Remember that time that I was suppose to write my application essay but instead wrote a blog post?

Here's how my essay actually turned out.

I have a tattoo on my left shoulder. It says “Cheers to the miles it took to get here.” It’s not very original, but when I first read that quote something reached me at the bottom of the figurative hole I was in. I felt a little hope for the first time in over 2 months at that point. So the next day I drove to Idaho with my best friend and had those words forever emblazoned in my skin. Now when I look at that tattoo I remember how lost I felt.

Similarly, when I look at my transcripts from Washington State University I can pin point when I was going through a major depressive episode and when I was doing well. Honestly, for most of my time in Pullman I was in some state of depression due to my struggle with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). I was diagnosed with Depression when I was thirteen years old, and diagnosed with MDD when I was seventeen years old.

Living as a young adult with mental illness is extremely difficult. There’s a huge stigma attached to being mentally ill, and at least where depression is concerned, the nature of the illness prevents one from seeking help for it. While living in Pullman, feelings of guilt, self-loathing, and eventually the numbness of “whatever” buried me for long periods of time. I got into a cycle where I would be in a major depressive episode for one semester and pull myself back together for the next semester. The exception in this cycle was during the 2011-2012 school year when I fell ill with not only depression but a mysterious abdominal pain; which has since been resolved. In this case, I was unsuccessful for the entire school year rather than just for one semester.

During my last semester at WSU, I fell into the worst episode that I ever have. I strongly feel that this particular episode buried me the deepest because I lacked a strong support system. Without a stable support system the feelings of loneliness only grew stronger than ever before. After Spring semester 2013, I decided to move back home and take a year off of school. During that year I got a job working as a childcare assistant.

My job at Image Childcare Center has been a particularly important factor in my decision to apply to Central Washington University. It was through working for minimum wage with children that I discovered many things about myself and my life goals. First and foremost I have decided to change my major from English Education to Family and Consumer Science Education. Through encouragement of my co-workers and supervisors, I discovered that CWU has a far superior program in Family and Consumer Sciences than any other school in the Pacific Northwest. I was also promoted to a Lead Teacher and as a condition of my promotion I enrolled in school at Clark College, where I currently have a GPA of 3.7, which I’ve earned while working full time.

As for my depression, I will always have MDD. However, I have learned many things about myself and self-care during my break from the university system. I am confident that I have found the right formula to being successful at school while battling my own thoughts. As I write this paper I am in the midst of a depressive episode. The difference between February 2015 and February 2013 is that I am actually writing this essay. I am taking steps necessary to help myself in the long run and I am not letting myself be sucked into a spiral of self-hate. That’s important, and I’m incredibly proud of myself for it. Learning how to play the cards you’re dealt in life is imperative to growing up, and I’ve done a lot of growing in the last two years.

Should I be accepted to Central Washington University, I will be taking full advantage of student support programs and be seeking professional counseling to ensure that I am successful. I want nothing more than to earn my Bachelor of Family and Consumer Science Education from the best program in the Pacific Northwest. I am determined to do this and nothing will stop me.

Big thanks to Katie and Amy for the help!

Remember that time I was supposed to be writing an admissions essay? Oops.

I have a tattoo on my left shoulder. It says “Cheers to the miles it took to get here”, it’s not very original but when I read that quote something reached me at the bottom of the figurative hole I was in. I felt a little hope for the first time in over 2 months at that point. That was in March of 2013. If anyone looked at my transcripts from that semester, they would see that I successfully completed only one class. Honestly, the only reason I passed that class was because I had a TA who helped guide me through the deep depression that I was struggling with, and I didn't want to let her down. After that semester, I dropped out from Washington State University. That wasn't my first dance with depression.

I went through my first major depressive episode when I was 17. I missed three weeks of school (officially) and even more off the record because what high school teacher wants a girl crying uncontrollably in their classroom to disrupt and distract? After a lot of therapy and some anti-depressants, I could slowly begin to see colors more vibrantly again (that’s not a metaphor, I literally see colors less vibrantly when I’m depressed). That cycle has repeated itself over and over again in my life; high school, my first semester of college, my entire sophomore year of college, and my last semester at WSU.

