Christmas trees

Our lovely Christmas tree with our blue and silver decorations and our blue and silver and green presents! Zach and I are opening some of our presents to each other tonight and then he is taking me to a surprise restaurant! I'm excited!



The National Christmas tree in DC . It is really huge and beautiful!



In front of the White House.

On another fun note....I FINISHED PSYCH today!!! It ended on a high note with the Department of Interior calling our unit at the hospital telling us that one of our patients had been calling them to complain about how Spring Grove was treating her....she believes she works for the Federal Government and that they could help her out! Good hell....so glad I am out of that place!!!

Happy Holidays!

It has been a long time! Zach came back to Baltimore a couple weeks ago and it's been pretty busy since then. I LOVE having him home!!! He has been to various interviews over the last couple weeks and I have been busy with Psychiatry and trying to finish up Xmas shopping. I think Zach and I finally got everything done including each other and he is the hardest man to shop for! We put up our first Xmas tree and had to buy a tree stand, all the ornaments, a star and a skirt! We didn't have anything! We did get a real tree though and our apartment is small enough that everyday I get home from work it smells like pine trees...wonderful!

We are headed to DC tomorrow night to see the National Xmas tree and go out to dinner with Zach's cousin and his wife. It should be beautiful and I'm excited.

I have 2 days left of Psych and then we leave for Utah on Saturday. I'm excited to be done and ready for Xmas to be here. We're going skiing and on a sleigh ride through the mountains of Park City. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures! Then we head to Charlotte on the 29th to spend some time with mom and Steve and Danny. It'll be weird with no Kendra this year....:(

As much as I've complained about Psych over the last 6 weeks...it has ended on a pretty good note and there has been some progress with some particularly difficult patients. Overall I learned a lot and I guess that is what I'm supposed to get out of the rotation. I did my time and not it's time to move on to Surgery! I took my Medicine and Psych shelves last weekend in NYC and we spent the night there Friday night with our good friends Brit and Ryan. They are having a baby in May and not finding out the sex which I think is so exciting! NYC is really great at Xmas time but it was freezing up there and not fun to walk around when it was so cold. We ate at a couple of good restaurants and had some really good Thai mojotos! Thanks Anna!

I hope this holiday season finds everyone well and I wish everyone Happy Holidays!

Back to the Grind

I got back from Iowa late last night and had a really great time with my family the last 3 days. I flew in early Thursday morning and drove up with dad and Maria to my aunt and uncles remarriage ceremony....to each other. It was a sweet ceremony and then we all gathered to eat and socialize! I love being able to sit around and talk to my cousins and aunts and uncles that I don't get to see very often. I got to play with all the new babies and my cousin Janae announced that she and her husband are expecting their second little one in June! Congratulations!!!

Friday Dad and I drove back up north and visited with my grandma some more. The lady amazes me more and more everytime I spend time with her. She has been through so much in her life and she is the strongest woman I know! It is joy to talk with her and she is cognitively aware and still very astute. She still watches the same gameshows and television "stories" that she watched 20 years ago when she baby-sat me....it's nice to know that some things never change. She truely is remarkable and I love to spend time with her. Then we drove down to the meteropolis of Bellevue and spent some time with my aunt Sharon and uncle Paul. As always, we had great conversation and even got to talk to my cousin and his wife on the webcam!

Now it's back to Psych tomorrow :( Only 3 weeks left of that nonsense and an added bonus is that Zach comes home this week!!

Giving thanks (a little early)

I have much to be thankful for in my life. I have an amazing family, a fantastic boyfriend and am following a career path that I love (well except for the Psych part right now). I am lucky enough to have Thursday and Friday off this week and for the first time in 2 years will have a "real" American Thanksgiving again since I was on the island the last couple of years. It will also be my first Thanksgiving back in Iowa since we moved 12 YEARS AGO! That to me is craziness! I am very much looking forward to going back and seeing everyone and to celebrate a wonderful day with my aunt and uncle.

Going back to Iowa is always special. There is very large part of me that still considers it "home." It is where I grew up, where my family still lives, and where most of my values and morals were established. Right in the middle of the Heartland. I have moved around and traveled a good bit the last few years and I wouldn't trade any of that, but sometimes it's nice to go back to the small town pace of LaMotte Iowa and reconnecting with my family.

