2nd quarter

Surprise! It's another post about school! I can't help it... it consumes my life. And who knows, maybe a future PA student will stumble upon this one day and enjoy reading it. Anyway...

1st quarter was 18.5 credits with the bulk of our study efforts going towards anatomy (7 credits) and biochem (4 credits). 2nd quarter is very different. We have upped the credits to 22.5 but we have a lot more classes:

• Clinical medicine
• Physiology
• Physical diagnosis
• Neuroscience
• Pharmacology
• Pediatrics
• Epidemiology
• Interdisciplinary studies
• Evidence based medicine

Luckily no class is worth more than 4 credits this quarter. I was worried about the load before getting started. And although it is a lot to keep on top of, I'm liking this quarter so far. It helps that I had 2 exams already and rocked them. (Yes!) Never really felt like that last quarter...  

I also am enjoying most of my classes. Clinical medicine is SO relevant and we get to talk about cases and how to work through them. Physical diagnosis is fun because we get to use our tools and learn how to examine patients. Plus I'm pretty sure everyone feels super cool when they throw their stethoscope around their neck ;-)

I'm also enjoying seeing where my previous ER scribe job is helping me along the way. I think the biggest help has been being familiar with terminology. If I hadn't had that experience, I think I would freak out every time they used abbreviations... ROS, SOB, A&OX3, CVD, NKDA, UTD, G2P2.

My biggest struggle right now is TV on Netflix. I didn't watch very much TV over  the summer. I really didn't have the time. But I started watching Brothers and Sister on my week off and I can't stop. I try to only watch it when I need a meal break but those episodes are 45 minutes long. It does NOT take me that long to eat. And Grey's Anatomy season 7 just went streaming.... I'm so in trouble!

Just keep swimming

Well, I passed. I think I failed to mention that yet in my posts since finals. It was a really rough first quarter for me. A lot of adjustment and frankly really hard. But I made it! Only 24 months to go....

Last week was the first week of the 2nd quarter and it felt like 3 weeks with all of the new classes and information they managed to throw at us in 5 days. Thanks PA school, I love drinking from your fire hose of information. 22.5 credits in 10 weeks... NBD! I was super pumped and thought I could at least feel on top of things for a week (just one!) but that didn't happen. So... just keep swimming!

Veggie time!

After getting home from vacation, I couldn't wait to eat some vegetables. Eating right while on vacation is not easy to do. I don't think we ate too horribly but I still came home feeling gross. Like I needed vegetables!  


I made 2 vegetable soups over the weekend before going back to school: a beef stew and a vegetable chicken noodle concoction. We ate the chicken noodle over this past week (my first week back in school). And I put the beef stew in the freezer right away so we could eat it later when I'm studying 24/7. My husband LOVES the beef stew. He keeps asking me when we can take it out of the freezer. Ha! Maybe we will this week....


Here's the recipe. It's simple and we both really like it : )


Beef Stew in the Crock

2 pounds Beef chuck or stew meat; cut 1" cubes
     (they have this meat pre-cut into cubes in 1lb packages at Fry's... it's great!)

1/4 cup Flour

1 1/2 teaspoons Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pepper

1 1/2 cups Beef broth

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 Clove garlic; minced
     I like to be generous with the garlic : )

1 Bay leaf

1 teaspoon Paprika

4 Carrots; sliced

3 Potatoes; diced

2 Onions; chopped

1 Stalk celery; sliced

2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet (optional)

• Place meat in crock pot. 
• Mix flour, salt and pepper and pour over meat; stir to coat meat with flour. 
• Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix well. 
• Cover and cook on low (200 degrees) for 10 to 12 hours or high (300 degrees) for 4 to 6 hours. Stir stew thoroughly before serving. 

Oahu - August 2011

It started like this...

him: I need a vacation.

me: I really wanna go to the beach.

So while I studied, he began scheming what we could do. We thought, let's keep it simple and get a quick getaway to California while I have 1 week off school in August. After looking into some things he says, "This is getting expensive enough, might as well just go to Hawaii again..." And that's how it happened.

We spent our honeymoon in Kaua'i 9 months ago and decided to try another island this time. We ended up on Waikiki beach in Oahu.

The beach from our hotel room:

Gorgeous sunsets:

Walks on the beach:

We tried zip-lining on our honeymoon (SO FUN!). This time we parasailed.

It was a beautiful view and the breeze felt great!

The driver had fun dunking us in the ocean a few times. Word to the wise... keep your mouth closed.