So, why did I keep coming back? Some might call me stubborn, but I prefer the term persistent. I was determined to get through school so I could… Well come to think of it, I don’t know what I was going to do once I was out of school, but that’s neither here nor there. I think that persistence and willingness to go after what I want has kept me going. I’m once again in school and I had my best term ever finishing with a 3.7 GPA. If anything, living with a depressive disorder has taught me that I can (and eventually will) do anything I want to. I like that about me. 

Run, fat girl! Run!

So here's the thing about me... I'm fat. There's no use denying it, but there is some use in changing it. So, on a whim the other day I went for a run. When I say I went for a run, I mean that I ran as far as I could comfortably and then I walked until I could make myself run again.

My dog was ALL over it. She would get so excited and start legitimately start taking off only to realize that I was not running at her pace when she had reached the end of the lead. So while I was running she would trot along jauntily, and when I was walking she would sniff and walk. 

After this spontaneous run/walk (that only lasted for about 25 minutes), I wheezed for 3 hours. Sexy. Mary, my little running partner, took an hour nap on my jello-like legs and was fine. Puppies...

Here's the thing though, as tired as it made me, I went out and ran the next day. I even ran today. I'm excited to make more positive changes in my life. I want to stick with running because even though it kind of sucks right now I'm sure it'll get better with practice. I also downloaded a running app called Zombies, Run! which I used with today's run. I found that it's pretty... motivating. 

School's out for summer

I am officially done with school for the 2011-2012 school year. Only 4 weeks early. I have had a rough year.

I started the school year with a serious knee injury. It took months of physical therapy and it's never going to be the same. The night before I had all of my fall semester finals I got a concussion. I started spring semester with a flare up of severe depression that had been brewing all of fall semester. 3 weeks after fall semester started, I went to the ER for the first time with severe abdominal pain. Since then I've had 7more trips to the ER and several studies done on my body. I had missed many classes and it was impossible to catch back up, especially since I would need surgery before the semester would be out.

All of this contributed to the depression to the point where I woke up every morning and thought to myself "Maybe I'll get hit by a truck today, that would be a good way out."  Not even knowing the depression had gotten bad, my parents suggested it was time to come home so I could have surgery and get better faster and with a support system. I'll keep writing about my progress as things occur.

Here's some hi-lights of my first week at home :

• I discovered my mom has the NHL channel: SCORE!
• My dad is taking me to a WHL playoff game on Saturday! Go Hawks Go!
• My mom and neice's birthdays were this week
• My text messaging has increased ten-fold

• 
  

Rant-y rant rant

My computer lacks the ability to charge. That means until I can get that fixed, I will be using my phone and the library for all computing. This blog may or may not be perceived as a rant, personally I love both writing my own rants as well as reading other people's. I realize however that is not everyone's cup of caffeine.

Rant 1: My health has not been the best as of late. I have been to the ER 5 times in 7 weeks, I have started having panic attacks, and most recently I am dizzy. Not just "oh I'm dizzy for 10 seconds" no, I have been dizzy for 18 hours now. Not fun. I went to the doctor for that, he suggested that I do some exercises and prescribed me a medication that is supposed to treat both my panic attacks and my dizziness. I got the pill bottle and in big bold letters it says This medication may cause dizziness. Um what?!  Really? Really?. As for my ER visits I get to have more tests run because the others have been inconclusive.

Rant 2: When I find something out that rattles me, I tend to get a little on the obsessive side. Recently I found out someone who claimed to want nothing to do with me a couple of months ago has been asking mutual friends about me? Not. Okay. If you want me out of your life, stick to your guns. If you want me back in your life, talk to me. Stop being a coward. There cannot be an in between, it isn't fair to either of us.

