We Can See Without Looking Sometimes....

       I'm am fastly approaching my one year mark on being back in South Carolina.  This milestone is only a few days away (August 5th) and I wanted to sort of reflect on how crazy this year has been.  I never would have dreamed that I would be back in South Carolina and I surely would not have dreamed my life would have taken the turns it has.  Last year at this time I was living out of my car and couch surfing in Athens, stressing over my last few days in a horrible cell biology class and crying myself to sleep every night (if I did sleep) because I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE ATHENS!  At this time last year I was going through a rough break up with my first boyfriend and long time best friend and dreading leaving everyone I loved behind to move to what I thought was a dead end town (no offense to my Lyman folks, but those were my feelings).  I had no vision.  No clue about where my life was taking me.  I was just so heartbroken at what was happening.  To put things simply I couldn't see the forest for the trees.  What I thought was the worst decision of my life actually turned into the best blessings I have every received.
        My first few months were rough,  and since a lot of you reading this may not know the whole story, I'll be frank and honest.  I moved back in with my parents until I found a place and instead of socializing I chose to sleep, watch TV, and cry,  hoping that somehow my life would take this magical turn back to Athens and I would be perfect again.  That is not what happened.  Although my life did take a turn.  It was upon returning to Athens for a football game and having a rough run in with my ex and seeing how different things were with my friends that I woke up from this slumber.  It was as if I was slapped in the face.  I think that experience is actually my last post on here.
          Well the next week I ran into an old friend from high school.  Well we will call him more of an acquaintance because we only spoke once or twice throughout our whole schooling together.  Nonetheless, the chap showed me how to laugh again.  He reminded me of who I was.  (Somehow I had forgotten this). And showed me how to gain my voice again.  I am forever grateful to him for this.  We had our ups and downs along the way that you have with any friend.  We had trouble defining our relationship at times but regardless we never had a dull one.  We laughed until we cried on many occasions and made people wish they were as cool as us.  There's no denying that this friendship was important to my survival and new love of Lyman. I believe that God brings people into your life at the right time when you need them most and God knew this was someone who needed to be there.  Regardless of what happens with him, I know and will always know that this past year with him was there to strengthen me with the good the bad and the ugly. And I will always love him for that.  Whether I'm telling a joke about Bruce Lee or drinking a blue mountain dew, I know adventures with him are what saved me.
       Along with him came a loving cousin.  I wouldn't trade this guy for the world.  He listened to me cry over and over about craziness in my life.  He would just sit and chill and we would talk about the shenanigans of the day.  But more importantly he taught me that everyone is going through stuff.  He had his own heartbreaks he was dealing with and we could talk and share our feelings together and give each other feedback.  He has forgiven me when I have hurt him horribly and he has always been there when I have called him.  I don't know where I would be without J.Man but I never in a million years would have thought we would be as close as we have become. He is my buddy fo life! And he brings something special to the table in our relationship.  An heir of understanding.  I am forever grateful for him as well.
       One of the things I did most when I moved back was watch movies.  I watched hundreds of movies by myself when I first moved back.  Yea that's kind of depressing. But there was a blessing in that.  An old friend (one of my first best friends) was the manager.  After seeing me so many times it sparked an old flame that had kind of faded.  She had never left my mind when I left for college but we had lost touch.  Today I am more grateful for this reuniting than anything.  This girl has been there for me through EVERYTHING in the past year.  From crying over hurt feelings to wrestling with inner demons to which shoes go with my dress.  This girl is my soul mate and I have no clue where I would be without her.  I love her unconditionally and trust her with my life.  I'd take a bullet for that girl in a heart beat and will always stick up for her.
