Settling in....

Just a few pics of my new home (that's my guest room--my room's not in a condition where it can be viewed by outsiders).

Basically I have been getting oriented for the last 1.5 weeks. My first real day is Tuesday, with my first night of call being Wednesday. I'm mostly just nervous about the computer system, especially since the attendings on my first month of service like to have the notes done and in the computer before 6am rounds!

But I have been making friends, slowly. Some of us went to the beach last week (I know, rough life), and had a dinner party after that. And then we're heading to Casey's Seafood Cafe tonight, so that should be fun.

Movin' on Down

So a couple weeks ago my dad and I made the trek from Ohio to Texas. It was about 1250 miles and 20 hours. The credit card company even called me on the way because it looked like I had suspicious activity on my card. But I assured them, no, I was just charging hundreds of dollars worth of gas in 5 different states. :)

Graduation time....finally!

Ok, so I have finally gotten around to posting some graduation pictures. The first couple are from before my hooding, with the last two being after (notice I'm actually wearing my hood in the latter).

I don't really have anything else to say about graduation. It was a really fun day! It was so nice to have my family and friends there supporting me. :)

Let the doctoring begin.....

Ok, so I'm waiting on some graduation pictures before I continue to update, just in an effort to keep everything chronological.

So, just a debriefing: I graduated, I made the long drive to Texas, I've been going through orientation for way too long, my first real day is Tuesday, and I already miss Ohio. :(

T minus 20 hours

Holy moley! I will be a doctor at this time tomorrow. Weird.

Today I was thinking about how skewed my perspective has become since becomming a medical student. I mean, I'm around medical students all the time, and all (or most) of us are going to be doctors soon (as in, tomorrow, or in the next 3 years). This seems to me to be the norm.

But then I talk to my family and friends who aren't in medicine, and it seems that they are more excited about my being a doctor than I am! I think they realize how rare it is, while I have just become accustomed to the idea over the last four years.

I think we often need a reality check to realize just how awesome it is that we can be doctors. That not everyone can do it, nor does everyone want to do it.

I think we often forget how amazing it is and how lucky and blessed we are to be able to do something so fantastic, and something that we love so much, for a living.

Woo hoo!!!! Let the fiesta-ing begin! :)

Almost there!

So, I just realized that the next time I post something I'll be a doctor. Freaky. But, for now, for 55.5 more hours, I'm still a student. Hopefully I'll always be a "student of life," but atleast I'll get paid for it.

This past weekend I headed to Chicago for a roomie reunion with Amanda and Kimberly. 'Twas super fun to see them both! The weekend seemed to go by really slowly, which was a good thing. We ate a lot of delicious food, saw the Sex and the City movie, went to a rock and roll dueling piano bar (Howl at the Moon), and the Cubs game.

Then I came back late Sunday night, and re-entered reality, which is graduating, throwing a graduation party, and moving 1200 miles....and trying to afford it all, which is the most overwhelming of all to me.

So, I get hooded on Thursday night, followed by my graduation party on Friday. I have a couple family members coming, which should be fun. I have even made an itinerary and to-do list for everyone involved, so hopefully it will run smoothly. Maybe it's a control issue? Who knows.

An Exciting Weekend

Hello there! So I just got off pretty much the best weekend ever! A brief summary:

On Friday I went shopping all morning with my friend Katy in an attempt to find a dress for Saturday's wedding. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one that I liked and could afford. However, I did find some jeans at Gap that I thoroughly enjoyed, and, as an added bonus, were 2 sizes smaller than my previous pair! It was nice to see some concrete evidence of the success of my New Year's Resolutions. :) After the shopping I went and picked up my sister and we made the 440 mile trek to St. Peters, Missouri for the wedding.

Saturday morning I got up and got uber sweaty working out in the hotel "exercise room" (aka: overheated room with an old man and three pieces of equipment). Had a delicious and free "hot breakfast" at the hotel (where Bunny and I stayed with three former swimmers, which was super fun), then headed to the wedding. Of course, my friend Michelle, looked gorgeous, and the wedding was simple yet elegant. Then Bunny and I headed back after the reception (and stopped at the Brazil Grill, see me and the humongous pork tenderloin, above) and arrived in Columbus at 1am.

