The end is near...

... Isn't this title cryptic? I think I dig it. The end of the year is drawing near, so let's talk.

I obviously passed my unit 3 finals. Hehehe. I made Neuro my biatch. I actually received my highest comprehensive test score on this unit, so that was really exciting. After finals we had a great night in Carbondale with dinner and then drinks and dancing. Then it was time to come home!!!

This Christmas has been really nice. I've spent a lot of time a at home since the semester ended. It's been nice just hanging out around the house with the boys. I've caught up on this season of Law and Order: SVU and I 'm reading Pride and Prejudice on my iPad. Life is good. We hosted Christmas day at our place, which was really nice. Jill made Dutch babies for lunch (very yummy baked concoction of eggs, ham, powdered sugar and I'm not sure what else) and then later I made dinner (baked chicken, spicy green beans, stuffing, and homemade mashed potatoes). Then we just lounged around and watched all of the Harry Potter films. My favorite kind of marathon! All in all, it was great. Nice and relaxing.

It's been a real blessing to just be home with Justin. I've missed him like crazy since I've been away for school, but now I really find myself taking the extra few moments to hug him or kiss him or just hold his hand whenever possible. It's bananas the things we take for granted. Now I'm really enjoying every opportunity to snuggle or be beside him.

Early on January first we'll be jumping in the car and driving down to Miami to spend some time with my family. I can't wait to see mom, dad, and Jason! And I can't wait to love on my Bella! Lucien's coming with us, so he's getting all dolled up at the groomer's tomorrow. He's gonna be so excited to see Jack and run around his old yard! I also get to meet little Kaden (I'll be his godmother as of Jan. 2)! We're gonna take a trip to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios toooooooooo! I'm pretty sure you can all gauge my excitement level on that last part. WOOOHOOOOO. Very exciting business.

On to important news. I think i just got the most exciting Christmas gift ever from my roomie : it's a 2011 day calendar.

Are you as stoked as I am?! Cause I'm pretty dang stoked! On top of this awesome gift, I got to shadow her at the ER today and I drew blood for my first time. It was very cool. :)

I'm so blessed. I also got a lovely physician bag to hold all of my medical equipment, a hand mixer, some gift cards to Panera, and a copy of Eclipse! Not to mention the iPad that I got a few weeks ago.

It's been a GREAT December. I hope all of you have also had a great December and that the new year brings all kinds of positivity and love. Be blessed!

Toys & Finals

So... it's finals time again. Geeze. I feel like it's ALWAYS finals time.

We've been studying like fiends and also trying to get into the Christmas spirit.

We're been listening to cheezy Christmas music on Pandora and I absolutely have been

loving it!!

Good news. I took a big step and ordered myself an iPad earlier this week. It was so exciting anf it actually arrived today! We're finally taking a break from studying while we eat some chili that I just made, and I'm finally gonna get to play with it for a few minutes. YAY!!!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic December and is getting ready for all of this Holiday cheer.

I'll be home with my boys in just 1 week!

I'll leave you with this awesome video...

Sounds of Relaxation

So, I've got a lot on my mind lately, and sometimes it's hard for me to fall asleep. For the past 2 months or so I've been listening to rain sounds to help me fall asleep.

I usually listen at RainyMood.com. Last night I was looking for other nature songs and found this site where you can actually make nature sounds that are perfect for you! You can use combinations of up to four sounds and create you own files/links. I'm currently in love.

I made this one:

http://naturesoundsfor.me/float-away

It makes me think of lying by the beach back home. Perfect for sleeping!

Here's another one I found that I like...

http://naturesoundsfor.me/Beautiful_Field

Can you tell??

Can you tell that I'm lying when I say things like "I love neurology"?

If you can't, then your radar needs to be calibrated. Badly.

We are officially halfway through the first year of PA school. This should be exciting, but for me its just scary. I wonder if I'll ever feel like I have enough knowledge. Its really intimidating to know that I could potentially hurt someone due to lack of knowledge. Eesh. All I can do is continue to prepare.

I'm home this weekend for a quick visit. Its always nice to cuddle with my boys. The three of us napped for a bit before Justin went to work tonight, so now I'm up working on school stuff. Lots to do, as usual. This Thursday night at midnight I'll be watching the newest Harry Potter film with a bunch of my friends from school - we're very excited about this. And soon after that, I'll be home for Thanksgiving. I'm happy that we have a few days off to spend with our families.