The support of my family is tremendous and there is no way that I would be where I am today if it wasn't for them. I have been allowed to grow and learn and discover on my own, and it has been wonderful and fulfilling and the greatest part is that it isn't over yet! My future is bright and I am incredibly blessed with an amazing man by my side and a career that I love already!

So this Thanksgiving I give thanks for my past, my present and my future. And thank everyone along the way who have held my hand, lifted me up and given me support!

I love ya'll!

Psychiatric Evaluation

Talk about a difficult thing to do...interview a crazy person! It's definitely not like walking into the ER and interviewing someone with abdominal pain. The conversation goes more like this:

Doctor: "So you say that your stomach is upset?"

Patient: "Yes my stomach is very mad at me because God is putting poison in my milk. I like to drink milk but only when I know it comes from cows in Wisconsin. Do you like Wisconsin. I used to live in Germany and the Russians put spy ware into the fillings of my teeth. See....here is where I pulled out 3 teeth that the Russians were using to spy on me with."

Doctor: "So you're stomach doesn't hurt?"

Now that I've started my second week of Psych I have started to have some conversations with the patients on my unit....let's just say they are VERY interesting! This morning I had a man tell me he was Hippocrates.....uh...sure...ok....

I am working at Spring Grove hospital and it is the second oldest hospital in the US. I think it goes back to the 1700's. It is a sprawling 200 acres campus that is a true throwback to the old Psych hospitals. Lobotomy's were performed there and apparently some of the buildings are haunted. Fantastic. Like the alive crazies aren't enough...now I have to worry about dead ones?!
It is a pretty campus though and honestly a pretty good experience. But I still won't be searching out residencies in Psych....

Out of Words

I haven't really had too much to say lately because I am stuck in Psychiatry hell. I really hate it! I won't go into details but I have definitely learned in 3 short days that it is not for me!

Other than that I come home and night and study either Medicine or Psych becuase I have my shelf exams in December. This weekend will consist of more studying and waiting for my loan check to go through so I actually have money in my account!!!

I'm also counting down the days for Zach to come back to Baltimore. The distance thing really gets old after awhile :( He'll be here December 2nd after he stops in Missouri for an interview.

For those of you wondering about Kendra...she is still doing well in Australia. She has found a job in a PR firm that is a volunteer position right now with room to move up into a paid position once they see how she does. She says that she likes it alot and who knows when we'll see her back in the US?

Ugh Psych :(

Zach's parents house

The apple orchard lined driveway...this was last Xmas that is why there is so much snow

Started my Psychiatry rotation today....it's definitely not my favorite so far! Unfortunately I'm in the long term ward meaning the patients I will be seeing have been there for a long time with not much of a chance of leaving.....i.e. pretty hopeless! This is the part I hate about Psych....you're not really helping these patients, you're just adjusting their meds to make them "less crazy." I'll try to be open minded and reevaluate in 6 weeks....

I spent last week in Utah and it was beautiful and wonderful like always! I really love it out there and it gives the south a run for it's money when it comes to settling down one day. Zach's parents live on this 10 acre apple orchard and it's so much fun to be outside! We spent most of Saturday morning driving the John Deere bulldozer around taking out dead apple tree stumps! So fun :) I flew back to Baltimore late Sunday night and started Psych today, and since I work at a state Psych hospital and tomorrow is Veterans Day....I have the day off!!

I also bought a ticket today to go to Iowa for Thanksgiving. Since I'm not going for Christmas this year and I have Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving I thought I would use the opportunity to go see my family.

Zach also got a couple more interviews last week...yay!! One at George Washington in DC and the other at LSU. I'm so proud of him!!!

Birthdays, Bad football and Great Music

All I can say is that the Georgia football game was....AWFUL. Period.

On to more fun things! I want to wish my dad a happy belated birthday. It was yesterday and since I didn't post I saved the wishes for today. Thanks for everything over the years Dad, all your love and support mean so much! Happy Birthday, I love you!

Other than the football game it has been a really great weekend. I flew to Cleveland on Friday night and Zach was waiting at the airport. We are pretty used to this distance thing by now but it was REALLY great to see him!! We began our trek to Philly and got about 3 hours of driving in before we both got pretty sleepy. Zach had been on call Thursday night so he only got about 5 hours of sleep during the day Friday. After about 7 hours of a not so great hotel bed, we got up, found a diner for breakfast and started our journey again. We made it to Philly around 2 Saturday afternoon and found sports bar to watch the UGA game. When the score finally was 42-3 we decided we would have more fun sitting in our seats at the Wachovia Center waiting for Coldplay.

