Catching Up and Winding Down

I have not written in a very long time. I've had a lot happen to me since the last time I wrote on here. If I tried to catch you up I would have to write a book, but long story short, I got a bladder infection and went through a little rough patch and stopped blogging. However, I will say that overall since then, things have pretty great.

For the last two weeks or so I have tried repeatedly to get back into blogging on a regular schedule, but I would always stop about halfway through. I had like seven different half-written blog posts, but I finally have deleted them all and am now writing this one, which I know I'll finish because I have specifically scheduled time for it.

Yesterday at physical therapy I ran into someone and she said that she started reading my blog and that it inspired her to write her own. Hearing that reminded me why I love blogging and why I  should not stop even when it gets tough- I get to share the real me and I get to let people see what my life is like, whether I am having a great time or struggling, and I get to express myself and share my feelings with the world. That's why I am going to try much harder to be more consistent with my blog and write at least once a week and maybe even twice a week if something super interesting happens or if I want to talk about a certain subject. I am thinking maybe my second one would be a great way to tell some stories of what has happened to me in the past too.

Anyway, now that I have explained my absence, I can tell you what has happened in my life recently. Finals week started yesterday and it will end on Wednesday. Everyone around me is freaking out about their finals, but to be completely honest, I am not the least bit stressed out. I'm actually loving finals week because they are giving away a bunch of free food and having tons of activities. Finals week is fun! Maybe my classes are just easy this semester though. Hopefully it is always this easy.

I am excited about winter break and my first semester of college being over. I will miss my friends over the break but I'm also glad I will get to see my other friends and family at home. I will also be extremely happy to have a home-cooked meal and to see the rain. I miss the rain so much. I mean, it's kind of a pain in the ass having to wheel through the rain and puddles because I get SOAKED, so don't get me wrong I love not having to deal with that here in SoCal, but I miss listening to the rain.

To anyone back home reading this, see you and the rain soon!

Midterms, and Music, and Pizza, Oh My!

I had yet another stressful week, but I think I solved a large number of my problems. I had my first midterm on Thursday in my PoliSci class and it was awful. We had a fifty question test and an essay to write, and the essay question was incredibly confusing. I am just proud of myself for completing it, because I was pretty sure I was going to die. Now I'm trying to stay positive and hope that I did better than I feel like I did. 

I also finally was able to set up physical therapy down here and I will be having my first appointment on Monday. I'm excited to see what PT is like here. I'm sure it will be different (nobody will ever top my physical therapist Emily) but I'm sure it will go well. The only problem is that my first appointment coincides with Jammin' With John, so I may have to call and change the time. 

What is Jammin' With John, you ask? It's an hour long period of music making with the other RA in my building, and it's my new favourite thing to do on Mondays. Honestly I've started looking forward to it every week, because we make up songs and they are always hilarious and it's just a really great place to be. I have made a lot of friends there and the group seems to be growing, so I'm sure I will make a lot more.

Lately, I have been hanging out a lot with my friend Samantha as well, and last weekend we went to this place called South Gate, near where she lives. We went to a pizza place there called Blaze Pizza, where you make your own pizza, and it was really delicious. After that we went shopping and I got a tie-dye top and she got some velvety shoes. I love exploring and seeing the area around Long Beach. There is so much stuff to do and so much diversity. I definitely cannot wait to bring my car here. Then I will really be able to explore everything. 

Now, to update you on that guy who asked for my number. As it turns out, he has children, so basically I beelined it in the other direction. It is so weird to me that now there are dads that can hit on me and they aren't pedophiles. It kind of freaks me out, because I'm not planning on being a mother for another ten thousand years. Luckily, I wasn't looking to be in a relationship anytime soon because I have enough on my plate right now, but even if I was, there are plenty of people out there who aren't fathers yet.

In all, I am loving it in Long Beach and I am continually excited to see what's in store for me here! Update you all later!

Kicking Ass and Taking Names (Or Numbers?)

