paris, je t'aime.

here's one thing you MUST know about my trip to Europe: i fell in love with Paris and French culture in every single way. i honestly don't think there is a more perfect place in this world. the mix of fashion, architecture, art, weather and food in Paris is phenomenal.

since i can't hop on a plane back to Paris anytime soon, i'll have to settle for reading, watching and listening to everything French.

if i could just live in the world of this commercial, i would be in heaven. i need to find a way to make it happen.

words and water.

found this on brooke fraser's blog...what an incredible and creative way to share this message!

Solidarités International: Water talks from La Boite Concept on Vimeo.

also, please check out Mocha Club or Charity: Water, two amazing organizations that provide clean drinking water for people in developing nations.

hospital, hospital, hospital.

i made it back from Europe (reluctantly) and this week i was thrown into my last clinical rotation, spending 8-10 hours at OU Med nearly every day. on top of that, i still have to study for two comprehensive exams that i will take before i finish my graduate school career. needless to say i'm ready for this summer to be over! even though it's going to be a crazy couple of months, i am looking forward to getting further into this rotation. tomorrow we get to watch a laryngectomy! i'm pretty excited.

p.s. maybe sometime soon when i don't have hospital/comps on my mind, i'll fill you in on my European adventure! it was a-maz-ing.

truer words were never spoken.

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see."
-John Burroughs

anticipation.

i'm so very close to departing on a two-week vacation to...

here:

here:

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and here:


absolutely cannot wait!

the stuff nightmares are made of.

in case you were wondering, i survived the recent tornadoes in Norman. however, there was a moment in time when i wasn't so sure that would be the case. normally big storms, even tornadoes, don't freak me out. but normally they don't hit so close to home.

around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, my dear roommate was driving back to Norman from the Big D. i'm at home watching the local weather coverage. i had just gotten off the phone with her, and during said phone call, she informed me she was driving on Highway 9, which is really close to our apartment. within minutes, our friend Rick Mitchell is saying:

"A tornado just touched down on Highway 9."

you can imagine there were some tears and a few expletives being used before she finally walked through the door. we're pretty sure she missed being swept away by about 5 minutes or less. YIKES.

it's kind of a cool story now, but at the time, not so much. it certainly beats the story of the roomie and i being in Hobby Lobby during a tornado warning and having to take shelter in the bathroom. oh, the fun of living in tornado alley!

relevant.

so, i'm also quite obsessed with Relevant magazine these days. not only does it cover important things in life like music, art, literature, politics and world events, but it takes a christian perspective on these topics. and not a traditionalist, close-minded christian perspective. i'm not saying that to be judgmental, but let's be honest, a lot of christian publications out there today are not very progressive. Relevant tackles hard issues like social injustice, homosexuality, depression and war with wise, truthful and insightful perspective from the Bible. what more could you ask for? i wish there were more avenues of information out there like Relevant.

also, as if it could get any better, they have the current issue (and several previous issues) in their entirety on their website. i would love to get a subscription (there really is no replacement for flipping through the glossy pages of a magazine), but i suppose reading online is kinder to the environment...and i think we all know how i feel about that.

anyway, go check it out and see for yourself why it's so awesome.