Puppy Wants To Art Journal, Too

   Note to self: if you make a nice charcoal drawing, don't leave it within reach of your dog. He may want to make art with it too.

   In other news, art journaling has been going fabulously.  I haven't decided whether or not to post some of my works here.  I don't really have any artistic talent, so I'm afraid I'll be laughed at, however, I can always pull the "this is my blog" card.

Happy Medical Monday!

   Happy Medical Monday, y'all!  Last week BF and I drove to LA to take Step 2 CS.  It was actually pretty tough!  You see 12 standardized patients (actors pretending to have things wrong with them) in about 8 hours, which was exhausting.  Props to primary care docs who do it day in and day out, because it takes a lot out of you.  Anyway, I'm pretty sure we passed, especially considering U.S. med students have a 97% pass rate on the first time taking it.  It's nice to have that over with!  

We were lucky enough to visit some friends while in LA!

Gamma Phi friends!

J, my bestie!

This is Ollie

One of my old roommates and UCLA besties!

   Now I just need to sort out my personal statement.  I spent 6 hours working on it yesterday, and now I have my second draft, but it still needs a lot of work.  I'm meeting with some of my OB/Gyn advisors this morning, which I'm nervous about because what's left of my confidence doesn't need to be beaten down anymore, but hopefully they can point me in the right direction. 

I Must Be A Masochist

   TGS2CKIO. (Thank goodness Step 2 CK is over).  The actual test was a bit harder than I anticipated, but if I score anywhere near my practice test score, I'll be happy.  Unlike Step 1, however, the 9 hours seemed to fly by.  At least it's over! And I am so glad BF and I got it out of the way, especially while all the material from third year was "fresh" in our minds.  Fingers crossed while I wait for my score!

   Since the test, our week off has been a whirlwind.  I jet-setted off to Atlanta for a special Medical Students For Choice conference, which was inspiration and re-charging as always.  I got to meet some  really incredible med students, some of which even have blogs too!  Check them out if you're interested in reading other medical-related blogs!

• Dr Coffee's Brain Banter
• Spelled Like Latte-Man

My last minute packing list, with an extra addition

   And while I was in ATL, I got to visit my sorority friend H, who works at the aquarium and gets to ride dolphins! Amazing.  She even took me to the aquarium and I got to see the spectacular dolphin show she performs in!

ATL

   When I got back from Atlanta, BF and I went wine-tasting in Napa with our moms, which was super fun.

   And Melvie learned how to swim!

  This week break went by way too fast, and we already start up again tomorrow.  My first acting internship (aka "AI" - a fourth year elective where you work your butt off) is the Surgical ICU.  I know, I know.  It's quite ironic that I chose to subject myself to this particularly brutal AI, especially considering what a tough time I had on my surgery rotation.  But my main goal is to learn how to take care of really sick patients, and I'm even hoping to get a letter of recommendation out of it, if all goes well.  I also think I'm in a much better place to handle it, now that I've built up a much thicker skin than when I started out third year.  The schedule is gonna be the roughest I've had to far - Q3, which means you work a 24-30 hour shift, then a 12 hours shift, then repeat.  Over and over and over.  For a month.  So, I'm pretty scared, but I'm hoping it will all be worth it in the end.  

Melvie Has a Girlfriend

   My lovely friend from college, J, was in town this last weekend.  So we decided to introduce our dogs, Melvie and Pretty (short for "The Prettiest Princess").  They instantly fell in love.  Well, more like Melvie was smitten with Pretty.  She was trying to play it cool.

J, Pretty, Me, and Melvie

Switch dogs!

Melvie is infatuated with Pretty

I was cracking up because Melvie kept running towards BF, who was taking the pictures

Melvie putting his arm around Pretty

Melvie and Pretty, star-crossed lovers

I Love Him More Than Mac N Cheese

   We must have met one of the first days of orientation for med school.  I say it like that, because I don't distinctly remember when or how we met.  During orientation, we were meeting 95 other classmates, so that all blurs together for me.  Funny enough, BF remembers exactly how we met.  It was one of those first few days of med school orientation, and BF introduced himself to me, just like to any of our other classmates.  At the time, we were both in other outside-med school relationships coming into that year.  BF recalls, "you were really stuck up, and seemed like you were not interested in meeting me at all," and so naturally, he didn't care for me.  I, on the other hand, was indifferent.  

   Fast forward through the first two years of med school.  We were acquaintances, not much more than just classmates.  We eventually ended up in the same circle of friends, though not super close with each other.  We each went through a couple additional flings and short-lived relationships in the meantime, never really being single at the same time.  