The concert was AMAZING!!!! The energy from the band and the lighting effects were so incredible. We had a really great time and I can honestly say they are one band that I could be a "groupie" for! I missed having you there though Kenna :( Baker was fun but it wasn't the same!

After getting back to Baltimore late last night we slept in this morning and have spent today doing laundry and repacking Zach so he can leave tomorrow for his interview in Louisville and then he is on to Utah for a month.

Lazy Days

This is Danny and I before his senior night. Mom seems to think that he and I look exactly alike...I'm not sure I see it??

I'm enjoying my final days at home with mom and Danny (Steve is in Japan all week). I'm leaving on Friday to fly to Cleveland to meet Zach and I'm really excited since I haven't seen him in 4 weeks! We're going to the Coldplay concert in Philly on Saturday night and then he leaves on Monday for his interview at the University of Louisville and from there he'll fly to Salt Lake where he'll do his Family Practice rotation for a month with his dad.

We found out over the last couple of days that he has gotten interview requests from the University of Missouri and also Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland- this is the hospital where he is doing his internship right now! So as of now he has 5 interviews and we are halfway to the goal of 10!

I was going to try and head to Utah next week with Zach however, tickets are hugely expensive so I may be spending my week studying for my shelf exams in December. I start Psychiatry on the 10th and I'm pretty excited about getting back into the swing of things. It is always wonderful to have time off but I have missed the hospital....hopefully this means I've picked the right career path!

Big football game this weekend....I hope everyone is cheering for the Dawgs!!!

Random Pics from the Past

I thought I would post a couple pictures on here from the last year. Today was a very lazy day of watching football and....well that's pretty much it! I'm very proud of the Georgia Bulldogs and am trying to figure out how I'm gonna watch the UGA/FL game next weekend as the Coldplay concert is Saturday night in Philiadelphia. I'm so excited about the concert (thanks Zach!) but I really don't want to miss the game.....

Christmas Eve at Dad's 2007

Downtown Salt Lake City by all the lights. It is really beautiful there where every tree and building is lite up for about 5 square blocks.

New Year's Eve 2007


Zach examining patients in Haiti

Day of Sugery at St. Agnes

Home Sweet Home (in South Carolina that is)

It is so nice to be in South Carolina hanging out at home. I get to sleep late, mom buys the groceries and I don't have to get out of my pj's all day if I don't want to! I did manage to get out of them last night to go to Danny's football game. While the game was NOT pretty, it was nice to see Dan play for the first time in 3 years. The last time I saw him play he was a freshman. Unfortunately his team is not so great, but Danny is playing really well and is a true senior leader on the team. I am definitely proud of him. Dad was going to come down this weekend for the game but unfortunately they moved the game from Friday night to Thursday night so dad wasn't able to make the game. Luckily he could get his flight changed so he is going to come down in a couple weeks for Danny's last game.

Today mom and I went to something called Homearama. It is where they build 3-5 houses in these upscale neighborhoods and they are fully decorated inside and out and people can tour them and look at all the amazing interior design...and it is amazing! We had a great time but we missed you Kendra!!

Tomorrow is a full day of football watching on the couch (i.e. I won't be getting out of my pj's!)

Go Dawgs!!!!

Back in the Good "Ole US of A!!

Sorry it has been so long ya'll! I am finally back in the US after a wonderful adventure down under. Kendra and I had an amazing time together and she is doing so well and really loving her new life over there. She lives in the Gold Coast area which is about an hour south of Brisbane. It is right on the ocean and really beautiful! We spent lots of time being lazy and eating! However, I must say, the food in Australia is no bueno! It really is bland and boring and VERY expensive (as it seems everything there is). The weather didn't really cooperate the first week I was there, it is spring over there and it was rainy and cool for a few days (not good beach weather), but this past weekend was wonderful and Kendra and I took full advantage!

I played rugby one night with this league that she plays on...what a tough sport! We had a lot of fun though but I'm too competitive to play a sport where I don't really know the rules! I'm not good at not knowing what I'm doing.

I'm surprised how different Australia was from the US. It is slightly stuck in a time warp and I feel like it's not quite Europe and not quite the US, so it kind of gets lost in the shuffle down there by itself! Things are done differently over there and I felt like sometimes the only commonality between here and there was that both countries speak English! And even that was debateable at times based on some of the words they use!

