Happy Birthday to Me!

I am one happy gal. Today, I'm celebrating my 23rd year!!

And it's been wonderful! I started it all with hot chocolate & roses and a haircut. And then my momma suprised me with my very own Kitchenaid mixer! And it's yellow! hahaha I am sooo excited. At the time I was utterly shocked and it took me a good five minutes to realize what I had just received haha! But it's awesome!

And then I had potato & egg breakfast tacos which were delicious. Seriously, I don't know how the rest of the world lives without breakfast tacos! I remember when I first heard about them I thought it was such a weird idea but now. now, I can't imagine living without them! haha

I just realized that I'm using a whole bunch of exclamation marks. Sorry, but I'm just that excited. Yes, if you were talking with me in person, I would be exclaiming each sentence!

Then, after picking up some breakfast tacos, my mom & I picked up my sister and we headed out for a girl's day. Unfortunately, the weather decided to be 42 and rainy all day long... not the clear blue skies & 60 degrees that it has been all week...because today is such a special day afterall, the weather had to be special too! haha..so we headed to Northstar Mall to look for shoes, instead of our usual La Cantera. Didn't have much luck there but that just means I'll have fun swooning in the shoe department at Nordstroms tomorrow!
We picked up my grandma (Ba) and went to Red Robin where I decided to live off of ice cream for lunch and had a strawberry milkshake! And I got a birthday call from my guy (who I'm missing terribly since he's waay out in NM) so I stepped out in the freezing cold to talk to him. I guess ya really like someone when you'll step out into 30-something degree, cold & rainy weather just to chat with them :)



Then after lunch my Mom, sis & I went to see "It's Complicated", which was cute & so funny! And now, I am enjoying the one peaceful break in my day where I get to sit at home before we go to Sushi Zushi for my family dinner. So I decided to write a quick update to the world. while I sit here and hug my new mixer. Did I mention it's yellow? Just think of all the goodies I'm going to make :o

The Holidays

This was the first year I had really seen the trees change color! how pretty!

Last Week- - - Post MSF. Monday night.

And for the first time I've realized, I don't know what I want beyond getting my M.D.. For soo long, this has been the goal. For so long I had this general idea that I would grow up and get married and have a family and work. Now that I am confident in my ability to gain my M.D., I find that I don't quite know what will be next. And that is exciting. Incredibly exciting.

Earlier this week I was rejected from the International Service Program to go to Honduras, which was half sad. I kinda knew that I botched the interview but I wasnt terribly shaken by the news that I didnt get in (although I kind of expected I would)...my first response was "it wasn't meant to be". And I really believe that. I have such faith now that I am where I am suppose to be, that whatever comes my way, what I have and who I am is all a gift from the Lord. I am confident that I will end up where I should this summer, and I'm really excited to see what I'll be doing.

Recently my interest has been peeked in pediatric oncology (but maybe that's just from watching too many St. Jude's commercials over Thanksgiving break)... I still don't know if I would be able to bear it but it's an interesting idea. And I've ALWAYS been interested in infectious disease and pediatrics and more recently global health. After watching the MSF documentary, I came away realizing that MSF should not be my goal. It is a good ambition to have, to do that sometime in my life but it's not necessarily the next thing or the biggest thing. Right now, I just know it would be awesome to do one day, and hopefully I'll have that chance.



Today, all I know is that tonight I have to study head & neck to do well (hopefully as well as I did on the midblock ) on Friday's exams. In my future, I know that next year (and semester, the start of "Phase II") will be even harder. But I will adjust. Then I will probably be in Round Rock for my clinical years. Who knows who will be in my life then or after that. Hopefully I will be able to keep some of the great friends I'm making now, but I know the only thing you can be sure of is change. So for now, I am happy with now. What I have right now is perfect for now. And hopefully, I'll find some direction about where to go next, all in due time.

Oh and p.s. that documentary made surgery look awesome. Still don't think I would want that life but just saying...

and p.s.s. if anyone is reading this, I hope they do something that challenges them. Do something that scares you. It's quite exciting. Even if you end up getting owned by rock walls and walk away a little shaken up.

Heart!

I am so thankful for all of my blessings!

...like being able to be on this path to become a physician, really good cozy hugs from a really great guy, being able to help others with the school's angel tree project, acting like I was 5 and filling my cup full of three different flavors and 5 toppings at Spoon's yogurt shop, really fun Guster songs like "all the way to heaven", having two hyper little dogs running around, wearing cute clothes, my fun roomies and classmates and my wonderful family!