Because I'm crazy, and despite the fact that I didn't go to bed until 3am that morning, I got up at 7am, worked out, and then made the 200 mile drive up to Detroit. Some may say it's a little nuts to drive 3 hours each way to see your favorite team play baseball, but I disagree. I just like being outside and watching live sporting events. Plus, I enjoy doing these things by myself--sometimes I find myself a little tired of being around people and always being "on" and trying to "entertain" them. So it's nice to just do something by myself and for myself. I got to Comerica Park in time to see the Twins' batting practice. I also made friends with the Tigers fans around me and saw the Twins win! Awesome.

I headed back after the game and headed over to my friend Courtney's apartment, where we ate "healthy" Papa Murphy's pizza and low-fat Edy's Mint Karaoke Cookie ice cream. It was so diculous, it was ridiculous. We also watched lots of SATC and Meet the Deedles. Quality.

Slept in Monday morning (I think this was justified after my crazy amount of driving and lack of sleep). Then came home, worked out, and headed over to my second family's house, where I made a diarama (sp?), which including making a 3 inch tall police officer and naked boy out of clay (is it summer yet? I'm getting really tired of school projects). Then we ate a delicious dinner and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (my review: good...solid acting and chase scenes, but a little strange with the alien invasion at the end).

To round out the evening, I then went to my dad's place, where I watched the Bachelorette with Bunny and my dad. Bah--she should have given Ryan and Chris another chance, and should stop giving roses to Twilly and the speedo guy! But atleast Richard, Jason, and Jeremy are still in the running. All is well.

Sorry, that was a pretty boring and useless post, but I figured I would type something, and now I'll add a few pics. :) Later!

Not much here

Hello! Not too much new here, just thought I would update.

Let's see...last weekend my friend from college, Jodi, came over to visit. It was awesome! We had a heck of a time at the Race for the Cure, and also went and saw the Columbus Clippers get their butts kicked by those pesky Toledo Mudhens. But, all in all, it was fun to see her.

I've also been continuing the packing. Still lying awake at night, freaking about finances and the move, but atleast this week I got my refund from the Ohio Public Employees Retirement Fund, which means that I atleast have enough money for my June rent, which means I can breath (a little) easier.

This coming weekend I'm (briefly) heading over to St. Louis for my friend Michelle's wedding. I can't believe she's getting married! I'm bringing my sister as my date, and I think the wedding will be a mini-Illinois swimmer reunion, which will be fun. I'll try to take some pictures.

That's about it. Graduation in 14 days, moving in 21, starting residency in 27. Not that I'm counting.

Pics:
Jamie, me, and Jodi at the Race for the Cure
University of Texas-Medical Branch, main hospital
Shriner's Burns Hospital

Feeling productive

So, today I started packing. Not much, really, just the decorations from my wall, my cookbooks, my bulletin board stuff.

I haven't been sleeping well lately because, well, I've been working out late at night, but also because I lay awake at night thinking about the entire moving process--the duration and cost of it all.

And the truth is that I'm not moving for 4 more weeks. And after this weekend, I'll be inheriting a lot of boxes from Race for the Cure.

But, atleast I'm doing something. Feeling productive. Taking control of my life. Step by step.

Home Sweet Home??

Hello again, everyone!

This past weekend my mom and I headed down to Galveston to look for an apartment. We looked at several that were close to both the medical center and the beach (ok, honestly, how hard is it to be close to the beach--it's an island that's only 2 miles wide). In any case, I was having a hard time deciding which apartment I liked. Well, we were at the medical bookstore and my mom was (of course) chatting it up with one of the women that works there, and who eventually set us up with a man named Bruno. Well, Bruno is in charge of all facilities at UTMB--parking, dorms, apartments, etc. and he has some apartments that he rents to students and residents. And guess what--one of them was available! It's not the fanciest place ever, but it just felt cozy and homey when I walked in. I didn't take any pictures, but here are the deets:

2 bedrooms (both good size)
1 bath
$610/mo (cheap!)
ceiling fans in every room!
balcony off the living room
literally, 1 block from the medical center
therefore, 1.5 blocks from the medical center workout facility and outdoor pool
<1 mile from the beach
<1 mile and on the same street as the grocery store
<1 mile and on the same street as the Original Mexican Cafe (delicious)

I'm actually pretty pumped about it. Supposedly these apartments are hard to come by, so I was really lucky that it kind of fell into my lap. I am going to be setting up the second bedroom as a guest room, so I'd better have some visitors! :)

Also, tonight was the last night that my softball team will play together. We had a double-header in the tournament, and unfortunately, lost in the second game by one run. We have been playing together for four years, and now it's over! :( This is a pic of us after our last game.