Asterisk.

For the past (almost) two weeks, I have had the sense of forgotten homework looming over me like a cloud. I attribute this feeling to my lack of blog posting. So, here I am righting the wrong and contributing what little I can to the blogosphere.

It seems I have also forgotten the correct way in which to compose myself on here. Would you mind terribly if I just jot down a few ramblings that are bouncing around in my head?* Hey, thanks! You guys are super cool.

1. Today is Day 10 of no soft drinks, meaning Day 10 of headaches. I could have ended the strand of headaches if I had given up caffeine completely, but I did have a Starbucks drink or two.** Besides the headaches, there is no change in how I feel (energy wise or other).*** ...maybe as time progresses.

2. Speaking of things that are no more, Newbie - who was hired sometime in January - has left us. Last Thursday, she spoke with Dr. M just as she arrived to work and Newbie explained to her that she took another job and was starting Monday. She then asked Dr. M if she could go ahead and leave (we had a waiting room full of patients and a full schedule). Dr. M asked her if she could at least work through the end of the following day, seeing as we were going to be pretty busy. Reluctantly, Newbie agreed. Who does that?! Newbie claims her new place of employment would not let her give a two weeks notice, but I highly doubt that. So now, there are two techs working here, covering a three-tech job. We're in the process of looking for a new hire, but no one has applied yet.

This whole situation is just plain wrong. It's infuriating.

3. On the bright side of my current job situation, on May 1st I was given a raise and another week of vacation days to add to what I already had. That day marked 3 full years that I have been employed by Dr. M.

4. I have completed Midnight Sun for what I would say is the 11th time. It is the book of Twilight through Edward's eyes and thoughts. It is by far, my favorite of the series, even though it has not been finished. Every time I read it, I wish desperately that Stephenie Meyer has finished it as a surprise to her readers. Sadly, it always ends the same: abrupt and incomplete. I am still crossing my fingers that it will one day be finished.

5. Oh, goodness! I should have mentioned this first. I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! (Don't worry, there aren't any spoilers in this.) Up until about a month ago, I was decided that I wanted to see the movie before I read it, as I have done with all of the others, but I have already had several key points in the final book spoiled for me and I wasn't going to let that happen anymore. I wanted to find out everything for myself. Guys, seriously. Shock and awe overwhelmed me as I read. You won't believe it until you see/read it! I am so glad I decided to read it before the last installment of the movie series came out! I wish I could say more, but I shall wait until the final movie is released. To be continued...

6. Speaking of the July release of HP7 Part 2, my siblings and I have planned our vacation around this important and historical event!**** I am so ready for July 13th so I can have all of my siblings under one roof for a whole week. I miss them so.

7. I'm sorry, but I have yet another book to talk about: Heaven is for Real. There is no way to convey in written word how much I loved this book. Colton has an amazing story to share. His description of Jesus gave me chills and brought forth tears. I am so excited to have this kind of Heaven, this kind of God, waiting on me. I recommend this book to any breathing person.

8. Before I started this post, I made a rather short list of things to write about and have been striking out each topic as I have finished its rather short paragraph. When I finished the list, another topic popped into my head; I wrote it on the list just so I could mark it off, and have since done it three more times. #obsessivelistmaker

9. I've been pondering on people's reaction to the weather. Every time it rains, patients, coworkers, etc. will makes comments about how "nasty" it is outside. I just don't understand that opinion. I can't help but see the beauty in it when it rains. It really is one of God's prettiest creations to me. I mean, look at the clouds: a deep charcoal mass replenishing the dry earth; water falling from the sky with a purpose; the cooling effect of precipitation; the life sustaining effect on plants; the beauty of lightening that accompanies it; the glorious roar of thunder that follows; the wonderful smell it leaves behind. What is so "nasty" about that?

10. My dreams have recently taken a drastic change. It's not always that there is a love interest in them, but if there is, it is usually the same person, for whatever reason. Lately, though, the love interest in my dreams has changed to a completely (and surprisingly) different person. The only thing I can deduce from this is that "times are-a-changin'"...

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Inspirational Text #6:
Psalm 144:5-6 Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.

It's not just our heritage and the oxgoad on our side, we have the almighty God with us. We are his lightning and we are his arrows. We will leave a path of destruction for our Lord.

