Anatomy Exam 2 Aftermath...

My past week and weekend have been consumed with studying, but after the test (yesterday) I cannot say that I opened my syllabus... may have been a terrible mistake.  But anyway, yesterday I hit up the dentist and paid far too much for cavities.  I haven't been to the dentist in ages, and I love candy.  You get where this one is going...

After the sound of the drill on my teeth ceased, I met up with Joanna and we tromped on down to Elbow room on Walnut.  The food was great, and we celebrated Alex's birthday!  Big-ole 24!  We then proceeded to join up with the MS1 crew that were at Marios across the street celebrating the exam.  I celebrated... yep, got that one taken care of.  It was nice to mix and mingle...and sprint home with Joanna to my apartment.

Elbow Room - such good sweet potato fries!

Today, in attempt to be productive, we went to the Home Depot and bought house plants!  I have been waiting to plant my basil and cilantro into something permanent, and found the perfect solution.  At Home Depot I got a little plant crazy and bought an orchid and a house plant... I don't know the name, but I know everyone owns one.

After the Home Depot guy thought we were a couple... we went home to plant!

The orchid named Paul (Left), and I got the short one... makes sense right?

After planting, I showered up and went to the MSTP workshop, which is a dinner for all of the students to get together and get to know one another.  It was a good time!  I got to chat it up with Emily and soak in some advice from those who have gone before me...

You know where this is headed!  Scones!

Post dinner, it was only appropriate to make pumpkin scones!  I skipped class today, so to make up for skipping a 4 hour lab, I thought I should feed those in my lab group.  I hope they're into scones.  I might even run up to the Hackam lab tomorrow morning and drop some scones off... I promised I would make them for everyone and I've failed, until now... booyah!

Welp, it was a fun 48 hours, but now I must refocus and charge full speed ahead at the final exam...

Sunday full of activities...

Because my weekend consisted mostly of studying... Sunday I splurged.  In the morning I woke up, did laundry, yoga, and went to whole foods to buy some self-satisfying treats which included two new additions to my family: basil plant and a cilantro plant.  After grocery shopping I showered in record time and Taylor so kindly picked me up so we could head to our FAST advisors' brunch they were hosting at their house.  

Taylor tracing our cat onto the pumpkin... we got real crazy.

Angela was attempting something equally as adventurous... the GHOST!

The brunch was a great way to relax, enjoy home cooking and yes... CARVE PUMPKINS!  I didn't initially RSVP because I was planning to run the Erie Half Marathon, so Taylor and I teamed up on a cat pumpkin.  Pumpkin carving was a blast!  There were a few people who had never carved before, so it was a new experience for some, and a fun past time for others.  Overall, extremely relaxing.

A little too much muscle there boy... One tool down.

Prrrr... kittay... (you can only see the body, the head is towards the back)

Sunday afternoon consisted of me baking meals and bread for the entire week.  I made seafood linguine, curry rice with shrimp and peas, fresh healthy salsa, and garlic parsley bread knots.  In the process of making the garlic parsley knots I almost burnt the place down because the olive oil ran over in the 450 degree oven... a little smokey to say the least.  HAha, our neighbors for sure hate us and now hate the smell of garlic.

Sunday evening Paul and I went downtown to Sharp's Edge on Penn Ave to grab a beer with the other anesthesia interns.  I had the opportunity to try Screamin' Pumpkin by a brewery in Michigan... Ohhh my... I'm in love.  Paul even enjoyed it!  So my pumpkin infatuation has risen to a whole new and glorious level...BEER.

Best brew... Of course, from an equally amazing state... Michigan!

This week is going to consist of studying all night, every night until the exam on Monday.  Head and neck is a severe pain in my head and neck...  So until the pain ceases, I'm going to be M.I.A.  Wish me luck!

Artisan Bread Making...

