A Very Lucky Girl

I have done one of these blogging interaction awards before , but when my friend Amber, of Clearly Alive , nominated me last week I couldn't say no to a fellow Addison's fighter. And since today, July 1, is my day of birth it is socially acceptable to make it all about me for 24 hours.  Amber is a pretty cool person from what I've garnered from our conversations on social media. I first "met" her in an Addison's Disease Support Group on Facebook. She is currently working in Malaysia and her lifestyle there is encouraging when it comes to me wanting to pursue my own career abroad.  Her 11 questions for me: 1. How did you decide on the name for your blog? This one is easy. I explained it in my inaugural post more than two years ago #timeflieswhenyourblogisfun 2. What is your funniest "brain fog" story?  That time I couldn't even remember a "brain fog" story. AKA now.  3. Cats or Dogs?   DOGS. One in particular, my sister, my boo-...

I have mixed feelings about my visit to the endocrinologist on Tuesday afternoon. It was a concoction of good news and meh news. I learned I have lost weight, which I attribute to the fact that I physically cannot eat Pringles without Nat, although the mile walk to and from campus every morning may have something to do with it as well. According to the bloodwork, my thyroid levels are still doing well and though hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism could arise at any time, now is not that time and I am thankful. I confessed some not-so-wise health decisions I made in Europe, earning a glare and a "we learned our lesson speech" from my doctor (who I LOVE by the way-she is the most thorough lady on the planet).  I have been really forgetful about taking my 2.5 mg hydrocortisone at night, pretty much since January, but I haven't been feeling any unfortunate effects from it. However, it does leave me with only 17.5 mg of hydrocortisone in my system daily, which is rather on t...

Have you ever had a day where your entire life just made sense and you knew you were right where you were supposed to be? That was Tuesday for me. I thought I would take the time to share a bit about my terribly thrilling 8 AM class every morning this summer. Thankfully, it's a short class and the final exam is on July 3rd, just in time for me to celebrate my freedom with the rest of America on July 4th. But until then I'm stuck in Dale Hall Room 107 every weekday from 8-10:10 AM. Those last ten minutes are especially excruciating. The class is overwhelmingly male, most likely due to the subject matter: The Ancient Art of War. Our textbook is actually called "With Arrow, Sword, and Spear." Riveting, right? The majority of the points are received for attendance and group participation and I find myself asking the other 4 members of the my group (again, all male) to explain the battles over and over to me. I'm hoping they continue to find it endearing/not ann...

The countdown to Scotland is dangerously, single-digitly, low. This adventure comes with stacks of paperwork. I've waded through credit agreement forms, applications, and student visa visitor documents. Questions about race, education, and money continually swim in my head, but the hardest question I've answered on those forms is: where is your permanent residence? From a young age my address was ingrained into my brain, part of the trifecta of particulars every elementary school-aged child memorizes. full name: Taylor Olivia Arceneaux phone number: 790-4006 address: 1251 Buckingham Circle, Franklin, TN, 37064 Of course, I would never give this information to a stranger offering candy, but I had it ready in my arsenal if a responsible adult ever needed to know. But now I am the responsible adult and I haven't known the answer to the third question for a long time. Is it where I'm living currently? If so, that's on the road. I leave Baton Rouge, my relativel...

I've recently been consumed by the idea of selfless love. Two different books I've been reading have a theme of love, "The End of the Affair" by Graham Greene and "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller. All of the characters in Greene's novel are depicted as selfish humans only capable of loving in a way that's easy for them. They love in a greedy form versus loving for someone else's benefit.  Miller recognizes the worldly perspective on love as being able to die for something or someone. But he then counters with, "living for something...is the hard thing. Living for something extends beyond fashion, glory, or recognition." Living for someone is the ultimate sacrifice because it involves daily death to your own selfish desires.  I've been trying to practice real love. It doesn't come naturally. My first instinct is to look out for myself and my best, or easier, interests. I need to actively listen to what my friends ...