9-11

I'm back from a one week blogger hiatus!  Life has been kind of crazy out here in Illinois.  Since last Tuesday I have studied, spent time with family and friends, and then studied some more.  The rest of last week was uneventful if I remember correctly.  Saturday, I studied in the morning and then took a day and a half break from studying for other activities.  First was the pathology club cookout which was nice.  It was held at a fellow students house and was a nice relaxing time.  Here are just a couple photos of the set up in the backyard where we were:

One of the activities we played was pin the lesion on the cow.  This cow was drawn in an hour Saturday morning by one of the path club officers, not too bad for rushing! (I told her that it was just a limousin cow, which for those of you who don't know, is an actual breed of cow).

After the cookout I headed to Eureka and went to a singing. Sunday I was in Congerville for a wedding and then got to see my grandparents from Connecticut after church which was a treat!  After visiting with them for awhile it was off to Tremont for the Beutel Chili Cookout (or whatever the official title of the event is).  I did snap just a few photos, some of which turned out a bit blurry:

The guy on the far left of this picture in the blue shirt is my grandfather on my Dad's side: 

 I am not totally sure what happened here but it's kinda blurry and it looks like part of my face was removed at some point in my life, but I figured I would stick it in here anyways.

Now, the weekend is over and I have been studying away again.  Tomorrow night is the Illini Grove picnic where the church and the students have a picnic together for the evening.  That will give me a bit of a study break and then Sunday is our Welcome Student Picnic here at the U of I so that will keep me plenty busy on Sunday.  Other then that, the only thing on my agenda is to study, study, and then probably study some more!  Anyone care to join me?

Labor Day Weekend

I had a real nice three day Labor Day weekend.  I did some studying Saturday morning, went out to lunch with a classmate of mine and then studied some more in the afternoon.  I then headed off to Congerville for the weekend.  I met a lot of new people, and even got to see a bunch from Connecticut which was really nice.  Yesterday I stopped in to someone's place where they raise shrimp that people buy to eat . It was a very neat set up, four large pools in a temperature controlled building each filled with lots and lots of shrimp.  I then visited some relatives before heading back to Champaign to study for a couple hours with my study group.  Today's classes went fine, we had our first toxicology lecture and the professor flew through the slides.  Now that the weekend is over, it's back to studying, studying, studying.  I plan to be back in Congerville this weekend for a wedding and then heading to Tremont after church for the Beutel Chili Cookout.

One Week Done!

One week of my second year has come and gone!  It fortunately hasn't actually been that tough getting back into the swing of things.  This morning's lectures made everyone ready for the weekend though I can tell you that.  There was some tough material in our general pathology class as well as in our immunology class that required/will require some intense studying to get everything figured out.  Needless to say, after general pathology lab this afternoon, everybody was racing for the doors!  Now I have a nice three day weekend to look forward to!

8-29

Three days down and my head is still above water!!  Yesterday went well, in our immunology lab we counted white blood cells and learned how to differentiate between the different white blood cells on a blood smear, so it wasn't too bad.  And the best part is, we didn't have to turn anything in or write a lab report, hallelujah!  Today I had two hours of general pathology lecture and two hours of immunology lecture.  And tonight, I had a church picnic which was real nice.  I even got some exercise playing ultimate frisbee!  I am also on top of my studying and am caught up as of right now so that is nice too!  I am looking forward to seeing some people from Rockville this weekend in Congerville so that should be nice.  I think that's all the news for now from my thrilling life here in the wild midwest!

First Day Back

I have finished one day of my second year of vet school! I had two hours of general pathology lecture followed by two hours of immunology lecture.  Needless to say, after those four straight hours of lecture in a row this morning, my mind was getting bogged down and ready for a break!  After lunch we had pathology lab which was way easier than anatomy lab was!  Hopefully it will remain that way!  I ended with my elective, fish medicine and surgery, from 5-6.  This class meets every Monday and Wednesday for this quarter.  Now, it is back to the books!  Tomorrow I don't have class until 9 and then have three hours of pharmacology lecture in the morning and a two hour immunology lab in the afternoon. Then, in the evening, my study group is getting together for the first of many sessions this year.  Yup, I'm definitely back in school!

My New Home

Well, I have yet another new place to live.  Our new apartment is only about a mile or so from our apartment from last year.  Here are some photos to give you a sense of what it looks like:

The entrance to our aparment:

 The entry way

 Looking in from the entry way:

 Standing in the kitchen looking at the living room:

 The kitchen:

 Standing in the living room looking at our full bathroom with my bedroom on the right and Josh's on the left.  We do also have a half bath off of the kitchen.

 The next three are of my bedroom:

The decorating of the kitchen and living room was all done by Josh's mom before we got there, she did a really good job!  I like this apartment better then our last one just because it's a little smaller and more "homey."  If you want to check it out in real person, I'd love to have you over! :)

I start school tomorrow morning at 8AM.  I have four straight hours of lecture from 8-12 (we do have ten minute breaks between the 50 minute lectures however).  It will still make for a long morning though!

My classes I am taking this quarter are: general pathology, immunology, pharmacology, genetics and toxicology.  Tomorrow I have two hours of general pathology lecture followed by two hours of immunology lecture and then in the afternoon I have a 3 hour pathology lab.  I do enjoy pathology a lot so I'm hoping that that class will be really interesting. 

Adios CT, Hello IL!

My time in Connecticut is quickly drawing to a close.  I leave for Illinois Monday morning bright and early.  I am hoping to leave around 5AM.  My mom and little sister Carla are going with me.  We will drive about 12 hours Monday and stay at a friend's in Columbus, Ohio, leaving a 5 hour drive for Tuesday to Champaign.  I am ready to start school since the sooner we start the sooner we get done! 
Two things are for sure:
1.  I will miss this:

2. I look forward to more times like these: