A MUCH NEEDED BREAK

I'm officially on Thanksgiving break. Hallelujah! My preceptor gave us the whole week of Thanksgiving off (which is typically unheard of) and I am so glad! I needed a break after the busy busy month of October.

In case you've been wondering, I PASSED my platform, finished up the CKD rotation, and have since started another rotation also at UAB in the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychology.

I love this time of the year! I love the decorations, the food, and most of all spending time with friends and family. Lately, I have been addicted to Pinterest where I have found a ton of new ideas! Everything from DIY ("do it yourself") projects to decorations, but most of all recipes. If you have ever known me, you might describe me as a fast-food junkie who never cooks. Its not that I don't like it or can't, I just found it more expensive to cook when I lived alone in Auburn. I also find it slightly time-consuming (you know...grocery shopping and then the time it takes to actually cook) and if there's one thing I don't have its extra time. I'm lucky if I get my school work done on time, bathe, sleep, and eat at all! But on Pinterest, I have found so many easy recipes that even I can do! Click HERE to visit Pinterest and let me know if you would like an invite! I hope to post a few blogs over the holidays about the recipes and neat projects I've done! For now, I'll leave you with this...a wreath I made. Thank you Pinterest!

PLATFORM & PRAYERS

I have briefly mentioned "PLATFORM" before in a previous post, but I will now devote a whole post to it and for my begging of your prayers...

Below is a script of what I believe might be going on in your head.

"What in the world is a platform?"
A platform is a presentation/project required during the 4th year of pharmacy school...similar to a dissertation or publication in other doctoral programs. I will be completing this in the very near future, October 26th to be exact. It is a 35-40 minute presentation to faculty/preceptors and other P4 pharmacy students. During the 4th year, we each choose a topic and present a clinical question related to that topic. The presentation entails answering the clinical question by presenting background information on the topic and by presenting primary literature (i.e. studies and trials) to support our answer and/or recommendation. Once the presentation is over, the floor is open for those in the audience to ask questions.

"So, what is your topic and why'd you choose it?"
I chose Therapeutic Hypothermia and my clinical question is "Is Therapeutic Hypothermia Efficacious in Patients After Cardiac Arrest?" It's a pretty interesting concept if you would like to read about it HERE. I chose this topic because having always had an interest in the central nervous system and psychology, it really caught my attention and I thought it was fascinating when I saw it performed on a patient while on my last rotation.

"So, what's the big deal? Prayers?"
YES. PLEASE. I need lots of them. This is by far the most important presentation I've ever given. Over the next 3 years weeks, I will completely be consumed with this presentation and worry! Specifically, I would like to ask you to pray...

1) For God to continue to bless me with knowledge and the ability to learn.

2) For patience while I continue my research and put together the powerpoint presentation.

3) For motivation over the next 3 weeks.

4) For my worries to subside.

5) For me to do the best of my ability in all aspects of this project, beginning to end.

6) For feelings of calmness on presentation day.

7) For my nervous energy to be turned into positive, confident energy on presentation day.

8) For me to answer the questions accurately and with confidence.

9) For me to keep my composure and to use what knowledge I have to rationalize through the answers to those questions I don't immediately know the answer.

10) And lastly, for Adam...for his patience when dealing with me over the next few weeks. =)

Praying for these things may seem silly to some. Over the last few weeks, I've realized through the needs of some of the people at our church that I'm pretty blessed if a school project is my biggest "worry." Education is far from the most important thing in life, but school is something that consumes me now and has for almost 8 years. I have invested many years, a lot of money, and even made a few sacrifices along the way. I'm so close to finishing this chapter in my life and this presentation is one of the last steps! Thank you in advance for the prayers!

25 Prayers for My Husband I Pray

I love my husband with all of my heart and for that reason I pray these things...