One of the reasons we ended up on the island of Oahu was because I thought it would be cool to visit the sites of Pearl Harbor. We visited the USS Arizona Memorial. Awesome experience. They show you a video about how it all went down on December 7th, 1941, then take you on a ferry over to the memorial. The memorial sits perpendicularly on top of the the sunken ship.

Huge wall inside the memorial with the names of all who died on the USS Arizona that day. There was a bench (just out of view in this pictures but would be to the left) that had a list of names of survivors who had later had their ashes buried there with their shipmates.

All in all we had a fun and relaxing trip. We spent every day on the beach, in the pool or both. And I'm really gonna miss my naps in the sun : )

Aloha!

rAnDoM

Been studying for finals... hours that I am able to stay concentrated are shortening and breaks are lengthening :- / But look at all the fun things I find on the internet :-)

Funny article about rompers. Laughed out loud at step 3. Oh and I totally did this at my wedding!

Love pinterest. Enough said.

Holding onto this quote I stole from a friend's blog:

Promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. - Christopher Robin

Anatomy fact (from notes not internet): the nerve that allows you to taste passes through your ear on its way to the tongue. Maybe this is why food sounds good?? ;-)

Is it Thursday yet?

Just keep swimming.

10 more days, 3 exams, LOTS of studying, and a "patient encounter" till 10 days of freedom. Man I need this break.

Time to go master this...

Also, where have my friends gone? I miss them.

Oldies and studying

That pretty much sums up this weekend...

You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one.

I LOVE clouds. I don't know what it is but when they come out, I just want to take a picture. (I have lots of sky pictures on my phone... kinda pathetic. But they're so pretty!) Unfortunately, the time this most happens to me is when I am in the car. Most of my sky pics are taken from behind the wheel. And yes, I realize this is probably not the safest idea but what can you do. I spend a lot of time behind the wheel right now. I have put over 5,000 miles on my car since starting school in June! Needless to say I have plenty of pics to show for it...

Early morning clouds with sun peeking through. Soooo beautiful.

Love these bridges. I always think of Little Miss Sunshine:

Yummy drink after an exam. Oh wait that's not the sky... ;-)

Love these beautiful Arizona sunsets.

Time to start my morning of studying for reals now : )

Mawwiage is what bwings us togevvar

Being married is awesome. I loved dating Scott for 7 years but being husband and wife is even better : )

I have to give a huge shout out / thank you / I love you to my husband. Since going back to school, I haven't always been the funnest person to be around.... Most of the time, I am tired, stressed, and never home. And when I am home, I'm usually studying, getting ready for the next day, trying to keep up with laundry and other house duties, and cranky :-/ It was a rough adjustment for the first couple weeks of school and although I have gotten used to the schedule and control my stress/crankiness a little better... I still have my moments.

Thanks babe for putting up with, loving, and supporting me. Thank you for taking on some extra "chores" at home. Thank you for dealing with my 5am alarm clock and me getting ready every morning. It will all be worth it in a few short years. <3

And in case you are still confused about the title of this post... go here.

Moving Forward.

Isn't it funny how we constantly are looking forward to the next thing? The next event. The next test. The next best iPhone. I'm so guilty of this. I practically live in the future with how much I think about it. I love planning (and my calendar!).

Every so often, it hits me: I'm in PA school. What?!? How LONG have I been planning, studying, and working towards this goal. And now I'm there... here... in PA school. And it's already flying by. I just know I am going to blink and all of the sudden I'll be done. They keep telling us to enjoy these times because it will be over so quickly. Which is when we think, enjoy? How about try to survive? Ha! But as hard as this year will be, I'm going to try keep stress under control (on most days) and enjoy this journey. After all, it is my last time being a student.

This quote was read to our PA class at school and I found it very fitting:

"Embrace this right now life while it's dripping; while the flavors are excellently woesome. Take your bites with bravery and boldness since the learning and the growing are here in these times, these exact right nows. Capture these times. Hold and kiss them because it will soon be very different."

- Jill Scott (off a Starbucks cup)

Looking Back.

On the first day of Kindergarten, my mom said that I was smiling and wiggling with excitement before I was even out of bed. I couldn't wait to start school. I loved learning and always tried my very best. I loved elementary school.

When I entered Junior HIgh, I remember thinking: "Wow, elementary school doesn't count for ANYTHING! No one will ever look back at those "grades" or ask what my extra curricular activities were. Why was I trying so hard? Now that I'm in Junior High (that's almost high school!), this really matters."

Once I made it to high school, I realized that I made it to the first step that actually mattered. Again.. "Why was I trying so hard in Junior High?. At least these grades and achievements will be looked at and potentially get me into college."