Today I went to the 2nd meeting of the Catholic Medical Student Association at our school. The father had some great pearls that I've been tossing around in my cabeza, and one of them got me to count my blessings in all the people around me! I also ran for and was unaminously (unopposed) elected to Community Outreach chair of the organization. Then I go the best hug from the best guy today (and two kisses!) then I went to a development of the pharynx lecture. From there, my roomies and I went Christmas shopping for our Angel Tree recipient. I am doing two angel tree gifts (with my tank group too) and doing Secret Santa! yay!... I still need to do my regular christmas shopping :o ...Then we went to Spoon's since it was across the street...yay! for a fun day :)

Weekend Vac-a

I had a wonderful 2 day vacation! The second weekend I have had off since August!! And it sure was swell :)
Friday--- it snowed!! Snow flurries started around 10am and my roomies and i standing around outside just staring at the sky. and then quickly remembering it was freezing...by the time noon rolled around, we were headed in to take our midblock test for head & neck and it REALLY started snowing! I mean it started coming down fast and furious which I haven't seen before!! It was amazing! At school, we played in the court yard as long as could pre-test...then we had the midblock exam. And sadly during that two hours, the snow went away but it was alright because the test was OVER! Post- test I found myself twittling in my thumbs until my amiga Riham called me to go to La Bodega. I hung out with about 30 of my closest m1 buddies there until around 7pm, when I went home to get ready for my date!
We couldn't remember, but I was pretty sure this was date #5... He picked me up from my house and took me to Luigi's, one of the nicest places in town (& one of a handful of italian places here!). The restaraunt had a christmas tree decorated with kitchen utensils and bags of pasta! too cute! Dinner was wonderful, for both the food and the company. Afterwards, we went back to his place and watched "We Own the Night" with one of his roomates and another M2 amiga.

Saturday--- i slept in! yay! then around noon my folks arrived in town! I was soo happy to see them...after giving them the tour of the christmas-decorated house, we went out to lunch and then shopping! We went to the mall and target and after dropping off the goods, went out to Texas Roadhouse and then to the movies to watch "Everybody's Fine". Back at the casa, my dad and I listened to the last 2 quarters of the UT vs Nebraska football game....and boooy did UT get lucky!! Seriously, a second left on the clock, to win the game with a 46 yard field goal?! Crazy stuff!
Sunday---I accidently slept in, somehow turning off my alarm this morning...but made it to morning mass at St. Mary's and then to HEB and lunch at Blue Baker! Then my parents headed back home :( So then I found myself some more of nothing to do... so I: took a warm shower, baked some delicious double chocolate cookies, played tug-of-war with Bella, watched "The Holiday" (sooo cute!!), prepared Linguine Zucchini, almost cut my finger off cutting up zucchini, ate dinner, researched my next camera, and theen went to see my guy and share my cookies with the household there :)

Oh yeah, and I do realize how silly this is but he no longer lists himself as single on fb. I know thats silly, but I was really excited to see that :)

Turkey Day!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. the Radio City Rockettes. Watching dogs on tv. Petting dogs on the couch. Cooking all day. Eating A LOT of good food. Being with my family. Cleaning dishes. Eating some more Sweet Potato Casserole AND....



The A&M vs UT game!!! Waaay fun game, finished 49-39...that means i get 7 & 1/2 kisses when I get back to aggieland (7 touchdowns & 1 field goal)...from one of possibly the sweetest ducks around.

P.S. Look how cute this page is by Elizabeth Kartchner!



P.S.S. and this one from Kelly Purkey!
P.P.S.S. heading back to the books tomorrow! :/ ...& setting up the Christmas tree!

Friday 11.20!

A couple of happenings today:

I heart labradoodles!


I love looking up new cupcake recipes!!
chocolate chip cupcakes


banana cupcakes with caramel buttercream icing

strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream icing

& tonight, I'm going to see a movie with some girlfriends
..and I have a date! :D

Post- Final Exam Block 1C

On Monday, I took my final for block 1C...which means means I am roughly 3/4 done with my first semester of medical school!! yay!

I tried to take picture of everything I did this afternoon since I haven’t used my poor broken camera in a while…

I finished my Lower Extremity Final exam around 4pm (amazingly early!). Afterwards, one of my roomies and I went to Target & bought Christmas decorations (I know its not even Thanksgiving, but you should see how the other half of the duplex is lit up!!) and goodies to cook pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing

Steve getting in on the holiday spirit..


Giulia and I tried to order in Chinese food, she ended up going to pick it up while I vacuumed haha but it was still good!


We had some wine & I started baking!....





This was the second time I made these cupcakes & each time, EVERYONE adored them
They are soo festive & Delicious!







.... andI got to scrapbook a little!