The only thing that went wrong the whole trip was on my way home. I had a flight from Brisbane to Sydney and then from Sydney to San Francisco. My flight from Brisbane was late so I missed my flight to San Fran and thus I was stuck in Sydney for the night. Not a big deal...just delayed my return to Charlotte. But I made it home safely last night and tonight I'm headed to Danny's football game. I haven't seen him play since his freshman year so I am really excited. He was named in the paper today as the Offense and Special Teams player of the week from last week's game. He ran two kickoffs back, each one over 95 yards! His team is terrible this year but he is playing really well and truly enjoying his senior year.

Zach also found out yesterday that he got another interview, this on at the University of Mississippi! Go Baker!!!

From the Land of Oz!

Sorry I haven't been on here in awhile...Kendra and I have been exploring and relaxing.  Australia is really great and we have been having a great time!  

The flight over here wasn't so bad.  I took one Ambien after we left San Francisco and slept for 7 hours which was still only half the flight but it was nice to be knocked out for that long.  The rest of the flight I just dozed in and and out and before I knew it we landed in Sydney.  From Sydney I caught a flight to Brisbane where Kendra and her friend (boyfriend?) Tobain were waiting for me!!  It was really wonderful to see Kendra and we chatted the whole way back to Gold Coast where they live.  We rented a condo on the beach for 5 days from Tobian's friend and enjoyed being lazy and reading and of course putting a puzzle together :)  

We went to a wildlife sanctuary on Sunday and saw all these animals that are native to Australia....koalas, kangaroos, dingos, wombats and other crazy stuff.  It was a really neat place and we were able to pet and play with some of the animals.  I've got lots of pictures that I'll have to post when I get back to the US and can download them.  

Anyway...it's off to SeaWorld today!  

Love from down under!

Vermont Pics

My little sweetheart, Jonas

The single chair lift up the mountain to see the leaves.

Fall Foliage

Wow...the fall in Vermont is unreal!! I have to say that is a must see if you have any appreciation for the autumn and the turning of the leaves. This place is in the fall is truly unbelieveable. The colors are so vibrant, the sky is bright blue, the clouds are lazy white puffs floating in the sky and the temperature is a chilly but nice 55 degrees. I have some pictures that I will try to figure out how to post on here. We took a ski lift chair up to the top of the mountain and the scenery on the way up and down in really breathtaking. I had an amazing time seeing the kids again and spending time with Claudia and Eugene. Jonas is still my little love. He is so full of sweetness and innocence and love. And Anna has grown up so much but is still her lovable and inquisitive self. We spent Saturday afternoon and evening at the house. Claudia threw Eugene a birthday party and I got to see a few people that I haven't seen in a couple years. We had a big fire and made smores and lit off these really cool sky laterns. They were like hot air balloons. You lite a fire underneath the paper balloon and it floats off into the sky and you can see it for miles. Really cool...google them! On Sunday we did the chair lift and then spent some time at the theater that they own. Good times with great friends. Today Claudia and I took a hike up one of the mountains and it was gorgeous. Then we headed to Burlington and spent the afternoon browsing the city. I forgot what an eclectic, interesting place Vermont is....it is unlike any place I have ever been. It was great to come back and in some ways I feel like I have never left. My living here 2 years ago was a very significant time and I cherish it daily.
I am currently sitting in the Burlington airport awaiting my flight to Charlotte. I'll be there for about 18 hours and then it is off to Australia!!! I will definitely try to post more when I am over there....can't wait to see you Kendra!!!! Get the sunscreen and beach chairs ready....I'm coming to town!!!

No more medicine

Today was my last day of my medicine rotation! I've learned so much and it was a great experience. 12 weeks is a long time especially when you are long call every 4th day/night. At some point I'll have to make a list of everything that I"ve learned that isn't necessarily "medicine" related...

But this afternoon Zach comes home from Duke and tomorrow I am leaving on my big adventure for the next month. I will be in Vermont for 3 days and then Tuesday night I leave for Australia. I can't wait!!! Vermont will be beautiful this time of year and it will be great to see the family and the kids that I haven't seen in 2 years. I'm sure I will be amazed at how much they have grown....

I must go pack...I hate packing, especially for this long of a time period....Kendra tells me to throw in some bathing suits and sunscreen and we'll be set for the beaches of Australia...that works for me!!!

