Thanksgiving

So...just finished the last class of the day....and now we have 9 days off for thanksgiving break.. Most of the people are going home..so that leaves me stuck here in Charleston pretty much by myself.. i guess it'll be good to relax a bit and just do nothing for a couple days..

So I started playing keyboard for my church down here...it's awesome...feels good to play again...Played in a sunday night praise and worship and the leader said that he's been getting non stop emails about how awesome that night was...

so 3 weeks till home time!...woot...running low on money so ive been trying to go easy on the spending...which means no black friday shopping for me this year..
School's going decent...pretty much All A's except for one B so far...hopefully i can keep that up...

Pet Peeves

I can say that I get annoyed really really easily....i just know how to hide it well from people...But i guess its not a good thing to just hold stuff in...so i guess ill vent a little and blog about it..haha
there was a lot of stuff that annoyed me back home.. ive got a list of things about people on c-trains and buses that piss me off..ahha but that's for another day.
Dishes is the net annoyance down here...seriously how do we accumulate two sinkfuls of dishes after 1 meal...its ridiculous...Everytime i cook, i wash the dishes right away after i cook so it makes cleanup a lot easier...but i haven't cooked for awhile cuz of how busy school's been getting...so that means the roommates are cooking..
I would wash their dishes at the beginning of the year..but now im just getting tired of doing that...so i'll let it pile up until they get on it..it just annoys the heck out of me seeing a sinkful of dishes after one meal...
meh...anyways..this next week is gonna be pretty bad..
Exam monday...Assignment Monday...Lab Monday...Exam Tuesday....Quiz Wednesday Assignment Wednesday....Site thursday.....Exam Friday....Exam next monday....ahhhh
but then after that...it should be pretty relaxed until American thanksgiving..
I've got a lot more peeves that i could write....but i think i'll save it for another time....time to get back to studying pharmaceutical biotechnology....sweet..

RIP Ronsauce....

This week has been crap...absolute crap...School's been getting ridiculously busy...Wednesday had 3 quizzes and an exam...Today 1 quiz and a kinetics exam...No time to do anything but study..
Wednesday was probably one of the worst days ive ever experienced...I was in lab when Gabe Yee msn messaged me and asked me if I knew Ronnie Choi...
Obviously, I said yes...but looking at Gabe's away message...(Rip Ronnie)...there's that feeling of ..WTF?...
So Gabe explained to me what happened..and obviously my initial feelings were shock..
I worked with ROnnie over the summer at the pharmacy and have known him since we were in junior high when we played badminton together...so yea...its definetely mind blowing..
When Gabe told me how they found him...of course you want to know why and what happened...but I think we gotta focus on the good stuff..we'll leave the reasons in the past..
I think being down here for school is definetely buffering the feelings and emotions...even though we weren't best friends or anything...but i think if I were at home...it would be way different..just seeing different people react...that would be tough..
Well...Ronsauce...hope ur in a better place...

Settled In...

It's almost been a month now that I've been back in Charleston...time's going really really slowly..Classes have been going for about 2 weeks now....really boring...and I'm still not in the study mode yet..doesn't help that I've got a tv in my room now.
Anyways..pretty much all settled in and just ready to get back into school mode...Car and insurance are taken care of....might have to get a WV drivers license in the future though...but for those who don't know..i got myself a sweet 1998 Chevy Prizm...haha off a classmate....Works well...only bad things are appearance...it's basically pink...right side door handles are broken inside...and the back left tailight is busted....but other than that...for 700 bucks...i can't really complain at 80000 miles (120Ks)..
Been cooking lots..it's been fun..making some nicer meals like Pesto Chicken/Bacon Pizzas....Garlic White wine cream sauce rotini with marsala chicken...some nice fried rice...should be a good year for food...
Should probably get to studying though...
Bah...

Here we go again...

I'm sitting on my bed...930 pm Saturday August 16th...just watched phelps win his 8th Gold medal...ridiculous....one guy has more medals than all of Canada..
Anyways...ill be at the airport in about 8 hours from now...getting ready for another year of Pharmacy school down in West Virginia..
It feels a little different this time....I'm not as scared as last year...since I've already been down there a year...but there's definetely still nervousness...

