Movies, Mortification, and Memories in Fayetteville

I can't believe Spring Break is over. It absolutely flew by; I feel as if it were a good dream that I've awoken from and desperately want to return to!
Despite a sinus infection, Aaron and I had a fabulous time with my parents in Tahlequah and on our little getaway to Fayetteville to visit my sister. Here's a recap:

Thursday

Aaron tinkered with the Tahoe, which has been leaking antifreeze, before we headed home. We just had the transmission replaced (ouch), and now the air conditioning is not working. This would be fine if the AC in my car was working, but that went out last summer and we didn't have the grand to repair it. One of the good things about medical school is that it puts many things into perspective. Instead of getting very upset and throwing a mini tantrum/pity party of sorts, I just laughed and enjoyed the perfect weather with the windows down on the drive. It's things like this that I'm sure I will refer to many times in the future when our kids complain about material things.
My mom had decorated the dinner table for St. Patty's day and it was so cute! I forgot to take a picture, but if she posts it on facebook I'll steal it. We had roast with potatoes and gravy and the most fabulous beer bread you've ever tasted. I knew I was home.

Friday

Aaron and dad saw a movie while Mom and I shopped at the mall. She bought me a leopard print cardigan in gorgeous shades of yellow and gray that will complete my Easter outfit, as well as some amazing earrings and a pair of sunglasses - all for under $40 after sales and coupon calculations. Full price? We laugh in the face of it.
We then saw Unknown. I love Liam Neeson, and he didn't disappoint. There was a twist in the plot near the end of the movie that none of us saw coming (and my dad always sees them coming). Definitely worth your money.

 Macee came back and spent some time with us at the hotel and showed us this video, which has been deemed as possibly one of the worst. Of all time. Let me just say I would never be able to show my face again in public, and that whoever funded this train wreck can kiss that investment goodbye. Bless her heart.

Saturday

We perused Pack Rat, a store in Fayetteville that has anything and everything for outdoor adventures. Mom ordered some Chacos and dad found some shoes for their upcoming trip to Turkey and Greece. Can't wait until Aaron and I have the funds to join them...

We watched a matinee viewing of The Lincoln Lawyer. It was hands down one of the best movies I've seen in the last few years. Suspenseful, full of action, great plot, excellent acting, and an ending that makes you want to slow clap. Best of all, there was no nudity and little profanity, which is sadly a rarity these days. Funny, when a movie has substance there's no need to add these things!

I want to cry when I realize I won't get to spend time with my family like this again for another two months. The funeral march is playing in my head as I think of the reality that will be waiting for me tomorrow morning...

Vintage Discoveries

This break has been exactly what the doctor ordered (mwahaha). My parents came up on Tuesday to treat us to a day out and we had a fabulous time together. We toured the Mayo 420, which is a historic building that they've completely remodeled as loft apartments. It's in the center of downtown, which is burgeoning with new shops and restaurants. It's an amazing mix of history and charm with modernity, and Aaron and I were very impressed. Possible move in our future? Maybe...
My mom and I had some adventures in the mall while Aaron and dad relaxed at Barnes and Noble. Dad found 25 bargain books for his personal library (you should see his professional library) - this is not an uncommon occurrence. He will most likely have them read in a month.
Yesterday Aaron and I headed to an antique shop that I've been dying to revisit since my sister and I discovered it last year. I was specifically looking for individual tea cups and saucers for the tea party I'm throwing for my mom's birthday. There was no shortage, and i ended up not being able to resist this one:

Isn't the color gorgeous? The shape is very unique and I love the gold design encircling the rim. $9? Yes, please!

The best shopping excursions, in my opinion, are when you not only find exactly what you were searching for, but you discover a gold mine of sorts unexpectedly. We hit the jackpot. There was a section devoted entirely to historic medical books, apparatuses, and memorabilia.Old visual acuity machines, an antique stethoscope, texts dating back to the early 20th century. My favorite find was a diploma dating back to 1914 awarded to a man who had completed a fellowship in surgery; it was held in its original frame. Sadly, we are not yet doctors and thus couldn't scoop up all these treasures, but I hope to slowly collect rich pieces of our profession's history like these in the future. We purchased 7 antique texts for our collection.

 The oldest copyright dates back to 1914. It's going to be interesting to see the philosophies, explanations, and treatments contained within these texts.

This was one of my favorite finds. Many of the books we found contained personal scribblings from past owners, including one from a medical student of years past making a notation of an impending exam on a Friday. The inscription above? Dated 1923. It fascinates me. I still have my eye on that stethoscope...

Highlights from the Most Challenging Week So Far

This past week was the roughest I have yet to encounter in medical school, and ranks very high as one of the most challenging in my entire life so far. It left me physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. Barren, even. However, God is so good to lay my burden on others' hearts. Others who give me encouragement and wisdom and peace so that the internal struggle I've been facing no longer seems impossible to overcome. The thing that made the largest impression upon me was my mom saying that God doesn't just want me to be a physician. He has more planned for me. Things that require me to grow as a person, and situations in which I will need to draw upon the lessons I'm learning through this trial. Medical school is challenging me in more ways than I ever imagined, and I know the end result will be a stronger me, more prepared for God's purpose for my life.
That being said, there were some moments that definitely brightened the week.