I might be Spider Man

Except, I'm not a dude, I wasn't bitten by a radio active spider, and I do not have any of the skills a spider possesses... Other than that, I am exactly like Spider Man The radioactive substance was given to me intravenously and then I got to watch my organs glow on a screen while in a recumbent position in a nuclear medicine machine. Neat, huh? "Wow, your small intestine is lit up like the 4th of July!"- Nuclear Medicine Tech

Oooooh pretty! This is an image from someone else's scan.

Why, did I become radio active you might ask? Well, friends it started about a month ago. Almost to the day actually. On February 5th I started having abdominal pain. At first it was uncomfortable to walk, then it became uncomfortable to breathe and I called the advice nurse at my doctor's office. I was instructed to go the the emergency room. Getting there in and of itself was a tremendous task as I drive a manual transmission, and my darling roommate does not. When I got there they ran some tests and gave me some morphine. Nothing was solved, and I was told to come back if the pain came back after 48 hours... it did.

Over the last month I have been to the ER four times. On the 4th I demanded answers and was sent to a specialist who ordered my fancy super-hero-making test today. My powers include: laying very still, and charming the radiology department into buying me lunch.

I'm challenging you.

Today, I decided I am going to make a timeline of my life. It will include all of the events and people who have shaped me. I'm going to divide it into two sections; negative impacts and positive. I challenge you to do the same for the sake of getting to know yourself better.  

Since this was a short post, here are some pictures I found on my phone.

I found this in the History Dept.

This is a bruise I got from slipping down some stairs at Eleanor's house.

This is a really cool bug.

I named him Randy.

Larry and I were also pals. 

Goggs sent me a get better card for my knee

When we moved in, these guys were all over the place.

Here is a post squish comparison. He's a bigg'n alright.

Lucy-fur and Abby

Some one asked how my day was going.

Look how long my hair was!

This was a week after the previous picture.

I'm gettin' all handy up in hurr!

I built it all by myself! 

Intimidating, aren't I?

Happy I won't be getting VD tonight day!

Ah Valentine's day. Love is in the air, the birds are- bahaha! I'm sorry, I just can't do it. I suppose I should let you know that this blog is neither in praise or vilification of the 14th of February. In fact, this will be the only mention of it: Happy Valentine's Day friends!

Today, I made my way to Lighty for a standing appointment. Two things of note happened before my appointment. The first was something that made my day. I went to the coffee stand on the ground floor of the building because I needed a small pick me up. I ordered a raspberry mocha. Apparently my drink was not cooperating with her. The following conversation occurred after I looked at the mess:

Barista: "This has been my day."

Molly: "Oh... I'm sorry."

Barista: "It's really just the last 10 minutes."

Oh, since I've been here

Molly: "Oh man."

Barista: "It wasn't you, you're perfect in every way."

Molly: "I don't know about that, but thank you!"

Barista: "Have you been hearing that all day?"

Molly: "No..."

Barista: "You are. And you should hear it every day."

Strangest conversation I've ever had with a barista, but it was very nice at the same time. To those of you who know the Flix story, no, it was not Lisa.

The second thing that happened was I saw the person who called friends off on me. I have no idea if they saw me but it was still a little nerve wracking, and it made me the tiniest bit sad. I saw them last week, and they most definitely saw me. Awkward eye contact was made. 

Now for a new addition to my blog posts:

Band I've been listening to today: Augustana

Song I fell asleep to last night: Hammers and Strings- Jack's Mannequin 

ALL the inappropriate things!

Why hello friends,

This weekend has been very fun. Probably the most fun I've had this semester. On Friday I had coffee with someone new. That was very fun and I'm glad I went. After coffee, I went up to Spokane to see a Chiefs game, and spend a little time with Haddock. Chiefs won 5-4 over Seattle by the way, it was a really exciting game too! The best thing about this particular trip to Spokane was, we got back to Pullman at a decent hour.


On Saturday I slept most of the day. I wish I could say I got up and accomplished something, but I woke up at 4:30 and emerged from my room at 5:30... Then I headed off to Liv and Brianna's for Holly's birthday party. We played Quelf. Ever played? Me neither. I did have to construct a fort in 2 minutes, and wear a homemade snorkel though. My snorkel consisted of chemistry goggles and a straw to breath through. At one point I was also supposed to show of my ballet moves. My...impaired... brain thought it would be a good idea to start off with spinning. NOPE! I couldn't stop... Many inappropriate things we said, most of which I cannot share with you, but rest assured, fun times were had by all.