       Someone I had stayed in contact with, my best friend forever was glad I was home.  In fact the day I moved home I kidnapped her for a surprise birthday party for herself.  It was bittersweet for me that day.  I was happy for her but I wanted to cry more for Athens (I had been crying all the way home).  Looking back I think of how selfish I was being and I want to publicly apologize to her.  I am sure on so many occasions I offended her by putting down Lyman and being back but she never once complained or thought twice about it.  She listened.  She encouraged and she uplifted.  I am so thankful for her in my life.  She has been the voice of reason in my life over the past year and has reeled me back in when I was getting to far from myself.  She has stayed true and grounded in her spiritual life and has slapped me in the face spiritually when I was losing sight of God's plan.  I thank God every day for that girl because without her over this past year I would have lost myself completely.  I love her to the moon and back and would take a bullet for her as well.  Thank you for always being there for me special friend and I am so excited for where God is taking you right now.
         Of course the most important thing that happened this past year is moving in with my roommate.  When I moved out of my parents I moved into a big house by myself.  This was dangerous because at the time I was still so depressed and now I'm also lonely all the time.  I have always been sort of a loner.  I enjoy a lot of alone time and am quite content with just being me, but when you are depressed this is not always the best thing.  I spent a majority of my time in my living room, laying on the floor crying and falling asleep to the same movie every night.  My life from Athens was still in boxes and I had no intention of unpacking until someone made me.  Well that someone was a God send.  I had been throwing out that I wanted a roommate for months to a few special friends that I mentioned but it was this chick that took me up on my offer.  I ran into her at the insurance office when I was paying a bill and we started talking about life ( I went to school with her as well and somewhere along the way we had lost touch).  We both agree that we never expected to see each other again.  We had always been friends but had not been close since elementary school.  What was just paying bills on a regular basis turned into us working out together.  One day when we were working out she said hey I can move in next week.  I had to take a step back.  I was a day fresh off the plane from Mexico and I wasn't sure I was ready to have someone move into my space of melancholy.  But I knew it would be less money on bills and that trumped my need for solitude.  That decision is the best I have made by far I would say.  She has become one of my best friends and confidants.  Our late night talks about boys and life have been so enjoyable and full of wisdom and to top it off we are twinnsies.  We have so much in common and I have come to rely on her for so much in my insane life.  I love her so much and look forward to our roommate times together.
          Of course there are others who have made this Lyman life bearable and showed me how many blessings I have here, but these people, these people are the people that have made huuuge impacts in my life.Without moving back to Lyman I would have never gone to Mexico.  This is another blessing.  I have a family there as well and wound up living with them for a month.  Eventually I hope to move there but that is not in the cards for now so small visits are best.
          I have not forgotten my Athens family! I have visited Athens a lot over the past year and every chance I go or every chance I get I soak it up.  Those Athens moments are now cherished and not taken for granted. They are sipped on and chewed gracefully much like a fine wine.  I am grateful for every opportunity I get to go back there.  But if I'm truly honest I wouldn't change where I am for the world.  I still have no clue where my life is headed at this point but I know this.  I am content.  I am honestly and truly content. I am settled into the Lyman life for now.  That could always change tomorrow.  But today, this moment right now, this is where I am.  I am Chelsea Patterson. I have my bad days and good days.  I am still dealing with a broken heart but I am stronger for overcoming what I have.  I am enrolled in a Masters program at NGU and I have the greatest people in the world around me.  

