Great Resource!

Just wanted to write a quick note about a message board that has been a wonderful help along this process of learning. It's called the Student Doctor Network, anyone interested in getting info about vet school (or dentist, med, or physical therapy) should check it out!

www.forums.StudentDoctor.net

We're up north!

I feel terrible for not updating this thing more, need to do that. Guess I'll start now. We're in Washington, visiting family on Christmas break. :)

 This is a photo of us with Shorty, our new home when we move! :D

Nothing good happens after 2am. . .

Just wanted to do a quick update on here: I will be meeting with my counselor Laurie on Monday afternoon to discuss whether I should stay at COD another year or still try to transfer early.

The biggest problem with transferring early at this point is coming up with the money for the college applications since my fee was not waived. It's about $150 for all three schools, which is a lot.

Probably the biggest factor behind us staying, though, is the fact that Sean wants to stay. He wants to be able to start and finish his fire academy all at the same place, and I don't blame him. My condition for him, though, if it he wants to stay an extra year, he will have to finish here with not only his academy, but also his AA in fire science. We're going to meet with a counselor for Sean asap.

If we do stay, I'm going to see if I can finish my business track that I was on originally and   graduate at a double major in biology and business. Just seems a little more substantial to me.

Here's a photo of me receiving an award for having a 4.0 GPA last semester (taking 16 semester units). From left to right is Laurie, my counselor, Cecilia from ACES, the VP of COD, and the president of COD with me in the center.

Oh yeah, and I'm now officially one of the starting middle blockers for the volleyball team, at least if you go off the last four games. :)

Eyes on the Prize

Taking 21 semester units at once (and playing a collegiate sport, which is very time consuming) might be considered stupid. I even think it's stupid sometimes.

Here's how I see it: if I can't handle almost double time at a community college, how can I handle full time at a real college? (Let alone vet school??)

When I get tired from back to back exams in heavy hitting classes, I just think about the reason I'm here. Not for me, but for the animals that I someday hope to help. 

This is why I want to become a veterinarian. I need to do what I can to prevent unwanted pets from being born, and to help educate future generations on pet ownership responsibilities. 

The cycle starts all over again, with one unspayed female.

They didn't ask to be brought into a world that didn't want them. Most of the animals did nothing wrong, except exist. It's not right. Someone needs to stop it. 

Bodies left where they died, trash bags tossed on top. Many shelters euthanize without using sedation, causing extreme pain before death). And yes, they euthanize puppies and kittens, too. Cute or ugly, young or old, if it's not wanted it will be killed. 

As horrible as these pictures are, looking at them (and remembering what is really going on out in the world, outside my cozy little bubble) restarts the drive that started this whole adventure. I have the ability and the opportunity to make a difference, so I will take advantage. Someday, I hope to be able to help. 

Or, I could be like Sean and take open book exams. Might make me a lot more relaxed. 

New Addition!

I almost forgot, the Miller clan has a new addition! Her name is Loki, she found us outside the grocery store in Cathedral City after Sean and I watched The Avengers at the dollar theater. 

We named her Loki after the dude from the movie. I realize she's a girl, but Loki means mischief maker in Norse so it fits her perfectly. Plus, I just loved the line in the movie ("He's my brother." "He killed eighty people in two days." "He was adopted.") so when Loki is bad, we can just say she was adopted. ;)

(These are quick photos from Sean's dad's iPad, I'll get some good ones up soon). 

So far, Loki does NOT like the dogs one bit. She scratched Cub on the nose pretty good, so Cub is not thrilled with the little fuzz butt. Gunther is terrified of her because she hisses and spits at him. Mrow Mrow doesn't like Loki, but I'm hoping they warm up to each other because the only reason I'm willing to keep Loki around is to be a friend for Mrow Mrow. (I know, right? It's so weird that Sean wants the furry more than I do!) 

Please ignore my ugliness, I was sick and in pain!! lol 

Living the gypsy life

On the road again?