On Sunday I woke up at 4:30 and haven't gone back to sleep yet. Does that make up for Saturday? I also went to Post Secret Live. It was very moving and I encourage you to go if there's one near you. After that Emily, Eleanor, and I headed to Cafe Moro. I had never been there before tonight but I think I will be studying there from now on.

Ok, I know you must be wondering about the title: I will now bestow upon you the most inappropriate (yet internet friendly) things that escaped my mouth this weekend.

While playing King's Cup: I flipped over and king and declared that after I spoke every person in the room must say "fuck yeah!".

While at Cafe Moro: A cop was talking about combat training and says "and then I'm good to roll around for 20 minutes" without thinking I said "I'd roll around with you for more than 20 minutes" I'm pretty sure he didn't hear me.

Bonus: Sent from me to Robb- "I am in credibly drunck. Like drunk enojgh to not care about errors. Bevause it's hard to make my thumbs works."   It was really hard to not edit that...

Ridiculously yours,
Molly Marie

Adventures in granola

I like to refer to one of my professors as Hippy-Prof. Hippy-Prof teaches my "granola" class. This class has nothing to do with the environment and it doesn't contain the word "studies" in it's department name. (If you caught the joke, you're probably as cynical as I am... that might not be a good thing.) Hippy-Prof likes to spoon feed us, a girl who sits in front of me once turned around and said "And today we'll finger painting, make macaroni crafts, and then we'll have nap time!" I like Hippy-Prof, but the senior is right, he coddles us. Our tests are online and thus open book, and every Friday we review the previous week's reading test. 

Today, Hippy Prof explained to us how the reviews would be conducted. This is when the class went from amusing to annoying to pretty uncomfortable for me. Annoying: We have to pick the 5 questions we think are most important to the chapter and write them in our class notebooks (which are checked at the end of the semester), we also have to pick a question that we deem interesting and write a 500 word summary on why it's interesting to us and how it can be applied to the world today. Uncomfortable: We play a game to review. One side of the room asks another side of the room a review question. Ok, no big deal, right? Except remember when I said I was doomed to the lefty seat for the rest of the semester? No? Well, to ask a question you have to call on a specific person off the seating chart... Yes, friends whoever asks a question gets to draw everyone in the room's attention to a specific person. If you miss a question the other team gets two bonus points. 

Other things I learned today: 

• Ever think about why shipping is called shipping? Yeah, me neither. Until today when my Modern European History prof was telling us about the seafaring Dutch merchants who owned shipping companies. 
• If you aim to wake up in between sleep cycles it's easier to get up, even if you only got 3 hours (2 sleep cycles) of sleep.
• Sometimes typos make for the best inside jokes with best friends.

This weekend I'm going to a Coug hockey game. : ) Go Cougs!

Ridiculously yours,

Molly Marie

Lose ALL the sleep!

It's no secret that I am an over-thinker. That fan letter I wrote in December? It was returned to me because I had the wrong zip code. I intended to just fix the recipient address and send it right back on it's way. Yet, it still sits in my car 4 weeks later... not due to laziness either. In my nightly conversation with Ace I told her that I might rewrite it. "What! I like it!" "It seems so ridiculous. It makes me feel like I'm 12." "What! You're over thinking it!" Why yes, yes I am. This led to discussion of how my brain likes to race around at night.

When I can't sleep I like to play music to soothe myself. My current song is We Are Young by Fun. I used to listen to The Format (Nate Ruess is the lead singer in both bands) to go to sleep in middle school. So the song helps me fall asleep. Even when there is ice crashing against my window at all hours of the night. It finally occurred to me to play the song as loud as I could on repeat at about 4:30 am.

Quote ALL the professors!