The Proactive Hoarder

I have a problem.  Some might not consider it a problem, but my parents would beg to differ.  I'm a proactive hoarder.  Whew glad we got that out.  What that means is I actually am scared of hoarding.  Not scared in the "OMG! A SPIDER" but scared in that I don't ever want to become one.  Therefore I take certain precautionary measures in my life to make sure that this does not happen.  Whenever something traumatic happens in my life, some type of significant change, I clean house.  Literally. Out with the old and in with the new.  I scour every corner just as I'm am scouring the corners of my life and rid not only my house but my life of junk.  It is a very freeing and cleansing feeling to let go.  To let go of all the crud you have been holding onto.  You don't realize how toxic it makes your life to hold onto all those built up emotions for so long, until your free.  My parents are seeing first hand what this looks like at the moment.  For the past couple of months I have had a lot of significant changes happen in my life.  I moved from Athens, GA back home to Lyman, SC.  After 5 years of working and connecting and really making Athens my home, I moved away from it all.  I have never cried so much in my life as I did on that drive home.  The days that followed were just as hard.  I was constantly reminded of what I left behind.  I actually didn't get out of bed or off the couch much that first week except to go to work.  At the drop of hat I would burst into tears and the pain I felt was unbearable.  To make matters worse a very important relationship ended in my life the same week I moved home.  I loved him very much (and still do) and although there are a lot of fuzzy areas in the details of what happened the worst part was I lost my best friend.  Three years is a long time to invest in someone and while we weren't together for the whole 3 years, we had a great and fun friendship.  I could spend all day on the "what ifs" and "I'm sorry," "I take it back," but what's past is passed.  I have many great memories of Athens and many great memories with him.  I wouldn't change any of them for the world.  Upon returning to Athens this past weekend, it was bittersweet.  I was blessed to see so many people that I love, including him.  It truly was great to see everyone. But in a way it was closure for me.  Closure of that chapter of my life and the start of the next.  The move had been so abrupt I never really got to say goodbye to a lot of the people I love. You know the long emotional goodbye where it takes hours to leave.  I got that this past weekend.  The drive from Athens to Lyman was refreshing and much needed time with God.  Time to reflect on everything that had happened that weekend and the months prior.  I thought of everyone and every situation I had encountered.  (One of the perks of being a psych major.)
            One greeting that stood out over the crowd was that of Noah Rafal.  If you know me or anything about me then you know who Noah is.  I was waiting for the Rafals to arrive to get ice cream.  Noah came running up and said, " 'Member Me?" to which I replied "OF COURSE!"  I will always remember.  I will always remember the people, the memories, the fun, and the friendships I shared.  They are always with me everywhere I go.  Upon pulling into the driveway, it was like a breath of fresh air.  I was no longer shackled by hurt or pain.  It was in God's hands and I knew what I had to do.  So I started cleaning out the house.  Junk Junk Junk! All of it goes.  Today is a new day and there is no use storing up the old clutter of yesteryear.  Its time to look towards the future and what the Lord has in store. I'm excited to see His plans for my life and I will continue to pursue Him in everything I do!

A View of the Body by Vi Mentality. Cult, Scam it is what it is!

"Come join Me on this 90 day journey!"

"We're fighting obesity one challenge at a time"

"Want to be challenged? Join me with Body by Vi!"

I've heard them all. Over the past few week I have been bombarded with many friend's attempts at getting me to join a new program called Body by Vi. Let me start out by saying that this blog post is not to attack or single anyone out by any means. I'm not hating or jealous.  I'm actually proud you have a great outlook on life now.   I have at least 10 friends participating in this " 90 day journey to a healthier Ifestyle" or the " Vi-Life" and their approaches are all the same... Promote promote promote! But at what cost? Losing friends? Losing your money? If you know nothing about "Body by Vi" then here is a little background.

Background
A company called Visalus has introduced this new line of weight loss and health improvement supplements that are deemed revolutionary and unattainable anywhere else. The creator Ryan Blair has a very touching rags to riches story about how he started the company and his view of his life. He is a millionaire and lives in a cozy mansion probably somewhere in Detroit. So since he made millions of dollars selling this product we can too right? False! He makes his money (and all the other high end promotors)from the corporation's income based off of advertising and gross income of the company. That means he's reaping the benefits from the gullible people who pay to be distributors while they go in the hole. The products are suppose to promote and help you achieve a healthier lifestyle, when in fact they a loaded, LOADED, with preservatives and gunk that will actually make it impossible for you to keep the weight off unless you stay on the product. I did some research to back all of my facts up and this is what I found.

Facts
The White Pages section of the Visalus website contains all the scientific papers to prove that the body by vi shakes and supplements work. But there is one problem...they are never tested. These papers are written to confuse consumers. Never once in the papers do they refer to testing the products on subjects or results after a time period...no study groups. That was the first red flag that this junk is crap. Second, the "doctor" who is the leading researcher on these papers is Michael Seidman. He was also the doctor associated with another pyramid scheme a few years back and came out saying that "we don't know how it works...it just does." He then went onto say that there is a certain "psychological element to it." Basically it works and feeds off of the placebo effect. If you think you are going to lose weight and you are working out and swapping meals for a low nutrition drink then yes you will...and in turn you "feel better" so you keep doing it. It's a cycle. But here's the scoop of vi ( pun intended) the main ingredient is soy. Soy has been tested and proven to cause hormonal imbalances espescially among men. It should also not be consumed in large quantities. And there is an artificial sweetener in the shake called sucralose. This is so that the shakes are diabetic friendly. Sucralose is not broken down by the body so has no caloric effect. It is also used so that the powder can stay on the shelf longer (preserving flavor). If sucralose is not broken down by your body why would you want to put it in there?

