Introspection Can Do a Girl Some Good, Right?

"We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves."  

- Lynn Hall

Thanks to Tini and her fantastic post to her google reader this morning (yes I somehow pulled myself away from researching how to pull together a 5k on next to no budget - YAY - to check out my reader) I was introduced to this quote.  

WARNING: I am about to do some introspection so if this is not your thing, quickly scroll down to the next post. 

Throughout high school I would say that I had a pretty good idea of who I was ... what I was interested in (saving the world), what was important to me (friends and family) ... before I headed off to college.  Who would have thought that all that would change as I was wandering the nation's capital over the next six years.  Now don't get me wrong, all of those things I listed above remained important throughout my tenure as a GW student, but for the first time I was truly passionate about what I was doing and got a taste of being independent for the first time. 

Were there some slip ups along the way?  Of course there were (remember the time I was an applied mathematics major), but those things helped to shape the path I have set out for myself.  Becoming a human services major was probably one of the best decisions I made because not only was I able to get a great deal from my professors, but I was also able to give back and be an active participant in my community.  We were pushed further by the work and advocacy of our peers and learned where we stood on many social issues.  It was probably the first time we were asked to clearly define our stance on hot button topics and play devils advocate if we disagreed with one another. 

With my first month finished I have loved working in the clinics and am excited about starting the health education/promotion classes this month.  While I have always know I would end up in the field of human services, my path will ultimately allow me to integrate everything I have learned in the non-profit field, with prevention/community health and ultimately the field of medicine (NP applications are in the works as we speak).  Well that is what I see right now - check in with me two years from now and we can see if another part of me has become more clearly defined.  That's what this whole process is about, right?

Take a moment to ponder your own path, how you have more clearly defined who you are whether it be over the past few months, years or even life phases.  

The Great Postcard Project Lives On

As many of you know I LOVE getting postcards in the mail.  Thankfully I have many friends and family members who love to travel.  As a result I have asked them to send me a fun and exciting postcard from wherever their travels may take them.  A few years ago I started posting them in my office so I do not have to look at a blank wall.

This morning I finally remembered said postcards and put up the latest and greates postcard collage. 

Feel free to help me add to the collection, even if you just send me one from right down the road.  

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Sadly the weather has taken a turn for the worse here in PHG.

Cold and rainy is in the forecast for the next few days.  So while I am curled up in bed, watching The West Wing, I did a bit of googling about Pittsburgh weather patterns. 

Probably the best, NON-scientific reason I found was "mother nature is smiting us for what we did to her during the steel era."

While part of that might be true, I did a bit more digging.  So it turns out that PGH is the second cloudiest major city in the US with only 45% of possible sunlight filtering to the surface.  That's right my fellow readers ... we beat out Seattle, Washington by one percentage point. 

One of the main reasons is Lake Erie.  As air moves over the lake, it creates pattens of instabilities which then produces clouds.  Another reason for the clouds and rain, especially in the winter and spring, is the warm and cold fronts which come across the country.

A co-worker kept telling me "one inch of rain equals 6 inches of snow, so be grateful the temperature is still above freezing."  I guess she has a pretty good point there.

All this talk of rain got me thinking about one of my all time favorite books, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  Ironically enough, there is now a book out there called Pickles to Pittsburgh.  

Some Good Words to Live By