Currently Watching: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Happy Thanksgiving! In response to a not-so-subtle hint from my marvelous cousin Cassie, I have chosen to update my Xanga site. I can almost hear the collective sigh of satisfaction and relief from ardent fans of my site...

It's been a busy past few weeks, which should come as no surprise to any of you who actually read this thing (which you should, don't get me wrong). I've managed to keep myself fairly well entertained through various combinations of study, sleep, and hanging out with my friends. In a much-anticipated cadaver dissection update, we have completed dissecting everything from the head to the pelvic region. That leaves us with the rest of the pelvic region, legs, and feet. And, if anyone cares to know, I have two, count them TWO, dissections left to attend. I shall shed tears of elation the day I can walk out of lab, toss away my scalpel (taking care not to maim any passing med students), and rid myself of the formalin fumes forever (ahhh, notice my excellent use of alliteration to highlight my point?).

Since I was so unfortunate as to not be able to attend the family Thanksgiving this year due to a failing budget, I celebrated the holiday in Greenville, South Carolina with my friend Diantha and her family. I was treated to massive amounts of food, thanks to the good southern cookin' of her mama, and I was finally able to see Gone With the Wind - a movie I've wanted to see since I read the book in 8th grade. Since 8th grade was a good 8 or 9 years ago, I'm not sure that says much for my movie renting motivation, but hey, I've finally seen it, so no heckling from the peanut gallery. My time spent in the great state of South Carolina afforded me many new memories of "the South." On the drive down, I saw my very first cotton field in full bloom and I passed a small shack that was selling used forklifts (had I more time, I would have inquired as to their pricing). Upon visiting the local Bi-Lo (a grocery store chain), I discovered that generic carbonated beverages are much more amusingly named in the southern states. What we call "Diet Dr. Pepper" or Wal-mart brand calls "Diet Dr. Thunder" the illustrious Bi-Lo chain calls ...wait for it... Diet Dr. Bob. Seriously. I almost split a rib laughing in the beverage aisle of the Easly, SC Bi-Lo. This morning I tackled a mountain climbing expedition to scale the vast peak of Table Rock. It was a beautiful day for hiking, but I must say, going 3.5 miles up the side of a mountain will remind you in a hurry why it is important to exercise. There were 7 of us in the expedition: Diantha, her boyfriend Steve, her two friends Kath and Beam, me, and then two of the cutest dogs on the face of this earth, Body and Rosco. We didn't go all the way to the top because Beam had to get home to write a paper, but we did go up to Governor's rock (about 2.8 - 3 miles up) where we were afforded a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge mountains. Now I am home and preparing to trek to Atlanta tomorrow to round out this wonderful Thanksgiving break. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and a happy beginning to the Christmas season!

Currently Watching: Shrek 2

Hey everybody! Notice how these updates are getting fewer and farther between? I need to keep on top of this! So, last week was really busy. I had two exams and a project due. The test went well, and the project is what you see displayed here to your left. Yes, we did self portraits, and, as I LOVE drawing portraits, I very much enjoyed doing the project. We're going to take these pencil drawings we did into Photoshop now and colorize them. Should be interesting.

The weekend was fun. On Friday night there was a party at my friend Mike's place, so a bunch of us went to that. On Saturday I hung out with Alissa for most of the day and then a few of the med students and us medical illustration girls went to see Shrek 2 at the Dollar theater (my 3rd time seeing it and I still think it's hilarious!) and went out to eat at Wild Wings. Yesterday was spent buying groceries, walking at the canal with some friends and their dogs, and then I had the girls over and made them a sumptuous dinner of parmesan chicken, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and chocolate chip bars. Go me! So, that's the last week or so in a nutshell. I'm loving my program, the weather here is still beautiful (75 degrees and sunny as I type this)...all in all the Georgia experience is going swimmingly.

