1. What is your favorite season? 

I don't really have a favorite season. There is something I love about all the seasons. When it's 20 degrees out, I really look forward to spring. When it's 110 degrees out, I can't wait for winter and (hopefully) snow. I love the fall because of Halloween and Thanksgiving. 

2. Talk about a moment that changed your life.

I don't really have a defining moment, but I would say the birth of each one of my children has been a life-changing event. No picture here, but wow, you would not believe what you can see if you google "childbirth". 

3. If you could be any crayola crayon color, what would you be and why?

Purple, any shade. I love purple!

4. Describe yourself as a superhero: Superpower? Name? Sidekick?

My superpower is invisibility. I could be standing right in front of you and you wouldn't notice me. My name is SuperMom. My sidekick would have to be one of my many children. 

5. If you had all the money in the world and could only shop at 3 stores, where would you shop?

Meijer, Amazon and Target

You can buy anything you could possibly need at one of these 3 stores.

Any one who knows me, knows I have a thing for sparkle. Sparkle, glitter, shimmer, sequins, it all catches my eye. Some people might call it tacky, but I call it awesome.

I'm a SAHM and student. Outside of that, I have basically no social life so there really isn't any reason for me to wear anything other than tennis shoes, but I have been lusting over these shoes like crazy! Check out my favorites.

Converse All Star Lo Sparkle Athletic Shoe in Turquoise

Corral Turquoise Cortez/Cream Fleur de Lis Boot

Xhilaration Kasey Sequins Suede Boot

Alegria Paloma in Snake Luster Print

J.Renee Rose Gold Floral Pumps

These are my top 5 favorite songs at the moment. I have these on replay all the time. In fact, I'm sure my family is getting tired of hearing them, but I can't help myself.


Memento by Listen Listen Man

Civilian by Wye Oak

Gold by Wake Owl

Derenda by Oh My Me

Houston Train by Houndmouth

I've had a busy couple of weeks. In between all the studying I've been to a farm, the zoo, 2 Halloween parties, a baby shower, one open house, one band concert, and a mall. The beginning of Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I'm really looking forward to trick or treating with my kids this year. One of the perks of having kids is that you get to eat their candy! I mean really, I'm being a good mom by eating most of it. I'm keeping them from getting cavities and/or diabetes!

My Month in Pictures

Owl at Zoo

At the Winery. These bottles were so pretty.

Feeding Ducks at the Farm

Jalapeno Muenster Cheese from the Dairy

Cute Pumpkin from the Baby Shower

I've had fun this month, but I can't wait for November and December to get here. Christmas is my very favorite time of the year and I'm so ready to put my tree up. I'm even more anxious to get this year over with and get back to school. I miss it so much.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the American Cancer Society, almost 300,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. 40,000 women will die from it. How many of use can say we don't know someone affected by breast cancer? Yet, so many women avoid the simple tests that can help to diagnose it. All women over 40 need to have a mammogram every year. If you are uninsured or can't afford one, the Center for Disease Control has a list of places that you can obtain free and low cost mammograms.

In it's earliest stages, breast cancer doesn't usually cause symptoms. As the cancer progresses, it may cause some of the following symptoms:

• pain
• nipple discharge
• redness
• swelling
• itching
• a lump in the breast

If you have any of these symptoms, you should contact your physician right away. The sooner it is detected, the better chance there is of treating it. The good news is, due to early diagnosis and treatment, there are 3 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. Breast cancer doesn't have to be a death sentence.  I encourage every one to remind your friends, mothers, and sisters to do monthly breast exams and schedule a yearly mammogram.

I'm a sucker for free stuff. Here are a few fun printables I have found this week.

Steady My Heart Bookmarks from Minted Strawberry

Minnie Mouse Cupcake Wrappers from Peonies and Poppyseeds. My daughter loves Minnie Mouse so we will be using these for her next birthday.

Be Loved Poster and All You Need is Love poster from Paper Coterie

Tons of free printables from one of my favorite blogs,  Kind Over Matter . You'll definitely want to follow this blog.

Lots of free worksheets for organizing at I Heart Organizing

Those Who Bring Sunshine Print  from Collected

Halloween Printables from Queen of the Creek

Gorgeous inspirational prints  from River Rose.

October Calendars  from Pretty Unpretentious

Another favorite site of mine, Feed Your Soul, hasn't been updated in a few months, but if you haven't checked it out, it's definitely worth a look. They have lots of printable art. These prints are beautiful enough to frame and hang in your living room.

My kids are constantly begging me for something sweet to eat. I don't like to buy them a lot of candy, so I try to make dessert 1 or 2 nights a week. I'm a huge recipe hoarder. I have tons of them bookmarked to try. I came across this recipe for Lemonade Pie the other night, when looking for something new. I wanted to make it low fat so I replaced the Cool Whip and condensed milk with fat free versions.

This is what it looks like when you pour condensed milk over whipped topping.

I used pink lemonade instead. Why? Because I like pink. Stir it all together, pour it in a crust and freeze.

Click here for the recipe.

I've amassed quite a collection of science books since I've been studying on my own. They are really helpful if you are struggling with chemistry or biology.  Here are my top 9 favorites.

