A Few Graduation Photos

First of all, here is my cute leopard print dress for all of you frugalites.  It was $7 and the belt was $4.

Have I mentioned before that my mom laughs at me when I take pictures of my outfits in the mirror?

Before the ceremony in the ultra-flattering robe and tam.

And after being hooded and receiving my degree.  I'm done!!!

Fractured Christmas Fun

About a week before Christmas Eve, I woke up with some foot pain.  I ignored it, because that's how I roll.  One week later, I ran to my house because it was cold outside and I noticed that my foot was hurting more.  I decided to go to bed early, because I love sleeping and believe in its magical healing powers.  I woke up at 3:30 am on the morning before Christmas Eve with horrible throbbing pain.  Pain so bad that it made me cry, which is unusual for me.  I figured that I had fractured it, so after consulting with my insurance book (yay managed care!) I found that it would be cheaper for me to go to the ER to get an x-ray than for me to go to urgent care.  So I went to the ER at 4:30 am and got x-rayed.  The ER doc couldn't see anything on the x-ray, but he gave me crutches and told me to stay off of it until I could visit a podiatrist.

The hospital is out of my network (again, yay managed care), so I had to find my own podiatrist referral.  By the grace of God she was able to get me in the next day, on Christmas Eve.  She did an exam (ow) and took more x-rays and found a fracture.  I have a fractured tibial sessamoid bone, which according to my good friend the internets apparently never heals well if at all.  Things are bleak, my friends.  I have to stay off the stupid thing for six weeks.  I am doing well at this about 75% of the time.  At work and for longer distances I use a scooter thing since crutches are painful.  I still use the crutches as needed, though.  I can only drive very short distances and that still hurts a bit.  I am definitely discouraged about the prognosis, but I am taking a bunch of vitamin C and will also start calcium this week in an effort to speed up my healing.

Did I mention that this is my very first broken bone?  Pretty crazy considering that I fall down all the time...

Blog Hiatus

I will be out of town for about a week, so posting will be even slooooooower than usual.  I'll try to be better about posting when I get back...

Duplex Pictures- Bedroom

I realized that I haven't posted any room pictures since I moved from the apartment to the duplex.  I have discovered that it is very difficult to take room pictures, though!  :P

Here is my bed with new comforter- not frugal, about $60 from Domestications.  It was so difficult to find what I wanted in the right size.  There's also the Henry Link nightstands, lamps from Marshalls, and $6 vintage Nelly Littlehale Murphy print. 

Henry Link standing mirror and desk.  I couldn't get a good photo of the window treatment, but it is a $3 gold sheer waterfall valance that was 90% off at Kohl's.

Henry Link bureaus.  Jewelry is on the top of one; I'm working on getting framed photos for the other.

Up close shot of the comforter print- it's pinker than this IRL.

Vintage $20 print from the same estate that the Henry Link furniture came from.  I bought three of them- the other two are in a spare room.

Coming up tomorrow- the living room...

I Love You, MacBook

Warning:  This blog post may contain discussion of a nonfrugal purchase.

So.  I made it all the way through grad school without a laptop.  I was one of the very few people that didn't haul one to class every day.  In most of my classes we were provided with PowerPoint handouts and so it wasn't necessary to have a laptop to take notes (not that I took many notes as it was).  And most people just used their laptops to surf the 'net and tune out the professors.  

I knew it was drawing close to time to purchase a new computer and I have been saving for a while for one.  I decided to get a laptop for portability issues and because I have too much stuff taking up space.  I wound up getting a MacBook because I wanted to get a computer that would last for years with fewer problems.  

I love it.  Love, love, love it!  I've had it for about six weeks now and have mostly adjusted to the differences although I still need to read the booklet that came with it (I'm bad about that).  I haven't yet transferred my files over from my PC, so I need to do that soon.  

For those wondering at home, I did go through Ebates to get a percentage back from my purchase.  And I also got a $100 discount and a free printer.  I haven't completely lost my mind!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Graduation Day

Today is the graduation ceremony for my doctoral degree.  While I have officially been "doctor" for over a month, this is the day that I have been looking forward to for eight years.  I'm not sure how eight years went by so quickly (even though there were moments where they seemed to drag on forever!).

There's no way that I would've been able to get through this without the support of my family and friends.  That has meant so much to me and helped to carry me through the dark times.  Thanks also to my bloggy friends who have written such kind words of support over the past two years!   

Finally, and most importantly, there is no way that I would have been able to accomplish this without the strength I received from my relationship with God.  I knew that this was His plan for me, and that kept me going.  He carried me through this entire experience.  

And now, on to the celebration.  :)

"That my heart may sing to you and not be silent.  O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever."  Psalm 30:12

Getting Stuck

Hi, my name is Tessa and I have arthritis.  

I'm 26, which in joint terms is not that old.  It started when I was 17- I remember this very clearly.  I took dance lessons from age 5 to age 15 and then danced on my high school dance team from age 14 to 18.  If you do the math, that's 13 years of wear and tear.  During my senior year, we were learning this really cool (and somewhat difficult) dance.  One move involved going from a standing position to a squatting position, turning in a circle, and then coming back to a standing position.  My knees started hurting a bit whenever I had to do this move, but I ignored it.  

In college, I had to climb a flight of stairs every day to get to my psychology classes.  That made my knees hurt, too.  When I stood on my feet for long periods of time while working at a pharmacy, my knees started swelling and burning.  By age 19 I was taking a Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplement daily.  This helped a lot.  