Last night I had my Netters with a glass of wine... today I'm enjoying a root beer float and the smell of fresh, homemade bread.  That's right, I'm trying to make Artisan Bread!  I ordered the book Health Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (Check out their website: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/) to save money on my favorite food, and incorporate delicious bread into some of my favorite meals!  I mean, what's pasta without a baguette and fresh artisan bread??!?

The newest recipes I'm going to try are cinnamon crescent rolls, a pumpkin spice bread (or course, because I love pumpkin), and a roasted garlic baguette for Paul as promised... I'll keep you posted on my abilities and bread baking adventures... so far it tastes delicious!

Before the bread goes into the oven, shhh it's resting.

Finished product... not bad for a first timer!

Getting excited for girls weekend...

I just booked my tickets back to Wisconsin for our girls weekend... and I am already giddy to see everyone!  It's going to be great, Em and Sarah worked their magic once again and found us a wonderful place to rest our heads so we don't have to trash Kendall Ave while in the midst of trying to sell it!  (although, that does sound like a fun idea...)

I am flying in the weekend after my Anatomy Final Exam, which is a perfect time for a break for home.  I have a student staying at my apartment that week as well because she is interviewing for medical school at Pitt!  I have a few people coming to stay in mid October.  I'm excited to get to meet all of the people who will be interviewing.  Hopefully we'll hit it off and a few will join the class of 2016!  Someone is coming from University of Wisconsin, represent!

Paul had off work today, so we were able to spend some time together and chat about.  I made pancakes for breakfast, and we spent a relaxing day together, which means I skipped lecture and lab.  I am planning to spend a day at school this weekend and get caught up on all that I missed, it was worth it!

Anyway, I wanted to post a few pictures of the wonderful girls I'm going to see on my trip back in a month!  Whooot whooot!  Miss you all, and I can't wait to see you!

My Christmas Roomies: Awkward Family Photo

You can't have a picture with Liz without the sailor hat...

It's going to be great, because I get to spend a little time in Madison, meaning I get to catch up with some work friends (ku-emmm, Laura J!) and hopefully catch up with Nathan to hear about how UW-Madison Medical School is going!  They have a very different schedule than us at Pitt, so it will be interesting to compare notes and school styles!  Soooo excited!

Klass Act...

Just as my exam finished, I get a text from a certain Joanna who's riding on a toll-road, in a car with Wisconsin plates... destination, Pittsburgh!

Steve and Joanna were on their way out to move in Joanna while she does an internship at the aviary!  It's always a huge plus to have a taste of the Home of the Hamburger in Pittsburgh, or anywhere for that matter!  Yesterday they were able to touch on the staples of Pittsburgh:

#1 - Primanti Brother's
#2 - Duquesne Incline
#3 - Carson Street
#4 - Pirates Game
#5 - Hemingway's (Now known as Ernie's)

We met for lunch at Primanti's, and Joanna asked for a fork which was hilarious.  It's a staple of Pittsburgh, and their famous for it, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily delicious... haha, just saying.  I ordered some Cajun fries... and whew, they were spiced to the max!  We stopped at Razzy Fresh and then headed up the hill to see the Peterson Events Center and get a view from above.

Joanna's tight park job... I may have made her nervous sitting so close...haha!

After class (or shall I say klass), I ran home, skuttled around and cleaned the apartment quickly while whipping up dinner.  I made the sweet potato flat bread, tiggy salad, and spicy pasta.  Thank goodness I'm getting used to those recipes, because I was able to simultaneously whip them up in a flash.  For dessert we had M&M's...haha, what a chef.  After dinner at my place, we took a closed bridge down town to PNC park for the game!  I didn't catch a game yet, so it was a perfect opportunity to tag along... in the middle front seat, haha!

PNC Park!

After the game, we parked the Century and waltzed down to Oakland to grab a cheap treat at Ernie's (aka. Hemingway's).  It was so reasonable, it seemed like a sin.  I spend $20 for food and drinks all evening! Awesome!  I came home after hauling in the Marlin, because I had class the next day... but lucky for me... not until 10AM.  Booya!

