These are pictures from my fourth semester banquet. 1) Me and Lisa Foody 2) Eunice, Laurel, and me (my Bible study girls) 3) Puja, Lindsey, me and Lisa 4) Puja, me, JT, Lindsey 5) Me and JT at sunset 6) Me, Adam, and Maria 7) Eunice, me, JT

I hope you enjoy the pictures.....I have SO many from this weekend that there will be more to come.

We had a really great time as you can see. We went swimming early in the day before the banquet. We had dinner and drinks and danced and took lots of pictures. They had a slideslow from a collection of pictures from everyone in our semester. There was also a video presentation made by our professors, many of whom attended the banquet. We had a great time at Fort Young during the day prior to the banquet. I will put pictures of that on tomorrow. Many of friends were there so we swam and ate and drank.... And of course, we went in and watched the great game between Xavier and Ohio State.

Well, I need to go pay attention to class. I hope all is well at home! Hope to hear from you soon.

~nat

Destiny? There's only your time & then there's not-your-time, he said. All the rest is made up to keep you busy. ~Storypeople

These pictures are from my friend Eunice's surprise birthday party. We had the party for her the night of the mini with no electricity at all. It made for a nice atmosphere with candles and all. Her friend, Jennilee, was the mastermind behind the ordeal, and she did a fabulous job putting it together. I don't have any pictures from JT's visit downloaded yet. Once I do, I will share them.

JT left today. I am still sad, but I have a short time left here this semester. I will give more details of his visit once I post the pictures! I love you guys!

~nat

Theory
trying to remember when it stopped being theory & turned into real life, because theory was a whole lot easier... from storypeople.com (I don't have any pictures right now....sorry)

I will get to see JT in approximately 51 hours. Needless to say, I am quite excite. This weekend is our fourth semester banquet. We are going to Fort Young Hotel, as are many of my classmates and friends, and swimming before the banquet and sleeping there afterwards. I am excited because Mom and I picked out a really pretty dress when I was at home over Christmas and she then sent me a great pair of shoes to wear with the dress.....It looks really good. I should have some very good pictures after this weekend. On Friday, I am taking JT to the rib place in Portsmouth. Before that, though, I am taking him to my basketball game. We are not going to play but I want him to meet the girls that I play ball with every week. Saturday we are going to Roseau early in the morning and having brunch at this "quaint" place on the water. Then we are going to swim all day. Maybe I will get a tan....not burnt! We leave for the banquet at 4:30 and who knows how long that will last....Then most people are going back to Fort Young afterwards to hang out. On Sunday, I am not sure what we are going to do. Maybe go to the beach and to church. Who knows.....gotta love spontaneity.

I hope things are going well at home. We had our second exam Monday. I can not believe I only have 2.5 weeks left of my basic sciences. Basically that means everything I need to know from a book, I should know in the next two and half weeks. That is kind of scary. The whole month of April is spent taking exams...no classes. Quite stressful but it is almost over.

Let me know how things are going!!!! I miss everyone very much.

~nat

Aren't these the two cutest girls ever? Can you guess who they are? See if you can guess.....
~nat

I never met the Devil (yet) but I imagine it's a pretty scary experience but then again I guess that's the point. ~storypeople.com (I think this quote is really funny actually. Hope you enjoy.)

These are more the of 133 pictures from my birthday. I hope that you enjoy the pictures. They are basically of the same people so i won't name everyone again. Anyways....Not much is going on here. I am still waiting on packages from my mom and my dad. It has taken almost four weeks....However, I guess it just extends my birthday until I get the packages. I am looking forward to receiving them, nonetheless.

let's see, what else is new. I am sick right. I am better today than yesterday. Thank goodness I did not have class yesterday because I was in bed with a high fever and feeling miserable. Today I just feel yucky and weak but not miserable. It was one of those days when you want to be at home with someone bringing you Sprite and popcicles and soup. However, that is one of those rotten things about becoming an adult...you just deal with it.

Well, I should pay attention....I am in pharmacology discussing adverse reactions of all the drugs we have studied thus far....I know, it is a lot of fun...

~nat

"When people asked how old she was, she would say 1009365, more or less, because she was so glad to be alive that she counted every day a birthday.
She had some disagreement from her knees about the actual figures though. . . " ~storypeople.com

( I really like this quote because lately, I have really been enjoying life. I am not old but I am fairly sore today because I ran and did lunges yesterday.)

These are pictures from my birthday party/dinner on Friday night. The first picture of me and my Bible study girls, Lisa Cole, Laurel and Eunice. Next is me being silly. Then is me and my friend Maria, then is Lisa Foody (the birthday planner) and I. Puja, Lindsey, and I are in the next picture. And lastly is everyone that went to dinner....Eunice, me, Puja, lindsey, laurel, lisa C, Kim, Lisa F.

Needless to say, we had a very good time. Lisa is the best birthday planner. We had cake and dancing and great LOBSTER. It was so much fun!!!!!!!! My friend lindsey, AKA PAPARAZZI, took 133 pictures and three videos from friday night. Thus, these are only a small sample of the many pictures. She is a crazy girl! But I love her.

I am in class so I should go! I just wanted to tell everyone thank you for the many birthday wishes and love sent from home. I love you guys and miss you. I do know, though, that this will be worth it in the end!!!! See you soon!

~nat

(The first picture is of my friend Jay and me at the Super Bowl party. The second picture is of me and my friend Eunice at a birthday party at Sunset Bay.)

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”
Tennessee Williams

“Maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had, and what you've learned from them, and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.”

