. We prayed and our prayers were answered on my last day there. That morning it was rainy and the afternoon was drizzily and dreary. Hence the not so great photos.

This is a historic house downtown in Dallas.
Here is a great house. This might possibly be my dream house.
Another view I love the little tower.
And the cute little picket fence.
A view of downtown from this neighbor hood. And a cute street lamp. I never realized how bright a dreary day can look.
This was a cool house/building I am not sure what they use it for.
I loved this little crape myrtle alley way this was in a park.
This gazebo was in the middle of the little park.
Here are 2 of the kids, Camille loves photos, and Stephen was trying to hide from the photo.

YEAH

It's here. Well not yet in my hands but in my sister's possession. I have waited a week and I am about ready to burst and now finally it is here. My marvelous CAMERA. Everyone beware this weekend no one may be able to escape the frenzy that will be me and my new camera. I am pretty bad as it is with limited photos, but now that it is digital the possibilities are endless. I think the memory card it comes with can hold up to like 1000 pictures. I am antsy sitting here knowing I can't play with it yet. And once I open it I will have to charge up the batteries before I can play. This blog will henceforth by chock full of pictures, you may just end up on here.

Class Updates

I am continuing to love school. I think this may be the field for me. I am sailing through with nothing to drop my sails so far. That first test I did ace and have aced another since then. Lets be honest I have made A's on every test that has come my way. Not of my own doing. When I was working off my own steam I could pull off B's but made quite a few C's. God has truly blessed me with a grasp of Surgical Technology. I was told by another classmate that he was expecting great things from me. I asked why that was and he said I can tell you are very smart. How kind is that.
I found a website yesterday where I could watch a laparoscopic radical hysterectomy using the daVinci robot, I did not have time to watch it all but I sure enjoyed what I did see. I am amazed at what all I will have to know and do in surgery these days. The job description I had, has now been amplified to knowing how to set-up, operate and troubleshoot various surgical robots, such as daVinci, ZEUS and AESOP. They are absolutely amazing and transforming the way we have known operations. We may see a day when all operations are outpatient. We are already able to do laparoscopic heart surgeries, which means they don't have to crack the sternum but rather go in through the intercostal space (between the ribs). Transplants are another story but who knows the way technology is going.

Nikon D70s

I am totally excited! I have saved up enough and have bought my Nikon D70s (my dream camera). In 48 hours it will be shipped to me! Now I can take as many pictures as I want and not have to worry about forgetting film, or making sure I have enough pictures left or developing the film. Now granted I could never let go of my regular SLR camera, that will be for special purposes. I still love the effect of having totally taken the picture myself, with even the most standard digital SLR, there are some things it controls on its own.

Pictured is all the stuff I will get with it. This would cost over $1400 to buy the camera with all these accessories. I have spent about $900.

Get ready everyone because it will be hard to escape my photography now! Muh ha ha ha ha!

Cats and Kids

This is for you dad. Here is the baby relaxing under a chair.

For once I was able to take a picture of her without demon looking eyes. This was the second picture and the look is are you really taking another picture of me with that bright flash!
This is Jake and one of their cats. This cat is crazy. To get in the trampoline there is a section of net that overlaps. This cat knows where it is and pulled it back to get in. He struggled with catching his paws in it and convulsed a lot for a few minutes and then he finally got in the trampoline. He did not even bat an eye when Jake got in too. He sat like this while Jake did flips and bounced.
He had moved further out and was just laying on his side while Jake bounced him. It did not even phase him that his body was bouncing up a good 10 inches from the trampoline. Then he stood up as pictured and continued to let Jake bounce him. We were all in stitches watching this.
This was his mode of escape, I don't blame him for not using the entry way. It took him a few times to get up and over. It's not an easy thing to climb up a net when you have hands let along paws with claws.

The Big "D"

This is the Old Red Court House. Behind it is one of the towers and on top there is a spinning restaurant. What big city could call itself complete without a spinning restaurant. Don't they ever have motion sickness complaints at these places?

I just loved this building. With it's gothic gargoyles on top, and the towers, got to love the towers.
Here is the plaque in front of the John F Kennedy memorial. It reads:

The joy and excitement of John F Kennedy's life belonged to all men. So did the pain and sorrow of his death. When he died on November 22, 1963, shock and agony touched human conscience throughout the world. In Dallas, Texas there was a special sorrow. The young President died in Dallas. The death bullets were fired 200 yards west of this site. This memorial, designed by Philip Johnson, was erected by the people of Dallas. Thousands of citizens contributed support, money and effort. It is not a memorial to the pain and sorrow of death but stands as a permanent tribute to the joy and excitement of one man's life.

Here is the monument, it is supposed to be an open tomb, I don't really see it. The black marble in the center bears his name.
This is a cute tree lane on one side of the monument.
My castle in the sky
This is the new court house. I love all the molding around the door and ledges.
Here is the former book depository the second window down on the right is where the shots were fired from. That floor now houses a JFK museum.
Here are the Meek's kiddos. Little blonde haired, blue eyed cuties. Ages 9, 5, and 2 1/2.