Pittsburgh skyline at night...

Getting our T-shirts ready to pirate software.... Haha, what else would you do with a Pirates tee?

Medical School Milestone: EXAM 1

When your exam is on Monday, it's easy to guess what you're doing the weekend before... studying.  Of course, it was Paul's only weekend off so far, or mainly the only time he had two full days off in a row, and I had to spend them smashed in the books.  I stayed home, turned on my classical tunes and cranked out some studying.  On Saturday we did a little grocery shopping, and I was able to try out a new recipe which I really enjoy: sweet potato flatbread!

Study breaks have their benefits!

Sweet potato flat bread... tastes better than the picture!

I made a lot of different meals, and tried a few different recipes, it was great!  The break was short lived, but delicious.  On Sunday I went into work with Paul bright and early and studied for 12 hours straight (with distractions of course), but it was really nice to be able to dedicate the whole day to review.  I got a good night sleep and headed into the exam Monday morning.  It was fun to see all of our classmates, and get pumped up from the nervousness that was flowing all around Scaife. After the exam I came home and watched TLC and let my brain rest.  I also stopped in the Hackam Lab to say hello and catch up with a few people, which was really relaxing...

Paul, as sweet as always, picked me up a nice big celebratory Starbucks!  Pumpkin Spice Latte!  I was so excited to be home and stress free for a few hours with Paul, sipping a latte!

Well, all I can say is that I jumped the first hurdle... but just like track and field, the hurdle height may get higher...   How do I know??  Because I just got back from our cranial nerves lecture, which made the thorax feel like a breeze...

Labor Day Weekend & Short Week

I want to apologize off the bat for being so delayed in these updates, but anatomy took over my life in ways I could not have anticipated... But, now that I know what to anticipate, life is slightly more normal...

First things first, a look back over the past two weeks, which included Labor Day weekend!  Let's start of with some Med School events.  On the first of September, we had our FAST dinner.  I don't know how to explain it other than we are paired with 2 MSII's and one faculty advisor.  Our faculty advisor is great, and pretty much living my life in some odd way.  She is a pediatric hospitalist with 2 or 3 kids.  She is also married to a pediatric anesthesiologist, crazy huh?  I had a good time getting to know here and I told her a little bit about Paul's first few months as an intern.  She will be such a great resource as I start organizing shadowing experiences in pediatrics, what fun??!? Awesome!

It was at our FAST dinner that Annie and I were faced with reality... anatomy.  We last minute decided to cancel a camping trip to Kentucky.  We booked the campsite, bought a tent, and all of the good stuff was taken care of... the only thing left to do was to drive across the country, pitch a tent, and spend a few good sleepless nights in the woods of Kentucky.  The idea was solid, however we realized quickly that the timing was not.  We needed more study time, and last minute agreed on canceling the shenanigans!

Annie's "Campfire" latte at Caribou Coffee! Camping, kind of!

Netter's and Nachos...

We made up for the camping trip by splurging on some treats and studying all Friday afternoon... as the weekend went by, we were both sure we made the right decision.  It was a great weekend to recover and rest!  I went out with Zimms for a bit and ended up at Salomon's apartment which was a fun and unexpected turn to the evening.  On Saturday we had a girls wine night, which was a good time!  I brought over the aerator and we all enjoyed a glass and shot the breeze!

New friends... after almost taking out Mr. Bones with his backpack!

The short week following, was just that, SHORT.  There wasn't much time to study outside of class, but we made the best of it to prepare for Monday's exam.  We went to the practice practical which was extremely helpful and studied into the wee morning hours.  Annie and I were hitting the books hard!  We even took it to the sleep over level, which mainly meant mixing studying with ice cream! Yum!

 It was a good week and long weekend, I am so glad that we made the right decision to stay home and spend some time in Pittsburgh... we'll have to save camping for one of the next 7-8 years!  Haha!