Residency Process

So I thought I write today about the residency process of becoming a doctor since Zach is going through that now. This will be more or less tailored to what our plans are for the next year or two. The whole process begins officially in September of the year before you match. There is one consolidated website where you submit your application and then pick the schools you want to recieve it and they download it at their leisure. Zach applied to 55 Neurosur programs all over the country and 15 General Surgery programs as a back up. After submission of the application, then you sit around and wait for emails from the program saying that they want to interview you or saying "thanks but no thanks." The "no" emails are all the same "thank you for your interest in our program but due to the high volume of qualified candidates we cannot offer you an interview." blah! Anyway....once the interview requests come then you have to coordinate them with your schedule. The program usually offers 2 or 3 options for dates. Anywhere between 10-15 interviews is really good. Once all the interviewing is done (usually around January) then you rank your top hospitals based on the programs you liked, the area, things like that. And the programs rank their applicants. Zach will rank according to the area, the programs he liked and also rank according to which hospitals would allow for me to do my electives there next year. After all the ranking is done, a big complicated computer system jumbles everything up and "matches" applicants to students based on the numbers. On the 3rd Monday of March you get an email telling you if you matched or not and then on that Thursday you get an email saying where you matched.

Fingers crossed tightly, Zach matches into a Neurosurgery program in March and he will move there in May. I have to do Peds and OB/Gyn in NY next summer so I'll join him whereever he is next August and finish off my electives then apply to programs in the area that he is in. We won't be couples matching but hopefully I'll get into the same program that he is in because we have heard that programs take into consideration couples. Meaning, I would have an advantage in the interview process at the hospital where Zach is practicing since we are together. Since I have no idea what speciality I want to go into....I'll have to figure that out by next year at this time!

Not sure if this cleared anything up or not...but I know people have asked me questions about the process and in particular what Zach and my plans were.

On another note...only 3 more days of Internal Medicine!!!

Last Long Call!!

Tonight I had my last long call and I actually got off at 9pm...not too bad considering most nights for long call I was at the hospital until 11 or so. But I do have to be back tomorrow morning at 6am so I'm not looking forward to that :( I am the worst at getting up early and I'm not sure it will get any easier....I'm gonna miss the nights in the ER for long call though. Perhaps I'll be interested in ER? I really like the hustle and bustle down there but I think I'm gonna need to work at a shock trauma ER where there is lots going on all the time!

I'm headed up to Vermont this weekend to visit with the family that I nannied for 2 years ago. I'm really looking forward to it and I know the kids will have grown up so much! Jonas is 4 now and Anna is 6!!

For now I'm off to bed though....good night!

recovering...

I'm sad about last nights UGA game....31-0 at halftime was hard to swallow. But I am proud of the way they fought back and at least made it respectable. I'm also proud of Zach...I think he has somewhat converted into a Dawg fan. He was angry right along with me last night and we celebrated the highlights together in the 2nd half by high-fiving each other! For those of you who don't know...Zach is from Utah and I think he always thought I was a little crazy in my love for Georgia. But I think now he understands and is possibly even feeling some of the "love" with me :)

On another note, I am enjoying my lazy Sunday watching the NFL. I took Zach to the airport this morning so he could fly to Raleigh, NC to spend a week with a neurosurgeron at Duke. He is very excited about the experience and glad to be back in the hospital after a month of studying for Step 2.

Jumping In

So I finally decided to try this blog thing....I've been thinking about it for a while and finally convinced myself that I can be dedicated to it and actually post a few blogs every now and then. I probably should have started it a few years back when I began this crazy journey of medical school. Speaking of school....I only have 1 more week left of my Internal Medicine rotation and I'm excited about being done. I have learned a ton and it has been a really good rotation but I'm ready to move on to the next rotation which just happens to be Psych. But before I start that in November I'm going to Australia to see Kendra for 2 weeks! I can't wait to see the country and lay on the beach everyday! Get ready Kenna!!!!

Zach is going through the whole residency/match process....he has decided to try for Neurosurgery and has filled out all the applications and submitted everything and now is the horrible process of waiting for interview invitations from programs. He has gotten 2 requests from the University of Rochester and the University of Louisville so we're both pretty excited and hope that there are more to come! I personally would rather be in KY instead of upstate NY.....especially in the winter! I'll keep everyone updated on the process.....

But now I must go back to watching college Gameday on ESPN!! It's in Athens and I would give anything to be there to watch the game tonight! Go DAWGS!!!!!