It's a new semester and for me a new major. By the way one of the most offensive things you can say to someone who's changed their major more than once is "Again?" or "why?" but I digress... Since in the first 3 days of classes I got some gems from my profs I thought I'd share them so you too can laugh with (and in some cases at) my professors too.

History 101: I don't actually have quotes written down from him so this will be more of a class review...based on the first week, very thorough I know. This prof is very granola he's the kind of prof who refuses to call it a class but insists it's a learning community. I had the grave misfortune of coming to class late enough that only lefty seats were available, 10 minutes later I found out that's my seat for the rest of the semester. Not only is that my seat for the rest of the semester but the prof is going to give a copy of the seating chart to everyone in the class so we can "get to know each other". Before you speak you have to state your name.

The first 3 minutes of every class is devoted to getting to know someone new. I told Ace about that and her remark was "Oh, I bet you love that." The sarcasm  in her voice was 100% necessary as if I had it my way I could just learn by being a fly on the wall and never needing to introduce myself to a classmate. Speaking of introducing yourself...   This was our first assignment "Introduce yourself and say 'hello' to two other class members. IF there are already two responses on someone's post, find a post with only one or no responses. In your self-intro, be sure to include the following as well as a picture (if you can):

Full name (w/ nickname) -- Home city, state & country -- Year at WSU (Freshman, Soph, Jun, Sen) -- Major (& Minor, if you have one) -- WSU activities (sports, band, drama, councils, etc) -- Goals, dreams -- Hobbies, favorite things to do -- Favorite songs & artists, books & authors, TV shows, movies, actors, actresses, artists, idols/heroes, etc -- Travels, special trips, memorable events"  I chose to write about hockey for the hobbies portion. Oh and 15% of my grade can either be a creative project on something related to Classical and Christian Europe OR an 8-10 page paper about my history as a person and who and what shaped me. We 75 minutes to complete a 30 question weekly reading test that's multiple choice, true/false, or check all that apply. I sense that even though I will have a strong urge to scoff at Weller's hippie ways, I will do well in his class.

History 102: My prof walked in on the first day and immediately opened up youtube and played "Ghost Town" by the Specials. Cool prof thinks he's cool. The course consists of 4 papers and 2 exams. In regards to the papers he said "Some of you might get your first papers back and say 'woah, that guy's a dick!'" Well, challenge accepted sir. He also made several references to his page on ratemyprofessors.com. Apparently someone wrote that he stares "icily"...that doesn't look like a word to me. that's gonna drive me nuts... in response to this accusation he said "If I stare at you like this it'll be because you're doing something dumb. like sleeping in my class. There was a girl last semester who always was SO tired! I just wanted to shake her!" I suspect he has a touch of attention deficit disorder... Yesterday he got distracted while talking about Christmas and told us that Coca-Cola made Santa red and white. Who knew?

History 111: I know nothing about this class because the prof has failed to attend either scheduled lectures.

Sociology 101: I have mixed feelings about this one. If we're facebook friends you'll know I was bitching about being required to buy the 18 dollar syllabus. The prof while being a profiteer (again, is that a word?) is very funny. While talking about cell phones: "People think they're being clever by texting under the table, from up here it looks like they're playing with themselves. If you do that I will stare at you." While talking about laptops: "I thought it was great when laptops started coming to class until I found out [the students] were looking at porn!"

Anth 101: I'm pretty sure this prof comes to class high. While talking about her dyslexia: "Dudes, it's like, a disability." While talking about herself: "I may be a moron, but I'm a moron with a PHD who get's to tell you stuff" While talking about class policies: "I don't care if you have to drink a caffeinated drink, hell I don't care if you have to snort caffeine, just stay awake in my class. Or I'll embarrass you!"

Friends Off

There are certain things that should be done in person. Serious conversations for instance should be done in person. Like oh say telling someone you're cutting them out of your life. Yeah, I'd definitely classify that as an in person conversation if you plan on telling them at all. I'd never actually heard of someone feeling the need to tell someone they're being phased out as a friend, I always though it just sort of happened. That is until the other night someone wrote me a facebook message about how I was no longer going to be involved in their life, nor they mine.

