Almost Wedding Day!

Wow - so much has happened since my last post. Some highlights include the "inland hurricane" in Carbondale that shut down the whole town for several days, finishing ERG with flying colors, completing my first year of med school, and moving all my stuff from Carbondale to Springfield in anticipation of the next 3 years of school there.

The biggest thing occupying all of my time right now is wedding stuff. I have been nonstop wedding planning since getting back in Champaign and it has been rough! So many decisions, phone calls, things and people to organize, and other irritating things. I have been up every night until about 2 am just trying to get stuff done before the big day. Now we are 6 days out (well its almost midnight, so I'll just say 5) and I am starting to get really excited. It is going to be such a fun day and spending it with family and friends is going to be awesome. Of course the best part is getting to marry the love of my life :) I can't wait!

Ok, gotta go. Maybe someday I'll be good at updating this thing!!

Wedding Invitations

It is the season of weddings!  I love seeing all the wedding invitations as they come.  Each one is so unique and also very reflective of the individuals getting married and the overall feel of the wedding.  Several days ago, I sent in 4 RSVPs!  That means there are a lot of weddings coming up.  I still have one more I have to send back soon as well!  In addition to those weddings, I have two save the dates hanging on my fridge!  The first wedding of the bunch is my cousin Matt's wedding in Chicago on the 16th.  I am really excited for this one because I am always happy when my family gets to get together :)

On a related note, my wedding invitations finally arrived in the mail this week.  I have yet to see them, since they were delivered to my mom's house, but I am excited to see them tomorrow when I head to Champaign for the weekend.  Now there will be the long process of addressing all of the inner and outer envelopes and getting postage.  Luckily, my mom and her friend Sherry are taking care of my side of the guest list while Bill's mom Kathy is taking care of his side.  I hope they go out in the mail soon because the RSVP date is May 30th!  That is really soon.  We decided to get them back in a little early because I know people always send them back late, so hopefully in this case they will all be accounted for before 4 weeks before the wedding.  

YAY for weddings :):)

Engagement Photos

Several weeks ago, Bill and I had our engagement photos taken in Champaign by our good friend and photographer Kenny Kim. He sent the final product back to us today and I am very happy with the result. It is getting me really excited for the wedding and wedding pictures! Here are a couple of my favorite images :) Enjoy!

Birthdays and Bridal Showers and Easter, oh my!

This last weekend was definitely a weekend to remember. On Friday, Eliza and I took the train to Champaign. Bill picked us up at the train station and we had a yummy dinner at Outback. It was so great to see Bill. I really miss him! My dad's flight in from Georgia got cancelled, so it was sad that he didn't make it in on Friday night. We then went to the nursing home to visit my grandma who is very sick. It was good to be able to see her and to know that there are many family members there to be with her.

Saturday was a big day! First off, it was my birthday! Bill and I headed to St. Patrick's Church to meet with Father Joe for our second of 3 required visits with him before the wedding. Things went well and everything seems to be on track. Then we went to pick up my dad at the airport and once we got home Bill's parents had just pulled up to my house. We all visited for a while. Then we went to my aunt's house for my bridal shower. It was so great to have family and friends together! Seeing some of my closest friends from the span of my life was really fun. There were friends from doing gymnastics growing up, high school, college, and med school. There also were many family members and some close friends of the family. My matron of honor Isabel did such a great job of planning everything - thanks! Next it was off to a birthday dinner at Biaggis. It was really yummy!!!!!! Then we went home and my mom surprised me with a yummy angel food confetti cake! It was so good! Next we went to the I Hotel to check it out since my dad and Bill's dad hadn't seen it yet since it had been completed. There was a guy there that looked totally bored and was more than happy to show us around. It was also fun to show the I Hotel (and other places in Champaign) to Eliza. I think she had fun! A memorable moment was when my dad did his egret dance. I did not know he has an egret dance (or what an egret even was), but lets just say it was a very funny movement along with an even funnier noise! Eliza and I will be laughing about that for years to come!

On Sunday a group of us went to Easter Mass at St. Patricks and then to Starbucks for some coffee. We came home to find the dining room table decorated and a wonderful Easter brunch waiting for us. I was very impressed with this, especially since my mom does not do very much cooking these days. It was very yummy! The rest of the day was spend working on some wedding stuff, going on a crazy run with Bill, my dad, and Eliza and a quick dinner at Atlanta Bread Co. before Eliza and I were back on the train heading back to Carbondale. We attempted to get some studying done on the train. I ended up taking a nap! After the train, we headed straight to a coffee shop to do some studying.