Marketing
So this works on a pyramid technique. You join then you get 3 people to join, then they get 3 people to join so on and so forth. The more people you get to join then you get your products free for a while and then have the option of joining on as a distributor. This costs $499 a month but you are told you can make thousands. Somewhere along the line you are offered a free BMW...but there's a catch they don't tell you. The BMW lease is put in your name and the lease is 600 dollars a month. Visalus will pay the lease each month as long as you maintain the quota your given....the thing is, it's going to be hard to convince people that they need to keep buying this product each month at 40 bucks, 200 bucks, even 500 bucks a month. Your sales will fall and you have to pay your own lease which you won't be able to because your sales are down...therefore you lose it maybe even more. I'm not hating or jealous of my friends at all that are doing this. This blog post is meant to open their eyes and let them do the research for themselves. The truth about Visalus is that it is a hoax...meant to make some false prophets money. They prey on young people who want to make it rich in this world but money is not everything. If you invest in this company you will lose everything.

What if you believe in a product that is not actually healthy? What if millions of people join on the Body by Vi band wagon and then a few years later all suffer liver failue? It could happen to you!!!! Do not get sucked into this hoax. Not only will it lead you to financial ruin but the product you are selling is not, NOT as healthy as "they" tell you. In fact shakes bought at Wal-mart or Earthfare may have more nutritional value and less preservatives. Let me explain.



I obtained an ingredients list from the shakes that are sold. At first this ingredients list was very easily obtained on the website, but now that page is not found...interesting.


Soy- a very controversial ingredient of a lot of health foods. The research on soy can be all over the place, however, there is one conclusion that it should not be a staple in your diet. Soy beans have oxalate in them which cannot be metabolized by the body so it is excreted by the kidneys. However the oxalate binds to calcium and causes kidney stones. Also large consumptions of soy can lead to hormone imbalances in both men and women, especially women causing infertility and reproductive development.



www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/estrogenic-effects-of-soy


www.sciencedaily.com/release/2001/08/010829083130.htm



Whey- "makes up 20% of the protein found in milk" If you are physically active then Whey is a good thing for you to ingest...but sedantary lifestyles will cause a severe weight gain. Its a mixture of globular proteins isolated from whey the cheese by product. People who are lactose intolerant should use caution when ingesting whey because similar enzymes used to break down lactose are needed to break down whey and may not be present in your body.


www.livestrong.com/article/537502-is-whey-protein-good-or-bad/


Medium Chain triglycerides- these are partially man made fats. The name comes from the arrangement of carbon atoms. It is made by processing palm kernel oil and coconut oils in a lab. (oh that sounds healthy). They are usually used as medicines for people who have food absorption disorders. Here's the real fact that brings it home: DIABETICS SHOULD AVOID THEM. This is due to a build up of ketones in the body from the break down of MCTs. This can lead to more complicate health problems associated with diabetes. Also there is not enough research out there about MCTs so pregnant moms and nursing mothers are encouraged to steer clear of them just in case. MCTs are processed by the liver and can cause serious problems if you have liver disease.


this was found at Webmd.com

Maltodextrin- this is an additive that is an easily digestible carbohydrate made from rice, corn or potato. Because Body by Vi claims to be friendly to people with stomach issues, I'm going to assume that they avoid the barley or wheat formation or else they would have a bunch of lawsuits on their hands. It is used as a filler and is inexpensive. Its found in most salad dressings, cereals, preserved fruits etc. It is PROCESSED! Not natural but its not chemically sythesized. It is considered a polysaccharide that breaks down into glucose as it is digested. The side effects are all those that are associated with high sugar consumption and can lead to weight gain (interesting), insulin resistance, diabetes, and metabolic pathway disorders. It does not cause these directly but just its presence in the body can help lead to these.