Went to college! And thought: "Man, high school was a joke. For the first time this is hard."

In PA school... and already thinking undergrad was joke. lol. I'm not even out of my first quarter of PA school (which has been challenging and an adjustment), but can see myself looking back and thinking summer was easy.

Such a terrible cycle! I've always been trying so hard and then when I look back on it, I wonder if it was worth all the trouble? all the stress? Obviously it's been worth it. Every step of my education has led me to the next. It's just easier to look back and think it was so simple because you're done with it. I guess I'm just hoping that in times of stress this year, I'll remember to let the stress go, still try crazy hard, and tell myself that I CAN DO THIS. I have to remind myself often.

Only the beginning

The BEST thing about this blog post is that I get to say that I am now a PA student. I GOT INTO PA SCHOOL!!!

I applied back in in the Spring/Summer of 2010 to the 2 schools here in AZ: AT Still and Midwestern. Both great schools. One significantly closer to my house than the other. AT Still is 14 miles from my house and Midwestern is 50 miles! I was offered an interview at Midwestern and had that in the beginning of September. Soon after I got a letter saying I was on the waitlist. Not the greatest news but somewhat expected. I was in their first weekend of interviews and they said they won't fill all of their spots right away because they have interviews for almost 5 months. They usually call people off their waitlist in Spring. So I waited.

AT Still finally sent me a letter in Novemeber (while I was away on my honeymoon) saying that I wasn't even getting an interview. I was honestly shocked. So many of my friends with similar credentials as me had interviewed there and got in. It was a sad thing to come home to after our honeymoon : ( So I held on to the small piece of hope that I was on the waitlist at Midwestern.

We survived the holiday season and begin the new year... I told myself that if I hadn't heard anything by March 1st, I would mentally prepare myself for the fact that I wasn't getting in and begin to modify and assemble my application to REapply. Well, March rolls around and began asking my references if they would submit another letter of recommendation for me. One of my references was the head PA at the hospital I work at. She's an awesome PA and I'm a little intimidated by her. I was actually afraid she might say no because she actually limits the number of letters she will write every year. I finally got the courage to talk to her about it and she is all hung up on the fact that I am on the waitlist at Midwestern. She says she has a friend over there (one that she had recently went on a medical trip to Haiti with) that she wants to call and talk to...

She finally talks to her friend a few weeks later and my reference shoots me an email saying:

"Libby, I spoke with my friend ___ at Midwestern today.

I can't promise anything, but keep your fingers crossed."

Eeek! I was so excited but also trying not to be cause it doesn't actually mean anything yet. I get a call. the. next. morning. "Congratulations, you have been accepted into Midwestern's PA program." I get off the phone and burst into tears. My world had been flipped upside down. I had prepped myself for the reality that I had another year of work, reapplication and interviews, and was ready to resubmit my application the very next week! And then? BOOM. I'm in.

The scary part was that I had only 2 months till the first day of class! I got busy getting ready... titers / immunizations, lots of paperwork, LOANS, new laptop, and of course mental preparation. Everyone says PA school is like trying to drink from a fire hose... Can I do this? I kept telling my self yes and hoped it was true.

I have survived 5 weeks now (WOAH! Just realized I am halfway through my first quarter!) and I'm still passing. Woo! It's definitely stressful and has taken some adjustments

for both my husband and me. Driving 100 miles a day (almost 2 hours) really eats up a chunk of everyday and I'm probably only home and awake for about 3 hours. There's not a lot of time to spend together. Especially when I'm always studying.

Anyway, this has gotten long enough. Posts are better with pics. So here is me on my first day of PA school (at 6am). Thanks for rolling out of bed to take this, Scott. It'll make my mom happy : )

And here's a phone pic of the pretty campus:

Back to studying now... See you all in August 2013 after I've graduated! haha

Catch up time

Got the itch to write a blog entry tonight and found this draft unposted. I wrote it on January 7, 2011 (6 month ago... haha) and well it's a pretty good recap of many things that have happened to me since I last blogged. So here it is...

It has been a year and a half since I have blogged. WOW. I didn't know I would stop blogging when I last posted but it happened. Life happens. But I've decided to pick it up back up. I read a ton of other blogs and many of them talk about journaling or chronicling their lives and having something to look back on. So starting to blog again is just something I want to do for myself. Anyone who cares to read along is welcome to the journey.

