happy birfday biz!

Biz is my college roommate who was my BFF for all of my most ridiculous moments from Carolina... in fact, she was probably participating in them. I can't begin to express how amazing this girl is and I can only say that I was so lucky to have her by my side through college.

Although I see her wayyy to infrequently, it's comforting to know that our friendship has seen us through so much of our lives that we will always be there for each other.

So here's the birfday song we sing every year to one another:

It's your birfday it's your birfday

Happy happy birfday

It's your birfday it's your birfday

Happy happy birfday

It's your birfday it's your birfday

happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy birfday to youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

Below: A pic of us on her 20th birthday where we were convinced by our friend from Mexico that it was tradition to take the first bite directly out of the cake... #suckers

And now a picture montage of some of my favorite pics from our years together. I have LOTS of pictures of our years together but I'll save those for another occasion.

Freshman year: This was our place to sit and dish. Our time had only just begun. We had no idea what would happen...

Sophomore year: When the trouble really started. Alongside the boys, our Fan Club came to thrive as a group of friends who did everything together. "John Heyward brought Alicia home!"

Junior year: This was OUR spot on the quad. Every Friday in the spring we'd sit out on our corner of the quad, walk home, make some Cheerwinewine, walk back to FOFP, eat burritos, play some more, then walk home.

Senior year: This was my 22nd birthday party (White trash trailer bash). Biz was always down for a good time and would come with me anywhere. Her sweet personality fit in any crowd and I we shared some awesome fun along the way.

So happy birfday Bizzle! You're my favorite!

Mural mural on the wall

...Which is the fairest painting of them all??

It's wonderful to grow up in a place as unique and wonderful as Chapel Hill & Carrboro. All of the idiosyncrasies and quirks of the town seemed typical to me. For instance, I thought that all road signs were Carolina blue, all cars stopped for pedestrians, and that it was typical for blank walls to be decorated with culture.

Before I even learned to read I knew my way around town by the geography of the murals. We're going to the turtles, make a right at the naked Greek men, walk through Amber Alley.

The murals are one of my favorite things about home.

Here are some of my favorites:

Daily Devotional

From a faithful townie:

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael the archangel found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired of God, "Where have you been?" God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael, see what I've made..." Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, "What is it?" "It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put LIFE on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance." "Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused. God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth, "For example, Northern Europe will be a hard place of great opportunity and wealth while Southern Europe is going to be lovely but poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot." God continued, pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot and arid while this one will be very cold and covered in ice." The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a place. "What's that?" "Ah," said God. "Chapel Hill, the most glorious place on Earth. I made it from a little corner of Heaven. There are beautiful women and an exquisite campus that is called UNC. The people from Chapel Hill are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous and they're going to be found traveling the world. They'll be extremely sociable, hard-working and high-achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace. I'm also going to give them a great and wondrous basketball team swathed in cloth made from the Sky itself. The team will be admired and feared by all who come across them." Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed, "What about balance, God? You said there would be BALANCE!" God replied, "Fear not, Michael. Wait until you see the loud-mouth [punks] I'm putting next to them in Durham."

Duke Graduation 2011

I love graduations. Honestly, that's one reason I went back to grad school... it's just so fun to wear the horribly unflattering gown and mortar board while listening to commencement addresses that try to give graduates some words of wisdom for your future life. Duke's commencement speaker this year gave us the advice of, "Always go pee before you have to do something important." Little did he know he was talking to a group of nurses who completely ignored his advice.

My mom said yesterday that she saw me have the most fun in graduate school. I laughed and asked her if she meant since I graduated from Carolina. She replied, "No, this is the most fun I've seen you have ever." I am admittedly prone to maximizing my fun. I work hard and play hard, and graduate school was no exception. I never felt like I was drowning in work. And that's a testament to all of my classmates, friends, and family who supported me, helped me study, and helped me unwind.