1. That he continues to grow spiritually through the disciplines of Bible study, prayer, and quiet times. (Proverbs 4:23)

2. That his relationship with God will bear much fruit in his life, and that he will be a man who seeks wisdom and understanding. (Proverbs 3:7, Psalm 112:1)

3. That he would walk humbly with God, and would always be convicted quickly about any sin in his life. (Micah 6:8)

4. That he will continue to grow as the leader of our family, and that God would be glorified in our marriage. (Ephesians 5:25-29)

5. That he would have a teachable spirit and a servant’s heart, and that he will listen to God and desire to do His will. (Proverbs 15:33)

6. That he would always look to the way of escape from any kind of temptation, and that he would rely on God to remain faithful to our marriage, and to God. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

7. That he would safeguard his heart against inappropriate relationships with the opposite sex, and his heart be pure and undivided in his commitment to me and to our marriage. (Proverbs 6:23-25)

8. That he would continue to be able to provide for our family, and that he will not become discouraged by doing work he does not enjoy.

9. That money would never become a source of discord in our family, and that we would be wise in handling finances and in stewardship. (Luke 16:13)

10. That the words he speaks will build our family, and reflect a heart of love. (Proverbs 18:21)

11. That our physical intimacy would be a positive reflection of selfless love. (Song of Solomon 7:10)

12. That the men in his life would encourage his accountability before God, and that he would be a godly influence on his friends and coworkers. (Proverbs 13:20, 27:17)

13. That he would choose healthy foods and activities, and honor God by taking the best possible care of his body as the tabernacle of God. (1 Corinthians 6:19)

14. For his strength — physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. (Ephesians 3:16)

15. For him to have wisdom and discernment in training/disciplining our children, and that You would enable him to love them unconditionally. (Ephesians 6:4)

16. That he would always have an eternal perspective, and make the most of however much time he has in this life. (Ephesians 5:16)

17. That he would always be a man of peace, who allows the Holy Spirit to lead his responses in all situations. (Romans 14:19)

18. That he would have a balanced life in regards to work and play, and that he would submit his schedule to You. (Proverbs 16:9)

19. For him to find favor with the Lord, but also with people he knows and interacts with. (Luke 2:52)

20. That he would enjoy peace and refreshment in his relationship with the Lord. (Psalm 16:11)

21. That he would always be courageous in his stand against evil and injustice, and that he will protect our family from Satan’s attacks. (Ephesians 6:13)

22. That he would be a man of prayer, seeking God in purposeful ways. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

23. That he will serve God and others with pure motives, and that God would be glorified in everything he does. (Colossians 3:23-24)

24. That he would offer all his dreams to the Lord, and pursue only those that bring God glory, and that count for eternity. (Jeremiah 29:11)

25. That he will recognize the lies of the enemy in his life, and that he will always be guided by the Truth. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Thank you Pinterest!

SIX YEARS & COUNTING...AND STARTING OVER

I am so very blessed! I have forgotten what life was like before I became a Harris!

Though Adam and I have a new and more important anniversary to celebrate, I cannot forget about all the years and anniversaries we celebrated before tieing the knot! I suppose this year will be the last time we "celebrate" September 22nd as an anniversary for us because at this time next year we will have already CELEBRATED our 1 year wedding anniversary and will have started our count over! It's sort of strange to think about since September was so important for such a long time (at least to me anyways), but June 25th will be here soon enough and the years will begin racking up again...many many years!

And now, I will leave you with 1 of many reasons why I love that man so much. He always knows the right thing to say! =) This is his response to a Facebook wall post from earlier today.

A Day In the Life...

A Day in the Life of a Pharmacist.

WARNING: This post may be painful for those in the profession to read.