My crazy husband Sean is excited. I can tell, because he’s doing research and talking to his parents about it. He wants to buy a trailer for us to live in for six years. I have lived in a trailer before, alone, with a cat and a hamster. It was a small trailer, and Sean was there pretty much every waking hour. We loved it. I don’t know how it would be now, with the two of us plus two dogs and Mrow Mrow. Gunther is, whether we remember it often or not, a very large dog. Sometimes he bangs into things in our apartment now, gets caught in tight corners and has trouble turning around. I don’t know what he would think about a trailer. Cub wouldn’t care; she is small and fits anywhere. I would worry a bit about Mrow Mrow. She has become accustomed to her secure yard here, able to go in and out as she pleases. We have become accustomed to not having a litter box indoors. Cub is a notorious cat feces eater so it just makes our world a better place not having one. Maybe we could rig something so she could have an outdoor area. . .

Sean found a trailer park a couple miles from OSU, and said the rates are only $475 a month including everything. That’s really not too bad. But first you have to count in the cost of actually buying the trailer. Sean figures we would invest money into buying a home, so isn’t that the same difference? I say, no, trailers are like cars, they lose value over time whereas property will only increase in value. Sean says trailers hold their value well, and that it doesn’t matter ‘cause we would keep it forever. None of this, mind you, considers the fact that we would have to buy a truck, too, to pull the trailer (Sean would really hate thaaat….) ;)

I love this guy, he’s a nut job but he’s my nut job. If he wants to live in a trailer, I’m all for it! Can’t wait to see what’s going to happen in the future! ;D 

As Promised

As promised, here's an updated photo of Sean. He's in his new outfit for College of the Desert. :)

Also, we have a friend staying with us until Monday. Her name is Tootsie, she was one of our last rescue dogs before we closed down Yimeyam Ranch Rescue back at Christmas 2011. Her mom and dad love her so much, she's a very spoiled little girl. She was a special one, for sure, so it's really great to have her back even if just for a few days. 

Fourth Time’s the Charm

There’s a fourth option, you know. I could not transfer, stick to the original plan and maybe take a few less units (ones that would not have transferred since I had too many in my student education plan).

I have been really learning and making progress in volleyball practice lately. We had the tournament in San Diego last weekend and I played so much, learned so much, really felt like I was improving. I feel like with some more playing time on the court, I could really become a player worth taking a look at. Then, I talked with Bonnie, and she asked me about my reasons for choosing one transfer school over the other. I mentioned I liked Cal Poly Pomona as an option to be able to play volleyball (I assume that, since they’re not a UC or a state school like OSU, they won’t be D1 but I could be very, very wrong. I need to look into that). She asked me, why are you going to school? To play volleyball, or to be a vet? Obviously it’s to become a vet, and right now volleyball is kind of hindering that as far as time and focus go. But if I were to get picked up, and get a scholarship for playing volleyball, wouldn’t that make it worth it? Plus I seriously just love the game.

I know I’m not going to get picked up to play by any of my choice schools, but there are options in the Midwest and back east that could come through. I know there’s a girl on our team who is already starting negotiations with a coach from a school in Florida. There were girls from our school, last year and the year before, who were picked up and got full scholarships, some even with housing and extras! For me, money is a big deal. If possible, I want to avoid loans all together. The only reason I even consented to getting loans (eventually) at all was when I learned about joining the Army. I feel more comfortable getting some loans at the undergrad level knowing that they will be paid off very quickly, and not compounded with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.

I chose my top three choice schools for the main reason that I consider them “feeder schools” to veterinary schools I would like to go to. Both Cal Poly and OSU have pre veterinary programs that might give me a leg up. Then again, Davis doesn’t have a pre vet program at all, just an animal science program that, according to their website, can prepare one for many different fields (in other words, not specifically for a vet wanna be). While I was there over the summer, talking to a counselor, she told me that she had a girl who was an art history major, a biology minor, get accepted at the UC Davis vet school. Really? If that’s true, than a degree in just regular biology should do the trick. I don’t even need a degree, technically, just the minimum credits (although a degree is highly recommended).

This is Emma, the counselor I spoke with at UC Davis. 

So at this point, I’m really torn. I could go next fall (2013) to the school that accepts me (if any do). Or, I could wait until fall of 2014 like originally planned, get more units, get more court time, and hopefully get a scholarship.

This does bring up one more complication. I have visited Davis and Cal Poly, I know what they want and I know I’m not going to have all the classes they want before transferring. OSU, on the other hand, I have not been to so I went ahead and emailed their counselors. Most were encouraging, but one worried me by saying if I didn’t have a certain level of science classes under my belt, they would accept me, but as a sophomore. That is NOT what I’m looking to get into. I need to save money, which is the whole point of community college in the first place. I don’t think Davis or Cal Poly will accept a transfer as a sophomore, I believe they only accept juniors.