...and then Samir, Giulia, & I met up with some classmates to watch the Leonid Meteor Shower! We found our way to Bryan Lake and had a spectacular view! We saw about 10-15 from midnight-2:30am...and I froze my toes off!! Here's an oh-so flattering picture of me as a enchilada, trying to stay warm & watch the sky


But it was such fun, even Claudia joined in!!

Happy Things

(We were just tested on pes anserinus and this guy appeared on our test...made me laugh in the middle of the exam :) )

I have been RIDICULOUSLY happy these days! I mean seriously, I am waaay blessed & I count my blessings every day!
I love my life here in medical school. I am amazed everyday at how wonderful things are here... also I've noticed that I've become less shy and more vocal since I've been here. Maybe it's because one of my roomies likes to talk or that all the people I hang out with are pretty vocal or maybe it's because I'm more confident in who I am & what I'm doing...either way it's pretty fun!
Oh and second development...Each time I go to the gym, I've been able to run a little farther and a little longer, with it becoming just a little easier for me to breath afterwards too. So. I'm going to give myself the goal of running a 5K by the end of the school year (next summer)!! I've walked in a few but I've never ran them before so this could be interesting...

And I love baking cupcakes these days..especially THESE pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing...I could eat just the icing but the two go together well!


Soo I'm thinking next I'll bake german chocolate cupcakes, or chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, or chocolate chip cupcakes with buttercream + chocolate chips icing!
Or maybe BRAIN cupcakes since we are studying head & neck in this next block?! How cool is that!



My Aunt Patty posted this wonderful quote, which was great pre-test motivation: “Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That's what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice!” ~ Bethany Hamilton (awesome female surfer)

My wonderful friend Cari showed me this great song by Michael Buble called, Haven't Met You Yet …but I adore this video set in a grocery store!

Prehistoric necklaces at Anthro

Lucky Duck

I am feeling like one lucky duck these days.

I have been soo very happy with life in general (in between tests mainly haha) and today is just another reminder of how entirely blessed i am! I didn't have any lectures to attend this morning! Instead I was able to hear a genetics panel, in which people with genetic conditions or their relatives come to the COM to talk about their experiences. This was our second panel and while the stories are really touching each time, I always walk away feeling inspired, I remember this is why I am putting myself through the pain of medical school! haha. And also, just coming to be exposed to numerous diseases and conditions in lectures, I think it's a miracle that I am healthy at all!

For lunch, my roomies and another med school friend hit up McAllister's for lunch, where I had a yummy veggie pita <3 Then back at home, my roomies and I each took turns listening to each other's bowel sounds haha only medical students! But it's just so fun to hang out with them and all of my friends, I feel so very blessed to have them all in my life!

So now, I am getting ready to study for the rest of the afternoon but I'm really happy!
And I'm wearing my pretty new autumn red skirt today, because while it IS Novemeber 6th, it's a warm 75 degrees F outside! I don't know if I'm defying fall or it's defying me. I'm even going over to my friends house, where they're going to be grilling! in November!



OH & another nearly daily reminder of how loved i am (and how blessed i feel!), my Ba and Aunt send me mail!! I love getting their letters and packages in the mail because they are both just so thoughtful. Sometimes it's a cute halloween card just saying hi and other times it's a package full of Hersey's Hugs and Kisses haha



but I sooo appreciate the idea that they thought about me & they're soo supportive of me in my journey way out here! I am probably one of the most blessed personas in the whole wide world.
...sometimes I am just so happy, I could quack!

Snickerdoodles

Today, I took off an afternoon, something I haven't done in a looong time.
I went to a wonderful Women in Medicine potluck dinner. There were tons of yummy dishes & four amazing female physicians who shared their stories with us...it was so fun! I am always so inspired when I meet women physicians, it's prove that it can be done!! And whatever way my future works out, it will definetely be an adventure!

After getting lost on the other side of town, I returned back to the casa and had an absolute ball getting messing in making snickerdoodles! But really, I just love saying the name too!



What i love most about making these cookies is that they are super messy! I can feel sugar grains under my nails and how sticky the dough is as i shape it into balls!!



and i get these guys after rolling the dough in some cinnamon and sugar...


...which turns into these!



And after four batches, I had a mountain of snickerdoodles!


...and this to clean up haha

Everything's starting to make sense

So it's October 6th! It's amazing to me how quickly time flies by when you're in medical school! I guess since I am so busy all of the time, I didn't even notice all those days go by...10 weeks so far!