Oh - just remembered that I haven't told you the good news. I'll be home in Mattoon for clinical rotations in May!!! I'll be home with my boys again and life will be FANTASTIC!

For your viewing pleasure...

I hope everyone is having a fantastic fall season and getting ready for all of the holidays. Be good!

Movie Date

Know what I did today? I took myself on a date to see a movie.

Some people are completely weirded out by the thought of going to a movie by themselves. I don't really understand this. My hubby is not a huge fan of girly movies. I'm aware of this, so whenever I get a craving for a girly flick and my mommy-in-law is indisposed (she was at work), I treat myself to a solo date. This is not a problem for me. As a matter of fact, I did this a few times in my college undergrad years too. I even took myself to a sit-down dinner once. :)

I wonder if this is a function of how comfortable a person is with themself. Or maybe some people are just not comfortable with silence, so they feel the need to constantly surround themselves with others. Today I spent the entire day by myself. I read and painted my finger nails. It was just Lucien and I while Justin slept and then went to work. It was kinda glorious.

Anyway, I saw Easy A. It was cute. I like Emma Stone - she's sassy and cutting, and I dig it.

I also saw The Social Network a few nights ago. That one was really good. Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield play the leads as cofounders of Facebook. Some of it moves quickly, so be prepared to keep up with the conversation. I thought it was really well done.

Unit 2 Completed!!

Hello friends!!

It's been a while, but I've got good news. I've successfully completed Unit 2 of phase I of PA school! What a relief. Only 3 more units in phase I. It feels like forever, but it's really just 8 more months on campus in Carbondale. Thank the good lord!

Testing ended on Wednesday afternoon (3 long days of testing). We celebrated a birthday and the end of finals that night, and then partook of some retail therapy all day Thursday, before heading home for a week off. I am currently reading a book that has NOTHING to do with school and also watching all kinds of movies. Life is wonderful again. :) Here are some pics of Wednesday night's fun.

Fujiyama Japanese Steak House in Carbondale. Our grill guy rocked. He threw chicken at me and I caught it in my mouth (on the second try!)

Can you see the Mickey in my rice? I'm corny. I know. It must be really obvious, cause the cook definitely noticed!

Pretty PA ladies :)

Drunken roomies. This was at the Blue Martin - a really cute martini bar in Carbondale. Loved this place. Really tasty drinks.

After this we went next door to the gay bar named Traz (I think this is the name) and danced like crazy people until after 1am. It was pretty fantastic. There was even karaoke!

relaxing & studying

Long weekends are always so nice. My only issue is that I have so much to work on for school, that I feel bad relaxing. Then I feel bad for not taking advantage of my time with the boys. Then I spend less time on school stuff, which then makes me feel bad all over again. Anyway, this time I decided to relax & be productive simultaneously. :)

On Saturday, Lucien joined me outside and we enjoyed the sunshine while listening to Pandora and working on some assignments for school. It was a lovely day and being in the sunshine made me resent my school work a little less. Here's a pic of Lucien helping me with some studying.

The rest of the day was mostly spent relaxing.

On Sunday I slept in and then ran 8.56 miles. There's only 6 weeks left until the Indianapolis Health Network half marathon on Oct. 16. My training has been sporadic to say the least, but there's only so much I can do with such a crazy schedule for school. I'm trying not to feel guilty about it. Arielle tells me that this race will be my "first race of PA school" and that it's important too, even though it won't be as fast. I won't be expecting a PR, this race will just ensure that I'm not becoming sedentary.

For lunch we ate outside at Buffalo Wild Wings. We sat in the sunlight and chatted while eating. It was glorious - we stayed for almost an hour and a half (long after we finished our food!) just enjoying each other's company and the beautiful weather. Last night before falling asleep I finished some reading for school, so at least I got a little bit done.

This morning I'm currently lying in bed with my boys while they sleep. I've been up for about 2 hours and have been working on school assignments & listening to Pandora. It really makes me happy that I can work from bed - it means that I can still enjoy knowing that Justin & Lu are beside me. :) Yay for laptops!

I'm not sure what the plan is for the rest of the day, but I don't even care. I'm a happy woman. Blessed, blessed, blessed!

Everyone have a wonderful Labor Day. I'll be heading back south on the train tomorrow morning, so I'm going to enjoy every moment of today.