Med School Jeopardy?

Today was Microbial Jeopardy: Virology Edition. In order to encourage class attendance at the "lab" on Thursday afternoons, which is really a way of squeezing in two more lectures, the professor had us split ourselves into teams and answer questions to fictional cases he created, Jeopardy-style. The points counted towards a percentage of our exam grade - guaranteed attendance. Highlight of the experience: our professor's shirt, which read "Got Herpes?" on the front and "Collect all 8" on the back. Oh, academia humor. Scary thought: the majority of the population has at least half and doesn't know it (ahhh!!!): think happy thoughts.
Several med school wives made t-shirts for their husbands' team and came up to the school to see the finished product at lunch. In other words, I got my baby fix for the day :)

 Little Miss Hadley eating lunch with the rest of the ladies and gents. I could kiss those cheeks for hours!

 Jai supporting his daddy before Jeopardy. I'm sure he would've given him a pep talk if he could talk ;) He is very into clapping and saying "Yaaay!!"

I would've gotten a picture of the other Miss Hadley, but she was too busy jumping on the couches and watching her super cool sparkle light-up shoes work their magic :) I did find out we have something in common: she loves "mermaid" (Ariel!).

 "Team Herpes." 8 different types of Herpes, 8 men. Rob's shirt didn't come out as precise as the others, and Janelle very aptly stated that he had an outbreak.

 The back row of our team. Grumpy on the right was upset we didn't have coordinated t-shirts.

 I'll take Tippy Transplant Recipient for 3 points, Alex... 

I will not approach the major flaws of our version. All I can say is it was extremely anxiety-inducing waiting to be called upon. As luck would have it, our team and Team Herpes were the last two teams who had yet to have been called halfway through Round 2. I was sweating profusely for two reasons at this point: Dunlap Auditorium felt like a sauna, and the odds for being called kept climbing.

Team Herpes finally got called!

Our team reached the minimum number of points and sat out before my name was drawn. I think God knew I couldn't handle much more today. 9 days to Spring Break and counting...

Welcome to My Carrel Wednesday

While most everyone else will surely be posting "What I'm Loving Wednesday," I'm taking a different route and giving you a tour of my new home. It's smaller than I'd like and doesn't have much (any) natural light, but hey, it's a study carrel buried in an underground library.

I hired an interior designer (I paid myself in cupcakes) who decorated the 'walls' with pictures of my family and friends attached to decorative scrapbook paper. The pictures help make the little cubicle more colorful and less depressing. More importantly, they remind me of one of the primary reasons I've chosen this temporary hell (maybe a little harsh, but some days it sure does feel like it): to fulfill the purpose for which my loved ones have given me constant support, and to one day bless them in more ways than I can count.

If you've read my blog since I began posting in January, this is the 'craft project' we constructed in Neuro lab after our first exam. It didn't make the fridge, but it did make the carrel. I'm saving it for my future children to hang above their cribs as a mobile...actually, it will be deposited in the trash shortly after finals. :)

Kleenexes for my ever-present allergies, vanilla diet Dr. Pepper from Sonic, and a pink highlighter. These are the things that get me through the day.
Our second Neuroanatomy exam is coming up this next Tuesday. They've warned us that the difficulty level will be much greater than the first exam, so everyone is in a bit of a panic mode that I'm sure will escalate through the weekend. I started last night and will probably be putting in 5 to 6 hours a day in addition to lectures/lab between learning the brainstem for this class and memorizing characteristics and mechanisms of 118 viruses for the Microbiology exam next Friday. Spring Break cannot come fast enough...and until then, this is where you'll find me!

Weekend with the Sis!

My sister Macee came up to visit us this weekend. As always, we had a blast, and as always, I felt like she had to leave too soon. She came Friday evening bearing gifts - strawberry petit fors and an iced sugar cookie from my absolute favorite bakery, Rick's, in Fayetteville. It's a magical place. I'll leave it at that for now.

Isn't that so pretty? It tasted even better than it looked.
Saturday afternoon we perused Target and Barnes and Noble, two of my favorite places to browse and unwind (yes, I unwind at Target - pronounced Tar-jay). Macee found the cutest bikini for our upcoming days on the beach and I found a tankini for my mom, who apparently did not know that it's necessary to have more than one swimsuit. Oh, the extravagance. If I had her abs, I might have a swimsuit collection to rival my shoe collection...
Before heading to the school to study (there are no free weekends in medical school), we stopped by Kupcakes, which showed up on my radar a few weeks ago. Macee is now officially addicted after devouring the Lemon Drop cupcake she chose - she literally mmm'd or grunted between every bite. I'm surprised I heard it through the mmm's and sighs coming out of my own mouth between chunks of red velvet with mascarpone cream cheese icing. YUM

After a late night of board games with friends and an episode of America's Next Top Model (I saved it just for Macee), we headed to bed. I may or may not have dreamt about those cupcakes.