The Pediatric Nurse Practitioners

It's been about eighteen years of schooling with countless hours of studying, tests, and cups of coffee to keep me going. Here's a little blast from the past from my years of education:

My first day of kindergarten at Carrboro Elementary School

Graduation from Chapel Hill High School

Graduation from the University of North Carolina, Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Graduation from Duke University, Master of Science in Nursing

Pinning is very important in nursing. My Dad pinned me for my Master's.

It's been an unexpected and long road, but I am so proud of myself and very excited to see where this next chapter of my life takes me. Who knows, maybe there is another graduation in my future...

Blast from the past!

I am cleaning out my room at my parents' house. I seriously just found not one but TWO caboodles under my bed along with my middle school CD collection:

The soundtrack from Titanic

N*SYNC

Spice Girls

Aqua

Whoa. I'm old.

I'm a total sap.

I have been known (on more than one occassion) to cry at commercials. There's a really touching battery commercial that gets me every time, and this google chrome commercial really sucker-punched me in the gut.

Local Townie to Relocate!

WHAT?!?! It's true!

The perpetual townie herself is planning a move! I am the newest Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in the Pediatric Emergency Department at the University of Louisville in Kosair Children's Hospital!

The news came yesterday in a phone call while I was driving on a climbing trip. I was so excited I had to pull of the road so I could jump for joy in a gas station parking lot. It has been a very long process full of ups and downs but I am so excited about this job opportunity and the prospect of moving to Louisville!

Someone asked me recently, "What's in Louisville?!?!" That's an easy answer:

- The Red River Gorge (my favorite climbing in all the world)

- family (oh heyyy Mahan & Ashley!)

- new friends including Audrey's wonderful Parker family and fellow UNC alums

- the Kentucky Derby! Read: big hats, mint julips, daytime socializing

- Ale 81

-a dream job to add to my pedigree :)

It is bittersweet to think about leaving Chapel Hill, but now is a great time in my life to explore a new place and venture out on my own. I always know where my home is, but the adventure that lies ahead is going to be the greatest one of my life. It looks like I will move and start work in mid-June so I've got about six weeks to soak up townie life and scratch off my bucket list. Any advice on what to put on that Bucket List???

This is what Moms are for

Happy mother's day to some of my favorite Moms out there! You're the reason I'm still reliving the glory days of my adolescence with no responsibilities and impractical decisions. What would I do without you?!

Happy Nurses Day

This is a great story about our PCICU at Duke, a great family (and there are lots more just like them), and the nurses who pour our hearts and souls into caring for infants and children with congenital heart disease. I love my job.

I am a Tar Heel!

I was at a party last night and heard a wonderful story of how two friends met. While chatting around the heat lamp outside, I asked a guy I was talking to how he knew my friend the hostess. He replied that it was a funny story...

You see, he met her in Guatemala. He was walking through a town when he saw a girl in the street being heckled by a group of locals and she obviously could not take care of the situation on her own. He noticed her wearing a Carolina t-shirt and the sight of the interlocking NC on her chest told him that she was a person who was a part of his family and he needed to help her. He and his group of friends surrounded the gang and they left the tar heel alone. They became quick friends after that, and some years later they were revisiting that memory thousands of miles away in Carrboro.

I was so inspired by that story and it warmed my heart (or maybe it was the kerosene lamp we were standing under?). The bond that exists between members of the Carolina family so strong. I get excited when I'm traveling and see a UNC tshirt because it means that someone knows my home and I have certainly experienced the hospitality of fellow tar heels when I travel.

The night even ended with a group of 20 friends singing the alma mater at the top of our lungs. I'm a tar heel born, I'm a tar heel bred, and when I die I'll be tar heel dead.

You mean I have to go to the REAL WORLD now?!

Tomorrow is the big day!

Words from the wise

My high school calculus teacher used to have a bright and cheery outlook on cloudy, rainy days. He told us it was because he knew that above the gray clouds...

... there are always Carolina blue skies!