My life looks completely different today than it did a year a half ago. If you would have told me all that would have happened in that amount of time... I never would have believed you. Just to fill in the GAP, here's a list of some of the major events in MY life in that span:

May 2009:

- Medical trip to Honduras

- Maegan came to visit AZ

June 2009:

- Summer school class at MCC

July 2009:

- took Morgan to see WICKED

August 2009:

- Trip with the girls to Disneyland : )

- Started last semester of my undergrad

- My brother Marc and Jenni got engaged!

September 2009:

- Trip to Vegas to see Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers with Scott, Scott's sister Stacy and her husband Brad

- Scott and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary

October 2009:

- Started working as a scribe in the ER

- My Oma passed away

November 2009:

- Was a bridesmaid in my cousin Katy's wedding in Washington

December 2009:

- Scott and I got engaged!! (finally ;-) )

- GRADUATED from ASU : )

January 2010:

- Scott's mom diagnosed with breast cancer (cancer-free today :) )

- Helped throw a bridal shower for Jenni

February 2010:

- Jenni's bachelorette party

March 2010:

- Bought a HOUSE!

- Was Jenni's Maid of Honor at her and Marc's wedding at Schnepf Farms!

April 2010:

- Took the GRE and applied to PA school

- Turned 22 and had a double birthday/housewarming party

May 2010:

- Bought a wedding dress and kicked wedding planning into gear!

- Visited Maegan in Tennessee with Izzy

July 2010:

- My soon-to-be-nephew Carson was born

- Had a bridal shower

September 2010:

- Interviewed for PA school at Midwestern University

(on the alternate list and still waiting...)

- My niece Ireland was born

- Had another bridal shower : )

- Scott and I celebrated 7 years together

October 2010:

- My Bachelorette party

November 2010:

- Scott and I got MARRIED! :D

- Honeymooned in Kauai, HI

ALL this... not to mention working, nannying, housesitting, holidays, cabin trips, and SO much more!

DONE!

Despite my non-blogging habits, I AM still alive and survived the semester. And I have no idea where it went! I blinked and WHOOSH... my 6th semester of college is over. CrAzY. Ya know what else is crazy? This:

This is the pie chart from my DARS (Degree Audit Report System... or something along those lines). It helps you keep track of your credit hours earned, requirements fulfilled, and GPAs. The dark green is all the credit hours I have completed: 96 hours!. The light green are credit hours that are 'in progress': 20 hours. And the pink shows unfulfilled hours: 4 hours. I'm not actually taking 20 hours right now. That portion consists of Fall's classes and any classes that haven't been recorded from this semester. And that little teeny weeny pink slice? Those 4 hours are being transferred from MCC. Which means... I GRADUATE IN DECEMBER!! I am so thrilled to be graduating a semester early. Yay!

In other news... I'm heading off to Honduras this week! If you haven't already heard the scoop, here it is. I am apart of a group at ASU called Global Medical Brigades. There are 25 of us altogether (including Izzy and I) plus 2 doctors and a nurse. We are spending a week in Honduras to provide medical care to those who really need it. We will be traveling to a new town each day and serving thousands of people. This will be my first time EVER to exit the USA and I'm scared, nervous, and SO EXCITED. I know it is going to be quite an experience. I'll be in Honduras from May 20-27th and your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated. 

There are many more updates to come so check back soon : )

I <3 Geniuses

Actually, I love apple in general and their 'Genius Bar' is fabulous! If you're not familiar... apple has a 'Genius Bar' in the back of each of their stores and you can bring your stuff there if something goes wrong and they fix it! It's wonderful.

The reason I am bringing this up is because my iPod touch screen broke on earlier this week! One second it was fine and the next... gray lines running horizontally across the screen :- / And it was only getting worse. The next morning it had a yellow blob thing on top of one of the lines! Look:

There was also a thick gray line on the bottom but I don't think you can see it very well in these pictures... 

The FIRST thing I thought of when I saw this was: WARRANTY. All apple products have a one-year factory warranty and I knew that I bought my 'touch' about a year ago. I found the receipt and sure enough... one week left till my warranty expired! MAN, I got lucky.

I brought my sick iPod to the genius bar the next day and got a BRAND NEW ONE! Yay! Moral of the story here: Apple rocks : )

Photoshop-ing around

I follow many blogs including the Digital Photography School blog. They have a lot of cool tricks and teachings in many of their posts, sometimes very cool and helpful, sometimes not so much. Today I came across a post on "How to Make a Photo Collage Banner for Your Photoblog or Website" that shared some techniques that you can use in photoshop or photoshop elements. I'm lucky enough to have photoshop elements! (Thanks Scott :) ) 

I didn't end up making a new banner for my blog but I did play around with the techniques and made a sweet new desktop background:

So fun, right? I have a feeling I'm going to be making many more of these.

