FINALLY!!!

I finally received the email from the financial aid office letting me know that all the issues/confusion with my loans and bookstore credit have been resolved. I logged onto the bookstore website to, once again, order my textbooks for this semester. It is really cutting things close because the semester starts on Saturday. Luckily, I don't actually have a class on campus until Wednesday August 25th.

MSU grants course access before the semester actually starts, which actually makes me very happy. I would have preferred that IHCC did that as well. I would like it even more if I already had my textbooks. I will already have homework in my Intro to Professional and Technical Writing class as well as my Marketing Principles class. I am a little worried for all the work in my marketing class. When I met with a counselor/advisor at MSU back in June and she told me to keep in mind that these classes will be a bit harder than the classes at IHCC and most of the time people don't really realize that I kind of brushed it off. There is a ton of homework! I just need to stay on top of things and keep remembering my goals. I have made it this far, I refuse to give up or slack off now. If anything, school is even more important to me now because these classes actually pertain directly to my degree and my career aspirations.

On a bit of a side note: I will finally be having surgery!! =) It seems like I have been waiting forever even though I just started the process at the end of May/early June. I meet with the surgeon on Aug 31st and have my last check-up/progress visit on Sept 8th. They said they will submit my approval for surgery to the insurance company on the 8th after my appointment! I am really excited and find myself being a lot more motivated to eat healthy and exercise in preparation and anticipation of the surgery. I am a little more nervous for how the surgery will go and if it will be successful. In a weird way, it seems scary to make such a big change and even to accept the changes that will happen with my medical issues. These will all be good changes and I am extremely happy about that, just hope that things go as planned. I know I will be healthier and a lot happier after all of this occurs!

As a last big girls night out, a few friends from mostly IHCC are going out to celebrate the start of the new school year, the new adventures and chapters of our lives, the fact that Kelly, Jenna and I are leaving IHCC to attend new schools, and Sam's upcoming 21st birthday. We are going to the Hard Rock Cafe in Minneapolis and I am so excited! I have needed a good girls night out just having fun and enjoying amazing friends! I realized that I have met some amazing people and have a great support network since starting IHCC. I could not have asked for a more supportive, loving group of friends. Especially in the EMS dept--they truly are my crazy, dysfunctional medic family and without them I would not be where I am! I have found a big piece of myself I thought was lost because of them! I will forever be grateful and I will most certainly never forget them! I think the transition from IHCC to MSU would be much more difficult if I thought that I would never see them. Luckily, I can walk over to IHCC and see them anytime I need to! I <3 it!!!