All in all, the weekend was one to remember! I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family, friends, and fiance. Now it is time to get back to studying and trying to fill my brain with all sorts of information on the gastrointestinal system. Yay for med school!

Illinois Gymnastics to NCAA Championships!

Just a quick post to show my excitement over Illinois qualifying to nationals for the first time EVER! I was able to watch the regional meet online tonight. The girls had such a great meet and earned their spot at Nationals. I am so so proud of them and proud to be an Illini! Best of luck to them in 2 weeks!

Another development is that my laptop that I got for Christmas is BROKEN! Yes, broken! It just decided a couple of days ago that it didn't want to work anymore. It is really mad at me I guess. So, trying to get it fixed has been a major pain and it looks like I am going to have to send it back to Apple so they can repair it. I miss it already!

I am really looking forward to the coming weekend. It is not only my birthday, but also my bridal shower and Easter! It is going to fun to see lots of family and friends! I can't wait!

Okay, off to bed for me after an evening of much gymnastics watching and little studying.....oops!

End of SSB, Spring Break, and ERG

YAY for surviving SSB! So, I finished exam week with the histology, gross anatomy, and neuroanatomy practicals on Thursday followed by the written exam on Friday. Then it was off to El Bajio for yummy Mexican food. We had a great turn out - we just kept adding more and more tables! After that, I drove up to Champaign for my week long spring break!

My first spring break activity was going to Chicago for a bridal shower that Bill's grandma hosted for me. It was so much fun and actually pretty overwhelming to think that all of those people were there because of me (and Bill!). It was great to see family, friends, and get to meet more of Bill's side of the family. After that, my family went to Bill's parents house where we looked through the pile of gifts and ate a nice dinner. I am glad that our families get along together so well!

The next day we headed back to Champaign for a week of working on wedding plans. We met with the flower lady from the U of I twice to pick out centerpieces, bouquets, and other flowers. We met with 2 different cake ladies in hopes of finding the perfect cake. We went to Michelle's bridal shop twice, once to pick out a flower girl dress for my little cousin and to try on my wedding dress and the other time with Bill to pick out the tuxes. We also met with the I Hotel to start discussing plans for the reception. This one was a little bit shocking. We found out that the ballroom that they built ended up fitting less people than they had planned on. So, when we told the woman from the I Hotel that we had invited 460 people, she had a look of terror on her face. We finally figured out a way we could SQUEEZE that many tables in the ballroom, but it is not pretty. I realize that not everyone is going to be able to come, so getting rid of several tables will be nice! Right now the bars and buffet food/lines are all outside of the ballroom! YIKES! All in all, it was nice having this week to focus on wedding stuff without having to worry about studying. I really enjoyed spending the week with my parents and some of it with Bill! I also got to meet up with some friends, which was really fun!

Getting back into the swing of school was rough. This is out last unit (ERG = endocrine, reproductive, gastrointestinal). The first week back started out with beautiful weather! I like my new tutor group. Everyone seems nice and is working together well. The hardest part is to adjust to your new tutor's style. This is only my tutor's second time doing this, so I think she is still getting used to the whole thing. After my first week back, I headed back to Champaign again for an amazing weekend! It was the U of I woman's gymnastics alumni weekend/Big Ten Championships! On Friday I was able to meet former teammates Jess, Karen, Jana, and their significant others at Kamakura. It is always fun to go back this restaurant in Champaign since their food is so good and because I used to work there!! Then I went to visit with Mina, Mooshy and her daughter Ava (whom I have never met!) and their mom. It was so much fun to hang out with them at their hotel. It was just like old times. At one point during college I have been roommates with both of these sisters!! Then we went out to Guido's for an alumni gathering, which was fun. The next day was the day of the meet! I got decked out in my orange and blue and met lots of old teammates out for lunch at Legend's. Then we headed to the meet. The girls started off slow on bars and beam. However, floor and vault were the most amazing performances I have ever seen! The girls set school records in each event. I have never cheered so loud and been so proud in all my life ;) It was amazing to see those girls STICK their vaults! In the end, the team got second (so close to the title!) and had 2 individual champions! After the meet we had a banquet at Biefeldt. There were lots of old pictures out from over the years and this was a great time to mingle with old teammates once again. Plus, we had Papa Dels Pizza - YUM! After this, I met up with Bill since he finally made it into Champaign. Then we went to hang out with what I like to call the "older" alums who were at Murphy's. The "younger" alums were at Joe's! It was fun to be out with Coach Bob and hear stories of the old days.