While many topics have been covered here, and you have been provided with ample evidence of how drugstore workday life does indeed warp the mind, the question of why it took 2 hours for you to get 20 Vicodin has remained unanswered. I offer the following prescription scenario:

You come to the counter. I am on the phone with a drunk dude who wants the phone number to the grocery store next door. After I instruct him on the virtues of 411, you tell me your doctor was to phone in your prescription to me. Your doctor hasn't, and you're unwilling to wait until he does. Being in a generous mood, I call your doctors office and am put on hold for 5 minutes, then informed that your prescription was phoned in to my competitor on the other side of town. Phoning the competitor, I am immediately put on hold for 5 minutes before speaking to a clerk, who puts me back on hold to wait for the pharmacist. Your prescription is then transferred to me, and now I have to get the 2 phone calls that have been put on hold while this was being done. Now I return to the counter to ask if we've ever filled prescriptions for you before. For some reason, you think that "for you" means "for your cousin" and you answer my question with a "yes", whereupon I go the computer and see you are not on file.

The phone rings.

You have left to do something very important, such as browse through the monster truck magazines, and do not hear the three PA announcements requesting that you return to the pharmacy. You return eventually, expecting to pick up the finished prescription.....

The phone rings.

......only to find out that I need to ask your address, phone number, date of birth, if you have any allergies and insurance coverage. You tell me you're allergic to codeine. Since the prescription is for Vicodin I ask you what exactly codeine did to you when you took it. You say it made your stomach hurt and I roll my eyes and write down "no known allergies" You tell me......

The phone rings.

.....you have insurance and spend the next 5 minutes looking for your card. You give up and expect me to be able to file your claim anyway. I call my competitor and am immediately put on hold. Upon reaching a human, I ask them what insurance they have on file for you. I get the information and file your claim, which is rejected because you changed jobs 6 months ago. A jerk barges his way to the counter to ask where the bread is.

The phone rings.

I inform you that the insurance the other pharmacy has on file for you isn't working. You produce a card in under 10 seconds that you seemed to be unable to find before. What you were really doing was hoping your old insurance would still work because it had a lower copay. Your new card prominently displays the logo of Nebraska Blue Cross, and although Nebraska Blue cross does in fact handle millions of prescription claims every day, for the group you belong to, the claim should go to a company called Caremark, whose logo is nowhere on the card.

The phone rings.

A lady comes to the counter wanting to know why the cherry flavored antacid works better than the lemon cream flavored antacid. What probably happened is that she had a milder case of heartburn when she took the cherry flavored brand, as they both use the exact same ingredient in the same strength. She will not be satisfied though until I confirm her belief that the cherry flavored brand is the superior product. I file your claim with Caremark, who rejects it because you had a 30 day supply of Vicodin filled 15 days ago at another pharmacy. You swear to me on your mother's'....

The phone rings.

.......life that you did not have a Vicodin prescription filled recently. I call Caremark and am immediately placed on hold. The most beautiful woman on the planet walks buy and notices not a thing. She has never talked to a pharmacist and never will. Upon reaching a human at Caremark, I am informed that the Vicodin prescription was indeed filled at another of my competitors. When I tell you this, you say you got hydrocodone there, not Vicodin. Another little part of me dies.

The phone rings.

It turns out that a few days after your doctor wrote your last prescription, he told you to take it more frequently, meaning that what Caremark thought was a 30-day supply is indeed a 15 day supply with the new instructions. I call your doctor's office to confirm this and am immediately placed on hold. I call Caremark to get an override and am immediately placed on hold. My laser printer has a paper jam. It's time for my pharmacy tech to go to lunch. Caremark issues the override and your claim goes though. Your insurance saves you 85 cents off the regular price of the prescription.

The phone rings.

At the cash register you sign....

The phone rings.

......the acknowledgement that you received a copy of my HIPAA policy and that I offered the required OBRA counseling for new prescriptions. You remark that you're glad that your last pharmacist told you you shouldn't take over the counter Tylenol along with the Vicodin, and that the acetaminophen you're taking instead seems to be working pretty well. I break the news to you that Tylenol is simply a brand name for acetaminophen and you don't believe me. You fumble around for 2 minutes looking for your checkbook and spend another 2 minutes making out a check for four dollars and sixty seven cents. You ask why the tablets look different than those you got at the other pharmacy. I explain that they are from a different manufacturer. Tomorrow you'll be back to tell me they don't work as well.

Now imagine this wasn't you at all, but the person who dropped off their prescription three people ahead...