• Schaum's Outline of College Chemistry

•  College Chemistry (Collins College Outlines)

• College Biology ( Collins Outlines)
   
•  Schaum's Outline of College Biology

• Schaum's Outline of College Physics
   
• General College Chemistry 1 As a Second Language 

•  Chemistry for the Utterly Confused

• Biology Coloring Book

•  The Complete Idiot's Guide to College Biology

Many of these books are also available for Kindle. I've been thinking about getting one so I can have all my books with me, without having to carry a bag full of books around. I like to study when I wait at the doctors offices or while sitting in traffic. It would be so much easier to throw a Kindle in my purse than to carry books and flashcards around with me.

I'm a huge fan of Pioneer Woman's blog. I haven't made many of her recipes, but I have drooled over every single picture. This morning I was looking through my bookmarks for a new recipe for dinner. I decided to make Drip Beef, also known as Italian Beef.

Her recipe calls for a chuck roast but my grocery store didn't have any, so I was stuck with a rump roast and shoulder roast. I also didn't have any beef broth or consomme, so I ended up using a packet of Au Jus mix. I used a whole jar of Pepperoncini peppers and half a jar of hot banana peppers because I'm spicy like that. I used Italian seasoning. Some people use Italian dressing mix, but I prefer Italian seasoning.

  

Please ignore the horrible quality of my pictures. I am no Pioneer Woman.  I can't decide which one is worse. 

I made my roasts in the crockpot, cooked on high for about 6 hours. 

 

 Cheese makes it even better.

                                            That is one big, sloppy sandwich. So sloppy that I ended up having to eat it with a fork because the bottom bun was soggy. The hard part will be keeping myself away from the leftovers tonight.

My sweet little girl had her first day of school yesterday. She was so excited about wearing new shoes and getting a new backpack. Now that she is gone, the house is quiet and I have plenty of time to study. She is one of my main reasons for wanting to better myself. I want to show her that she can put her mind to it and achieve her goals. I want her to know that I did this for her, to make a better life for her and give her the things I never had. Most of all, I want her to know that she should never listen to the people who tell her she isn't good enough to do what she wants, because to me, she is perfect.

Medical school prerequisites are:

• 1 year Biology
• 1 year Chemistry
• 1 year Physics
• 1 year Organic Chemistry
• 1 year English
• College Math

I have already taken several English and math classes so I have those prerequisites already filled. I also need to take 3 semesters of a foreign language and Medical Ethics before transferring. By the time I transfer, I should have all of the prerequisites out of the way except for Organic Chemistry. I will then be able to concentrate on taking classes for my Biology major.

 I need to take as many classes as possible before transferring to a 4 yr college. The tuition at my community college is $140 per credit hour versus $460 per credit hour at the university.  Since I will have to take out loans once I transfer, I want to minimize costs as much as possible. I hope to do well enough that I might qualify for a scholarship.  I've also been thinking about getting a part time job at the University I plan to attend, so that I can get some of my tuition reimbursed. I already know I will have to take out loans for medical school so I don't want to max out my loans before I even graduate.

Since I'm not in school this semester, I've been spending my free time reading a lot of medical school blogs. Here are a few of my favorites and some I just found:

Wellness Rounds

A Med Student Walks into a Bar

What Should We Call Medical School

Anastomosed

Mrs Mommy MD

So here it is 5 months later and I'm finally back to update. I finished my summer semester with a 3.0. These were all classes I had to make up so that provided a significant boost to my GPA. Unfortunately, due to a car accident we had earlier this month, I had to withdraw from Fall classes because I couldn't afford the tuition. It is imperative that our van gets fixed, so that had to come first. I will be saving up to return to school in January.

In January, I will be taking Biology 1, Chemistry 1, Physics 1 ( and their respective labs) and Bioethics. In the meantime, I will be taking some OCW classes to study for those classes. If you've never heard of open courseware, you should check it out. MIT, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Stanford and many other colleges offer select courses online for free without receiving credit. They are a great way to study ahead for a class. I enjoy learning so I expect this will be a good way to keep me in the "school groove" until I return to classes in the spring.

There are quite a lot of people in my life who would like to see me fail. For this reason, I'm keeping my medical school plans a secret until I know I'm in. I haven't told any family or friends, including my husband and children. That's why this blog is so important to me. I have no one to talk to about this so this will be my place to brag and vent. I'm so excited to be doing this. It's kind of hard to keep my mouth shut.

When I was a kid, I always had trouble deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up. In the back of my mind, I always wanted to be a doctor, but I was a C student and didn't think that was possible. I was always told how smart I was, if only I would apply myself. I hated school and it was hard for me to sit still and pay attention through a whole lesson. I was bullied a lot at school and that led to me skipping school a lot as I got older. When I was 16, I got pregnant. I knew then that there was no chance of me ever becoming a doctor. I did go to college for awhile but ended up dropping out. Several kids later, I have realized how much time I have wasted. There is nothing I want to be but a doctor. I feel like I have not given my kids any reason to be proud of me. Someone recently challenged me to take the practice mcat test online. I got a raw score of 49. If you would like to try the practice test for yourself, click here. I have decided that I am going to medical school no matter what it takes. The good news is that my hatred of school is long gone. As an adult, I find that I love learning. I am enrolled in a community college right now to finish out my prerequisites before I transfer to a 4 year college. I am taking College Algebra this semester. This summer, I will be taking Trigonometry, Nutrition and Anatomy II. I will be using this blog to document my progress through the whole process. If everything goes my way, I will be transferring to a University in Fall 2013 and will take the MCAT in the Spring of 2013. That means by 2014, I could possibly be in medical school. Keep your fingers crossed for me!