The next day, Bill and I met up with our friend and wedding photographer Kenny Kim for our engagement photo shoot. This was really fun! We went around campus and took pictures of the two of us. I can't wait to see them!!!

This past week at school has been ERG Fun Week. We have had all sorts of fun activities planned all week. On Monday night we went bowling. It was fun (although I did not bowl well!). Tuesday it was off to the driving range, which was nice since it had been a while since I had swung the clubs. Wednesday was Quatro's for pizza night. We had such a great crowd turn out for this one! Sadly, the restaurant couldn't seat everyone, so some people had to eat elsewhere. After that we head to Sidetracks, which was fun! Thursday was movie night. This even yielded a sad showing, but it was still a good time. We saw "I Love You Man." It was quite entertaining. Then on Friday it was barcrawl! Fun times in ERG!

Okay, now fun week is over and it's time to get back to studying metabolism. Only a few more months here in Carbondale!!!

First Picture!

Okay, so I just posted a couple of minutes ago, but then decided it would be fun to try and post a picture to my blog. I just had to try it! Here is picture of me and some of my closest med school friends. A couple of weekends ago we had Winter Ball, which is basically SIU med school formal. It was in Springfield where all of the 2nd-4th year students are. The 5 of us road tripped it up to Springfield and had an amazing time together! We stayed at Eliza's parents house and this is a picture from our first night there. Earlier that night I got to try Springfield's famous horseshoe. It is an open face hamburger on texas toast covered in fries and cheese. YUM!

Almost 2/3 done with M1 year!

I can't believe that I am almost done with my second unit out of three of the first year of medical school! It has been a crazy ride thus far. I have really enjoy the neurology unit! Today we had the first part of our EOU (end of unit) exam. It was for the doctoring portion of our grade. We had 40 minutes to conduct a full history and neurological examination on a standardized patient (patient who is trained to "fake" a certain disease). There is a one-way mirror where a doctor or nurse watches us and they grade us based on the amount of findings we are able to get from the history and our technique during the physical examination. Then we have 10 minutes to organize our notes and formulate hypotheses. We then proceed to a computer station where we enter in the patient's chief complain, pertinent positive and negative findings, and a list of possible differential diagnoses. Then we are allowed to "run tests" on our patients. You can pick from almost any test imaginable and have to state which hypothesis you are testing. You immediately get the results of the tests. From there, you decide on your final diagnosis and have to write a paragraph of diagnostic justification explaining why you picked what you picked. It is pretty intense! I am still trying to get a grasp on the vast amount of disease processes that can occur with neurological symptoms! In two days we have our histology, gross anatomy, and neuroanatomy practical exams. Then on Friday we have a written test. Friday afternoon I will join a group of friends at our after exam lunch spot El Bajio for yummy Mexican food.

Following the test, it is finally SPRING BREAK! We get the whole week off and the best part is that we just finished the unit so there will be NO STUDYING! YAY! Saturday Bill's mom and grandma are throwing me a bridal shower in Chicago which I am so excited for. Then the rest of the week I will be in Champaign working on wedding stuff and hanging out with my parents. My mom already has a list of appointments set up! We are going to the Michelle's to try on my wedding dress and pick out a flower girl dress. Then we are meeting with Father Joe from St. Patrick's to discuss what we have to do in preparation for the upcoming wedding (thank goodness we already have pre-cana out of the way!). Then we are meeting with the I Hotel to talk about the reception. We also have an appointment to pick out a transportation for the bridal party to and from the wedding and are in the process of trying to set up an appointment to meet with Rosie (who makes cakes and made the most amazing cupcakes for my friend Kristy's wedding reception!). So, it looks like it is going to be a busy but fun week!