Texas Trip

This is the grassy knoll the President was next to when he was shot.

Here are the kids enamored by the pennies in the fountain.
This is the view of where the shots came from and I was standing next to the mark for the first shot.
This is a picture of the window where the shots were fired from, and I was standing next to the second shot mark.
This is a shot of the two X's marking where the President got shot
This is Heather and the kids on the grassy knoll.
The President was shot while passing Dealey Plaza, this landmark is on the side of the road next to the last fatal shot.
Here are me and the kids in front of the grassy knoll.
Here is more of Dealey Plaza in front of the Old Red Court House
This is the sign on the book depository.

If you can't read it, it says:

Formerly the Texas School Book Depository Building

This site was originally owned by John Neely Bryan, the founder of Dallas. During the 1880s French native Maxime Guillot operated a wagon shop here. In 1894 the land was purchased by Phil L. Mitchell, President and director of the Rock Island Plow Company of Illinois. An office building for the firm's Texas division, known as the Southern Rock Island Plow Company, was completed here four years later. In 1901 the five-story structure was destroyed by fire. That same year, under supervision of the company vice president the general manager F.B. Jones,work was completed on this structure. Built to resemble the earlier edifice, it features characteristics of the commercial Romanesque revival style.

In 1937 the Carraway Byrd corporation purchased the property. Later under the direction of D.H. Byrd, the building was leased to a variety of businesses, including the Texas School Book Depository.

On November 22, 193, the building gained national notoriety when Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot and killed President John F. Kennedy from a sixth floor window as the presidential motorcade passed the site.

I Never Claimed to be Graceful

This Labor day weekend I had been looking forward to going to Royse City, Texas to visit some old friends. As the days counted down, I kept getting antsy to go. I had planned on going to work and come home grab my bags and go. But as the week wore on I thought I should just take the day off and leave early. Then I remembered I get my check that day, so I decided I would go in until I got my check and then head out. When I got up that morning at 5:15 I thought I would rather not go in at all and just leave once I was ready. I thought about it and headed downstairs might I remind you this was 5:15 AM! So I got down to the last 3 steps and over did it. I went past the next step and all of my weight went on that pointed right foot. I was doomed from the time I lifted my leg. And down I went in excruciating pain. This is pain I have known before. I wanted to cry but moaned and prayed that I did not have some horrible break. I was able to pull my body into a functioning resting position and rocked my achy self. My thoughts were I hope I did not wake up Rachel, what if I need to go to the ER, ambulances are too expensive, Rachel is asleep, I probably can't drive. What about my trip I am determined to go. So I calmed myself and hopped to the couch, I hopped around enough to make breakfast and put ice on it and elevate it. Here was my way out of work, but I did not really want it to involve pain and possible breaks. Later I noticed I must have cracked my elbow on the stair because it had a abrasion on it that later turned into a contusion, how is that for medical terminology?!?! For the layperson I had a scrape and a nasty black bruise. The next day I realized my butt was really hurting too and later found a nasty bruise on my tailbone. Ack. So I rested, found my old boot and strapped my foot in, got ready, ran a few errands and headed to Texas. I had a great trip and I will post about it when I have pictures. So then Wednesday I had an awful day with my allergies. My face was hurting I could not stop sneezing and it was awful. Normally with my allergies I wake up the next day a little stuffy and that is it. Thursday my face was hurting still so I decided with 3 ailments I had a valid reason to seek out the Doctor. So I called and set up my appointment. I have a full blown sinus infection, so I have bug juice as Dr H calls it and I can already tell the difference. Note to self and others, when you have a sinus infection DO NOT get your immunology shot. It seriously hurt, I am not talking tetanus shot hurt I am talking sting and fire at the same time. I am used to the slight sting I have when I am having a bad day allergy wise and I get my shot, but it was a whole new level with an infection. He thinks my ankle is just a second degree sprain but we went ahead and took X-rays this morning and Monday I should know if there are any fractures, so I will be in a boot at least 2 weeks more and then doing some physical therapy on it. It is so weird, it does not hurt when I walk, he could turn it almost full range of motion and some was a little painful but then as we put my boot back on, I felt all the pain. I walk without pain and then when I sit down I feel the pain. He felt on my tailbone and thinks it is just really bruised. I was concerned because I had a pilondial cyst removed my senior year of high school and most cysts can come back with trauma, but pilondial most the time don't. Just another day in the life of Hannah.

Ever Horrifying

Yesterday I had my first test! I studied most days after learning the information and then studied this weekend, feeling quite confident about taking this test. I was affirmed in my confidence when we went over the test after everyone had finished. I either aced it or missed one. The one I might have missed was something to the effect of a term for cancer that has spread, she was looking for Malignant. I put Metastisized, because that also is a term for cancer that has spread and she said she would think about it. Either way I am totally ecstatic!! Granted this is more of a review course with pathology added, I am still totally excited!