This year I have to find a car....get car insurance...cook on my own...budget properly...it'll definetely be interesting...Money is definetely an issue this year...and i'm a little worried about how my spending is gonna be down there...Last year i barely spent anything a week...Im thinking it'll be majorly different this year because of all the stuff I have to do.

I'm excited to start up school again...see some friends...hopefully play some cheap golf..and just get life started again,....the summer has been good...gained a ton of experience working at London Drugs Pharmacy...so hopefully that'll help me this year in terms of rotations and lab work type stuff.

Anwyays....I think that's enough for now...I'll update again once I get down there and settled into the house...Frick,....gotta get a mattress..

New Song

New Youtube account

Bored at home....so decided to record some piano playing..haha
Played a bunch down in the states.. so with my camera and the grand...recorded a few cover instrumental versions..

http://www.youtube.com/aaronlo83

Woot 2 months Rent!

First time inUNiversity Ive gotten an Academic Excellence scholarship award..

although it's not exactly a lot...but it helps..

got 600 bucks yesterday for getting a GPA over 3.75..

My goal coming down here was to be top 10 in the class...so that was nice..
1 girl got 4.0 (viet friend)
and 4 people got over 3.75 (inclduing myself).. so im happy

Two months of rent covered! woot woot

Home in 9 days!!!!!!

Feels like spring

Weather is reaching 70s now...

Went to church yesterday morning...then the gym...then studied outside and walked around for an hour....nice and relaxing..

Was supposed to start studying...but instead went to play a little softball...then hit the driving range...

Was gonna study after that...but then we had a little BBQ cookout outside the dorms...

So SUnday...basically turned into a day of relaxation...guess it was good

Driving Range was one of the dingiest places i have ever seen...oh well...atleast i got to hit a few..

Seriously?!?

We were talking about vending machines in class today as part of a discussion in Clinical Research methods class...and the topic of chips came up and how the vending machine had a new flavor of chip



Ketchup chips...



people in the class were like ...WTF is ketchup chips? that sounds disgusting...



I was flabbergasted...I've had ketchup chips since I was 5 years old or ever since i could remember...

So i googled it...and apparently it's a Canadian delicacy....

Wow...my mind is in shock..

haha

Back to it...

Well...after a tough week...i'm back in Charleston for the 2nd half of the semester...
It was really hard seeing Granny this past week...I bawled my eyes out on saturday at the wake cuz it was the first time i saw her in person since December. She looked a lot different, a lot weaker, a lot skinnier...I think all of that just got to me as I broke down in the back of the funeral home.
The funeral yesterday went really smoothly and everyone said it was really touching. The older girl cousins gave the eulogy as well as one of my aunts. EVeryone was crying throughout the entire thing.
I keep thinking to myself that Granny's gonna be cold in the cemetary and I keep thinking back on when she woudl ask me to get her another blanket in December...
I'll definetely come visit you as often as I can granny..

One and a half months left till home time....seems unreal that year 1 is almost coming to a close...Definetely need to find a job and make some spending money for next year..
It's late...should get some sleep...

Peace out

Love U Granny

well..granny passed away today after a long battle with cancer.....it hasn't sunk in how much im gonna miss her yet...cuz im not home with the rest of the family...but there's gonna be some crying in the next few days for sure...

It's spring break down here..and most people have gone home...ate lunch with 2 other friends who are staying in Charleston...then we went to build snowmans and have a little snowball fight by the river...got back...and I got a call on the cell...saw the number...and i knew instantly that it wasnt gonna be good news...

Ive been sick the past couple days..and i haven't been able to sleep the past couple nights...had to drive a friend to the airport at 4am this morning...and the night before...we went out drinking and i shouldn't have...cuz i was sick....but i had a feeling that things were getting worse back home..

Emails were going back and forth from family saying how much granny was struggling and that she was in pain...she even told mom that she was ready to go...and she wanted to see the new life that God had ahead for her......

....wow...that just brought out a lot of tears...

Im happy and sad at the same time...cuz i know that she's with God now...after so many years of not knowing God....that it came down to the final months of her life to turn to Him...Praise God..

I'm waiting for mom to update me on how i'm getting home...im basically ready to go anytime..

