the flu is slowly but surely killing me.
on to hour 19 of sleep in the last 24 hrs.

I am so thankful for my sisters.  It's not everyday that God blesses someone with 4 built in friends who will always be there for you until the day you die.  I've always thought I've been so incredibly blessed to have an abundance of sisters, but today I am especially thankful for Amanda.  Our relationship has changed drastically in the last 5 years.  Amanda and I are very different from one another and that made growing up together and getting along extremely difficult.  Couple that with always feeling like Amanda was the "favorite" and you have a volatile situation.  We didn't naturally get along like we did with my other sisters.  All of that changed once we didn't live together.  We always lived in the same building while at college but never together and I think that has made all the difference. I won't go into the ups and downs of our relationship but 5 years ago I would never call her crying, never seek her advice, never confide in her or call her just to talk.  Now we do all of that.  And I have never been more thankful to have her in my life than I am today.

I deleted my last post because I was terribly cranky when I wrote it and it was not fun to read.  Actually most of my stuff on here is not fun to read.  We'll see if I can fix that, probably not though.
I'm trying to be less of a crank pot today.

Watching Friday Night Lights makes me want to never have children.  It is one of the few shows that actually portrays high school kids as high school kids.  They don't act like rich 20-somethings with little or no parental guidance.  They actually act like teenagers.  They're selfish and stupid and have the worst attitudes.  I seriously don't think that I could ever handle that on a daily basis.  Reason 485 why I no longer want children.
Also, I have to take the GRE in addition to the MCAT if I want to do a dual program for MD/MPH, which I do.  But this sucks.  My advisor told me not to study for it because it's basically just like the ACT and science majors don't usually have any problems with it (we're already updated on our math skills unlike most English/art majors).  We'll see.  Let's add that to the list.  My list is getting way to long...

Praying for my cousin Greg. He is vacationing in New Zealand and since the earthquake no one has been able to contact him. I'm praying and hoping that the distance is making communication difficult, and not something worse..

You Don't Own Me

This is me and my roommates.  It's our theme song.  Yes you can laugh at my ridiculousness.

I love the First Wives Club!

And even more good news

Everything is falling into place.
My week has continued to be wonderful and I am itching to tell everyone the wonderful news I heard about on Sunday which was only made better by more news I learned about Tuesday.  However, I must wait.
I can tell y'all that I am officially interning at the Center for Community Health at UNT Health Science Center (UNTHSC) in Fort Worth this summer.  I could not be happier.  If you remember any of my summer posts from last year you already know that I love working there and my boss Dr. Cardarelli has taken me under her wing and been a real mentor to me.  It is because of her and my time at CCH that I am officially pursuing my MD/MPH!  MPH is a masters of public health.  Most Texas schools offer the degree in conjunction with an MD with no additional years tacked on to my schooling!  Which is the best part about this program.  I can get both in 4 years.
Oh and I submitted my down deposit for my trip to Mexico this summer.  Yes!  If everything goes as planned I will be spending 4 weeks in Mexico in late July, early August learning medical Spanish, taking culture classes, oh and doing clinicals in health clinics around Guadalajara!
I am so blessed and continue to be amazed at all the wonderful opportunities God has placed in front of me.

p.s. My best friend Ben from back home also laid some great news on me yesterday.  This week has been a constant high.

Feb. 15, 2011

The last three days have been awesome.  Mostly because I found out some really exciting news that literally made me burst into tears of happiness!!  I'm not ready to share the news with y'all quite yet but as soon as I am I will.
I was able to talk to my very best friend Alicia who lives in MD just outside of D.C. which was wonderful because it's hard to keep in touch with her sometimes but we always pick up right where we left off.
Also, I finished my scholarship application to help fund my trip to Mexico this summer so it's all turned in and ready.  I really hope I get it, but there's not a lot of money to hand out with this one and it's pretty competitive.
I spent all day Sunday with my best friend Katelin and I know this might sound weird but we haven't gotten alone time in a while so it was so nice to spend all day with just her shopping, eating, and enjoying each other.  We're always surrounded by our mutual friends, which is wonderful, but not when have some heavy stuff we want to talk about and sift through so it was nice to have a chance to do that.
Last bit of news that has made the last few days great was that I aced my Spanish test!  I've been worried about it because it's all literary jargon that is difficult for me to get into but my dad was right in that I just always doubt my abilities to succeed.  No more because even though I haven't gotten the grade back, I know I aced it.
Umm I think that's all for the update on my boring life.
Oh, one last thing.  It never fails that something unbelievably awkward happens every Valentine's day for me and I don't know what to say or how to react.  Well this year was no different...