www.whatismaltodextrin.com/maltodextrin-side-effects/

www.fitsugar.com/What-Maltodextrin-293287

Casein- This starts from skim milk solids. There are 3 different types; Calcium Casein, Fresh Curd Casein, and Micellar Casein. If I were going to sell this product telling everyone its the healthiest thing out there, I might find out which Casein is used. This is an again PROCESSED ingredient obtained by adding hydrochloric acid to skim milk...yikes that stuff will burn ya! Maybe thats where the weight loss comes in. LOL! If its the Calcium Casein (which I have a suspicion it is) this is the lowest quality and and most well known source of casein. It is first processed by washing and drying the casein in another country. This step is not done here in the US. It is then shipped to the US for the rest of the processing process. The washes make it very acidic which gives it a bad taste. Fresh Curd is not used as supplements so we won't go into that one. The final micellar is actually the best for body building but it is super high dollar and most likely not used in Body by Vi shakes. With this casein it is used in a filtration process which does not denature the proteins like the washing. With the denaturing of the protein in the Calcium Caseinate your body actually loses "potential bioactive peptides".



www.proteinfactory.com/pfblog/caseinates-the-good-the-bad-the-ugly


Xanthan gum- This is a sugar-like compound made by fermentation of aged sugars with bacteria. It is used as a laxative. It also thickens and stabilizes reagents in foods, toothpastes, and medicines. It works like this...It swells in your intestines and stimulates the digestive tract to puch stool out. It is safe when up to 15 grams are taken. Not enough is known about it for pregnant or nursing moms to ingest it.

this was found at webmd.com

Lecithin- this is a phosphatidylcholine (which means its a mix of carbohydrate, fatty acids and phospholipids) that is extracted chemically. It is important in cell structure of all living organisms and in found in beef liver, egg yolk, soybeans etc... The research suggests that it is actually good for you, helping to lower cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health. It occurs naturally in your body. It is required for carrying the cholesterol from your blood to your liver. My only point on this one is since it occurs naturally in foods we eat all the time that are proven healthy (eggs, liver etc)why not just eat those? Don't OD on this.

www.livestrong.com/article/494681-lecithin-diabetes/



Aminogen- for this one there are just a bunch of biased reviews about this ingredient. This is a patented enzyme and should be reviewed by doctors or researchers that have no affiliation with getting compensated to promote it. Bottom line its a chemically synthesized enzyme being put into your body. Can't be too good for ya.


SUCRALOSE!- this is a chlorinated form of table sugar( why would you want that) It was approved in 1998 by the USFDA for use in food. Its common name is splenda. The body cannot detoxify organochlorinated substances such as this. 11 to 27 percent absorbs into the body and the sucralose and metabolites concentrate in the liver. It has been compared to ingesting pesticides like DDT. More research is being done on the harmful effects of this altenative sweetner but it has been linked to liver and kidney problems and reduced growth rate. ViSalus should have used the natural sweetener STEVIA which is a plant is they really cared about their consumers.



www.downtoearth.org/health/vitamins-supplements/sucralose-dangerous-sugar-substitute



All foods we buy at a grocery store that is packaged is going to contain preservatives and crap.. Junk our body doesn't need. My point for showing these few ingredients is that the ViSalus product you are selling is not any more healthy that me picking up Whey Protein powder and adding Fiber and a multi-vitamin to it. START ASKING QUESTIONS!!! Do not believe everything they are telling you because the fact of the matter is...they want to make money. They are not in it for you. And if you joined on because you truly believe this product is the next healthiest thing...well I just disproved that. If ViSalus cared about its customers as it claims it does then it would be using all natural substances and testing/researching to make sure the product is safe for consumers. There has been a lack of research on their part about their so called "revolutionary product". PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not fall into the mind games of this company!!!!!!



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Birthday massacre

Tomorrow is my roommates birthday. I do not think she is one of the three people (if that many) that reads this blog so I have no qualms about posting this. I am super excited but super nervous about tomorrow. Here is the reason why. My roommate loves, loves, loves Nutella. You know the hazelnut spread? She could seriously eat it by the jar. So I plan on getting up super early to make her a cake that will have marshmallow cream filling and Nutella icing. In my mind it works out grrrreat ( like Tony the tiger). But honestly it could be disastrous. I am a pretty decent cook or so I have been told and think I can pull it off but, we'll see. I will try to take a picture and post it here. In honor of her birthday, the story today will have a theme that loosely will honor her. My roommate is an animal science major so today's story has to do with chickens.