That's right, a friend informed me they didn't want to be my friend anymore. Haddock always jokes about saying "friends off" when I don't agree with her on something silly, but this person seriously called "friends off" on me. And then gave me permission to blog about it... In case any of you were wondering if I would have blogged about the incident regardless of permission being given; the answer is yes, I would have. Nobody controls this blog but me. I live in 'Merica.

I really wonder what has gotten into our generation that they think emails, facebook messages, and text messages are a decent medium for communication of serious issues. If you can't have a face to face conversation, and I mean physically cannot as opposed to being a coward, then a phone call is in order. I understand the allure of electronic communication when delivering bad news though. It's hard to punch someone in the face via the internet.

eat ALL the tacos!

Oh hey there type-y hands whatcha doing? Writing a blog post? Yupp!

If you don't know what I'm talking about then you should go read hyperboleandahalf.com. Specifically read the post about depression. If you're reading this in the present it's the newest post. If you're reading from the future you may have to search for it.

Tonight is my first night back in my apartment after almost a month of being off school. I was cuddled up in my bed watching Grey's Anatomy when a Jack in the Box ad came on. Then I remembered I had a coupon for 2 free Jack in the Box tacos because of the Cheif's game I saw on Friday. Have you ever had an insto-craving? I have. I needed those greasy gross delicious not-sure-if-it's-meat-but-I-don't-care-tacos and I needed them right then. I leaped from my bed and ran out to the living room. "Do you want to go to Jack in the Box with me?!" I half shouted as I bounded out of my room. "Um sure..." my roommate responded.

We got in the car and I drove us down Stadium Way. There are three drive ways on Stadium Way right before it intersects Grand. The first is to McDonalds, the second is actually a very wide pedestrian path, and the third is to Jack in the Box. Guess which one I took. If you guessed that I took my car onto the pedestrian path you are 100% correct. The conversation that followed:

Roomie: This a path for people to walk on
Me: What? I thought it connected.
Roomie: I don't think so.
Me: Shit. How do I get out?
Roomie: Maybe just drive in reverse?
Me: Nope... Uhhh hang on we're gonna pray that I can get back on the pavement after I drive off it to turn around.
*Many maneuvers*
Me: That was an 87 point turn!

I then made it into the Jack in the Box parking lot. Unfortunately my antics did not go un-noticed. I gave a sheepish wave to the boy staring at me with his mouth open as I went in the drive-thru. The tacos were worth it.

Post ALL the pictures!

Why hello friends (or foes... you know whatever floats your boat),

Last time we spoke, and by spoke I mean you read my thoughts that slipped past my "what should I write on the interwebz filter" I was talking about apologies and one particular apology in general. I'm happy to tell you that the particular example I chose to cite has been taken care of. So happy days for Molly.

I recently made a change on my facebook to include Haddock as my sister. After a little bit of fiddling with yet another layout change I figured out that to do this you need to add a life event. Whatever timeline is weird for now but I'm sure I'll get used to it after 3 weeks just like every other update facebook has ever forced upon angry users. <---Woo! A tangent! Anyways, the act of listing her as my sister made me think of how I have two families. A biological family and a camp family. I've been out of classes for about a month now and I've had the opportunity to celebrate the holiday season with both of my families who happen to be upwards of 350 miles away from each other. I already wrote a post of the shenanigans that ensued pre-Christmas so I will catch you up on what happened post leaving Spokane. I'm having Haddock taking a photo of me working on this post right now so there are more pictures. You are welcome.

I bought Jake sun staches for Christmas

I love my dog so much that I let her have my spot on the couch Christmas morning

Isn't my grandma cute?

My dad took me to a Winterhawks game on New Years Eve

Ice skating for my birthday!

Sibling love!

I don't remember why I'm laughing.

Princesses

Dino pillow pet!

Persephone at a Chiefs game

Haddock and I at a Chiefs game

Watch ALL the hockey! Haddock made me this shirt for my  birthday!

This is me writing a blog post after staying up till 6:30 am.