   One fateful evening, our shared circle of friends planned to dine out at a really expensive restaurant for a special event they were having.  At the last minute, everyone flaked out except me, BF and our mutual friend L.  At dinner, I complained about my latest fling, and how I expected more (love) out of a relationship.  BF agreed, and talked about how he expected the same thing, but hadn't found it yet.  L sat at that dinner table, and watched as sparks flew.

  The next day, I had lunch with one of our other friends, E, who I told, "You know, I'm tired of looking for something.  I'm just gonna sit back, and if something comes to me, that's fine, but I'm gonna take a break."  She replied, "Well, I actually may know of someone who's interested in you... and it's someone in our class."  I was like,"WHAT! WHO?!"  I had absolutely no idea who it could be.  And for whatever reason, BF had just never crossed my mind in that way.  She told me it was him, and she got the "go ahead" from me.  And the next day he called and asked me on a date.  We spent the next week flirting on gchat in class, and going on a couple dates in the evenings, but by the end of that week, which was the third date, we were inseparable.  By inseparable, I mean we spent every day and night together after that.  Even during finals.  Even during boards.  Even during clerkships on third year.  So, then we just eventually moved in together.  And here we are, a year later, living together, with two cats and a puppy, couples-matching next year, and amazingly happy.  

   BF is my best friend, who takes care of me, supports me, loves me and stands by me, and I couldn't ask for more.  Here's to love.  May you appreciate it if you have it, may you find it if you lost it, or may you discover it if you've not yet met it.  

***

   And here are some random pictures of our anniversary weekend extravaganza! 

Anniversary Dinner

Puppy got tangled in a bush

Puppy LOVES pinecones

Puppy fast asleep at Auntie J's House

My boys :)

Moments Of Gratitude

   I had already planned to write this post, and then I just happened to see Your Doctor's Wife's most recent post.  What a coincidence!  It must be a gratitude-type-of-day!  

   Since I've snapped out of my mental funk I was in a couple months ago, I've gotten back to being mindful and conscientiously appreciative for all of the things in my life.  It's so much easier to be happy when you just take a second and think about all the things you have to be grateful for, especially the simple ones.  I decided to even take it one step further and start a "journal of gratitude", in order to have a chance to really cement some of the things I'm thankful for - and I'll take any chance I can to get crafty/artsy!

   One thing I was reflecting on the other day, that made me smile while thinking of it, was a moment I experienced while on OB/Gyn.  I'm actually surprised I didn't mention it in one of my posts.  I was on a night shift, and I was heading down to the ED with two of the senior residents to see a consult.  I got along really well with both of them, and they really took me under their wing that night.  Anyway, we were walking down one of the various extremely long hallways of the hospital, just chit-chatting, and the chief resident grabs my arm and the other resident's arm.  Next thing you know, all three of us are skipping down the hallway, with our arms linked, giggling at how ridiculous we were being.  It was awesome.  It was just one of those simple, silly moments that just makes you feel warm and fuzzy. 

   Puppy training is going pretty well for the most part.  We have our good moments and our bad ones. Overall, its hard to stay mad at Melvie for too long because he is so damn cute.  Somehow, I seem to love him more and more everyday.  I was feeling all giddy tonight because he fell asleep on me as I was on my laptop on the couch.  It doesn't seem like a big deal, but I was really happy because that is exactly why I wanted to get a dog.  For moments like those.  (And then to make things even cuter, he was pawing my keyboard as I was typing this.  I think he knew I was blogging about him.)

   And on that note, I somehow managed to spill red wine all over my white macbook as I was writing this, lol.  Cheers, and goodnight!

I Can Feel Again

   So far, this year has been going really well.  I started my Primary Care rotation at Kaiser, and I like it!   My preceptors are all really friendly, laid-back, and most of them are really good with their patients.  I'm getting a little bored of rashes, colds, and "aches & pains", but overall, I like talking to the patients.  And sometimes, they come in, and you give them something that actually really helps them.

   I really like the Kaiser-type work environment.  I'm sure it'd be somewhat different for OB-Gyn than it is for primary care, but nevertheless, KP takes pretty good care of its employees, and I like that.

   I'm also just generally feeling much better.  The last couple of months before break, I was feeling super numb, burned out, and anhedonic.  Three weeks of vacation was absolutely necessary in my returning-to-normal, as was some sessions with the school psychologist, finishing the worst rotation ever (peds), and lots of puppy-time.  I finally feel like I'm getting back to my normal self, and enjoying things again.