I'm sure it'll hit hard once i get back..

Love U granny

Almost halfway there

2 weeks left till Spring Break...Crazy how fast it's gone..

Still not sure if I'm going home or not for the break...Sister has been tellin gme that granny has asked when i was going home.. SHe's moved into a hospice now...supposedly it's a nice comfy place with a really nice view...I definetely miss the oppurtunity to spend more time with her and with all the rest of the family...but I think everyone's definetely got a lot closer cuz of this.

Didn't go to church this morning...the girl we usually go with went back home to Tennessee this week...and i played my first game of beer pong the night before...quite fun...but definetely not for those who can't drink much...we gotta try it out when we go back home...just make sure no one's driving after.

It's gonna be a busy week...tons of assignments, essays, quizzes...then the week after I've got 3 exams.......phew...finally got my first A on an exam this semester...Pathophysiology....it's been a tough semester so far...most of the classes are so "abstract" ..and that's definetely not my stron gsuit....i just want the straight memorizing/regurgitation...Went to eat pizza at this nice little place last week...it's basically a small house turned into a restaurant...but lots of nice reviews...then went skating again..oh yea...also went on a really fun ski trip the week before....pics are up on facebook

Back to watching the Flames play Minny right now...then off to do some more studying..

Church Finally

Finally got off my lazy @ss and went and found a church today...One of the girls on rez goes to one every sunday...so i asked if me and my roommate could tag along....the church is called RiverRidge and I was pretty surprised to see how many similarities there are between the church here and the ones back home. I have to admit I had my misconceptions of how West Virginia churches would be....but this one was really refreshing. The worship was amazing...songs that I knew and the team was really good.. The message was simple...but very effective ...Basically talking about prayer and different ways people can effectively talk to God...

I think today was definetely needed...Granny's not doing well back home....things seem to have taken a turn for the worse...cancer has grown and spread....and i think she's in the hospital now...chemo isn't an option anymore and basically now it's just keeping her comfortable....I think basically one of my worse fears of coming back down here might come true...I'm praying everyday and all the time that GOd would keep her comfortable and keep her strength. But i know that if its time...she'll be in a better place.

Semester's off to a busy start...tons of assignmets and quizzes to study for...First big exam is pathophysiology on Feb 1st... I want to go home already..

An occasional cry is alright right?

Well...I'm back....got into the rez about an hour ago..unpacked...went to get some food...and now im eagerly awaiting the Edmonton/Calgary game which i'll watch streamed...woot

I cried a good long cry yesterday for the first time in awhile...(in public that is)..
mom and dad came into the room as i was gonna go to sleep and i was getting a little sad already before they came in....so they started praying for me...and when it got to my turn...i couldn't talk..since i was trying to hold in the tears...then boom...it just all came out...runny nose boogers and all...haven't cried liek that since....can't really remember.... I think it's a combination of things....knowing that i won't be back till May...which really isn't that long....missing family..friends...and most of all Granny.....Just the thought of her going through the chemo treatment scares me...not knowing what could possibly happen and if God takes her away early...so got my mom and dad crying too...and they finished off praying for me since i coudln't do it...
I'm a quiet guy who keeps his emotions to himself....so i think for my parents...it was a big shock seeing that from a grown up guy lying in his bed....but it's good once in awhile to let the stuff flow out...and not keep it all bottled inside.....

So here we go on the second semester of first year pharmacy school...hopefully it'll be as successful as the first..

One more week left

exactly 7 days till i head back down...starting to get a little depressed..haha
home's been great...lots of going out at night...but haven'[t had a chance to do a lot of other stuff yet...Taking care of granny during the days cuz everyone's at work...and that's been okay...i think she's getting better every day...so that's comforting..
I'ma ctually getting a little bored now...not studying for a month can really shut down the brain...hopefully it won't be too hard to get started again next week..

Went to T&T..bought some noodles/snacks to take down...will prolly make a trip to superstore to pick up some more stuff...and prolly head to the mall to see if there's any good deals on clothes too..

This week should be packed with stuff to do...last week here...Aunt's family is taking me out to smuggler's for prime rib on tuesday...woot...been craving that for awhile..