In honor of the lovely Macee and the fabulous time we spent together, I'll close with only a few of the many reasons why I love her, and often want to be her.
1. She jumps right in to any situation and makes those she's just met feel as if they've known her forever.
2. She conveys this amazing sense of confidence in who she is, what she stands for, and in whatever she may be thinking at the time.
3. She got the witty genes - her and my dad go back and forth, while all I can muster is, "...well, you too!"
4. Everything is more fun when Macee is around. You're guaranteed to have a better time doing the most mundane of things if she's along for the ride.
Love you Macer Moo :)

Playa and Pina Coladas: Coming Soon

Our virology lecture this morning covered some viruses that are prevalent in the tropics, which led our professor to allow us to peer into his paranoid thought processes. While his wife is always nudging him to spend some time closer to the equator, he has only given in to a vacation in Hawaii in order to escape the pathogens that are waiting at the airport upon your arrival in more undeveloped countries ;)
Apparently he couldn't even enjoy hiking in Hawaii as he noticed all the potential reservoirs of disease in its wildlife and nature - even the pools lying at the steps of stunning waterfalls were just cesspools of disease. I don't know who I feel more sorry for - him, or his wife. I can't see a tropical getaway happening anytime in their future.
The lecture, combined with the gloomy, doom-y weather outside got me thinking about summer and the vacation that we have planned! We'll be traveling to Playa del Carmen, spending several sunny-filled days on the white beaches, frolicking (yes, I like to frolic) about in the turquoise waters of the Caribbean coast. And hopefully returning pathogen-free. Here's a look at the boutique hotel we've booked:

I can almost feel the breeze now... (if Aaron blows on my face softly)

Evacuation

Today was our OMM Midterm covering the hip and sacrum. Blah. I know it's horrible, but I will likely not use OMM (Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine) much in my practice besides the occasional HVLA (popping) and inhibitory pressure. So I get irritated having to spend several hours studying the diagnosis and treatment of a sacral torsion when I could be studying Cardio Phys or Neuro. Personal opinion aside, I was happy to be paired with the hubs for the practical portion of our exam. I palpated and diagnosed his L on R Sacral Torsion and R Upsheared Innominant like a pro. Done with OMM until finals: check!
Since the weather was so nice and we finished early for the day, we rewarded ourselves with a nice long walk along the river. We talked about moving downtown, plans for the summer, and how random it is to be pooped on by a bird (the latter topic arose after a wet bug slapped my face and a moment of disgusted panic ensued). I don't think I've soaked up that much sunshine since...hmmm...before fall semester began. It was glorious! We passed the city construction workers, who, coincidentally, were in the exact same relaxed positions as when we had strolled past in the opposite direction 30 minutes earlier, and headed back into the building. As soon as we stepped in, we were told by a security guard to promptly exit and noticed the fire alarms going off. School was evacuated (including those taking their OMM practical) and a firetruck pulled up front and everything. Sad consensus: it was the most exciting thing to happen to all of us since snowpocalypse. They need to schedule dancing firemen or feed us pixie sticks (crack cocaine for toddlers on Toddlers and Tiaras) or something to pull us out of the zombie-like state we've been stuck in for weeks because it's official: our minds have evacuated the building.

Case of the Mondays

There's nothing worse than beginning the week with an 8:00 am Physiology double-exam covering a good 17 chapters in the book. Well, maybe ending the previous week with a Physiology marathon. Password to unlock the exam: start (security is obviously extremely high on this professor's priority list). 80 questions and one hour later and a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Not only was I one Phys test down, TWO were now behind me. That is the only positive comment I have to say about the decision to combine those exams.
I skipped the two hours of Clinical Skills lecture and instead worked out and showered (washed that exam right out of my hair). Apparently I missed the horror-fest that was the powerpoint presentation. The majority of the feeds on my facebook were to the effect of "definitely crossed Dermatology off my list" or "Dermo = ewww." And after Clinical Skills Lab this afternoon where we watched the Dermatologist examine the growths and rashes of two very gracious elderly patients for 40 minutes, complete with closeups of said growths via videocamera, I can now officially join the bandwagon. Eww. Gross. Crossed Dermatology off my list. I definitely do not want to spend my days looking at "wisdom spots" (scaly moles!!) and checking out seventy-year-old (or fifty-year-old, or 30-year-old) butts for abnormalities. I thought about posting a mild illustration from this morning's presentation, but I remembered it made medical students gag. You're welcome.
There has been a highlight in this sleep-deprived, wisdom-spotted start to the week: babies! Yesterday one of my classmates brought his absolutely adorable baby girl Hadley to the school to pick up some books and I got to hold the little munchkin and kiss those chubby cheeks! Today, another classmate's wife and son Jai came up to have lunch with him and I got to chat with them for a few minutes. The only one I haven't seen is Mister Jai's girlfriend, Hadley (yes, there are 2 Hadley's! what are the odds?!). Aaron and I may have to wait much longer than we want to have kids of our own, but if I keep getting my baby fixes in then I think I can make it!

Flowers and Dishes and Cupcakes, Oh My!

Last night Aaron and I spent some much needed time with my parents. We both really look up to them and consider them two of our best friends. I think one of the things we've been most grateful for since we started medical school is that they seem to understand more than anyone what we're going through and do anything and everything they can to help us out. For our fellow students, you know that this is PRICELESS. We met them after our Perspectives in Rural Health class ended (that's another blog post in itself) at Macaroni Grill. Yum. Venting, a fresh perspective on things, and some good laughs ensued. Since they had celebrated V-Day with my sister in Fayetteville, we celebrated together last night. Here's a recap of the amazing goodies I unwrapped:

 Flowers from my sweet daddy mixed in with the roses I got from Aaron. I remember every occasion my father has given me flowers, seemingly insignificant and momentous. There's just something about flowers from your daddy that makes a girl feel so special. I revert back to when I was 6 years old and wanted to marry him :)

 Cupcakes from Kupcakes, which I have yet to visit. After last night, it is on my priority to-do-list.

 Too pretty to eat...almost. Is anything ever truly too pretty to eat? And yes, that is glitter (!!!).

 I believe this is the exact expression I make when I am about to devour sugary goodness. Possessed.

 Just as I suspected: delicious!

 I LOVE picture frames! Isn't this just gorgeous? The thickness of the frame is fabulous.

Salad plates and soup bowls of the dinnerware I've been collecting from Dillard's. My set is now complete! Let the dinner parties begin (well, after finals)!