Today, at school, we had a big celebration and ribbon cutting for our new walking track. We celebrated Health and Wellness with each grade taking a health-related theme. Third grade theme was "Healthy Eating." There were many dignitaries, including Jackson Public School's new superintendent, JPS board members, Wade Overstreet of Blue Cross Blue Shield, and many more! It was a great day for our school to showcase its greatness. Mrs. Johnson's class came out in FULL FORM (as we always do!). My class is known for its fun and outrageous headgear/accessories for special events at Van Winkle. So, I had to figure something out to live up my name. Ha!! When I left school yesterday...I had absolutely NO idea what I was going to do, if anything. So, I made a stop by Hobby Lobby for inspiration. That was a bad idea! I found all kinds of fake fruit and fruit picks. I also bought a few visors, ribbons, and some headbands. You can only imagine what I came up with! Felicia came over last night to help me with this project for 21 kids!

Mrs. Johnson's Fruity Bunch...the whole group!

Yes, this sign was a last minute idea (made this morning) and held up by my broom!

The "fruity" headbands...and the "broomstick sign"

All Vegged Out!
"Fruity" visors

Having fun at the ceremony!
I'm pretty sure we made the JPS channel! Ha! I'll let you know. :)

All in all, we had a great day! Thanks to Mrs. Land for putting together such a nice ceremony!

Mi Corazon

Hello everyone! I'm Russ, Megan's husband, and this is my blogging debut. I never thought that I would find myself blogging, but here I am. As for my first post, I thought, what could be more fitting than to show you all the width and depth of my heart... Literally!
I am in my last year of medical school (finally) and am currently on a Cardiology rotation at one of the private hospitals in Jackson. It has been a wonderful month, and I have learned so much from my preceptor. This morning, as we were interpreting coronary artery CTs, my preceptor asked if I wanted to see how my coronaries looked. Coronary arteries provide blood to your heart muscle. People with heart disease usually have problems with their coronaries not getting enough blood to the heart. Since I'm relatively young and try to work out regularly, I thought "Why not." As the procedure was about to occur, I became more and more nervous thinking to myself, "Surely my heart will be normal... Won't it?" As the procedure began, I was put into a doughnut-shaped apparatus and was told to hold my breath. To better see my arteries, a dye is injected into my arm that goes to my heart. The dye went everywhere else too which made me feel like I was having hot flashes. It wasn't bad though. It lasted only a few seconds and was over. As I got off the table, I looked back, through the glass, into the control room where one of my classmates and the technicians were. They were looking at the images of my heart and chuckling at the same time. "Oh no," I thought, "I've got some kind of deformed heart!" I went where they were and asked what all the laughing was about. They told me I had a lot of plaques in my arteries, but were laughing at the same time. I knew then they were joking, and that I had a normal exam. "Whew!"
The following pictures are of a 3D reconstruction of what my heart really looks like, as well as a picture of just my coronary arteries. Enjoy! Please don't be grossed out! It's just a computerized picture.

This is the 3D reconstruction of my heart. The big artery in front is my pulmonary artery coming from my right ventricle headed to my lungs!

The thin white lines are my coronary arteries bringing blood to my heart muscle so it can pump blood to my body. The one to the left of the screen is my Right Coronary Artery, and the one to the right is the Left Coronary Artery, which branches into my Left Anterior Descending (LAD) artery (going straight down) and Circumflex (not seen). The small artery running along the heart border on the right side of the screen is a Diagonal branch of the LAD.

What an Honor!

Well, I must take this moment (as a proud wife) to brag about my amazing husband. Tonight, we attended an initiation banquet for the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Russ was one of 23 inductees tonight. Members are chosen based on three mechanisms: peer survey, instructor nominations, and the ladies in the dean's office nominate as well. The survey consists of 6 questions, as we were informed tonight by Dr. Woodward. I can't remember the exact wording, but I'll try my best! The questions are based on compassion, professionalism, and the preference of others to work with this student. I wish I could remember the questions, because you would fully understand the honor. Of course, I'm biased and Russ would NEVER tell people about this himself! Russ's parents came in last night for the ceremony. We have had a great time!

Russ was ready to leave! We were late, as usual!

Russ and his dad while waiting on his mom to get ready.

The original Johnsons after the ceremony

The Johnsons (updated version...with me!)

The inductees

After the ceremony, we came home and had a little bit of fun while taking MORE pictures. Yes, that was my idea! I had to have more for the blog!! :)

Russ's dad posed while we tested the lighting

Russ's mom and I took pictures of each other taking pictures...who knows!?

The family

Me and Russ

Oh, to be young and in love! :)

Russ's mom playing a little tune

It was such a nice evening...and has been a great couple of days with Russ's parents! Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad! Congratulations Russ!! Love you!

It's Official

It's official. Boy's Bid Day is over, and my baby brother placed an early bid to Kappa Sig! I wanted to make sure I was appropriate and waited until "it was official." :) Russ never did all the fraternity stuff - so I'm not sure about all the specifics. Ha! I was browsing his Bid Day pictures, and it is obvious they had a great time - as always!!