Let us begin.

I am a murderer. Well not a direct murderer. I think the term I am looking for is accessory to murder. I was aiding and abetting those that murdered. It all started when my aunt and uncle decided to go out of town. They live across the street from me and whenever they went out of town, my brother or I would always take care of things for them. They had 2 dogs and a cat. They also had about five or six chickens at that time. Before they departed, I stopped by and took note of all the instructions they had for me, I was to follow them exactly so that everything would go smoothly. I was to feed the chickens twice a day and let the dogs out to run a few times during the day as well. The cat and the dogs were to be fed only once a day. However, when I fed the chickens I was to let them out and run, but sure the dogs were up. Okay simple enough instructions. I got this.

Now if you know me well, you know that I am NOT a fan of birds. I am terrified of them and they freak me out. But, this is just a weekend and my brother assured me that he would help me. The first day went off without a glitch. It wasn't until the second day that something went terribly wrong. Of cours this kind of incident always happens at the last second, right before the owners are about to pull in the driveway.

It was a Sunday evening. My brother had already informed me that he had taken care of the chickens except their water. He said that I didn't need to let them out, just check their water and fill it up. The dogs and cat had already been fed but their water just needed to be checked again too. "No problem!" was my response. Only God knew the crazy events that were about to occur. I pulled up to my aunt's house and got out of my bug. I checked and refilled the dogs and cats water first just to get the easy tasks over with. I decided I would let the dogs run around the yard a few times since I wasn't letting the chickens out. BIG MISTAKE! Looking back, I know that this decision is where I went wrong. I headed out to the chicken house that my uncle had built. Upon arriving there I shut the little gate behind me and headed towards the chicken coupe. ( the gate is more for looks it does not have any chicken wire on it. It just adds aesthetics to the barn). As I pulled the roof off of the litte chicken house, I did not know that one of the chickens had gone rogue, and wanted out! As soon as the tiniest hole appeared between the roof and the house, she was " outta there". Of course with my fear of birds I screamed and ducked out of her way. After crumpling to the ground in an order to protect myself from this demented poultry, I realized the dogs were out!

Luckily they were on the outside of this aesthetic fence and could not get their fat butts through. However, the chicken thought that I was the worst thing ever and would not come back towards the coupe. The next series of events happened in a massive panic of fear and frustration. I frantically called my brother as I was trying to gently coax the chicken back over, yet still trying to protect myself from the evil demon, but still deciding whether I should open the gate and try to take the dogs away from this situation. Overall I was stuck in a pretty tight spot and had no clue what to do. Chasing this chicken would cause chaos of the dogs and the chicken. Opening the gate would definitely in sue the death of this bird. And I could not just let it wander, lest it wander under the fence. Calling my brother left me with nothing because he did not pick up. He was my only life line. My only safety net. And he was not answering. What I had to do became obvious. I was going to have to pick up the chicken!

I crept over slowly on all fours saying, " here chicky, chicky, chicky". Of course I looked stupid and there was no budge from the demon. But I finally did get close enough to catch her. I grabbed her fast, shrieking and cringing as I did. She wasn't too happy about it either but I knew this was a life and death situation. I ran back to the coupe with her in my hands, hopeful that I had saved the day.

I had not. As approached the coupe with the squawking and squirming bird. Not to mention myself shrieking hysterically. The other chickens decided that this loud noise coming at them was dangerous and they needed to flee! Remember that tiny hole I opened earlier to change the water. In all the commotion I forgot to close it. The rest of the chickens came jumping out towards me and their rogue master. I flipped out trying to hit them back into the house with the bird I had. I guess saving chickens is not like baseball.

I threw the bird I had in the coupe and shut the roof this time. But with all the shrieks from the birds and the flapping of their wings and junk the dogs were going crazy thinking dinner was on the way. Two of the birds had jumped and fluttered to the top of the fence, just out of the dog's reach and the others were hiding in the bushes right at the base if the fence. All it took was one move, one move for all these chickens to be on the other side of the fence, easily reached by the rabid dogs. That move happened. I don't know what caused this, if it was just because the chicken was still shaken from the baseball incident. But one chicken sitting in the fence tried to fly away. It didn't get very far and as soon as it got close enough to the ground, the dog had it in it's mouth. A chicken suicide. The rest of the chickens heard all of the screaming from the suicide and took off running thinking that this "thing" was coming for them too. STUPID! If they had stayed in the fence then they would still be laying eggs today. The other dog grabbed one and since the first dog was done with his kill, he had a free mouth for a second one. The last one was fought over by both dogs. You may be asking yourself what was Chelsea doing during all of this? Good question. I was screaming my head off and crying and trying to plead with the dogs to let the chickens live. It's not their fault their stupid. The only chicken I saved that day was the one I used as a baseball bat.

