"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman

So many things make me come alive these days:

• Dental school. Even on the bad days.
• planning our wedding. (I bought a DRESS!!)
• cooking. new and interesting foods. Did you know that Sweet Potatoes are the MOST nutritionally valuable item you can buy in the produce section of the grocery store? Try boiling them with the skins on (that cooks in all of the really good antioxidants) and then peeling them and making mashed potatoes. Sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar on top and they are TO DIE FOR.
• time with family and close friends. I spent my entire spring break with my parents, sister, her bf Cale, Matthew and Sarah and I would not have spent it ANY other way. It was a BLAST.
• Pico. and his adorable little face. even when he chases my cursor on the screen and walks all over my computer keyboard.
• Running. and Spinning. but especially running outside. We were able to run outside while we were in tampa and it reminded me how much I have missed a good long run outside. I think I am going to train for a half marathon. Now I just need to pick one....

Those are the things that are currently making me come alive. & I am LOVING my life right now! Happy Monday!

"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team." - George Raveling

March Madness is upon us. And I LOVE IT. When I was 4 or 5 years old my dad sat me down and I filled out my first March Madness Pool. He told me the team colors for each match-up. I told him which team colors I liked better. I won his company pool, some cash, and most importantly my addiction to March Madness was born.

Now the March Madness Pool is a Bullard Family tradition.

Mom hates it. She only participates because we make her.

Kimmy doesn't really care much, unless by some stroke of genius, or luck, she is winning. Then all of the sudden she LOVES it.

Dad seriously eats, sleeps, and breathes it. He talks smack via email, text, post-it, and even verbally. His world revolves around it for the month.

I just love how much fun it is. I'm not all that intense (unless I am winning and then you will know it).

Matthew has now joined the Family pool for the second year and he is ALMOST as bad as dad when it comes to smack talking and obnoxiousness.

(And secretly I love it because it is just one more reason I know he is the ONE for me.)

So the pools are in. The dance has begun. I am already angry at ND and the Gators for losing. I am also not so happy with Nova for nearly screwing over 1/4 of my pool. They need to get their act together. Otherwise, I am doing okay so far. Dad and Matthew need to lose a few games though.

So the Bullard Family March Madness Tradition continues.

I hope you all have traditions in your family as fun as this one!

Have a wonderful Thursday and enjoy the MADNESS!!!

Goals are dreams with deadlines. ~Diana Scharf Hunt

Goals for the week from H-E- Double -Hockey- Sticks:

• make it to the gym at least 4 out of the 5 days. (even if its 6AM spin...)
• get at least 4.5 hours of sleep each night. no matter which tests are the next day. (This is more of a challenge)
• pack a lunch every day. (No buying lunch because I overslept or am stressed etc etc.)
• eat dinner. (yes, i manage to skip or forget this sometimes, esp when matthew has night classes!)
• no more than 3 sources of caffeine in a day. (this may be a serious challenge)
• remain positive.
• PASS. all 5 exams and 1 quiz.
• not stress TOO much. (too much is obv an arbitrary amount. meh oh well!)

If I put these on here, I may just stick to them! Happy Midterms week!

Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee. -Stephanie Piro

It is approximately 10 AM on a Saturday. I have already:

• been to the gym
• showered
• eaten breakfast
• and begun tackling anatomy.

HELLO productivity. I am also about halfway through my venti nonfat pumpkin spiced latte. Thank you caffeine!

Today will consist of:

1. head and neck anatomy
2. microbiology
3. basketball game (I will need a break by 1 when MU plays Notre Dame. and Matthew practically cried when I said I might not be able to go. He gave me the "it's ND. You can't leave me hanging. It's ND." speech. The things we do for love...)
4. more head and neck anatomy
5. some oral biology?
6. sleep?

Tomorrow will be a repeat of today with Mass added in. And some preservation and restoration studying. So forgive me if you don't get an update- trust me it would essentially be a copy paste job. and you deserve better than that.

BUT in 8 days I will be soaking up sunshine in FLORIDA. And all 5 of my exams and quiz will be OVER. So life isn't THAT bad.

Back to productivity. Go have some fun today, for those of us that are stuck studying.

HAPPY SATURDAY!