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Inspirationl Text #7:
Tonight men, we face our greatest obstacle yet, those who have disgraced us and our father, but they have made a costly mistake, they stepped on our field. So tonight we make them pay, just like the "Judges" we have descended from.

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This is my favorite from this season so far! Cody's team was going up against the other team from their church. Brilliant text.

Inspiration Text #8:
They may share our name but never have we faced an enemy bigger than this. Tonight, sons, we are without a weakness. They were our brothers but when they chose to oppose us, they chose destruction. Show them no mercy, for you shall recive none.

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Movies seen in theaters: 26
DvDs bought: 60*****

*Clearly, this is the assumed response: "Of course not, Cassie, jot away."
**Sir Jacqués Paúl explained that weaning myself off of caffeine is far worse than quitting cold turkey, hence the headaches.
***I really want a Mountain Dew.
****Have I already told you all this?
*****I am trying to be more prudent with my money, hence the unchanging number.

Vacation.

It is so depressing not having Brandy here anymore. She came to Chattanooga for a short vacation. We only got five awesome days with her. But we had so much fun!

Day 1 (Friday): Ashley and I picked up our sister from the Chattanooga airport at 9AM. We went back to my house to get ready then headed to Atlanta with Emily. We went to one of the malls (Perimeter I think it was) and met up with Shelly and one of B's best friends since childhood - Kate. We all spent the afternoon hanging out, catching up, and having a little retail therapy. By the end of our shopping spree, we decided it was time for dinner.

We went to put our new purchases in Ashley's car and someone noticed that one of her back tires was completely flat. We got out the spare and I jacked up the car. With the help of a very nice lady, we changed the tire and drove Ash's car to the closest GoodYear to get a new tire put on.

While it was being fixed, we ate at the Cheesecake Factory. YUM :) I had "macaroni balls" and they were delicious.

We then went to pick up the car and we parted ways with Shelly and Kate. Exhausted, we headed home to get in bed for our early rise the next day.

Day 2 (Saturday): Ash, B, and I got up early to get ready so we could meet up with Cody (our brother) and Dad. We headed to the Ocoee Inn to go white water rafting. It was Ashley's first time rafting so we kept telling her things to make her nervous. We even tried to get her to sit in the front, but she was too smart to take the bait. Cody and I ended up sitting in the front. Dad and Ash were behind us and B was in the back with guide (Matt B.) and the trainee. On the first rapid, the boat tipped on Cody/Dad's side and they both fell out, and I fell on top of them. It was hilarious. Cody was pretty sure he only fell out because my dad pulled him in when Dad fell in. And then, he pulled Cody out of the way so he could get back in the raft first. It was hilarious. Cody was second in. They pulled me (a girl!) in last! Such gentlemen. :P From that point on, Dad "hit the deck" (sat in the floor of the raft) whenever we went over a rapid. He was cracking us up.

A couple rapids after the first, I fell out again! Besides this trip, I have been rafting two other times and have never fallen out before, but I just couldn't seem to keep myself in. HA! It was actually fun falling out. I didn't feel in danger or anything, but the way the guides frantically pulled me in both times, I guess I should have been.. there were large, pointy rocks all around.

I loved it when our guide would explain the rapid we were about to go on. He would tell us the name (i.e. Broken Nose, Double Suck, Tablesaw, Witches Hole, Diamond Splitter, Powerhouse, etc) and describe what would and could happen.. the look on my dad's face was hilarious! You could see that he was nervous. It made the trip. :D

Ashley got to "ride the bull" for the picture taken by the company we were with. Riding the bull means sitting on the very front of the raft. The pictures are hilarious. If you would like to see them, they are on my Facebook. Cody and I rode the bull together later on the last rapid. It was a blast!

After we were done rafting, we went to the Ocoee Dam Deli for lunch. Delicious! They fried pickles were amazing.

Later that day, all five of us went to my Mawmaw's to hang out and have dinner. We then went to see A-Team. Awesome movie! It was SO FUNNY! I completely recommend it.