-CAUTION-

Spring Break only lasts for one week!!

Is anyone else having a hard time snapping back into school mode? Maybe I'm having a little spring fever or possibly a little senioritis. It's too early for senioritis to be setting in! I'm hoping it's just the week-after-spring-break-ITIS and that I'll be over it next week.

I'm in the Noble right now (my favorite library at ASU). 

But am not enjoying it as much as usual. I snagged a fish-bowl room (first-come-first-serve group study room) and was only in there for 3 minutes before a group came along and kicked me out. The rule is that a single person can use the room but if a group of 2 or more people come along they can kick you out... bummer. So I start wandering the floors looking for a seat with a plug so I can get some electrons for mr. mac... slim pickins. All the seats are taken! This has become my new pet-peeve of the semester: people who sit by plugs but don't use them. If you don't need the plug, sit somewhere else so others can use it! I finally find a chair with ONE open plug, HOORAY! But the story doesn't end there... I'm sitting in this chair, working on a study guide (for my exam tomorrow, oops...) and not too much time passes before this girl asks if she can use my plug (the one that I searched for so hard!). I hesitate because I have a 3 hours class tonight and mr. mac needs to last that long. She tells me, "I'm doing a programming assignment." I wanted to reply: "Okay?" Just because your assignment is 'programming' and computer related does mean that my computer needs are any less than yours. I checked my battery charge and I had a 93% charge so I gave her my beloved plug. I guess that's the end... eventful day at the library, huh?

Well it's back to that study guide now... let's hope I can make it to the weekend!      

SPRING BREAK!!!

I am very overdue on a blog update! So here it comes!

Spring break is already over. Can you believe it? They should really extend that to 2 weeks! Here are the highlights of the week:

Watching the cutest kids ever!

Celebrating Izzy's 21st! 

We're pretty : )

The whole group (I'm sorry Skyra. The other one where your eyes are open is all blurry!):

Spring Cleaning with my mom. No pictures to document the event...

Went to a graduation workshop. This workshop was nothing exciting but the fact that I only have 16 credit hours to go is very exciting! I'll be graduating next December!! Woot!

Did some shopping! Skyra, you're a wonderful shopping partner : ) 

And finally... went to the cabin with Scott and his family. The cabin is always a fun and relaxing time. I started to read: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and I like it so far. It even snowed a tiny bit!

The 'snow' was exciting and reminded of when Morgan and I visited Shannon last year in Chicago. It snowed for 3 days straight, yet every time we walked outside I would react the same way... "It's snowing!!" I'm such an Arizona kid : )

Counting down the days

School has been hectic so far this semester (out of the house 8am-9pm almost every weekday) and I am ready for a break! Here's a few things I am counting down the days for...

12 days till Spring Break

65 days till I'm 21 

78 days till my last final of the semester

86 days till I leave for Honduras

95 days till Maegan gets here

112 days till Morgan comes home

Fortunately, spring break is around the corner! : ) 

Unfortunately, I have to wait a while for the rest : (

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Saving the World

Maybe I'm not saving the WHOLE world but I'm helping out mother earth a little bit. I have been taking two water bottles to school with me everyday this semester (that's about 42 water bottles so far!) and I know that is way too much plastic! Did you know plastic begins to decompose after 700 years? And the average American uses 168 water bottles per year! I have been aware for a while and have finally remedied this situation:

With so many water bottle options out there, I had a hard time deciding (surprising, I know). I didn't want to go the plastic route because of all the issues with the different types. Apparently #2, 4 and 5 are supposed to be OK and #3, 6, and 7 are bad. (#1 is still questionable). I found a couple of cool sites in my hunt. I finally decided to go with these babies made of stainless steel from Klean Kanteen. Here's the specs (according to Klean Kanteen):

- made from high quality food-grade 18/8 stainless steel

- non-leaching and toxin free

- no inner lining, clean tasting

- reusable, 100% recyclable

- reduce landfill waste

- super durable, yet lightweight (8 oz.)

- wide mouth fits ice cubes (1.75" diameter)

- caps are made of pp#5 (safe & non-leaching)

- dishwasher friendly

They are a little pricey but they pay themselves off because there is no need to buy water bottles anymore. And I'm going to have them for a long time! They also come in different sizes and with different lids (including sippy cup lids!). I started using them this week and love them... They help me get my 64 oz. of water for the day, the sleek size is perfect for my backpack, I'm avoiding possible harm from plastics, and oh yeah... SAVING THE WORLD : )