When the world says, "Give up,"

Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

-Author Unknown

The fact that I will be laying on this beach in just over a week doing absolutely nothing but tanning, drinking homemade strawberry daiquiris, and relaxing with some of my favorite people in life is the ONLY hope getting me through the next week. So I thought I would share the image!

The best part of being home in a week is there will be none of this:

However, it is above 40 degrees today (HEAT WAVE!!) so a lot of the snow here is melting. I smell spring? maybe? please?!

The other good news is after the mammoth of a week that is next week, not a single week after spring break has more than 2 tests. Cake walk compared to the first half of this semester? I think so.

And only 8 more weeks of cadaver lab. Even more hope. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter!

So for the next week my life will consist of studying, tests, gym, and hopefully some sleep. After that, Sunshine, lots of sleep, great people (Sarah is even coming to play!), tanning, and momma's homemade strawberry daiquiris.

On that note, I will leave you with a wonderful memory of the last spring break Sarah came (junior year). We may have to go drink free beer at Busch Gardens and take pictures with hippo butts again. However, I am already passing on Sheikra if we go. Just saying.

Happy Thursday!

KIDS IN CHURCH

3-year-old Reese :

'Our Father, Who does art in heaven,

Harold is His name.

Amen.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little boy was overheard praying:

'Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it.

I'm having a real good time like I am.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the christening of his baby brother in church,

Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.

His father asked him three times what was wrong.

Finally, the boy replied,

'That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,

and I wanted to stay with you guys.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One particular four-year-old prayed,

'And forgive us our trash baskets

as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they

were on the way to church service,

'And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?'

One bright little girl replied,

'Because people are sleeping.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3

The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.

Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.

'If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,

'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'

Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,

' Ryan , you be Jesus !'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A father was at the beach with his children

when the four-year-old son ran up to him,

grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore

where a seagull lay dead in the sand..

'Daddy, what happened to him?' the son asked.

'He died and went to Heaven,' the Dad replied.

The boy thought a moment and then said,

'Did God throw him back down?'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A wife invited some people to dinner.

At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,

'Would you like to say the blessing?'

'I wouldn't know what to say,' the girl replied.

'Just say what you hear Mommy say,' the wife answered.

The daughter bowed her head and said,

'Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner ?'

Just one more reminder of why I love kids and how simple life is when you are little!

Thanks for the email, Matthew!

Happy Tuesday!

"Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes" - Oscar Wilde

I am starting to realize that the best way to learn, quite often, is by messing up first. If you make a mistake, you are most likely not going to do that again. It sticks with you. Sometimes it has to be a big mistake, one that is really eye opening, before you learn. Other times, you might learn from a tiny one. I am sure Shaun White didn't land the McTwist the very first time he did it. He probably landed flat on his a** more than once. But when it came time to pull that trick at the olympics- he had fallen enough, practiced enough, and learned enough to pull it out and shock the world. (That and he is just plain awesome). So I don't strive for days free of mistakes anymore. I strive for days during which I make mistakes but I LEARN from them.

In other news, Pico is home and recovering from surgery, and TOTALLY milking it. Not only does he whine and instantly get what he wants (food, milk, petting), he also thinks its okay to weigh less than 5 lbs and yet spread out and take up over 1/3 of the bed at night. He gets 1 more day. Then his is no longer getting spoiled (yeah, right).

Mom and Dad are on practically a second honeymoon to Sanoma Valley, CA right now. Dad booked the trip for Mom's 50th (don't tell her I told you she is actually 50!) birthday. They are staying at the most picturesque little bed and breakfast inn and going on vineyard tours all week. SO JEALOUS. They are so darn cute.

Erin came for the weekend! After spending the night in Detroit (thank you Delta...) she finally got to Milwaukee. We went to a Bridal Show at a cute little Inn in the middle of nowhere south of Milwaukee, went shopping at David's Bridal, and spent some time browsing the mall (all things Matthew won't do with me- the downside to living with a boy!). It was so great to see her finally, even if it was so short!

School is starting to get sticky again- 5 tests and a quiz next week, 2 quizzes and a test this week! Hello midterms? hell week? D1 2nd semester? bahhh. So I will be studying all this week and all next week but then: FLORIDA!!

The sunshine is literally the light at the end of the tunnel.

Have a good week! Laugh a little!