I love both my families and had a great break! New Years Resolution: Be more open to making friends and be more approachable.

Rainbows apologize for angry skies

While I was in Spokane, Haddock and I had lunch at a Jimmy Johns. This was my first time inside the store so I was amused by the funny signs all over. Not only were there funny signs, but there were also some serious ones. The one by our table said "Proper apologies has have three parts: 1.What I did was wrong. 2. I feel bad that I hurt you. 3.How can I make this better." I thought that was a sign a lot of people should see. Many people thing "I'm sorry but..." is acceptable. It's not. The person you're apologizing to will only hear what comes after the "but". Recently I received a blanket apology for the way someone was acting in general. I didn't really know how to respond. Yes the behavior hurt me and it's good that it [the behavior] was acknowledged, but how can it be made better? I don't know.

3pm Christmas Day

"What do you want for your birthday?" This is not an uncommon statement. Everybody hears it once a year. The uncommon part for me is that I hear it as soon as Christmas presents are done being opened.

My birthday is on January 2nd. 8 days after Christmas. In my household there's 3 birthdays in a two week period. First is my sister on December 19th, 6 days later Jesus throws a big party for the world, and then we conclude on the 2nd with me. Also one of my best friends has her birthday on New Years day. Needless to say we're busy partying for two weeks around here.

When I was younger I felt a little jipped that my birthday was a week after Christmas. I always felt like my birthday got lumped in with the 25th. To a certain extent that's true as I still open some of my birthday gifts on Christmas day, although that is more due to the fact that people like to see your face when you open a gift that they got for you. I have only once had a birthday on a school day which can now be appreciated, but then it was annoying. No one ever remembered my birthday. Facebook has since remedied this though.

Now I do not have qualms with my early January birthday. Except when New years day falls on a weekend. Then my birthday is a national holiday and everything is closed. The only problem and it's very minor is I never know what to ask for. I usually get everything that I wanted for Christmas. So I'm asking for help: What do I want for my birthday?

Do Not Pick Up Hitch Hikers

That was a sign along the side of the road as I drove home today. When I saw it I thought to myself "Huh, is that a problem around here?" I saw a man walking by the side of the road and though "Oh, I guess it is." It wasn't until I got home and sat down to write this post that I remembered I was driving by a prison in Connell... Good thing I didn't pick up that nice looking man, huh? 

Today is my sister's 23rd birthday! Happy Birthday Sara! I'm very happy Vancouver again. I'm home and I get to enjoy some quality time with my family which is always fun. The tree is up, the house is decorated, my mom is making my favorite kind of cookies with the help of a special little helper named Samara Marie and my dog is cuddling my foot as I write. Yes, I'm glad to be home after the long, and very foggy, drive from Spokane. 

Speaking of Spokane I feel like the events that transpired after my last post are too exciting to not write about. Thursday: Actually with in minutes of finishing my last post I went to an urgent care because I was experiencing some post-concussive symptoms that my doc told me to watch out for. So I drove off to Urgent care while Haddock was at a play and Vector was at work. I got to urgent care and they sent me to the hospital for a ct scan. So off to Holy Family Hospital I went. Haddock met me there with all of her friends just as they took me back. When the nurse at the reception desk told Haddock she could go back with me she bolted down the hallway screaming "Molly" after me. It was really weird to hear my real name come out of her mouth. They put me in a trauma room so that was kind of scary. Then a nurse who was covering for my nurse came in took all my vitals and asked me some questions. He then informed me that my "much younger and much more attractive" nurse was on his break and would be coming in later. Of course as soon as he said that Nurse Matt walked in. "See, isn't he more attractive?" the other nurse asked me? He wouldn't leave me alone until I told him that he was... After a little bit an imaging tech came to get me for my cat scan. I attempted to get up but she said "You get to ride" When she wheeled me out I said "Is it frowned upon to say 'wheeeeeeeeee!'" so that should give you an idea of what kind of mood I was in. Upon getting back Haddock and I decided to take some pictures: 

 

Oh Hey... I'm in the Hospital

See, Ace? I'm fine...