First Day of Class

Ah my first days of class went without a hitch. I was sad and excited to hear that my classes would be mostly a review for me. I realized a lot of it would, having had almost a year of nursing school.
The classes I have are:
Surgical Sciences- this will cover Computer Skills, Electricity, Physics, Robotics, and Microbiology. They have not required Microbiology as a prerequisite, but will next year, but I had to take it for Nursing school, so this will be review.
Medical Terminology-I had much of this in Nursing school it helps that I hear it and work with it every day since I assist Nursing faculty, so this too will be mostly review.
And lastly Surgical Pathophysiology-which is Anatomy and Physiology with Pathology specific to surgical units added in. We are required to take A&P to get in, but they have found the students forget a lot so this is another review course for us.
It was really nice that the first two days we were able to leave class early. Yesterday a one hour class and then a 2 hour class only took us an hour and 15 minutes to cover, so I was able to run a few errands before coming back to work, and still got back early.

Ahh the joy of 6 am with coffee in hand.
So today I was able to experience riding in the back of a police car, first thing in the morning. Let me clarify first, our shuttle bus does not start running until 6 am. On my new schedule I need to be clocked in at 6 am. This presents a problem. But this is not so at UAMS. Our police will escort us inbetween bus hours when it is dark, which is much appreciated since we have to walk past the state hospital mental ward. So there I was on the way to work in a police car. Let me tell you those back seats are not made for comfort, if you commit a crime don't expect to be comfortable in your ride to the station. There is no cushion, just hard plastic that your rear will slide around on in the right garment. Ahh the joys of working at UAMS.

Accountable

Alright, it is time to get down to business. Ever since January of last year I have been on a diet roller-coaster. I tried the Maker's diet, which would be ok if that became my way of eating. It can not because of the expense and such extreme restrictions. I think this is when my metabolism decided it did not know what to do with itself. I kept a few of the good restrictions such as no pork or catfish. And trying to eat organic, when I can afford it. From there I went to a counting calories diet and my metabolism had gone into such a shock with the Maker's diet it did not really respond to cut calories. On the Makers you end up cutting calories significantly, I almost passed out one time. You are able to eat as much as you want of the things you are allowed but I could not afford a lot of organic produce and meats. I probably took in less calories than any person should. I lost a significant amount of weight and also a significant amount of my metabolism. It really has not had time to catch up I guess either. I went from eating 1800 to 1600 to 1200 calories and barely lost any weight. I work out also. Lately I have been trying to eat more calories like 2000, because at my weight I should be able to eat 2400 a day and maintain, and basically when I go over 2000 I gain weight. GRRRR I say GRRRR! I am trying to use the weights more, since only muscle causes you to boost your metabolism. I think it may be working. I have a hard time saying no or limiting myself when it comes to food. I love the taste and just don't want to say no. The only problem is this is a self-control issue. I am making myself a slave to food. I have been successfully not drinking any Mountain Dew for like 2 months now. I replaced it with Diet citrus Green Tea, it is so good and it has helpful antioxidants in it! This is an open invitation for you to ask how I am doing mainly with my self-control with food. It always helps to know someone is going to ask you. I decided to put pretty stickers on my calendar for the days that I work out too.

Fun

I now will have a small side job. Around work, it has been told that I love to scrapbook. This got to one of the Associate Deans. She had taken pictures at our dean-elect's husband's 50th birthday and he is about to turn 52. She has all the supplies but no time, or talent to do it. I told her I would be more than happy to scrap it for her. She came by today and I asked if she had the supplies here, and she said they were at home and she needed to remember to bring them up here. She said she would be willing to pay me to scrap her daughters life. She has the stuff but not the time. I told her I have time and would love to. YEAH! I can do what I love and make some money too.

Hannah Homemaker

I am a third generation seamstress, we are a dying breed. I really enjoy sewing especially making baby clothes. Recently I finally picked back up a dress I had cut out months before the Wilson baby was born and just recently finished sewing it. Let me warn you now that sewing patterns LIE. I was under the impression I was making a dress for a baby that weighed 14-18 pounds respectively. Instead this dress fits her one and a half year old sister. The following pictures are of her sister wearing the dress. At least they will get more than one use out of it. The jacket sleeves are a little short for her and the hat is a little small for her but generally it fits

School

My first official day of class will be the 28th of August. However I must endure 4 days of orientation prior to that. I think I may be able to get out of one of the orientations. That day would be orientation to the hospital where they will have clinicals, and I will not have clinicals until next year. I pray that I can just attend that one next year, otherwise my brain may just start leaking out my ear, before classes even start. I figured out my work schedule and I will only have to work to 6:30 at the latest, but that is with coming in at 6 am every day except Friday. So hopefully I can still have some sort of social life.
I am excited. My work load has been non-existent lately. The work that took up yesterday was to help someone else. The classes I will be taking this semester will be Surgical Sciences, Medical Terminology, and Surgical Pathophysiology.