TODAY was/is my birthday. I am posting this at midnight.....so it is close to 2/23/07. I have a lot to tell you about life and today. First of all, my friends made today a very very special day. That is why I had to give a shout out in the quote to all my Dominica friends....they are great! The best news though came when JT told me on Monday night that he is coming to visit March 15-18. That is the weekend of my 4th semester banquet. I am so excited. We are going to stay at Fort Young and enjoy the time together. I am SOOOOO excited!

As far as today, where should I begin? Well, I started the day by running three miles at the gym. I then came home and got ready for ICM and headed to school. When I walked in the classroom, I was so surprised. My great friend, Lisa Foody, had decorated my desk. There was a "Happy Birthday" sign hanging from the ceiling, signs posted on the desk, a wonder gift bag of gifts, sorrell juice, a bouquet of flowers, and other goodies. My friend Lindsey brought me a chocolate sucker. My friend Laurel made me pumpkin spice Starbucks coffee and left it for me. IT was such a great surprise. Lisa also bought me a great lunch from the shacks....

I then went to ICM which was really a bummer. I was super frustrated and down about that....About that time, my friend Eunice (same girl from the above picture) came in the classroom to see me, saying she needed to talk to me. I am so extremely HAPPPPPYYYYY because she has decided to stay for fifth semester in Dominica. It makes so, well i can't put words to it. Then my friends had a professor, Dr. Tomlinson, sing happy birthday to me. I sat through the rest of class having everyone wishing me a happy birthday because of the sign above my head......AND Rakesh, a friend I have had since first semester, bought me a wonderful piece of chocolate cake.

My friend Lindsey bought me a salmon dinner and brownie for dinner.....yummie. Then I was going to Maria's to watch Grey's Anatomy. I was planning to watch Grey's with Eunice, Maria, Lisa, Laurel, Kyle, Kristy, and Amy....however, we did not only watch the show, but they had me a cake with pink icing and singing and ice cream and chocolate syrup. It was so sweet and thoughtful. After Grey's, I came home to find Kim had written a happy birthday message on the white board in my room. All this was on top of my emails, internet messages, numerous phone calls, and Happy Birthday wishes. Sorry to those of you I did not talk to. I was gone all day. I will be calling around tomorrow.

I even get to celebrate my birthday again tomorrow because we (me, lisa, lisa, lindsey, puja, kim, eunice, and laurel) are going to blue bay for my birthday dinner. I also get to play basketball, which is naturally a highlight of my week. Saturday I am doing the AMSA health clinic and playing more basketball and then Bible study....I really look forward to my bible study with my girls. I hope to have more pictures after this weekend! I love you guys and thank you for your love!

~nat

Cable TV
Some days it's not worth the effort to pull myself together, she said, so I'm glad I get cable.....from www.storypeople.com

These are some pictures that my mom sent me yesterday. The first one is obviously me and JT, the second is of Wizard, mom's dog. (he is obviously the king). The final one is my mom and my grandma....

I am sorry it has been awhile since I posted. I just a big exam on Monday. It went very well. Things are going well here. I submitted my application to stay here for fifth semester, so now I just have to wait for the decision of the committee.

Otherwise, I am just studying, going to bible study, playing basketball....and studying some more. I am going to the hospital tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes.

“I think miracles exist in part as gifts and in part as clues that there is something beyond the flat world we see.”
Peggy Noonan

Isn't this little person an example of a true miracle? These are the ultrasounds of Brian and Heather Smith's baby. Brian is JT's first cousin and was in our wedding. These are the pictures of their 14 week old baby. I think it is utterly amazing that at fourteen weeks you can see the little person forming....the ears and eyes and nose and little arm buds. With all the science and complexities we study in medical school, nothing really compares to this miracle.

I have a test on Monday so I don't know if I will be posting any over the weekend. I hope things are good at home. Tomorrow is my Grandma Ginny's birthday. She is my mom's mom and I love her very much. She won't get to read this but I defintely love and miss her and will be calling her. Have a great weekend everyone.....now I need to go to sleep since it is 2am.

~nat

Can I count on you to be there, no matter what? she said & I said no & she said what kind of friend are you? & I said the kind who won't lie to you any time you want & I think she kept me around as a curiosity after that... www.storypeople.com
The first picture is of JT, his mamaw, and his brother Daniel. The second picture is Emily's little girl, Stella, when they moved to Texas....She is cute in her pink cowgirl boots, diaper, and moving boxes

I am sorry I have not been updating regularly. Fourth semester is quite busy. This week, though, is getting worse because our first exam for the semester is Monday, February 12th. I wanted to note that this past week included birthdays of two very important people. My sister, Gretchen, turned 22 on February 5th and JT's mamaw turned 91 on Feb 4th. I love this time of year because there are so many birthdays of a lot of the people close to me. Speaking of which, my birthday is coming soon. My great family, Jt and his family, Mom and Bob, and Dad and Terri all sent me boxes......I am really excited but we will see how long it takes for the boxes to arrive. The national Dominica holiday of Carnival is coming. Everything shuts down so even if my boxes arrive, I will not get them until people decide to work again.

I am still running in preparation for the half marathon the week before the Kentucky Derby. I actually changed my flight home so that I could make the race. I am getting much stronger and faster....However, I still predict that I will be crawling across the finish line. But, hey, as long as I finish, I will be quite happy.

Everything else is going well here. I love my Bible study....the study, the people, and everything about it.....I love the girls I play basketball with on Fridays.....I love Rosey the cab driver who randomly picked me up after my three mile run this morning to keep me from getting drenched in a Dominica monsoon. I love and miss everyone at home! Hope to talk to you soon!

~nat