Currently Reading: The Da Vinci Code

So I dressed as a cowgirl when we went out for our Halloween fun. Apparently I should wear this outfit more often. :)

Currently Watching: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Thanks for the reminder, HTD. There's really nothing terribly new or exciting to tell, but I know all my faithful readers desire updates on my glamorous life...you know who you are, all...both of you. I have another test coming up on Monday, so I've been doing quite a bit of studying for that. We had the joy of dissecting the inguinal region on our cadaver today (for you non-medical folk, that is the area just above the pelvic region...yay).

I am excited for this weekend. Many of you might think it is because of Halloween. This is not why. Some might think it has something to do with Daylight Saving Time. Also not the reason (even I'm not that big of a nerd). I am excited because I get to have Molly at my house all weekend! Who's Molly, you ask? Molly is the cutest dog in the world! She is my friend Alissa's golden retriever, and, as Alissa is going to Baltimore for the weekend, Molly gets to stay with me. Hooray for cuddly dogs!

And Cassie, to answer your question, no I won't be home for Thanksgiving. I apologize that this is not the acceptable answer you asked for. When pondering that question myself several months ago, my mind immediately said "Thanksgiving at home? But of course! Trivial Pursuit and the Heitschmidt family reunion, what could be better!?" My budget, however, responded with a deafening "NO." As a consolation prize, I will be home for three weeks at Christmas (Dec. 16 - Jan. 8), so we will definitely need to plan some Cassie/Kristen time for then!

Currently Reading: Digital Fortress

by Dan Brown

Whew, it's been quite awhile since I wrote! Things have been extra-busy here lately. So here's your quick fill-in

Haley arrived here last Friday (the 15th) and stayed til Tuesday night. We had so much fun! Saturday we went to Charleston with Alissa, Demis, and Kathy. We had to make a stop at the beach so Haley could wade in the ocean, then we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening walking around Charleston. Sunday Haley and I did some shopping and went to dinner and a movie with Alissa and Demis - we saw the Village. I really liked it. Monday Haley came to class with me (lucky her) and then Monday night about 10 of us went out to eat and watched Reality Bites at Mike's place. Tuesday she went to class with me again and we hung out until her plane left at 6:00. The rest of the week I spent frantically working on art projects.

Yesterday Alissa, Demis, Kathy and I all went to Atlanta. The plan was to go to a Haunted House, but dinner ended up taking so long that it was closed by the time we got there at midnight. We went to this awesome Tapas bar though called TuTu Tango. It's in the really trendy downtown part of Atlanta and it was just the coolest place with great music, funky decor, and awesome food. Needless to say, we had a good time. Today we walked around the Virginia Highlands part of Atlanta and then Kathy and I headed back here to Augusta because we really need to study - we have another Anatomy test in a week.

Now I get to spend the rest of the weekend studying and spending some quality time in the cadaver lab. Oh the joys... Hope you all (or y'all, if you prefer) are doing well!

Currently Playing: Collateral Soundtrack

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CASSIE!!! Ahhhh, the joys of being 23 - you may now look condecendingly upon those persons who have not yet achieved such a venerable age ... such as yours truly. :)

Currently Reading: The Arctic Incident (Artemis Fowl, Book 2)

by Eoin Colfer

Wow, it's been quite awhile since I last wrote...how the time does fly (say this with a southern accent). Last week was crazy crazy. Yes, that is crazy times two. I've had several illustrations I've been working on, soooo much studying to do for my upcoming anatomy tests (next Monday and Tuesday - wish me luck), and just general work that's taking up so much time.

"But Kristen," you ask, "what are you doing for fun among all this insane business?" Well, I went to Athens, GA on Saturday for the UGA football game. They were playing LSU, and it was huge! Just a ton of people in downtown Athens. So of course, my friends and I joined in the fun and had a great time. UGA won by a bunch and it was quite the festive place to be Saturday.

I guess that just about catches you up...I must now go back to drawing a brain, a surgical tool, and studying for my exams. Ciao for now!