Snow Snow and yes SNOW!

So if you haven't heard already, there is snow covering a majority of the country, including right here in Iowa City! It has been a blizzard to remember. Even though, yes it was a lot of snow and classes were cancelled and airports came to a stand still, how come every seems to be so hyper about weather? Is it the news, fear of loss of control, etc.?

I always figure, if you live in the Midwest, you need to expect tornados, thunderstorms, ice, snow, rain and sleet....basically all types! The local and state government definitely have a handle to a certain degree on how to manage such an event, but the community also knows it will need to pitch in and cannot rely on somebody else to do everything for them. Emergency Preparedness is just one of the focus areas in Public Health and happens to be a passion of mine. In any event, most people have enough groceries to last them at least a week, board games and communications to keep busy and as a personal note, enough reading to catch up on to last for a Snow Day! ;)

I hope you all are safe, warm and survived this epic snow storm because one only knows there will always be more weather ahead and another day tomorrow :)

Ryan

PS - I thought the picture on the Iowa Homepage (www.uiowa.edu) was interesting because transportation is a major part of public health and was certainly shut down for the day, including the person's bike pictured.

Holiday Break! WINTER! Calmness...

So it's been awhile since I have last written, but reassured I am still alive and well. Going for a dual degree and just being in the College of Public Health will keep you busy. I wrapped up finals last week on Wednesday and just about passed out that night, which was much needed. If you couldn't tell by my last post, I got some new glasses and wore them pretty much from that date throughout finals.

I was able to see my Mentor for the last time on Thursday night for a ugly sweater bar crawl and just a little relaxation and fun before everyone headed home for the holidays. I ended up staying through Saturday to finish up a couple work/club assignments and email that I had pushed off until finals were over with. Sometimes I wish I had a BlackBerry but then I see some of my friends who you sometimes want to say they have "Crack Berries" because they are so addicted to checking them! It is kind of funny but seriously thinking about it, I think I like just waiting till I get to my laptop or a computer to check Facebook, Twitter and email. Sometimes you just need a little calmness in life and for me, that means not having a smartphone, which is fine by me.

I would definitely suggest if you are busy during the year with school, work , family to make sure you take time for yourself. We all need to find time for ourselves and I propose to you that you take an hour, close the door and just enjoy the moment of calmness, even if it's at night before bed. It will help sort your thoughts, especially if your deciding what to do with the next step in your life.

Hope you take a little time for yourself today!

Ryan

PS - The picture is one I got off of Bing.com...one of my favorite websites to get a great picture while studying :) Enjoy!