Up to this point, I have LOVED finally getting to learn all about interesting medical topics like Anatomy! But it wasn't until this week that I really started to appreciate my clinical skills class. It's been one of the most important topics (since this is the stuff I'll actually be doing one day) but I think it always scarred me before. Just the thought of me fumbling my way through every detail...but I was talking to an M2 friend today who mentioned that he did orthopedic surgery research over the summer, something he was going to get TWO published papers out of, which seemed waay impressive to me. Not because it's ortho or anything but just that he was on the ball and getting things accomplished. It made me want to accomplish something, and something practical too. Also, the M2s have had a year of practice at this stuff so most they are pretty confident in their clinical skills too....so it really made me want to commit to focusing on my Spanish this next summer.

I plan to hold myself accountable. I have always wanted to become more fluent, so what better time than now? (and perhaps the only time since I will be studying for Step next year!) ...so suddenly, I am embracing my clinical skills studies( which couldn't have come at a better time considering I have a test in it tomorrow!) and I am making a promise to myself to better my Spanish this summer. I would love love to go abroad to do that too, so I will try my best to make that happen!

In other news, I am very grateful for being busy all of the time. It keeps me interested and out of trouble. Things are starting to make sense in my world although I never know what each week will hold!

I love it!

First Day of Fall

To ring in the first day of fall, I bought these lovelies!

I saw them at HEB (best grocery store ever) the other day but made myself wait until it was October/fall to buy them...well i couldn't hold out any longer! It was a fun way to celebrate the solstice!





And today, even though it was soo cloud & rainy all day long, i loved it! The air was so fresh and cool outside. I didn't even mind (too terribly) my hair getting completely fuzzled by all the humidity haha



I am in such a good mood! School feels easier, or I'm less stressed about it, because it doesn't feel like we have as much info as before...but I think that I am just getting used to the crazy work load! Although, I am in the habit of studying at the medical school library from 6-midnight so it was hilarous when i got home last night to this....




Haha my roommates said that they couldn't believe I spent so much time at the library and they were convinced that I must have a secret life or be having a hot love affair at school haha! Giulia said she tried to put Steve (the skeleton) in a sexy pose hahaha...I have the best roomies :)

And to top off all of this funness- I have two pints of ice cream waiting for me two hurry up and study Histology!! yum! Here I come mint chocolate chip & rocky road! (which Bella seems to like!)




p.s. isn't this an awesome wedding idea: this couple was married at the Santa Barbara Zoo! Complete with a Giraffe-feeding session after the ceremony!

Everybody go see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!! it's HILARIOUS!!
And it snows ice cream in it too! Best snow ever!


haha and check out this dog:

Night Post Block Final

That's what I felt like doing...screaming before the exam but now

...the big, bad, scary test is over...!!
and in it's place: Margaritas, Weezer's blue album, awesome roomies, wine, dog pettings, & Stranger than Fiction.

I have been neglecting my bloggo because medical school has eaten up all of my time. nahm, nahm, nahm... all gone!
But I have been sooooo entirely blessed to have such a wonderfully supportive & loving family. Every day I count my blessings. I have received mail from my mom, aunt & grandma...and this past week my amazingly thoughtful aunt sent me a care package full of goodies for relaxing post-exam, which I am sure to use! And I get visits with gifts of pretty flowers like this:



Tomorrow we start back up. But it's just nice that I'm loving my life, no matter where I am or how tired I get...
Life is good.
<3

p.s. if medical school doesn't work out, I'm becoming a baker just like Ana Pascal!

Thursday Night Biochemistry

It's 10:18pm at the center of the universe.
Right now:

Mastered my 2 Biochemistry Lectures
Listening to "What You Wish For" by Guster (love the bongos!! + strangely ironic now lol, wishing for med school all this time)
Drinking hot cocoa for no reason, other than I love it.
On to Anatomy of the Back.
Then sleep <3
...Oh how I love sleep & guster & the weekends!

What my insides look like

When I woke up, I thought I would much rather go swimming & watch "500 Days of Summer" (with my guy too!) than go to school today



...instead I went to anatomy lab where I got to use a bone-saw to help reflex a ribcage, amongst other super cool things, and afterwards I picked up a love-filled package from my parents with things like expensive medical tools & recipe books with pink piggie cupcakes <3, and I got the sweetest card in the mail from my grandma, and I will be going to eat Ben & Jerry's with my lovely roommates tonight!! hmm...yeah, I think my day was pretty awesome :D ...well once I got passed that whole Biochemistry Q/A session and Histology lecture stuff (which actually wasn't so bad)...yup pretty great day...


p.s. Meet Steve, our newest roommate:

My White Coat

This past Saturday, my family came to visit me & watch me receive my WHITE COAT! yay! On my way to becoming an aggie doc!

Oh and to make my stay at A&M easier...There's a Ben& Jerry's scoop shop here & I just got these lovely coupons for BOGO Sundaes on Mondays! yay!