   Training the puppy has been a blast.  When people told us beforehand that it was going to be like having a baby, I didn't understand what they meant, but it really is like having a baby!  Except, as a puppy, he is more in the "terrible twos"-toddler stage, where he gets into trouble all the time.  The first week or so, he would cry in his crate every night, which I was expecting, but I have never heard such a shrill, jarring noise come from an animal!  And when we would try to walk him, he would just go around us in circles on the leash, stop to smell everything, and just stop sometimes.  We've had him for three weeks now, and he has come a long way.  Now, when we put him to bed at night, he actually goes into his crate by himself, lies down, and then just sighs in defeat before he goes to sleep quietly.  He is also doing much better in the potty-training area, and hasn't had any accidents in over a week!  At first, I don't think he understood what it meant to hold his bladder, but now he goes to the door, and just sits there and stares at you when he wants to be let out - it's so cute.  It's amazing how fast a puppy can learn, but it's a lot of work, and he is a pretty good puppy.  I shlove him.

"I"m gonna take YOU for a walk!"

"Squirrel!"

Poopin-face

BF: "Why did you take a picture of me 'beating' the dog?!"
Me: "It looks like you're rubbing his tummy!"
LOL

Another FurBaby On The Way!

   I know a lot of people like to shop on Black Friday for Christmas presents, but this year, BF and I had a very special Black Friday.  We started out by hitting up the sales at Petsmart (alongside all of the crazy cat ladies).  We almost had to throw it down with some crazy cat ladies to get the last cat tower on sale, but we got it, and the kitties LOVE it.  Anyway, I digress.  We bought the very best thing you could ever buy this Black Friday: our puppy!

   After a long time stalking the classifieds for golden retriever puppies, BF and I are now finally the proud fur-parents to a sweet, month old golden retriever puppy.  In our search, I came across a lot of puppies that were too expensive, ready to be picked up too early, located too far away, etc.  This puppy was meant to be.

  We drove to the breeder's rural house, and as we were getting out of our car, were happily greeted by the mama dog and an older sibling of the litter.  Naturally, the older sibling dog brought us a pinecone as a friendly offering.  We went into the garage where the pen of puppies was located, and when all 9 of the litter spilled out of the little pen door at once, I squealed in excitement!

   We picked out an adorable little male puppy, who had a sweet temperament, though the entire litter was adorable, so we really couldn't have gone wrong.  He has to stay with his mama and the rest of the litter until he is at least 8 weeks old in order to be properly socialized, but we won't be ready to pick him up until even later, after we get back from our holiday trip to Connecticut.  So we made our deposit, and we even brought our own collar to mark our territory, so other interested buyers wouldn't be tempted to try and snatch him up as the rest of the litter is sold.  I absolutely can't wait till Melvin gets to come home!

Cat tower 

Little sleepy Melvie with the collar we brought for him on

Baby Melvie!

So fluffy!

I Can't Wait To Be A Fur-Mom

   I've been wanting a dog for some time now, and now I don't want to wait anymore.  In pursuing a career in medicine, we are constantly settling for "delayed gratification" - putting in countless hours of work and sacrificing having lives for our hypothetical futures we desire.  While other people our age have jobs, houses, cars, marriages, and sometimes kids, we hold off because we don't have the time yet.  BF and I were planning on waiting until our fourth year to get a dog, because we figured we'd have more time.  But the more we think about it, the more we realize that fourth year is going to be busy too, and why wait if there is never going to be a "good" time.  And since we both have less demanding rotations after the holiday break, it will be a perfect time to introduce a new four-legged family member into our home.
   We've been hunting online for puppies, but haven't found a match yet because all the puppies are ready to go home now, and we aren't quite ready for them yet.  We are looking to get one right after we get back from our holiday trip to the east coast, and I'm sure something will work out.

   I was feeling desperate for some canine-time, and it just worked out perfectly that a family friend needed a dog-sitter this weekend!  So this weekend, I brought Cody over to my house to hang out.  He is so adorable, and we've been having a blast.  And I've been practicing my fur-parenting skills haha.

A Little Bit Of Snow Before Full-Blown Spring

   BF took his boards a week after mine, and as soon as he finished, we took off for the hills.  We went to a cozy little B&B in the Sierras that we found on a LivingSocial deal.  It was really relaxing, and since it was one of the last weeks of the snow season, the whole town was deserted.  Lucky for us, we got quite a bit of snow while we were there!  I really enjoyed walking around in the powdery fresh snow, because I haven't spent a lot of time in snowy weather.  

   At the B&B lived the cutest golden retriever named Finnegan.  We wanted to steal him and take him home with us.  I decided that I want a dog, and probably a golden retriever.  I won't have time for a dog this upcoming year, as an MS3 slaving away in the hospital, but I'm seriously considering getting one my fourth year when I will have more time.  

Freaky weird picture hanging in our room 

I love fireplaces that turn on with a switch!

Finnegan! :D

Finnegan, greeting people at the door