 

I ordered The Hunger Games trilogy from Barnes and Noble with a Groupon I'd purchased a few weeks ago. Aaron and I have been reading it aloud to each other and just finished the first book. It's actually a teen series, so it's an easy read, which is good because I don't have the mental capacity to analyze a novel right now. I look forward to our evenings, as this is how we spend time together before going to sleep.  

Aaron and I headed to Target today and I used a gift card I've had for awhile to buy matching outfits for our nieces. There's orange, light pink, and a darker pink in the skirt so they should be able to mix and match with a lot of tops. They're going to look so cute!

 

Love the flower details on the skirt and top! 

The best part of the week was having dinner with my parents and some of the staff at their church when they came up for the Seeds conference at Church on the Move. These are great people with a passion for what they do and who have always shown an interest in my sister and I. Good food (P.F. Changs...yum!), good conversation, and a great reminder that life is all about relationships. I am blessed so richly in this area.
What a week, but I survived, and hopefully learned a lot in the process. We're all works in progress!

Two More Days

To say this has been a rough week would be a massive understatement. I think everyone in med school would attest that this last month has been crazy, and there is no reprieve until Friday. Besides looking forward to the movies I will catch up on, meals I will cook, and numerous game nights I will have there have been some little glimmers of joy this week. Today, I reconnected with one of my lifelong loves-Led Zeppelin. Why did I ever stop listening to them? Seriously, they are the best rock band ever. You can argue with me if you'd like. You will lose. I got in my car this morning on the way to school and rocked out to "Gallows Pole," and it turned out to be some much needed therapy. It's really sad that in the last semester and a half I forgot how much I like to sing. I've also found that things I thought were necessities have been put on the back burner. Working out and washing dishes just aren't as important as studying and spending what free time I have as quality time with my wife. In Neuro class today, one of our professors was talking about the schedule of upcoming lectures. She offhandedly mentioned that we would talk about sleep after Spring Break, everyone laughed, and she didn't understand why this was funny. Obviously because she hasn't been to med school, she doesn't realize that sleep is a luxury and is often pushed back like many of the other important things in our lives.

In between our Neuro lecture exam and our lab exam, we had an hour and a half break (seriously !!?) during which I had to do a little soul searching. We had just walked out of the most difficult test-hands down-of our lives. That's all I'm really going to say about it. During my down time, I stumbled upon a passage from 2 Samuel Chapter 22. I'll share a small part of it with you (though in retrospect it is still long).

30 In your strength I can crush an army;

with my God I can scale any wall.

31 “God’s way is perfect.

All the Lord’s promises prove true.

He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

32 For who is God except the Lord?

Who but our God is a solid rock?

33 God is my strong fortress,

and he makes my way perfect.

34 He makes me as surefooted as a deer,

enabling me to stand on mountain heights.

35 He trains my hands for battle;

he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.

36 You have given me your shield of victory;

your help has made me great.

37 You have made a wide path for my feet

to keep them from slipping.

38 “I chased my enemies and destroyed them;

I did not stop until they were conquered.

39 I consumed them;

I struck them down so they did not get up;

they fell beneath my feet.

40 You have armed me with strength for the battle;

you have subdued my enemies under my feet.

41 You placed my foot on their necks.

I have destroyed all who hated me.

Pasted from <http://www.youversion.com/bible/nlt/2sam/22/40>

This is a song of David after one of his victories. It is just so powerful. Though the trials and battles I go through in my life are nothing compared to the literal life and death struggles of many other men, this really inspires me. Every minute of every day, I have to choose whether or not I will try to accomplish God's will for me (that is after I know what His will is). God sometimes asks things of us that may seem impossible, and often they are impossible on our own. I know that God always has my back. He will never let me fail in any endeavor that He chooses for me.  He is my strength, and my rock, and my shield, and so much more. And when I don't have the strength or ability to do something he asks, I know all I have to do is rely on him. He won't let me fail.

And I made it (through yesterday anyway). The Neuro exam is over; now on to Virology. I think I am trying everything I can to keep from studying. It seems again like the workload is insurmountable. I've highlighted such a high percentage of words in my notes that it hurts to look at the pages. I think I might invent a new study tool for med students. You would use it just like a highlighter, except you would mark over the less important words and make them duller. I'm thinking the Low-lighter would be an adequate name. Think about it. It would save time and not blind the user: win-win. Finally, in light of our upcoming test, I will leave you with something incredibly nerdy that made me smile.

I shall seek and find you...

I shall take you to bed and control you..

I will make you ache, shake and sweat until you grunt and groan...

I will make you beg for mercy...

I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I leave you...

And you will be weak for days.

All my love, ..................

The Flu

Aaron

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 :)