Friday, December 31, 2010

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, And Never Brought To Mind

It's the end of another year (a great one, I would say) and man, did it go by fast!  2010 was a year of milestones and changes.  Here is a little recap of some of the highlights:

The year I lost 25 pounds (in a healthy way, mind you)

The year I went to Cabo for Spring Break with some beautiful ladies!
The year I went to Big Bear :)


The last year of being a Gamma Phi, living in the house, and getting my senior celebration on!



The year my mom went to Afghanistan and came home safely 



The year we did Vegas Gphi Style


The year I graduated from UCLA


The year I started dating someone special :)

The year I moved into my new place and started my new life as a medical student

The year I got inducted into medical school

The year I made lots of new friends.  And the first year of our Festivus party, where someone's hair caught on fire :) hehe

What a great year!  Can't wait to see what happens in 2011.  I'm still working on my 2011 goals and resolutions, so stay tuned!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Medical Student Turned Interior Decorator?

We moved into our place over 6 months ago, but didn't get to decorating our dining room until this week.  I guess the dining room is just one of those rooms that doesn't look that bad if it is sorta empty.  Anyway, I decided to take on a little project with my free time and spruce it up a bit!  Here is what it looked like before:



My decorating buddy (stuffed crust pizza sleepover!)

I just went to Ross and bought a few cute little items for our previously empty shelf, and a mirror!
I made this flower center piece with some flowers from Joann and got these salt & pepper shakers for 80 cents a piece!

Okay, I know this is SUPER old lady of me... but I have a weird "bird fetish", so I stuck two love birds in some marbles in a heart basket. So sue me!

Also made this arrangement from Joann flowers and pebbles.

Stick some $1 potpourri and some marbles in a dish and call it a day!

I decided last minute to include this frame, so I had to scramble to find pictures I already had printed up.  Just some pics of family and Hawaii.

My sister gave me this picture/mirror.  

Picture I took of Haight/Ashbury: one of my favorite places!

Someone is enjoying the new decor....

I needed some art work for the room, but didn't find anything I liked or anything cheap enough, so I just painted this for the room!  Yeah, I don't know why I am all into birds at the moment?!


We still have to keep our bikes in the dining room because we really don't have many other places to put them.  That's okay though, they kinda add to the room! :P

Well, hope you enjoyed my dining room makeover!  It feels a bit more homey now that it isn't empty.  

Friday, December 24, 2010

Blast from the Past

One of the best parts about the holiday season is when a bunch of old friends come back to town to see their families, because then I get to see them!  A few of them actually live close to me normally, so its a shame we don't see each other more, but we are all busy bees.  Anyhoo, we had a few get-togethers in the last couple of days.  It was really lovely seeing everyone.  I just love to hear what everyone is up to and about how they are doing.  :)








Monday, December 20, 2010

Sister & Chewy

Today, my sister and I took Chewy for a little stroll.  It was pretty cold, but I think he enjoyed it :)
Someone stepped in dog poop before we left... 









Friday, December 17, 2010

Its a lot easier to get out of jail than to get in...

Or at least that is the case when you are a medical student shadowing an OB/Gyn at the county jail.  Today, I woke up at 5AM to start our day of seeing female prisoners at 7AM.  While I was walking from the parking garage to the jail (its still dark out, mind you) some homeless man in a shady corner asks me what time it is.  Now, I am usually pretty polite to strangers, but sorry, I'm not about to stop by myself in a creepy, dark abandoned street to make myself vulnerable to be mugged so I just told him "Sorry, I don't know!" as I keep walking my normal brisk pace.  And he goes, "Do you have an iphone?!"  BAHAHA okay dude, obviously you don't have the best of intentions if you care how expensive my phone is.  Anyway, it was fine.  I just kept on walking.

Last week I had to get fingerprinted and fill out a few forms to get cleared and make sure I wasn't some crazy (understandable)... Today, I got to the jail early, but I didn't really know what to do because the doctor wasn't there yet.  So I went though some metal detectors and put my stuff through x-ray machines while I waited for her.  When she arrived, we got my visitor's security pass and headed upstairs.

So I don't know about any of you, but I have never been in a jail before.  I really had no idea what to expect.  I thought there would be cells with old fashioned bars like in the movies, but I didn't see any of those.  Instead, most of the cells are like the ones you see on prison documentaries or on Gangland (shout out to Amanda and Juliette, you guys woulda loved it).  It was really interesting to be on the inside.  There were cameras everywhere and you had to stand in front of the doors and wait for them to open them for you when they saw your face on the cameras.

I wasn't sure how the patients would be, or if they would be "dangerous", but I was pleasantly surprised that they were all very polite and not scary.  I think a lot of them were there for drugs, not necessarily violent crimes.  I was really impressed with the care that the women inmates were given and specifically the birth control options they had.  The patients had a general demeanor of respect and appreciation for the physician and nurse, and I thought that was really cool.  It was really cool getting a glimpse into what  inmates are like, and their outlooks on their reproductive health.  The doctor was telling me that some of the patients will determine their pregnancy plan (whether they continue or terminate) when they find out how far along they are because that tells them who the father is, which I thought was an interesting aspect of this particular patient population.  Also, they usually live lifestyles that put them at a much higher risk of STIs, so I got to see a few of those.  It really surprised me that the doctor looked at the vaginal discharge right then and there in the microscope!  I thought that kind of stuff was sent to a lab now-a-days, but it was awesome that she knew what she was doing.  I got to see some Trichonomas swimming around on a slide... pretty gross stuff, frothy discharge and all!  (Lesson to all to wear a condom)  One girl was 30 weeks along and had used meth early in the pregnancy, but the doctor was just super non-judgmental and I thought that was really cool.  All in all, I got a LOT out of my day at the county jail.  Not only did I learn a lot medical-wise, but I also learned a lot about what its like in jail and about the people who are in it.  I hope to go back again soon! :D