Lucky

I wasn’t sure what to call the title of this post. Lucky, Exhausted, Thankful, Overwhelmed, What a Day, Precious Moments, or a number of other things. Today was extremely crazy. Shimmer, my beautiful dog and my heart and soul, was sick. She seemed to be a bit off on Sunday but I figured I would wait a day to see if I could see improvement. Unfortunately, at 3:30am, I was woken up by a good dog who, despite being sick, is still asking to go out because she doesn’t want to have an accident. Did I mention how incredible she is? So, we called the vet once they opened and a wonderful friend of mine took us to drop her off. Many of you, who read this blog or know me, know that Shimmer is my service dog. I had school today. So, finally, Vengeance, my border collie and service dog in training, went to campus with me for classes and we worked together. He blew me away and I was incredibly surprised. We even went to the grocery store before because I needed to pick up some things. He worked with maturity and conducted himself well. Even in class, he dealt with everything like he had been working for several months. The bus ride was my biggest worry, but he even took that in stride and just dealt with it like another part of our day. So, this is also my recognition of how lucky I am to have another dog with such potential to be my future working partner. It was an exhausting, stressful, scary, worrisome day that was also filled with feelings of thankfulness, surprise, and relief.

What are you thankful for in life?

Tomorrow, I begin answering the questions I’ve asked over this month. Stay tuned…

Living

Today, my inspiration is someone a little different. I still see fit to count him though, because although he is not real, he’s real for many people and is near and dear to my heart. Pooh Bear is and always will be one of my absolute favorite “characters”, if you will. The quotes and saying that have stemmed from the writer (who I guess is the true credit to Winnie the Pooh in this case), are touching, warm and heart felt. They remind me to stay in the present moment, live for each breath and take in your surroundings every day. I had a beautiful day today. My mom came to visit and we took the dogs for a beautiful hike. Their little hearts sang with delight and you could feel the happiness just pulsing from their core. I thought about all the people in my life who have recently lost beloved pets, and I think of how lucky and blessed I am to be able to live and enjoy this life.

“If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together, there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But, the most important thing is, even if we’re apart, I’ll always be with you.” -Winnie the Pooh

“If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.” -Winnie the Pooh 

“If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart. I’ll stay there forever.” -Winnie the Pooh

Very Lucky

I consider myself quite lucky this semester. Sure, classes are difficult and there are piles of homework. But, it could always be much worse. I’m at one of the best universities in the world, getting a quality education and I’m surrounded by wonderful people. I am learning life lessons and my eyes are being opened to a variety of new things I never would have thought about before. I am being taught by some the most accomplished people who have dedicated their hard work and time to share what they know with me. Today, I want to talk about my inspirational genetics professor. He is a truly fantastic person. One can easily tell that he is absolutely enthralled with the subject, passionate about sharing the knowledge and wants to see his students succeed.

I talked about good instruction yesterday, but I am going to emphasize it here, as I truly believe that a great teacher can make the process more enjoyable. When you have trouble you want to be able to ask questions. When you are curious or have a question you want answers. When you don’t do well, you want to be reminded that all you can do is your best and that life can be tough but you can persevere. When you do well, you want to celebrate and enjoy the success and feel good moments. Dr.Ellison is genuinely a wonderful process and I am so thankful that I signed up for his course. It is a subject, I myself, have always been curious about and the things I am learning are things that will impact me in the future. I am a firm believer that we take back something out of everything we learn. We just may not know it yet. So, yes, I am very lucky. I am lucky to attend Texas A&M University. I am lucky to have the ability to get a quality education. And I am very lucky to have a wonderful professor to support me along the way!