Getting to know me

I thought that this next post should be to begin getting to know me. Unfortunately, I do not know how to go about doing that. So how will one of those boring little surveys that nobody likes hurt? Considering I probably have no readers, none at all! LOL

If I could do anything I wanted to tomorrow, what would it be? : Hmmm. I don't know! Tomorrow I am going to blissfully sleep in and relax. Then I will probably do a lot of studying for my Terminology and Anatomy & Physiology exams for Wednesday. I will probably read those wonderful books I checked out of the library, too, while I have the free time. Just, in general, relax! I had a rough week.

What are your core values? : I've never really thought about it before. I suppose I can ask myself this question, then, to discover what my core values are: what is important to me? God is important to me. My family, my pets, being successful in what I do, and doing what it is in life that makes me happy. What is the point in having a job when you can't enjoy it? That will make you one miserable person! Now I can ask myself: what do those things really mean to me?

Well, God means everything to me. I owe God absolutely everything I have, and, unfortunately, it's not enough. I have been through some hard financial times in my eighteen years of life, and it is only because of the Lord that I have been able to get through.

You see, when we (Mom, my two brothers, our dog, and myself) moved back home to Ohio, we had to live with my grandfather and uncle. Things did not work out... My uncle was allergic to our dog, and because his daily routine was upset he could not cope (yes, people are like that; I am like that as well, to a lesser extent). My grandfather tried to push us to get rid of our dog. To my mother and myself, our pets are our family and not to turn your back on them. When you take in a pet, you are taking a responsibility for the rest of their lives -- or yours, whichever case it may be. So, to make things easier, we moved into my cousin's basement. We lived there for about six months. That did not work out, either. So we were looking for a place to live and came across the apartment complex we are now at. I will admit that I do not know how waiting lists work, but the waiting list for this apartment was two years long! Not three months later, we got the call telling us we could move in (as long as we did not have any animals, unless otherwise directed by a therapist; we have two cats and a dog). I thank God for our house, my cats (who were terribly sick and would have died had He not given me the money to get them to Doctor Sears). And even now we have a very, very hard time with our finances, as no one can find a job, but because of Him we manage.

Because of Him, and just because He is our Creator and deserves more than what we can give, I really do try to learn and follow what He wants me to follow. Almost all of the time, though, I find myself out of line. But that is all right; I can recognize where I have fallen out of line, and He will forgive me because He loves me. I just have to make sure to try better than the last time.

My family is very important to me. Who can you go to for support, love, and advice if not your family? My family has been excessively supportive of my career choice and my education pertaining to it. Though my mother has a difficult time baby sitting, she will take time out of her weekends and evenings to sit and talk with me about everything and nothing, or to help me study for that big exam coming up in a few days. My uncle, because I cannot drive, takes me to and from college every day. My grandfather helped me with my uniforms, bookbag, and new shoes. Everyone else tells me how proud they are of me. If I didn't have my wonderful family, I really do not think I would be able to get through these grueling next 18 months of school.

My pets are important to me because... Well, just because. I have been through a lot with them, and I know this transition period into a new routine is just as difficult on them as it is on myself. Caesar and Tater-Tot are used to having me around constantly, but my schooling demands most of my time. Caesar, especially, is having a difficult time in adjusting to that.

Doing what I want to do in life is important to me because I do not want to be the average person: I do not want to hold an average nine-to-five job, hate my boss, and be miserable with my life. That's not me. I am young; I have a lot to live for. I am greatly looking forward to my future, both the good and the bad times. If you do not have bad times, how can you ever expect to grow any stronger than you already are? How can you come away with those important life lessons that make you grow as a person?

Those are my core values.

What are your special talents? : Oh, gosh... I have no clue. I have a knack for school and learning. I am naturally a know-it-all, and I can be very particular. LOL Not very good, eh?

I can sing, but not as well as I used to. I can write very well. Writing, I have to say, would be my special talent. By no means is it perfect! But I can write.