So now what's next? I'm freaking out. My aunt and uncle will be back in an hour and here I am with chicken blood all over my hands. So I did what any freaking out, crying, shrieking, teenage girl would do. I called Tractor Supply. If you are laughing, you should be because the fact that I even had the in my phone was ridiculous. I was going to buy my aunt new chickens before she got back in an hour and pray she didn't notice. I call and they only had ducks. My question to the man on the phone who could tell I was distressed was do you think I can pass the ducks off as chickens? He chuckled and said, " no ma'am. They're definitely ducks". I was out of options. I had to call and tell my aunt I killed all her chickens but one. I called her, no answer. I can not leave this foul news in a voicemail. I left a message saying to call me ASAP with a lot of sobbing. She called me about forty five minutes later, worried something had happened to my parents.

Ring, ring, ring

Me: ( in a very tired raspy voice). Hello

Aunt: OMG! Chelsea I got your voicemail is everything okay?! Did something happen to your parents, is your brother alright? What about your sister? Are you okay?!!

Me: No nothing happened to anyone. But something did happen.

Aunt: What is it?

Me: I uh....killed your chickens.

Aunt: oh Chelsea, don't worry about that. We've had more trouble with those darn chickens. You know we started off with 16? Goes to show you we're not good with them either. I love you and we'll be home soon.

I'm thankful this was my family and not just a neighbor.

Four toes and seven years ago....

I want to say something catchy...something inspirational...something that will stay with people forever...or at least for a little while. My mind is blank. As always. So I guess you'll just have to settle for the crazy things that occur in my life. The other day I was informed by my roommate that I apparently am a "great" storyteller. I am not sure how valid this statement is because I have never been on the other side of myself to hear my stories. However, there was once a young lad in high school that told me my family should write a book about the crazy things that happen to us. These moments do not just happen to me...they happen to the whole Patterson clan. Specifically my dad. (maybe I inherited it). Okay, okay. I am headed towards the stories.

So this is the story that I told the other day. Everything I am about to type is in fact real and did happen. Prepare yourself.

As most people know, my father is a contractor. Meaning he builds houses and the like. He does a lot of the work himself with just a few guys that help him (help is a light word. These guys work their bums off). One day dad was working on the job site trying to finish pouring and smoothing the concrete for the foundation. His goal was to be able to start building the next day. He has this little machine that rotates round and round on top of the wet concrete. The finish product is smooth concrete. On this particular day, however, there was one spot that just would not lay down. The spot was a bubble that after many times of trying to smooth it out, dad gave up. He decided that something was causing this bubble in his concrete and he was going to dig it up and find out what it was. Now knowing my father, his emotional and psychological thoughts at this point were most likely anger. He was angry he was going to be behind on the project, angry he had to dig up his smooth concrete he had just spent hours smoothing over, and angry he was going to have to fix this stupid spot. But dad had no idea how his emotions were about to change. He began digging and after a couple of minutes pulled out....

It is here where I would pause for a dramatic commercial break if I were a tv show. Or maybe just quit telling the story....it's not like you're interested or anything. I could just go on with my life and be perfectly content and you would pretend that you didn't care about what was in the concrete. Just filed away in the back of your mind never to brought up again. But secretly it would be eating at you...tearing up you amygdala and your prefrontal cortex. Pretty gruesome right? But not as gruesome as what was found.

.....A HUMAN TOE! If you are wondering whether you read that correctly because you may have forgotten what we are talking about. Yes, dad pulled a human toe out his concrete. ....um GROSS! Let's assess my dad's psychological and emotional well being at this moment. There's a little bit of humor ( wondering if this is a joke), a lot of confusion, and a lot of questions now. My question to the readers out there now is what would you have done at this point in this situation? Laughed and gone on about your day? Not known how to respond? Well in the Patterson family, we call people. We get answers. So this next section is the phone conversation to the concrete company to find out where the toe came from.

