The End!

Congratulations to my whole class! We finally made it! I'm so excited. I've never done so well in school, or felt so confident in my writing abilities! The only advice I have for anyone who is writing a scientific paper in the future is, make sure you choose a topic that you want to genuinely know and find out information about. That's what helped me stay focus and want to do the best I could at it. I wanted to keep going and reading and interviewing people about it, which I have a feeling I will.
It was so great to meet you all, and I wish you all best in the future!
*mandy

Almost there!

Alright guys, we're almost done! Our final projects are due this week in class, and to be honest, I'm a little nervous for my final grade. While I'm pretty confident in what I did, I am always going to be my biggest critic. In reality, I am just plain tired at this point. Between this paper and my other paper for my math class that I've barely started because I've focused so much into this one, I'm just pooped. I will admit I am a little more confident in my writing abilities,  but know there is always room for improvement. There are many other topics I would love to explore and write about, and honestly, a lot of them pertain to the military. I like being able to explore my field on a different level. One really cool thing that I just came about, and I really hope I can find a way to incorporate it into my final project, is that we just in-processed a soldier that was in the Ft. Hood shootings. I asked her a few questions on my topic seeing she was a more-recent case, and she was happy to answer. I have so much respect for her- she knows she has a problem, but is able to deal with it in a way that doesn't over-run her life. Alright, class is about to start, so I'm going to stop blogging for the day. Hope everyone has a great week!
*mandy

**Cuz I'm Proud To Be An American**

Hey everyone!! So I'm super tired, but I want to hurry up and get my assignments done! I convinced my friend from Wisconsin to come visit me, so I'm super excited. Today for work our entire post had a military ball for the Army's birthday. It was really awesome, and I highly suggest that anyone that has the opportunity to go to one to do so. Everyone gets super dressed up and looks really nice. The presentation of colors was really fun, but for me the most humbling and the saddest was when we recognized the "not present soldiers" table. Knowing and remembering that there are fellow comrades that aren't there because of what they did for us and our freedom. I always end up crying-I'll be honest. It was fun though. My paper is almost done, I still need to add some things. To be honest, I can't wait until this term is over. I need a break, even though it's only a week long. Okay, I got to get going everyone. Talk to you all soonn!! 

City of Dreams

Hey ya'll! So this past weekend I went to New York City to visit my fiance and his son and family. It was wonderful! I had so much fun. I love that little boy with all of my heart. It went by way too fast though :(. I also got a lot done as far as my wedding planning is concerned. Still looking for a cake and DJ though! I'm so happy that I got my first draft done on the plane ride, it made time fly by so fast! School seems to be going a lot better for me right now, which helps everything else out a lot. Work can get pretty crazy, so knowing I'm doing good at at least one thing makes things so much easier.
While I was in NYC I realized something- depending on where you grow up and what kind of environment you lived in, is how your attitude and personality effects your life. I'm really grateful to my mother for raising me the way she did, even if I might be a little small-town-minded ;).
Okay all- I'm still super sick and congested, so I'm going to cut this short. Sorry if it didn't make much sense- I really am on all kinds of medications! Take care and talk to ya'll soon! 

Burn out

Oof alright, here it goes.
My week has been a hectic one. My grades have stayed really good, but that's about all I can say right now. Work has been super hectic, with getting a lot of worked dumped on me, and if it isn't done right that instant, I'm the one to blame. I really hate complaining, but I've only been there 3 months and I'm already worn out. My wedding planning is getting a little frustrating as well, as finding vendors is getting harder and harder as the days go on. But i cannot wait until this weekend! We get a four day pass, and I'm taking advantage of it and going to New York City to meet my fiance there and spend time with his family and his son. We have a whole weekend planned- Friday night=Coney Island, Saturday=Six Flags Great Adventure, Sunday=Tour of the city. I'm so excited, I can barely stand it! That's pretty much all that's getting me through this week. I'm hoping to get a lot of my paper done this week, so wish me luck! Alright, I have to go make supper now. Talk to you all soon!

Rolling Emotions

Hey world! Once again, this is a post for class, I believe its unit 5 already, can you believe it?! Midterms are already passed, and I still have a 100% in this class! What is even more amazing though is that I have a 87% in my math class, which is amazing for me. Not going to lie, in high school I put next to NO effort in my classes because I had a really smart best friend and an amazingly smart boyfriend, and school was the last thing on my mind. Now that I have to have a certain GPA to keep my government funding, I care a little more about my education. It sounds bad, but I'm just being honest. This week has been a crazy one. My car finally dumped on me, so I've been riding my bike to and from work. I don't live too far so it's not so bad, and it's a really good workout, but I just wasn't feeling it this week ON TOP of my spin classes at night. My car finally got fixed tonight though, so I'm looking forward to sleeping in those extra couple of minutes! Nana also passed away, and it's been a little rough. She's my best friend's grandma, but I've always loved and thought of her as another grandma to me too, in a weird kinda way. It hurts to see my friend so sad and not be able to be home for her. I hopefully will be able to come home this weekend though, so that'll be nice. Work has also been super crazy. I love being entrusted in so many things, but at the same time I feel like if I miss a beat I'm letting them down, and that just kills me. But I love going above and beyond for the soldiers, because I know the majority of them appreciated the last little bit of help that they get. The wedding thing still stresses me out MAJORLY. I've been super good about saving my money for it, but just everything seems to be adding up faster and faster, and I feel like I'm drowning thinking of all of it. Any spare time that I'm not at work or doing school work, I'm figuring out stuff for the wedding. My mom STILL doesn't have her date either yet. Rarrrr. My paper is coming along okay, but I need to get working on it. If I have any spare time this weekend, I'm going to try to knock out the first draft. We'll see though! Okay, gotta run. See you all soon!

Challenges

Hey everyone!!
Once again, this one is for my class, Unit 4! Wow, I can't believe we're that far into it. I can't believe how time flies by so fast sometimes. The only question I saw that she wanted us to blog about was describing any changes or challenges we have had. As far as my paper goes, I've already run into some. Like I said, I'm doing my final project on Military Veteran PTSD. It's hard for me to keep my emotions and opinions separate from what I'm researching. Fortunately though, many of the people I work either with or for have PTSD themselves, so I'm able to get a lot of good and variation opinions about this. As far as challenges for my regular life though, trying to balance work, school and planning my wedding has been my hugest challenge. I've been getting a lot of crap at work, so I'm just trying to keep everything separate I guess. Gets a little hard though. I'm doing pretty good in this class, it's my math class I'm worried about. Hope I pass!! Alright, time for class. Talk to ya'll soon!! :)

Mandy