Feb. 10, 2011

Wow, lots of posts lately!
I just finished writing my paper for my Spanish lit class and I am so glad it's over with!  I remember writing papers all the time in high school dissecting the literary elements of authors, unveiling the underlining meaning of passages, and discussing "themes."  Well now I have to do it for Spanish. I don't remember it being this hard.  I always got A's in English and aced the AP tests (allowing me to forgo this torture in college.. or so I thought) but now I am realllly out of practice.   Man, reading Spanish stories and writing in Spanish is hard!  I shouldn't be complaining because my paper was only 1 page single spaced, but I hate this kind of stuff.  Not the Spanish, just the analyzing literature part.  Last semester I took a course on the history and culture of Spain and I hated it.  I loved my professor but hated the course.  It was basically a history class taught completely in Spanish where I wrote 15+ page papers.  So this semester I thought to myself, instead of going through that torture again I'll just take a lit class instead.  Wrong.  At least my professor this semester is easy (she's from Georgia...).  Now my sister Amanda is proofing my paper like the saint that she is.  She was always 100x better at Spanish than me.  I keep trying to force myself to become fluent but I'm just not so sure that my brain works that way...
Um in other news...
Oh wait there is none because my life revolves around school and work, and my other work, oh and sometimes my 3rd place of work...
I guess there's some exciting news.  My saint of a sister works for the wonderful Hyatt hotel in Dallas and I am loving that right now because she's getting me a few nights in Austin over spring break for a measly price of $39 a night.
Yes I am going to road trip around my home state for spring break.  I've been told that's lame by several Nebraska boys but I think it'd only be boring if you lived in Nebraska.  I've road tripped right on through this state (via I80) and there's nothing.  The most exciting thing that's not in Lincoln or Omaha is the apple orchards in Nebraska City.  Anyway I'm bringing my roommates down with me and they've never been to Fort Worth/Dallas or Austin or any Texas beach so those will be our stops and they're super excited :)  The last time I went to Austin was in middle school so I'm pretty excited as well.  Since I have a ton of readers from Austin, ya'll be sure to leave me a comment and let me know what we should be sure not to miss!
*hahaha I said "a ton" like I have more than 10 readers.

I got a stupid 79 on my p.chem.  I was over confident after getting a 95 on my quiz when the average was a 65 and it made me very lazy with studying.  My friend that I was bragging about beating on the quiz got a 98 on the test and the class average was a 70.  Go figure.  Double lame!  His brain just gets chemistry I guess.
Also, Mexico is pretty dangerous right now..  As in two children were killed in a drive by shooting (on accident) on Jan. 11th of this year in the town I'd be going to and it was a big enough deal to make it generate an official warning from the U.S. embassy there.  I know that I'd be safe going.  I know it probably sounds insanely cheesy but I know God would protect me in Mexico.  He wants me to do his works and I know he'll keep me safe in order to allow me to fulfill his plans.  I just pray that my daddy will let me go.  Oh and for a scholarship to pay for it.

Mexico?

Pray for me as I explore my summer options.
As many of you know I have so desperately wanted to go abroad for some time now.  First it was Spain, then it was Honduras, and now it's Mexico.  Thus far I've received a flat out "no" from God in each of my efforts to go abroad.  I'm hoping that this will change soon.  During my sophomore year of college here at UNL I decided that I don't just want to be a doctor.  I want to be a doctor without borders.  I really want to do mission work abroad and use my desire for medicine to make a tangible differences in the lives of God's most favored people (orphans and widows, ie the poor and oppressed).  Although I won't have the title of Dr. Villegas for many years to come I want to prepare myself for the future.  I want to be ready when God decides to use me.  I am currently in the process of getting involved in a program that would allow me to explore my three greatest passions, Spanish, culture, and hands on medicine for the poor.  Pray for me as I explore my summer options.

It's not about what I want.

I miss my seester.

Hooray for p.chem!

I made a 95 on my p.chem quiz!  Oh and the class average was a 67.
I even beat out my good friend who has a 4.0 and is a chem major by 10 points.
Maybe I can be good a chemistry!

School was not canceled, though it definitely should have been.  Driving conditions were terrible.  Visibility was near 0 (says Yahoo weather) and it was somewhere around 3 degrees with winds 25-35 mph.  I'm glad it wasn't because I was able to go into work and stop by my p.chem TA's office hours which was super helpful.  He basically condensed the last 3 weeks of thermodynamics into 1 hour and two pages front and back.  He said that he didn't think anything would be on the test that he didn't go over with Paul and I. Which is great because I basically understand it all!
I hope tomorrow is canceled (though I know it won't be) because tomorrow night we're supposed to get down to "dangerously cold" temperatures with "extreme winds" that will make it feel like -30 out.  Are you kidding me!?  And I'd really like our p.chem test that's scheduled for tomorrow night to be canceled so I don't have to walk outside at 6:30pm to take the test and then trek back at 8:30 pm when it's finally over. OK Nebraska, can we please go back to the 40 degrees and sunny weather we had on Friday and Saturday?

Umm.

The $779.99 boots that I've been wanting are now on sale for $424.97
Think I can justify that?
Probably not.  sigh.
Did I mention that they're Old Gringo boots?
My favorite brand that I can't afford.
double sigh.