Okay, it is seriously time to get back to studying. Just 3 more days!!!!!!!!! It's time for the final sprint!!! I can do it!!!!!!

Studying....

It's Friday night almost 9 pm and I am doing my usual Friday night activity - studying! I find comfort in studying at places that are cheerful, full of people, and that have some background noise. This helps me to feel like I am a normal person who actually gets out in public and helps me to focus my attention to my studies since I have to block out background noise. So far this year, my favorite place to study is Panera. I sit in one of the 5 booths and make a little home for myself. I usually enjoy some coffee or a chi latte. I eat here a lot too. A new place I have been going to is the coffee shop called Common Grounds. I like their hot chocolate and it is good as long at it is not too crowded since it isn't very big inside. I like it best when I get a booth in the corner somewhere. My friends and I were there last night for several hours doing SAQs. These are self assessment questions that we get at the end of each case. They are a good way to monitor if you are actually learning the things that are important and going to be tested.
Well, I better get back to studying the cerebellum and basal ganglia. I really have to take advantage of the extra study time this weekend since the mid-unit exam was postponed to Monday. Yay for a fun study weekend........

5 Months Later

So I have decided that once one enters into medical school a great deal of time and energy is spent concentrating on that one part of ones life. Learning new things, studying the body, researching topics, going to class, going to histo/anatomy lab, trying to not feel guilty whenever you are not studying....etc, etc. So, medical school is really consuming. I try to have balance in my life and to continue to do things that make me happy. So far I have been pretty going at doing that. I am keeping a pretty good workout schedule, I am for sure keeping up with my love of food, I have been able to visit family and friends and attend several events and weddings also. I have really cut down on the amount of time that I watch tv. I let myself watch one show per week. During the first unit, CRR, I was watching House. Now I have switched over to my favorite show EVER Lost and have stopped watching House. Tonight, for the first time in a long time, I have let myself have the tv on in the background while doing work. It is kind of nice.

Okay, on to what I have been up to for the past 5 MONTHS!

CRR unit went pretty well. It was hard to get adjusted to the curriculum, but about half way through I was getting used to it. I found this unit to be hard because the lung, heart, and especially the kidneys are just so darn complex! I did enjoy everything I learned though. I made it through the mid-unit exam fine (which was a big relief) and also conquered the end-of-unit exam. The end of unit was really hard though and I thought that I did horrible. The day the test was over I headed home for Thanksgiving break which was such a great week off from school! I was relieved to find out that I got an "S" for the first unit (Satisfactory).

Then SSB started. SSB is like a foreign language to all of us. We hear of terms like superior colliculus, inferior colliculus, tectum, midbrain, and brainstem (to name 5 out of about a billion). Later we realize that the tectum is the superior colliculus plus the inferior colliculus and they are part of the midbrain (which looks like Mickey Mouse on a CT scan) and the midbrain is part of the brainstem! This unit has been more interesting to me than the last unit. I like learning about the cranial nerves and the spinal cord and brainstem is pretty cool too. The amount we have to learn for anatomy this unit is really out of control and I am worried about not being able to learn all of it. I have been having thoughts that I think I might really like to follow in my dad's footsteps and do ENT. I like the head and neck anatomy, CNs, anatomy and physiology of the ear, nose, etc. also.

A couple of weeks into the unit we had Christmas break, which was awesome! Bill, mom and I got to go to Augusta to visit my dad. That was really fun. New Years was good too! I did have to study over break, which kinda made it not quite so much fun. Since we have been back in school, we have been going full speed ahead. We were supposed to have our mid-unit exam on Friday, however, 2 snow days have forced us to change the schedule and now we will have the test on Monday. I can't wait for it to be over with so I can take a mini-study break! I ran out of gas today while studying, so I decided to update this journal!

Wedding stuff has been going slowly. It is really hard to plan a wedding in a place where you don't live while you are really busy focusing all of your efforts on different things. I would love to be able to devote more time to wedding stuff, and I really want to, but it is just not going to happen. I will have to do a lot over our spring break. We have the wedding party finalized, the bridesmaid dresses picked out (and most all of them ordered), a DJ picked out, and in the process of finding a videographer and working on the wedding registry.

Okay, I am getting tired and not sure if my sentences are making sense anymore. I must now get back to finishing going through the cranial nerves and then start my plan for what to study tomorrow. BYE!