Day 3 (Sunday/Father's Day): B, Ash, and I skipped church (sinners, I know :P) and got our things packed for Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. We went to give our Father's Day presents and to say goodbye to my brother and dad, as they were leaving that morning to go home. Soon after, we left for Gatlinburg with our mom. 

After checking into the hotel, we made our way to the Tanger Outlet mall in Pigeon Forge for a little shopping until 6 or 7. It was a good day for shopping because EVERYONE had awesome sales going on. After shopping, we ate dinner at Tony Romas and talked about how much Ash and B wanted a candy apple and our plans for the next day. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by The Three Bears gift shop to see if we could find a candy apple for my sweet-toothed sisters. Turns out they didn't have any so we looked around the shop for a while. This place has a creepy bear mascot walking around that would appear everywhere we were. I wasn't too fond of him. They also had live bears on the second floor. They really were all about bears. We left there and decided to go to the hotel so we could swim. Not too long after swimming, we went up to the room and layed down to watch whatever was on tv. Ash found a scary movie so we made my mom and B watch it with us. xD It was pretty creepy and had a great twist! And I don't even know the name of it... it was never said while being shown.

Day 4 (Monday): Still in Pigeon Forge, the Smartt ladies got up and got ready for the fabulous day we had planned. Our first stop of the day was the newly built Titanic museum. The outside of it is a replica of (most of) the ship. They even had a huge ice burg on the starboard side. Before you go in the museum, you get a boarding pass with the name and story of an actual passenger that was on board when it sank. I got Marian Thayer who was a 39 year old 1st class passenger from Haverford, PA. Everyone got a different person and as you were walking through the museum, you could look for things from or about your person. At then end of the tour, you would find out if you lived or died. All four of our people lived.

It was so amazing to see artifacts from the Titanic. There were letters, tools, silverware, plates, pictures, furniture, clothes, and so much more to look at. I absolutely loved learning more about it.

My favorite part was the collection of photos taken and owned by Father Frank Browne. He had the only collection of pictures taken of the Titanic during the passage from Southampton to Ireland. His photos are quite amazing. Very beautiful. He has the only picture of Captain Smith aboard the Titanic.

The Grand staircase was another favorite part of mine. It was an exact replica. It was gorgeous. In that room, they had the music from the movie Titanic playing... I felt like Rose. :D

One room we went in was the steering room (is that even the right term!?). There was a guy in there telling us all about what happened the night it sank. He explained what happened in every part of the ship and why it wasn't as unsinkable as the engineers thought. Brandy and I got to talk to him and ask a few questions also. When you leave this room, you walk out onto what looks like the deck of the ship at night with stars above. There was a huge ice burg that we got to touch and water that was 28 degrees.. the same temperature in which so many people died that night. The water was awful. It hurt to leave your hand in for only a few seconds. I couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to have your whole body thrown in for hours.

There was so much to do and see in this museum! It took us about an hour and a half to go through the whole thing. It was so worth it.

After the museum, we drove up to Gatlinburg. We ate at a place that I cannot even remember the name of right now. Then we walked up and down the street going into various shops. Ash and B finally got the candy apple they wanted. I got a caramel one drizzled in white and milk chocolate. Not as good as I thought it'd be. I'm not big on candied fruit - I like my fruit natural. After a little shopping and shade-sitting, we got in the car to head home. 

We stopped at the Bass Pro shop for my brother-in-law... B had to look at boats for him. Then we stopped at some mall so B could go to this specific shoe store to find a certain pair of shoes. It was her goal for the whole weekend. haha

When we finally got home, we layed down and had a Princess Diaries marathon until we fell asleep.

Day 5 (Tuesday/B's last full day): We slept in as long as we could and just lazed around until we went swimming. It was just a relaxing day, not having to keep to any kind of schedule. Ash and I then took B to McKay's so we could, of course buy movies, but also so Ash and I could find Titanic. Then we decided to have a National Treasure marathon at my house so naturally, we went to buy our favorite movie candy: Bunch-a-Crunch (or as Kate puts it - blobs of crunch. haha!). 

Day 6 (Wednesday/Brandy's departure): Ash and I had to go back to work :/ but B and mom came to eat lunch with me before Mom had to take Brandy to the airport. It was quite a depressing day.

Love and miss you, B!

You and Mat come home soon!!