Within the last year, two things have happened.  I have had to increase my Glucosamine dosage and my hip joints started hurting.  I was not pleased.  During a pain management class in grad school, I observed an acupuncturist for a day and thought I might try that in the future.

A couple of months ago, I visited my nurse practitioner.  She thought I might have Rheumatoid Arthritis- the crippling, potentially disabling kind.  My initial blood test came back clear and I decided to try something different.  Now I am going to an acupuncturist.

People, it works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My knee pain is GREATLY reduced.  My hip pain has had less success, but I am thrilled with the results.  Definitely not frugal, but 100% worth the cost.  Even if I do have to lie there for 20 minutes with a bunch of needles sticking out of me.  :P

Battling the Cranky

I'm at home sick today, and as I've discussed before, I am not a good sick person. I am cranky and bored. My good friend Amy called me to check on me and brought me some cold medicine (the good stuff), so that warmed my bitter little heart. And is making me feel slightly strung out, but better.

Anyhoo, I am trying to entertain myself on the internets. One blog that I enjoy is Stuff Christians Like. It's in a similar vein to Stuff White People Like, but, you know, with more Jesus. It has a lot of funny stuff on it. I just laughed out loud at this post. If you've ever been to a Christian concert or heard a Christian CD that was recorded live at said concerts, you've heard that guy that screams "Jesus!". It's funny 'cause it's true.

The Sewage Incident: A Pointless Post

Last week there was an incident at the casa de Tessa. There will be no pictures to accompany this post as I do not document disgusting-ness.

Occasionally my air conditioner unit has (supposedly) been backing up and I will have puddles on my kitchen floor and in the garage. The kitchen, garage, and ground floor bathroom are all located near each other. Last Monday, it started again. My landlord- who normally is really quick to respond- had seemingly disappeared (later I found out that he had gone out of town). By Thursday, the floor in the kitchen near the bathroom had a lot of water and I was struggling to keep up with getting towels dry enough to put down. On Friday morning, sewage started to back up in the bathroom.

I do not do well with gross things. I have serious issues with public bathrooms due to the pure disgusting-ness that lurks within. But after a few phone calls to family members and then to a plumber, all was taken care of. The plumber came within ten minutes of my phone call and had fixed the problem within ten minutes of arriving. Thank God for this going smoothly!

Of course I had to go buy a Shop Vac and then complete a five-step cleaning process: vacuum, sweep, scrub on my hands and knees, mop, and wash towels one million times until I feel they are approaching clean again. But I am getting reimbursed for the plumber costs ($60- I should have been a plumber) and all is well for the time being.

Except that now I have dreams of finding puddles in the floor. :P

Irony

Here I am at age 3. I was crying because my brother (age 8 at the time) got to go to school and I didn't. I even went so far as to make up my own "Pretend School" and every day I would go off to "Pretend School" when my brother went to real school. That's about where it would end, though, because I had no idea what one actually did all day in school. I just thought it sounded very exciting.

If I had only known that I would be in school for 21 years, maybe I wouldn't have been crying.

Nothing to Post?

Nope, nothin'. I haven't done any new and exciting frugal things lately. I'm drawing a blank...

Break

Will be on a bit of a break this week as I wrap some things up with internship/work. I'm going on vacation next week at work and will post then!

So I'm Really Going to Graduate

Today I picked up a belated birthday gift from one of my friends. It is a beautiful red leather portfolio, and on the front there is a plate that she had engraved with "Dr. Mylastname." Looking at that engraved plate is the strangest experience for me. Even though I have written "Dr. Mylastname" about a thousand times before just to see how it would look. ;)

Also today I picked up some white 100% cotton bond paper for free at Staples (used my rewards certificate) to print my dissertation on. I've had to make a few minor changes following the defense, but it looks like I will be ready to print and turn in the required copies in the next week or so.

Both of these incidences were very clear reminders that I am getting ready to graduate with my doctorate. This is not something that my brain has accepted yet. I will be done with my internship at the end of August and will officially have the doctorate September 1st, although my graduation ceremony isn't until October. I have been focused on this goal since I was 17 and I have just been running as fast and as hard as I can since that time trying to get to where I am now.

Now here I am at the finish line, and I don't quite know what to do with myself. It's definitely a happy thing, but something that is going to take some time for me to wrap my head around.

For No Good Reason

But I laugh hysterically every time I see this. :P

Passed!

I passed my dissertation defense!! I do have to add in a few more paragraphs to clarify some info, but the worst is behind me. I was SO nervous all of last week. Normally I get "good" nervous before presentations- the kind that helps you perform well. But last week I was "bad" nervous- the kind that makes your mind go blank and/or makes you vomit. Thankfully, none of those things happened. ;)

When I complete my internship at the end of August, I will officially be Dr. Tessa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Big News

This Friday I will defend my doctoral dissertation. I really hope it goes well. :D

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!

Well, the move was successful although I still have a little bit of stuff that I need to move over from the apartment. I am now in a town house/duplex and it is FABULOUS. It is more rent than I was paying but it is worth every stinkin' penny.

I am still unpacking and cleaning, so pictures will have to wait. In exciting purchase news, I bought most of a vintage Henry Link bedroom set. I had intended to put it in my spare bedroom but then decided that I wanted it for myself. Pictures of that are forthcoming!

Moving...

I'm in the process of moving and posting will be spotty over the next week or so. I will return with lots of pictures and new posts!