Waiting could have its own traps, though. There’s no guarantee that even if I get the perfect number of credits, and become an amazing volleyball player, that I will get picked up and play somewhere else under scholarship. Or, maybe it would only be a partial scholarship. Is it worth it?

Ultimately, though, I don’t need to worry about it. God knows exactly what He’s doing, so all we have to do is stay in His word, remain in prayer, and walk through the doors He opens for us. J

We had a fun weekend!

 

Sean and I had a great, not very school related, weekend. He spent Saturday hanging out with his brother, relaxing and playing video games. I went to a volleyball tournament in San Diego. We came in 4th out of 14 teams, so I think we did very well overall (especially since some of the teams were scholarship teams from Arizona).

Here's a shot of me, taken last week, in my new jersey. I'm now officially #11. :)

Needless to say, I was wiped out after ten hours of volleyball and six hours on a bus, so today I wasn't too much fun to be around. I was able to stay somewhat likeable for a few hours, during Sean's chili cookoff at the Morongo Valley park for Fiesta Days (a fall fair thing Morongo puts on annually). Sean had been practicing all week with different "winging it" versions of chili. They got better and better every time, until we finished with a recipe that included unmeasured amounts of hamburger, bacon, tomato sauce, fresh tomatoes, chili sauce, tapatio, and various other fun ingredients (including some apple juice in a new Heaven's Best cleaning solution bottle, lol).

Sean's chili took second place! We're still convinced he should have won, but our chili was kind of odd (sweet and spicy and AWESOME!), and the one that won was super traditional, so we figure that's more of what they were looking for today. *shrug* Oh well, he won in my book, plus everyone who tasted it loved our chili! Sadly, it's all gone now. But the $50 prize money will be added to our savings, still trying to make our $5,000 goal by this coming summer (we've almost hit the $1,000 by December goal already!).

As far as school and jobs go, we're both doing okay so far. I'm disappointed with B's on my first chem and bio exams, but it's typical of me to not do well on the first exams and pick up steam later on, after I figure out the professors and how they test. Sean seems to be enjoying his fire science class much more than the criminal justice classes he took last semester. Wow, it's crazy how the time flies! I can't believe it was just January that Sean had talked himself into going to game warden school, just like I had convinced myself I could never be a vet and was settling for vet tech. I'm so glad we both realized what we are truly being called to do; him, through hating his criminal justice courses, and me, through being inspired at Holly's graduation (thanks, sis!).

Really need to sleep now, tomorrow is math, chem, and psych with vball practice in there somewhere. Not looking forward to it right now, hopefully I'll have some energy in the morning. :)

 

 

 

 

Fun Facts

I'm procrastinating like only I know how to do. . . with photos! 

Maybe if I do this long enough, my chemistry homework will just disappear. . . 

I LOVE canned peaches! When we went to this store in Oregon when I was visiting my family, I bought about ten huge cans and took some home in my suitcase.

I love doing my own nails! I've also worked at a nail art shop, doing samples on customers and selling a ton of product! (I'm a good sales lady). 

Two weeks after I learned to drive, got my license, and bought (paid in full, cash) my first car, I fell asleep driving and drove into oncoming traffic. Sean was in the ambulance that was first on scene, and the fire chief drove him to the hospital where I was air lifted. Wheelchair to walking in six months, just before our wedding. (That's me eating canned peaches). 

I worked at our local KFC for about a year. 

I was a Tupperware lady! That's me on the right when I made manager. 

Sean and I met when we were sixteen and got married when we were eighteen. In all that time, we never even kissed (inspiration, my cousin Monica). Our very first kiss was on our wedding day, and no, it was not awkward like the TV show. It was perfect. 

I was home schooled until my junior year of high school. I loved it. 

I'm a gun fighter / old west reenacter. 

 I plan to get a tattoo just like this when I get accepted to veterinary school. 

My grandma is Rona Barret, she's famous. 

I once had a photo I took published in our local newspaper. 

I wanted to chop my hair again this year, found a photo of something I might like. Cut it on a whim after church one Sunday, didn't have the photo but I think the gal did a good job!