saving lives...and getting compensated for it!

I believe I mentioned this a while ago, but finally this Tuesday I was able to set up my first plasma donation. It went well, overall, although halfway through I made the slightest move, which was just enough to knock the needle out. The phlebotomist had to switch to my other arm which made her very nervous as I have very small, baby veins. Now, what she thought was my stronger arm is bruised, so the smaller vein will have to do as I have a follow up appointment today in just a couple hours. I'm going to talk to them today to see if I should continue the donations; the woman who stuck me Tuesday mentioned under her breath to another tech that I probably shouldn't have passed the exam with such small veins. But it sure feels good to finally have some cash in my wallet!

And the best part is, I'm saving lives!

as uncool as back to back posts may be...

...read something in my devotion book I had to share.

"prayer is the Christian's vital breath" The Lutheran Hymnal, 454 stanza 5

"Prayer is a natural to the Christian as breathing. If we're alive, we're breathing. If we're Christians, we're praying." -Meditations: Vol. 52, No. 1

How cool is that?

strawberry swing

I have news! Coldplay will be in town this summer (Houston, that is) and I'M GOING TO SEE THEM!

I woke up about an hour ago to numerous missed calls and texts from my little sister. I wasn't worried; generally on Saturday mornings she likes to play this little game called, "Wake up early and find out if Katelyn left her phone on silent!"

Needless to say, I did remember to put it on silent last night, and was not bothered by any of her calls. Not even the one at 7 in the morning. Anyways, when the first thing she asked me was, "Are you keeping your job this summer?" I wasn't expecting, "Want to come to a Coldplay concert with us?" to be the follow up question.

On last.fm, Coldplay is my third most played artist. Just to put in perspective how awesome this is for me, if you're not aware how brilliant Coldplay is. I do feel like I should listen to their two albums I don't own to prepare. But maybe not. I went to see Saving Abel/Shinedown/Buckcherry in the fall and had a blast, even though all I'd heard of any of the bands were their radio singles. You take what you can get in Lincoln. Maybe I should try getting into the local music scene.

Both my fiancee and roommate have abandoned me this weekend, so my plans revolve solely around me for a change. Unfortunately, that means a lot of cleaning, working on a monolouge, revising poetry, working out. These all would be fun to do...if I didn't have to do them for school. I even have an 11-week aerobic program I have to do for Nutrition.

I think I'm going to enjoy teaching so much more than...studenting. Yep.

I don't know how big campus is...

...but it's just not big enough for me right now. Accompanying my fiancee to his parents' house this weekend for some time to reconnoiter. While I'm not getting out of Lincoln, at least I'll be going across town!

Randomly perusing the blogosphere this chilly winter day, I stumbled upon this and just had to share. Not sure if it's sold anywhere, but it's a cute idea.

Carley Rae!

As I've told a couple people, this is the late and great Carley, the cutest Pembroke Welsh Corgi there ever was. These pictures are from the very first night we brought her home.

In the second picture you'll see her nibbling on my dad's ear - so cute! When she got too big for that, she moved on to tug-of-war.

She'd just turned two years old in October of 2005 when she was victim of a hit-and-run right outside our house. It sounds pretty cinematic, but she died right in my arms. I can't remember how long it took me to stop crying. After Carley, we just couldn't bring ourselves to get another corgi, but I resolved whenever I was out on my own somewhere and could afford it, I would get another of my own.

I have more pictures at home, but for now I'd rather not harass my mom. :) When I go back for Spring Break I'll try to scan some more. (These were all taken before we got a digital camera - hard to imagine those days even existed!)

Hope everyone has a fabulous Super Bowl Sunday. Go Cardinals!

I'm wondering if anyone else is as crazy as me...

...and stayed up till ungodly hours watching the women's final of the Australian Open. Serena won, so there better have been some other Americas watching! This afternoon we're supposed to get up to 59 degrees, thank the Lord Almighty! Maybe I'll finally get to play some tennis?!

Well, the day is young, seeing as I just woke up at 1:30. Next week I hope to start giving plasma in lieu of a real job. I also grabbed some literature on volunteering at Lincoln's local humane society. I've been thinking of helping out there all year, and it's finally looking like I might have some time to do it this semester. I miss dogs when I'm away from home. Right now, my family has a cockapoo named Toby. You can see him as a puppy right over there! ---------->