So this post was made a little later than I initially planned- I'M SORRY. This last week was ridiculously challenging, and I'm pretty sure that everything that could have possibly gone wrong went wrong, but personally I think I kicked this last week's ass.

For starters, on Tuesday I managed to lose my ID card somewhere in my room. It must have slid under the bed somewhere that I couldn't reach, because I searched the whole room for HOURS. If not that, then a ghost must have stolen it (according to many students our particular dorm building is haunted because it was built on an old Native American burial ground), because I searched EVERYWHERE. I scraped my hands and my legs and I now have a million bruises everywhere just because I was looking for my ID. 

The issue with not having my ID is that without it I can't get into my dorm or into the dining hall, meaning I had to either find it or buy a new one. To make matters worse, I had to get to class and the bus lift was broken so I was going to have to wait for the next bus which would have made me completely late, so after almost bursting into tears I decided to go back to my room. Thankfully Maria was there so she could open the doors for me. Then after I calmed down I decided to accept defeat and go buy a new ID, which was surprisingly inexpensive. I also bought myself a gyro (they are good for the soul) and then went to my next class. 

Then the next day I spent two hours on the phone with Apple trying to figure out why my computer wouldn't connect to my printer. I have spent approximately a bajillion hours trying to solve my printer problem, and finally the guys at Apple helped me figure it out. If you're out there, thank you Vinnie and Tyler! 

At this point, with all of my major issues solved, things started looking up for the rest of the week. That's when, lo and behold, some guy in my political science class asked me for my number. (Yup, I've still got it!)

Now I just have to talk to Disabled Student Services and solve some other issues I'm having (for example I still have not been given a physical therapist to see, and that is driving me absolutely bonkers because it's boring working out alone) and then hopefully this coming week will be easier! We shall see!

I Moved to Long Beach!

Today was the first day of my second week at CSU Long Beach. Let me just tell you, the last week was absolutely crazy and I felt completely unprepared. I understand that moving away to college is a challenge for everyone, but throw in a wheelchair and it makes it even more difficult.

For those of you who don't know what happened to me, I have a neuro-immune disease called Transverse Myelitis. Basically that means that my immune system attacked my spinal cord, thereby causing paralysis from my neck down. Luckily for me however, some wonderful doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital Oakland worked their magic and helped me regain function in a large portion of my body. Currently I have paralysis in parts of my left leg and foot, and my left hand doesn't function very well. I would try to explain everything about my disease here, but I've already explained it about a thousand times in the last week and I'd like to save that for a future blog post, so I'll leave it at that.

Although I got sick, I didn't want my life to stop in its tracks, hence why I decided to move eight hours away from my hometown to Long Beach. Since I've been here I have had a lot of troubles- I had to deal with homesickness, I had to figure out how to get across campus, and I even rode on a terrifyingly sketchy elevator to try and get to a class. I surprisingly quickly overcame all of my obstacles. I realized it was okay to call my mom and tell her I missed her and it was okay to cry when I felt alone (I still have yet to see another person in a wheelchair in my dorms). I've also learned how to ride the campus shuttle and to laugh when the lift breaks down because at least it was an adventure, and I've figured out that Jacqueline is clearly the coolest shuttle driver. And when it came to riding that old elevator with writing on the walls that said, "if this elevator breaks down while you're inside either call this number or try shutting the gate harder" I realized that it was okay to drop a class that I am neither interested in nor have an easy time getting to.

I also had a lot of great things happen- I ended up with an amazing roommate named Maria, I made a lot of friends, I ended up getting some really cool professors, and an extremely attractive foreign guy winked at me (yes, I know that is silly, but honestly it built up my confidence a little bit). I've met the most people in the dining hall and now I even have a small group that I usually sit with for breakfast and dinner, and with my professors I've realized that them swearing makes lectures a lot more interesting. As for the cute guy who winked at me, I can't really explain that, but after a rough day it just made me feel better.

Overall, throughout the good and the bad, I've realized one important thing about college: I can do this.