-Author unknown

So in case you were ever wondering what takes so long to get your prescription filled...This is a sad and oh so painfully accurate scenerio of a day in the life of a pharmacist.

PEA PATCH...A DEER'S PARADISE

A few weeks ago, Adam planted peas in 2 of the 3 green fields in our yard...

(PAUSE for explanation)
I realized while typing this that I never posted about where we live. When we got married, I moved into Adam's house in Lineville so there really wasn't a groundbreaking "WE ARE HOMEOWNERS" moment so I guess that's why it slipped my mind to post about it. Anyways, it is a house he flipped and planned to sell, but I fell in love with it and all 70 or so acres surrounding it on top of the mountain. I must interject here though and say "It is for sale. Anything we own is for sale at any time for the right price." That my friends is a direct quote from my own better half. I hope no one comes and offers the "right price" any time soon because I love where we live and would like to stay here at least for a little while.

Our house. Like I said, it sits at the top of a hill surrounded by lots of land and green fields on each of 3 sides with windows on the bottom and/or top floor facing them. =) (Don't mind the grass and flower beds. This was before landscaping.)

(Back to intended purpose of this post)
A few weeks ago, Adam planted peas in 2 of the 3 green fields in our yard and planted sunflowers in the other. =) Well, since the nip of cold air and the smell of fall has settled in over the past 2 weeks, so have the deer...in our peas. But don't worry, this was the sole purpose for planting them so we love it! Sunday, we woke up to deer, came home to deer after lunch, and more later in the afternoon. They LOVE those peas! We have seen a total of 6 different bucks and a few does. Here are a few pictures from the encounters. We don't have pictures from the first few spottings...one including Adam seeing a 12 point and 6 point together. I'm still skeptical. =) Nonetheless, here are the others.

Early Sunday afternoon.

Again.

This was taken late Sunday afternoon. Notice LuLu. We titled this photo "The Stand-Off." I usually check the green fields before I let LuLu out, but this deer came out while she was already outside. The deer just looked at her and kept eating. HA! LuLu snuck a little closer, started barking, and THEN...........!

POOKIE AND HER CHASED IT OFF! Awesome!

This buck came out this morning. Again, I checked the green fields. No deer. So I let LuLu outside. Well, I guess he came out while she was taking care of business because when I looked again, there he was. I noticed him in just enough time to snap this picture because THEN....!

LuLu started barking, ran down the hill, and chased him off again! Notice his tail...this was taken just as he was about to take off!

Though it's annoying when LuLu chases them off, we joke a little about calling her a "deer dog." HA! Adam actually has real deer dogs he hunts with and she is far from it, but it's still funny that a little ankle-biter like her runs them off.

We are enjoying our little visitors now because when November 19th rolls around these deer know their lives will be in danger and will likely go in to hiding. I don't blame them.

WEDDING PICTURES & SUPER 8

Without further ado...

Words can't describe how thankful I am to have such wonderful photos that captured the most memorable day of my life! If you're getting married any time soon, I 100% recommended Bryan Johnson of ABRYANPHOTO. The pictures are priceless, but my favorite thing from the wedding day is the 8 mm video I also received. It is posted at the top of my blog labeled SUPER 8. (The other videos are from my videographer whom I also recommend not to be confusing.) Not only did I receive the short 8 mm video posted on my blog, but I also got a longer version on DVD which included all of the 8 mm footage from the entire day! I love it! It's like watching an old movie!

To view all the wedding pictures:
Go to ADRIANNE AND ADAM
Click "ORDER PRINTS"
Click "Continue to your Print Gallery" on the right side.
Then enter your email address and enjoy!
(Don't worry. The email address is just so ABRYANPHOTO can alert you when the pictures are expiring.)

Feel free to order any of the pics from the website, especially the ones from the Portrait Studio!

I'll leave you with a few of my favorites! Though I love them all! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!! And I hope you have fast internet. =)

























































































Okay, I may have gotten a little carried away! =)