What do you do better than most people you know? : Take care of animals. I may not be very compassionate toward people, but I do not hold back with animals. Where I am considered cold and aloof to a person, with animals I am very loving and compassionate. I am the kind of person who sticks their fingers in the cage of the cattery in a kennel and tune all of the people out. I am the kind of person who cries over those animal shelter commercials. Yes, darn it, they make me cry...

I love on Tater so much that she gets sick of me. LOL It's no wonder I will sometimes wake up with bruises on my body; she probably attacks me in my sleep getting her revenge from not leaving her alone when she plainly told me by biting my hand to leave her alone.

Caesar, on the other hand, no matter how much love I give him he is always begging for more. He is the kind of cat that is content with sitting in the floor with you, being pet on for hours. They have numerous, numerous toys, but they play with none. They get a lot of treats (I have made Caesar a little on the obese side of things...), and I clean the litter box twice daily because Caesar refuses to use it if it's not cleaned less than that. I keep fresh water out for them. They are my life, and I am going to school to take better care of them and other animals, yet my cousin thinks that I could not poke Caesar with insulin shots if he were diabetic? No. I would do what I would have to do in order to keep him alive, even if it meant dropping out of school and paying back 30 grand US dollars for an education that I didn't get. I made a commitment to Tater and Caesar when I adopted them. I am going to see that commitment through.

What were your dreams as a child? : I wanted to be a veterinarian as a child. I would not play with anything but stuffed animals. I am still a stuffed animal junkie. I have tons. Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Now I am going to school to be a veterinary technician. That is only so I can wet my feet a little, get used to what I have to do and what is expected of me. Once I get my grant mostly paid off, I have another eight years of college to do before I can become a veterinarian, not to mention having to take the VTNE yet again. Someday I want to own my own veterinary clinic.

What is the thing you are most proud of accomplishing in your life? : I know it's a standard answer, but getting into college. I just barely got through, and that was probably only because of my grades in high school. I get over a thousand dollars extra free money in my grant because of those grades (free money is always good)!

When I was accepted into the Community College, I was happy, of course. But it didn't feel like I thought it would. I guess part of myself was rebelling against going to the community college because it's my life, damn it, and I want to do this for myself, not because so-and-so wants me to. I ended up getting something in the mail from Bradford, and went to check it out. I fell in love! When I got that acceptance letter... that was what I imagined getting accepted into college to feel like.

What will you regret not doing in your life if you continue as you are now? : Not going to church as often as I should. Not finding it in myself to forgive those people that need forgiven (but for some reason, no matter how hard I try, I cannot seem to let those past hurts go). Not volunteering for something for church.

What do you want people to say after you are no longer living? What is your legacy? : I don't know. I want to be remembered after I am gone. Who doesn't? But I don't know what I want to be remembered for. Something big.

What do you want to do after you retire? : I've never thought about it. I've always imagined myself working in a veterinary clinic. Retirement has never crossed my mind before.

Outside of parents who influenced your life more than anyone else; who had an impact on your life and what was it about that person that meant something to you? : Jesus. He is the example I want to live up to, even though I know I never will because I am human and He is not. He has helped me through everything. I know for a fact that He is real, because I have had my own experiences with Him.

I was about thirteen. There had been a murder up the street. The first thing my mind jumps to is (not a domestic situation, like most people), but that he is now a crazy psycho-killer out on the loose to murder everyone in my small 3,000 person town (if that). No matter what my mother would say to me to try to calm me down, it was not working, so she told me to pray about it. I did. Immediately I felt ten times better. I felt calm, loved, protected. It felt like my Lord was telling me not to worry, that everything would be okay because He is in control of it all, that as long as I continue to stick by Him, I will never have anything to worry about in this life again.

I believe He meant that. I really believe He meant that. He would not have done otherwise if He did not mean it. I love Jesus. He is the best friend a person can ever have.

Now, you might think I'm crazy after reading all of that, but that's all right. I just hope you learned something valuable from me.