Dustin and Kristin before leaving for Bid Day (I hate I'm not around for the fun!)

I set Dustin up a blog a LONG time ago. However, he didn't care much about it! Recently, he had an assignment to create and update a blog. Well...I'm sure he was thankful to me then! :) He has updated it a little....who knows if he'll update it anymore! You can check it out - but let me make this disclaimer - I am not responsible for its content! Ha ha!! Remember, he is a college guy (which is much different than a college girl), has NO self-esteem issues, and is SOOOOO much fun to be around! I hope you get a kick out of it!

Good Night, Sleep Tight

Russ and I were having a scheduled date night - Don't get excited! It was very low maintenance. We drove through Sonic and made a quick trip to the mall. Then, I talked Russ into watching Freedom Writers when we got home. (A fantastic movie! One of my favorites.) We noticed Farley was MIA, but neither of us wanted to leave the movie. When it was over, I heard Russ say (in a monotone voice...so as not to disturb Farley), "Megan, come here. Come here now." So, I quietly ran to the kitchen. This is what I saw:

Farley had pulled ALL of his toys and his blanket into his bed. He was just laying there. He had, obviously, been laying there for at least an hour! You'd have to know my dog to understand why this is so funny. He is NEVER still! Especially with people around. But, we stood there laughing for a while and I ran to get a camera. He never moved! He is wiped out!

I guess this is his way of saying, "Let's get to bed!" So, I'm off to bed! Good night!

MSU 7, Georgia Tech 38

No words can express! I will not even comment on this right now.

Bring the Rain

Several weeks ago, I came across a blog that has had my attention since. However, I just recently had the time to go all the way back to the beginning of the story. Please check out Angie's blog, Bring the Rain. It is an amazing story full of God's grace, healing, and peace!! The following slide show was made for a song Angie wrote. This slideshow was shown at Audrey Caroline's memorial service. Notice the "unexplainable peace" filling the room. Reading the letter she wrote to her daughter, it is clear the miracle God had given the family. Audrey's life was meant for much more than her family could have ever imagined! Please take a few minutes to read her story! You won't regret it!

I Will Carry You

There were photographs I wanted to take
Things I wanted to show you
Sing sweet lullabies, wipe your teary eyes
Who could love you like this?

People say that I am brave but I'm not
Truth is I'm barely hanging on
But there's a greater story
Written long before me
Because He loves you like this

So I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All my life
And I will praise the One Who's chosen me
To carry you

Such a short time
Such a long road
All this madness
But I know
That the silence
Has brought me to His voice
And He says...

I've shown her photographs of time beginning
Walked her through the parted seas
Angel lullabies, no more teary eyes
Who could love her like this?

I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All your life
And I will praise the One Who's chosen Me
To carry you

MSU 2, Auburn 3

What a game!!! That's pretty much all I have to say. It was SO exciting, and my hands are swollen and sore from all that cowbell ringing. Despite the excitement, it was one of the most frustrating games I've ever seen! By looking at the score, it is obvious that our defense played an amazing game - actually scoring the only 2 points we had! Thank goodness for tailgating!

Mama and Ricky had on their "grilling attire" when we pulled up.

The Smith kids (at least until Lee joins in)

Brother-in-laws

Dustin and Kyle

Daddy and Adam watching a football game on T.V.

Just trying to stay cool behind the screen!

Ricky and Sherra Holcombe

Lee finally joined the fun.
Me, Russ, Lee, and Kristin

Jennifer (one of my college roommates) and Jaysen also came to visit again! Isn't she the cutest pregnant woman you've ever seen!?

We also saw a few other college friends: Rachael and Jimbo Bearden and Aaron and Kelly Rice. We met Season, Russ's cousin, in the bookstore, and ran into Holly Johnson and her cute twins. It was so good to see everyone! We have a couple of weeks off from tailgating...but we'll still be cheering for the dawgs!

Bulldog Bash 2008

After Russ got through "playing doctor" on Friday, we took Farley to Wee Paws and headed up to Starkvegas for the weekend. It was Bulldog Bash weekend, and it was tons of fun! Because the rest of the crew got downtown around 3 for the pre-bash activities, we just met them there. We had a seat saved at Bin 612 when we arrived right by the stage! It was perfect!! The Grove was playing when we arrived, followed by a couple other bands. We finished up by listening to Gavin Degraw - one of my obsessions since the debut of One Tree Hill! I was so jealous because Kristin got her picture made with him earlier that day! We had a great time - I'm sure you'll be able to tell by the pictures. We also saw lots of friends from college/high school.

The guys

The girls: Kristin, me, and Kristin's roommate

Don't worry! We were protected! In fact, this man stood with his behind right by my head all night!

Season and Ryan came for the weekend too!

"Smithites"

My baby brother and me

Crazy brother-in-laws

Me and my hubby

My little sister and me having fun!

Dustin's date to the football game

Lee and Kristin

Since we all had separate cars downtown, we decided to all ride to the apartment together and get our cars the next morning. I was waiting in the car the next morning when Dustin came out ready for "pick-up." He has absolutely NO self-esteem issues!

Dustin's gameday morning look