"Is this going to go on facebook?" No... 

 After taken the first picture Haddock put it on facebook and camp chillins started asking what I did. I told Haddock to make up something ridiculous. The following comments were made: 

Ummmmm 'scuse me guys? Did you really believe I would climb up someone else's inflatable penguin? Anyways, my CT came back clear and I have post-concussive syndrome. So all that means is my brain is a little rattled and I can't have alcohol until I "feel like myself again". In and out. The worst part was I couldn't remember my name when I was being discharged. 

Friday: Haddock and I went ice skating with Goggs and Onee. That was a blast. I didn't fall or vom(it). Normally I wouldn't be concerned about vomiting but nausea is a symptom of post concussive syndrome. Here are some adorable photos of us:

Don't I look so happy to be there?

 

Goggs! You're such a creep!

Saturday: WE GOT TO SEE ACE! We kidnapped ace as soon as we woke up. Then we had breakfast at a place in Cour d'Alene that was featured on Diners, Dives, and Drive Ins! So delicious! After that we wrote snarky comments on some of Ace's momma's students work. Then we headed to Spokane for the Hockey game. Cheifs vs. Winterhawks. Hawks won 8-6. Those are my boys! It was so cool, we sat behind the penalty box! I've never been that close to the ice at a WHL game so that was really exciting.

Such good seats!

Those are my boys!I got made fun of for taking this picture...

We made matching sweaters! Well they made matching sweaters and I made Hawks sweater.

Sunday: Haddock and I spent all day in Starbucks. The Persephone came over and we played Taboo. After Persephone left we stayed up ALL the night (a-wink Haddock) and then today I drove home. Stay tuned for more break updates. I've got some potentially distressing things going on so I'm sure you'll hear about that.

Ridiculously yours, Molly Marie

As free as the wind blows

I'm done for the semester! I was actually done yesterday but I haven't had internet since I'm in Spokane visiting Haddock and Vector. So I am sitting in Starbucks sippin' on a peppermint mocha. Last night Cheez-It got to Haddock and Vector's house and we played a game of Taboo. Vector and I lost. I think mostly we laost because we were laughing too hard. Example: I had the card "laughing" I can't remember what the words I couldn't say were but We were already laughing from the last description I gave so I said "What are you doing right now?" "Annoying you!" was Vector's answer. Ohhhhhh my goodness I couldn't stop laughing long enough to say what am I doing right now. Fortunately I did calm down long enough for her to get it. Another gem was when I guessed brass knuckles instead of engagement ring. Mayhaps I have a bit of an aggressive streak. This morning we got up (I was of course the last one awake) and Haddock offered to make us pancakes. Well, I guess she offered to make Cheez It and me pancakes because Vector doesn't like them and she had already eaten. Then we went to see Jo-Dan at work. We may or may not have wasted an hour and a half of her time. Then Haddock and I went to lunch at Jimmy Johns: The Holy Grail of Sandwhich Shops. Apparently she had never been there. After that we went back to her house and I'm now here because she has had plans with friends for this night for about a month.

Two days until I get to see ACE! I am so excited. It's very hard to have your best friend live 3000 miles away. Fortunately things like the internet and text messages make it possible for us to be in pretty much constant contact. On Saturday we're going to a hockey game. Normally I root for the home team no matter where I am, but this time my home team is playing the Cheifs. So you can bet that I'll be wearing my Winterhawks hat. :) Speaking of Winterhawks, I still haven't sent that letter. And speaking of letters I haven't sent (do you remember when I was talking about not being able to decide if I was going to send one or not?) there is still one addressed to someone sitting on my desk in Pullman. It it ever gets sent it won't be until after Christmas break. I just don't think I'm going to send it ever.

And on that note, I failed my blogging challenge. December was a bad time to issue that...Finals+Christmas Break+Lack of Internet= Bound to fail. See you in a few days probably.

Ridiculously yours, Molly Marie

blog challenge interrupted by finals.

Study study finals finals rant. More later.