Ring, ring, ring

Secretary: Hello, this is ****** ******* what can I do for you?

Dad: My name is Mark Patterson and I had some concrete delivered this morning and well there was something very strange found in it?

S: Well Mr. Patterson can you describe what you found?

D: The best way to describe it to you ma'am is ...well... It looks like a toe.

S: A TOE! Sir are you sure? Is this a joke?

D: No ma'am this is no joke ( a small chuckle). Has anyone up there at the plant lost a toe?

S: (lot of laughter in the background is heard now) Mr. Patterson I am not sure if anyone has or hasn't do you mind if I call you back I need to call down to the manager and ask him.

D: No that is fine. You have my number.

Click

A few minutes later.

Ring, ring, ring.

D: Hello?

S: Hello Mr. Patterson I'm calling about your concrete and the uh toe you found.

D: ( chuckles) yes what did you find out?

S: Well sir, one of our mixers had his thumb smashed off in the machine the other day and they couldn't find his thumb. Does it look like it could be a thumb Mr. Patterson?

D: well it would be a very fat thumb, but yea I guess it could be a thumb. Does he want it back?

S: (laughing so hard she can barely be understood)... No sir thats quite all right. You can keep it for a souvenir.

D: ( now laughing too) thanks I appreciate that. Have a good day.

Even the bumps in life can have humor underneath them.

Oh what a wonderful God we serve!!!

SOOOO.......
As you can tell i failed at keeping my blog updated..what else is new. But to look back over the posts i have made is so uplifting to see where God has taken me and pulled me through. Most of those blogs I didn't even remember writing. Where am I now?

I am still in Athens in my 3rd year at the University of Georgia. I am still a biology major and figuring out how many hours I have to take this summer to finish next year. I am living in Watkinsville in a house that I actually wrote about in a previous blog. I have the best roommates in the world!!!!! I still miss Lyman but was very priviledged to get to spend a month there during Christmas!! I am working at Jersey Mike's and Babysitting a little on the side. I am currently enrolled in 17 hours at school and am just taking one day at a time. Most of my days are spent all day in class and then i come home and spend hours upon hours on homework and lab reports. I am up to my eyeballs in reading. God has provided me with all that I need and He never fails!! Some days I just want to quit but by His grace I pull through and always come out shining! I am training for the Disney Marathon next January. I need to be more disciplined about my running but I'm doing good working out a few days a week. I cannot wait to run this!!! If I were gonna type something that is one of my goals for this week it would be....Do everything with JOY and HAPPINESS because there are so many people out there less fortunate than us. I am blessed with a family that supports me, an opportunity to go to school to study, a car to drive, a bed to sleep in, and friends that care about me, and a job that provides for me. Sometimes I take these for granted and its sad. I am trying to look at everything as the glass half full!!!

Quote of the day: Do the things you need to do when you need to do them and Someday you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.

"I've gone to Carolina in my mind..."

Hey guys,
Sorry it has been a while since I have updated. I had a crazy week last week with exams and have been working non-stop since Friday. I am currently on a James Taylor fix right now. The sound of his soothing voice and acoustic guitar just really seem to keep me controlled..lol. Anyway I am officially moved into my new place!!! whoop whoop!! I am still workin at the barn until May 31st. I will not be taking summer classes this summer but am definately staying in Athens and working...considering I'm signed up for 17 hours next semester and don't have hope. lol....oh well it could always be worse. I made okay grades this semester I made 1 A 2 Bs and get this a D lol not good on that but I'm retaking the same class with the same prof in the fall....hopefully it will be an A this time....hopefully. I'm sorry to Leigh who was disappointed in my blog a few days ago when she checked it. I am currently running behind on my schedule...I should already be in the shower. My friend Andrew Lyda will be here any minute and I am no where near being ready....AHHHH!!! I will write more tonight!! I have a LOST party to go to so I will talk about that and how I need sleep soooo bad but always seem to avoid it ...........lol until then...signing off

Song of the Day: "Fire and Rain" by JT :)